Planet ISKCON

We read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Nine, Chapter Ten: “The Pastimes of the Supreme Lord, Ramacandra.”

TEXT 20

te ’nikapa raghupater abhipatya sarve
  dvandvam varutham ibha-patti-rathasva-yodhaih
jaghnur drumair giri-gadesubhir angadadyah
  sitabhimarsa-hata-mangala-ravanesan

TRANSLATION

Angada and the other commanders of the soldiers of Ramacandra faced the elephants, infantry, horses, and chariots of the enemy and hurled against them big trees, mountain peaks, clubs, and arrows. Thus the soldiers of Lord Ramacandra killed Ravana’s soldiers, who had lost all good fortune because Ravana had been condemned by the anger of Mother Sita.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The soldiers Lord Ramacandra recruited in the jungle were all monkeys and did not have proper equipment with which to fight the soldiers of Ravana, for Ravana’s soldiers were equipped with weapons of modern warfare whereas the monkeys could only throw stones, mountain peaks, and trees. It was only Lord Ramacandra and Laksmana who shot some arrows. But because the soldiers of Ravana were condemned by the curse of Mother Sita, the monkeys were able to kill them simply by throwing stones and trees. There are two kinds of strength—daiva and purusakara. Daiva refers to the strength achieved from the Transcendence, and purusakara refers to the strength organized by one’s own intelligence and power. Transcendental power is always superior to the power of the materialist. Depending on the mercy of the Supreme Lord, one must fight one’s enemies even though one may not be equipped with modern weapons. Therefore Krsna instructed Arjuna, mam anusmara yudhya ca: “Think of Me and fight.” We should fight our enemy to the best of our ability, but for victory we must depend on the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

Coming to Bhaktivedanta Manor, I was reminded of the struggle we faced here to keep the temple open to the public and to preach Krishna consciousness. Although in such battles the enemies sometimes appear to have the upper hand, in the end, as long as we remain faithful to and dependent on the Lord and at the same time make our best effort with all sincerity and intelligence, we will be successful, according to His will.

We had a similar struggle in Juhu, Bombay. In fact, in Juhu we were even less equipped than were the devotees here, who had already established the mission quite solidly and had many friends—a large congregation and friends in influential positions. Still, it was a great struggle here.

In Juhu we were comparable to the band of monkeys that joined Lord Ramachandra. Srila Prabhupada himself drew parallels between himself and Lord Ramachandra, and between us and the monkeys. He compared the Western countries to Ravana because they had so much wealth, just like Ravana in his opulent kingdom of Lanka. And wealth is Lakshmi—a manifestation of Lakshmi, or Sita. So, Srila Prabhupada said that just as Ravana had kidnapped Sita, the Western countries had kidnapped, or taken possession of, so much wealth. And just as Lord Ramachandra had crossed the ocean to redeem Sita, so Srila Prabhupada had also crossed the ocean. And just as Lord Ramachandra was assisted by so many monkeys, Srila Prabhupada was assisted by us.

The Juhu struggle is a great story, which has been told in Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta. One incident took place after we had been successful in getting the land from the previous owner, Mr. Nair. Srila Prabhupada used to refer to him as “the demon Nair.” When we first got possession of the land, the front of the property was vacant and in the back were some old tenement buildings. So, we built a temporary temple in the front for the Deities, Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari. At first, we were living on the roofs on the terraces of the buildings, but eventually we were able to get one of the apartments for Srila Prabhupada from a tenant.

So, Srila Prabhupada was living there, and in the late afternoons he would go up to the roof and meet people. One evening he was sitting on the terrace and his disciple Haridas was fanning him. “Do you hear that?” Prabhupada asked. “Hear what?” Haridas replied. “Do you hear the sound of the kirtan in the temple?” “No, Srila Prabhupada.” “That’s the point!” Prabhupada said. “There’s no kirtan going on in the temple!” Then he asked, “Where are all the devotees? They should be in the temple doing kirtan; it’s the time of arati.” Haridas speculated and said, “They are probably out collecting. They haven’t gotten back from the city yet.” And Prabhupada replied, “That was not my idea that devotees should go out all day and collect and neglect the temple programs.”

“Why do you think we were successful here?” Prabhupada asked. “Mr. Nair was so much more powerful than we were. He was a wealthy man; we had very little money. He had been the sheriff of Bombay and knew so many influential people; we hardly knew anyone. And he owned one of the three English daily newspapers in Bombay. So, he was very powerful. And we had very little money or influence, yet we were successful. Why? Because we were working for Krishna, for the pleasure of Krishna, we were successful.” Regarding the temple program, he said, “We will be successful not because we go out all day to collect money and then come back late—we’ll be successful if Krishna is pleased. So, we should go out, but we should come back in time. The devotees should leave the city by five o’clock and come back, otherwise they will become like karmis. They should come and chant in front of the Deities and please the Deities, and when the Deities are pleased, we will be successful by Their mercy.”

This is always our position, that we make our best effort but depend on the mercy of the Lord. And making our best effort means according to the desire of the Lord—in our case, according to the order of the spiritual master. In the case of the monkeys of Lord Rama, they were directly under the Lord. Arjuna was directly under the Lord. We are also under the Lord, but under sadhu, shastra, and guru. They tell us what will please the Lord, and if we act to please the Lord, if the Lord is pleased, we will be successful.

Although the monkeys were successful in killing the army of Ravana, ultimately it was Lord Ramachandra who killed the great demon, and Rama-vijaya-dasami celebrates the victory of Ramachandra and specifically His killing of Ravana.

Now, in one sense this was an easier battle, because it is easier to battle forces that are outside of one’s self. But there are also enemies inside us with which we have to contend, and that struggle can be more difficult and more painful than the battle against enemies outside. Prahlada Maharaja survived so many attacks on his life organized by his father, Hiranyakasipu, but in his prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva, he said that his biggest enemies were his own mind and senses.

The Bhagavad-gita says that the mind can be one’s best friend or one’s worst enemy. So, that’s a constant battle we all face—how to keep the mind focused on Krishna, especially when we gather together to hear and chant the holy name, to hear and chant about transcendental topics. We should fix the mind on Krishna. Mayy asakta-manah partha. In the seventh chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna says that the mind should be attached to Him. For us, aspiring devotees or practicing devotees, the best way to fix our mind on Krishna is to hear the holy names of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—and to hear, to actually hear, each word, each syllable. But it is difficult, because the mind is flickering and unsteady (cancalam hi manah krsna). Arjuna tells Krishna that it seems more difficult to control the mind than to control the wind. And who can control the wind? Nobody. That means it is practically impossible to control the mind. But Krishna says that it is possible by suitable practice and detachment. Abhyasa is the word for “practice.” We have to practice chanting and hearing. It’s a struggle—it’s an effort—but we have to practice. As Srila Prabhupada said, “Practice makes perfect, even in spiritual life.”

Still, we will not be successful by our own efforts alone. I think we all have that experience—it applies not only to chanting japa, but to any of our activities. It applies to book distribution: Sometimes devotees go out thinking, “Oh, I am really fit today. I am going to have a great day.” And then they hardly have any results. And at other times they go out feeling miserable—they don’t even know how they are going to get through the day—and they are very successful. They experience the lesson that they are not the doers, not the controllers. Whatever they do is by the mercy of the Lord, the mercy of the spiritual master, the mercy of the disciplic succession.

So, we make our effort, but ultimately we have to depend on the mercy of the Lord. Srila Prabhupada showed this all the time. After the success of the first Bombay pandal, he sent Tamal Krishna Goswami and me to Calcutta to organize a pandal program there. There were many Naxalites—communist youth—there at the time. They used to kidnap people from rich families, and they would kill for their cause. When Srila Prabhupada first came to Calcutta, the Naxalites shot a wealthy person dead right on the street, just a few blocks from where Prabhupada was staying. They were envious. They may have had their reasons, but still, they were envious.

When Prabhupada came for the pandal program, the Naxalites were very disturbed and even sent Prabhupada a note: “Fly or die,” composed of letters cut out of a newspaper so that no one could trace the typewriter. The mood in the city was very tense.

Before the pandal program began, we had a small press conference with Srila Prabhupada behind the tent, and one of the reporters challenged, “What is the use of spending all this money on this pandal? You could use the money to help poor people.” And Prabhupada said, “What is the use? The use is to give people a chance to hear. Actually, the whole pandal has come from hearing. I went to America and spoke, and some young people heard me, and because they heard me, now they have made all the effort to organize the program. So, the use is to give people a chance to hear, and everything comes from that.”

In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna tells Arjuna, tac chrnu: “Just hear from Me.” So, first comes hearing (sravanam), and then kirtanam and the other items of devotional service. Srila Prabhupada said, “They heard from me, and now they are repeating what they heard.”

Thousands of people attended the first night of the pandal program; they were just streaming in. We had dhurries, simple Indian carpets, on the ground, and most people sat on them, cross-legged. To the side, we had folding chairs, and we charged one rupee for a seat. So, a group of Naxalites came, and they were agitated that some people got to sit on the seats while other people had to sit on the ground. They made a huge disturbance. Srila Prabhupada was trying to speak, and they were banging chairs together to make noise so that Prabhupada couldn’t be heard. It was really tense. We didn’t know what was going to happen.

Suddenly Prabhupada leaned forward toward the microphone, and his voice boomed through the speaker system: “govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami . . .” He was singing the Govindam prayers. Immediately the commotion stopped, and the Naxalites just walked away. I thought, “He has so much of faith in Krishna. He completely depends on Krishna.” (Years later, I read Gurudas Prabhu’s account of that incident, and it seems that along with singing the Govindam prayers, Prabhupada was sending notes to Gurudas telling him what to do with the Naxalites. And that’s good, too. We make our best effort and depend on Krishna. That is our process.)

We are about to begin the special month of Damodara, Kartik, and during this month we celebrate the binding of Krishna with ropes. Dama means “ropes,” and udara means “belly.” Many of you know the story: Mother Yasoda was breastfeeding baby Krishna, and while doing so she realized that some milk that was on the fire was boiling over. So she set baby Krishna aside before He was satisfied, in order to tend to the milk on the fire. Baby Krishna became angry, and eventually He broke a pot of makhana (freshly churned butter) and began to eat it and share it with His friends.

When Mother Yasoda returned to where she had left Krishna, He wasn’t there. She saw His little footprints—His feet had been smeared with butter—and saw the broken pot. She was concerned and considered that she would have to discipline Krishna so that He would grow up properly. All responsible parents are concerned that they have to raise their children properly—that if they don’t discipline them, the children will not learn how to behave. As it was, Krishna was going to the neighbors’ homes and doing mischief, and they were complaining to Yasoda, “You better take care of your son. He is not behaving properly.”

Ultimately Mother Yasoda found Krishna, and when He saw her approaching—He was sitting, eating the makhana—He immediately got up and began to flee. She pursued Him, but because He was smaller and more agile, He was able to get away. Eventually He allowed her to catch Him, and once she did, she wanted to bind Him with ropes. Every morning she would tie His belt before He went to the pasturing grounds, so she didn’t think it would be difficult. But when she attempted to tie the rope, it was two inches, or the width of two fingers, too short. So she added some more rope, but it was still two fingers too short. She added more. It was still two fingers too short. She gathered all the ropes in the household—being in a cowherd community, they had a lot of ropes for tying the cows and calves. And the neighbors were bringing their ropes. It was miles and miles of ropes, yet she still couldn’t bind Krishna. But she didn’t give up. Her friends were telling her, “You are not going to be able to do it. This is not working. Just give up.” But she was so sincere, feeling that, as Krishna’s mother, she had a duty, that she endeavored to tie Him up so that He wouldn’t create further mischief—and to teach Him a lesson. She didn’t give up. And when Krishna saw her sincere effort, His heart melted and He allowed her to bind Him.

Our acharyas have commented on the significance of the two fingers by which the rope was too short. Srila Visvanatha Chakravarti Thakura explains that there was a competition between Krishna’s desire and Yasoda’s desire. Krishna’s desire was to be free and play with His friends, and Yasoda’s desire was to bind Krishna, so their desires were opposed to each other. Krishna has two shaktis. One potency is called satya-sankalpa-sakti, which means that whatever He desires is fulfilled. So, that came into play. Another potency is called vibhuti-sakti, which allows Him to manifest His opulences, although He usually doesn’t—only when necessary. Say there is a forest fire. He can be defeated by His friends in their sports, but when there is a forest fire or some other threat to the residents of Vrindavan, the vibhuti-sakti comes into play and allows Him to manifest His opulences and swallow the forest fire.

In this case, the two shaktis—satya-sankalpa and vibhuti—joined together to fulfill Krishna’s desire to play, and Mother Yasoda couldn’t bind Him. But when He saw her tireless efforts, He felt compassionate toward her and allowed her to bind Him. The acharyas say that one finger represents parisrama, personal endeavor, and that the other represents krsna-krpa, Krishna’s mercy. When these two combine, Krishna agrees to be bound.

So, we make our effort. We never give up, no matter what. We make our effort, and when Krishna sees that we are sincere in our effort to serve Him and please Him, His heart melts and He allows Himself to be bound. In any effort it is the same combination: our hard labor (parisrama) and Krishna’s mercy (krsna-krpa). It applies to our efforts to preach and to distribute books. It applies to our efforts to hear and to chant, to chant japa. We make our effort, and at the same time we pray for Krishna’s mercy. We depend on Krishna and pray for His mercy.

Here the mood of humility is essential. As long as we think we can do it on our own, we won’t get Krishna’s mercy, at least not to the same extent. That was Ravana’s mentality. He thought he didn’t need anyone. He thought he could do everything by his own strength and powers. So, we all have that little Ravana tendency. You may not, but I do. So, we have to be conscious of that tendency and pray to Lord Rama to subdue that Ravana-like tendency within us.

There’s a beautiful prayer by Prahlada Maharaja in the Fifth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, in which he prays to Lord Nrsimhadeva, “Please vanquish the demonlike desires in my heart, just like You vanquished the demon Hiranyakasipu.” Hiranya means “gold,” and kasipu means “soft bedding.” Those are the main interests of materialistic people—money and sense indulgence. So, “Just as You killed the great demon Hiranyakasipu, please vanquish the demonlike desires within my heart.” After Nrsimhadeva subdued Hiranyakasipu, He sat on Hiranyakasipu’s throne, lifted the demon onto His lap, and tore his heart out. So, we want Lord Nrsimhadeva to sit on the throne of our hearts and kill these demonlike desires for gold and sense gratification, to tear them out.

Srila Prabhupada has given us everything. I am sure people have said it before, but he really has. He has given us the knowledge, he has given us the process, and he has given us the way to invoke Krishna’s mercy. The best way to invoke Krishna’s mercy is to practice and preach. That combination will invoke Krishna’s mercy and make us successful.

In previous ages, the Lord would kill the demons—Nrsimhadeva killed Hiranyakasipu, Ramachandra killed Ravana, and Krishna killed so many demons—but in Kali-yuga, because we all have demonic tendencies within us and pretty much everyone has bad habits, the Lord doesn’t physically kill the person; He kills their demonic mentalities by His mercy, by giving them the holy name. We find that exemplified in the story of Jagai and Madhai. They were violent toward Lord Nityananda, and when Lord Chaitanya heard, He came rushing to the spot, ready to kill them with His Sudarshan chakra. But Nityananda Prabhu appealed to the Lord, “This is Kali-yuga, My Lord. In Kali-yuga You can’t just kill the people like that. In Kali-yuga everyone will be like Jagai and Madhai, so are You going to kill everyone? In Kali-yuga Your mission is to deliver them by Your mercy.” When Lord Nityananda intervened on behalf of the two sinful brothers, Lord Chaitanya hesitated, and the two surrendered to Lord Chaitanya, and He forgave them for their sins, with the condition that they would not commit sins again. They took up the chanting of the holy name. That means they developed faith in Nityananda Prabhu and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and because they developed faith, they took up the chanting and were eligible to receive the Lord’s mercy, and they were forgiven.

That’s our position in Kali-yuga. We need the mercy of Lord Nityananda and through Him the mercy of Lord Chaitanya. Srila Prabhupada said in LA, “To approach Radha and Krishna, we need the mercy of Lord Chaitanya. And to get the mercy of Lord Chaitanya, we need the mercy of Lord Nityananda. And to get the mercy of Lord Nityananda, we have to approach people like Jagai and Madhai”—in other words, the people on the street, the people in the subways, the people at the airport, the people in the offices, the people in the neighborhood, and sometimes even closer.

That is Srila Prabhupada’s special mood, coming from the Pancha-tattva. It is his special mood to get the Lord’s mercy by preaching, by approaching anyone and everyone to give them Krishna consciousness, give them the holy name of Krishna. So, our effort (parisrama) has two sides: one is our own practices—hearing and chanting attentively and following the whole system that Prabhupada gave us (sadhana-bhakti)—and the other is at the same time making the effort to give Krishna consciousness to others, to induce others to accept the great gift of the holy name.

Hare Krishna.

[A talk by Giriraj Swami in Rama-vijaya-dasami, October 19, 2007, Bhaktivedanta Manor, Near London, England]
 

 

Shri Madhvacharya appeared in 1238 A.D. near Udupi, Karnataka in South India. He was considered an incarnation of Vayu (wind god). He had an unusually strong physique and extraordinary intellectual power.

Once a fierce Bengali tiger attacked Madhvacharya’s sannyasa disciple, Satya Tirtha. Madhvacharya wrestled the tiger and sent him away with his tail between his legs. Madhvacharya took diksha at age five, sannyasa at twelve and left home.

He appeared with a mission to fight and defeat Sankara’s Mayavada (impersonal) philosophy. By giving a pure interpretation of Vedanta-sutra he promoted pure theism. He named his innovative shastric explanation dvaita-dvaita-vada (pure dualism).

With a hope of meeting Shrila Vyasadeva himself Madhvacharya walked up the Himalayas. Vyasadeva gave him a Shalagrama sila called Ashtamurti, approved his Bhagavad-gita commentary, and blessed Madhvacharya with deeper realizations of the sastras. 

In Udupi, Madhvacharya installed a beautiful Deity of Gopala standing alone holding a cowherding stick. This Deity manifested from within a chunk of gopi-candana (sacred clay). He established eight mathas (Temples) to lovingly serve “Udupi Krishna.”

The sannyasi leaders of each matha worship the Krishna Deity with a rigorous regimen of ceremonial ritual, punctuality, and impeccable personal conduct. Every Ekadashi they observe nirjala (total fast all food and water).

Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His followers thoroughly studied Madhva’s works before compiling their philosophy. For the Sat Sandarbhas Shri Jiva Goswami drew heavily from Madhva’s writings. Jiva Goswami found the Gaudiya philosophy of acintya-bheda-abheda tattva in Madhva’s Bhagavat-parya. Shri Chaitanya Himself visited Udupi, the seat of Madhva’s sect. The Lord introduced Hari Nama sankirtana into their sect. 

By Gopaswami Das ACBSP A historic turn of events took place in France the day before Radhastami. For the first time since Srila Prabhupada inaugurated this beautiful community and installed his beloved Sri Sri Krishna-Balarama, both the ambassador of India at UNESCO and the town’s mayor glorified Srila Prabhupada, New Mayapura community, and Iskcon with
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Also known as Dussehra, Vijaya Dashami is the celebration of Rama’s victory over the demon Ravana. The story of Rama’s killing of Ravana is found in the Ramayana. Vijaya means victory and dashami means tenth and so Vijaya Dashami is the victory on the 10th lunar day.

If the Nava Ratris are a time of purification and the attainment of spiritual powers and wisdom, the Vijaya Dashami celebration, which follows the day after the last Nava Ratri in the fall is the culmination of that time of purification with the final conquering of evil symbolized by Rama’s killing of Ravana.

Commonly an effigy of Ravana is burnt when a flaming arrow is shot into Ravana’s heart by a devotee dressed up like Rama.

By Krishna Kripa Das

(Week 38: September 17–23, 2025)

Stuyvesant Falls and East Chatham

(Sent from Philadelphia on September 27, 2025)

Where I Went and What I Did

The thirty-eighth week of 2025, I lived at Viraha Bhavan, the ashram of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami in Stuyvesant Falls. 

I did the deity worship until his pujari, Krsna Dasi returned. I also helped his care takers with different services like cleaning the kitchen, and I did some personal service for him. On Saturday evening I attended a kirtan program at Raghunath Prabhu’s Supersoul Farm.

I share quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s The Nectar of Devotion and a quote from one of his letters. I share quotes from a new collection of writings by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, called Among Friends, Journal and Poems, volume 1. I share comments by Sthita-dhi Muni and Krsna-bhajana Prabhus on a presentation I did on chapter 7 of Sadaputa Prabhu’s Maya: The World as Virtual Reality.

Many, many thanks to Nitai Prabhu for his very generous donation.

Itinerary

September 12–October ??: serve Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami 
– September 27: Philadelphia Ratha-yatra and Times Square Kirtan Festival 
– September 28: ISKCON Schenectady Sunday Feast
October ??–December 31: NYC Harinam

Chanting Hare Krishna in Upstate New York

On Janmastami Prabhu’s last day here at Viraha Bhavan, we had four devotees chanting Hare Krishna in the evening kirtan (https://youtu.be/bCfLWd6gW7c):

I knew Janmastami Prabhu from doing harinama in several European cities, most recently Brussels (https://youtu.be/uk4t7P6GYi0?si=K3Ws9T-ch2PSN4HE):

He is replaced by Ojasvini Radha Devi Dasi, who did harinama with me in Berlin 6 years ago. She is wearing a pink top and distributing books in this video (https://youtu.be/O9mVezSUITA):

Nitai Prabhu, who prints many of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s books in India, visited for a few days. He made a podcast-style interview with Maharaja about Vandanam, one of his books on prayers (https://youtu.be/8HRODfNFbBA):

Raghunath Prabhu, who is famous for his band, Shelter, and his podcast, Wisdom of the Sages, with Kaustubha Prabhu, has a property in East Chatham in Columbia County, New York, called Supersoul Farm. Often on Saturdays he does kirtan programs for the local community. He also hosts retreats on many weekends there.

We thought the kirtan was at 7 p.m., but it was at 7:30 p.m. Thus although thinking we were late, we were actually exactly on time. Almost everyone else was late, so I took advantage of the situation and grabbed the harmonium and chanted the evening tune of Hare Krishna for ten minutes until Raghunath Prabhu and the others came.

Here Bhaktivinoda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Supersoul Farm in East Chatham (https://youtu.be/QMNuF1SjW-g):

Keli Lalita Devi Dasi chants “Govinda Jaya Jaya” there too (https://youtu.be/sV7YivkIJw0):

Keli Lalita ended her kirtan with a Hare Krishna tune (https://youtu.be/S6TZMjpz7nQ):

Photos

The day before Krsna Dasi returned I dressed Radha Govinda for the last time.

I also decorated the altar with flowers, including the many roses which bloomed that day.

Ojasvini Radha Devi Dasi, who is a real pujari, made the turban. Guru Maharaja said it was better than mine but not as good as Krsna Dasi’s.

Krishnendu Prabhu impressed me by making five preps for our Ekadasi lunch. The desserts made the biggest impression on my mind.

There was buckwheat cake with a peanut butter / honey topping.

There were puffed lotus buds with coconut sugar and a sweet spice.

Ever wonder what the GPT means in ChatGPT?I decided to ask it:

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 13:

“Rupa Gosvami has stated that five kinds of devotional activities – namely, residing in Mathura, worshiping the Deity of the Lord, reciting Srimad-Bhagavatam, serving a devotee and chanting the Hare Krishna mantra – are so potent that a small attachment to any one of these five items can arouse devotional ecstasy even in a neophyte.”

From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 20:

“The particular loving mood or attitude relished in the exchange of love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead is called rasa, or mellow. The different types of rasa, when combined together, help one to taste the mellow of devotional service in the highest degree of transcendental ecstasy. Such a position, although entirely transcendental to our experience, will be explained in this section as far as possible, following in the footsteps of Srila Rupa Gosvami.

“Without relishing some sort of mellow, or loving mood, in one’s activities, no one can continue to perform such activities. Similarly, in the transcendental life of Krishna consciousness and devotional service there must be some mellow, or specific taste, from the service. Generally this mellow is experienced by chanting, hearing, worshiping in the temple and being engaged in the service of the Lord. So when a person feels transcendental bliss, that is called ‘relishing the mellow.’ To be more clear, we may understand that the various feelings of happiness derived from discharging devotional service may be termed the ‘mellows’ of devotional service.

“This relishing of transcendental mellow in discharging devotional service cannot be experienced by all classes of men because this sweet loving mood is developed only from one’s previous life’s activities or by the association of unalloyed devotees. As explained above, association with pure devotees is the beginning of faith in devotional service. Only by developing such faith in the association of a pure devotee, or by having in one’s previous life executed devotional activities, can one actually relish the mellow of devotional service. In other words, this transcendental bliss is not to be enjoyed by any common man unless he is so extraordinarily fortunate as to be in association with devotees or to be continuing his previous birth’s devotional activities.

