Author Archives: Dandavats.com

Krishna Lunch (Album with photos) “When I eat Krishna…
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Krishna Lunch (Album with photos)
“When I eat Krishna Lunch, I feel that my soul is being healed!” ~Lissette
Lissette is our regular Krishna Luncher! She went to UF and had Krishna Lunch in Gainesville. Now she is a Masters student at UMD and enjoys Krishna lunch here!
We love having you Lissette and thanks for all your support and help
Find them here: https://goo.gl/wbFfaJ

Harinama in Puri (Album with photos) Srila Prabhupada: You have…
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Harinama in Puri (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: You have asked me for suggestions of what to say to different persons on Sankirtana Party, but there is no specific saying to any person. Whatever we say we say to everyone. It doesn’t matter what is his age. Krishna Consciousness teaching does not depend on the age. It is the eternal platform of the soul. This is the meaning of transcendental; that is is beyond any consideration of material qualifications such as age or intelligence. Just like thunder in the sky does not need any explanation to any old person or to a young child, similarly, the transcendental sound vibration of Hare Krishna and preaching of Bhagavad-gita philosophy will act on everyone, regardless of whether or not they are understanding at first. When preaching you only repeat what you have heard from the disciplic succession and this will act. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Prahladananda – Tittenhurst 5 October, 1969
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Ancient temple in Nabadwip (Album with photos) Srila…
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Ancient temple in Nabadwip (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Those engaged in broadcasting the holy name of Narayana, Krsna, through the Krsna consciousness movement should always consider what our position was before we came and what it is now. We had fallen into abominable lives as meat-eaters, drunkards and woman hunters who performed all kinds of sinful activities, but now we have been given the opportunity to chant the Hare Krsna mantra. Therefore we should always appreciate this opportunity. By the grace of the Lord we are opening many branches, and we should use this good fortune to chant the holy name of the Lord and serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead directly. We must be conscious of the difference between our present and past conditions and should always be very careful not to fall from the most exalted life. (Srila Prabhupada’s purport to SB 6.2.34)
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Crack the Code to Your Inner Joy – Read with us Everyday!
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Crack the Code to Your Inner Joy – Read with us Everyday! (Based on Srila Prabhupada’s lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.15.27 — Los Angeles, December 5, 1973 ) Real meaning of being in this world
Just like in this winter season, we cover ourselves very nicely with gloves, with overcoat. It is simply counteracting the suffering. But a man who has got a nice overcoat and gloves, he is thinking he is enjoying. This is maya. He forgets that he is simply trying to counteract the suffering. There is no enjoyment in this material world.This counteraction of suffering , we are accepting as enjoyment. So this material world means you must suffer. That is the position of the material world.

Just now we got this car, horseless car. But now there is a problem. They are thinking, “If there is no petrol available, then what will happen?” So this is material existence. Anxiety . That anxiety is suffering, “What will happen? What will happen?” That is material existence. Always full of anxiety.

Real Medicine in Every Circumstance
So Narottama dasa Thakura says: “The heart is burning on account of this material existence. But I did not try to find out the means by which I can get out of this.” The medicine is Krishna’s teachings, Krishna’s name, Krishna’s glorification. That is the real medicine. So actually, if we want to enjoy life, then we should take the instruction of Bhagavad-gita, That will give us relief from the blazing fire. [Image: gita-logo2] This is the only way.You can derive the same benefit as Arjuna by reading Bhagavad-gita. People say that Arjuna was enlightened because Krishna was present before Him. But Krishna is present before you also, by His words, by His sound representation… Bhagavad-gita is nondifferent from Krishna . As Krishna is everywhere, similarly, Bhagavad-gita can be appreciated in every country, every season, every circumstances.
Daily Reading Sessions for adults and kids
Read more: https://goo.gl/Rw23mJ

HG Jagajivan das’s ashes immersed in Ganges (2 min…
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HG Jagajivan das’s ashes immersed in Ganges (2 min video)
Here is a link to a video of HG Jagajivan das ACBSP ashes immersed in the Ganges on Monday, Feb 20th, Sridham Mayapur. In attendance were many GBC, Sannyasis, and Senior devotees.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/FXHe1v
Offering of lamps to Mother Ganga after the ceremony.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/2ISkWV

