Planet ISKCON

In Auckland, in the months of November and December, many of the surrounding suburbs arrange to have parades go through the streets. Generally, local businesses put their floats in to advertise the products they sell.

Fortunately, we are able to participate with our Jagannatha Rathayatra “float” and go in the parade as well. On the same day as the Orewa parade, we went to one in the suburb of Manurewa and everyone appreciated the devotees dancing and chanting in front of Lord Jagannatha.

Gita Jayanti is the day on which Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna.

The Gita is also known as the Gitopanisad and is considered one of the Upanishads. The title Bhagavad-gita is sometimes translated as “The Song of God.” Gita means “song.” God, Krishna, is so sublime that whatever He speaks is music and poetry. The word bhagavan has been analyzed by Vedic authorities. Bhaga means “opulence” and is related to the word bhagya: “good fortune.” And van means “one who possesses.” So bhagavan means “He who possesses all opulence in full.”

aisvaryasya samagrasya
  viryasya yasasah sriyah
jnana-vairagyayos caiva
  sannam bhaga itingana

“Full wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge, and renunciation—these are the six opulences of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (Vishnu Purana 6.5.47)

All of us possess some wealth. I may have ten dollars, but if I look further, I will find someone who has a hundred dollars. And if I look still further, I will find someone who has a thousand dollars, and a million, and a billion. But no one can say that he has all the wealth in all creation, that no one is equal to him or greater than him in wealth. When we come to that person who has all wealth—no one is equal to or greater than him—that is Bhagavan, Krishna.

The Bhagavad-gita was spoken by Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. But, as stated in the Gita (4.1),

   sri-bhagavan uvaca
imam vivasvate yogam
  proktavan aham avyayam
vivasvan manave praha
  manur iksvakave ’bravit

“The Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku.” Lord Krishna originally spoke the Gita to Vivasvan, the sun-god, who spoke it to his son Manu, who in turn spoke it to Iksvaku. In this way the knowledge was passed on through disciplic succession from one to the next to the next. But in the course of time, that chain became broken.

evam parampara-praptam
  imam rajarsayo viduh\
sa kaleneha mahata
  yogo nastah parantapa

“This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.” (Gita 4.2) Nasta means “spoiled.” You may have a nice plate of prasada, but if you leave it aside and it becomes old and contaminated, it becomes nasta, spoiled. It is food, but you don’t get the benefit. And to get the real benefit of the Bhagavad-gita, one must receive it through parampara (evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh).

Five thousand years ago, Lord Krishna detected that the chain was broken and that, consequently, the knowledge had been lost. So He came again and spoke the Bhagavad-gita again, to Arjuna: “Now, Arjuna, you become the first recipient of this knowledge in the new chain, so that the knowledge is received and presented as it is.” Srila Prabhupada called his translation of the Gita the Bhagavad-gita As It Is. “As it is” means as Krishna spoke it and as Arjuna understood it five thousand years ago.

How did Arjuna understand it? First, he accepted Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead:

          arjuna uvaca
param brahma param dhama
  pavitram paramam bhavan
purusam sasvatam divyam
  adi-devam ajam vibhum

“Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest.” (Gita 10.12)

He accepted everything that Krishna said as true: sarvam etad rtam manye yan mam vadasi kesava—“Krishna, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me.” (Gita 10.14) “I accept whatever You say, in toto.” He did not discriminate that he liked some parts of the Gita but not other parts. Sarvam etad rtam manye: “I accept in toto everything that You have said.”

If we begin to discriminate, “I like this portion, but I don’t like that one,” we become implicated in ardha-kukkuti-nyaya, “half-hen” logic. A farmer had a hen that was laying eggs. But the farmer thought that only the hind portion was valuable, because that part was giving eggs—that the neck portion was simply troublesome, because it just ate food. He concluded, “I will cut the neck portion, which is just a botheration, and keep the hind portion, which gives eggs.” And when he did, of course, the hen died and there were no more eggs.

One popular verse in the Bhagavad-gita states, karmany evadhikaras te: “You are entitled to do your duty.” They think, “I can do my duty. I can go to work. I can make and spend money. I can take care of my family, live with my family, enjoy with my family and friends. That is a precious instruction.” But when they come to sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja—give up all varieties of religiousness and surrender to Krishna—that is a little troublesome, and they want to cut that part: “We don’t really need it. We’ll just keep the really valuable part: I can do my duty.”

In order to get the full benefit of the Bhagavad-gita, it is essential to accept it as it is. Devotees who have accepted it as it is and applied its principles in their lives have undergone extraordinary transformations. This knowledge can really help people. And any genuine person who gets something good will naturally want to share it with others. Anyone who has imbibed the nectar of the Bhagavad-gita, gotten the benefit of the Gita, will want to share the knowledge with others. It is natural. If you are eating a nice plate of prasada and taste something really good, it is natural to say, “You should try this; it’s really good.” Or, “You should try this with this; it’s a really good combination.” Anyone—any child—will do that. So, when you actually experience the benefit of the Bhagavad-gita in your life, you will naturally want to share the knowledge with others so that they too can benefit and become happy.

Now, why did Krishna choose Arjuna to be the first student of the Bhagavad-gita? Arjuna was not a sannyasi; he was a married man. And he was not a brahman; he was a warrior. Why Arjuna? Krishna explains,

sa evayam maya te ’dya
  yogah proktah puratanah
bhakto ’si me sakha ceti
  rahasyam hy etad uttamam

“That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science.” (Gita 4.3) The main qualification for understanding the Gita is bhakto ’si me, to be Lord Krishna’s devotee. And later Krishna says that one should hear the Gita with faith and without envy (sraddhavan anasuyas ca srnuyad api yo narah). (Gita 18.71) This is a most important point: to get the true benefit of the Gita, one must be a devotee.

What does it mean to be a devotee? Sometimes the word devotee is used quite broadly. To begin, let us understand devotee in contrast to karmi, jnani, and yogi. These are all technical (as well as general) terms. A karmi engages in fruitive work. He works for personal gain: “I have worked and earned. Now I have the right to enjoy the fruit.” That is 90 percent of the world. People work, and they feel, “I have earned the money, so I have the right to spend it—on myself, on my family, on my community, on my country” (or whatever limited or extended concept of sense gratification they have). But the Gita says no; karmany evadhikaras te ma phalesu kadacana: “You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action.” (Gita 2.47) The fruits belong to Krishna.

If you invite a carpenter to your house and give him wood and nails and glue—everything he needs—and say, “I want you to build me a cabinet,” in the end, to whom does the cabinet belong—to the carpenter or to you? It belongs to the proprietor, not to the worker. The worker has assembled the ingredients supplied by the proprietor, but that doesn’t make him the owner.

This entire material creation, this entire cosmic manifestation—the elements are provided by Krishna. The earth we tread; the water we drink; the air we breathe; the fire, or electricity, we use—everything belongs to Him, and we cannot rightly claim any of it for ourselves. We may assemble the elements in different ways, but it all belongs to Him and is meant to be used for His purposes.

