Bhakti must be within the philosophical and moral framework established by the Vedas and exemplified by the sādhus.
The 4th item of sādhana, “sādhu-vartmānuvartana” seems to sometimes be controversial when explained to people with a certain background. It is an extremely important principle, evidenced by the fact that Śrī Rūpa puts it immediately after the very first principles related to guru.
It establishes that bhakti (practiced by implementing the instructions of the guru) must be within the philosophical and moral framework established by the Vedas and exemplified by the sādhus.
Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī makes this very clear by quoting Brahma Yamala:
“So called ‘exclusive Hari-bhakti’ is nothing but an ill-omen of calamity
if it disregards Vedic strictures
given in śruti, smṛti, purāṇas and other texts like the pañcarātra.”
“Those who understand śāstra
know that such behavior is not really ‘exclusive Hari-bhakti.’
It is inappropriate misbehavior
without the true essential substance of bhakti.”
Here are several questions that resulted from discussing this point in today’s Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu class, along with my replies.
Q: Our question was that we do not get many holidays, so we have to lie and take our sick days off to go to some retreats or book distribution. According to your discussion, this was not in accordance with the moral principles.
This is not a “lie,” you are allotted sick days, and you are using them.
Q: In BG, Chapter-18.78, Sanjaya said: Wherever there is Krishna, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power and morality.
The presence of Krishna is expected to automatically cause the appearance of morality. If there is immorality, it shows that Krishna is not present.
This proves the point that bhakti should automatically produce morality. The presence of Krishna is expected to automatically cause the appearance of morality. If there is immorality, it shows that Krishna is not present. If we claim that Krishna is present in our immoral act, this is just kalpana – imagination, as the Brahma Yamala quote referenced by Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī says. We are just imagining that it is Hari-bhakti, but in truth it is just a disturbance (utpātaya).
Q: When there is an endeavor or performance of an act of devotional service (may not be in absolute perfect consciousness), even if apparently it may have led to some other acts of immorality like lying, but because it has a relationship to Krishna, wouldn’t it be considered moral?
There are exceptional circumstances and there are normal circumstance. These have to be differentiated. Exceptions are allowed in exceptional circumstances. These exceptions are applied on the basis that love is the essence of all morality, if some appearance of morality has to be forgone for the sake of the essence of morality (love), in some exceptional situation where the two cannot be reconciled, that is allowed.
We cannot cite exceptions and say they establish the norm.
But we cannot cite exceptions and say they establish the norm. The norm is that love should manifest all the moral qualities as its support and ornament. Therefore the norm is that bhakti would not transgress any subordinate moral principles.
Q: Also there is the verse (tyaktva svadharma…): one who renounces other things for Krishna may even fall down but is not a looser when compared to one who performs his occupational duties precisely with all dharma and morality, who in fact gains nothing.
This verse (ŚB 1.5.17) is meant to glorify bhakti, not to minimize dharma.
Love is the essence of all morality.
Bhakti is the essence of all dharma. Love is the essence of all morality. Therefore what is to gain, really, if you apparently have all morality, but don’t have any love? And what is lost, really, if you apparently lose morality, but are full of love?
This does not mean that we practice loveby abandoning morality.
This does not mean that we practice sādhana by abandoning our duties. Śrī Rūpa stipulates the 4th item of sādhana just to make that point clear, quoting Brahma Yamala, śruti smṛti purāṇādi… “so-called Hari-bhakti that disregards the principles of the Vedas is not really Hari-bhakti, it is just a disturbance to society.”
Morality supports love in almost every case
What ŚB 1.5.17 means is that bhakti is the essence of morality, therefore nothing can be lost by pursuing it, even if there is a superficial appearance of immorality. It would not be the norm that morality would have to be abandoned for love, because love is the essence of morality, so morality supports love in almost every case.
Q: We are not clear on where to draw line between morality and devotion to Krishna.
You shouldn’t draw any line between morality and devotion. Devotion is the essence, the soul, of morality. Where can you draw the line between the essence of a thing and the form of a thing? The essence pervades the form and the two are inseparable.
Krishna is the ultimate creator of the Veda, through Viṣṇu. The moral principles of the Veda are his requests. Following those principles is therefore a practice of bhakti, anuśilana. (Sri Rupa will specify this in the 47th and 51st practices of sādhana, and later will clarify that worldly duties without bhakti is not sādhana, but bhakti can encompass the worldly activities).