No Ugly Gopis, Please! Srila Prabhupada: I don’t know who has…
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No Ugly Gopis, Please!
Srila Prabhupada: I don’t know who has given you this idea of shaving your head and wearing white garments. In India only the widows are allowed to shave their head. I have never suggested to your husband to take sannyasa. We can discuss this matter further when we shall meet again in London for Ratha-yatra. You remain the beautiful maidservant of Krishna. That is your business, and you should dress yourself always very nicely so that by seeing you Krishna will be pleased. Don’t try to be ugly before Krishna. Krishna does not like ugly gopis. We are transcendental artists, musicians, writers, so everything should be beautiful for Krishna. After all we are members of Krishna’s family, just like Krishna had 16,000 wives and each wife had thousands of servants and maidservants, and all of them were very beautiful for serving Krishna and his queens. So the servants of the gopis and queens cannot be ugly; they are as beautiful as the queens. In the Vaikuntha world there is no need of serving anything because everything is already clean and beautiful. It is so clean that just like a mirror when the maidservants would sweep the floor they could see the reflections of their bodies. So remain always in Vaikuntha y a; na, simply by thinking of the glories of the Lord. Don’t try to do anything artificially. That is sahajiya, which means a class of men that take everything very cheap. You want to perform sacrifice so continuously read our Vedic scriptures and perform the Vaikuntha yajna. It — Letter to Himavati. 15 June 1972.
To read the entire article click here: https://archive.org/details/bindu394

Doubts cloud market surge. Vaisesika das: Yesterday the…
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Doubts cloud market surge.
Vaisesika das: Yesterday the front-page headline of The San Mateo Times read: “Doubts cloud market surge.”
The simple facts behind this headline are that hopeful economic news stimulated a weeklong stock market rally.
But yesterday, as traders got mixed economic reports, they pulled back, stopped buying, and the trading surge stalled.
The reason according to the Times: doubts.
When doubts cloud one’s mind or heart, a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction creeps in and the result is that one holds back. (The word, doubt, in fact comes from a Latin word that means, “hesitate”.)

Our free movement in any realm of life comes only when we are free from doubt.

For example, we require confidence even to cross the street.

Indeed, in the scripture doubts are often compared to clouds. And in the Gita, Arjuna refers to doubts as demons.

At Kuruksetra, Arjuna was at first paralyzed by doubts about his duty and he asked Krsna to remove them.

After hearing from Krsna, Arjuna “regained his memory, was firm and free from doubt and ready to act according to Krsna’s instructions.”

To achieve such enthusiasm, one must follows Arjuna’s example.

Confirming this, Rupa Goswami says that the first and most important steps in devotional service are:

1) Taking shelter of a vaisnava guru (adau gurv-asrayam); and 2) inquiring from the guru (sad-dharma-prccha).

Srila Prabhupada writes:

“One must accept a Vaisnava guru and then by questions and answers one should gradually learn what pure devotional service to Krsna is. That is called the parampara system.”

(Cc Antya-lila 7.53)

Any sincere person who follows this system will become free the burden of doubts and will advance to the highest stage of devotional service.