“The gradual process of development to the stage of devotional service is explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam, First Canto: ‘The beginning is to hear about Lord Krishna in the association of devotees who have themselves cleansed their hearts by association. Hearing about the transcendental activities of the Lord will result in one’s feeling transcendental bliss always.’ It is also explained in Bhagavad-gita that for one who has actually come to the spiritual platform, the first symptom visible will be that he is always joyful. This joyous life is attained by one’s reaction to reading Bhagavad-gita or Srimad-Bhagavatam, or else from associating with persons who are very interested in the spiritual life of Krishna consciousness – specifically those who have made the determination to achieve the favor of Govinda by being engaged in transcendental loving service at His lotus feet. Being encouraged by such a feeling, one who is constantly engaged in discharging the regulative principles of devotional service in such a way as to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead develops two principles of compelling force, which come under the heading of vibhava. Thus one enjoys transcendental bliss.”

From a letter on September 13, 1970:

“In India our preaching work is going on. Practically everyday we have got an outside nice meeting. There is regular newspaper coverage, but the difficulty is that the whole country is now communist infected. People are in very much perturbed condition. All of them are expecting me to do something for ameliorating the situation, but I am simply advising them to chant Hare Krsna because this transcendental sound is the only panacea for all material diseases.”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

From Among Friends, Journal and Poems, Volume 1:

“After all, the best devotees

beyond Sukadeva and Narada,

are the simple girls of Vrndavana.

Of the gopis Prabhupada said,

‘They never asked anything of Krishna!’

But they were not ordinary women.

May we all become

followers of those cowherd girls

who saved their love

for Radha and Krishna.”

“Chanting Hare Krishna mantra together

in the dim room while bright light

emanates from the forms of the Deities—

is the best place in the universe.”

“We can’t prevent our minds and eyes

from flitting and drooping,

but we thank You

for allowing us to bow down

and to taste Your caranamrta [water from bathing the Deities].”

[Comment by gurukula student] “There is even a hell for those who don’t believe in hell!”

“But will I be reborn and have to become a boy again with teachers always telling me what to do and constant duties? Could I become a dog again, with gurukula boys shouting and hitting me with rocks? Why don’t I make more effort in my last decades in this body to get out once and for all, instead of gliding nonchalantly toward respectable old age?”

“Please make me ready to do what I need for further surrender. If I can’t surrender all at once, as I should, please give me the next installments of surrender. Please hear my prayer that I want to be able to say, ‘Yes!’ to You. I want to receive you in my heart, Lord Krishna and Srila Prabhupada. I want to give up my own plans and pride. Please make me intelligent and strong enough to defeat the doubts. Lord, give me courage.”

“I am not able to fully surrender; I admit it. I’m too afraid and too attached for that. And so I should not be harsh (and hypocritical) in my judgment of others who also don’t seem to fully surrender to Krishna. Don’t make fun of people’s funny human habits; you have some habits yourself, and you wish to be accepted without scorn. So be kind, smile; we’re only human. But we are following Prabhupada’s order, going with his protection, all the way.”

“Evening Prayer

“Please help us Lord, to have faith,

to be sincere devotees,

to help each other,

and to fulfill the mission of Prabhupada.

I’m writing this down to be with You.

Although I seem to talk to myself,

I know that You are here.

I want to live with You as my best friend.

Please make me a servant

of the servant of the servant of the Lord.”

“To bow to Krishna and His devotee in Vrindavan is as common as stopping for a red light in California.”

“Early this morning I took a glass of orange juice and immediately got indigestion which stayed with me all day. India is so strict. Ever since arriving here you have so little energy. And yet in Vrindavan I seem to have better spiritual intelligence. There is less danger of being ‘active foolish.’”

“But we are all among the blessed, rare

followers of Prabhupada, Rupa, and Sanatana,

the philosopher-lovers of Radha-Krishna.

I pray to overlook the faults,

appreciate the deep,

sweet drinking water which is

the accessible well of ISKCON.”

(Vrndavana Karttika 1989)

“Being quiet and thinking of Krishna is a positive social act.”

“Walking for japa 6:00 A.M. by Ramana-reti. A mangy dog approached me with gruff barking. I thought, ‘If you come any closer, you’ll get the end of this danda,’ and he went away. Madhu and I then circumambulated the Krishna-Balarama Tree. At the same spot there were two old Indian matajis bowing down in the sand. They smiled slightly at us. Then the same aggressive dog went up to the old lady. She was small and with no stick. To my surprise, she began speaking softly to the dog in low tones. He sat down before her, making gruff sounds. She then disentangled her hand from her bead bag, reached into another bag, pulled out a piece of food and threw it on the ground for the dog. By now we had passed her, and I saw this by looking back. Once again I saw that I had misunderstood the meaning of Vrindavan.”

“While walking through soft sands of Ramana-reti chanting japa, a ‘voice’ within says, ‘Your chanting is nothing at all.’ I ask, ‘Who is saying that?’ I decide it’s the mind and that the mind has been ruining my japa for many years, undermining my confidence.”

“The skeptical mind says, ‘You feel nothing when you chant. Just see. Twenty years of it and nothing.’

“I reply, ‘Bug off monkey, out of my way! It may be twenty lifetimes, but I’m clinging to the hari-nama boat and not letting go. It’s my shelter in the worldly ocean. If you, dear mind, would cooperate, the chanting would be much better. But even if you do your worst, I won’t give up.’”

“For improving japa I know what I have to do; it’s no mystery. I have to quiet my mind of its many passing concerns and simply hear the names Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”

“Why do they play

pop bhajana tunes

blaring from a loudspeaker?

Why do some of them

cast hostile looks and jibbing words?

I don’t know. I only know

it’s like a covering of mud-scum

while the Yamuna flows on.”

“Thank you, Prabhupada, for letting me

praise you daily in the classroom.

Today we discussed

how almost everything we do

bears your impression.

Like one of those sheep in Ireland

with the splash of red dye,

I’m marked as one of your flock.

I pray for a place

in your eternal retinue.”

“I know nothing,

possess nothing

and I am nothing

except a servant of my master

who kindly accepts me,

but who wants me to do more.”

“You can’t expect to always have

Krishna as Yours only

in a quiet place.”

“Thanks for the troubles ahead by which I will be driven within to seek shelter of my Lord who promises Vaikuntha to His devotee.”

“It’s Prabhupada’s mercy

that I can take gems from his books

and place them in a mosaic

of bhakti-yoga.”

“As one monk wrote: The simple, narrow life helps to protect the depths of the inner life.”

“On the pack of ‘Priyanka Incense,’ made in Bangalore, the manufacturers have printed, ‘Excellent for the worship of God.’ Where else but India could they say it that way? Puja is a matter of fact. Little do they know, though, what they’re actually saying, or who is Bhagavan, and what constitutes His worship. Little do I know, as I light the incense and perform arati to Prabhupada. But I want to do it.”

“O sentimental person,

you don’t deserve to think of Him,

but He has appeared in your mind

with mild playful smile;

His fingers extend as He plays the flute.”

“The Lord who revealed the Vedas

who stands in the midst of the gopis,

resides in Gita-nagari.

He’s worshiped day and night

by followers of Prabhupada.

Go serve Him there.”

“Reading is one of those basics of devotional service which will never leave us. When I think back as little as five years ago, much of what I was doing is now gone with the wind. The large zone I commanded, the car I drove in, the regional secretary who carried out my plans, the army of painting sellers and book distributors—the whole infrastructure has in many ways vanished. But the basics remain. Back then there was chanting and hearing, and there is still chanting and hearing. It is best to put energy into that which will never fail—and that which Srila Prabhupada has emphasized as most important. Every day I want a strong foundation of the basics (sravanam, kirtanam, vishnu-smaranam) and then I can carry out my intrepid plans, which may or may not be lasting.”

Sthita-dhi Muni Prabhu:

Comments on my Zoom talk on Chapter 7 of Sadaputa Prabhu’s Maya: The World as Virtual Reality:

One important question is: “Do hallucinatory drugs open us up to a existing realm not usually perceivable or do they create completely illusory images?”

You cannot suggest ghosts and visions are real to scientists, but . . .

Krsna-bhajana Prabhu:

Comments on my Zoom talk on Chapter 7 of Sadaputa Prabhu’s Maya: The World as Virtual Reality:

There are real life consequences for the atheistic point of view that religious experiences are all delusional.

Lots of people I talked to in the capacity of a counselor told me that they had seen ghosts.

There is no such thing as being objective in science.

The scientists are ready to discount the perceptions of vast numbers of people.

Raghunath Prabhu of Shelter and Wisdom of the Sages:

From a Saturday kirtan program at his Supersoul Farm:

“The mantra does not just make the mind peaceful, it scrubs the mind of desires that will actually not satisfy us.”

“It doesn’t matter if you are a good singer or not because the meditation is just like a cry of love from our heart.”

-----

In the Vedic literature, the best way to progress spiritually is clearly defined. There is no doubt about it. Brhan-naradiya Purana (38.126), which Lord Caitanya said his guru taught Him, is among the most emphatic verses in this connection.

harer nama harer nama

harer namaiva kevalam

kalau nasty eva nasty eva

nasty eva gatir anyatha

“For spiritual progress in this Age of Kali, there is no alternative, there is no alternative, there is no alternative to the holy name, the holy name, the holy name of the Lord.”

We wish everyone well in his/her attempts to take shelter of a favorite name of the Lord, and thus achieve the love of God, which is the goal of this chanting.

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By Yogesvara Gopinath das Date: September 21, 2025, Location: Ilford, East London Sunday, 21st September was a very special day as the East London Hare Krishna Community got an opportunity to organize the 12th Jagannath Rathyatra Chariot festival in Ilford. This was the annual Chariot festival when the Lord of the Universe (Lord Jagannatha) shows
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By Radhika krpa dd In the year 2020, our beloved Guru Maharaja gave me the divine target of 1000 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam sets for distribution. With his causeless mercy and the blessings of Srila Prabhupada, I with my Peacefood Devotional Family; the sincere souls connected to me humbly kept striving year after year: Progression of Sets Distributed:
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King Yudhiṣṭhira was known as ajāta-śatru, or a person who had no enemy. Therefore, when all the men, demigods, kings, sages and saints saw the successful termination of the Rājasūya-yajña performed by King Yudhiṣṭhira, they were very happy.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said, “My dear King Parīkṣit, your grandfather King Yudhiṣṭhira was a great soul. His congenial disposition attracted everyone to be his friend, and therefore he was known as ajāta-śatru, one who never created an enemy. He engaged all the members of the Kuru dynasty in taking charge of different departments for the management of the Rājasūya sacrifice. 

For example, Bhīmasena was put in charge of the kitchen department, Duryodhana in charge of the supplies department, Sahadeva in charge of the reception department, Nakula in charge of the store department, and Arjuna in charge of looking after the comforts of the elder persons.

The most astonishing feature was that Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, took charge of washing the feet of all the incoming guests. The Queen, the goddess of fortune Draupadī, was in charge of administering the distribution of food, and because Karṇa was famous for giving charity, he was put in charge of the charity department.

After the end of the Rājasūya-yajña, when all the friends, guests and well-wishers had been fully honoured and rewarded, King Yudhiṣṭhira went to bathe in the Ganges. The city of Hastināpura stands today on the bank of the Yamunā, and the statement of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that King Yudhiṣṭhira went to bathe in the Ganges indicates, therefore, that during the time of the Pāṇḍavas the river Yamunā was also known as the Ganges.”

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 21, No. 37
By Krishna Kripa Das
(Week 37: September 10–16, 2025)
Syracuse, Albany, and Stuyvesant Falls
(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls, New York, on September 20, 2025)

Where I Went and What I Did

The thirty-seventh week of 2025, I spent two days in Syracuse doing harinama at Syracuse University and giving lectures at Mantra Central and five days acting as a pujari for my guru’s deities in Stuyvesant Falls, both venues in Upstate New York. In between I chanted Hare Krishna for about an hour at the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station. There some Indian taxi cab drivers stopped by to talk. One played around with the harmonium. In addition to my pujari duties at Viraha Bhavan, the ashram of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, I would maintain a program of morning and evening kirtans. 

My friend, Janmastami Prabhu of Belgium, under the direction of Yadunandana Swami, was visiting for a month, and he joined me for almost every kirtan.

I share quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, and Teachings of Lord Kapila. I share quotes from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s Journal and Poems, volume 1.

Many, many thanks to Rama Dasa Prabhu of Syracuse for his very generous donation. Thanks to Madhu Sri Prabhu, who regularly attends the ISKCON NYC Sunday feast and gave me a donation this and the previous week. Thanks to Partha Prabhu of Syracuse his donation of leftover euros.

Itinerary

September 12–October ??: serve Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami
– September 21: ISKCON Schenectady Sunday Feast 
– September 25–26: Philadelphia harinamas 
– September 27: Philadelphia Ratha-yatra and Times Square Kirtan Festival 
– September 28: ISKCON Schenectady Sunday Feast?
October ??–December 31: NYC Harinam

Chanting Hare Krishna in Upstate New York

Rama Dasa Prabhu, who is in charge of a small center in Syracuse called Mantra Central, invited me to come there and do harinama and give lectures.

Madhava Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Syracuse University, I play the drum, and Rama Dasa Prabhu distributes books in the background (https://youtu.be/3Xs1ncsaWGk):

Rama Dasa Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the Mantra Central Wednesday program (https://youtu.be/HglefWqDtNs):

Janmastami Prabhu, who I know from doing harinama in Holland and Belgium, chants Hare Krishna in an evening kirtan at Viraha Bhavan, the ashram of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, in Stuyvesant Falls, New York (https://youtube.com/shorts/4rPPvmL-Q-o?feature=share):

Photos

In 1982, after graduating from Brown University with a degree in computer science, I went to write software for Adikesava Prabhu, who had a company with a office on Route 46 in Fairfield, New Jersey, a place I don’t think I’ve been to since but which I past en route to Syracuse, New York, to do harinama.

Then I would live at the Towaco temple, where the Gaura-Nitai deities I knew from living in our 55^th Street temple in 1979 resided, and I would drive to work.

Although not a real pujari, somehow I am engaged in taking care of and even dressing my guru’s deities of Radha-Govinda in Stuyvesant Falls.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.23.7, purport:

“In order to be recognized by Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one should chant the holy name of the Lord continuously, twenty-four hours a day.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.5.14, purport:

“Karmis change their professions at any moment, but a Krishna conscious person does not change his profession, for his only profession is to attract the attention of Krishna by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra and living a very simple life, without following daily changes of fashion.”

From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 2.11, purport:

“A pure devotee knows that when he chants the transcendental name ‘Krishna,’ Sri Krishna is present as transcendental sound. He therefore chants with full respect and veneration.”

From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 8.16, purport:

“One must come to the understanding that the holy name of the Lord and the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself are identical. One cannot reach this conclusion unless one is offenseless in chanting the holy name.”

From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 9.36, purport:

“A person who is actually a follower of Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura must immediately accept the request of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu by offering respectful obeisances unto His lotus feet and thus beg from Him the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. If one is fortunate enough to beg from the Lord this Hare Krishna maha-mantra, his life is successful.”

From Teachings of Lord Kapila, verses 25 and 26:

“The name of Krishna and Krishna are nondifferent, but we cannot realize this intellectually. We have to practice chanting Hare Krishna to realize it. When we actually advance in devotional service and chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra offenselessly, we will realize that Krishna and His name are nondifferent.”

From a letter to Satsvarupa on May 28, 1970:

“As I have already said many times that we have to maintain two lines parallel; namely the path of Srimad-Bhagavatam and the path of Pancaratriki. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the path for Paramahamsas, and Pancaratra path is for the neophytes. So the Temple worship is necessary for the beginners so that by following the regulative principles such devotees become more and more purified and thus gradually come on the platform to understand Srimad-Bhagavatam. So we shall always keep these principles in view and maintain our centers on this standard.”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

From I Am Never Displeased With Any Member (Letters, Volume 3), March 1970:

“Still, whether we printed it all or not, devotees seemed to love to write poetry in those days. It was understood as early as 1966 and especially by 1967 that Prabhupada liked us to express ourselves in the poetry of our country. The poets flowered in 1967, writing free verse. That output has not been matched since in our movement, and most of the poetry published in BTG today tends to be rhyming poetry. It’s a different mood now. We wrote of our actual experiences of practicing what Prabhupada taught in those days. Prabhupada read those poems and told us that he liked them.”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami told me to include some sample poems from that time period.

Here are two from January 20, 1967. This is one of his:

Chanting

When we go chanting

Hare Krishna

outdoors,

under the blue sky,

with drums and cymbals

through the streets,

who can measure

the essence of that?

From a cloud hung a

waterspout, the sun

was going in and out,

buildings, faces, and

cars, people – seemed the same

stopping to look at us

in awe.

“We are unbustable,” said

Achyutananda;

He meant when

we chant

Hare Krishna

We are unbustable and made

100% pure

by virtue of the Holy Name

Of Krishna.

And this is one of Hayagriva Prabhu’s:

Some Questions to Lord Krishna

1.

Is it true

That Thou art blue

And art the Supreme

Godhead too?

I also hear

You like to toy

About Vaikuntha

As Cow Boy.

Swamiji says

You always wear

A peacock feather

In Thy Hair

And that Thy Feet

Are colored red

And leave a lotus

Where’er You tread

And that eternally

You play

Upon Thy flute

The Vedic Way.

And that in battle

You gave the Gita

To Arjuna

That we might read ’er.

But is it true?

May we traverse?

Within Thy Mouth

The universe?

O Lord Divine,

Who dares to doubt it?

Thy cosmos shouts

Thy praise throughout it.

2.

Because, O Lord,

The Milky Way

Is but cow's milk

You drank one day.

And I believe

We really float

Within Thy Belly

Like a boat.

And time will come

When You'll discharge

Our galaxy

Upon Thy yard.

Then we’ll look up

To see Thy Face

And Thy true Form

With all its Grace.

“Welcome,’ You’ll laugh

And give a kick

And like a cow boy

Play a trick.

Lasso devotees,

Corral and tie

All those who to

Vrindavan fly.

And call to us,

“Come on, ladies!

I’ve made rice, dhall,

And chopaties.”

Then I will know

That it is true

That Thou art blue

And Godhead too.

From Journal and Poems, Volume 1:

“When I heard so many birds I thought, ‘the material world is actually the spiritual world.’ The material is spiritual, because it comes from the Supreme. Whatever comes from the Spiritual is also spiritual. There I’ve said it—as theology. But sometimes you feel it, and you realize that everything is wonderful because everything is coming from Krishna.”

“Sit down on this log

for a moment of peace and contemplation.

Put your gloved hands together.

Don’t pay too much attention

to the sky.

Just think: you are a tiny soul

and everything around you

is the energy of Krishna.”

“I am certain of pain,

I am sure devotional service

is the best way to go.”

“‘Even when there is no God’s picture,’

said Prabhupada,

‘one who is God conscious can see

“Oh, how God is artistic,

how He has painted,

how He has made this tree.”

Because without God

there can be nothing.’”

“I’ll talk out loud

the feast

of God’s names.”

“And I who possess a human brain

walk in my boots

chanting God’s names

amid the zillions of grasses.”

“Pines fall

into poems,

but I keep wanting

to put God in.

When will I realize

that He is here?”

“I plan to spend almost thirty days in Ireland with no other duties except to be alone with Lord Krishna and to understand my relationship with Him. My approach should be mainly through the Hare Krishna mantra. I want to be faithful to Prabhupada and the sastras, and this is what they emphatically declare:

“In the age of Kali

there is no other way,

no other way

no other way

to reach God realization

except to chant the holy name

chant the holy name

chant the holy name.

“But mechanical chanting and nama-aparadha cover me. Therefore, it seems advisable that I also think and write about my relationship with the holy name.

Try to think what has happened. What are my problems? What are my doubts? How can I overcome them? I can make a directed study of the holy name: japa reform.”

“There is no easy victory over the anarthas. How many times have I tried to revive my attraction to the holy name, only to find it is just another ‘fad’?”

“Now a note has arrived from an initiated disciple with a gift of gopi-candana for tilaka. She writes, ‘Please bless me that I may chant Hare Krishna from my heart.’ How can I bless her since I myself don’t chant from the heart? So I have written her, ‘Please pray to the Lord that your spiritual master may be able to chant Hare Krishna from the heart, and then he can bless you.’”

“Personal faith in Krishna

is a grace from God.”

“So we’re all meant to think of the Lord and His personal form or name with His personal activities and qualities, but we’re very busy. So Krishna has given us ways to think of Him even while we’re engaged in our activities. ‘Remember Me and fight,’ He tells Arjuna.”

“My life has advantages of being able to have time and place to turn inward more. Now if I can do that as a service to others and assure them that meditation is possible while chanting, and if I can also tell them some of the nectar of Krishna because of my ability to read and absorb myself in it, then that’s a service. But if I myself am not able to do this, then how can I render that service? So I am taking time to do it.”

“My dear Lord Krishna, dear Srila Prabhupada,

“I have abused my relationship with you, doubted it, neglected it and been disobedient in devious ways. Punish me as you see fit and bring me under your control.

“I cannot surrender. But you can cause me to surrender. Please don’t let me perish in my pride and false ego.

“Please protect your helpless, tiny son. Let me do good to others in your name. Give me conviction.”

“As St. Francis of Assisi said on his death bed, ‘I have done what is mine to do: may Christ teach you what is yours to do.’”

“All our devotional and occupational activities may be compared to streams, and japa is the spring from which they flow. . . . It seems especially appropriate for a teacher to work on the basics in order to ‘set the example.’ It is a good example even for those preachers who are more active than I am, because they also must derive their energy from the inexhaustible spring of hari-nama.”

“I’m not justified in disliking anything Prabhupada does or teaches.”

“My spiritual master is giving me a hard time. I want to go my own way, but he knows what is best for me. He is the spiritual father. (And we all have problems with father figures, right?) He is the authority and as Allen Ginsberg said to Prabhupada, ‘We have a problem with authorities in this country.’ He is the representative of God.”

“Everyone more or less knows the philosophy but we want to appreciate it and wake up to it.”

“It’s inner warfare

to transform pain and boredom

into little acts of love.”

“Red splotches of dye on sheep remind you that they’ll soon be bloodied and slaughtered. All living entities are stained by the material nature; we are a herd marked for annihilation. We are like the sheep let loose to wander over large, mountainous areas.”

“Sign: ‘A career woman has to look like a lady, act like a man and work like a dog.’”

“We should stay under the guidance of the spiritual master and pray as we act.”

“In order to preach downtown I had to stay up late and eat an evening feast, but it was worth it.”

“Gobhata dasa asked how can we avoid the attitude that we’ve heard about Krishna again and again and that it is simply repetitive? I said that our feelings of dryness and thinking of Krishna consciousness as ‘the same old thing’ are because we are only superficially tasting it, just like the person who licks the outside of a jar of honey. If we could actually taste the honey, we would not become tired of it.”

“Praise His name (even before you taste it). Praise the name, and Srimad-Bhagavatam and Srila Prabhupada; they are your saviors. You would like to taste the nectar. The secret is in trnad api. I daydream of calling out, mad in the holy names, the happy freedom of a humble piece of straw, with nothing to defend and always chanting.”

“May the holy name of Krishna bless the inhabitants of the earth planet! All kindness to the motley crowds who have come to the human form of life. May they hear these Names, even if in passing, let them hear. We chanters only know that we are singing, and it is the highest good. May the Hare Krishna mantra fly out in gentle and swaying melodies, Bengali rhythms heard half a block away, and may the singers, humorous and aware, go on serving their Lord in the shelter of the yuga-dharma. May the holy name fill our lungs as we sing God’s names. Save us from Kali’s band!”

“Successful chanting means the Lord is pleased with you, and He reciprocates.”

“Dear Lord Krishna, dear Srila Prabhupada,

I feel energy for creating literary works; it makes me joyful. I want to use it in your service. As Srila Prabhupada writes, a devotee’s only thought is ‘Where is there an opportunity to preach Krishna consciousness?’ You are granting me the chance to praise you in writing. You allow me to print and distribute books as few authors are allowed. I’m not a qualified craftsman or great thinker or poet—still you allow me. It’s you who are to be praised, since you give all authors intelligence. Besides, what is there to write about but your universe, love and life which comes from you? Ultimately, you are the object of literature. I pray to serve you. You are making me very happy. I want to make others happy in Krishna consciousness. All glories to you.”

“Keep on trying,

chant and pick flowers

for your smiling God.”

“I recently received six tapes by Ravindra-svarupa Prabhu and six by Sadaputa Prabhu. I listened to them during breakfast and lunch and with hot milk at night. They comfort me and guard me and inspire me. Both of these men are brilliant intellectuals, and both have a strong faith (nistha) in Srila Prabhupada’s teachings. It comforts me to have their friendship in this way, and their strong faith guards me. They inspire me because they are presenting the ‘old’ teaching in new ways, help us to see Krishna consciousness, not as sectarian religion, but as all-embracing truth.”

“Books and writing are okay,

and eating and sleeping are okay,

and my attempt

to say my prayers is okay,

and so is the fact that even a little devotional service

will never be lost.

