The sweetest sounds to mortals given Are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven. ~William Goldsmith BrownDefinitely in heaven!Of all the descriptions given in the scriptures about Krishna, the one I have most trouble visualizing or conceptualizing in my m…
Author Archives: Anuradha Keshavi
Thunder !
Atma Nivedana
→ Clouds.
A devotee once told me,” We offer so many services to Krishna……we offer him garlands, we make prasad and offer it, we offer our kirtans, our bhajans yet in the process of offering him all these services, we forget to offer him ourselves! “Krishna a…
Atma Nivedana
→ Clouds.
A devotee once told me,” We offer so many services to Krishna……we offer him garlands, we make prasad and offer it, we offer our kirtans, our bhajans yet in the process of offering him all these services, we forget to offer him ourselves! “Krishna a…
Jaggu Dada…
→ Clouds.
So, since I’ve been caught up dealing with a million different emotions and new situations and new life etc., I just realized today how I miss writing. Yet, I’m still caught up with other things to write anything decent….but I still want to post some…
Jaggu Dada…
→ Clouds.
So, since I’ve been caught up dealing with a million different emotions and new situations and new life etc., I just realized today how I miss writing. Yet, I’m still caught up with other things to write anything decent….but I still want to post some…
Of Resolve and branches
→ Clouds.
Resolve a fickle entity you arechoose you I do duped by your exterior strengthof brick and stone you appear to be madeRashly do I place you in my heart and mindLittle did my intelligence knowof the enmity between you and my heartSenses chip away at tho…
Of Resolve and branches
→ Clouds.
Resolve a fickle entity you arechoose you I do duped by your exterior strengthof brick and stone you appear to be madeRashly do I place you in my heart and mindLittle did my intelligence knowof the enmity between you and my heartSenses chip away at tho…
Good night…
→ Clouds.
It is funny how we devotees always can find something to occupy ourselves with. If I was a karmi, staying here at the ayurvedic center I would have left screaming for being bored out of my mind. Benefits of being a devotee, Radha rati mataji and me are occupying ourselves with singing kirtans, reading the Bhagavatam (we have an aim to finish the first canto before we leave) and generally exchanging our realizations.
Last night I was particularly lamenting on my separation from Panihati Dham and the deities there. Deity worship is something that I miss truly from the core of my heart. You have to be a pujari to know what I’m talking about….a pujari who has no deities at the moment to serve. A small temple like Panihati dham where during the weekdays, it is just you and the deities….prabhupad singing softly in the main temple room, there is so much bliss that it really hurts knowing that it is highly impossible for me to go back to that kind of service.
Prabhupad’s bhajans are the most soothing sounds in this world. Getting absorbed in Prabhupad’s deep voice, removing Panihati candra’s mukut pieces, scrubbing gopi dots off of Madan mohan, giving jagannath some fresh water for the night, sweeping and mopping the altar with some eucalyptus oil…..
Bringing in their beds….tucking Krishna’s flute under his pillow…
“agaccha sayana-sthanam priyabhih saha kesava divya-puspatya-sayyayam sukham vihara madhava”
“Now come, O Kesava, along with Your beloved Srimati Radharani and Her friends, to the bed covered with transcendental, aromatic flowers. Now happily enjoy Your pastimes, O Madhava.”
and then chanting the respectful mantras for everyone else , switch off the lights on the altar,
and then whisper a,
“Good night…”…..and slowly tiptoe out the back locking the doors…
…until I see them the next morning glowing softly 
for Mangala arati….
So, Caitanya Mahāprabhu is very kind. Parama karuna, pahū dui jana. Two Lords, Nitāi-Gauracandra, Nityānanda Prabhu and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, They are very kind, you see? They have appeared just to reclaim the fallen souls of this age. So They are more kind than Krishna. Krishna, He is also very kind. He comes to deliver. But Kṛṣṇa demands that first of all surrender. Caitanya Mahāprabhu even does not demand surrender. He is so kind. (voice choking) So take shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and be happy. Thank you very much. (weeping) (end)
-Srila Prabhupada, Arrival Address, February 28, 1975, Atlanta, Georgia.
You made Prabhupada weep…will I ever gaze at your merciful eyes again? scrub the chandan off your feet?….
Good night…
→ Clouds.
It is funny how we devotees always can find something to occupy ourselves with. If I was a karmi, staying here at the ayurvedic center I would have left screaming for being bored out of my mind. Benefits of being a devotee, Radha rati mataji and me are occupying ourselves with singing kirtans, reading the Bhagavatam (we have an aim to finish the first canto before we leave) and generally exchanging our realizations.
Last night I was particularly lamenting on my separation from Panihati Dham and the deities there. Deity worship is something that I miss truly from the core of my heart. You have to be a pujari to know what I’m talking about….a pujari who has no deities at the moment to serve. A small temple like Panihati dham where during the weekdays, it is just you and the deities….prabhupad singing softly in the main temple room, there is so much bliss that it really hurts knowing that it is highly impossible for me to go back to that kind of service.
Prabhupad’s bhajans are the most soothing sounds in this world. Getting absorbed in Prabhupad’s deep voice, removing Panihati candra’s mukut pieces, scrubbing gopi dots off of Madan mohan, giving jagannath some fresh water for the night, sweeping and mopping the altar with some eucalyptus oil…..