My Conversation With Krsna. Mahatma das: I called up Krsna the…
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My Conversation With Krsna.
Mahatma das: I called up Krsna the other day because I was having a really hard time. There were so many things going wrong and I couldn’t understand why. So I said, “Krsna, you love me, right? “And feelingly He said, “Of course. I love you unconditionally.” So I questioned how you can love someone and at the same time make their life difficult.” “Oh yes,” Krsna said, “It’s quite possible.” And explained how.
“You know when you are sitting in a chair and after a while you become uncomfortable?”
“Yeah.”
“So what do you do?”
“I move to another position.”
“So when I see you need to get out of your present position and move to a better position, I make your life a little uncomfortable. When I do this you start wondering why it’s like this. And then you call me up. By the way, if everything were going perfectly, would you have called me up?
“Okay, okay, I get it. But will the suffering ever stop?”
“Oh sure, when you learn your lessons. Of course, you could also learn them without suffering. You know, like do what I say. But you don’t seem to do that enough and you tend to get sidetracked. So that’s when I need to give you a little push. You see I really do love you, but sometimes it’s tough love.”
“So what happens when I learn all the lessons?”
“You graduate. When you leave this world, you won’t to come back because there’s nothing more for you to learn. You are ‘out of here’ as they say in your country.”
“Yeah but I am a slow learner, and that means I must suffer a lot. It doesn’t see fair.”
“But you are the one creating your own suffering. Anyway, the material world is not a good place to stay if you don’t like suffering. So don’t keep complaining about suffering. It comes with the reincarnation package. But I use suffering to help devotees eventually overcome their tendency to cause their own suffering. Remember, my gift to you is the freedom to choose the right thing. And your gift to yourself is to choose the right thing.”
“But wouldn’t it have been better if you didn’t allow me to mess up?”
“No, you really wouldn’t be able to live without your full freedom. You’d actually go crazy. Plus, since most people n Kali yuga are not very intelligent, you will find that you usually learn best by making mistakes and suffering the consequences. And when my devotees need to make a change or learn something new, and they are stuck, I make things a little difficult for them. But I do it because I love them.”
“Yeah, it does seem like life’s difficulties carry invaluable lessons.”
“Yes. Think of the people that have hurt you or caused you some misery and consider whether you have learned anything, or grown, by going through those difficulties. Those who hurt you were some of your best teachers, but I bet you called them some pretty nasty names. You see, I put people in front of you that disturb you so you can learn to be more tolerant, forgiving and compassionate. Didn’t you always use to say ‘It’s all Krsna’s mercy’ when you were a new devotee?”
“Yeah, but …”
“So you think it’s My mercy when everything goes well and someone else’s fault when it doesn’t?”
“Well, it’s easier to see it’s your mercy in hindsight and it’s easier to blame someone when I am going through the problem because sometimes people do hurtful things to me.”
“Mahatma, there is no one to blame. They are just agents of your karma. Do you blame your teeth when you bit your tongue?”
“To be honest, sometimes I do.”
“Exactly, we always are looking for someone or something to blame, always looking to make an excuse.”
“Okay, I get it. If I am so perfect, if I have all good qualities, I wouldn’t have taken another body. So I have a few more things to learn and you are making sure I learn them.”
“That’s it. Your offender brings you valuable lessons. You honor Me and great sadhus for bringing you the gift of knowledge that life is suffering. Yet isn’t it hypocritical that you blame your “offender” when he or she brings you the same gift as a life lesson? Should you bow to me and blame the other? Is it possible that all things work to help you and there is really no one to blame and no one to forgive?

Jaganath Puri dham Harinam Sankirtan (Album with photos) Srila…
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Jaganath Puri dham Harinam Sankirtan (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Because we are in ignorance, maya, at any time we may forget Krsna. Therefore we must always engage in Krsna consciousness so that we shall not forget Him. That is indicated by Kuntidevi by the words sravana-smaranarhani. The word sravana means “hearing,” smarana means “remembering,” and arhana means “worshiping the Deity of Krsna.” One should always engage oneself in hearing about, remembering, and worshiping Krsna. All the centers of the Krsna consciousness movement are opened only for this purpose – to facilitate chanting, dancing, and worshiping so that we shall not forget Krsna. Sada tad-bhava-bhavitah: [Bg. 8.6] if we always think of Krsna, there is a chance that we shall remember Krsna at the end of life (ante narayana-smrtih [SB 2.1.6]). >>> Ref. VedaBase => TQK 18: Liberation from Ignorance and Suffering
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Harinama in London, Saturday night 18/02/2017 (videos) One can…
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Harinama in London, Saturday night 18/02/2017 (videos)
One can see enlightenment among the elderly at pilgrimage sites in India, especially in Vrndavana. There one sees many old people visiting temples with intense devotion early in the morning. Hundreds of old people walk the circumambulation (parikrama) paths despite physical debilities. Some are bent nearly double! Someone might criticize that these people are not being provided with the Western medical treatment that could add a few years to their lives or ease their pain. But the sincere babajis and widows of Vrndavana who somehow make their way every morning to see Krsna in the temples and who call out “Jaya Radhe!” are actually fortunate and most intelligent. They are taking the krsna-rasayana, the elixir that will grant them eternal life in Krsna’s spiritual abode. The Vedic sastras recommend that one drink this elixir from the beginning of life, but even if one neglects to do so earlier, one should by all means drink it during the waning days of life and thus cure the disease of repeated birth and death. From the commentary to Mukunda-mala, mantra 37 The commentary to Mukunda-mala was started by Srila Prabhupada and completed by SDG
Watch them here: https://goo.gl/IK3wF9