But it would be nice to break through,

and rise to the next higher step.”

“Srila Prabhupada has taught us well,

but a slow student

goes on serving without the higher taste.

I know exactly what is wrong,

but I am helpless to cast off the bonds—

attachment to the senses,

and the tendency to speculate.

I pray

that You please find a way

to transform me;

please make me into a loving soul,

proclaiming Your glories.”

“Kala moves us along, sometimes gently and sometimes with rude force. We’re never in control.”

“Getting ready to travel produces a life-sadness, uneasiness—more aware than usual that my life will eventually end, as it does for everyone.”

“Srila Prabhupada said that Radha is the best devotee of Krishna. She loves Him purely. We should follow Her example of trying to please and satisfy the Supreme Lord by our loving service. That’s the essence of Radha aside from more technical descriptions of the Lord’s internal energies and the mood of conjugal rasa. This simple meaning is perhaps the best way for me to understand Radha.”

-----

I asked Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami if he had any favorite verses, and the first one he mentioned was Bhagavad-gita 6.30:

yo mam pasyati sarvatra

sarvam ca mayi pasyati

tasyaham na pranasyami

sa ca me na pranasyati

“For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.”

When he said that it reminded me of how in his writings there are so many examples of seeing Krishna in nature. Thus it made sense that he would like that verse.

Lord Kapila was very much satisfied by His mother’s questions because the answers stimulate one’s desire for liberation from the conditional life of material existence. Such questions are called apavarga-vardhanam.

Those who have actual spiritual interest are called sat, or devotees. Satam prasangat. Sat means “that which eternally exists,” and asat means “that which is not eternal.” Unless one is situated on the spiritual platform, he is not sat; he is asat.

The asat stands on a platform which will not exist, but anyone who stands on the spiritual platform will exist eternally. As spirit soul, everyone exists eternally, but the asat has accepted the material world as his shelter, and therefore he is full of anxiety.

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To commemorate the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America, we shall read and discuss the second poem that he wrote on the ship Jaladuta when he arrived in the Boston harbor on September 17, 1965.

Poem [translation]:

1:  My dear Lord Krishna, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not know why You have brought me here. Now You can do whatever You like with me.

2:  But I guess You have some business here. Otherwise, why would You bring me to this terrible place?

3:  Most of the population here is covered by the material modes of ignorance and passion. Absorbed in material life, they think themselves very happy and satisfied, and therefore they have no taste for the transcendental message of Vasudeva. I do not know how they will be able to understand it.

4:  But I know Your causeless mercy can make everything possible, because You are the most expert mystic.

5:  How will they understand the mellows of devotional service? O Lord, I am simply praying for Your mercy so that I will be able to convince them about Your message.

6:  All living entities have come under the control of the illusory energy by Your will, and therefore, if You like, by Your will they can also be released from the clutches of illusion. I wish that You may deliver them.

7:  I wish that You may deliver them. Therefore, if You so desire their deliverance, then only will they be able to understand Your message.

8:  The words of Srimad-Bhagavatam are Your incarnation, and if a sober person repeatedly receives them with submissive aural reception, then he will be able to understand Your message.

9:  It is said in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17–21): ‘Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses the desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who relishes His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. By regularly hearing the Bhagavatam and rendering service unto the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is practically destroyed, and loving service unto the glorious Lord, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact. At the time loving service is established in the heart, the modes of passion [rajas] and ignorance [tamas], and lust and desire [kama] disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness and he becomes happy. Thus established in the mode of goodness, the man rejuvenated by loving service to the Lord gains liberation from material association [mukti] and comes to know scientifically of the Personality of Godhead. Thus the knot in the heart and all misgivings are cut to pieces. The chain of fruitive actions [karma] is terminated when one sees the self as master.”

10:  He will become liberated from the influence of the modes of ignorance and passion and thus all inauspicious things accumulated in the core of the heart will disappear.

11:  How will I make them understand the message of Krishna consciousness? I am very unfortunate, unqualified, and the most fallen. Therefore I am seeking Your benediction so that I can convince them, for I am powerless to do so on my own.

12:  Somehow or other, O Lord, You have brought me here to speak about You. Now, my Lord, it is up to You to make me a success or failure as You like.

13:  O spiritual master of all the worlds! I can simply repeat Your message, so if You like You can make my power of speaking suitable for their understanding.

14:  Only by Your causeless mercy will my words become pure. I am sure that when this transcendental message penetrates their hearts they will certainly feel engladdened and thus become liberated from all unhappy conditions of life.

15:  O Lord, I am just like a puppet in Your hands. So if You have brought me here to dance, then make me dance, make me dance. O Lord, make me dance as You like.

16:  I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krishna. I have been designated as Bhaktivedanta, and now if You like You can fulfill the real purport of Bhaktivedanta.

Signed—the most unfortunate, insignificant beggar,

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami,
on board the ship Jaladuta,
Commonwealth Pier,
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
dated 18th of September, 1965

 

Sri Prahlada dasa:

I shall read from the introduction to the section in The Science of Self-Realization entitled “Srila Prabhupada Arrives in America”:

“On September 17, 1965, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada arrived in Boston on board the ship Jaladuta, carrying within his heart the orders of his spiritual master to spread the teachings of Sri Chaitanya beyond the borders of India throughout the entire world. As he looked upon Boston’s bleak and dirty skyline, he could understand the difficulty of this sacred mission and felt great compassion for those godless people. Thus, with perfect humility, he composed this historic prayer in Bengali, praying for the deliverance of the fallen souls.”

Verse 1: “My dear Lord Krishna, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not know why You have brought me here. Now You can do whatever You like with me.”

Here, Srila Prabhupada is expressing strong sentiments. First, Krishna is always kind to His devotee. Srila Prabhupada, in his humility, is calling himself a useless soul and asking Krishna, “You are so kind, but if You are so kind, why have You brought me to this place? Obviously, You have some plan.”

It is interesting how Srila Prabhupada sees his coming to America as Krishna’s bringing him, although he himself made so much endeavor to fulfill the mission of his spiritual master and come to the West, such as cultivating Sumati Morarji to get her to sponsor his journey. He had to convince her; it wasn’t easy. She was reluctant because of Srila Prabhupada’s age and the fact that he didn’t have any friends or relatives in America. So, he had to convince her, but still he is saying to Krishna, “I don’t know why You brought me here.” He is seeing that it was actually Krishna who made the arrangements and who brought him to the United States.

That is how the devotee sees any experience he has in life: he sees it as Krishna’s mercy. It is said that when Gaurakisora dasa Babaji would go about Navadvipa, if he saw a boy who was dark, he would think of him as Krishna, and if he saw a boy who was fair, he would think of him as Gaura. And if one of the boys would touch him, he would say, “Look, Yasoda Mayi, your Gopala has punched me!” or “Look, Saci Mata, your Gaura is making a face at me!” So, he was seeing Krishna everywhere. We might see rascal boys misbehaving and become angry at them and want to correct them, but Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja’s vision was completely transcendental.

The principle here is to see everything as Krishna’s arrangement. And we also have to try to develop that vision, to see Krishna’s plan in everything, to see Krishna’s arrangement in everything—that we have surrendered to Him and so He is taking care of us. Sometimes we may experience setbacks or disappointments, but actually Krishna has some reason for giving them to us. We should try to understand that, and if we do, we’ll never be disappointed in life. We’ll be always happy in Krishna’s mercy, even in adversity.

Srila Prabhupada says, “Why have You brought me here? Whatever the case, do with me as You like.” And this is very much the mood of this poem—Prabhupada’s complete surrender: “I am Your instrument. You can use me. You can engage me as You wish. I have no personal agenda. My agenda is whatever You desire. I am here to accept Your desire as my life and soul, to give everything to please You, to serve You.”

Verse 2: “But I guess You have some business here. Otherwise, why would You bring me to such a terrible place?”

This is an interesting perspective. In India everyone wants to go to America, because it’s the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” But here Srila Prabhupada is arriving in America and calling it “a terrible place.” When he was staying in London, there was a famous presenter who had a popular television show. He would invite different personalities and ask them difficult questions that embarrassed them on the set, and that’s why he was so popular. So, he invited Prabhupada. Knowing the man’s reputation and thinking that he would try to humiliate Prabhupada on screen, the devotees were reluctant to let Prabhupada go. They humbly advised him, “Srila Prabhupada, we don’t think you should go for this.” But Srila Prabhupada replied, “No, it is our duty. We must go.”

So, Prabhupada went, and he sat comfortably in the chair, and then the interviewer, as usual, began with some casual question—just to make the guest comfortable before he brought in the punch. He asked Srila Prabhupada, “So, how do you like it here in London?” Generally, everyone would give the same cliché answer: “It’s wonderful. I really like it. I am really enjoying myself here. It’s so good to be in this great city.” That’s the expected response—being positive on screen. But Srila Prabhupada answered, “London? London is hell!”

The interviewer was shocked; it wasn’t the expected response. He didn’t know how to continue. Prabhupada had actually stumped him. There was a short period of silence. The interviewer had his plan, but this—“London is hell!”—wasn’t part of the script. So, there were some moments of uncomfortable silence. Then Prabhupada saved the day. He said, “But it is a great credit to the British people that they have built such a beautiful city under such hellish conditions, with hellish weather.” And from then on, the interviewer was very respectful, and Prabhupada actually got to preach. Srila Prabhupada was so expert. His view was that this material world is hellish. Whether it is America or England, it’s all the material world and so it’s hellish.

In his poem, Srila Prabhupada has just come from Sri Vrindavan dhama, Radha-Damodar Mandir, and now he is arriving in Boston: “Why would you bring me to this terrible place?”

Another thing I remember here is Srila Prabhupada’s statement in Gainesville, Florida, while he was sitting on his vyasasana, after beholding a painting of Lord Chaitanya and His associates in the temple room: “It is so nice to see so many young boys and girls here in this remote corner of the world, so far away from the birthplace of Lord Chaitanya.” His perspective was that this was a terrible place and that he was here only for Krishna’s work, only for Krishna’s pleasure, only to fulfill Krishna’s desire: to deliver the conditioned souls—to give them a spark of Krishna consciousness, a ray of bhakti.

Now Prabhupada describes why it is a terrible place:

Verse 3: “Most of the population here is covered by the material modes of ignorance and passion. Absorbed in material life, they think themselves very happy and satisfied, and therefore they have no taste for the transcendental message of Vasudeva. I do not know how they will able to understand it.”

This is why people cannot understand—because they are covered by ignorance and passion. The nature of passion is that we become feverish to enjoy material life. We hanker. We make schemes and plans, and then, when they are not fulfilled, we become disappointed and fall into ignorance, depression, apathy, bewilderment, madness. This is bhoga-tyaga: desire for enjoyment and then so-called renunciation, the “sour grapes” philosophy of the fox who couldn’t reach some grapes: “Anyway, they are sour. Who needs them? Who wants them?” First he is trying so hard to jump and catch them, but when he is not successful he says, “What’s the use, anyway? They are sour.” He becomes very renounced. So that is our situation in material life, material conditioning. We are constantly fluctuating between these two states of bhoga and tyaga, the desire for enjoyment and false renunciation. And because of this, it is difficult to develop attachment or attraction to the transcendental message of Vasudeva. We are so absorbed in materialistic life that the message of Vasudeva has no appeal. And so Srila Prabhupada is wondering, “How will I be able to tell them of Krishna? How will I be able to tell them of Sri Vrindavan dhama and devotional service?”

Not only is it very difficult; it is almost impossible, and it is a miracle that Srila Prabhupada accomplished what he did. No one else could do it, not even all the other great acharyas who had appeared in this world. They taught in Bharata-varsha, in India, where the Lord Himself made His appearance and where the Vedas are generally understood and respected. But that Prabhupada was able to come to this foreign land and instill this sraddha, this faith, in the hearts of the Westerners is a great miracle. Bhaktivinoda Thakura envisioned it and endeavored for it himself. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura spoke with Westerners (as did Bhaktivinoda Thakura) and personally sent his disciples to the West to try to do it, and he was maintaining them in London. But it was Srila Prabhupada who was actually successful in performing this miraculous feat. And by reading these songs, we can get a taste, or a glimpse, of how and why: it was by his surrender to Krishna, his humility, his absolute faith in the instruction of his spiritual master.

When we were in Bombay some years ago, some Sri Vaishnavas came to the Chowpatty Temple. They wanted to speak with somebody, and they were introduced to me. So, we sat in the temple room, and they said, “We have a very important question.”

“Yes—please. We are not very qualified, but we’ll try to answer.”

They asked, “Who is Prabhupada?”

“Prabhupada is our spiritual master. He took Krishna consciousness to the West and started—”

“No, no. We know that. We know about his life and his achievements. But who is he?”

It was a very esoteric question. I said, “You should explain a little more what you want to know.”

They explained, “Ramanujacharya—we know that he is Sesa, that he is Laksmana, that he is Balarama. We know. So, Ramanujacharya was able to teach Vaishnavism throughout India, though mainly in Southern India. But your Prabhupada took it all over the world. Who is he?”

I replied, “We can’t answer that question. Once, Prabhupada was asked, ‘Who are you?’ and he said, ‘If I told you, you would faint.’ And that is as much as we know. Still, we can understand that he is such an intimate servitor of the Lord that he was able to perform such an important and confidential service, fulfilling the vision of the acharyas and the plan of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who said, prthivite ache yata nagaradi-grama: ‘In all the villages and towns of the world My name will be chanted.’ ”

Their next question was, “How did he do it?”

I answered, “You know, he went and chanted—”

But they interrupted, “No. That’s the external, but how actually did he do it?—because no one else was able to do it.”

I replied, “Well, this is also a difficult question to answer.” But I suggested that it was by his faith in the words of his spiritual master. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati gave him the order, and he understood that it was the desire of his spiritual master and of the acharyas and of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and that because it was their desire, so it would be. Because of that faith and surrender, he was able to do the impossible.

Verse 5: “How will they understand the mellows of devotional service? O Lord, I am simply praying for Your mercy so that I will be able to convince them about Your message.”

Giriraj Swami:

Verse 6: “All living entities have come under the control of the illusory energy by Your will, and therefore, if You like, by Your will they can also be released from the clutches of illusion. I wish that You may deliver them.”

Verse 7: “I wish that You may deliver them. Therefore, if You so desire their deliverance, then only will they be able to understand Your message.”

In reply to the question “How?” Srila Prabhupada answers, “By Your mercy,” by Krishna’s mercy. But Krishna’s mercy is not the whole answer; it is actually by Srila Prabhupada’s appeal to Krishna for His mercy.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura discusses how the conditioned souls get bhakti. He proves with evidence from the scriptures that one cannot get bhakti by karma or jnana (by fruitive activities or mental speculation), or by austerities, charity, mystic perfections, or any other pious acts. He quotes from the Bhagavatam (11.3.31), bhaktya sanjataya bhaktya: bhakti comes from bhakti.

How does bhakti come from bhakti? What is the actual process? He says that someone may propose that one gets bhakti by the mercy of Krishna. But Krishna is equal to all. He is the supreme father of all living entities, so He must be equal to all. So, we cannot simply say that the cause of bhakti is the mercy of Krishna, because Krishna would bestow bhakti equally on everyone, whereas we see that some get bhakti while others do not. Then Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says, “One could propose that one gets bhakti by the mercy of the devotee.” But again one might argue that the devotee, like the Lord, should be equal to everyone.

Here Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that the preacher, the madhyama-bhakta, by nature shows partiality or discretion in distributing mercy, as stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.2.46): prema-maitri-krpopeksa yah karoti sa madhyama—he gives his love to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, makes friendship with devotees, shows mercy to the innocent, and neglects the envious. Thus, giving mercy, specifically to the innocent, is the preacher’s function. Therefore, even though a maha-bhagavata such as Srila Prabhupada in the ultimate sense sees everyone equally, everyone as a servant of Krishna and therefore in no need of mercy, when he takes the position of a preacher and functions as a preacher, he does give mercy, especially to the innocent. How does he give the mercy? He prays to Krishna to give mercy, and thus it is said that the mercy of Krishna follows the mercy of the devotee.

Here I have my own experience: I met Srila Prabhupada in 1969 in Boston, and I was touched by him. I felt that he was the spiritual master for whom I had been looking. After about three months, the devotees there needed another pujari. (In those days one could be a pujari after first initiation.) They thought, “He has been here for a while; why not recommend him?” So Satsvarupa Maharaja, as the temple president, recommended me. Srila Prabhupada was in Los Angeles at the time, so I suppose in one sense I was actually initiated there. He sent back a letter: “Your initiated name is Giriraj. Giriraj is a name for Govardhan Hill where Krishna used to tend His cows. Sometimes devotees take a stone from Govardhan Hill and worship it as Krishna. So, I marked it in your person when I was in Boston, and I prayed to Krishna that this good soul may be aware of the importance of Krishna consciousness.”

What is our qualification? When I look for my qualifications, I don’t find any. Our only qualification is that Srila Prabhupada took compassion on us and gave us his mercy: He prayed to Krishna for us, just as he says here in the poem.

Coming back to Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura’s discussion, someone could question, “Why should Krishna listen to the prayers of the devotee? So many people are praying to Krishna; why should He listen especially to the devotee? Is that not also partiality?” Here Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that of all of Krishna’s qualities, the quality of being affectionate to His devotees, bhakta-vatsalya, is considered the supermost, the emperor that conquers over all the Lord’s other qualities and reconciles all contradictions. So being partial to His devotees is not a fault (dusanam) in Krishna but an ornament (bhusanam)—His most exalted quality. He really has no desire other than to please His devotees, just as the devotees have no desire other than to please Krishna. So when a devotee such as Srila Prabhupada prays to Krishna to give mercy to the fallen souls, or to a particular soul, Krishna readily does it—to please His devotee.

Years after my initiation, I found the verses that Srila Prabhupada paraphrased here in “The Prayers of the Personified Vedas” from Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.87.14). The personified Vedas prayed to the Lord, “The fallen souls are under the control of maya, and maya is under Your control. Therefore, if you show them Your mercy, they can be released from the control of maya. We pray that You kindly do so.”

The same verse was quoted by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to Vasudeva Datta. Vasudeva Datta had prayed, “Let all the sinful reactions of all the living entities in the entire universe fall upon me,” and Lord Chaitanya became overwhelmed with love for him and began to tremble and weep out of affection.

Generally, we wouldn’t accept the sinful reactions of even one living entity. There is the famous story of Valmiki. Valmiki was a thief, but he wasn’t stealing for himself; he was stealing for the sake of his family. Then Narada came and asked Valmiki’s wife, “Your husband is stealing for your sake, not for his sake. You are enjoying because he is stealing for you. Will you at least take some share of the sinful reactions?” “No!” she replied. “Why should I? He is the one who is doing the stealing—not I.”

So, we don’t want to take anyone’s sinful reactions. Just our own sinful reactions are hard enough to tolerate. Yet here Vasudeva Datta is saying he will take the reactions for every living entity in the whole universe. We cannot even conceive of how much suffering he would have to undergo. He said, “Let me suffer in a hellish condition perpetually,” and he spoke without duplicity. Sometimes we may say things to sound good, to say the right thing, to sound like a pure devotee. But Vasudeva Datta was serious. Thus, when Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu heard what he said, His heart melted and He told him, “You need not suffer their sinful reactions. By your desire alone they can be liberated. Krishna fulfills the desires of His pure devotees. So, by your desire, He can liberate them without your accepting their sinful reactions.” And Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu quoted the same verse from “The Prayers of the Personified Vedas”: “O Lord, kindly conquer the nescience of the living entities by Your grace.”

So, from one point of view, this is the secret: In his sincere love and compassion, and in his intimate relationship with Krishna, Srila Prabhupada prayed for us, and Krishna reciprocated.

But again, what is the method by which we get the mercy? Srila Prabhupada wrote, “So I prayed to Krishna that this soul may be aware of the importance of Krishna consciousness.” In other words, we must become aware of the value of Krishna consciousness and then take to the process that Srila Prabhupada gave. Thus we come to the second part of Verse 7: “If You so desire their deliverance, then only will they be able to understand Your message.”

Many people heard Srila Prabhupada’s message, Krishna’s message, but not all developed faith in it. The beginning of bhakti is faith (adau sraddha). Thus, when we ask how one gets bhakti, we really mean, how does one get sraddha, which is bhakti in its initial stage.

Here “faith” means faith in the words of the scriptures and the words of the spiritual master that glorify and explain the process of bhakti. Prabhupada, in utter humility, prayed that Krishna make his words suitable, and he also prayed that Krishna enlighten us, or inspire us, with appreciation for His message. Thus Srila Prabhupada, in the mood of utter surrender, really saw that Krishna was doing everything: Krishna was inspiring him to speak, and Krishna was inspiring us to appreciate what he said.

Even we, as servants of Srila Prabhupada, had the same mood—though not to the same degree—when we tried to distribute books. We prayed, “Please empower me to approach this person; please inspire me to approach this person. Please make my words suitable.” We would pray to Krishna—especially while the person was looking at the book and considering whether or not to buy it—“Please inspire this person to take the book. Please inspire this person to do service.” That is the mood.

Of course, here Srila Prabhupada is speaking in the mood of compassion, praying for the sake of others, but we can pray even for our own protection. It is not wrong to pray for our own protection. Once, in a lecture at Bhaktivedanta Manor, Srila Prabhupada said, “All of you can fall down, but I cannot fall down.” After the lecture, Srila Prabhupada came before the Deities and was praying, and later one disciple asked him, “Srila Prabhupada, what were you praying?” Srila Prabhupada replied, “I was praying that I may never fall down.” The disciple, astonished, objected, “But Srila Prabhupada, you just said that you cannot fall down.” And Srila Prabhupada explained, “Yes, because I am always praying that I may never fall down, therefore I can never fall down.”

Verse 9 is actually a series of five verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam, and we shall read the translations:

Verse 9: “It is said in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17): ‘Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses the desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who relishes his messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.’ ”

Earlier, Srila Prabhupada had said, “Because the population is absorbed in material enjoyment, they cannot appreciate the message of Vasudeva.” And now he is saying, “If they hear the message of Vasudeva, the desire for material enjoyment will be cleansed from their hearts.” The idea here is similar to Rupa Gosvami’s verse that says that even though the sweet holy names, forms, qualities, and pastimes of Krishna may be bitter to the diseased conditioned souls, if they take the medicine of the holy names they will be cured of the disease, and then they will be able to relish the sweetness.

“By regularly hearing the Bhagavatam and rendering service unto the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is practically destroyed, and loving service unto the glorious Lord, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.” (SB 1.2.18)

So, both methods work—serving the person bhagavata and reading the book Bhagavata—and from the very beginning, Srila Prabhupada engaged the devotees in service. One famous example was when a man walked into the storefront temple at 26 Second Avenue in New York with some rolls of toilet paper and offered them to Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada accepted them and said, “He has begun his devotional service.” Another time, someone came with some Mayavadi leaflets, and Prabhupada accepted them too. Later, when the devotees were distributing prasada, he handed out those leaflets for the guests to use as paper plates. So, Prabhupada knew the value of service, and he did whatever he could to engage anyone and everyone in devotional service.

“At that time loving service is established in the heart, and the modes of passion [rajas] and ignorance [tamas] and lust and desire [kama] disappear from the heart.” (SB 1.2.19)

Earlier, Prabhupada had prayed, “People are covered by passion and ignorance; how will they be able to understand Your message?” Now he says that by hearing the book Bhagavata from the person bhagavata and rendering service to the person bhagavata, one will be freed from the lower modes and become established in goodness. Then he will be able to understand the message. “Then the devotee is established in goodness and becomes happy.” (SB 1.2.19)

“Thus established in the mode of goodness, the person rejuvenated by loving service to the Lord gains liberation from material association [mukti] and comes to know scientifically of the Personality of Godhead. Thus the knot in the heart and all misgivings are cut to pieces. The chain of fruitive actions [karma] is terminated when one sees the Self as master.” (SB 1.2.20–21)

So, Srila Prabhupada prayed to Krishna to give His mercy to us, to make his words suitable and to make us appreciate his message. But then again, we also have to take up the process, and here I think of the example of a person fallen in a well. On his own, he cannot get out. But if someone comes and sends a rope down into the well, he can be delivered. Still, he has to make the effort and hold on to the rope. The mercy of the spiritual master is that he gives us proper instructions, and if we hold on to the instructions, he will lift us out of the well of material existence and deliver us to the lotus feet of Krishna.

Once, in Bombay, when a disciple said to Srila Prabhupada, “Please give me your mercy that I may follow your instructions,” Prabhupada replied, “It is like you are in a well and I hand down a rope to lift you out and you are praying, ‘O Prabhupada! O Prabhupada! Please make my fingers curl around the rope and hold on.’ ” Srila Prabhupada explained, “My mercy is that I send down the rope, but you have to hold on to it.” So, Srila Prabhupada’s mercy is that he gives us the instructions and prays to Krishna that we can appreciate the instructions. But we also have to do our part. Therefore, because both are involved—mercy and effort—if someone was too far on one side, Srila Prabhupada would emphasize the other side to bring the person to the proper position.