A karmi engages in work and wants to keep the fruits for himself. A karma-yogi engages in work but gives the fruits to Krishna. A man may grow a tree that produces fruit. A karmi will keep the fruit for himself, whereas a karma-yogi will give the fruit, or some of the fruit, to Krishna. The sakama-karma-yogi has selfish desires, but he still gives something to Krishna. If the tree produces a hundred mangoes, he may give one or two or ten or twenty to Krishna. And as he becomes purified, as he develops more faith and becomes more attached to Krishna, he will give more to Krishna. And eventually he may give all one hundred mangoes to Krishna, without any selfish desire (niskama-karma-yoga). But he will not be the loser. Krishna will give him His prasada, His mercy.

The jnanis and often the yogis are impersonalists; they believe that God is ultimately impersonal—nameless, formless, without qualities, without activities. They may even go so far as to think that Krishna’s form is material, that just as we have a physical body made of flesh and bones and blood, so does Krishna. And according to them, if Krishna is material, then His name, form, qualities, and activities are also all material. People may chant His name, but ultimately they have to go beyond that. People may worship His form, but they have to go beyond that. People may talk about His qualities and activities, but they have to go beyond that. Ultimately, according to impersonalists, we have to go beyond all these illusory forms and names and come to the all-pervading impersonal light and merge and become one with it. Then there is no you, no me, no Krishna—nothing. Just oneness.

In theory, that is also a possibility. But it is very rare to achieve that state, and very difficult. Lord Krishna explains in the Bhagavad-gita (12.2–7):

mayy avesya mano ye mam
  nitya-yukta upasate
sraddhaya parayopetas
  te me yuktatama matah

“Those who fix their minds on My personal form and are always engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith are considered by Me to be most perfect.

ye tv aksaram anirdesyam
  avyaktam paryupasate
sarvatra-gam acintyam ca
  kuta-stham acalam dhruvam

sanniyamyendriya-gramam
  sarvatra sama-buddhayah
te prapnuvanti mam eva
  sarva-bhuta-hite ratah

“But those who fully worship the unmanifested, that which lies beyond the perception of the senses, the all-pervading, inconceivable, unchanging, fixed and immovable—the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth—by controlling the various senses and being equally disposed to everyone, such persons, engaged in the welfare of all, at last achieve Me.

kleso ’dhikataras tesam
  avyaktasakta-cetasam
avyakta hi gatir duhkham
  dehavadbhir avapyate

“For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied.

ye tu sarvani karmani
  mayi sannyasya mat-parah
ananyenaiva yogena
  mam dhyayanta upasate

tesam aham samuddharta
  mrtyu-samsara-sagarat
bhavami na cirat partha
  mayy avesita-cetasam

“But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O son of Prtha—for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.”

Not only is the impersonal path difficult, but also the result is not very satisfying, because ultimately everyone wants happiness and love. The two most basic human needs are to love and be loved. We want friends, we want family, and we want community, and we are not happy without them. If you were a billionaire but could never see another living being, would you be happy? No. You would be so desperate for company, for relationship, that you would say, “I don’t want this wealth. I just want to be with people I love and who love me.”

In a way, this was Arjuna’s thinking at the beginning of the Bhagavad-gita. He considered, “What is the use of winning a kingdom if in the course of the battle all my friends and family die? What’s the use? With whom will I enjoy my kingdom?” He was so overwhelmed by the thought of being without family and friends that he said to Krishna,

na hi prapasyami mamapanudyad
  yac chokam ucchosanam indriyanam
avapya bhumav asapatnam rddham
  rajyam suranam api cadhipatyam

“I can find no means to drive away this grief which is drying up my senses. I will not be able to dispel it even if I win a prosperous, unrivaled kingdom on earth with sovereignty like that of the demigods in heaven.” (Gita 2.8)

There is much truth to what Arjuna said at the beginning of the Gita, but that truth is on a lower level. By the mercy of Lord Krishna, after hearing the Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna was elevated to a higher, better understanding. He realized that perfect happiness and love were to be realized in relation to Krishna, and so Arjuna surrendered unto Him.

Krishna gave Arjuna the choice. Krishna did not force him, because true surrender, or true love, is voluntary. He gave Arjuna the freedom to deliberate and then decide:

iti te jnanam akhyatam
  guhyad guhyataram maya
vimrsyaitad asesena
  yathecchasi tatha kuru

“Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do.” (Gita 18.63) Yathecchasi tatha kuru—“You can do whatever you like.” We all have free will, given to us by God. But after hearing the Bhagavad–gita, Arjuna immediately responded, karisye vacanam tava: “I will do whatever You say.” That is the position of the surrendered devotee.

arjuna uvaca
nasto mohah smrtir labdha
  tvat-prasadan mayacyuta
sthito ’smi gata-sandehah
  karisye vacanam tava

“Arjuna said: My dear Krsna, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.” (Gita 18.73)

Now, we may be a little worried. We are back to that troublesome sloka, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja: “Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me.” And we may wonder, “What are the implications of karisye vacanam tava: ‘I am prepared to act according to Your instructions’? What if Krishna tells me to give up my wife, my children, my business, my home? Then what?” This is a problematic question, and some people may not want to pursue the course of surrender to Krishna, because they are afraid of the consequences.

But there is some leniency here, some considerateness. Lord Krishna gives us a gradual process to come to the stage of surrender, because surrender is based on faith. When we have faith in someone or something, we can surrender. And if we don’t have faith, we won’t surrender. In this present Age of Kali, faith is very rare. It is very difficult to come by genuine faith. The society is materialistic, and everyone is enculturated with the idea that they are independent, free to think and do whatever they like, without restriction. In fact, they are envious. Material life means envy—first of Krishna. People think, “Why should I surrender to Him? I am also intelligent. I also know things. I can also speak and argue. Why should I surrender?” And people find fault with Krishna: “Why did He tell Arjuna to fight? Why did He cause so many people to die?” In particular, people who are envious find fault with Krishna. They can never understand the Bhagavad-gita. Therefore Lord Krishna says,

idam te natapaskaya
  nabhaktaya kadacana
na casusrusave vacyam
  na ca mam yo ’bhyasuyati

“This confidential knowledge may never be explained to those who are not austere, or devoted, or engaged in devotional service, nor to one who is envious of Me.” (Gita 18.67) One must be a devotee, a bhakta. Only devotees are without envy.

Still, like a loving father, Krishna wants to bring all His sons and daughters to the highest perfection, even though He knows that it may take some time. A parent will want his child to grow to be strong and healthy and happy and intelligent and competent, and to take over the family’s business. A genuine, loving parent will want to give everything to the child, but the parent first wants to see that the child is responsible enough.

As I grew up, my father gave me a weekly allowance. My first allowance was five or ten cents. I was just a child, and he wasn’t sure how I would use the money. Eventually he raised my allowance to twenty-five cents. And I felt so proud: “My father really trusts me.” Twenty-five cents was quite a good amount for me then.

So, parents want to give to their children, but they also want to see that their children are responsible enough to take care of what they give them. In a similar way, Krishna wants to give us everything—even Himself—but He wants to see that we are qualified.

Another analogy is a teacher in a classroom. The study of math begins with one plus one equals two. There is much more, but the students proceed step by step: addition, then subtraction, then multiplication, then division—so many processes they have to learn.

In the Bhagavad-gita, the first instruction is that you are not the body but the soul within the body. Aham brahmasmi. That is the beginning, and if we understand even one line of the Bhagavad-gita, from the very beginning, our lives will change.

