(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 19 February 2013, London, England, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.5.13) In the sankirtan movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the lotus is now fully opening. śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaḿ vidyā-vadhū-juvenal,(Siksastakam, verse 1) In this first verse of the Siksastakam, there are a few translations. One translation says something about the benediction moon and another translation speaks about the […]
Author Archives: Harsarani devi dasi
The lotus of the mercy of the Lord
It saves lives
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 26 December 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 9.19.26) Prescribed duty does not exactly sounds like following the path of ecstasy. It sounds like, “Oh, I do not know if I can do this, if I want to do this?” But we rely on something else. Definitely, we rely on ecstasy! When devotees […]
Service matters
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 26 December 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 9.19.26) We are not being judged by material qualifications, let that be. Do not get worried about that. If you get worried about that then you get stressed out. We are here to do some service! And the more service you do, the more […]
Krsna gives us beyond our dreams
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 27 January 2013, Radhadesh, Belgium, Radhadesh Mellows Class) If we simply chant in the mood of being Krsna’s servant: Krsna is my whole life… all my energy is for His glorification and everything I do, I do for that. If one spends a life like that then Krsna will just shower us and […]
The casting of the Panca Tattva
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, November 2014, Mayapur, India, Youth Class Lecture) I was invited by Ganga Prabhu for some Italian lunch. I was in his house and then at one point, he started to talk about the making of the Panca Tattva deities. He described that at that time, the sthapatis of South India said, ‘No, […]
Mercy and service
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 28 February 2013, Vrndavan, India, Caitanya Caritamrta Seminar 3) So, we are looking at mercy. Lord Caitanya is very merciful. Lord Nityananda is described to be more merciful because he is intoxicated with love of God. He is tasting the nectar of serving. By serving Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityananda becomes so intoxicated. […]
Touched by some shakti
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, November 2014, Mayapur, India, Youth Class Lecture) At Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance festival, there was one lady who spoke and she was describing how she was a kid at the time of when Srila Prabhupada came to America. She remembered everything that Prabhupada said and about the cookies and all those things. She […]
Bringing peace
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 28 September 2014, Durban, South Africa, Sunday Feast Lecture) Srila Prabhupada was working and still he was very conscious of Krsna. As a householder, in 1944, in the middle of the war, he produced ‘The Back to Godhead’ magazine’. That was not easy, in fact it was very difficult because it was hard […]
One who does good is never overcome by evil
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 09 November 2014, Mayapur, India, Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.19) We have seen cases where devotees were murdered. I know of a devotee who was murdered whilst chanting japa; it happened in South Africa. Everyone was stunned because this was evil. I mean, this was a devotee. We had a big gathering for the departure of […]
Developing love for Krsna is our topmost goal
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 09 November 2014, Mayapur, India, Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.19) To be free from sin, is the secondary result of bhakti. It is a secondary benefit of bhakti. Of course, we want to become free from sin, but what is the point of being sinless if one has no love for Krsna? yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā sarvair guṇais […]
Share the mercy
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, November 2014, Mayapur, India, Youth Class Lecture) Without mercy, we will die. There is no doubt about it. Without mercy, we will not survive in spiritual life. So if anyone has any mercy – share it, because if you share whatever mercy you have today, then maybe others will share with you also. […]
Collecting spiritual wealth
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 01 December 2014, Mayapur, India, Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.50) It may be true that some people carry a little more spiritual strength from a previous life than others. But, whatever we have got with us in terms of a stock, is not going to last. It is like money; some may have a […]
Staying high forever
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 28 September 2014, Durban, South Africa, Sunday Feast Lecture) If we can have Krsna in the foreground, in every situation – first Krsna and then everything – then we have Vrindavan. Simply Krsna, is most important in every situation and that is the spirit of Krsna consciousness. Then there is another level of […]
The perfect soul mate!?