Another time in Bombay, an Indian gentleman came to Srila Prabhupada and said, “Swamiji, Swamiji, please save me. Only you can save me. I am drowning in the ocean of material existence. Please save me. Only you can save me.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “I cannot save you. But I can give you the method by which you can save yourself. But you have to do the work.” This is the combination that works: on the one side Srila Prabhupada’s mercy in the form of his instructions and his prayers to Krishna that we can appreciate His mercy and instructions, and on the other side our efforts. But of course, Srila Prabhupada also inspired us to make efforts, and he continues to do so today.

Sri Prahlada dasa:

We also have the example of Yasoda trying to bind Krishna with ropes but being unsuccessful. The ropes are always two inches too short. She is struggling, taking ropes from all over the house, tying them together, but still the ropes are two inches too short. When Krishna sees the perspiration on her forehead, when He sees that the flowers that were decorating her hair have fallen to the ground and that her hair has become disarrayed, and how she is working so hard to bind Him, He thinks, “Okay. Let her bind Me.” And so she finally ties that knot, and Krishna is bound. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that the two inches of rope that were missing represent two things: one is the endeavor of the devotee, and the other is Krishna’s mercy, Krishna’s agreement. When Krishna gives His mercy and the devotee endeavors to take that mercy, then we are successful in binding Krishna, or achieving Krishna. Of course, that mercy comes to us by Krishna’s grace.

Giriraj Swami:

Verse 10: “He will become liberated from the influence of the modes of ignorance and passion and thus all inauspicious things accumulated in the core of the heart will disappear.”

The three modes of material nature (sattva, rajas, and tamas) are the constituents of material nature, and the spiritual nature also has three constituents—samvit, sandini, and hladini, or eternity, knowledge, and bliss (sac-cid-ananda). They translate in this material nature as goodness, passion, and ignorance. They are the opposite of transcendence. Because we are covered by these modes of material nature, we cannot appreciate the message of Vasudeva. However, by contacting the pure devotee and hearing that message, these troublesome things in the heart are cleaned away, and then we can appreciate the message of Vasudeva.

Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says, ceto-darpana marjanam: the cetah, or the consciousness, which is also the heart, is cleaned of all the dust accumulated for years on it. When a mirror is covered with dust, you cannot see yourself in it. You cannot see who you are. But when that dust is cleaned away, you can see yourself. Similarly, when the mirror of the heart is cleaned, we can understand our nature as soul, as servant of Krishna.

Verse 11: “How will I make them understand the message of Krishna consciousness? I am very unfortunate, unqualified, and the most fallen. Therefore I am seeking Your benediction so that I can convince them, for I am powerless to do so on my own.”

It is not something mechanical or artificial; one has to become empowered by the Lord. One has to become saktyavesa, an empowered representative of the Lord, and then that dynamic is there. Certainly, Srila Prabhupada was empowered by Krishna because of his full dedication, full faith, and full surrender. It is not a material phenomenon, that one can represent the Lord and transform the heart of the conditioned soul; it is a transcendental phenomenon.

Verse 16: “I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krishna. I have been designated as Bhaktivedanta, and now if You like You can fulfill the real purport of Bhaktivedanta.”

Bhakti means “devotion” and vedanta means “knowledge.” Actually, veda means “knowledge” and anta means “the end.” So vedanta means “the end of knowledge,” or “the conclusion of all knowledge.” Here Srila Prabhupada is saying, “I am designated as Bhaktivedanta, but I have no bhakti or Vedanta. But if You like, You can make me Bhaktivedanta.” And so we come back to Srila Prabhupada’s secret. How did he succeed? He says, “I have strong faith in the holy name of Krishna.” Sri Prahlada mentioned Prabhupada’s faith in his spiritual master and in the previous acharyas, and along with such faith comes faith in the process of devotional service and especially in the holy names.

We should always treat Vaishnavas with respect. Obviously, if they directly or indirectly criticize or attack Srila Prabhupada or Srila Prabhupada’s movement, we have to defend. But otherwise, our attitude should be respectful. We should appreciate their service, however big or small it may be.

Srila Prabhupada had a godbrother, Akincana Krishnadasa Babaji Maharaja, who was always absorbed in hari-nama. Prabhupada said that he was a paramahamsa, a liberated soul. So, Krishnadasa Babaji met another of Srila Prabhupada’s godbrothers, who had been sent by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to England to preach. And Babaji Maharaja asked him, “You went to the West and Swami Maharaja (our Srila Prabhupada, Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja) also went to the West. You presented the teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and he presented the teachings of Mahaprabhu. You chanted the holy name of Krishna, and he chanted the holy name of Krishna. Yet he was successful, and you were not. Why?” Then Babaji Maharaja himself gave the answer: “Because Swami Maharaja had full faith in the holy names, that if the Westerners just chanted the holy names of Krishna, gradually they would become Krishna conscious, they would become devotees.”

For a while in Calcutta, the temple president somehow became absorbed in doing business, in making money for the temple, and the devotees in the temple were being neglected. We were poor—very poor. We couldn’t afford milk. And even if we could, we wouldn’t know what white liquid we might get. The milkmen used to soak paper in watery milk to add bulk to the liquid, and what “milk” we got was often a combination of buffalo milk, water, and paper.

So, there was a devotee there named Sudama Vipra. He had tattoos, and he was really strong. But even he was starving. We all were starving. So after the arati, he would collect the ghee wicks and squeeze them to try to get a drop or two of ghee.

We were all just waiting for Srila Prabhupada to come and save us. When he did come, different devotees met him and complained, and then he called a meeting. He listened very patiently and sympathetically to all the devotees’ complaints. At one point the GBC there said, “Srila Prabhupada, I was just trying to execute the will of Your Divine Grace.” And Srila Prabhupada said sarcastically, “Is it My Divine Grace’s will that all the devotees should be disturbed?”

So, he was very sympathetic to the devotees. He said that we should have meetings every week and that we should record our resolutions in the minutes book and stick to the resolutions. He was very concerned.

But then Srila Prabhupada’s mood changed. He told us that we shouldn’t be too absorbed in these material matters, because the tendency of the conditioned souls is to become engrossed in material things, and if we get too preoccupied and just talk about material things, we’ll forget Krishna. We won’t talk about Krishna.

Then he told us, “My motto has always been ‘Everything for Krishna and nothing for myself.’ Therefore I never complained.” He said, “I suffered so much for the sake of this movement”—for our sake, really. “I had two heart attacks on the ship on the way to New York. Then in New York City I had a stroke.” And he confided, “Even otherwise, I had headaches and ringing in my ears. . . . You cannot conceive of how much I suffered, and I don’t want to discuss it. But my motto was always ‘Everything for Krishna and nothing for myself.’ ” And that is Prabhupada. That is Prabhupada.

Then: “Signed—the most unfortunate, insignificant beggar, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.”

This poem was first published in Back to Godhead many years ago, by early 1971, which is when I first heard it. A few of us were living in the Sea Palace Hotel in Bombay. Srila Prabhupada had a friend from England named Ramchand Chhabria, who owned the hotel. He was vegetarian and the hotel was vegetarian and we didn’t have any other place to stay, so he invited us to stay there. When the magazine came, there were just a few of us—Guru dasa Prabhu, Yamuna Devi, and myself. The first article was the poem. Yamuna Devi read it out loud. And when she came to this—“Signed—the most unfortunate, insignificant beggar, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami”—she burst into tears. She just couldn’t contain herself.

So, what can we say here?

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

[Talks by Giriraj Swami and Sri Prahlada dasa, September 28, 2002, Three Rivers, California]
 

 

 

 

Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America marked the beginning of a transformative journey that would lead to the establishment of ISKCON and the spread of Krishna consciousness worldwide.

His journey aboard the Jaladuta was marked by significant challenges, including sea sickness and two heart-attacks. Despite these difficulties, Srila Prabhupada remained steadfast in his mission, relying on the guidance of Lord Krishna to navigate his way through the challenges.

Upon reaching New York, he was alone, with no visible means of support, and had to rely on his own resources to establish ISKCON. His diary entries from the journey provide a glimpse into his thoughts and experiences during this critical period. 

The Hare Krishna Movement has two types of reaching out to people, “outreach” which is bringing in new students and practitioners who have no background in Krishna consoiuness, but another type is “in-reach” which is finding ways to inspire, engage and train the next generation by reaching out to youth who are born in the
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Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 21, No. 36
By Krishna Kripa Das
(Week 36: September 3–9, 2025)

New York City

(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls, New York, on September 13, 2025)

Where I Went and What I Did

The thirty-sixth week of 2025, I participated in NYC Harinam for four hours in the afternoon and evening, as I usually do when I am in New York. Sunday I did a walking harinama around Brooklyn with Arjunananda Prabhu and his Gita Life devotees for about two hours. Monday and Tuesday I was engaged in cooking the evening offerings. I discovered that if I cook the first offering extra early, I could come on 2:23 hours of harinama before returning to the temple to do the transfer and cook the second offering. Then on Tuesday I chanted at Atlantic Avenue / Barclay’s Center for 1:15 hours to bring my average up to 3 hours for the two days. There three people took “On Chanting Hare Krishna” and invitations to our temple programs.

I share quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam and Second Chance. I share quotes from Sri Caitanya-bhagavata by Vrindavana Dasa Thakura and its commentary by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. I share quotes from the writings of Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I share notes on lectures by Janardana Swami and Hansarupa, Rama Raya, Shadbhuj Gauranga, Vraja Mohan (of India), and Mathuranatha Prabhus. I share a realization from Bhakta Larry.

Many, many thanks to Atmanivedanta Prabhu for his generous donation. Thanks to Ahaituki Prema Prabhu for the videos and photos of me on NYC Harinam.

Itinerary

September 12–October ??: serve Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami
 – September 25–26: Philadelphia harinama?
 – September 27: Philadelphia Ratha-yatra?
October ??–December 31: NYC Harinam

Chanting Hare Krishna in New York

Piu chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/MPODF3ZF1OY):

Keshava Madhava Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/tmXIOU2IgLk):

Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/dE1UbUDAiKY):

I also chanted Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtube.com/shorts/CIiSbPC704k):

Here I chant Hare Krishna the next day at Union Square (https://youtube.com/shorts/Szj5KzHxkyw?feature=share):

Sevika Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna in Union Square (https://youtu.be/cG3tsWBsar0):

Janardana Swami chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtu.be/E6iVddEOB_4):

So, you know, we may have had many kinds of conditionings while growing up. And then, we meet Gurukulis who don’t have such conditionings—they live very purely. My broad understanding is that in this world, there are no unmixed blessings.

What I have observed is that those who grew up in something like a Gurukul, when they reach their teenage years, often develop a mood of rebellion. At that time, they may want to explore the world—and sometimes they do so without any guardrails, even going to extremes.

In general, adolescence is a time of rebellion. For some of us, our rebelliousness toward what we grew up with brings us closer to Krishna. For others, that rebelliousness takes us away from Krishna.

Of course, it’s not easy to say what is ultimately better. Certainly, having a good upbringing is an asset. It’s possible that such a person may not rebel too far—maybe they just experiment a little in the material world, realize its emptiness, and then return. But it’s also possible they may get completely lost in it.

Conversely, those of us who grew up with material conditionings carry those impressions into our bhakti. Old desires and cravings keep popping up, pulling us back. When we go out preaching, we may see things from our past and feel tempted again. But another possibility is that since we have already done those things, the world doesn’t hold the same attraction for us anymore.

So, the principle is: whatever situation we are in, we should ask, “How can this be made favorable for my bhakti?” An upbringing in the material world has its disadvantages, but it can also be turned into an advantage. Because many temptations of the world are not a mystery to us—we have tasted them already.

For children raised in devotee families, the material world may look like a forbidden apple—fascinating simply because it’s forbidden. But for those of us who lived in the material world before coming to Krishna, the world is more like a forsaken apple. We’ve tasted it, and we know it’s not worth it.

Of course, conditionings can still haunt us. If that happens, it’s important to find ways to absorb ourselves in Krishna—not only steady absorption but also “emergency absorption.” Steady absorption means the practices we love and do regularly, like singing, reading, or distributing books. Emergency absorption is what we turn to when cravings hit suddenly. For some it may be chanting, for others hearing a particular devotee’s classes, reading a certain pastime from the Bhagavatam, or even reviewing notes we’ve made from inspiring talks.

If we prepare such resources for both steady and emergency absorption, we can use our past as fuel to strengthen our resolve and keep moving toward Krishna.

Another advantage is that if we later dedicate ourselves to outreach, our past gives us empathy. We can relate to people because we have lived through their struggles. For example, Srila Prabhupada was extraordinarily successful in Western outreach. But after some years, he focused more on India and left Western outreach largely to his Western disciples, recognizing that they could connect more directly with people there.

So, the larger point is: always maintain a positive attitude toward wherever we are in life. You might think, “I was born in an atheistic family, where meat-eating and other things were common.” That’s true. You may not have had a relationship with Krishna then, but Krishna always had a relationship with you. His plan for your life didn’t begin the day you met devotees. He was guiding you even before that.

Krishna says He directs the wanderings of all living beings—not just devotees. He is the well-wisher of everyone (suhridam sarva-bhūtānām). So, even our pre-devotional life was also part of His arrangement for our ultimate well-being.

With that broader vision, we can see our past—whatever it was—as part of Krishna’s plan, and move forward with gratitude and confidence.

Okay. Thank you.

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The experience of Vrindavan has been very enriching and especially the idea of just turning away from the world, transcending the world and focusing on bhakti, that seems remarkably distraction-free and tension-free.

It seems much more joyful. And I agree it is. But the challenge is twofold.

First is that the joy that we experience in bhakti right now, is it because of our connection with Krishna or is it because of the newness of bhakti? Because many of the things that we are doing, the clothes we are wearing are different, the activities we are doing are different. And that newness itself brings some charm to it. So, now Vrindavan is definitely not just a tourist destination for us.

It’s a spiritual home for us. That’s undoubtedly true. At the same time, the fact remains that it is also materially new for us.

And because it’s materially new and spiritually rich, it’s very attractive. But I have seen many devotees who go to Vrindavan and they get lost, not in Krishna and Vrindavan, but lost in Maya and Vrindavan. Because once you go to Vrindavan, initially, it’s very sublimely intoxicating.

But after some time, that newness goes away. And then, even in Vrindavan, there is politics. Even in Vrindavan, there is, it’s a land of devotion, but it’s also a land of deviation.

There are so many people with different conceptions, different practices, people can get confused. So, that thrill that we feel right now, it’s often because of the material newness rather than about the, rather than because of our spiritual connection or a devotional. Are we experiencing devotional richness? Yes, we are, but it’s a small glimpse.

And when we practice bhakti in this world, slowly we start connecting with Krishna and it’s a real and a rich relationship with Krishna that develops. In any relationship, rather think of bhakti as just a set of activities that makes me happy, which is true. But if you see bhakti more as a relationship with Krishna, then any real and responsible relationship, there are some things which give us pleasure and some things which we do, which gives the other person pleasure also.

Now, ideally speaking, if there is a really satisfying relationship, how it should be there? Things that give me pleasure and things that give you pleasure and things that give both of us pleasure. So, the intersection of the two circles will increase more and more and more. And the separate will become, they will be there, but they will become less and less.

That’s in a normal relationship. Now, in our relationship with Krishna, as we become purified, what happens is, the things that give us happiness, they all are within the ambit of Krishna consciousness. And outside the ambit, we don’t need to go.

But that happens through purification. So, purification involves the gradual transformation of our desires. And transformation of desires can happen in three broad ways.

We eliminate certain desires. So, for example, if somebody wants to take drugs or do unrestricted sexual activity, that we eliminate. So, eliminating some desires, that’s one aspect of it.

Then the other is that we engage some of our desires. So, for example, I always was a thinker, I always wanted to write some things. Now, bhakti has given me so many ideas to write.

I don’t have shortage of ideas. I probably have shortage of the focus and the time to write on those ideas, to develop those ideas and write them. But that’s the second thing.

Engage. Now, third is that we, in one sense, we awaken new desires. So, for example, before coming to bhakti, the idea of dancing in kirtan.

Dancing, we had an idea. But dancing in kirtan says we elevate our desires. You could say, awaken, elevate our desires.

That means what? Elevate means those are the desires we have, but they are for elevated purposes. So, we are looking for bigger things in life. So, eliminate, engage, elevate.

Now, we could say, among these things, the most important is to elevate our desires. That means we have higher desires for Krishna. But then, not all other desires can be eliminated.

Some of them need to be engaged also. So, that means when we are working in the world, like we have some abilities, we use them in Krishna’s service. So, since you have been in the ashram for a couple of years now, two years, isn’t it? You observed other things.

So, see that sadhana and seva, you can find your own balance over there. So, have some time for absorption in Krishna by just turning away from the world and life. That’s why I think finding a balance is helpful.

The post If we feel like giving up all our messy services and simply going to Vrindavan for devotional absorption how can we deal with that feeling? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

So, when we have the desires to leave and same we are trying to share with others also. So, well, I think it’s fair enough. There are two ways of looking at desires.

One is the moral way, the other is the clinical way. Moral way is what? That, you know, oh, I am such a sinful person, I am such a terrible person, I have this kind of desires. The clinical way is that the mind is like a machine.

And that machine, it’s like a, it’s diseased right now. There is some disease in it because of which the residual effects of the diseases, some desires are coming and they will keep coming. So, but the disease can be cured.

So, suppose there has been a pandemic and then we have found a treatment which has helped us. We partly, we are still sick, but we are not as sick as others. And we try to share the medicine that has helped us with others.

Now, we are still sick, but we are helping others. Is that hypocrisy? That’s not hypocrisy. That’s basically, yeah, to whatever extent this has worked for me, I am sharing with others.

So, it’s good to be authentic in the sense that don’t claim that we are pure devotees. Don’t claim that I am free from all desires. Say that, you know, I have also had many kinds of desires.

Some of the desires were more destructive than others. And these practices have helped me to find a higher happiness. It’s at least brought my destructive desires under control.

So, if we share with honesty and humility, then that can, that connects with people. And we keep doing those services. Then gradually new impressions are being formed in the mind and new desires will get activated by those impressions.

So, now the past desires that we have, how long will it take for them to go away? It depends. It depends on how deep rooted they are. Sometimes if a desire is coming repeatedly, we can write down.

This is a desire and these are the reasons why I feel I should do those things. And these are the reasons why I don’t want to do those things. So, what happens is, the desires come from the mind and when the mind gets purified, the desires won’t come at all.

But till the mind gets purified, we need our intelligence to combat with the mind. And when the mind has become very strong, at that time it’s very difficult to activate the intelligence immediately. So, at those times we need to have resources prepared by our intelligence previously available for us.

So, if you have, may be identify 3-4 typical desires that keep troubling you, then you confront that desire. This is why I want to do this, this is why I don’t want to do this. Why you don’t want to do this, write it down carefully.

So, you will have those reasons. And then this is why I want to do this, you respond to that. Okay, but is this really true? Okay, pursuing this desire will make me happy.

Will it really make me happy? I pursued so many desires in the past. So, basically write your answers to those things and keep that with you. So, that way rather than requiring your intelligence to become activated at that time to combat that desire, you have equipped your intelligence already and then it’s like a soldier is out on the field and the enemy attacks.

And the soldier cannot say, hey, wait, wait, I have not brought my weapon. Let me go to the weapon. Let me get the weapon back, then I will fight with you.

The soldier has to be carrying the weapon with him. So, like that the wisdom in the books is like the weapons in the barracks, the weapons in the godown or the storehouse wherever. The wisdom that we have prepared and customized that we can readily use.

That is like the weapons on our body, in our pockets, in our belt, wherever. So, we need to have weapons like that with us, which we can utilize. And we just keep doing that until eventually…

The post When unhealthy desires from our past habits keep troubling us what can we do? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

September 13th, 2025 On this auspicious day, Bhakti Gauravani Goswami presents Mārkine Bhāgavata-dharma – Preaching Krishna Consciousness in America, Śrīla Prabhupāda’s heartfelt prayer to Lord Kṛṣṇa, written upon his arrival at Boston Harbor. This edition features the original Bengali poem alongside word-for-word synonyms, an English translation, and a verse-by-verse commentary that brings its timeless message
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prauṣṭhapadyāṁ paurṇamāsyāṁ hema-siṁha-samanvitam

dadāti yo bhāgavataṁ sa yāti paramāṁ gatim SB 12.13.13

“If on the full moon day of the month of Bhādra one places Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam on a golden throne and gives it as a gift, he will attain the supreme transcendental destination.”

In ISKCON, the Bhadra Purnima is celebrated by worshiping the Lord, especially in his literary form of the Srimad Bhagavatam.

The devotees organized a festival at the Radha Gopinatha temple in Baha, Bali, on this occasion. Subhaga Maharaja and I spoke on the glories of Srimad Bhagavatam and many books were distributed to one and all.

Visvarupa-mahotsava marks the occasion on which Lord Chaitanya’s older brother, Visvarupa, took sannyasa, the renounced order of life. And on the same date some four hundred and fifty years later, our own spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, also accepted sannyasa.

According to Vedic literatures, Lord Chaitanya is Krishna Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, come in the present age in the role of a devotee. In the previous age, Lord Krishna came in His original feature and spoke the Bhagavad-gita, and at the conclusion He instructed, sarva-dharman parityaja mam ekam saranam vraja: Give up all other duties and surrender unto Me. But people could not understand or appreciate Lord Krishna’s instruction. So, later, about five hundred years ago, Krishna came again, not in His original form but in His devotional form as Lord Chaitanya. And Lord Chaitanya taught us how to serve Krishna, how to worship God in the present age.

Lord Chaitanya taught various methods of worship, but He especially emphasized the chanting of the holy names of God, Krishna. In particular, He quoted a verse from the Brhan-Naradiya Purana (38.126):

harer nama harer nama
  harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
  nasty eva gatir anyatha

“One should chant the holy name, chant the holy name, chant the holy name of Hari, Krishna. In this age of Kali, there is no other way, no other way, no other way for spiritual realization.”

He acted like a teacher who shows students how to write the alphabet. The teacher stands in front of the class and writes on the board, “A, B, C, D.” The teacher has no need to practice writing, but he shows by his own example how to form the letters properly. In the same way, God, Krishna, had no need to worship, but to set the example for us so that we could learn how to worship Him in the best way in the present age, He came as Lord Chaitanya and taught and demonstrated the chanting of the holy names of Krishna.

When Lord Chaitanya appeared, the social and spiritual system called varnashrama-dharma was still prevalent in India. In this system there are four social and four spiritual divisions, all necessary for society to function properly. Although we may not refer to them by the same terms, and although the system has not been developed as systematically and scientifically as in Vedic culture, still, by the arrangement of nature, the divisions still exist. In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna says, catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah: “According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me.” (Gita 4.13)

The four social orders, broad divisions of occupational duties, are created by Krishna and include first the intelligent class, who are teachers and priests, but mainly teachers. Then there is the martial, or administrative, class, who are rulers and warriors; they govern and protect the citizens. There is the vaishya, or productive, class, who engage in agriculture—farming and cow protection—and, with any surplus, in trade. And there is the service class, or workers, who perform services to support the other three classes.

When a person hears the description of the different social orders and duties, he or she may be alerted to the possibilities for exploitation and domination of the “lower” classes by the “higher.” But in Vedic society the different members work cooperatively for the common good, ultimately for the pleasure of God. In the physical body there are natural divisions—the head, the arms, the stomach, and the legs—and they all have different functions. But they all cooperate for the benefit of the whole. In the social body, the brahmans are compared to the head—they give guidance. The kshatriyas are compared to the arms—they protect the body. The vaishyas are compared to the stomach—they provide food for the body. And the sudras, or workers, are compared to the legs—they carry the rest of the body where it wants to go. There is no question of competition among the different parts of the body—or of exploitation. They all work for the good of the whole.

In addition to the social divisions, there are four spiritual divisions. These are also natural, especially in a culture meant for self-realization and God realization, which Vedic culture is. The first order is the brahmacharis, celibate students. In the traditional system, the brahmachari would study in the ashram of the guru, in the gurukula. He would be trained in principles of good character. And because the main emphasis was on good character and spiritual development, the teachers had to be spiritually qualified.

Here we can see the defect in modern education, in which emphasis is given to material knowledge without much consideration of personal character. Today, practically no spiritual or moral qualification is required of teachers. They may drink, they may smoke, they may gamble, they may do all sorts of nonsense in their “private” lives, but if they know the subject in a material way, they are considered qualified to teach. But in the Vedic system, because the emphasis was on moral character and spiritual development, the teachers, the brahmans, had to both know their subject matter and also be exemplary. The exemplar in the Vedic system was called acharya. Acharya means “one who teaches by example”—not that in the classroom the teacher says, “You should not smoke” but then, outside the classroom, smokes; or that the teacher says, “You shouldn’t drink” but then, outside, drinks.