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) If we just understand that we are not the body but are the atma, the jivatma, within the body, that alone is enough to change our whole life. We will no longer act on the basis of the body, for sense gratification, but on the basis of the soul, for self-realization. In today’s materialistic society one’s whole endeavor is to get things for the body—my body, my wife’s body, my children’s bodies, my parents’ bodies—to make the body comfortable. But the body is just like a dress for the soul. Now, which is more important—the clothes or the person inside the clothes? The person, of course. The body itself is just a dress, which changes. The real person is the soul, who exists always.

vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya
  navani grhnati naro ’parani
tatha sarirani vihaya jirnany
  anyani samyati navani dehi

“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.” (Gita 2.22)

If we understand just this one point from early in Krishna’s teaching in the Bhagavad-gita, our entire life will change. We will work for the benefit of the soul, which is our actual self and is part and parcel of the Supreme Self, God, Krishna, knowing that our real relationship is with Him, not with the body. And then, gradually, step by step, we will come to the conclusion of the Bhagavad-gita:

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto
  mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi satyam te
  pratijane priyo ’si me

“Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me, and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.” (Gita 18.65)

sarva-dharman parityajya
  mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
  moksayisyami ma sucah

“Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.” (Gita 18.66)

Man-mana—always think of Krishna. If you do that, you will naturally become a devotee of Krishna (mad-bhakto). You will worship Him (mad-yaji) and offer obeisance unto Him (mam namaskuru). It is so simple.

The critical point is man-mana, to always think of Krishna. And how can we always think of Him? In the ninth chapter of the Gita Krishna says,

satatam kirtayanto mam
  yatantas ca drdha-vratah
namasyantas ca mam bhaktya
  nitya-yukta upasate

“Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.” (Gita 9.14) Satatam kirtayanto mam—if we always (satatam) engage in glorifying Krishna, chanting His holy name (kirtana), we will always think of Him.

We are Hare Krishna devotees, and we are speaking about the Bhagavad-gita. What is the connection? The chanting of Hare Krishna is the real way to follow the instructions of Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita. Sri Krishna Chaitanya, the incarnation of Krishna for the present Age of Kali, who inaugurated the Hare Krishna movement five hundred years ago, taught, kirtaniyah sada harih: “Always chant the holy name of Hari [Krishna].” And in the Bhagavad-gita, Sri Krishna gives the same instruction: satatam kirtayanto mam—always engage in kirtan, chanting the holy name of Krishna. So, the chanting of Hare Krishna is really the fulfillment of Lord Krishna’s ultimate instruction in the Bhagavad-gita: man-mana—always think of Krishna. And chanting is the best—and easiest—way to think of Him.

Of course, we think of Krishna when we hear about Him from the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, but for that we need a book or a reader. We think of Krishna when we see His deity form, His murti, but for that we need a temple, a mandir, with a murti. There are so many ways of thinking of Krishna, but the beauty of chanting, either kirtan or japa, is that we need only our tongue and ears. In the Bhagavad-gita (10.25) Lord Krishna recommends, yajnanam japa-yajno ’smi: “Of sacrifices I am the chanting of the holy names [japa].” This, anyone can do. Young or old, black or white, man or woman, educated or uneducated—anyone and everyone can chant Hare Krishna and fulfill Krishna’s instruction in the Bhagavad-gita.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, the authorized biography of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, relates an instructive story. While touring South India, Sri Chaitanya came to the holy place of Sri Ranga-kshetra, where, in front of the temple, He saw a brahman holding the Bhagavad-gita and crying, surrounded by people who were laughing and criticizing him. Sri Chaitanya asked him, “Why are these people laughing?” And the brahman replied, “I am holding the Bhagavad-gita, but I am more or less illiterate. I don’t know how to pronounce the words properly, and I do not know what they mean. But my guru ordered me to read the Gita, and so I read all eighteen chapters every day.” Chaitanya Mahaprabhu inquired, “Why are you crying?” And the brahman replied, “When I hold the Bhagavad-gita, I see before me Krishna and Arjuna on the chariot. Krishna is acting as Arjuna’s chariot driver. Taking the reins in His hands, He appears very beautiful. While seeing Lord Krishna instructing Arjuna, I weep in ecstatic happiness.” Then Lord Chaitanya told the brahman, “You are the true authority in the reading of the Bhagavad-gita. You know the real purport of the Bhagavad-gita.” And He embraced him.

Proud people may think, “Oh, these Hare Krishna people can’t understand much. They don’t know Sanskrit. They don’t have the samskaras. Let them chant. It is good.” But actually, by chanting the holy name of Krishna, one awakens one’s love for Him, which is the real purport of the Bhagavad-gita. By chanting, one fulfills the Lord’s instructions in the Bhagavad-gita to always think of Him and sing His glories. Although some who chant may not be very learned or knowledgeable in a certain sense, if they are genuine devotees of Krishna, they are fulfilling the real purport of the Bhagavad-gita.

aho bata sva-paco ’to gariyan
  yaj-jihvagre vartate nama tubhyam
tepus tapas te juhuvuh sasnur arya
  brahmanucur nama grnanti ye te

“Oh, how glorious are they whose tongues are chanting Your holy name! Even if born in the families of dog-eaters, such persons are worshipable. Persons who chant the holy name of Your Lordship must have executed all kinds of austerities and fire sacrifices and achieved all the good manners of the Aryans. To be chanting the holy name of Your Lordship, they must have bathed at holy places of pilgrimage, studied the Vedas, and fulfilled everything required.” (SB 3.33.7)

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness not only presents the knowledge of the Bhagavad-gita; it also gives the practical means by which one can fulfill its purport—to become a devotee of Krishna, to always think of Him, to worship Him, to offer homage to Him, and to preach His message. After personally surrendering to Krishna (sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja), one can go further and teach this knowledge. This is Lord Krishna’s last instruction:

ya idam paramam guhyam
  mad-bhaktesv abhidhasyati
bhaktim mayi param krtva
  mam evaisyaty asamsayah

“For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me.

na ca tasman manusyesu
  kascin me priya-krttamah
bhavita na ca me tasmad
  anyah priyataro bhuvi

“There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.” (Gita 18.68–69) The real conclusion of the Bhagavad-gita, built upon one’s full surrender to Krishna, is to spread this message and thus become most dear to Krishna.

This is the opportunity we all have. On Gita Jayanti we think of Krishna, recite the Gita, and perform the yajna, but the real essence of the celebration is to bring more people to Krishna, to the wisdom of the Gita. As devotees, we want to bring others to Krishna, and when we do, Krishna is even more pleased. And that is what Gita Jayanti is really meant to do: to please Krishna, to bring the Bhagavad-gita to more people and bring more people to Krishna—and make us dear to Krishna.

It is a wonderful opportunity. I have been chanting Hare Krishna and reading the Bhagavad-gita for forty years, and it is ever-fresh. Once, Srila Prabhupada told a New York Times interviewer, “Every day your employer is printing so many newspapers. On Sunday especially the paper is so big that one can hardly carry it. But after reading it for an hour, people throw it away. Here is this book—the Bhagavad-gita—and people keep it and read it for a lifetime, and in this way it has been read for the past five thousand years. Give people such literature that will be taken and kept forever.” And the reporter laughed—and agreed.