Elephant procession in Mayapur (Album with photos) Srila…
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Elephant procession in Mayapur (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: There is no such thing to become master. It is useless. You cannot become master. Ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate [Bg. 3.27]. You cannot become master. Jivera svarupa haya nitya krsna dasa [Cc. Madhya 20.108-109]. Either man or woman, everyone is servant of Krsna. We have to be trained up in that platform, how to become the best servant, not only servant directly, but servants, of the servant. This is called parampara servant. My spiritual master is the servant of his spiritual master, and I am also servant of my spiritual master. Similarly, we think “servant of the servant.” There is no question of becoming… This is material disease [Cc. Madhya 13.80]. krsna bhuliya jiva bhoga vancha kare pasate maya tare japatiya dhare As soon as we become puffed up – “Now I shall become master. I shall be simply giving order. I shall not follow anyone” – that is maya. That disease is going on beginning from Brahma down to the ant. >>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.24 – Mayapur, March 2, 1976
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Food For Life – Nepal (Album with photos) First wedding…
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Food For Life – Nepal (Album with photos)
First wedding sponsor
Today on the day 19 Feb 2017 our newly wed couples Dr Rajendra Tamrakar and his beloved wife Dr Siprala Tamrakar, and Mr Roshan Tamrakar his beloved wife Ms Ranjita Tamrakar have made a kind donation to the Food For Life Nepal, midday meal program.
Mr Roshan Tamrakar and his better half-Ms Ranjita Tamrakar had visited one of the school and personally feed the children where FFLN is serving the children with mid-day meal. After serving the meal they offered their best wishes to FFLN.
Thank you for the support, love & laughter to the children. We wish you both the couples happy married life.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/ZKnReE

Radha Kunda 17-02 (Album with photos)
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Radha Kunda 17-02 (Album with photos)
Deena Bandhu Das: By the unlimited mercy of Srimati Radharani, we visited the most sacred place in the whole universe, Sri Radha Kunda. Payed our humble respects in the holy dust of many important holy places here. We’ll bring you there through the pics of Vittalrukmini Das!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/w0hsTI

Logic vs Scripture. Question: In CC Adi 17.167 Caitanya…
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Logic vs Scripture.
Question: In CC Adi 17.167 Caitanya Mahaprabhu criticizes Islam as being illogical to Chand Kazi “There are many mistakes and illusions in your scriptures. Their compilers, not knowing the essence of knowledge, gave orders that were against reason and argument.” But in prior verse i.e. 166, he states ” Cow-killers are condemned to rot in hellish life for as many thousands of years as there are hairs on the body of the cow” which is even more illogical and unjust punishment by any standard of Christian scriptures, which is an eye for an eye , a tooth for a tooth. So based on Mahaprabhu’s judgement on Islam, we should reject Srimad Bhagavatam due to its descriptions of illogical/unjust punishments in the 5th Canto
Romapada Swami: Yes, the punishment outlined in the 5th Canto SB is very severe, just as the act of killing one’s mother is very severe. Commensurate with a transgression is the reaction; this is the meaning of ‘eye for an eye’.
From a moral point, because we drink cow’s milk from childhood the cow is considered our mother. According to Vedic civilization, there are seven mothers and cow is one of them. Just as no civilized person would injure or kill their mother, the Vedas teach that to take milk from the cow and then kill her is the same as killing one’s mother. Similarly, the bull is considered like the father because the bull traditionally helps in the tilling of the fields, and thus is to be respected.
According to Vedic civilization the cow is to be given special protection. Cow is very important animal. Not only one gets from its milk so many nutritious food but it is also said to help in developing the finer tissues of the brain by which one can understand the higher values of life. Cow’s milk is in the category of goodness, and even great sages and saintly persons would subsist only on cow’s milk. Not only do we derive nutrition, but in fact it is said that religious principles are derived from the cow.
The human form of life bears with it great opportunity and corresponding facility – self-realization – as well as great responsibility. If we misuse this facility instead to bring harm to others, a great reaction awaits us.
Srila Prabhupada addresses the concern you raise regarding Cc Adi 17.167 in the purport of Cc Adi 17.168: “In our practical preaching work we meet many Christians who talk about statements of the Bible. When we question whether God is limited or unlimited, Christian priests say that God is unlimited. But when we question why the unlimited God should have only one son and not unlimited sons, they are unable to answer. Similarly, from a scientific point of view, the answers of the Old Testament, New Testament and Koran to many questions have changed. But a sastra cannot change at a person’s whim. All sastras must be free from the four defects of human nature. The statements of sastras must be correct for all time”.

