Author Archives: Amrtavani devi dasi

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 26 December 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Initiation Lecture) bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ (Bhagavad-gītā 7.19) It is after many births that one comes to the point of knowing  vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti  that Krsna is everything. This aim, knowing that Krsna is everything, is the […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, October 2014, Vrindavan, India, Lecture at Ter Kadamba) There was Hans Keilman. He was travelling in India and somehow he came to the Bombay Temple. While the devotees were talking to him, they found out that he was an architect. They brought him before Prabhupada, and said, “Prabhupada, this is Hans from […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 05 October 2014, Sydney, Australia, Sunday Feast Lecture) Who can understand Krsna? Who can understand that there is a personality behind all these unlimited energies? Who can understand that there is not only one universe, but that there are many universes and that all these universes are emanating from the Supreme Lord? […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 16 August 2006, Goloka Dhama, Germany, Janmastami Lecture) One pastime that I like very much is when Krsna eats dirt. I like it so much because Mother Yashoda looks inside Krsna’s mouth and sees the entire universe there, that is quite amazing – the universe is within Krsna, who at the same […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 01 December 2014, Mayapur, India, Srimad Bhagavatam Lecture 6.1.50) Question: My wife and I have been struggling with ill health since we came to the Holy Dham, so we were trying to understand it as an obstacle and purification. Could you speak a little about that? Ill health is a great test! […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 29 April 2013, Radhadesh, Belgium, Caitanya Caritamrta, Adi Lila 9.46) Not only are we taking shelter of Krsna, but we also let Krsna lead our way. Krsna has placed us in a particular position karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa jantur dehopapattaye We are not only taking birth by our karma, but also by divine arrangement. […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 September 2014, Scottburgh, South Africa, Youth Programme) Basically, human beings and even animals, all have the same soul. Wherever there is life, there is a soul, even in a plant, and therefore all life is like us. The scriptures of the world have a common message – that we should not […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 September 2014, Scottburgh, South Africa, Youth Programme) So how can we, the youth of the world, take on this great ideal where we say: we are concerned with the happiness of all and not just our own happiness? It can be done! It is possible, but only on one condition – […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 September 2014, Scottburg, South Africa, Youth Programme) One thing I really did not like was when my father used to say, “Son, life is a compromise.” That was like giving up before you had even started to try for the ideal. I was always an idealist, and still today, I am […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 September 2014, Scottburg, South Africa, Youth Programme) If we walk the path of the heart, the path that we really believe in, then our life is a LIFE! When we walk the path that everyone expects us to walk and that others have thought out for us, we may walk it, […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 15 September 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Evening Lecture) The more the eternal associates of Krsna develop their love for Krsna, the more they also develop their love for all those who are serving Krsna in love. Therefore, it is not that anyone looks with an envious eye at his neighbour. No, […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 15 September 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Evening Lecture) Love of Krsna is a very exalted state. For us, there is first the need for purification, for overcoming desires to enjoy the material world. When these gross desires are conquered, then there is a need to overcome the second level of desiring […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 19 September 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Evening Lecture) Spiritual nourishment is a very important principle. Without it, there is no endeavour. We must always look for new, fresh inspiration and over time, you need more instead of less. In the beginning, you can do amazing austerities on relatively little nourishment because […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 17 September 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, BYS Lecture: Leadership and Compassion) “Love thy neighbour” is a very good principle. The only problem is, I don’t! I don’t know if you love your neighbour, but I can not force my heart. My heart is what it is. It loves what it loves […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 19 September 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Evening Lecture)   Nothing has changed. Everything is still the same as it was when Krsna was here 5000 years ago performing his pastimes in Vrindavan. Krsna was stealing butter and yoghurt from the houses of all the residents of Vrindavan and all of them […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 17 September 2014, Cape Town, South Africa,  BYS Lecture – Leadership and Compassion)  I am older than all of you, so I have some old songs in my head. John Lennon is still in my head, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one!” That is a fact. […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 17 August 2014, Goloka Dhama, Germany, Srimad Bhagavatam 10.14.5-10) Sudama was a garland-maker who offered Krsna many nice garlands, sandalwood and other things. He used to go to Vrindavan regularly to collect flowers, so he had already met Krsna and made offerings, and was recognised by Krsna as a devotee. Once he […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 01 August 2014, Swiss Retreat, Switzerland, Candramrta and Candradoya Nataka Seminar) Caitanya Candramrta, Chapter 10 ( 111) Now that Lord Caitanya, His heart filled with mercy, has descended to this world, those living entities who had formerly never practised yoga, meditated, chanted mantras, performed austerities, followed various Vedic restrictions, studied the Vedas, […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami,June 2011, Stockholm, Sweden, Lecture ) Friendship ultimately means commitment. To make a commitment to another person, not just giving a gift, but to make a commitment that, “Yes, I accept you. Yes, I am interested in your benefit.” These things have to be there, “I’m open to hear you. I’m open to […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 30 July 2014, Swiss Retreat, Switzerland, Candramrta and Chandradoya Nataka Seminar, Part 4) We don’t know our eternal identity in the pastimes of Krsna at present. You never know how much of our eternal identity is coming through in our current identity. Maybe that brahmacari with the tattoos