I am very grateful to all of you for having come this evening, after what was probably a long, hard day at work, braving the rush-hour traffic. I am grateful that you came and spared your valuable time. And I look forward to working together with all of you on this wonderful project, which will be so beneficial to so many people. Srila Prabhupada’s guru instructed him to preach the message of the Bhagavad-gita in English all over the world, telling him, “This will do much good for you as well as your audience.” So, it is win-win-win: it will be beneficial for you, it will be beneficial for the people in general, and ultimately Krishna will be pleased. And that is our goal—that is what bhakti means—to please Krishna. When Krishna is pleased, our life is successful and we are naturally satisfied and happy.

Thank you very much.

Hare Krishna.

[An address by Giriraj Swami to leaders of Hindu organizations, October 23, 2009, Houston]
 

 

Srila Prabhupada traveled by steamship from Calcutta to New York City, arriving at the height of the youth counterculture wave of the 1960s. Living amid bohemians, beatniks, hippies, and self-proclaimed drug prophets, his aim was to plant the seeds of spiritual revolution—by encouraging everyone he met to chant Hare Krishna and to hear Krishna’s teachings
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On February 11, 2026 the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium will reach another milestone: The Grand Opening of the amazing TOVP Yajna Shala in the TOVP Gardens. This huge Yajna Shala will replace the current location at the Gurukula and become the main focal point of all yajnas performed for the Supreme Personality of Godhead on a daily basis, in perpetuity, since they started in 1986 in the Lotus Park.

Among the many items to sponsor are the 5000 Roof Tiles that will cap the granite and marble structure. We encourage all devotees, whether you’ve already donated to the TOVP or not, to sponsor one or more for the continued daily yajna seva in Sridham Mayapur. These yajnas to please the Supreme Lord are for the benefit of all devotees worldwide, ISKCON in general, and the upliftment of the world.

Visit the TOVP Yajna Shala website page today.

 

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In this graphic video, TOVP Updates Past, Present and Future, Prananatha Das takes us on an exhilirating journey of the progress of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium from 2011 to the year 2025.

Beginning with the building superstructure completion, to the Chakra Installation, Pujari Floor Opening, Prabhupada Welcome Ceremony, Nrsimha Temple Opening, Prabhupada Legacy Museum Opening, and concluding with beautiful images of what’s to come in 2027 for the TOVP Grand Opening, this video will surely pull on your heart strings and inspire you. It will fill your soul with wonder and gratefulness for the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya Mahaprahu for their benediction upon the world, and the history-making impact this temple will have for generations to come.

If you are thus inspired, you can also help make this magnificent project a reality by contributing your might, large or small, even if you have already given before. Visit the TOVP Seva Opportunities website page and make a donation or pledge today according to your means, and participate in this once-in-many-lifetimes chance to expand Krishna consciousness to every town and village. You yourself and your family will be infinitely blessed by such an act of truly humanitarian compassion and service.

Visit the TOVP Seva Opportunities page TODAY!

 

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The Prabhupada 50 Campaign was launched on Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day, October 25, 2025. It is a two-year fundraising campaign scheduled to end on November 1, 2027, the 50th Disappearance Anniversary of Srila Prabhupada. At that time, the TOVP will be officially opened during a subsequent three-month ceremony, and Sridhama Mayapura’s beloved Deities will be relocated into Their long-awaited new home.

The divine centerpiece of this fundraising campaign will be an exact replica of Srila Prabhupada’s personal KRISHNA ring, the Eternal Seva Engagement Ring. This gorgeous ring, mounted in a decorative holding box, can be displayed on your home altar or strung on a necklace to be worn around your neck.

Ambarisa prabhu has pledged to match all donations during the next two years up to $10 million to show devotees the seriousness of this project and his continued and ever-increasing dedication and determination to open the temple for Srila Prabhupada’s pleasure on his 50th Disappearance Anniversary.

Sponsor a ring for yourself and your family members. Visit the Prabhupada 50 Campaign website page today!

 

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TOVP NEWS AND UPDATES – STAY IN TOUCH

Visit: www.tovp.org
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One might ask why Lord Krishna did not arrange for them to be killed by others. Therefore, it is stated in this verse. Because the Yadu dynasty was the Lord’s own family. No one within the universe was capable of killing them. Not even the demigods. In fact, it’s pointed out that no one within
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We’re thrilled to share some amazing news! Thanks to HH Sivarama Swami’s summer Swimathlon Challenge and your generous donations, the Bhagavad-gita is now available in Turkish language! A huge thank you to everyone who supported this project! We’re thrilled to share some amazing…
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By Vrsabhanu das Paris is a very prominent city in Europe, visited by millions of people every year. Srila Prabhupada knew it was an important city for teaching bhakti yoga and he went there on several occasions. For years the devotees have been holding an annual Ratha Yatra festival and the one that I filmed
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alaṅkṛta koribār 

khamatā tomār

You have the power unsurpassable 

To make my words understandable.

My inability is not my liability—my unavailability is

alaṅkṛta koribār khamatā tomār

You have the power unsurpassable
To make my words understandable.

My dear Lord, you are capable of making the impossible possible—and that means you can use me despite my inabilities. As Srila Prabhupada confidently declares, you can ornament his words so that even an utterly foreign American audience can understand them.

O most merciful Lord, please bless me with a drop of similar confidence in your omnipotence. When I am called upon to render some significant service—whether by the instruction of your representatives or by the need of the situation—let me not obsess over my inability. Let my inability never become an excuse for lethargy—or worse, for unavailability.

O Lord, the true liability that slows or stops me in your service is not my inability—but my unavailability.

You, O merciful Lord, protect me from such unavailability by urging me to always remember you. Such remembrance frees me from self-consciousness—the breeding ground of self-doubt that ends in self-sabotage.

Bless me, O benevolent Lord, to stop being so conscious of myself and to be more conscious of you—and of myself as your part. Let me offer my availability for you to act through me as you will.

The post 12.2 My inability is not my liability—my unavailability is appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

By Radhika Kripa Mataji Gurugram, earlier known as Gur-goan, carries a sacred place in India’s ancient history. The name itself means “the village of the Guru”, referring to Guru Dronacharya, the revered teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas in the Mahabharata. According to tradition, this land was offered to Guru Dronacharya by King Dhritarashtra as
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The devotees took Their Lordships, Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi on Their Ratha Chariot in a parade at Orewa, which is a suburb to the north of Auckland.

There were thousands of people lining the street clapping and waving as the devotees had ecstatic kirtan. The route was on the road adjacent to the beach so it was a beautiful setting. A sumptuous picnic prasadam dinner was served in the park afterward.

This is an AI-generated transcript and it might not be fully accurate:

So, if we are in a work environment, should we forgive our managers? See, it depends on when somebody does something hurtful. It could be because of various reasons. One is, it is because of ignorance.

That maybe when they gave us some disproportionate work, they didn’t know what we were going through in our life or how much time it would take. Or it could be because of incompetence. That maybe that person is in that role, but they don’t have that skill.

Now, it could also be because of malevolence. Malevolence is where they want to hurt us, where they just want to make our life miserable. Now, there are people who have malice or malevolence, but they are relatively rare.