Days Two and Three of ISKCON GBC, Sannyasi and Guru Sanga. On…
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Days Two and Three of ISKCON GBC, Sannyasi and Guru Sanga.
On the second and third days of the GBC, sannyasi and guru sanga, the participants began to untie this Gordian knot. The morning session of the second day started with a report back by the sanga participants. The three topics tackled by the groups were issues that had been identified from their discussions the previous day. The first subject was “substance versus form”. There was a general feeling that sometimes in ISKCON substance is lost over form. The group explained a number of encouraging ways to deal with this. These included, a Srila Prabhupada founder-acarya seminar so that subsequent generations can have a better understanding of him, evolving a culture that focuses on developing human qualities such as more compassion and kindness, and ensuring that the nine processes of bhakti are better understood by the devotee community. The group surmised that spiritual education, character formation and spiritual insight would boost substance over form.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/UPPydV

Bhaktivedanta Manor’s ​Statement on UK Bank Notes with Animal Fat- £5 and £10
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Bhaktivedanta Manor’s ​Statement on Tallow Bank Notes.
We are both shocked and saddened to receive news that the Bank of England have already printed ten pound notes containing tallow. As a temple community our ethos is nonviolence. As such we stopped accepting the new five pound notes which in turn impacted the donations we depend on. Now with news of the ten pound note we will have to review our stance on banning tallow notes. We now find ourselves having to choose between compromising our core religious principles and spiritual values or suffering significant financial losses. We fail to see how in this day and age a public service provider could allow this to not only continue but to become significantly more harmful.
We do welcome the bank’s planned consultation and understand that the costs of correcting the oversight are deemed unacceptable. Currency must be acceptable to all, therefore there is no question, it must be free from animal products.

Giriraj Govardhan & around (Album with photos) Srila…
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Giriraj Govardhan & around (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: So especially you must encourage the students to read our books throughout the day as much as possible, and give them all good advice how to understand the books, and inspire them to study the things from every point of view. Better to boil the milk very vigorously and make it thick and sweet–that is the best progress. So let us concentrate on training our devotees very thoroughly in the knowledge of Krsna consciousness from our books, from tapes, by discussing always, and in so many ways instruct them in the right propositions. (From Srila Prabhupada’s letter to Hamsaduta, June 22, 1972)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/9TXqab

Title: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE [BHAKTI] (15 min…
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Title: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE [BHAKTI] (15 min video)
‘BHAKTI as it is’ through the eyes of a scientist who turned from atheism to science of LOVE and SELF-REALISATION.
“BHAKTI VIJNANA GOSWAMI was born in Tashkent, former Soviet Union. He took to spiritual life in 1980, during a difficult time during the communist era in the former Soviet Union, when the National Security forces were harassing any type of spiritual practitioner. Despite these obstacles, Bhakti Vijnana Goswami—a scientist, a Moscow State University graduate and postgraduate student at Institute of Molecular Biology—decided to experiment with the Hare Krishna mantra.

To his great happiness, it moved him profoundly. He is a disciple of Radhanath Swami and resides primarily in Moscow, Russia, working tirelessly towards the building of a monumental temple there. He travels widely throughout Russia sharing Krishna Consciousness.

Since 1997 Bhakti Vijnana Goswami has acted as a member of ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission and since 2005 has served as one of the initiating gurus of ISKCON.”
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/kjJfNW

Iskcon Surat Book-fair Report With Photos And Idt Hindi Report…
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Iskcon Surat Book-fair Report With Photos And Idt Hindi Report (Album with photos)
Surat congregational devotees took part enthusiastically in National Book Fair held by Surat Municipal Corporation during 25th to 29th of January,2017. We were able to sell approximately 2200 books in 50 hours that is at every 1.36 minutes we sold 1 book of Srila Prabhupada, which was made all possible due to the grace of Srila Prabhupada and Vaishnava acharyas.
People belong to particular Sampradayas like Muslim, Daudi-Vohra, Swami-Narayan, Jain etc. also visited our stall and purchased Srimad Bhagwad Gita – As It Is and many other books of Srila Prabhupada. There was constant Sankirtana playing on our stall. There was arranged a Butter-Halwa prasadam for each and everyone.