To draw a line between bhakti and dharma is artificial. To draw a line between love and morality is unnecessary. To draw a line between worldly and spiritual duties is contrary to what Krishna tries to teach in the Gita.
To draw a line between bhakti and dharma is artificial. Maybe it is even an aparādhā against śāstra. To draw a line between love and morality is unnecessary. To draw a line between worldly and spiritual duties is also contrary to what Krishna tries to teach in the Gita – that we must add wisdom to our worldly activities and thus make them spiritual, not that we become spiritual by rejecting our worldly activities.
Q: There are exalted examples in the scriptures where morality was rejected for devotion to Krishna like gopis leaving their families,
Gopīs are not sādhakas, nor are their families.
Q: Sanatana Goswami lying and reading SB,
What “lying”? Out of Love for Śrī Caitanya, Śrī Rūpa and Sanātana wanted to live in Vṛndāvana focused entirely on Hari-bhakti. Śrī Rūpa obtained blessings to resign as Alauddin Hussain Shah’s minister. Śrī Sanātana attempted to get the Shah’s blessings to resign from his post as treasurer, but the Shah would not give it. Sanātana protested by no longer coming to court, claiming to be sick. When the Shah learned he was not sick, he threw Sanātana into jail. Sanātana paid the guard to let him escape.
I don’t see any of this as immoral. If one principle blocks the execution of a more essential principle, the less essential principle can be suspended. Here the less essential principle of fealty to country blocked the more essential principle of divine love, so it was rightfully suspended. The important point is that this is an exception not a norm. We cannot claim, “Śrī Sanātana Goswāmī lied to the king and bribed people, therefore I can also lie to people and cheat them.” This is how Śrī Sanātana behaved in an exceptionally difficult situation – it is not how he normally lived his daily life.
We should follow him by living our daily life similar to his daily life as far as we are able, and if our circumstances are ever as extreme as his then we can follow how he behaved in those exceptional circumstances, to the best of our ability.
Q: You said that abandoning family to become a devotee is a transgression of moral principles, and therefore violates this Rupa Goswami’s advice to stay within the bounds of morality. This is hard for many people to understand, since they have abandoned their families to become brahmacārīs and so on on.
If you have abandoned your family without their blessing you have done something very, very dangerous. You have severe debts to pay to your family and others, if you do not repay these debts it is very, very dangerous. If they willingly exonerate you from the debt, that is their blessing, their mercy, but to abandon them without such blessing is thoroughly immoral. I doubt very much that anyone will attain Śrī Krishna by displeasing and wronging his expanded parts and parcels.
I doubt very much that anyone will attain Śrī Krishna by displeasing and wronging his expanded parts and parcels.
Why is it seen as such a need to abandon things and become a renunciate? Is it so that one looks spiritual and can be admired as such? There is absolutely no requirement that Hari-bhakti can be practiced only by people who have abandoned their worldly duties. The only true qualification Śrī Rūpa gives for sādhana is enthusiasm for it, which is gained either by comprehending the conclusions of śāstra (i.e. vaidhi-bhakti) or by developing a passion to have a specific loving relationship with Hari (i.e. rāgānugā-bhakti). Śrī Rūpa made an explicit point in Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu that anyone in any varṇa or any āśrama is equally qualified for sādhana-bhakti. So what is the importance of being in some tyāgī situation like a sannyāsī or brahmacārī?
There is absolutely no requirement that Hari-bhakti can be practiced only by people who have abandoned their worldly duties.
The most important practice of sādhana, Śrī-Nāma-Saṁkīrtan can be practiced by anyone in any situation. You do not need to abandon your wife, husband, children, father, mother, etc. to practice Śrī-Nāma-Saṁkīrtan. Neither does any of the other five most important practices require such things. Neither does any practice require it. So why do you feel it is so important that you must “abandon your worldly duties”, or else you cannot “be a devotee”?
The claim that one has no option but to abandon family or else one cannot become Krishna conscious strikes me as being without any merit at all. Maybe it is useful for people who want to attract attention and make overt or covert followers and fans? Or maybe it is a useful concept to be leveraged by a cult or by an organization that requires manpower? I don’t find any validity in it.
What appears to be “one-pointed Hari bhakti” yet disregards our obligations and the needs of others produces very, very little spiritual advancement even with an apparent boat-load of effort for a very long time.
I can tell you from my own rather pitiful trial and error that what appears to be “one-pointed Hari bhakti” yet disregards our obligations and the needs of others produces very, very little spiritual advancement even with an apparent boat-load of effort for a very long time. Far more effective is sādhana done in compliance with our moral obligations.