So, in general, when there is hurtful behavior, hurtful action, the cause can be from any of these. So, as a matter of positive mental attitude, it is best to start with the least negative explanation for somebody’s actions. And that is the meaning of apaishunam.

The Bhagavad Gita says we have hurtful fault-finding towards others. That means, when they do something that hurts us, start with the least negative explanation. Maybe they just didn’t know how much work was involved or how much work I already had.

Or maybe they just had too much on their head and they didn’t think properly or they are just not capable of. Whoever they found, they just dumped some work on them. So, if it’s ignorance, then I think it should be communicated with them and just let the past go.

If it’s incompetence, then maybe, now, what can we do about it? It is that sometimes some people are just, they get or they are given roles that they are not equal to. Then maybe some ways, it’s not that they want to hurt us, but it’s just that they don’t have the skill. So, somehow we can respectfully but appropriately share their load and take off their head the things which they are not competent at.

Or somebody else can do that, then they are not a bad person. But malevolence, when it is there, that’s when it’s a serious problem. So, now, we could say Kaikeyi, she was not ignorant, but here was she incompetent? Incompetent in the sense that she did not understand that mantra had her own agenda and she got influenced by mantra.

Now, see, that’s the difference between the exile that the Kauravas were sent to and Ram was sent. See, Kaikeyi had nothing directly against Ram. She just wanted to protect her son’s interest.

She felt that if Ram goes out of the kingdom for 14 years, Bharat will be able to show his ability and he will win over the citizens and after that Ram comes back also, he will not be a threat to Ram, Bharat’s kingship. The Kauravas, they hated the Pandavas. And that’s why they gave the condition of 12 plus 1 years, one year of avyatvas.

And the idea was the Pandavas were so famous, it would be almost impossible for them to stay incognito. And he would surely find them and then send them again 12 plus 1 years. And that way he would keep them in the, see, he could have at the time of gambling match itself, he could have said that lifelong we will go to the forest.

But even the biggest, the worst pain is caused to others, not just by sentencing them to lifelong pain. It is by giving them hope and then smashing their hope. So, that was the sinister sadistic plan of Durlodhan.

So, that is where it has outlined malice over there. So, I think we have to observe what is the cause and then act appropriately. Okay.

The post In our work environment, should we forgive our managers? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 21, No. 47
By Krishna Kripa Das
(Week 47: November 19–25, 2025)

Stuyvesant Falls, Chatham, New York City
(Sent from Brooklyn, New York, on November 29, 2025)

Where I Went and What I Did

The forty-seventh week of 2025, I lived at Viraha Bhavan, the ashram of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, my Guru Maharaja, in Stuyvesant Falls, New York, for the first four days. I helped his caretakers with different services like cleaning the kitchen, waking up the deities, singing for Them, and uploading dictation tapes. I also did some personal service for Guru Maharaja. I chanted Hare Krishna one hour on the porch most days, usually in two parts, half an hour each, because of the cold. I attended the Chatham Wednesday Program. Thursday and Friday I also chanted Hare Krishna at the Hudson train station when dropping Jayadvaita Swami and Jaya Sri at the train. I went to New York City on Sunday morning, and on the I chanted Hare Krishna at the Poughkeepsie train station and then on the New York subways, going to and from the temple. 

Monday and Tuesday I chanted Hare Krishna with the NYC Harinam party. 

Hare Krishna Dear devotees, By the grace of Lord Krishna, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, and the loving prayers, yajnas, and well-wishes of Vaisnavas around the world, His Grace Mahatma Prabhu is recovering well. Considering the amount of trauma he experienced, his progress is truly miraculous. He will most likely leave the hospital tomorrow, once
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This is an AI-generated transcript and it might not be fully accurate:

So, if we have to do some service but we don’t feel the confidence, now how do we develop that confidence? We could very well say that I just don’t have the talent for this particular service. Yes, two things mainly that often when we seek to do a service, we have a particular conception of success in that service and we often evaluate that oh maybe I am not good for this service, maybe I am not good enough for this service based on whether we have got that particular success or not or whether we are likely to get that particular success or not. But sometimes it is like success may be different from our definition of success.

So growth in life can be in one level attaining success or you can say reaching success but growth may also require redefining success that what is success, growth can be both ways. So what do I mean by redefining success that generally whenever we do any service, there are two aspects to the service, there is the external aspect, there is the internal aspect. The external is say if we are trying to share Bhakti, we are giving some talks, the external aspect is how many people come for the talks, how many people become inspired, how many people become transformed, that is the external aspect.

The internal aspect is that we ourselves are absorbing Krishna, that our attraction to Krishna increases, that like I said every day did I come to know Krishna a little better, I come to love Krishna a little more. So through every talk that we give, every interaction we have with others, it is not just others come to know Krishna a little better, do we ourselves come to know Krishna a little better. Now if we look at Srila Prabhupada, when he went to America, he had been trying from 1922 onwards till 1965 and he had a very little external success to show.

But still he was not bitter. The people who had tried very hard and not succeeded, then they become very bitter. But he was not at all bitter.

Those who met him in America, when he was just an unknown Swami walking on the streets of New York, they saw him, he was just so cheerful, so happy, speaking about Krishna, singing about Krishna, composing for Krishna, writing about Krishna, he was just happy with it. So we could say that there is, through our service, there is the outer impact or the outer contribution. Now we hold that no doubt.

But through our service, there is also the inner connection that is to be developed. Through our service, Krishna becomes the bigger reality for us. Based on this, we consider four quadrants.

We could say that if there is only outer contribution without inner connection, that means somebody sings very nicely. But when they are singing, their concern is not how much Krishna is pleased with me, their concern is how many people are marvelling at how nicely I sing. So then what will happen? That person will become prideful.

They will be doing the service, but it’s all about pride and ego and recognition. Now if somebody has neither outer contribution nor inner connection, then they are going to become very resentful. Nothing is working in life.

They will be bitter and resentful. Now if somebody has inner connection, there is no outer contribution. They will still be graceful.

Now if there is outer contribution, they will be grateful. Not like I am grateful. So we can say that Prabhupada, in his life from 1922 to 1966 almost, or we can say even 1968, because he didn’t get success immediately.

After 1968, the movement really took off. And then 1968 to 77, that’s when the outer contribution also started manifesting. So for us, we try to make sure, if are we meant to persist in a particular service, even when we are getting no success, then we should see through the service, am I at least experiencing the inner connection with Krishna? That’s when we will be able to persist in that service.

So some people, they may go out for distributing books and it’s just exhausting emotionally, physically and they do it, but they feel completely drained by it. They don’t even feel spiritually nourished by it. We will be spiritually purified by it, but we won’t feel nourished by it.

But if they come and do worship the deities or they come and make garlands for the Lord, they feel much more connected with the Lord. So we have to see both. Ideally would be, we would all like to be in quadrant 4. We could say that best is that we can be in quadrant 4. But if not, then at least in quadrant 3. Now, we don’t want to be in quadrant 1. If we are in quadrant 1, we should try to get to quadrant 3 soon.

But definitely we don’t want to be in quadrant 4. So for all of us, we can’t entirely control this, but we explore. Which is the service by which I can make an outer contribution? Which is the service by which I can make an inner connection? And we may have 2-3 services like that and we explore among those and one of the services may become our life’s calling and our life’s way of serving Krishna primarily. Does it answer the question?