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 14 September 2012, Pretoria Arts Campus, South Africa, Lecture: The perfect soul mate) Love and hate are kind of natural sentiments in this world; everyone has it. I hate Mondays, for example. I do not know what you think about Mondays but I hate them! Like that, everyone has got something they […]
Where can you get such eagerness?
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 28 September 2014, Durban, South Africa, Sunday Feast Lecture) Srila Gaura Kisora Das Babaji did not want to sleep. Sleeping is such a waste of time. But sleep is such a thing that happens on its own, whether you want it to or not, as some drivers have found out! Sleeping does not always come […]
Why is the guru heavy?
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 31 March 2012, Cape Town, South Africa, Srimad Bhagavatam 7.15.26) The etymological meaning of the word ‘guru’ is heavy. So is it, that there is some personality sitting on the vyasasana who is a heavy dude, ‘Okay guys, get your act together! With all this sense gratification, you are just attached to material things! […]
Look for common ground
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 28 September 2014, Durban, South Africa, Sunday Feast Lecture) Question: Can we have Krsna katha with Muslims and Christians? Will that change their hearts and make them take to devotional service? Srila Prabhupada said that there is a spark of Krsna consciousness in everyone; you have to find it and fan it. […]
How to please Srila Prabhupada
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 28 September 2014, Durban, South Africa, Sunday Feast Lecture)
Question: Please tell us the best way to please Srila Prabhupada and our spiritual master?
In any given situation, and at anytime, add Krsna and put him in the forefr…
Changing ashram
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 24 June 2013, Czech Summer Camp, Srimad Bhagavatam 8.2.33) Sometimes, household life is compared to a deep dark well in the scriptures. It maybe that one is a brahmacari or brahmacarini and then one feels, “I cannot do this anymore. It is time to get married.” Some people, when they get married, […]
A deeper meaning of life
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 27 June 2014, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Srimad Bhagavatam 5.13.17) People do so many things; like again the world cup has come and again, people are waving flags. Gradually, it is building up towards a finale and the tension is building up; it is getting more and more exciting. In that way, we stay […]
Oh my Lord, make me dance!
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 11 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Lecture at House Program) Prabhupada danced on so many occasions! But the most importance statement about Srila Prabhupada’s dancing is not his dancing in the Avalon ballroom, in the San Francisco concert, nor is it in London at the famous London Ratha Yatra where Prabhupada went […]
When the danda falls…
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 August 2012, Slovenia, Balkans, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.28) Sometimes we try to do too much on Janmastami. Anyway, we learn from that and we get purified. In some temples, devotees would read Krsna Book for the entire day. They would read stories about Krsna from morning till night and that was very nice. […]
A special acharya!
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 11 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Lecture at House Program) Srila Prabhupada, as an old man, did so many things. Yes, he pulled it all together, everything! He knew where to find all the information and whatever he got from the Gaudiya Math, from various sources and experiences; it all came together […]
The servant of Krsna
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 April 2010, Durban, South Africa, Lecture: Holy places in India) We sat down with some devotees at the base of Govardhan hill and there were Govardhan Silas all around us! While I was playing the harmonium, I decided to sing, “Jaya Radhe Jaya Krsna, Jaya Vrndavan.” Then, the devotees started to decorate the Silas. […]
Prabhupada’s prayer to Krsna-Balarama
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 05 August 2012, Stockholm, Sweden, Lecture: Lord Balarama’s Appearance Day) Srila Prabhupada had installed deities all over the world. Each time, Krsna was there, Krsna was manifesting and Prabhupada was experiencing it. But during the installation of Krsna-Balarama, on Ramnavami in Vrndavan, Srila Prabhupada was so ecstatic that he personally did the […]
The Krsna West approach
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 June 2014, Stockholm Sweden, Sunday Feast, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.5.14) When Srila Prabhupada came to Germany, he met Sacinandana swami’s father. His son had just become a devotee and Sacinandana Maharaj’s father asked a question to Prabhupada,”How can a crocodile survive in the Rhine?” Srila Prabhupada’s answer was, “It is not required […]
Amazing mercy!