Have you ever been in a challenging situation at work?
Maybe a website went down and you had to fix it, while, at the same time, trying to appease an angry client? Maybe you had to give a presentation to a roomful of skeptical, intimidating people? Maybe you had a gruelling performance review after making a serious mistake? Or maybe a dragon attacked the office?
All of these situations are difficult. What can you do you to master these kinds of situations? How can you prepare for future challenges? Read onwards...
Learn to handle it
Watch this video of US marine drill instructors shouting at recruits. For the first 3 months of a recruit's life, the drill instructs are basically shouting at them the entire time. Why do they do this? Are the drill instructors all sadists who enjoy torturing their soldiers? No (well, okay, maybe some of them do, but they don’t enjoy it, for the most part). So why?
Say what you will about the United States military, they are very good at killing the enemy and winning wars. Of the branches of the military the Marine Corps is particularly effective. After completing the training, a marine recruit will be going to a war zone. There will be explosions, people screaming, guns firing, engines rumbling, and officers shouting orders, and the young soldier will need to keep a cool head, listen to the orders and fight effectively. The drill instructor is preparing the recruits for this kind of situation with their constant shouting. The recruits eventually learn to handle the intensity. They develop the mental toughness that makes them able to handle the realities of war.
So, that’s what you need to do to prepare yourself to handle a challenging situation. Repeatedly put yourself in such situations, or situations that closely mimic the challenge. You will eventually adapt and learn to handle the pressure.
Specific advice
Speech
Slow down. We all tend to speak too quickly when nervous. Make a conscious effort to slow down your speech. It will help keep you calm, and it will also help those listening to you make sense of words coming out of your mouth.
Also, try to be helpful, not defensive. It’s easy to get close up and defensive when you feel threatened. Instead, let any insults, real or imagined, roll off you, and do whatever you can to help.
Interrupt
Sometimes, in a meeting, a notorious rambler will start speaking and won’t stop until many hours later, that is, unless you interrupt them. Sometimes everyone will want to get a word in, and if you wait until it’s your turn to speak, your turn will never come and no one will hear the important thing you have to say. That’s when it’s time to interrupt. Speak up and keep speaking until whoever is currently speaking stops speaking and you can get your point across. It’s hard to do at first, but it gets easier with practice.
Make eye contact
Look at the person you are speaking to. It’s far easier for others to understand what you are saying when they can see your face. The human brain interprets mouth movements to help understand what someone is saying. That’s why the McGurk effect works (check out the video demonstrating the effect—it’s quite amazing).
Additionally, your words will be more effective when their power is focused. You can better engage with one person by focusing your attention on them, and you can better engage with an entire audience by focusing on one person in that audience.
Internal attitude
Adopt a proper internal attitude when going into a challenging situation. Your internal thoughts about yourself reflect out into the external world and determine how people perceive you. So, internally you should be: confident, detached and firm. That is, you should be thinking: “Yeah, I got this. Bring it! Is that the best you can do? I really don’t care what you say. But regardless of what you say, you'd better listen to me!”.
As much as it’s nice to be internally confident and detached, there is no need to tell everyone. People might not appreciate it, especially if they have a problem that they themselves are really concerned about. So instead, be externally concerned and emphatic. Be like Counselor Deanna Troi from Star Trek The Next Generation: emphatically relate to other people’s feelings, and show real concern about their problems. Those problems are not your own and not yours to own, but you will do what you can to help.
Tricks of the trade
When faced with a challenging situation, there are a number of little tricks you can use to help manage.
Stall for time: sometimes you just need some time to investigate something without people shouting at you. So, ask for a break to reconvene the meeting after 15 minutes, or say you’ll have to get back to someone later, or simply excuse yourself for as long as you need.
Summarise: in a long meeting or complex discussion, it makes sense to summarise everything that has been said so far. That makes matters clear in your mind, and helps everyone else, too. It’s also a great way to fill awkward silences when everyone is out of ideas.
Escalate to tier-3 support: when faced with a website outage, say you’ll escalate the issue with tier-3 support. Tier-1 support usually answers the phone and does basic diagnostic. Tier-2 support is more specialised, and tier-3 support has the best specialists who know a particular area in-depth. Even if your company doesn’t have tier-3 support, you can still say you’ll escalate to them and then frantically run around the office, asking anyone you find for help.
Name emotions: if the discussion gets quite heated, or emotional, it’s a good idea to name the emotion, e.g: “It seems everyone is feeling quite angry about this issue”. Naming the emotion gives it less power. It allows people to take a step back from the situation and evaluate it objectively.