The post If we feel hesitant about doing a service, is that due to lack of confidence or lack of ability? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

akhila jagat-guru! 

bacana se āmār

O spiritual master of all the worlds, 

Please become the master of my words

My dear Lord, remembering you means remembering that you are so great you don’t need me—yet you still choose to use me, despite my defects and deficiencies, in your compassionate plan for all.

When I seek to help someone come closer to you, remind me that I am not their deliverer—you are. Srila Prabhupada stresses this truth when he glorifies you as the spiritual master of the whole world.

You desire to enlighten all living beings, and by your omnipotence you are fully capable of doing so—without needing me or anyone else to assist.

O supremely merciful Lord, if anyone rises from ignorance to enlightenment—even if it happens through the words I speak—it is only by your mercy upon them. You open my mouth and place your words there; you open their hearts so those words may be rightly understood and lived.

Deliver me, O Almighty, from the illusion that I can deliver anyone, and lead me into the reality that you—and you alone—can deliver me, and may use me, if you so desire, to deliver others.

The post 12.1 Deliver me from the illusion that I can deliver anyone from illusion appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Listen to a class given by HH Bhakti Prabhupada Vrata Damodara Mhj on text 30-31 of the Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana), canto 3, chapter 20, entitled “Conversation Between Maitreya and Vidura” given on November 26, 2025 at the Hare Krishna temple in Alachua, Florida. The Srimad-Bhagavatam is a sacred Vaishnava text from India that narrates the
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Listen to a class given by HH Bhakti Prabhupada Vrata Damodara Mhj on text 30-31 of the Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana), canto 3, chapter 20, entitled “Conversation Between Maitreya and Vidura” given on November 26, 2025 at the Hare Krishna temple in Alachua, Florida. The Srimad-Bhagavatam is a sacred Vaishnava text from India that narrates the
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I grew up in a very simple, rather poor uh family in rural Minnesota. My father was a small dairy farmer and um the family was not really religious, although the most of the kids and I did go to church whenever we could. My dad was so busy that he was never able to
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I grew up in a very simple, rather poor uh family in rural Minnesota. My father was a small dairy farmer and um the family was not really religious, although the most of the kids and I did go to church whenever we could. My dad was so busy that he was never able to
Read More...

By Jayadeva Das. Here’s a new video which with help of many of my friends we put together for the 56th anniversary of the installation of Śrī Śrī Radha London Isvara in Bury Place. What a great coincidence it is that the day Kavi Karnapura prabhu finished the making of his masterpiece video you are
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To honor the 50+ years of unwavering, dedicated service to Srila Prabhupada, and support of the TOVP for the last 15 years by H.H. Radhanath Swami, Braja Vilasa prabhu unveils a beautiful commemorative medallion in Maharaja’s name for his 75th appearance anniversary. This medallion can be sponsored on the TOVP website. Sponsorship funds will go to the completion of the Main Wing in preparation for the Grand Opening of the TOVP in 2027.

Sponsor a Radhanath Swami 75 Medallion today!

  Note: In the US, Canada and India, medallions will be shipped to you. All others can be picked up at the Mayapur TOVP office. If you cannot arrange this, please contact us at tovpinfo@gmail.com

 

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Wednesday 26th November 2025 Today is the 56th Installation Anniversary Celebration of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara Prayers by HG Sakshi Gopal Das & Special Evening Class Given by HG Kripamoya Das
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If we are at all aware of how dependent we are on God—for the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and our very ability to eat and drink and breathe, to think and feel and will, and to walk, talk, and sense—we will feel grateful and want to reciprocate God’s kindness. We will want to do something for He (or She or They) who has done, and continues to do, so much for us.

We often take things for granted until we lose them. I use my right hand to chant on meditation beads, and one morning I found that I had severe pain in my hand and could no longer use it for chanting. I had taken the use of my hand for granted, but when I lost its use, I resolved to never take it for granted again and to always use it in the best way in God’s service.

How can we attempt to return some of God’s favor, some of God’s care and love for us? My spiritual master, Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, gave one answer:

“Whatever you have got by pious or impious activities, you cannot change. But you can change your position, by Krishna consciousness. That you can change. Other things you cannot change. If you are white, you cannot become black, or if you are black, you cannot become white. That is not possible. But you can become a first-class Krishna conscious person. Whether you are black or white, it doesn’t matter. This is Krishna consciousness. Therefore our endeavor should be how to become Krishna conscious. Other things we cannot change. This is not possible.

tasyaiva hetoh prayateta kovido
  na labhyate yad bhramatam upary adhah
tal labhyate duhkhavad anyatah sukham
  kalena sarvatra gabhira-ramhasa
      [Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.18]

Kalena, by time, you will get whatever you are destined. Don’t bother about so-called economic development. So far as food is concerned, Krishna is supplying. Eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman. He is supplying even cats and dogs and ants. Why not you? There is no need of bothering Krishna, ‘God, give us our daily bread.’ He will give you. Don’t bother. Try to become very faithful servant of God. ‘Oh, God has given me so many things. So let me give my energy to serve Krishna.’ This is required. This is Krishna consciousness. ‘I have taken so much, life after life, from Krishna. Now let me dedicate this life to Krishna.’ This is Krishna consciousness. ‘I will not let this life go uselessly like cats and dogs. Let me utilize it for Krishna consciousness.’ ”

I pray that I will dedicate this life and everything I have—everything God has given me—fully in God’s service, following His pure devotees.

manasa, deho, geho, yo kichu mora
arpilun tuya pade, nanda-kisora

“Mind, body, and home, whatever may be mine, I surrender at Your lotus feet, O youthful son of Nanda!” (Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Saranagati)

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

je tomār icchā prabhu 

koro ei bāre

Whatever your will, O Lord, may it be,

Please do it now—let it flow through me.

My dear Lord, Srila Prabhupada here articulates his acceptance of your will, yet such acceptance never leads him to inactivity. He has endeavoured enormously to reach America and is determined to continue endeavouring.

O omnipotent Lord, his untiring effort combined with his unresisting acceptance manifests the two dimensions of surrender: accepting your will and accepting the responsibility to do your will. Both these facets of surrender are integral in one who understands themselves as an eternal part of you and who therefore knows that their plan needs to always be within your plan—never outside it.

O beloved Lord, you sometimes manifest your will through the situations around me. When these situations go completely beyond my control, bless me so that I can gracefully accept such turns of events as your will.

Simultaneously, O my eternal Master, let me remember that your will can manifest not just in the things that happen to me but also in the things that happen through me. There are times when you want me to endeavour wholeheartedly and persist despite obstacles; through such determination and dedication, I express my devotion to you.

Bless me, O infallible Lord, with the intelligence to find this delicate balance between accepting your will and accepting the responsibility to do your will.

The post 11.2 Help me accept your will—and accept my responsibility to do your will appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

This is an AI-generated transcript and it might not be fully accurate:

Yes, if we are overwhelmed by a situation, we cannot see the bigger picture, what do we do? Well, we will not be able to see the bigger picture at that particular time. But ultimately, each one of us, we have to make one choice, will I act to make things better or will I act to make things worse? So, now we may say that who will act to make things worse, but sometimes if we are going to be caught in that tunnel vision, by that we are going to act in ways that make things worse. So this is the situation I am in, fair or unfair, that is the reality right now.