A friend of ours in Bombay was attending an international conference on drug abuse in Delhi. She is a devotee, and she works with a lot of underprivileged people in the slum areas of Bombay. And in her own way, she tries to introduce Krishna consciousness, seeing how, by God’s grace, it can transform people’s lives, how people who are addicted to drugs can give them up with the spiritual strength gained by chanting and other practices. So, she went to the conference, and during the evenings her colleagues would get together and have parties and drink and smoke and take drugs. Then, during the day, they would meet to discuss what to do about the problem of substance abuse. Socially, she would be with them. After all, they were her friends and colleagues, but when she would attend their parties, they would insist, “Why don’t you have a drink? Have a smoke. Have this, have that.” And she would always refuse.

One night, their party was busted by the police. The only one of them of good character, of spotless character, was our friend, the devotee. Her colleagues knew that her word would be accepted, because she was strict in her habits, so they appealed to her to make up a story that they were conducting an experiment, doing research, on taking drugs. Whatever happened in the end, the point I am making is that in Vedic culture the teachers were supposed to be exemplary. Their character was considered one of their main qualifications as teachers.

So, the first order is brahmachari—celibate students living in the ashram of the guru, the spiritual preceptor. The second order is grihastha—married, or household, life. At the age of twenty or twenty-five, the young man could choose to enter the grihastha-ashrama. At such a time he would take permission from the guru to leave the gurukula, and there would be a ceremony comparable to today’s graduation. The young man would leave and go out into the world, bringing with him all the principles of moral character and spiritual development he had learned in the ashram of the guru.

Then, after living in the grihastha-ashrama, having children and providing for their future, the husband and wife would enter the vanaprastha-ashrama, retired life. They would retire, not to while away their time in idle pursuits and reminiscences, but to realize God. Of course, there is no harm in reminiscing sometimes, but they had a positive engagement, and their positive engagement was spiritual perfection.

The first instruction of the Bhagavad-gita is:

dehino ’smin yatha dehe
  kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
  dhiras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.” (Gita 2.13) In other words, the soul is distinct from the body.

Later in the Gita, Krishna says that He has two energies: the superior energy, or para-prakrti, which is spiritual, and the inferior energy, or apara-prakrti, which is material.

bhumir apo ’nalo vayuh
  kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me
  bhinna prakrtir astadha

apareyam itas tv anyam
  prakrtim viddhi me param
jiva-bhutam maha-baho
  yayedam dharyate jagat

“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego—all together these eight constitute My separated material energies. Besides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.” (Gita 7.4–5) The spiritual energy is conscious and eternal, whereas the material energy is unconscious and temporary. This physical body is made of the eight material elements—inferior energy—but the soul within the body is made of the superior, spiritual energy.

The soul continues to live after the death of the body. In one sense there is no death of the body, because the body itself is never alive. It is just a machine, and the soul is the driver of the machine who makes the machine work. When the soul is in the body, the body appears to be alive. When the soul leaves the body, we declare that the body is dead, because the soul has left.

Now, someone might argue that the soul, or life, is created by a particular chemical combination, that when the chemicals or atoms and molecules combine in a certain way, life is produced. But if that were the case, death would be merely a breakdown in the chemical combination. If life were created by a certain combination of chemicals, then death would mean that the combination had broken down, and the implication would be that if we restored the combination, the person would come back to life. A car is a combination of material elements. The car may break down, but if you keep replacing the material elements, the car will work again. Even if the car is from 1900, if you replace the engine, replace the carburetor, replace the steering wheel—whatever the parts are—if you keep replacing them, it will work again. Yet although people have tried to become immortal since the beginning of time, they have never succeeded in bringing a dead person back to life, because life is not a combination of material elements. Life is the quality of the spiritual soul, the superior energy of the Lord. Once the spiritual soul leaves the body, we can do nothing to bring the body back to life, because the living force has left.

So, the question is, “What happens to the living force when it leaves the body? What happens to the soul?” According to the Bhagavad-gita, the soul, depending on its activities, or karma, will enter a particular type of body. If the car breaks down and is not worth fixing, the driver will get another car. What kind of car he gets will depend on how much he can afford. If the person has been earning and saving, he can get a luxury car. If the person has been working, but not earning so much, or has not been saving, or not that much, he might get an ordinary car. If the person has been irresponsible or is unemployed, he might not be able to afford a car at all. He might have to get a motorcycle or a scooter or a bicycle, or he may just have to walk.

In the same way, the body we get in the next life will depend on how we conduct ourselves in the present life. If we are responsible and follow a disciplined, moral, spiritual life, we will get a better body. In fact, if we are fully self-realized, or God-realized, fully surrendered to God, we can get a spiritual body and go to the spiritual world and live with God in the spiritual kingdom. Otherwise, if we are not perfect but are good, we will get a good material body in the material world; we will take birth on a higher planet—on a heavenly planet—or on earth in a better situation, with better opportunities for education; we may be born with more intelligence, with more opulence, with better looks, and so on. And if we have been negligent in our duties toward God, if we have been immoral or irreligious, we will be born in an unfortunate situation on earth in a human body or even in a lower species of life. Or we may have to take birth on a hellish planet and suffer there.

In the Vedic system, by the time a person reaches the age of fifty or so, he or she should have fulfilled his or her family responsibilities and be free to leave the work and assets to the next generation, to concentrate on spiritual development. Old age is a warning, or a reminder, that one will have to leave the body, and so one will consider, “How can I use my time to reach the best destination?” It is as if you are living in a house and you get notice that you have to vacate. Of course, you will continue to take care of the house to some degree, but you will not put all your energy into taking care of a house that you must soon vacate. Rather, you will consider, “Where am I going to move?” That is the guiding principle in Vedic civilization: “Where am I going to go after I leave the present body, this present habitat?”

The best destination one can achieve is the spiritual kingdom of God, and for that one must engage in spiritual practices, especially chanting the holy names of God, by which one will develop love for God. Such practices are common to different religious traditions. Although here we speak on the basis of the Bhagavad-gita, the basis of Vedic knowledge, the principle of chanting God’s name is in practically every tradition, and the principle of praying to God, glorifying God, learning about God from scriptures and teachers, and serving God and His creatures—ultimately to develop love for God—is part of every bona fide religious tradition. As the Bible says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shalt be in thine heart. Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. . . . Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him.” This passage from Deuteronomy (6.5–9, 7.9) pretty well describes the life of devotees. While standing up or lying down or walking on a path—whatever they do and wherever they are—they are conscious of God, and they teach their children the same principle: to be God conscious.

Again, the ideal of singing the name of the Lord or praising the name of the Lord is common to almost every tradition. The Bible enjoins us, “Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him, talk yet of all His wondrous works. Glory ye in His holy name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His face continually.” (I Chronicles 16.7–11) But the actual process of chanting, especially chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, is elaborated most scientifically in the Vedic literatures. Srimad-Bhagavatam in particular gives precise and detailed information about God and the process to reach Him. Otherwise, one could question, “If the principles are the same, why did you have to take to Krishna consciousness? Why could you not have just been a good Christian or Jew or whatever?” The answer is that this method, which is called bhakti-yoga, is scientific and practical, and that the knowledge of God given in the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam is most detailed. To love someone, you must know the person: “To know him is to love him.” To know God is to love Him. Otherwise, we may talk theoretically about loving God, but if we don’t know Him, how can we really love Him?

God in the most complete conception is both male and female: Radha and Krishna. Still, for simplicity’s sake, we often use the masculine pronoun. In any case, we learn about God in detail from the Vedic literatures, especially Srimad-Bhagavatam. As our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, used to say, “Every religion will teach that you should love God, but who is God? The Vedic scriptures tell you His name, His address, His telephone number—all the details—about His family, His friends, His habits, His hobbies, His pastimes.” That is why we have taken to Krishna consciousness: to learn about God and how to reach Him—in detail. Even then, as Srila Prabhupada said, “You don’t have to give up being a Jew or a Christian or a Muslim or whatever; you can add Krishna consciousness and become a better Hindu or a better Christian or a better Jew.” It is not a religion in the sense that you have to convert, giving up one faith and accepting another. You can remain whatever you are and add bhakti-yoga. With the physical practices of yoga, hatha-yoga, people don’t mind—they may be Christian or Jewish or Muslim and still practice yoga. So too you can practice bhakti-yoga whatever your faith may be. But this yoga will help you to come closer to God and have direct realization of God.

The last stage in varnashrama-dharma, after retired life, is sannyasa, renounced life. Although in retired life the husband and wife may stay together, their aim is God consciousness. They often retire to a holy place to worship and serve God, associating with learned scholars and saintly persons, so that they can come closer to God and be with God in their next life. But in the fourth stage, which is not meant for everyone and is not generally recommended in the present age, the husband and wife do not remain together. Also, although the brahmachari will usually marry and have children, in exceptional cases he may not; he may remain in the brahmachari-ashrama for his entire life, or at some point proceed directly from the brahmachari- to the sannyasa-ashrama. In the renounced order too there are different stages, but in the present age the recommended process for the renounced order is to spread the message of Godhead—to travel and preach the message of Godhead, and to write articles and books on the science of God.

So, these are the four social and spiritual orders, and from that background we come to today’s occasion: Visvarupa-mahotsava. As mentioned earlier, Lord Chaitanya is Krishna Himself, and He appeared on earth, as did Krishna, like an ordinary person. Yet although He seemed to take birth like an ordinary person, His birth was not ordinary; it was divine. Just as a dramatic actor might play the part of a family member on stage, so Lord Chaitanya appeared in a particular family on earth. And in the family in which He chose to appear, He had an older brother named Visvarupa (who Himself was an incarnation of Lord Balarama, Krishna’s first expansion).

From the very beginning, Visvarupa was attracted to devotional service to Lord Krishna. As soon as He was old enough, He would go daily to bathe in the Ganges and then proceed to the home of Advaita Acharya to engage in topics of Krishna. He had no interest whatsoever in material life. And so, when He heard that arrangements were being made for His marriage, Visvarupa left home and took sannyasa. Lord Chaitanya tried to console His aggrieved parents: “My dear mother and father, it is very good that Visvarupa has accepted the sannyasa order, for thus He has delivered both His father’s and His mother’s family.”

As a sannyasi, Visvarupa’s name was Sankararanya Svami. He traveled from one place of pilgrimage to another, throughout the country. Finally, He attained perfection—entered the spiritual world after giving up His mortal body—in Pandarapura, a holy place in Maharashtra. As cited by Srila Prabhupada, the Gaura-candrodaya states that after His departure, Visvarupa remained mixed within Sri Nityananda Prabhu. The date on which Visvarupa took sannyasa is celebrated today as Visvarupa-mahotsava.

Now we come to our spiritual teacher and founder-acharya, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada was born in Calcutta in 1896 in a very pious family. He was well educated and attended Scottish Churches’ College, one of the most prestigious colleges in Calcutta. As a young man, he married and had a child, but he soon met a very saintly person, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, and was impressed by him. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta requested that Srila Prabhupada take up the mission of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and spread His message all over the world, specifically in English. From their very first meeting in 1922, Srila Prabhupada accepted Srila Bhaktisiddhanta in his heart as his spiritual master, and eleven years later, in Allahabad, he was formally initiated as Abhay Charanaravinda dasa. Abhay means “fearless” and charanaravinda means “the lotus feet” of Krishna. By taking shelter of the lotus feet of Krishna, one becomes fearless—even of death, the most fearsome situation in the material world.

Srila Prabhupada always remembered the order of his guru maharaja, and in his household life he began the fortnightly magazine Back to Godhead. He personally wrote all the articles, got the issues printed, and distributed them, going on foot to the teashops in Delhi and approaching customers. Later, a friend suggested that magazines might be thrown away but that books would remain forever, and so Srila Prabhupada turned his attention to translating the Bhagavad-gita, and later Srimad-Bhagavatam.

In 1950 Srila Prabhupada retired from family life as a vanaprastha. He traveled to Jhansi and tried to start his guru maharaja’s mission there. He was on the verge of acquiring an ideal property to use as a center, but in the end there was some politics with the governor’s wife and the deal fell through. So he left Jhansi and came to Mathura, a holy place associated with Lord Krishna’s pastimes, to the Kesavaji Gaudiya Matha, where he served in cooperation with one of his godbrothers, His Holiness Bhaktiprajnana Kesava Maharaja.

Even in his household life, Srila Prabhupada had dreams in which his guru maharaja was calling him to leave his family and follow him. Srila Prabhupada would wake up and feel horrified: “How can I take sannyasa?” He continued to have the dream, and in Mathura, Kesava Maharaja advised him, “To really preach the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and fulfill Guru Maharaja’s order, you must take sannyasa.” So, on September 17, 1959, on Visvarupa-mahotsava, the same date that Visvarupa, the older brother of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, took sannyasa, Srila Prabhupada accepted the renounced order of life at the Kesavaji Gaudiya Matha in Mathura. At the end of the ceremony, Kesava Maharaja asked him to speak. Although the common language was Hindi, Srila Prabhupada thought of his mission and the order of his guru maharaja, and he spoke in English. Now he was Bhaktivedanta Swami and “completely ready to discharge the order of his spiritual master.”

It is most fortunate for all of us today that Srila Prabhupada did take sannyasa. After he translated Srimad-Bhagavatam, First Canto, in three volumes, he felt ready to travel. Later he would remark, “When I decided to go to foreign countries, I thought of New York. Generally they go to London, but I thought, ‘No, I will go to New York.’ ” He managed to procure free passage in the passenger cabin of a cargo carrier of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company, and so he crossed the Atlantic on board the Jaladuta, suffering two heart attacks on the way. Then, in New York, for almost a year, he struggled alone. No one took up his message seriously. He stayed at different people’s places, but he had no place of his own and almost no money. He felt so discouraged that from time to time he would go to the Scindia office to see when the next boat was departing for India. But—again fortunately for us—he never left.

Hare Krishna.

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Visvarupa-mahotsava, September 17, 2005, Carpinteria, California]

 

 

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On September 2nd, 1838 on a Sunday in the ancient village of Biranagara (Ulagrama) located in the district of Nadia, Thakura Bhaktivinoda took his birth in the family of Raja Krishnananda Datta, who was a great devotee of Lord Nityananda.

In Biranagara he received his elementary education at the primary school started by his grandmother. Later he attended an English school at Krishnanagar that had been established by the King of Nadia, but after studying there a while he had to discontinue his lessons and return to Ulagrama upon the unexpected death of his older brother due to cholera.

When Thakura Bhaktivinoda was eleven years old his father passed away.

Around his thirteenth year Bhaktivinoda, leaving his mother and sister at Ulagrama, went to Calcutta to live at his uncle’s house which was located in the Heduya district of central Calcutta.

In 1856, at the age of eighteen, Kedaranatha Bhaktivinoda began his first year of college in Calcutta. During this time, he wrote many articles and essays and had them published in various English and Bengali journals and he also gave many lectures in both English and Bengali. He studied many books written in English and also taught the art of fine speech to one well known orator who was a member of British Parliament

Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s grandfather, Rajavallabha Datta, who was a very prominent personality in Calcutta, was living as an ascetic in the countryside of Orissa. He could predict the future and knew that his days in this world were soon coming to a close.

Knowing this, he made a request to his beloved grandson to come to Orissa to be with him. At the beginning of 1859 when Bhaktivinoda was 21 years of age, his grandfather departed from this world. Bhaktivinoda was with him at this time and after receiving his grandfather’s last instructions he traveled to all the monasteries and temples in the state of Orissa.

In the year l86l, after having given up his work in the educational system, Thakura Bhaktivinoda accepted the post of a Deputy Magistrate under the government of Bengal.

Becoming attracted to the philosophy of Vaishnavism, Thakura Bhaktivinoda would read the Caitanya-caritamrta again and again and thus he became endowed with greater faith and respect for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In this way, he applied his mind very intently to the examination and study of Vaishnava philosophy. In one place in his autobiography the Thakura has written “From this time my respect and reverence for Sri Caitanyadeva was born.

Between the years 1874 and 1893 Thakura Bhaktivinoda wrote several books in Sanskrit such as Sri Krishna-samhita, Tattva-sutra, and Tattva-viveka which was sometimes known as Sac-cid-anandaubhuti. He also wrote many books in Bengali such as his Kalyana-kalpataru and besides those, in the year 1874 he composed his famous Sanskrit work Datta-kaustubham. Much of his time was spent in seclusion chanting the Holy Name of Krishna with great faith and love.

While stationed at Krishnanagara, Thakura Bhaktivinoda would go again and again to the present-day city of Navadvipa and search in various places for the birth site of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The year was 1887 and this discovery was a shining landmark in the history of Vaishnavism in India. Thakura Bhaktivinoda had brought to light the divine place of Caitanya’s birth and his discovery was confirmed by Jagannatha dasa Babaji, the then religious head of the Gaudiya Vaishnava community in Nadia.

In October of 1894, at the age of fifty-six, Thakura Bhaktivinoda, against the wishes of his family and the government authorities, retired from his post as Deputy Magistrate. He felt it was too much of an inconvenience on his work of preaching the Holy Name and the glories of Sridhama Mayapura. After his retirement, he came to stay at Surabhi Kunj in Godruma from where he engaged himself in preaching the divine philosophy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

At this time in 1896, in a pioneering spirit, he sent the teachings of Sri Caitanya beyond the tiny borders of India and to the West in the form of a small booklet he had written in Sanskrit called Sri Gauranga-lila-smarana-mangala-stotram. It had a Sanskrit commentary by a renowned pandita of Nadia, Srila Sitikantha Vacaspati, and for English knowing people the book contained an introduction in English called Caitanya Mahaprabhu, His Life and Precepts. This booklet found its way into the library of McGill College in Canada, the library of Royal Asiatic Society of London, and a few other highly respectable institutions.

At the beginning of the twentieth century Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura returned to Jagannatha Puri. When his son, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, was residing at Puri as a naisthika brahmacari [completely celibate brahmana] and was engaged in his bhajana at the Gandharvika Giridhari Math, one of the seven mathas near the samadhi tomb of Haridasa Thakura, Bhaktivinoda, for helping his son’s worship, had this monastery repaired and cleaned. When Srila

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati left Puri to reside at Sri Navadvipa Mayapura, Bhaktivinoda gave up all connection with the Gandharvika Giridhari Matha and constructed his own place of bhajana on the sea beach there. He called this place Bhakti Kuti.

 In 1908, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura formally accepted the dress of a paramahamsa by taking sannyasa at the place in Jagannatha Puri known called Satasana. At this time, he was still writing some books and staying sometimes in Navadvipa and sometimes in Calcutta.

In the year 1910, for being constantly engaged in the service of the Divine Couple of Vraja Dhama [Sri Sri Radha-Krishna], the Thakura shut himself up, pretending to be afflicted with paralysis, and entered into a perfect state of samadhi. These days were very happy for him as he could thus shun the turmoil and bustle which are the concomitant parts of worldly existence.  

On the day of the commencement of the sun’s southern course, June 23, 1914, corresponding to the disappearance of Sri Gadadhara Pandita, just before noon in Jagannatha Puri, the dearly beloved of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura, having satisfied himself that his mission bore at least some good to the world, at the age of 75, departed from this mundane plane for his eternal services to Radha and Krishna in the divine realm of Sri Vrindavana Dhama located far beyond the tiny vision of the conditioned souls of this world. 

Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s samadhi ceremony was delayed till the sun began its northern course. At that time his last remains were placed at his home in Godruma in the midst of sankirtana of the Holy Name. It was a pleasant clear day and a grand Vaishnava festival was held with the greatest solemnity in which thousands took part and the Thakura’s divine presence amidst them was perceived by all.

jaya jaya sri-caitanya jaya nityananda
jayadvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

 jaya jaya sri-caitanya jaya nityananda
jayadvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

 jaya jaya sri-caitanya jaya nityananda
jayadvaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vrnda

Today is the divine disappearance day of Namacharya Srila Haridasa Thakura. So we shall read from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, Chapter Eleven: “The Passing of Haridasa Thakura.”

INTRODUCTION

The summary of this chapter is given by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his Amrta-pravaha-bhasya as follows. In this chapter it is described how Brahma Haridasa Thakura gave up his body with the consent of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and how the Lord Himself personally performed the funeral ceremony and carried the body to the sea. He personally entombed the body, covered it with sand, and erected a platform on the site. After taking a bath in the sea, He personally begged prasada of Jagannatha from shopkeepers and distributed prasada to the assembled devotees.

TEXT 1

namami haridasam tam
  caitanyam tam ca tat-prabhum
samsthitam api yan-murtim
  svanke krtva nanarta yah

TRANSLATION

Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Haridasa Thakura and his master, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who danced with the body of Haridasa Thakura on His lap.

TEXT 2

jaya jaya sri-caitanya jaya dayamaya
jayadvaita-priya nityananda-priya jaya

TRANSLATION

All glories to Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is very merciful and who is very dear to Advaita Acarya and Lord Nityananda!

TEXT 3

jaya srinivasesvara haridasa-natha
jaya gadadhara-priya svarupa-prana-natha

TRANSLATION

All glories to the master of Srinivasa Thakura! All glories to the master of Haridasa Thakura! All glories to the dear master of Gadadhara Pandita! All glories to the master of the life of Svarupa Damodara!

TEXT 4

jaya kasi-priya jagadananda-pranesvara
jaya rupa-sanatana-raghunathesvara

TRANSLATION

All glories to Lord Sri Caitanya, who is very dear to Kasi Misra! He is the Lord of the life of Jagadananda and the Lord of Rupa Gosvami, Sanatana Gosvami, and Raghunatha dasa Gosvami.

TEXT 16

eka-dina govinda maha-prasada lana
haridase dite gela anandita hana

TRANSLATION

One day Govinda, the personal servant of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, went in great jubilation to deliver the remnants of Lord Jagannatha’s food to Haridasa Thakura.

TEXTS 17–20

When Govinda came to Haridasa, he saw that Haridasa Thakura was lying on his back and chanting his rounds very slowly.

“Please rise and take your maha-prasada” Govinda said. Haridasa Thakura replied, “Today I shall observe fasting.

“I have not finished chanting my regular number of rounds. How, then, can I eat? But you have brought maha-prasada, and how can I neglect it?”

Saying this, Haridasa offered prayers to the maha-prasada, took a little portion, and ate it.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Maha-prasada is nondifferent from Krsna. Therefore, instead of eating maha-prasada, one should honor it. It is said here, karila vandana, “he offered prayers.” When taking maha-prasada, one should not consider the food ordinary preparations. Prasada means favor. One should consider maha-prasada a favor of Krsna. As stated by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, krsna bada dayamaya karibare jihva jaya svaprasada-anna dila bhai. Krsna is very kind. In this material world we are all very much attached to tasting various types of food.

Therefore, Krsna eats many nice varieties of food and offers the food back to the devotees, so that not only are one’s demands for various tastes satisfied, but by eating prasada one makes advancement in spiritual life. Therefore, we should never consider ordinary food on an equal level with maha-prasada.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

The honoring of maha-prasada is one of the important items of devotional service. Maha-prasada is food that has been offered with love and devotion to the Lord and accepted by the Lord. In the Antya-lila of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu feels great ecstasy honoring maha-prasada, and He raises the question amongst His confidential devotees about its nature, that although it appears to be made of the same ingredients as ordinary food such as rice, dal, vegetables, spices, it creates a completely different experience. He explains that the food that has been offered to Lord Jagannatha has been mixed with the nectar of the Lord’s lips. The same nectar that fills the transcendental flute of Krishna and for which the gopis are always hankering—that same nectar from the lips of Krishna permeates maha-prasada. And when we honor maha-prasada with purified senses, we can relish the nectar from Krishna’s lotus mouth.

Although maha-prasada is transcendental, one should honor it as spiritual. As far as possible, one should not lust after maha-prasada. And although it is transcendental, Srila Prabhupada has warned us to maintain a respectful attitude toward it and not accept it on the basis of taste. Sometimes even with Prabhupada’s remnants, maha maha-prasada, the servant would bring the plate out and the senior devotees who were waiting for it would examine it and say, “I want this. I want that. I don’t want that.” It wasn’t a good mentality, and when Prabhupada’s servant mentioned it to him, Prabhupada said, “After I finish honoring prasada, you should take the remnants and mush it all together and then distribute the maha-prasada so the devotees will not be selecting on the basis of their personal taste, but they will just be receiving maha-prasada.”

Once, in Bombay, there was a clash between two of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples. One was a cook—actually a very good one—and would cook for the Deities, and the other was a good manager and good businessman. So, they had some clash, and immediately afterwards each of them ran to Srila Prabhupada to give him a version of what happened and to complain about the other. In the end, Prabhupada commented that the problem was that they both were eating too much maha-prasada and that by eating too much rich food, they had become passionate and were fighting.

Sometimes, honoring prasada is part of preaching. That’s also a subtle point, because sometimes when we go to people’s homes to accept prasada, we are not completely sure about the consciousness that went into the cooking, or the principles of cleanliness and hygiene and the spiritual rules and regulations that are required to cook for Krishna and offer the food to Krishna. We are not sure. But in India in the early days, Srila Prabhupada said that if the family were Vaishnavas and they offered the food to their family Deity, we should take it as prasada.