Suggest tasks for others: when you are under the gun, you can gain some headspace by delegating things to others. Even if a task isn’t something assigned to you, if you can think of something that might help a situation, suggest it and volunteer someone for that task.
Accept responsibility: when Apple Maps launched with iOS 6, it fell short of customer expectations. Apple CEO Tim Cook didn’t make excuses for the poor quality product. Instead, he said: “We screwed up. That’s the fact (source)." Be like that. If something goes wrong, and it was your responsibility or your company’s responsibility to prevent it going wrong, own up to the fact, accept responsibility, apologise and commit to doing what you can to improve the situation.
The challenging situation has passed. You might be a bit battered, but you’ve survived. Now you need to take some time off to recover. You won’t be productive right after a big challenge anyway.
So, take some time off, get out of the office, visit nature, meditate, listen to your favourite music, play a game, do whatever you do to regain your mental strength. Tomorrow is another day and another challenge awaits. Good luck, soldier!
Have you ever been in a challenging situation at work?
Maybe a website went down and you had to fix it, while, at the same time, trying to appease an angry client? Maybe you had to give a presentation to a roomful of skeptical, intimidating people? Maybe you had a gruelling performance review after making a serious mistake? Or maybe a dragon attacked the office?
All of these situations are difficult. What can you do you to master these kinds of situations? How can you prepare for future challenges? Read onwards...
Learn to handle it
Watch this video of US marine drill instructors shouting at recruits. For the first 3 months of a recruit's life, the drill instructs are basically shouting at them the entire time. Why do they do this? Are the drill instructors all sadists who enjoy torturing their soldiers? No (well, okay, maybe some of them do, but they don’t enjoy it, for the most part). So why?
Say what you will about the United States military, they are very good at killing the enemy and winning wars. Of the branches of the military the Marine Corps is particularly effective. After completing the training, a marine recruit will be going to a war zone. There will be explosions, people screaming, guns firing, engines rumbling, and officers shouting orders, and the young soldier will need to keep a cool head, listen to the orders and fight effectively. The drill instructor is preparing the recruits for this kind of situation with their constant shouting. The recruits eventually learn to handle the intensity. They develop the mental toughness that makes them able to handle the realities of war.
So, that’s what you need to do to prepare yourself to handle a challenging situation. Repeatedly put yourself in such situations, or situations that closely mimic the challenge. You will eventually adapt and learn to handle the pressure.
Specific advice
Speech
Slow down. We all tend to speak too quickly when nervous. Make a conscious effort to slow down your speech. It will help keep you calm, and it will also help those listening to you make sense of words coming out of your mouth.
Also, try to be helpful, not defensive. It’s easy to get close up and defensive when you feel threatened. Instead, let any insults, real or imagined, roll off you, and do whatever you can to help.
Interrupt
Sometimes, in a meeting, a notorious rambler will start speaking and won’t stop until many hours later, that is, unless you interrupt them. Sometimes everyone will want to get a word in, and if you wait until it’s your turn to speak, your turn will never come and no one will hear the important thing you have to say. That’s when it’s time to interrupt. Speak up and keep speaking until whoever is currently speaking stops speaking and you can get your point across. It’s hard to do at first, but it gets easier with practice.
Make eye contact
Look at the person you are speaking to. It’s far easier for others to understand what you are saying when they can see your face. The human brain interprets mouth movements to help understand what someone is saying. That’s why the McGurk effect works (check out the video demonstrating the effect—it’s quite amazing).
Additionally, your words will be more effective when their power is focused. You can better engage with one person by focusing your attention on them, and you can better engage with an entire audience by focusing on one person in that audience.
Internal attitude
Adopt a proper internal attitude when going into a challenging situation. Your internal thoughts about yourself reflect out into the external world and determine how people perceive you. So, internally you should be: confident, detached and firm. That is, you should be thinking: “Yeah, I got this. Bring it! Is that the best you can do? I really don’t care what you say. But regardless of what you say, you'd better listen to me!”.
As much as it’s nice to be internally confident and detached, there is no need to tell everyone. People might not appreciate it, especially if they have a problem that they themselves are really concerned about. So instead, be externally concerned and emphatic. Be like Counselor Deanna Troi from Star Trek The Next Generation: emphatically relate to other people’s feelings, and show real concern about their problems. Those problems are not your own and not yours to own, but you will do what you can to help.