So how Prabhupada would use the word make the best of a bad bargain. So here now, what can I, how can I make the best of the situation I am in? And generally to make the best, we need to have some hope that some things will work out in the future. So it is sometimes helpful to look back at our past and see if there was some situation in our life where we felt it was the end of the world, but then through that something good came out.

So it is that, it is like one of the things which if we do introspection in life, that at a particular time if we feel what happened to me, what I refer to the incident, what happened to me, I am thinking what happened to my handwriting now here, what happened to me. So actually if we perceive it in life, maybe later we will be able to see that what happened to me actually happened for me, that through it something good came out. So even if there is one incident in our life which you can find like that, that can give us hope that, okay, it is bad and we do not deny that it is bad, but maybe something good will come out of it.

So probably this is one thing which you could do after the session, all of you can just think of in one incident, oh, this happened, something terrible happened to me, but actually it was happening for me, through it something good came out. So if you can think of one incident like that also, that can give us that equipment, that armour to face that situation without feeling resentful or collapsed, hopeless. Thank you.

Yes, fine. I was just thinking in the way that I was asking the question that, throughout your lesson also you were referring to, you said in chapter, you maybe did not say those to us, but that is what you were showing by example, okay, and those situations where we find ourselves in circumstances which we cannot understand the bigger picture, then reading the Shastra, that can give us examples, give us some examples, and by speaking with the spiritual master and keeping association with the devotees, they can also say, well, you know, I have been in situations like that, and as you said, what is happening to you may be happening for you, just have to be patient. Yes, it is a very good point.

See, it is, if the soul is here, the mind is here, and generally say people are over here. So for most of us, is this happening to me or for me? Okay, so for most people, we look at people and the world through our mind. Okay, this person is like this, somebody speaks sweetly to us, maybe in the past somebody spoke sweetly and exploited us, what does this person want from me? So we normally look at everyone through our mind.

And so if our mind is filled with negativity, this is wrong, that is wrong, everything is wrong, and we’ll also look at that person also through negativity, through negatively. We look at life also negatively, I mean. But if we have even one person who is close to us, this is where the spiritual master or the devotees are meant to be.

Then what happens is, for that one person, we look at our mind through that person. Instead of looking at that person through our mind, but we look at our mind through that person. Okay, my mind is saying, oh, it’s all gloom and doom, everything is destroyed.

But the guru sadhu shastra or the teachers are telling me, spiritual teachers are telling me, there is more to life, it’s not over. Krishna has some higher plan. So, if we have not developed that relationship, by which that person has become trustworthy for us, then we will just dismiss such statements as platitudes.

Oh, you know, you speak those things, you’re not going through what I’m going through. And we just pick these things. So, we need to have that, at least with one person, we need to have that relationship where with the whole world, we look at them through our mind.

But there is somebody who can help us to look at our mind. Guru mukha padma vakya chittate kariya ikhya. The idea that we are able to look at our mind and change our mind based on the words of our spiritual guides.

Thank you. Okay. Yes.

The post If the situation overwhelms us and prevents us from seeing the bigger picture what can we do? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

By Dayal Mora Das. ISKCON London has joyfully reacquired 7 Bury Place, the original site where Srila Prabhupada formally inaugurated the first Radha Krishna Temple in London in December 1969. This sacred building near the British Museum is where Srila Prabhupada personally installed Sri Sri Radha Londonisvara, performed abhiseka with his own hands, offered heartfelt
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All glories to the devotees in Nigeria! Sri Jaganath Rathayatra festival held in Warri Delta State (photos) Sri Jaganath Rathayatra festival held in Warri Delta State. Jai Jaganath Ananta Acharya Click on the image to read the complete post
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All glories to the devotees in Nigeria! Sri Jaganath Rathayatra festival held in Warri Delta State (photos) Sri Jaganath Rathayatra festival held in Warri Delta State. Jai Jaganath Ananta Acharya Click on the image to read the complete post
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Arjuna embodies the qualities of a complete mam harmonizing endeavour and earnestness. Arjuna also represents limitless knowledge and complete dependence on the divine. Arjuna’s story is one of human potential and limitation. It teaches us how to harmonize the two through sincere effort and dependence on God’s Grace Topics of Discussion Session 1- Arjuna Excels
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Arjuna embodies the qualities of a complete mam harmonizing endeavour and earnestness. Arjuna also represents limitless knowledge and complete dependence on the divine. Arjuna’s story is one of human potential and limitation. It teaches us how to harmonize the two through sincere effort and dependence on God’s Grace Topics of Discussion Session 1- Arjuna Excels
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athaca enecho prabhu 

kathā bolibāre

Yet still you have brought me here,

To speak your message, O Lord most dear.

My dear Lord, let my humility never become a mask for my lack of faith. Humility is an acknowledgement of my own limitedness and often of my inability, whereas faith is the acknowledgement of your infinite ability and my need for your omnipotence. Here Srila Prabhupada, after humbly admitting his lack of ability, expresses his recognition of your divine plan and his determination to do his part in sharing your message.

Srila Prabhupada is persevering in a mission that most would have considered impossible, and he is persevering not by turning a blind eye toward obstacles but by lifting his eyes above those obstacles to you. Through such perseverance, he has already succeeded before succeeding—he is already internally, spiritually successful. What others saw as the end of possibility, he saw as the beginning of providence. And how wonderfully did you, O infallible Lord, reward his faithfulness! Over the next decade, you made him visibly successful in a way that has hardly any parallels in the history of the world.

O faith-providing and doubt-destroying Lord, please bless me to deeply appreciate and assimilate the example of Srila Prabhupada. When I face gigantic obstacles in my service, let me persevere by focusing not on my inability to remove them, but on your ability to do so.

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This is an AI-generated transcript and it might not be fully accurate:

Is there a borderline or a limit for tolerance? Yes, there is. I will not tolerate your question now. No, definitely.

We see in Bhagavad Gita 2.14, Tamasitikshasubharata says, Tolerate. But what to do with this tolerance? Is he saying, Tolerate the atrocities committed by the Kauravas? They occupied Draupadi, they took all your kingdoms, you should tolerate that. He is not asking you to tolerate that.

What is he asking you to tolerate? Tolerate that you have to fight Bhishma. You have to fight Bhishma and Drona. This is very difficult.

But you should tolerate this. So before tolerating, what to tolerate, what not to tolerate, it is very important to understand this. So before this, in 2.13, Bhagavan says, Intelligence.

Dehinospinathadehe We should have intelligence. And there is a simple definition of intelligence. Prabhupadaji says, See things in their proper perspective.

We have to see which things are big and which things are small. And we have to give importance to big things, not importance to small things. So Bhagavan says, You are attacking Bhishma.

He is not a body, he is a soul. The corpse of the body is a small thing. The welfare of the soul is a big thing.

Emphasize on that. And what is the result of tolerance? That is Transcendence. yam hi na vyathyante te purusham purushar shabha samadukha sukham dhiram somrutatvaya kalpate With this, immortality will be attained.

trnād api suniśhā taror api sahiṣṇā And what should be the result of this? kīrtaniya sadā hari When we tolerate, with that we can always do the good deeds of Bhagavan. This should be possible. So what is there in this? Two things can be extreme.