When we first came to Bombay, we received so many invitations that Srila Prabhupada made a rule that we would not eat at anyone’s house unless they became a life member. So, during the first Bombay pandal, a big pandal program at Cross Maiden, a very distinguished, aristocratic, pious, cultured Hindu gentleman and philanthropist, K.J. Somaiya, came. Prabhupada would speak at about seven in the morning in Hindi and then in the evening in English. Sri K. J. Somaya would come to the morning lectures, and he invited Srila Prabhupada and the devotees to his home to take prasada. So, the devotees informed him of the rule, “You have to become a life member.” And he became a little annoyed. He didn’t think it was proper that we should place such a condition. But Srila Prabhupada was strict in his principle. In certain cases he was responsive to an extent, but he didn’t really care about a big person in the material world—he had his rules and principles, and he stuck to them.

Eventually Sri Somayaji relented and became a life member, and the devotees said that Srila Prabhupada would come to his home for prasada. Srila Prabhupada remarked, “We are making life members simply by eating.”

Another friend from Bombay, Sri Hari Krishna Das Agarwal, invited Srila Prabhupada and the devotees to the Vedanta Sammelan in Amritsar. The sammelan was held at a Mayavadi ashram, and there were Mayavadi slogans everywhere: aham brahmasmi, tattvamasi. After the morning program one day, with his disciples in his room, Srila Prabhupada said that the event organizers knew that he didn’t agree with them but invited him because they knew that if he came with his disciples, more people would attend their program. And that is what happened. The general public who came to the programs weren’t really that interested in hearing dry Mayavadis’ speak nonsense. They really came to see Srila Prabhupada and the devotees and to join in the kirtan. “These Mayavadis will go on speculating for many lifetimes and never come to any conclusion,” Prabhupada said. Just then, Malati dasi brought a plate of maha-prasada from Prabhupada’s small Radha-Krishna Deities. “They will go on speculating for many lifetimes,”—he popped a maha sweet in his mouth—“but we will realize God simply by eating.”

So, the devotees would do kirtan first, and thousands of people would stream into the grounds. And then, when the devotees’ kirtan and their talk was over, the people would leave and there would hardly be anyone left to hear the Mayavadis. The organizers thought to juggle the program and have the devotees perform kirtan later, but when the public figured out what was happening, they started to come late, after the Mayavadis had finished their dry, speculative, and imagined interpretations.

TEXT 21

ara dina mahaprabhu tanra thani aila
sustha hao, haridasa-bali’ tanre puchila

TRANSLATION

The next day, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu went to Haridasa’s place and inquired from him, “Haridasa, are you well?”

TEXTS 22–23

Haridasa offered his obeisances to the Lord and replied, “My body is all right, but my mind and intelligence are not well.”

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu further inquired from Haridasa, “Can you ascertain what your disease is?”

Haridasa Thakura replied, “My disease is that I cannot complete my rounds.”

PURPORT

If one cannot complete the fixed number of rounds he is assigned, he should be considered to be in a diseased condition of spiritual life. Srila Haridasa Thakura is called namacarya. Of course, we cannot imitate Haridasa Thakura, but everyone must chant a prescribed number of rounds. In our Krsna consciousness movement we have fixed sixteen rounds as the minimum so that the Westerners will not feel burdened. These sixteen rounds must be chanted, and chanted loudly, so one can hear himself and others.

COMMENT

In Lord Chaitanya’s instructions to Sanatana Gosvami He quotes the basic principle of vaidhi-sadhana-bhakti, to always remember Krishna and never forget Him. He quotes from the Padma Purana that all other injunctions and prohibitions are servants of these two: to always remember Krishna and never forget Him.

smartavyah satatam visnur
  vismartavyo na jatucit
sarve vidhi-nisedhah syur
  etayor eva kinkarah

“Lord Visnu [Krsna is the origin of Visnu] should always be remembered and never forgotten at any time. All the rules and prohibitions mentioned in the sastras should be the servants of these two principles.”

In his purport Srila Prabhupada explains that although the members of the Krishna consciousness movement have many activities and these activities are not ordinary—they are also meant for remembering Krishna—still, unless we chant our prescribed number of sixteen rounds daily, we will be unable to always remember Krishna and never forget Him. And then he states, “Of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master’s order to chant at least sixteen rounds is most essential.”

“There are many regulative principles in the sastras and directions given by the spiritual master,” Prabhupada writes. “These regulative principles should act as servants of the basic principle—that is, one should always remember Krsna and never forget Him. This is possible when one chants the Hare Krsna mantra. Therefore one must strictly chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra twenty-four hours daily. One may have other duties to perform under the direction of the spiritual master, but he must first abide by the spiritual master’s order to chant a certain number of rounds. In our Krsna consciousness movement, we have recommended that the neophyte chant at least sixteen rounds. This chanting of sixteen rounds is absolutely necessary if one wants to remember Krsna and not forget Him. Of all the regulative principles, the spiritual master’s order to chant at least sixteen rounds is most essential.

“One may sell books or enlist life members or render some other service, but these duties are not ordinary duties. These duties serve as an impetus for remembering Krsna. When one goes with a sankirtana party or sells books, he naturally remembers that he is going to sell Krsna’s books. In this way, he is remembering Krsna. When one goes to enlist a life member, he talks about Krsna and thereby remembers Him. Smartavyah satatam visnur vismartavyo na jatucit. The conclusion is that one must act in such a way that he will always remember Krsna, and one must refrain from doing things that make him forget Krsna. These two principles form the basic background of Krsna consciousness.” (Cc Madhya 22.113)

“These sixteen rounds must be chanted, and chanted loudly,” Prabhupada emphasizes, “so that one can hear himself and others.” Generally, japa is taken as an individual practice, which it is, but it’s also a group activity. When we chant together, there is more strength in the effort, more encouragement. Everyone is gathered together for the same purpose, for the same intention, and sometimes it is good to have other people listen to our chanting to make sure that we are pronouncing each word properly. It is very important to articulate each word, each syllable, properly and to try to hear each word and each syllable. So, the association of devotees is very important, and it is a great boon to live in a temple community or near a temple where one can join the programs with other devotees and chant with them.

TEXT 24

prabhu kahe,—“vrddha ha-ila ‘sankhya’ alpa kara
siddha-deha tumi, sadhane agraha kene kara?

TRANSLATION

“Now that you have become old,” the Lord said, “you may reduce the number of rounds you chant daily. You are already liberated, and therefore you need not follow the regulative principles very strictly.

PURPORT

Unless one comes to the platform of spontaneous love of God, he must follow the regulative principles. Thakura Haridasa was the living example of how to follow the regulative principles. Similarly, Raghunatha dasa Gosvami was also such a living example. In the Sad-gosvamy-astaka it is stated, sankhya-purvaka-nama-gana-natibhih kalavasani-krtau. The Gosvamis, especially Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, strictly followed all the regulative principles. The first regulative principle is that one must chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra loudly enough so that he can hear himself, and one must vow to chant a fixed number of rounds. Not only was Raghunatha dasa Gosvami chanting a fixed number of rounds, but he had also taken a vow to bow down many times and offer obeisances to the Lord.

COMMENT

This strict adherence to the regulative principles of Haridasa Thakura and Raghunatha dasa Gosvami are exemplary. It is said that Raghunatha dasa Gosvami’s adherence to his vows were like lines on stone—they could not be erased, and it could not be removed.

We also have examples within our own movement. In one that comes to mind, His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami’s body was so racked with pain in the end that it was almost impossible for him to sleep. And if he did happen to fall asleep, just by remaining in one place, because he had hardly any flesh on his body, the pressure of his body on his skin and then the pain from the cancer which was already there would wake him up. He could hardly sleep at all.

So, one night at about one in the morning, Bhakti Tirtha Swami was chanting and Radhanath Swami, who was keeping him company, said to him, “Maharaja, why are you up at one in the morning, two in the morning, chanting?” Bhakti Tirtha Swami replied, “I haven’t completed my rounds.” And Radhanath Swami said, “But Maharaja, you can hardly sleep, your body is in so much pain. Krishna will understand if you don’t finish your rounds at this stage of your life.” And Bhakti Tirtha Swami replied, “Since the day of my initiation, I have always chanted at least sixteen rounds. I don’t want to stop now.” When Radhanath Swami later told the story, he looked at us, looked at the devotees, and said, “So what excuse can we have?”

TEXT 25

loka nistarite ei tomara ‘avatara’
namera mahima loke karila pracara

TRANSLATION

“Your role in this incarnation is to deliver the people in general. You have sufficiently preached the glories of the holy name in this world.”

PURPORT

Haridasa Thakura is known as namacarya because it is he who preached the glories of chanting hari-nama, the holy name of God. By using the words tomara avatara (“your incarnation”), Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu confirms that Haridasa Thakura is the incarnation of Lord Brahma. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura says that advanced devotees help the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His mission and that such devotees or personal associates incarnate by the will of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord incarnates by His own will, and, by His will, competent devotees also incarnate to help Him in His mission. Haridasa Thakura is thus the incarnation of Lord Brahma, and other devotees are likewise incarnations who help in the prosecution of the Lord’s mission.

COMMENT

We read in Srimad-Bhagavatam how Lord Brahma became illusioned. Krishna, his master, had appeared as a cowherd boy in Vraja and was playing just like an ordinary child. So Lord Brahma had some doubt: “My Master, Lord Vishnu, has come as a cowherd boy and is playing as an ordinary child? How is this possible?” So, he came—Lord Brahma descended from Brahmaloka (Satyaloka)—and stole away the cowherd boys and calves, and in the end he realized his mistake. He used his mystic power to test Krishna, but Krishna’s mystic power far exceeded Lord Brahma’s and Lord Brahma was defeated.

Afterwards Lord Brahma felt very contrite and repentant. Of course, he offered many nice prayers to Lord Krishna, but still he prayed for such an experience that he would never forget Krishna. And so, as a result of his heartfelt prayer, Lord Brahma appeared as Haridasa Thakura in Lord Chaitanya’s pastimes and had such experiences that he could never forget Krishna again.

So, that is a nice prayer. That is our goal: to always remember Krishna and never forget Him. And we can pray to be put in such a situation that we remember Krishna and have such experiences that we will never forget Krishna at any time.

TEXT 26

ebe alpa sankhya kari’ kara sankirtana”
haridasa kahe,—“suna mora satya nivedana

TRANSLATION

The Lord concluded, “Now, therefore, please reduce the fixed number of times you chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra.”

Haridasa Thakura replied, “Kindly hear my real plea.

TEXTS 27–30

“I was born in an inferior family, and my body is most abominable. I always engage in low work. Therefore, I am the lowest, most condemned of men.

“I am unseeable and untouchable, but You have accepted me as Your servant. This means that You have delivered me from a hellish condition and raised me to the Vaikuntha platform.

“My dear Lord, You are the fully independent Personality of Godhead. You act by Your own free will. You cause the whole world to dance and act as You like.

“My dear Lord, by Your mercy You have made me dance in many ways. For example, I was offered the sraddha-patra, which should have been offered to first-class brahmanas. I ate from it even though I was born in a family of meat-eaters.

PURPORT

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, in his Anubhasya, quotes from the Visnu-smrti in reference to the sraddha-patra.

brahmanapasada hy ete kathitah pankti-dusakah
etan vivarjayed yatnat sraddha-karmani panditah

According to this verse, if one is born in a brahmana family but does not behave according to brahminical standards, he should not be offered the sraddha-patra, which is prasada offered to the forefathers. Advaita Acarya offered the sraddha-patra to Haridasa Thakura, not to a brahmana who had been born in a brahmana family. Although Haridasa Thakura was born in the family of meat-eaters, because he was an advanced devotee he was shown more respect than a first-class brahmana.

COMMENT

It is a fact that a Vaishnava, a transcendental Vaishnava, is higher than a brahman, but because people can misunderstand the position of a Vaishnava, although there is no need to do so, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura introduced the system of awarding the sacred thread and brahminical initiation to those born in nonbrahman families, so that people would understand that they are brahmans and afford them the proper respect. Srila Prabhupada continued the same practice.

Haridasa Thakura continued:

TEXTS 31–70

“I have had one desire for a very long time. I think that quite soon, my Lord, You will bring to a close Your pastimes within this material world.

“I wish that You not show me this closing chapter of Your pastimes. Before that time comes, kindly let my body fall down in Your presence.

“I wish to catch Your lotuslike feet upon my heart and see Your moonlike face.

“With my tongue I shall chant Your holy name, ‘Sri Krsna Caitanya!’ That is my desire. Kindly let me give up my body in this way.

“O most merciful Lord, if by Your mercy it is possible, kindly grant my desire.

“Let this lowborn body fall down before You. You can make possible this perfection of all my desires.”

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, “My dear Haridasa, Krsna is so merciful that He must execute whatever you want.

“But whatever happiness is Mine is all due to your association. It is not fitting for you to go away and leave Me behind.”

Catching the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Haridasa Thakura said, “My Lord, do not create an illusion! Although I am so fallen, You must certainly show me this mercy!

“My Lord, there are many respectable personalities, millions of devotees, who are fit to sit on my head. They are all helpful in Your pastimes.

“My Lord, if an insignificant insect like me dies, what is the loss? If an ant dies, where is the loss to the material world?

“My Lord, You are always affectionate to Your devotees. I am just an imitation devotee, but nevertheless I wish that You fulfill my desire. That is my expectation.”

Because He had to perform His noon duties, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu got up to leave, but it was settled that the following day, after He saw Lord Jagannatha, He would return to visit Haridasa Thakura.

After embracing him, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu left to perform His noon duties and went to the sea to take His bath.

The next morning, after visiting the Jagannatha temple, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, accompanied by all His devotees, went hastily to see Haridasa Thakura.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the devotees came before Haridasa Thakura, who offered his respects to the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and all the Vaisnavas.

Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu inquired, “My dear Haridasa, what is the news?”Haridasa Thakura replied, “My Lord, whatever mercy You can bestow upon me.”

Upon hearing this, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu immediately began great congregational chanting in the courtyard. Vakresvara Pandita was the chief dancer.

Headed by Svarupa Damodara Gosvami, all the devotees of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu surrounded Haridasa Thakura and began congregational chanting.

In front of all the great devotees like Ramananda Raya and Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu began to describe the holy attributes of Haridasa Thakura.

As He described the transcendental attributes of Haridasa Thakura, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu seemed to possess five mouths. The more He described, the more His great happiness increased.

After hearing of the transcendental qualities of Haridasa Thakura, all the devotees present were struck with wonder. They all offered their respectful obeisances to the lotus feet of Haridasa Thakura.

Haridasa Thakura made Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu sit down in front of him, and then he fixed his eyes, like two bumblebees, on the lotus face of the Lord.

He held the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu on his heart and then took the dust of the feet of all the devotees present and put it on his head.

He began to chant the holy name of Sri Krsna Caitanya again and again. As he drank the sweetness of the face of the Lord, tears constantly glided down from his eyes.

While chanting the holy name of Sri Krsna Caitanya, he gave up his air of life and left his body.

Seeing the wonderful death of Haridasa Thakura by his own will, which was just like a great mystic yogi’s, everyone remembered the passing away of Bhisma.

There was a tumultuous noise as they all chanted the holy names “Hari” and “Krsna.” Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became overwhelmed with ecstatic love.

The Lord raised the body of Haridasa Thakura and placed it on His lap. Then He began to dance in the courtyard in great ecstatic love.

Because of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s ecstatic love, all the devotees were helpless, and in ecstatic love they also began to dance and chant congregationally.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu danced for some time, and then Svarupa Damodara Gosvami informed Him of other rituals for the body of Thakura Haridasa.

The body of Haridasa Thakura was then raised onto a carrier that resembled an airship and taken to the sea, accompanied by congregational chanting.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu danced in front of the procession, and Vakresvara Pandita, along with the other devotees, chanted and danced behind Him.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu bathed the body of Haridasa Thakura in the sea and then declared, “From this day on, this sea has become a great pilgrimage site.”

Everyone drank the water that had touched the lotus feet of Haridasa Thakura, and then they smeared remnants of Lord Jagannatha’s sandalwood pulp over Haridasa Thakura’s body.

After a hole was dug in the sand, the body of Haridasa Thakura was placed into it. Remnants from Lord Jagannatha, such as His silken ropes, sandalwood pulp, food, and cloth, were placed on the body.

All around the body, the devotees performed congregational chanting, and Vakresvara Pandita danced in jubilation.

With His transcendental hands, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally covered the body of Haridasa Thakura with sand, chanting “Haribol! Haribol!”

The devotees covered the body of Haridasa Thakura with sand and then constructed a platform upon the site. The platform was protected all around by fencing.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu danced and chanted all around the platform, and as the holy name of Hari roared tumultuously, the whole universe became filled with the vibration.

COMMENT

There’s an elaborate description of the entire funeral ceremony. After placing Haridasa Thakura’s body in samadhi, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the other devotees took bath in the ocean and enjoyed sporting there.

Then they came out and went to the Jagannatha temple to the Simha-dvara, and the vibration of the holy names filled the city. Then Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu personally begged maha-prasada from the shopkeepers to feed the devotees. Lord Chaitanya made the devotees sit down in rows, and He personally served the prasada to them all.

Now I will read the benediction that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has offered to all of us.

TEXT 90

premavista hana prabhu karena vara-dana
suni’ bhakta-ganera judaya manas-kama

TRANSLATION

Overwhelmed with ecstatic love, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu offered a benediction to all the devotees, which all the devotees heard with great satisfaction.

TEXTS 91–93

“haridasera vijayotsava ye kaila darsana
  ye ihan nrtya kaila, ye kaila kirtana
ye tanre valuka dite karila gamana
  tara madhye mahotsave ye kaila bhojana
acire ha-ibe ta-sabara ‘krsna-prapti’
  haridasa-darasane haya aiche ‘sakti’

TRANSLATION

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave this benediction: “Anyone who has seen the festival of Sri Haridasa Thakura’s passing away, anyone who has chanted and danced here, anyone who has offered sand on the body of Haridasa Thakura, and anyone who has joined the festivities to partake of the prasada will achieve the favor of Krsna very soon. There is such wonderful power in seeing Haridasa Thakura.

TEXTS 94–98

“Being merciful upon Me, Krsna gave Me the association of Haridasa Thakura. Being independent in His desires, He has now broken that association.

“When Haridasa Thakura wanted to leave this material world, it was not within My power to detain him.

“Simply by his will, Haridasa Thakura could give up his life and go away, exactly like Bhisma, who previously died simply by his own desire, as we have heard from sastra.

“Haridasa Thakura was the crown jewel on the head of this world; without him, this world is now bereft of its valuable jewel.”

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu then told everyone, “Say ‘All glories to Haridasa Thakura!’ and chant the holy name of Hari.” Saying this, He personally began to dance.

COMMENT

The Bengali is: ‘jaya jaya haridasa’ bali’: say, “Jaya jaya Haridasa.”

Everyone began to chant “Jaya Jaya Haridasa! Jaya Jaya Haridasa! Jaya Jaya Haridasa! Jaya Jaya Haridasa!”

TEXTS 99–100

“All glories to Haridasa Thakura, who revealed the importance of chanting the holy name of the Lord!”

Thereafter, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu bade farewell to all the devotees, and He Himself, with mixed feelings of happiness and distress, took rest.

COMMENT

Srila Prabhupada said that when a Vaishnava departs, we feel both happiness and distress. We feel happy because we know the devotee is gone to serve Krishna, but we feel distress because we will miss the devotee’s association.

TEXT 101

ei ta’ kahilun haridasera vijaya
yahara sravane krsne drdha-bhakti haya

COMMENT

Now, here is your benediction.

TRANSLATION

Thus I have spoken about the victorious passing away of Haridasa Thakura. Anyone who hears this narration will certainly fix his mind firmly in devotional service to Krsna.

PURPORT

At Purusottama-ksetra, or Jagannatha Puri, there is a temple of Tota-gopinatha. If one goes from there to the sea, he can discover the tomb of Haridasa Thakura still existing. Every year on the date of Ananta-caturdasi (that’s this date today) there is a festival to commemorate the passing away of Haridasa Thakura. At the same place, Deities of Nityananda Prabhu, Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and Advaita Prabhu were established about one hundred years ago. A gentleman named Bhramaravara from Kendrapada, in the province of Orissa, contributed funds to establish these Deities in the temple. The management of the temple was under the Tota-gopinatha gosvamis.

This temple was later sold to someone else, and this party is now maintaining the seva-puja of the temple. Near this temple and the tomb of Haridasa Thakura, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura constructed a small house called the Bhakti-kuti. In the Bengali year 1329 (A.D. 1922), the Purusottama-matha, a branch of the Gaudiya Matha, was established there.

COMMENT

There is a very confidential story. I thought of it yesterday on Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s appearance day, but I did not relate it, but on this auspicious occasion I will. It has deep significance, but it is not an example that is meant for us at this stage.

After Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura worked so tirelessly to preach the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, especially in Bengal and Orissa, and after he was so successful in spreading the nama-hatta, he found that some deviant groups that he had worked so hard to distinguish from the true line of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had again became prominent and people were going to them. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura became despondent. He was disappointed and didn’t know what to do.

So, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in a dream. This is also a little confidential because the report of it was published in Srila Bhaktivinoda’s journal, but those close to Srila Bhaktivinoda said that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu actually appeared before him—not just in a dream. But Bhaktivinoda Thakura, humbly not wanting to make it sound cheap, said that Sri Chaitanya had appeared to him in a dream and told him, “Do not feel discouraged. Go to Jagannatha Puri, Purusottama-ksetra, and establish a bhajana-kutira near the samadhi of Haridasa Thakura and chant the holy name day and night. The beneficial effects of your chanting there will be felt all over the world.”

So, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura obeyed the instruction and constructed Bhakti-kuti near the samadhi of Haridasa Thakura and chanted the holy name. According to the statement of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to Bhaktivinoda Thakura, we have benefitted from Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s chanting near the tomb of Haridasa Thakura.

PURPORT (concluded)

In the Bhakti-ratnakara it is stated:

srinivasa sighra samudrera kule gela
haridasa-thakurera samadhi dekhila

bhumite padiya kaila pranati vistara
bhagavata-gana sri-samadhi-sannidhane
srinivase sthira kaila sasneha-vacane

punah srinivasa sri-samadhi pranamiya
ye vilapa kaila, ta sunile drave hiya

“Srinivasa Thakura quickly ran to the seashore. When he saw the tomb of Haridasa Thakura, he immediately fell down offering prayers and almost fainted. The devotees present there pacified him with very sweet and affectionate words, and Srinivasa again offered his obeisances to the tomb. Hearing of the separation that Srinivasa expressed in his lamentation at the tomb of Haridasa Thakura makes one’s heart melt.”

TEXTS 102–107

From the incident of Haridasa Thakura’s passing away and the great care Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu took in commemorating it, one can understand just how affectionate He is toward His devotees. Although He is the topmost of all sannyasis, He fully satisfied the desire of Haridasa Thakura.

When Haridasa Thakura was in the last stage of his life, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu gave him His company and allowed him to touch Him. Thereafter, He took the body of Thakura Haridasa on His lap and personally danced with it.

Out of His causeless mercy the Lord personally covered the body of Haridasa Thakura with sand and personally begged alms from the shopkeepers. Then He conducted a great festival to celebrate the passing away of Haridasa Thakura.

Haridasa Thakura was not only the topmost devotee of the Lord but also a great and learned scholar. It was his great fortune that he passed away before Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

The life and characteristics of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu are exactly like an ocean of nectar, one drop of which can please the mind and ear.

Anyone who desires to cross over the ocean of nescience, please hear with great faith the life and characteristics of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

TEXT 108

Praying at the lotus feet of Sri Rupa and Sri Raghunatha, always desiring their mercy, I, Krsnadasa, narrate Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, following in their footsteps.

Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, Eleventh Chapter, describing the passing of Haridasa Thakura.

 COMMENT

Namacharya Srila Haridasa Thakura ki jaya!

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Haridasa Thakura’s disappearance day, September 1, 2009, New Dvaraka, Los Angeles]

 

 

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 21, No. 35

By Krishna Kripa Das

(Week 35: August 27 – September 2, 2025)

New York City

(Sent from Brooklyn, New York, on September 6, 2025)

Where I Went and What I Did

The thirty-fifth week of 2025, from Wednesday to Saturday I participated in NYC Harinam for four hours in the afternoon and evening, as I usually do when I am in New York. Sunday was Radhastami, and we did a walking harinama around Brooklyn with about seven devotees for about two hours. Monday and Tuesday I was engaged in cooking the evening offering, so I could only come out and sing for the first half hour of NYC Harinam. I chanted alone at different subway stations for two and a half hours to complete the three hours of harinama per day which I try to maintain.

I share quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s The Nectar of Devotion and Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, as well as quotes from one of his classes. I share notes on classes by Pancharatna, Hansarupa, Arcita, Rama Raya, Radhe Shyam, Mathuranath, and Narada Muni Prabhus.