Bringing in their beds….tucking Krishna’s flute under his pillow…
“agaccha sayana-sthanam priyabhih saha kesava divya-puspatya-sayyayam sukham vihara madhava”
“Now come, O Kesava, along with Your beloved Srimati Radharani and Her friends, to the bed covered with transcendental, aromatic flowers. Now happily enjoy Your pastimes, O Madhava.”
and then chanting the respectful mantras for everyone else , switch off the lights on the altar,
and then whisper a,
“Good night…”…..and slowly tiptoe out the back locking the doors…
…until I see them the next morning glowing softly for Mangala arati….
So, Caitanya Mahāprabhu is very kind. Parama karuna, pahū dui jana. Two Lords, Nitāi-Gauracandra, Nityānanda Prabhu and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, They are very kind, you see? They have appeared just to reclaim the fallen souls of this age. So They are more kind than Krishna. Krishna, He is also very kind. He comes to deliver. But Kṛṣṇa demands that first of all surrender. Caitanya Mahāprabhu even does not demand surrender. He is so kind. (voice choking) So take shelter of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and be happy. Thank you very much. (weeping) (end)
-Srila Prabhupada, Arrival Address, February 28, 1975, Atlanta, Georgia.
You made Prabhupada weep…will I ever gaze at your merciful eyes again? scrub the chandan off your feet?….
A conversation overheard…
→ Clouds.
I am writing this sitting steps away from that KrishnaThat Kanha whose lotus eyes are said to have been carved by Vishvakarma himselfLotus eyes indeed! They look mesmerizing through Kanakadasa’s window!Feeling the breeze, hearing the melodious birds, l…
A conversation overheard…
→ Clouds.
I am writing this sitting steps away from that KrishnaThat Kanha whose lotus eyes are said to have been carved by Vishvakarma himselfLotus eyes indeed! They look mesmerizing through Kanakadasa’s window!Feeling the breeze, hearing the melodious birds, l…
Our dear sages…
→ Clouds.
I came across a picture this morning and immediately the first thing I thought about was this verse..
“Once, in a holy place in the forest of Naimiṣāraṇya, great sages headed by the sage Saunaka assembled to perform a great thousand-year sacrifice for the satisfaction of the Lord and His devotees.”
Srila Prabhupada – “….The great sages are always anxious to do good to the people in general, and as such the sages headed by Śaunaka and others assembled at this holy place of Naimiṣāraṇya with a program of performing a great and continuous chain of sacrificial ceremonies. Forgetful men do not know the right path for peace and prosperity. However, the sages know it well, and therefore for the good of all men they are always anxious to perform acts which may bring about peace in the world. They are sincere friends to all living entities, and at the risk of great personal inconvenience they are always engaged in the service of the Lord for the good of all people….”
– Srimad Bhagavatam: 1.1.4
And today, we have our dear sages who are assembled at Sridham Mayapur with the same intentions….
Photo from H.H BB Govinda Swami Maharaj’s facebook album
Iskcon guru-vrinda ki jai!
Our dear sages…
→ Clouds.
I came across a picture this morning and immediately the first thing I thought about was this verse..
“Once, in a holy place in the forest of Naimiṣāraṇya, great sages headed by the sage Saunaka assembled to perform a great thousand-year sacrifice for the satisfaction of the Lord and His devotees.”
Srila Prabhupada – “….The great sages are always anxious to do good to the people in general, and as such the sages headed by Śaunaka and others assembled at this holy place of Naimiṣāraṇya with a program of performing a great and continuous chain of sacrificial ceremonies. Forgetful men do not know the right path for peace and prosperity. However, the sages know it well, and therefore for the good of all men they are always anxious to perform acts which may bring about peace in the world. They are sincere friends to all living entities, and at the risk of great personal inconvenience they are always engaged in the service of the Lord for the good of all people….”
– Srimad Bhagavatam: 1.1.4
And today, we have our dear sages who are assembled at Sridham Mayapur with the same intentions….
Photo from H.H BB Govinda Swami Maharaj’s facebook album
Iskcon guru-vrinda ki jai!
Dhamvasi or spiritual warrior?
→ Clouds.
Question: I feel that sometimes staying in the dham is like spiritual sense gratification. You can hear the holy name 24/7, see devotees everywhere, get to do so much service, get wonderful association all the time. So I sometimes feel a little selfish…
Dhamvasi or spiritual warrior?
→ Clouds.
Question: I feel that sometimes staying in the dham is like spiritual sense gratification. You can hear the holy name 24/7, see devotees everywhere, get to do so much service, get wonderful association all the time. So I sometimes feel a little selfish…
The endless cycle.
→ Clouds.
Futility engraves itself in every moveGet hit by a tsunami, become a loner among friends,diseases knocking on your door,Sadly nothing makes you realize,the futility of this endless cycle.
The endless cycle.
→ Clouds.
Futility engraves itself in every moveGet hit by a tsunami, become a loner among friends,diseases knocking on your door,Sadly nothing makes you realize,the futility of this endless cycle.