It can be wrong. When we face difficulties, One is that we make a small thing big. So what happens with that? We become intolerant.

A small thing says something bad to us. We get very angry and start attacking it. This is not good.

But another problem can be that sometimes we make a big thing small. This is not tolerance. This is impotence.

This is powerlessness. So we should not make a big thing small. For example, there is a class going on.

Suppose there is a mother and her baby starts crying. If the baby starts crying, I start shouting. I shout at the mother.

Can’t you handle the baby? What kind of a mother are you? Can’t you handle the baby? Go away from here. If I shout at the mother, she will become intolerant. No matter how good my speech is, after the class, you will remember how I shouted at her.

So we should not make a small thing big. But sometimes what happens? If the baby is crying and no one is doing anything for him. He is crying.

I was in Seattle. There was a Western Outreach program. There was a 3-year-old boy.

He was running in the class. No one was doing anything for him. His mother was also sitting there and she was also not doing anything.

She was giving a speech. I saw the organizer. He was also not ready to do anything.

So I gave the class. Everyone was distracted. Then the organizer told me that he had come to our class for the first time.

And this woman was from the area where there was a lot of crime. So the gang leader there had a girlfriend. So someone went to tell him something.

I didn’t have the courage. I didn’t know what to do. So the point is if someone is crying in the class then we should say something.

It has become a big thing. We are not able to hear anything. So what is the small thing here? There is some noise.

The phone rings here. Someone is crying. That is a small thing.

But if there is always some noise and we have come to do some work then we have to listen to the class. If they are not able to listen then there will be a problem. So what should tolerance do? Ideally, we will keep the small thing small.

And from that we have to keep the big thing big. So that is why before doing tolerance we should develop intelligence. What are the big things in my life and what are the small things? So if there is a problem in a relationship then every relationship has problems.

No relationship is perfect. But does this mean if someone is doing physical violence then should we tolerate that? No, there are limits. There are limits.

If our life is in danger if we feel like we are going crazy in some situation if someone says if I have to live in this situation I will commit suicide. If something big is happening then you should not change it. So we have to understand intelligently what is a big thing and what is a small thing.

Keep the small thing small and then the big thing so that we can keep the big thing big. So that is the way to tolerate constructively. What should tolerance do? We need intelligence before tolerance and from tolerance we need transcendence.

The big thing that God is big and God’s service is big that will become bigger than that. God will become more important for us. Thank you very much.

Shri Prantharaj Shrimad Bhagwatam Ki Jai Shrila Prabhupada Ki Jai Gaur Bhakta Vrinda Ki Jai Gaur Premaandhi

The post Hindi-Is there a limit to tolerance? | Chaitanya Charan appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

By Praghosa dasa London, 25 November 2025: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is thrilled to announce that it has successfully acquired 7 Bury Place, the site of its original London temple in an auction held today. This landmark building close to the British Museum in London’s Bloomsbury area holds deep historical and spiritual
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kṣudra āmi dīna hīna 

kono śakti nāhi

Lowly am I, so fallen, so small,

I have no strength, O Lord, none at all.

My dear Lord, whenever I feel powerless or helpless, let those feelings not drag me into hopelessness. Instead, let them serve as my wake-up call to shift my hope to you—firmly, fully, and faithfully. Srila Prabhupada acknowledges here that he has no power or ability of his own, yet he sees this not as a reason for despair but as a reason to redirect his attention to you—as did Draupadi when her honor was threatened in the Kuru assembly.

O ever-accessible Lord, let his words inspire me. In moments when I feel helpless, when nothing I do seems to make any difference and is not likely to make any difference, let me not resign from my service or drift into passivity. Instead, my Lord, let me refocus my attention on you. Even if I am powerless, you are always powerful—supremely powerful. If I can just become absorbed in you, I will start becoming hopeful again.

O merciful Lord, through such absorption, please enable me to experience shelter and succour even amid overwhelming gloom and doom. Infuse me, I beg you, with the strength to take small steps even when the path ahead is shrouded in impenetrable darkness.

May you, my Lord, be my refuge now and always—in times when I feel helpless, and even when I do not.

The post 10.2 Alone, I may be helpless; with you, I can be hopeful—always appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

This is an AI-generated transcript and it might not be fully accurate:

See, if somebody is not that competent, but they are well connected, or they have connection with the managers and that is how they are getting more promotion or growing or they are basically, they are showing off and they are getting more than what they merit. So, how do we deal with this situation? See, in life, basically, whatever game we play, we have to understand the rules of that game. And by saying there are some spoken rules and there are some unspoken rules.

So, we cannot be naive. In this world, the material world is such that we may say, do not judge a book by its cover, but everybody judges the book by the cover, isn’t it? So, everybody looks at appearances. And that is why, if we are in a field where appearances are valued, then we have to play that game.

See, the Pandavas were virtuous and we can see the Kauravas were so vicious and in public, Duryodhana tried to dishonor and disrobe Draupadi. You know, after somebody does something so horrendous, the whole of society should be ostracizing such a person. But when eventually the war was supposed to happen, 11 Akshahunis supported Duryodhana.

Only 7 supported Yudhishthira. Were there so many evil people that they supported Duryodhana? Well, not entirely. What happened was, the Pandavas were disconnected from the world because they were in the forest.

And the Kauravas were connected with the Kshatriya world. There were always weddings and other events that they would attend. And Duryodhana told his side of the story.

We say, what is the side of the story that is there to tell over here? He did such a thing, something so terrible. But what he said was, he gave his own side of the story. He said that I didn’t force Duryodhana, Yudhishthira to gamble.

Yudhishthira gambled on his own. And he spun the whole story. Do you really think that a man who would put his own wife on stake should become the king of the world? He twisted completely around.

Says Yudhishthira is completely undeserving of being the king. Therefore, it will be a catastrophe if such a person becomes the king. And that is how he got so many supporters.

So, my point is, he set a particular narrative and people were won over by that narrative. So, if we are in a particular arena, we have to learn the rules of that arena. And just because we are good, now we can say good, there is good in terms of morality, but there is good also in terms of ability.

Ability to do what we are expected to do in that particular field. Now, of course, there have to be boundaries. If everybody in the office is doing politics and we say, I won’t be doing any politics at all, you might just get sidelined.

Now, politics, what does it mean? Politics could mean networking, politics could mean knowing who are the power groups over here and being aware and maintaining good relationships. Now, politics can mean also being backbiting and rumour mongering and there is a dirty side to politics. Now, we may not want to get involved in that.

But my point is that wherever we are, we need to recognise how things work over here. We cannot just change the system immediately. Maybe the way the system is working is bad right now.

But who can change the system? It is only somebody who rises to the top in the system, they can bring reform. Those who are at the bottom, unless they revolt, they are not going to bring any reform. So, in that sense, whatever is required, we need to do.

And it is true that people who have an attractive appearance and who have pleasing manners, that means you can just talk sweetly, they do get a big advantage in the world. But that does not mean that they are necessarily able to do good work. But that is the way life is.

We cannot change the nature, we have to work with that reality. We had a question? Thank you Prabhu for such a wonderful talk. So Prabhu, when

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