Itinerary

August 26– September 9: NYC Harinam
September 10–11: Syracuse harinama and Wednesday program
September 12–October ??: serve Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami 
– September 25–26: Philadelphia harinama? 
– September 27: Philadelphia Ratha-yatra?
October ??–December 31: NYC Harinam

Chanting Hare Krishna in New York

Here I chant Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle, our Wednesday venue (https://youtube.com/shorts/wnoOYT0DI8A?feature=share):

In addition to chanting I would try to interest people in coming to our programs, accepting an “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlet, or if they were serious readers, to check out our book table.

Bhakta Michael chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle, and passersby dance (https://youtu.be/d-mc5OsWsZQ):

Bhakta Michael chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle, and an Iranian yoga teacher plays shakers (https://youtu.be/XJnarYol2Y0):

Radha chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/XYMRCRzrJcQ):

Vraja Mohan Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/Xbi-M7_QhSE):

Ananta Govinda Prabhu and friends chant Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/BMW2aKuD2lo.):

Ananta Govinda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle, and kids play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/VSFo1xHJXEc):

We had a large number of enthusiastic chanters at Union Square the next day, and it was especially ecstatic.

Sevika Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtu.be/vwnLq5yg8go):

Jagaddhatri Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtu.be/bHMzO6OEJng):

I also chanted Hare Krishna in Union Square with that very lively group of devotees that day (https://youtube.com/shorts/BzTFb98gYqw?feature=share):

Braja Sakhi Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtu.be/BwOUVwgDcpw):

Hadai Prana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtu.be/Y_iWb9Muu3U):

Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtu.be/-xW9dYH2HQE):

Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a father and son play shakers (https://youtu.be/gecD8JodHek):

Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and many play shakers, clap, and dance (https://youtu.be/Wxtr9ixYoq8):

Narada Muni Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Battery Park (https://youtu.be/tYItaCNxmCU):

Syama Manohara Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Battery Park (https://youtu.be/fohaAjziLd8):

A group of children played the shakers and danced, and one woman danced as well, as Rama Raya Prabhu chanted the final Hare Krishna kirtan of the day there at Battery Park (https://youtu.be/PfRh1z0yn4o):

Syama Manohara Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Washington Square Park, and two women play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/29-EQxPPUhA):

This mom told me that she and her daughter would regularly see the devotees back when Union Square was the only place we sang. She remembered Rama Raya Prabhu and hoped to see him, but she was a bit too early.

This young woman appeared attracted by the kirtan, so I offered her some shakers to play. She saw the devotees dancing, and she said that she did a traditional West African dance. She pulled the red skirt she used for that dance out of her bag and put it over her pants. She then amazed me by dancing with the devotees for an hour and a half and playing the shakers much of the time. Hrith sold her a Chant and Be Happy, and I gave her some maha-prasadam from Paris which I had in my bag. She said she had to work Sunday but would try to come to our Tuesday program.

Here Keshava Madhava Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Washington Square Park, and that woman plays shakers and dances (https://youtu.be/Xgy83z5Vxek):

Keshava Madhava Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Washington Square Park, and many play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/GtdPlBlbTpE):

Srikar chants Hare Krishna in Washington Square Park, and passersby play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/ocFZHlVfF5k):

Ananta Govinda Prabhu and friends chant Hare Krishna at Washington Square Park, and passersby dance with devotees (https://youtu.be/GyPwAuxByag):

Ananta Govinda Prabhu and friends chant Hare Krishna at Washington Square Park, and two women play shakers (https://youtu.be/MxEXrSCSqOk):

Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Washington Square Park (https://youtu.be/zjsrqGWeHm0):

Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Washington Square Park, and two women play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/llvHP8a7KRc):

Mathuranath Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Brooklyn on Radhastami (https://youtu.be/uk9kXwxXeCM):

Hadai Prana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in three subway stations and on two subway trains in Brooklyn on Radhastami (https://youtu.be/sbV2RUg0x4s):

Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at ISKCON NYC in the Radhastami evening kirtan (https://youtube.com/shorts/2MMGRtpiZ4A?feature=share):

Because I was cooking the Monday evening offering, I could only come out for half an hour on our Yuga Dharma Ashram harinama. Thus I decided to chant by myself for two and a half hours at the Fulton Street subway station in Manhattan. I also chanted all the way from the temple to that station both coming and going, on the street, in the stations, and on the trains. I was sitting at that Fulton Street station itself for 1:50 hours, and people gave me $5.40 and took three small books and one “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlet.

Although I spend less time supporting Rama Raya Prabhu’s Yuga Dharma Ashram NYC Harinam, more people heard the holy name, more books were distributed, and more money was collected.

Here I chant Hare Krishna in Battery Park on Monday (https://youtube.com/shorts/jSsBlGcCBLo?feature=share):

Because I was cooking the Tuesday evening offering, I could only come out for half an hour on our Yuga Dharma Ashram harinama. Thus I decided to chant by myself for two and a half hours at the Atlantic Avenue / Barclays Center subway station in Brooklyn. I also chanted all the way from the temple to that station both coming and going, on the street, in the stations, and on the trains. I was sitting at that Brooklyn station itself for two hours, and people gave me $19 and took two small books and four “On Chanting Hare Krishna.”

Here I chant Hare Krishna in Union Square on Tuesday (https://youtube.com/shorts/N-MYhKGmy1o?feature=share):

Photos

Ashram life!

Insight

Srila Prabhupada:

From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 1:

“Krishna is all-attractive, but pure devotional service attracts even Him. This means that pure devotional service is even transcendentally stronger than Krishna Himself, because it is Krishna’s internal potency.”

“To perform devotional service means to follow in the footsteps of Radharani, and devotees in Vrindavan put themselves under the care of Radharani in order to achieve perfection in their devotional service. In other words, devotional service is not an activity of the material world; it is directly under the control of Radharani.”

From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 15.106, purport:

“Any devotee who believes that the holy name of the Lord is identical with the Lord is a pure devotee, even though he may be in the neophyte stage. By his association, others may also become Vaishnavas.”

From a class on Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 20.97–99, in New York on November 28, 1966:

“If somebody falsely calls me that ‘Your Majesty,’ so it is an insult. It is not honoring him. I am an ordinary man. If somebody calls me ‘Your Majesty’ so a man who has no qualification, if he is eulogized in that way, that is an insult. But we are so much fool that if somebody calls me ‘Your Majesty,’ I shall feel, ‘Oh, I am Majesty. Yes. I am His Majesty.’ That is our nature. If some false qualifications is awarded to me, I shall be very glad to accept it. I shall think, ‘Yes, I am so…’”

Pancharatna Prabhu:

Nowadays if a leader is found to have saintly qualities, that is unusual.

Even in the corporate world, it is known that the best leaders lead by example.

If the leader does not learn to the people he leads, his followers will also not listen to others.

Lord Caitanya’s preaching did focus on the leaders of the society. When he came to Puri, the first person he preached to was the guru of the king, Sarvobhauma Bhattacarya, a famous scholar. Then he preached to the Mayavadi sannyasis of Varanasi.

Sarvobhauma Bhattacarya left Navadvipa before Lord Caitanya appeared.

We had a conference in Delhi about using social media to promote higher values.

Raghunath was on a show with a famous social media person and practically the next day the views of his podcast increased ten times.

Srila Prabhupada communicated his values through his actions.

People ask how can I preach Krishna consciousness at your work place. The answer is by your behavior, by living the values of a devotee.

The qualities of a devotee will appear in our lives faster if we value them.

Srila Prabhupada would be lenient with rules and regulations for two reasons:

(1) for spreading the movement.

(2) for encouraging a devotee

ISKCON expanded because of inspiration from Srila Prabhupada. He saw the value in us that others could not see.

In 1960s the hippies were influenced by the rock stars but the original idealism

Though coming from a background of violence, Asoka applied Buddhist ideals in his life and transformed the kingdom according to them.

I see in India there are leaders who favor the tradition values of the Vedic culture and therefore there is hope.

Comment by me:

A certain America leader has an alarming number of the demoniac qualities that Krishna lists in Bhagavad-gita: “Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance—these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature, O son of Prtha.” (Bg. 16.4)

Arcita Prabhu:

From a class on Radhastami:

The answer to the question “Who is that girl with Krishna?” is “Radharani, Krishna’s eternal consort.”

Radharani has two main potencies:

1. She gives unlimited pleasure to Krishna.

2. She maintains the devotees and the realm of bhakti.

In the spiritual world there are no objects. Everything is a person.

In India some people try for wealth and attain it. They try to separate themselves from others by living in gated communities. Sometimes, however, they have to come out, and their Mercedes is stuck in the Mumbai traffic and can only move at 5 mph like anybody else. Thus they are frustrated and try to escape by moving to the west. But however we try to adjust things, we cannot find the happiness we are looking for in this material world.

The holy name is the sweetest of all sweet things, the most auspicious of auspicious thinks, and the most purifying of all purifying things. We want sweetness, auspiciousness, and purity, and we can find all these in the holy name.

Radharani’s mood is to bring souls to Krishna for His pleasure. We can please Her by adopting Her mood.

If the master is friendly the servants have to be friendly too. Because we are trying to be servant of Radharani so we have to try to be friendly.

We are not here to compete with each other but to use our God-given talents in His service.

Preaching is very easy. Whatever you like about Krishna consciousness you share with others. If you just like the food, invite people to Govinda’s or the Kadamba Cafe.

Hansarupa Prabhu:

In the early days, the devotees opened an temple in Santa Fe because it was a hub of the counterculture.

Sometimes we get into studying Vaishnavism academically and get involved in trying to taste honey from outside the bottle.

If you study the stages through which bhakti progresses, you can appreciate where you are at any moment.

In China they have a whole prison of Falun Gong followers. They do not prosecute us to the extent they do the Falun Gong movement because we are small.

To think that we have extra time and we need a hobby is maya because there are so many services that Srila Prabhupada wants us to do.

Even though there were many carpenters and people with other skills, everyone spent most of their time distributing books.

Occasionally during a Srimad-Bhagavatam class Srila Prabhupada would give a ego-crushing class pointing out all our faults.

We should aspire to become so purified that there is no austerity that we are unwilling to do for Krishna.

We are preparing for a test to come that we will either pass or fail.

Srila Prabhupada was asked how to make certain advancement. He replied: By following all the little rules and regulations.

We have a day please Radharani tomorrow.

You convert knowledge to wisdom through application.

We want to give the next generation pure devotional service.

“That was then and this is now” is a false premise that goes completely against Srila Prabhupada’s teachings.

I see people going to the gym to work out. What is this? There is plenty of physical labor in the temple, and they are going to the gym.

Srila Prabhupada would not let some situation of neglect get past him. He would see that it was corrected. We should follow that example.

Rama Raya Prabhu:

She is the via-medium for all living entities to serve Krishna.

Radharani is devotional service personified.

Srila Prabhupada at the time of his departure in 1977 expressed a special attraction for Radha-Londonisvara.

If you take shelter of Radharani all problems of life can be solved. Remember that if you get into trouble.

Srila Prabhupada wrote five days before landing in Boston, “I emphatically say to you, O brothers, you will obtain your good fortune from the Supreme Lord Krishna only when Śrimati Radharani becomes pleased with you.”

Gopal Krishna Goswami was the first Indian devotee initiated in ISKCON.

Srila Prabhupada explains that Radha and Krishna can only be understood by liberated souls, and thus we have to patiently wait until we attain liberation to understand Them.

Radhe Shyam Prabhu:

Mitra is a friend, bandhu is a blood relative, and suhrt is a heart-to-heart friend who is always a well-wisher.

Not only is Krishna calling the gopis with His flute, He is inviting everyone to come back to the spiritual world to enjoy pastimes with Him.

In the beginning, you may come to the temple for the Sunday feast. Then you may come every morning. Then you may come morning and evening. When you come and never leave, you are ready to go back to Godhead.

Srila Prabhupada kept his followers engaged in different services to keep them in devotional service to the Lord.

The mind and senses of the pure devotees are thrilled doing service for the Lord.

By giving you get more than by stocking.

Love and lust are diametrically opposite.

There is not a tinge of envy between the pure devotees in the spiritual world. Sometimes it looks like there is some envy between Satyabhauma and Rukmini, but the purpose of that is to give pleasure to Krishna.

Try to serve guru and Krishna without reservation, and your bliss will increase and material desires will decrease.

Radharani’s devotion is like an ocean, and ours is like a drop.

We lose our initial attraction for the devotees because of taking the relationship in a material way.

We should always be in the mood of facilitating the devotees. If you facilitate the service of ourselves.

Radhanath Swami says we should always ask the question, “How can I best serve?”

As soon as we see some relationship is becoming strained, increase your respect.

If we are having a difficulty appreciating a devotee, consider his personal qualities, his contribution to the mission, and how he has benefited our spiritual life.

From a brahmacari class:

Do sadhana from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. and service from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

If you are very service oriented you will be protected from maya.

When brahmacaris are given privacy, they get into trouble.

If a brahmacari keeps their life like an open book, he will be safe.

Krishna learned 64 arts in 64 days, and He practiced for the 64 nights.

Krishna adjusted His form to accommodate each of the 16,000 queens.

Srila Prabhupada says Krishna smiles dancing on the hoods of Kaliya.

Krishna takes a personal interest in His devotee’s problems.

We need emotional satisfying relationships with the other ashram brahmacaris.

Hear, absorb, and apply.

No one is so big that they cannot fall down.

Jayadvaita Swami said, “People greater than you and I have fallen down.”

Mathuranath Prabhu:

One acarya said that to praise the devotee is the most blissful activity in the universe.

If we got what we wanted always, we would forget Krishna much more.

The designs on the sidewalk outside the temple attract the attention of so many people walking by. When a glimmer of Vedic culture shines through it attracts attention.

Festivals are a way of giving our time to Krishna.

Comments by me:

When Lord Caitanya glorified Haridasa Thakura it was as if he had five mouths.

Ask about: One acarya said that to praise the devotee is the most blissful activity in the universe.

I have a sense that Krishna is maintaining me because I have gone to Europe every year since 2001, but I never had to endeavor to collect the money. In recent years, I have also gone to New York in the fall and Florida in the winter, but no one in particular pays for my tickets.

Narada Muni Prabhu:

It is most amazing that after Dhruva Maharaja got the audience of the Supreme Lord, he realized his material desires were completely useless.

-----

Ever wonder about the qualifications to attain enlightenment? This verse gives insight:

yasya deve para bhaktir

yatha deve tatha gurau

tasyaite kathita hy arthah

prakasante mahatmanah

“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.23)

Today we have gathered for the most auspicious celebration of the appearance day of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was one of the most prominent acharyas in the disciplic succession after Lord Chaitanya, and his contribution to Gaudiya Vaishnavism and to the world is so great that one devotee called him the Seventh Gosvami. Much of the present Krishna consciousness movement founded by Srila Prabhupada is being conducted under the guidance of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and today I will focus on some of the areas in which the International Society for Krishna Consciousness is continuing his work and mission.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was born in an aristocratic, devotional family, but throughout his life he was afflicted by various illnesses. So, we shouldn’t think that he had an easy life or that everything just came to him; the tremendous contribution he made was in the face of physically trying conditions. Of course, in a way, it did all come naturally, but he had to face many obstacles, even in terms of his physical health. In this year’s Vyasa-puja book His Grace Kalakantha dasa wrote an offering in which he listed different trials that Srila Prabhupada faced, and he suggested that Prabhupada actually suffered. It wasn’t just an appearance of difficulties; he actually suffered. But in spite of the difficulties, he continued. And that is a lesson for all of us. We shouldn’t expect that things will always come easily or go smoothly; and in spite of the difficulties and miseries, we should persevere in our efforts in Krishna consciousness.

Srila Bhaktivinoda was appointed to a government position—assistant magistrate—that was practically the highest position that any Indian held during the British rule. The British had the idea to inculcate in the Indians the idea that Indian culture was inferior to British or Western or Christian culture. In general, they kept the Indians down, but Srila Bhaktivinoda was so qualified and so popular that they were obliged to appoint him to a high position.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a grihastha with ten children. But even with all his heavy responsibilities in his government service and as a family man, he still did so much direct service to the cause of Krishna consciousness. He utilized his time expertly. After coming home from work, he would have a light meal and take rest at about eight o’clock, and then he would get up at midnight and write books. He wrote over one hundred books and songs, and he made so many contributions. From this we can learn how we too can engage in direct service to the cause of Krishna consciousness, even with our many responsibilities of family and work, by efficiently and enthusiastically using our time—every moment possible—for devotional service.

As a magistrate, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was very efficient and would dispose of many cases in short order. Judges are also judged—by how many cases they dispose of and how many of their cases are appealed and how many of their cases are overturned. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura had the most outstanding record of any judge or magistrate. He disposed of so many cases so quickly and expertly that people were satisfied with his judgments, and so his decisions were not appealed or overturned.

One famous case involved a yogi who falsely claimed to be an incarnation of Vishnu, or Krishna. He would have an imitation rasa-lila every night, and people were sending their wives and daughters to dance with him. But some more intelligent or sober persons complained to the British government, and the administration, knowing Kedarnath Datta—as Bhaktivinoda Thakura was known—to be a religious man as well as the deputy magistrate, assigned the case to him.

In plain dress and accompanied by some police constables, Srila Bhaktivinoda went to the village where the yogi was engaging in his nefarious activities. “You are a great yogi,” he told the man. “Why are you in this remote rural area? Why don’t you go to Jagannatha Puri and see Lord Jagannatha and be happy?” When the yogi heard these words, his offensive mentality came out and he said, “Oh, Jagannatha? That is just wood. I myself am the Supreme Lord, Vishnu!”

From the yogi’s comment, Bhaktivinoda Thakura could conclude beyond any doubt that he was a pretender, and so Bhaktivinoda had him arrested and brought to trial. Srila Prabhupada remarked, not specifically in relation to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura but in a more general sense, that the government should oversee the activities of sadhus and people who take the position of guru—that the government should license them. Just like nowadays you can’t just call yourself a doctor and begin to practice medicine; you have to take a course of study and be licensed to practice. If you are going to entrust your body, your medical care, to a doctor, you want to go to a doctor who is licensed. And the body is not as important as the soul. So, Srila Prabhupada said that if people entrust their whole lives, their spiritual lives, to some spiritual teacher, the teacher should be tested according to certain standards, which are given in scripture. And if he doesn’t meet the qualifications, he should be declared disqualified.

Indian culture is so advanced and evolved that even the demons and rascals can be cultured and knowledgeable. And this yogi, Bishkishan, was creating a disturbance with his immoral, illicit activities, so Bhaktivinoda Thakura ordered his arrest.

In diplomatic behavior, one first tries reason and logic, good argument, and if that fails, one tries bribery. So, the yogi told Bhaktivinoda Thakura, “If you cooperate with me, I will give you great powers and you will become the king of India.” But that didn’t work, so Bhaktivinoda Thakura had him apprehended and taken to Puri.

The yogi then threatened Srila Bhaktivinoda and all the people associated with him: “If you do this, I will cause you all to become sick, and you will all die.” And the yogi actually did have powers, and Bhaktivinoda Thakura and his family members all became extremely ill. They had very high fevers, and it looked like they could die. Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s wife appealed to him, “Please let the yogi go. It is not worth the cost of our lives to bring the yogi to justice.” But Bhaktivinoda Thakura replied, “No, let us all die, but this rascal must be punished.”

Eventually the day of the trial came, and Bhaktivinoda Thakura understood that the yogi had conserved his mystic powers in his hair, which Srila Prabhupada said was not entirely uncommon. There is the biblical story of Samson and Delilah: Samson was very powerful, but when his hair was cut, he lost his power. Some of the modern yogis also have power in their hair. So, when the trial began, Bhaktivinoda Thakura ordered, “Bring a barber to cut his hair.” But no barber dared. The yogi did have mystic powers, and he made threats, and sparks actually came out of his hair, but Bhaktivinoda Thakura personally took the scissors and cut it, and he sentenced the yogi to six months in jail. There, the yogi wrote a note admitting that he had been an imposter, and he managed to get some poison and took his own life. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was so fearless, so courageous, so determined!

Although Bhaktivinoda Thakura was posted in Orissa and was also the superintendent of the Jagannatha temple, his heart hankered to be closer to the birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He wanted to be posted in Nadia, but he was rendering such valuable service in the government that they didn’t want to let him go; they didn’t want to grant him a transfer. But his desire was so strong that even though he did have such a responsible and prestigious position and a big family to maintain, eventually he said, “If you don’t transfer me, I am going to give up government service and retire and just go.” So, they posted him in Krishna Nagar, which is near Navadvipa.

From there, Bhaktivinoda Thakura sought to ascertain the birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Over time, the Ganges River had changed its course and the landscape, the terrain, had changed, so there was a question as to the birthplace’s location. Bhaktivinoda Thakura studied maps and consulted local people, and eventually he had a vision of a mound of earth out of which tulasis were growing. And when he went to the place that he believed was the birthplace, the local people confirmed that it was, as did his siksa-guru, Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura built a bhajana-kutira in Godrumadvipa at Surabhi-kunja, where four hundred years earlier Lord Nityananda had established the nama-hatta. And he revived the nama-hatta and turned it into a powerful preaching movement in Bengal especially. It was also later revived by Srila Prabhupada and his followers, notably Sripada Jayapataka Swami Maharaja, who spread the nama-hatta in Bengal and Orissa and all over the world.

Srila Bhaktivinoda built a house near Surabhi-kunja, overlooking the Jalangi River. Devotees go there on parikrama when they go to Navadvipa. You can see his bedroom—his chair, his table, his bed. Next to it is another room, where his son Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura would sometimes stay. And there is the bhajana-kutira of his disciple, Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja. It is a very sacred place.

There’s a balcony there where Srila Bhaktivinoda would chant japa, and one day he was looking across the river from the balcony and had a vision of a wonderful temple and a whole community of devotees engaged in the service of Lord Chaitanya—a whole city. This temple, adbhuta mandira, was mentioned by Locana dasa Thakura in one of his books, that Lord Nityananda had predicted that there would be an astounding temple rising up in Mayapur, with a whole community of devotees engaged in the service of the Lord.

Srila Bhaktivinoda wanted to build a temple at the birthplace, and he personally took up a collection. He was such a prestigious person, but he went door-to-door, begging people to contribute whatever they could for the construction of the temple. And one of the main newspapers in Calcutta, the Amrita Bazar Patrika, appealed to the citizens that the noble Bhaktivinoda Thakura would be coming and everyone should contribute to the worthy cause. Srila Prabhupada knew Tarun Kanti Gosh and his father, Tushar Kanti Gosh, a prominent Bengali intellectual who published the paper. And Tushar’s father, Shishir Kumar Ghosh, called Bhaktivinoda Thakura the Seventh Gosvami.

Srila Bhaktivinoda was so humble that he went door-to-door, and he raised a collection and built the original temple of Lord Chaitanya at His birthplace in Mayapur. As for a whole community of devotees, Srila Bhaktivinoda’s son—and, in a way, disciple—Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, took up that project. He made a beginning, and you can see some cottages in Mayapur; a few of his disciples built cottages. He himself established the Gaudiya Matha there with brahmacharis and sannyasis.

This project also came through the disciplic succession to Srila Prabhupada, and he wanted to develop the Mayapur city. Certainly, more has been done to establish the city than ever before, and it is growing, taking shape. Srila Prabhupada also wanted to build a magnificent temple for Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, for the Pancha-tattva, in Mayapur.

One year, I was serving in the Calcutta temple and Srila Prabhupada arrived from London and was so enthusiastic about the Mayapur project, the big temple, that in London he had actually drawn a design for what the temple—the first building—would look like. When he arrived in Calcutta, he was so enthusiastic that he pulled out the blueprints and was showing everyone. He had worked on them with our godbrother Nara Narayan Prabhu. He was so enthusiastic, so excited, and that enthusiasm spread to us.

But then Srila Prabhupada did something very interesting and instructive. He called a meeting with the senior devotees, and right when everyone was at the peak of their enthusiasm for the project, he raised the question of the flooding in Mayapur, because quite frequently during the rainy season the Ganges floods and the area is submerged under water. He was saying that if we built the city there, built the temple there, they could be flooded, and the whole thing could be lost. He questioned whether we should even build the temple and try to establish the city there. Of course, he was Srila Prabhupada—he had so much authority—and on top of that, his logic and his intelligence were so powerful. So, he took that position, and he suggested that we consider alternative locations. He suggested Birnagar, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s birthplace and one of his residences, a very nice place in Bengal with a very nice atmosphere. So, we were swayed, convinced—but then he brought up Mayapur again, and in the end he concluded that we should go ahead and do it in Mayapur. Even though there was a risk, we should go ahead.

The whole exercise illustrated an important principle that Srila Prabhupada often mentioned, that in whatever we do we should be careful and cautious and use our intelligence. He defined intelligence as seeing the same thing from different angles of vision, different points of view. He didn’t want us to just blindly rush forward: “Now we are going to fulfill Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s prophecy; we are going to fulfill Nityananda Prabhu’s desire.” We are in the material world, and in the material world there are many dangers—padam padam, there is danger at every step—and Prabhupada wanted us to be cautious and careful and to see things from different angles of vision, not just rush ahead based on blind faith or enthusiasm.