Tricks of the trade
When faced with a challenging situation, there are a number of little tricks you can use to help manage.
Stall for time: sometimes you just need some time to investigate something without people shouting at you. So, ask for a break to reconvene the meeting after 15 minutes, or say you’ll have to get back to someone later, or simply excuse yourself for as long as you need.
Summarise: in a long meeting or complex discussion, it makes sense to summarise everything that has been said so far. That makes matters clear in your mind, and helps everyone else, too. It’s also a great way to fill awkward silences when everyone is out of ideas.
Escalate to tier-3 support: when faced with a website outage, say you’ll escalate the issue with tier-3 support. Tier-1 support usually answers the phone and does basic diagnostic. Tier-2 support is more specialised, and tier-3 support has the best specialists who know a particular area in-depth. Even if your company doesn’t have tier-3 support, you can still say you’ll escalate to them and then frantically run around the office, asking anyone you find for help.
Name emotions: if the discussion gets quite heated, or emotional, it’s a good idea to name the emotion, e.g: “It seems everyone is feeling quite angry about this issue”. Naming the emotion gives it less power. It allows people to take a step back from the situation and evaluate it objectively.
Suggest tasks for others: when you are under the gun, you can gain some headspace by delegating things to others. Even if a task isn’t something assigned to you, if you can think of something that might help a situation, suggest it and volunteer someone for that task.
Accept responsibility: when Apple Maps launched with iOS 6, it fell short of customer expectations. Apple CEO Tim Cook didn’t make excuses for the poor quality product. Instead, he said: “We screwed up. That’s the fact (source)." Be like that. If something goes wrong, and it was your responsibility or your company’s responsibility to prevent it going wrong, own up to the fact, accept responsibility, apologise and commit to doing what you can to improve the situation.
The challenging situation has passed. You might be a bit battered, but you’ve survived. Now you need to take some time off to recover. You won’t be productive right after a big challenge anyway.
So, take some time off, get out of the office, visit nature, meditate, listen to your favourite music, play a game, do whatever you do to regain your mental strength. Tomorrow is another day and another challenge awaits. Good luck, soldier!
Ecstatic celebration of Gaurapurnima Festival in Vraja Eco Village in Philippines (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The holy name, chanting of holy name, if we act it properly, without any offense, then we are directly in connection with Krishna. Vrndavana, September 16, 1976.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/eUSTgt
On Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016, a terrorist attack with multiply blasts has shaken Belgium’s capital Brussels killing and injuring dozens at Zaventem Airport and in the subway.
On March 23rd, ISKCON Belgium has issued the following statement:
“ISKCON Belgium deplores the atrocious acts of violence committed by monsters that do not represent or practice any spiritual tradition but on the contrary, only represent and practice hatred, madness, envy, violence and terror.
Our prayers and thoughts are for the victims and their families. May all faiths stand together to condemn all acts of terror and promote peace, dialogue and respect.”
I love chanting japa—some days. Other days, I endure chanting japa. It seems to be bliss or boredom. On the good days I am enthralled. Krishna feels very close, and very dear. Not that I’m seeing visions or hearing voices—nothing dramatic that would excite the tabloid crowd. The experience is closer to returning home after a long, arduous journey. Such a sweet pleasure from the simple fingering of beads, the rhythmic repetition of the maha- mantra:Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. But then there are the bad days. Unfortunately, when I speak of bad days I don’t mean an occasional lapse. There are so many bad days they could actually be divided into categories: sick days, cold days, sleepy days, busy days, lonely days, traveling days, foul-mood days, messy-house days, family-visiting days, summer-vacation days, lots-on-my-mind days, too-many-kids-around days, all of the days between Christmas and New Year—those are just a few. And there are others that spring up unannounced, defying categorization. Continue reading "The Best and Worst of Japa → Dandavats"
An Instrumental Tribute To The Son of Mother Sachi
On the auspicious occasion of the appearance day of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, we offer two Esraj songs unto His divine lotus feet. These songs, ‘Ujjvala Varana Gaura Vara Deham’ and ‘Nava Gaura Varam’ were composed by Srila Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya. The melody has been taken from the albums of H.H. Bhakti Charu Swami.
Esraj is an important instrument in traditional vaisnava music and by the 1980s the instrument was nearly extinct. Of late, this instrument is seeing some revival. However only a handful players remain all over the world.
The Esraj played here is carved out of a century old block of Burma teakwood. No effects or reverb have been added to the sound of the instrument.
On Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016, a terrorist attack with multiply blasts has shaken Belgium’s capital Brussels killing and injuring dozens at Zaventem Airport and in the subway. On March 23rd, ISKCON Belgium has issued a statement "deploring the atrocious acts of violence committed by monsters that do not represent or practice any spiritual tradition."
Early 70’s pop star John Richardson aka Jayadeva Prabhu released today on Gaura Purnima day (23 March), his ISKCON 50th Anniversary offering–the virtual mantra choir. Having gathered the voices of devotees from more than 25 countries, Jayadeva conducts the Mantra Choir in singing the name of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
A devotee, professional photographer, loses his heart in Vrindavan and finds it back in Mayapur! He publishes 206 high-resolution photos to show how this happened.
Srila Prabhupada: I can see you, you can see me, similarly, you can go directly, see God and live with Him, dance with Him, play with Him, eat with Him. That is the perfection of life. Paris, June 13, 1974.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/4cvf3Y
Mantra Choir is a unique experience in community devotional expression. Sitting somewhere between Rock Choir and the popular kirtan performances, Mantra Choir blends the ancient euphoric call and response art of kirtan with upbeat counterpoint melodies to provide a beautifully rich sound and experience. In celebration of Gaura Purnima, the Mantra Choir team has just released a new piece "Mahaprabhu", involving over 400 musicians, singers and dancers from all over the world.
Gaura-Purnima celebrations in Iskcon Los Angeles (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The great liberated souls and incarnations who appear from time to time in this material world are not actually coming back, because they are never subject to material contamination or the laws of material nature. For the purpose of delivering the fallen living entities they come here temporarily and then go back when their business is finished, and this is all under the direct order of the Lord. So the appearance of the Lord or the great liberated souls in the material world is different from the appearance of the contaminated living entity who is forced to take birth in the material world due to his desire to lord it over the world. Letter to Vrindavanesvari, June 6, 1969.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/Dcdpd9
Mantra Choir performance of 'Mahaprabhu' involving over 400 musicians, singers and dancers from all around the World. Composed by Jayadeva John Ridhardson and arranged by Gareth Ryth Jones.
Prabhupada wanted us to understand that we shouldn’t think, “Now I am very big, I can take over my spiritual master’s position.”
Dina Bandhu: Around 1970, we drove from Boulder to L.A. and were present when Prabhupada started playing the tape of the Govindam prayers. Although it’s taken for granted now, before that time we didn’t play that tape of Yamuna singing.
But on the second or third day that we were there, Prabhupada came into the temple, the tape was put on, and he paid his obeisances. He took some charanamrita and then sat down on the vyasasana, all the while singing along with the tape.
Suddenly we saw tears gliding down Prabhupada’s cheeks. We all felt unqualified to be in his presence. When Prabhupada experienced ecstatic symptoms, you just wanted to lift up one of those linoleum tiles and crawl under it, thinking, “I don’t belong here.”
Then suddenly Prabhupada sniffed, wiped his face, and started chanting the Isopanishad mantras that he was teaching us at the time. He had a deep, rich voice that reminded me of a sea captain.
Every day we would start from the beginning and chant all the verses we knew, and then he would teach us the next verse.
Whenever I came to L.A. I would sit at the foot of Srila Prabhupada’s vyasasana in the temple room. One day Prabhupada sat down on his vyasasana, looking rather concerned.
He pointed toward me but I didn’t know what was wrong. I looked down thinking maybe my dhoti was open but it wasn’t. I looked back up. Prabhupada nodded his head as if to say, “Everything is okay.”
My hands were resting on my knees, and I froze in that position thinking, “Now everything is all right. Whatever was wrong is all right now.” I sat there while Prabhupada lectured but in the middle of the lecture, Prabhupada got disturbed again.
I was wobbling my knee. Prabhupada stopped speaking, pointed at me, and said, “Don’t do that.” I stopped doing it.
On a morning walk in Vrindavan, Prabhupada was preaching heavily against abortion and birth control. He gave the example that,
“If I have rented an apartment and you stop me from living in it, that is illegal. Or if I am living in an apartment and you come and kick me out, that is also illegal. You will be arrested. Similarly, that soul has rented that womb which is his apartment, and if you prevent him from staying there it is illegal. He’s inside and you kick him out—that is illegal.”
He explained how those who commit abortion will go from womb to womb and will never see the light of day. He was so heavy.
On the way back, Prabhupada was a little quiet. Then one Indian man said, “I read today in the newspaper that Guru Maharaj Ji’s mother said that Guru Maharaj Ji is a bogus fellow. She’s denounced him.”