H.G. Radhesh Dasa prabhu prepared an Art-Gallery by the teachings of Srila Prabhupada entitled “The Bank of Vaikuntha” and the essence of Bhagwad Gita – As It Is was presented in it. This art-gallery was the center of attraction for visitors of our stall.

In this stall, constant and continuous contribution was made by H.G. Radhesh dasa, H.G. Arvindaksh dasa, Mahacandra dasa, Dhanurdhari dasa, Rajvidya dasa, Bhakt Megh, Kanta Devi dasi, Shyamasukhda devi dasi, Goverdhanlila devi dasi, Damodarpriya devi dasi and many more devotees.

By the blessings of Guru and Gauranga, we were able to distribute total books as follows:
Small books – 1420
Medium Books – 270
Big Books – 67
Maha Big Books – 415
Srimad Bhagwatam Set – 3
Caitanya Caritamrita set – 1
BTG subscription – 10
DVDs – 200+
Please see the link for photos: https://goo.gl/qn874o
Hindi version of the article: https://goo.gl/5ymBTA

“SRI CAITANYA MATH ~ THE FOREST OF VRINDAVAN IN MAYAPUR” (Album…
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“SRI CAITANYA MATH ~ THE FOREST OF VRINDAVAN IN MAYAPUR” (Album with photos)
AT “SRI ANTARDVIPA” ISLAND OF SRI NAVADVIPA-MAYAPUR DHAMA
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura called this place “Vrindavana Pattan”, which means the place where the forest of Vrindavana is manifest. By Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s spiritual potency, Syama-Kunda, Radha-Kunda and Giri-Govardhana of Vrindavana are all manifest here. Established by Sarasvati Thakura in 1918, this temple was the headquarters of his Krishna Consciousness preaching throughout India. During its peak time, there were 800 devotees here to cope with the daily influx of visitors.

BORN WITH A MISSION
Born on 6th Feb 1874, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura is the child that Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura prayed to Lord Jagannatha for, wanting an able assistant to preach Krishna Consciousness. His divinity was evident from birth. When he was born, his umbilical cord was wrapped around his body like a brahmana thread. He was six months old when Lord Jagannatha had His Rathayatra festival in Jagannatha Puri. Lord Jagannatha’s chariot was outside of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s house for three days and Srimati Bhagavati Devi, Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s wife, took this opportunity to go up onto the chariot and present her new son to Jagannatha Gosvami. Immediately upon placing the child in front of Lord Jagannatha, the child grabbed Lord Jagannatha’s feet and a garland also fell from Lord Jagannatha onto the child. Upon hearing this, Bhaktivinoda Thakura knew this was the child he had prayed for, and so he gave him the name Bimala Prasada, the mercy of Bimala Devi. [In Jagannatha Temple in Puri, Lord Jagannatha’s maha-prasadam is offered first to Bimala Devi and then she gives it for public distribution. In the same way, Bhaktivinoda Thakura considered his son to be her mercy coming originally from Lord Jagannatha.]

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura gave his son the Harinama Maha-mantra and Nrsimha mantra at five years of age. At seven, he received the Kurmadeva mantra and began worshiping a self-manifested deity of Kurmadeva. As a child, Bimala Prasada inadvertently ate a mango which was not yet offered to Lord Krishna. When asked about this by his father, Bimala Prasada was so upset over this offense to Lord Krishna that he took a vow to never eat another mango throughout his life. He also kept a life-long vow of celibacy. He took this vow when he formed a club at high school for those who wanted to avoid family entanglement. He excelled in all subjects at school, but spent most of his time reading his father’s books on Bhakti. He entered the Sanskrit University in 1892 and received the honorific title of “Siddhanta Sarasvati” in recognition of his vast knowledge of astrology and Bhakti. He then left university as he understood that if he continued on this path, he would become entangled into material life. He then spent all of his time serving his father who trained him in editing and publishing.

In 1900, while staying with his father in Godrumadvipa island of Sri Navadvipa-Mayapur Dhama, he took initiation from Srila Gaura-Kisora Dasa Babaji and received the name Sri Varsabhanavi-Devi [meaning the servant of the daughter of King Vrsabhanu, Srimati Radharani.] Five years later, he took a vow to chant one billion (ten crores) Holy Names of Lord to prepare himself for Krishna consciousness preaching. It took him 10 years to fulfil his vow, during which time he lived in a small bamboo hut chanting Hare Krishna Maha-mantra,
HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE |
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE||
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