on his arm is […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 04 August 2012, Stockholm, Sweden, Bhagavad-gita 11.8) A devotee is not only interested in seeing Krsna himself. Of course, a devotee wants to see Krsna, but he also wants everyone else to see Krsna. He wants the whole world to see Krsna. Therefore, Yudhisthira, the elder brother of Arjuna, performed the rajasuya sacrifice. It […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 06 August 2012, Ljubljana, The Balkans, Lecture on the Pastimes of Krsna) When Krsna walks in Vrindavan as Madhava, carrying his flute tucked in his belt, then the trees which have branches laden with fruits and flowers, are trying to touch Krsna’s feet. The bees are just singing the glories of Krsna. […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 23 July 2014, Prague, Czech Republic, Lecture at Govindas) Imagine! Imagine that we had no other duties, only one duty. Imagine that we would be free to just serve Krsna. What would it be like? It would be amazing, wouldn’t it? So, that is possible in Vrindavan. That is the most amazing […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 July 2014, Fruska Goranga, Serbia, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.16) When one thinks, ‘Yes, the holy name is powerful. Yes, the holy name can purify everyone,’  that is a shallow understanding of the holy name. The holy name is ALL powerful, because the holy name is non-different from Krsna! So as soon as one brings […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 07 July 2014, Serbia, Summer Camp, Caitanya Candramrta Seminar Part 1) Sri Caitanya-candramrta by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Chapter 1, Verse 5: “For those who have attained the merciful sidelong glance of Lord Gaura, impersonal liberation becomes as palatable as going to hell, the heavenly cities of the demigods become as real as flowers […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 21 May 2014, Prague, Czech Republic, Lecture at Govindas) Did you know that one Tulasi leaf has the same benefit as all the holy places in the universe? Every morning in the temple, we do parikrama – we go around Tulasi. This means we go around all the holy places in the universe each […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 21 May 2014, Prague, Czech Republic, Lecture at Govindas)   The wall of false ego is cemented by pride – ‘I’ and ‘mine’. When we take pride in ‘I’ and ‘mine’, that wall becomes higher and thicker and stronger. By cultivating humility, we diminish that wall of false ego and we gradually come […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Evening program lecture) Jagadananda was a great devotee and he had a very strong individualistic mind. He also had a temper and he had his own ideas of what service he wanted to render. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was in this world, the Supreme Lord was […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Evening Lecture) The Panca Tattva appears in this world because Krsna is in Vrndavan, his eternal abode, performing his transcendental pastimes. Why would Krsna bother with the miseries of the material world? People are praying, “O Lord,  O Lord  please, cure my sneeze! O Lord, O Lord, I’m […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 27 April 2014, Radhadesh, Belgium, Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhya Lila 22.142) Deal with the challenges – don’t cry. Don’t cry about what happens – just make it better. When everything goes wrong, rise to the occasion and face it. When everything breaks down, start again and do it better this time. Understand that […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 30 March 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday Lecture) When living beings face death, it is difficult but a person in transcendental knowledge can understand it. How long are we together? Now, we are a circle of people – there are some new ones – but many old friends come together regularly, […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 27 April 2014, Radhadesh, Belgium, Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya Lila 22.142) I do not have the fix for material problems – I don’t. I also have material problems – many! So, I cannot fix anyone’s material problems permanently. Material life is a broken car. It is an old, old, broken car. Many screws […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 April 2014, Radhadesh, Belgium, Caitanya Caritamrta Lecture)   śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-dayā karaha vicāra vicāra karite citte pābe camatkāra (Caitanya Caritamrta Adi 8.15)   Krsnadas Kaviraj Goswami is saying that the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is just amazing, and the more one tries to logically understand it, the more amazing it is. I […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 30 March 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday Lecture) That is the essence of the Bhagavad-gita – that it can lift us way beyond our expectations, way beyond anything that we thought we could be. And that is spiritual life too. That is why we need a spiritual master. A spiritual master is basically […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 30 March 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday Lecture) Give your heart to everyone, even if they don’t give anything back. It hurts sometimes when people are hard-hearted and not responding properly but take that pain with patience and carry on. Somehow, keep on chiseling at stone. Get through that barrier. In […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 April 2014, Radhadesh, Belgium, CC Katha Lecture)   We have our nature and our nature cannot just be ignored. So part of our focus should be to accommodate what our essential needs are. But then, we also have to bring in an element of going towards the ideal. Nature granted! Provision […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Evening Lecture) If God is not divine, then what is the point? He must be divine. He must be extraordinary in every respect, just amazing, mind-blowing! Mind-blowing, otherwise what is the point having a God? It doesn’t make sense. He must be divine. And that […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Evening Lecture) The Supreme Lord is unlimitedly beautiful. But not the sort of artificial external beauty that is kind of cosmetic, but beauty that also reflects his noble nature. So we’re dealing here with true beauty. Beauty is an interesting thing because beauty suggests that […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 20 April 2014, Durban, South Africa, Ratha Yatra Initiation Lecture) In the Bhagavad-gita (7.19), we have that verse: bahūnāḿ janmanām ante jñānavān māḿ prapadyate vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ It is a rare person who, after many many births, is coming to the point where they say,”Krsna is everything,” or “Krsna is […]

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Evening Lecture)   Krsna plays the flute, in an amazing way. Krsna is such a musician that he speaks through that flute. His heart speaks through that flute to the heart of others who actually get the message. Even in this world, a good mundane […]