Prabhupada and everyone else laughed. We walked a few more steps and the Indian man said, “Yes, practically she has finished him.” Prabhupada stopped, dug his cane into the street, looked at all of us and said, “She should have finished him in the womb.”
Prabhupada explained that a mouse went to a yogi and complained that a cat was bothering him. The yogi said, “What do you want?”
The mouse said, “I want to become a cat, and then the cat won’t bother me.” The yogi waved his hand and the mouse became a cat.
Later the cat (who was previously the mouse) went back to the yogi. The yogi said, “Now, what’s the matter? You want something?”
The cat said, “Now a dog is bothering me. I want to become a dog.” The yogi said, “All right, become a dog.” So the cat became a dog.
After a while he came back to the yogi, who said, “Do you want something?” The dog said, “Yes, now a tiger is bothering me. I want to become a tiger.”
The yogi said, “All right, become a tiger.” When the dog became a tiger, he looked at the yogi with longing eyes. The yogi said, “Oh, do you want to eat me?” The tiger shook his head “yes.”
The yogi said, “punar mushika bhava,” which means, “again become a mouse.” The tiger immediately transformed into a mouse. When we heard this we all burst out laughing, but Prabhupada meant it to be serious, and later we understood what the story meant.
Prabhupada was telling us that if we become puffed up and fail to realize that Prabhupada is actually the power behind us, then we would fall back to our former position.
Prabhupada wanted us to understand that we shouldn’t think, “Now I am very big, I can take over my spiritual master’s position.” After he told that story, Prabhupada looked at me and said, “Try to understand. Don’t laugh.”
Excerpt from “Memories-Anecdotes of a Modern-Day Saint”
by Siddhanta das
Inspiration from two Drunkards! (6 min video)
They say if you find gold even in the filthy place you should take it.
Let’s see why even Yamaraja was in tension because of two drunkards and how everyone became jubilant at last :-)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/5XI56a
Alone and penniless during his first years in America, Srila Prabhupada’s early pastimes were ideal examples of powerful grassroots preaching. Sitting on a park bench in New York City, he revealed to one acquaintance that so many devotees and temples existed – it was simply time that separated them.
Gaura Purnima celebrations at Iskcon of Silicon Valley! Ecstatic Kirtan lead by Vaisesika Dasa Prabhu and amazing prasadam! Haribol!!
Srila Prabhupada: The sound of the spiritual world is nectarean and eternal, whereas the sound of the material world is hackneyed and subject to end. The sound of the Holy Name – Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare – everlastingly increases the enthusiasm of the chanter. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 3.21.22 Purport)
Thomas Edison said that five percent of people think, ten percent think they think, and the other eighty five percent would rather die than think. Thinking is hard work – that’s why so few people genuinely do it.
Gaura Purnima at New Raman Reti, Alachua, Florida (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The demigods are pleased when sacrifices are performed, just as prison officers are satisfied when the prisoners are turned into obedient subjects. Lord Caitanya, however, has recommended only one yajna, or sacrifice, called the sankirtana-yajna, the chanting of Hare Krishna, in which everyone can take part. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 1.6.20 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/RXa4Yd
A new inspirational video produced by Prananatha das shows a current view of the TOVP construction site. 3 of the 8 chatris have been completed with blue tiles and kalashes. More segments have been put onto the 3 domes, in preparation for the kalashes. The 4th stage (out of 6) of the decorative sandstone features has been completed.
March 23. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Free to Preach.
Room 307 at 72nd Street was never meant for use as a residence or ashram or lecture hall. It was only a small, narrow office without furniture or a telephone. Its door held a large pane of frosted glass, the kind common in all offices; above the door was a glass-paneled transom. Prabhupada placed his blankets on the floor before his metal foot locker, which now became a makeshift desk where he wrote. He slept on the floor. There were no facilities here for cooking, or even for bathing, so daily he had to walk to Dr. Mishra’s apartment.
When he had lived in Room 501 at Dr. Mishra’s yoga ashram, Dr. Mishra had financed his needs. But now Prabhupada was on his own, and whatever he could raise by selling his books, he would have to use for his daily maintenance and for the monthly rent of seventy-two dollars. He noted that for a little powdered chili, the West End Superette charged twenty-five cents, ten times what he would have paid in India. He had no guaranteed income, his expenses had increased and his physical comforts had reduced. But at least he had his own place. Now he was free to preach as he liked.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=6
New Sannyasi for Iskcon.