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 27 June 2014, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Srimad Bhagavatam 5.13.17) In my travels, I visited a devotee’s house and he had quite an amazing altar. On his altar, he had deities of Radha Krsna which were from Vrindavan and 250 years old. In those days, there were a lot of details in the deities […]
Escape the glass box!
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 27 June 2014, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Srimad Bhagavatam 5.13.17) People say, many times, that the greatest enjoyment in the material world is sex! Well, we can also say that greater than that is to be free from such desires. If you do not have the desire then it saves a lot of trouble! You […]
The mercy of Vrindavan
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 June 2014, Stockholm Sweden, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.5.14) What do we do in Vrindavan, when we visit there, to get more of Krsna’s mercy? Hearing, chanting and service are the key elements. Hearing, chanting, remembering and serving Krsna in some way or other. When we are in Vrindavan, our main business is […]
Give up suffering!
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 June 2014, Stockholm, Sweden, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.5.14) We are not against material desires – no problem at all! Material enjoyment and material desires are no problem but no sinful desires and no sinful enjoyment are allowed. That is where the borderline is. There is scope for enjoying the material energy, it […]
The time is now
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 11 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Lecture at House Program) I remember a Vyasa puja offering from Bhurijana, a senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada. He joined in 1968 and then around 40 years later, Bhurijana wrote an offering to Prabhupada. In the offering he wrote, “I do not really have anything to report. […]
Creating friendships
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 11 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Lecture at House Program) In a small temple, with predominately congregational devotees – that means devotees who are maintaining a life outside the temple and who have limited time and energy – I think we should appreciate the time spent together and maintain relationships. Because […]
The value of a vaisnava
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, November 2011, Mayapur, India, Lecture: Caitanya Caritamrta Part 3) A puzzling topic is that vaisnavas consider themselves as most fallen. They spend time in presenting themselves as having no qualifications and so on. But Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s song Bhakti-kalpataru basically clarifies the matter, ‘I have received this wish-fulfilling desire tree from my […]
Lessons from life
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 11 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Lecture at House Program) I was reading a quote from the German philosopher which I liked, and he said, “When an old man has to do more than a young man.” It was interesting because you would think of it the other way round, to take a […]
Always a second chance
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 February 2013, Prague, Czech Republic, Srimad Bhagavatam 4.19.4) There was one devotee who had sort of given up spiritual standards for a while and I was thinking of what to say to such a person without saying that you must chant Hare Krsna. Of course, that fell on deaf ears. Their answer […]
Our internal life
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Rama Naumi Initiation Lecture) There exists our internal life. One cannot just be fixed on dharma by determination,”Okay, by intelligence I have understood this philosophy. It makes sense and I am deeply impressed by it. I think it is the truth. I think I am […]
An important element of happiness
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 8 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Rama Naumi Initiation Lecture ) One element of happiness is giving mercy to others – that brings happiness. That always brings happiness when we see how destitute people are getting mercy, that is very nice. We were just in the Ratha Yatra in Newcastle (South […]
Dancing like Krsna’s puppet
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Rama Naumi Initiation Lecture ) There are sacrifices to be made in service. When one is just having a comfortable niche in Krsna consciousness and one is not challenged in service then we begin to feel dry. We begin to feel, ‘I do not […]
Some good advice
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 08 April 2014, Cape Town, South Africa, Rama Naumi Initiation Lecture) Initiation is not only about the ceremony but afterwards, success in spiritual life always depends on blessings. So, always look for blessings – blessings of the Supreme Lord and blessings of great devotees, either from the past or from the present. […]
A pact of false sentiment
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 October 2013, Melbourne, Australia, Srimad Bhagavatam 2.3.8) When we turn away from Krsna, we enter into endless material relationships; millions. It starts as a kid, this toy that toy, all these things, “My home. My mother is my slave!” When you are a child, the universe centers around you, that is […]