Then, at the end of the discussion, Prabhupada said, “If you all build this temple for Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura will personally come and take you all back to Godhead.” Bhaktivinoda Thakura has that power. In fact, before we end, we will sing a song by him, Ohe! Vaisnava Thakura, in which he prays to the Vaishnava, “Krishna is yours, and you can give Him to me, for such is your power. So I am running behind you, crying out, ‘Krishna! Krishna!’ ” That is the truth: The Vaishnava possesses Krishna. Krishna comes under the control of the love of the pure devotee, and if the pure devotee is pleased with our service, he can deliver Krishna to us. That is really how we progress. Yes, we have to make our effort, but ultimately our success depends on the mercy of higher authorities. If we please them by our sincere efforts to serve and follow their instructions, if they are satisfied, they can deliver Krishna to us. So, we should submit ourselves at their lotus feet, roll in the dust of their lotus feet, and beg them for their mercy. We have no other hope. Our effort isn’t really what brings success. Our effort is there because we have to make our effort; it is our duty.

I read in His Holiness Radhanath Swami’s memoir, The Journey Home, that Maharaja was once spending the night with Ramesh Baba in Varsana when there was news that a man-eating leopard was on the prowl and that it had already massacred some cows and villagers. In those days, Varsana—the whole area of Vraja—was much less built up than it is now. Srila Prabhupada’s friend Bhagatji, who had a house near the Krishna-Balarama temple, said that when he moved to Vrindavan, in the 1930s or so, the forest was so thick that he could walk from Raman Reti to Govardhana Hill in the middle of the day and never see the light of the sun. That was just forty years before Prabhupada began the Krishna-Balarama temple.

So, Ramesh Baba was taking rest outside Mana-ghata, and with the leopard nearby, Radhanath Swami thought, “If he is going to stay there, I will stay there with him.” So, he lay down, and Ramesh Baba had a wooden stick by his side. When Radhanath Swami asked about it, Ramesh Baba said, “Yes, there is a leopard on the prowl.” Radhanath Swami asked, “What will that small stick do to protect us from a wild leopard?” “Nothing,” Ramesh Babaji replied. “Only the Lord can protect us. Our duty, however, is to show Krishna that we are doing our part.”

The same principle applies to all of our devotional practices. We have to show that we are making the effort, but without mercy we have no ability to move forward even one inch in devotional service. Of course, the more effort we put in, you could say, the more result we will get, because we are showing how sincere and eager we are. But it is really the mercy of the acharyas and the Supreme Personality of Godhead that enables us to move forward even one iota. Bhaktivinoda Thakura was in that mood. Every acharya is in that mood, because that’s how they get the mercy and strength to practice and preach Krishna consciousness. And that’s how we have this song, Ohe! Vaisnava Thakura.

Srila Prabhupada demonstrated this principle in a unique way in a very special context. When I was in Madras—the first devotee from ISKCON to go there to preach—I was meeting various prominent people, and many of them were interested, but one who took very keen interest was the chief justice of the high court, Justice Veeraswami. Toward the end of Prabhupada’s visit to Madras, after a successful five-day program, Justice Veeraswami arranged a pandal program for Srila Prabhupada and the devotees. And he invited all the other high court judges and high court advocates to attend.

In his talk Srila Prabhupada quoted the verse from Sad-gosvamy-astaka about the Six Gosvamis: tyaktva turnam asesa-mandala-pati-srenim sada tuccha-vat, that although they had been very highly placed people (mandala-pati) they had rejected it all as insignificant (tuccha-vat) and joined the mission of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Prabhupada was appealing to these leaders, these high court judges and advocates, that they too should give up their prestigious positions and join Lord Chaitanya’s mission.

After the program, the chief justice invited Srila Prabhupada and the devotees to his home for prasada, and there he presented Srila Prabhupada a beautiful, small silver statue of Krishna. Amongst all the adult devotees there was one child, Saraswati, the three-year-old daughter of Shyamsundar and Malati, and Srila Prabhupada engaged her in a very dramatic way. He held the little statue of Krishna in front of her and said, “Saraswati, who is this?” And Saraswati said, “It is Krishna.” Then he held the deity behind his back and said, “Saraswati, where is Krishna?” Saraswati started looking everywhere, and when she couldn’t find the deity, she became filled with anxiety: “Where is Krishna? Where is Krishna?”

Then Malati said, “Saraswati, who has Krishna?” And Saraswati’s eyes opened wide and her face lit up and she said, “Prabhupada has Krishna!” And then she looked at Prabhupada with such joy and expectation and ran up to him, and Prabhupada brought the deity of Krishna out from behind his back and gave it to her.

I thought, Wow! Prabhupada had illustrated such a profound truth. It was like Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura: “You have Krishna, and you have the power to deliver Him to us.” But to get Krishna from a Vaishnava, to get love of Krishna, we have to be eager like Saraswati. She was so eager to find Krishna and so anxious without Him: “Where is Krishna? Where is Krishna?” Prabhupada quoted that last verse of the Sad-gosvamy-astaka: he radhe vraja-devike ca lalite he nanda-suno kutah, sri-govardhana-kalpa-padapa-tale kalindi-vanye kutah/ ghosantav iti sarvato vraja-pure khedair maha-vihvalau, vande rupa-sanatanau raghu-yugau sri-jiva-gopalakau, that the Six Gosvamis were wandering all over Vrindavan, crying, “O Krishna, O Radharani, O Lalita—where are you? Are you at Govardhana Hill or are you at the banks of the Yamuna?” These were their moods in executing Krishna consciousness. When we have that eagerness and intense longing and desire in separation, Krishna, by the mercy of the devotee or devotees, will gradually manifest Himself to us. But we have to have that eagerness. And that eagerness arises when we become purified, and we become purified by making a concerted effort.

I had a dream a couple of years ago in which Srila Prabhupada told me, “You have to be mad for Krishna.” It was a nice dream. Shortly thereafter, Radhanath Swami came to stay with me and I mentioned the dream to him, and when I said that—“mad for Krishna”—he said, “Oh, that’s a very advanced stage.” So, that is not something to be taken lightly, but it should be our goal, and we approach that goal by making strenuous, unstinting effort, not holding anything back, not like, “So much for Krishna and so much for me,” but, “Everything for Krishna and nothing for me”—in that mood. Of course, we have to keep our body and soul together—that’s also one of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s instructions. But yes, our goal is kirtaniyah sada harih, to always chant the holy name of Krishna.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura raises a question: “What about maintaining our body, or our families’ bodies?” He says that taking care of the body, or taking measures necessary to maintain the body, which also includes working, earning money, and spending money, does not violate the principle of kirtaniyah sada harih, always chanting the holy name of Krishna, if we do it just enough to meet our requirements so that we can use all our other time for Krishna kirtan.

So, he was also very practical. So many instructions, so many wonderful books. Hari-nama-cintamani is a small book about chanting the holy name; Jaiva-dharma; Sri Caitanya-siksamrta is so full of valuable instructions.

In Jaiva-dharma Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura discusses kanistha, madhyama, and uttama devotees. Of course, all of our acharyas follow the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam; those books are the basic authorities. The Bhagavatam says in relation to the madhyama-bhagavata: prema-maitri-krpopeksa, yah karoti sa madhyamah, that he gives his love to Krishna, makes friendship with devotees, is merciful to the innocent, and neglects (upeksa) the envious. Almost everyone in the material world is envious of Krishna. Unless you are a pure devotee, you have some envy of Krishna. But there are people who are really envious. They don’t want to hear about Krishna, and if you are pursuing Krishna consciousness, they discourage you. They may try to put up obstacles; they might try to convince you—so many things, sometimes even our own family members.

So, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura discusses this neglect, avoiding the association, of nondevotees: asat-sanga-tyaga,—ei vaisnava-acara, ’stri-sangi’—eka asadhu, ‘krsnabhakta’ ara. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says asat. Sat is a word for “devotee,” so asat means “nondevotees.” Asat-sanga-tyaga: we should give up the association of nondevotees. And who are nondevotees? ’Stri-sangi’—eka asadhu. One is a person who is attached to sense gratification, especially to the opposite sex for sense gratification. And ’Stri-sangi’—eka asadhu, ‘krsnabhakta’ ara: the other is just an abhakta, someone who is not a devotee of Krishna. So, we are supposed to shun the association of nondevotees. But what do we do if we have family members who are nondevotees? What do we do if we are in a place with nondevotees, or work with them? Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura answers that avoiding the association of nondevotees does not mean that we cannot have normal human interaction with them as is expected in the workplace or in family; it means that we should not associate with them in relation to our spiritual advancement. We shouldn’t take their advice in relation to our spiritual progress.

In the Seventh Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Narada’s instructions on the ideal family life, Narada says the same thing, that if you are a devotee and a family member tells you that you should lead a different kind of life, outwardly you should say, “Yes, what you say is very good,” but inwardly you should continue in your own determination and keep your life simple.

So, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that we should not abandon family members who are not devotees. Of course, that would depend on one’s ashrama, but he says that we should not abandon them, but that for our spiritual advancement we should keep the association of only devotees.

In Hari-nama-cintamani Bhaktivinoda Thakura first discusses the holy name in general and then discusses the ten offenses. The first offense is sadhu-ninda: blaspheming devotees. Bhaktivinoda Thakura is very analytical and precise, and with each of the ten offenses he begins by defining the terms. So, sadhu-ninda. Ninda is easy. Ninda means “to criticize,” “to blaspheme,” “to find fault.” But sadhu—who is a sadhu? Bhaktivinoda Thakura discusses the different qualities of a sadhu mentioned by Krishna in the Eleventh Canto, and one is krsnaika-sarana: he has taken exclusive shelter of Krishna. Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami also lists twenty-six qualities of a devotee, based mainly on those mentioned in the Eleventh Canto, and out of the twenty-six qualities, one is krsnaika-sarana, taking exclusive shelter of Krishna, or the holy name of Krishna. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that if one has that primary qualification, he or she is considered a sadhu even if he or she does not have the other twenty-five qualities. And if one has the other twenty-five qualities but does not have the qualification of having taken exclusive shelter of Krishna, the other twenty-five qualities are of little value. So that—taking exclusive shelter of Krishna—is the real qualification for a sadhu, and if someone has that, he or she is a sadhu.

Then Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura discusses possible grounds for criticizing a sadhu. One may say, “Okay, this is a sadhu; this person has taken shelter of Krishna,” but criticize the person because he has taken a low birth or is of a lower caste or had previously engaged in sinful activities or still has vestiges of sinful activities even after coming to the association of devotees. One might think that one can criticize like that. But Bhaktivinoda Thakura says no, these are all sadhu-ninda. So, we have to be careful about this, because our spiritual advancement depends on the association of sadhus and our practical service to the mission depends on their cooperative effort. If we blaspheme, find fault, backbite, we will destroy our devotional service.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura then discusses people who could be considered sadhus but who actually are not sadhus, because we don’t want to mistake a sadhu for an asadhu. Sometimes people will say, “You are not a devotee. Devotees are humble. You are not humble, so you are not a devotee.” But Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that if you are surrendered to Krishna, even if you don’t have the other twenty-five qualifications, such as humility, you are still considered a sadhu. Sadhur eva sa mantavyah.

But we also don’t want to mistake an asadhu for a sadhu. Bhaktivinoda Thakura mentions three categories of asadhus who are often mistaken for sadhus. One is the Mayavadi. Although Mayavadis may dress as sadhus and be considered by others as sadhus, they are not actually sadhus. Another category is the atheist. And the third category is dharmadvaji. Dharma means “religion” and dvaja means “flag.” So dharmadvaji means a pretender, someone who is waving the flag of religion but is not really a devotee.

These are three categories of asadhus, nondevotees who are sometimes mistaken as sadhus. Srila Prabhupada regularly criticized people who were revered as spiritual leaders in India. He said, “Perhaps for the first time, I am the only one who is exposing them as fools and rascals”—very heavy statement. Many people became upset with him when he criticized India’s revered, popular, “religious” figures.

There was one man in Juhu who had attended the first Bombay pandal where Prabhupada had criticized Shankaracharya. He was very intelligent and austere and well read, and years later he told me, “I was attending that pandal program, and when Prabhupada criticized Shankaracharya, I thought, ‘Who does this man think he is? Shankaracharya is perhaps the greatest acharya in the history of India. Who does this person think he is to criticize him?’ ” So, he had negative thoughts about Srila Prabhupada, but later he got one of Srila Prabhupada’s books, either Teachings of Lord Caitanya or Caitanya-caritamrta, in which Prabhupada relates the history of Lord Shiva coming as Shankaracharya to bewilder the atheists by preaching Mayavada philosophy. The man read it and came to me and said, “After reading this book, I realized that everything that Prabhupada was saying was true.” And then he surrendered; he became a devotee.

Another incident involved Srila Prabhupada’s regular companion on his morning walks on Juhu Beach, Dr. C. P. Patel. One morning in particular Dr. Patel praised some famous, popular, Indian religious figure. When Srila Prabhupada said, “He is a rascal,” Dr. Patel got upset: “How can you say he is a rascal?” Prabhupada said, “I am not saying; Krishna is saying: na mam duskrtino mudhah, prapadyante naradhamah. It is a simple test. Is he surrendered to Krishna or not? If he is not surrendered to Krishna, he is a rascal, he is a fool, he is a demon. I am not saying; Krishna is saying.”

Dr. Patel got really upset; Prabhupada had picked on someone he cherished. So, he raised his voice, and Prabhupada raised his voice, and then he raised his voice more, and Prabhupada raised his voice more, and finally they were literally shouting at each other. It was scary, actually. Dr. Patel’s cronies tried to restrain him, saying, “Swamiji has a heart condition. Don’t upset him so.” They were physically . . . it was like in a boxing ring: the bell rings, signaling that the round is over, but the fighters are still pounding each other, and the referee and their trainers are trying to pull them apart. They wouldn’t stop. Then finally Dr. Patel’s people pulled him away.

After that, for the first time in years, Dr. Patel stopped coming on Srila Prabhupada’s walks. For years he had come to Prabhupada’s room and escorted him in his car or walked with him to the beach or at least met up with him at the beach. But after the argument, he didn’t come. Prabhupada also said, “All right, from now on no discussion. We will only read the Krsna book on morning walks.” So, we would read the Krsna book. And Dr. Patel was avoiding us.

Then one morning, Prabhupada was walking in one direction, toward the ocean, and Dr. Patel was walking in the opposite direction, away from the ocean. And the way Dr. Patel described it, something in his heart just made him change direction and walk straight to Srila Prabhupada. He bowed and touched Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet and said, “Prabhupada, I am sorry, but we have been trained to respect all the accredited saints of India.” And Prabhupada replied, “Our business is to point out who is not a saint.” Acharyas have to do that, but it is not ninda. It can be, but it is not ninda if it is done to help people who could be misled by a demon or rascal, to keep them from falling into bad association thinking that they are getting the association of a saintly person.

But otherwise, ninda sunya. Rupa Gosvami says that one should take shelter of a Vaishnava whose heart is completely free from the propensity to criticize others. A pure devotee wants only to chant the holy name and hear about Krishna and preach the message of Krishna. He has no interest in criticizing others, even nondevotees, demons, but for the sake of preaching, for the sake of Krishna’s mission, Mahaprabhu’s mission, the previous acharyas’ mission, they do it to help others, to free them from false attachments so they can take to Krishna consciousness. Or even if they are in Krishna consciousness, to prevent them from unknowingly falling into bad association and being diverted. That’s the mercy of the acharya, the sadhu, the preacher, but otherwise they have no interest in criticizing anyone or anything. They are happy just to chant and hear about Krishna.

So, today is a most auspicious day. Our system is parampara. We approach our immediate spiritual master and serve him, and through him we serve the predecessor acharyas. But on special days like today, on appearance days and disappearance days, by the mercy of our spiritual master we can approach the previous acharyas directly, like when we offer them puspanjali. And we can beg them, “Please give me your mercy. Please give me some of what you have, which I want desperately, and even if I don’t have the desire, the desire is not very strong, please give me the desire and make my desire stronger.” Wherever we are on that path of desire, we can pray to get the desire, to increase the desire. Because it all depends on desire—everything depends on desire. Krishna fulfills all desires, and if what we really desire is Krishna and Krishna’s service, that is what He will fulfill.

The way we show our desire is by making the effort, by spending the time. If we spend the time chanting, trying to chant with attention, even if we aren’t even able to pay attention that well and our mind is still unsteady or distracted, if we just take the time to make the effort, Krishna will see, “Oh, this person is taking the time to try to develop his relationship with Me.” Or reading Srila Prabhupada’s books—even if we don’t understand exactly what we are reading, even if we can’t appreciate it or relate to it, if we just spend the time reading, trying to understand, hoping to come to appreciate, then Krishna, the previous acharyas, will say, “Oh, this person is spending the time.” It is association. Chanting means associating with Krishna; reading Srimad-Bhagavatam means associating with Krishna. “This person wants My association. He is taking the time to be with Me.” And Krishna will reciprocate.

We just have to show Krishna that we want to develop a relationship with Him. We are not qualified. By His mercy He will give us the qualification, but our part at first is just to show Him that we want to develop our relationship with Him by spending time with Him. To develop a relationship with someone, you have to spend time with the person. So, chanting with attention, reading Prabhupada’s books, worshipping the Deity, sraddhaya, with faith and veneration, not just mechanically, externally—spending time with Krishna. When Krishna sees that we want to spend time with Him, develop our relationship with Him, He will help us. We just have to spend the time and make the effort.

Srila Prabhupada was holding Krishna for Saraswati. He actually wanted to give Him to her, but he could do so properly only when she was sufficiently anxious, sufficiently eager, when her desire was strong enough that she would really appreciate it. Srila Prabhupada and our other acharyas have Krishna—they want to give Him to us, and they have the power to give Him to us—but they don’t want to cast pearls before swine. They want us to value what they have to give us, and when we understand what that most valuable treasure is and really want it, and when we take the time to develop our relationship with Krishna and they see that it, and nothing else, is really what we want, they will fulfill our desire—by their mercy. If that’s what we want, if Krishna and Krishna’s service is all we want, we will get it by their mercy.

Hare Krishna.

I’ve requested Mukunda Datta Prabhu to lead that song, Ohe! Vaisnava Thakura, in which Bhaktivinoda Thakura expresses the mood that we all want to develop; and, like offering a drop of Ganges water to the Ganges, we can offer that mood, in his words, to him so that he will give us a drop of faith in the holy name.

Ohe! Vaisnava Thakura
    (from Saranagati)

                       ohe!

vaisnaba thakura, doyara sagara,
  e dase koruna kori’
diya pada-chaya, sodho he amaya,
  tomara carana dhori

O venerable Vaisnava, O ocean of mercy, be merciful unto your servant. Give me the shade of your lotus feet and purify me. I hold on to your lotus feet.

chaya bega domi’, chaya dosa sodhi’,
  chaya guna deho’ dase
chaya sat-sanga, deho’ he amare,
  boshechi sangera ase

Teach me to control my six urges; rectify my six faults, bestow upon me the six qualities, and offer unto me the six kinds of holy association.*

ekaki amara, nahi paya bala,
  hari-nama-sankirtane
tumi krpa kori’, sraddha-bindu diya,
  deho’ krsna-nama-dhane

I do not find the strength to carry on alone the sankirtana of the holy name of Hari. Please bless me by giving me just one drop of faith with which to obtain the great treasure of the holy name of Krishna.

krsna se tomara, krsna dite paro,
  tomara sakati ache
ami to’ kangala, ‘krsna’ ‘krsna’ boli’,
  dhai tava pache pache

Krishna is yours; you have the power to give Him to me. I am simply running behind you shouting, “Krishna! Krishna!”

*The six urges are those of speech, the mind, anger, the tongue, the belly, and the genitals. The six faults are overeating, over­endeavoring for material objectives, talking unnecessarily of mundane affairs, being too attached to or too neglectful of scriptural rules and regulations, associating with worldly-minded persons, and desiring mundane achievements. The six good qualities are enthusiasm, confidence, and patience, and performing the regulated activities of devotional service, giving up the association of nondevotees, and following in the footsteps of the previous acharyas. The six methods of holy association are offering gifts in charity, accepting charitable gifts, revealing one’s mind in confidence, inquiring confidentially, accepting prasada from devotees, and offering prasada to devotees.

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura ’s appearance day, September 1, 2009, New Dvaraka, Los Angeles]

When we say Krishna knows the future but does not intervene, that is one way to reconcile his omnipotence and omniscience. But then the question arises: does this mean our future is fixed—that Krishna won’t change it, and we also cannot change it? If so, then what is the point of trying to purify and improve ourselves?

This is one of those questions for which it is very difficult to have a single definitive answer. Almost every answer raises new questions, and those in turn invite further answers. So, while there may not be a conclusive explanation, I will share some ways in which I’ve tried to understand this issue.

Over time I’ve looked into our own tradition, studied other traditions, and spoken with many devotees. This problem is not unique to the Vedic tradition; it is a challenge faced by all theistic philosophers. God’s omniscience and omnipotence—two defining attributes—create logical paradoxes that have been debated for centuries. Christian theologians, for example, have developed elaborate treatments of these questions, whereas Vedic theologians have generally focused more on explaining the Vedic statements themselves rather than systematically addressing modern rational challenges.

In recent centuries, Hindu philosophy has had to face rational scrutiny more directly, especially with the rise of modernity and political attacks (e.g., regarding caste, mythology, or historicity). Much of the focus has been on defending tradition rather than systematically addressing deep logical-philosophical issues. That is changing gradually, but the rational aspect has often remained secondary.

With that background, I’ll share three possible ways of reconciling God’s omniscience and human free will.

1. The GPS Analogy

A GPS has the entire map of a territory. Whichever turn I take, the GPS can show where I will end up. It knows all possible outcomes based on the choices I make. But it does not force me to take any particular turn.

In this sense, God’s omniscience can be understood similarly. Krishna knows the consequences of every choice we may make, but he does not dictate the choice itself. Our free will operates within the boundaries of the available “roads,” while some paths may simply be blocked by circumstance.

This view maintains that Krishna’s omniscience and our free will can coexist. His knowledge includes every possible consequence, but our choice remains genuinely ours.

2. Predictive Algorithms Analogy

Another way to look at it is through predictive algorithms, like those used in search engines. These do not just provide all options—they also make predictions based on our past behavior.

Similarly, Krishna, as Paramatma, knows not only the consequences of our actions but also our tendencies, history, and current consciousness. He is in the best possible position to “predict” our likely choices—far better than any human-made algorithm.

Still, just as predictive models are not 100% accurate (because human behavior can change), so too human free will retains unpredictability. Thus, Krishna’s omniscience includes knowledge of our tendencies and their likely direction, without negating the possibility of change.

3. Hierarchy of Divine Attributes

A third approach is to recognize that Krishna’s attributes are not rigid or static but function in a hierarchy. For example, a nation may value both security and humanitarian concern. One attribute does not necessarily override the other in every case; priorities are arranged dynamically.

Similarly, Krishna’s omniscience and omnipotence are not his supreme attributes. His supreme quality is his loving reciprocation with his devotees—his desire to attract conditioned souls to the world of love. All other attributes serve that higher purpose.

If Krishna were bound by omniscience alone, his playful pastimes (līlās) would lose their spontaneity. If he were bound by omnipotence alone, Mother Yashoda would never have been able to bind him with ropes. Thus, his omniscience and omnipotence are expressed in harmony with, and subordinate to, his loving nature.

Bringing it Together

From this perspective, the real question is not “Does Krishna know our future in detail?” but “What is most important to Krishna?” The answer is: loving reciprocation.

Prabhupada often gave deceptively simple answers:

• “Yes, Krishna knows the future, and he can change it.”
• Or when asked paradoxes like “Can God make a stone so heavy he cannot lift it?” Prabhupada would say: “Yes, he can, and then he will lift it.”

Such answers may sound humorous, but they reveal a deeper point: Krishna is not trapped by logical categories or by his own attributes. He freely uses his attributes for the higher purpose of love.

Therefore, whether or not Krishna knows the precise details of every future action, the higher principle is that he allows us the freedom to express our love. Our efforts to purify and improve ourselves are meaningful because Krishna values that freedom and reciprocation.

My Evolving Understanding

Earlier I sometimes stated more categorically that Krishna may not know every future choice we will make, to preserve space for free will. Over time, however, I have become cautious about such statements, since they appear to contradict a core divine attribute without explicit scriptural basis.

There are scriptural episodes (e.g., Lord Ram with Maricha and Sita) that suggest divine “not-knowing,” but these can also be understood through the workings of Yogamaya. Ultimately, the safest scripturally consistent answer is: Krishna knows the future, but he does not interfere with our choices.

Still, as a teacher, I feel the need not only to be scripturally faithful (prescriptive) but also experientially relatable (descriptive). Devotees today, especially in the modern rational world, struggle with reconciling God’s attributes with lived experience. That is why I find the “hierarchy of attributes” explanation especially helpful—it emphasizes that the purpose of existence is not logic but love.

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