Halayudha Prabhu recently took sannyasa from HH Radha Govinda Maharaja. This was the first-time a sannyasa ceremony has ever taken place at the ISKCON Bhubaneswar temple.
Over 2,000 devotees, joyously came to take part in the ceremony.
His name now is Haladhara Maharaja. Haladhara Maharaja ki jaya!
Madhavananda das: Halayudha has been preaching in Odisha for many years and is deeply loved by thousands of devotees for his expertise in speaking krishna-katha, his sastric knowledge, sweet nature, renunciation, and complete lack of political behavior.
After the ceremony was completed, Haladhara Maharaja asked me, "Should I begsome alms now?"
"Yes", I said, "I think that would be appropriate."
"What mantra should I chant when asking for bakshish?" he asked.
"You can say, bho mata, (or bho pita), bhavati bhiksham dehi - "O respected mother, (or father), please give me some alms."
earing an announcement that Maharaja was going to accept his first donations, the crowd of devotees became wildly ecstatic. Suddenly there was a huge crush as everyone started pulling out large rupee notes and pushing to get close enough to offer something to him.
Afterwards I laughed and told him, "Maharaja, I think you got a pretty good collection today. You must have gotten enough to make a start on building a new temple."
"No." he said with a serious look on his face, "whatever I collected today, I'll give everything to the temple here."
I was touched by his natural simplicity, humility, and genuine appreciation for the devotees. It's inspiring to see such a good hearted devotee who can nicely represent Gour Govinda Maharaja. We wish him all success in his preaching efforts.
“Srila Prabhupada, at the age of seventy, and at the order of his guru maharaja, crossed the ocean and sat down under a tree and chanted Hare Krishna. He said that anyone could take Krishna consciousness to anywhere in the world by the same method. You just go to a park in the center of the town, sit down under a tree and chant Hare Krishna. And—this is Srila Prabhupada’s own words—’Immediately people will think, Who is this crazy fellow sitting and chanting in the town square? And they will come around to find out about this crazy fellow.’ Then you tell them about Bhagavad-gita and Krishna consciousness. So, this is continuing by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy. All we have to do is take it and distribute it. This is the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu—that you should taste the nectar of the holy name, taste love of God and distribute it—share it with others.
For Tomorrow, a short film produced by Kriyate is focusing on a typical day in the life of 12-year-old Mayapur Gurukula student and his school-friends. Through training, introspection, and perseverance, the boys set aside their differences to serve a common transcendent purpose: giving pleasure to the Supreme Person, Sri Krishna. Puru's typical day turns out to be not so typical after all, as he gains an experience which will forever alter the lens through which he sees the world. -- Written and Directed by Jagannath Kirtan Das (JP Lew), Directory of Photography: Dhira Krishna Das (Dan Karpinsky).
The cow shelter is the region's biggest and is operated by the Muslim Educational and Welfare Society of Jodhpur. Over 200 cows, most of them old and sick, are taken care off here by a team of veterinarian doctors
Mumbai, Mayapur, Rishikesh (Sent from Vrindavan on March 22, 2016)
Where I Went and What I Did
I flew into Mumbai, where I stayed a couple days to arrange my travel, then I took the train to Howrah, and onward to Nabadwip Dham for the Mayapur Kirtan Mela. At Mayapur I went on a tour of the Vedic Temple of the Planetarium the first day, and the remaining days I spent some hours in the Mayapur Kirtan Mela each day and in the late afternoon, I went on harinama with the Harinam Ruci worldwide traveling party for three hours, who I chanted with in Europe in the summer and the United States in the fall. One day while in Mayapur I attended the beginning of a vanaprastha initiation and the end of the marriage ceremony. The day after Kirtan Mela, I traveled with two friends to join Navina Nirada Prabhu and his party of harinama and book distributing devotees in Rishikesh to share Krishna music, food, and literature with the many people, both Western and Indian, who visit for study and pilgrimage.
I share notes on a lecture by Srila Prabhupada and excerpts from the books and journal of Satsvarupa dasa Goswami. I share notes on the many classes given by swamis in Mayapur, including Bhakti Charu Swami, who spoke on Tamal Krishna Goswami’s disappearance day, Jayadvaita Swami, who spoke at a vanaprastha initiation, and Lokanath Swami, Niranjana Swami, and Sivaram Swami, who glorified the holy name. I have notes on talks on book distribution by Bhakti Purusottama Swami and Vijaya Prabhu. I share inspirational words about the holy name from Agnidev and Rajendranandana Prabhus. I share notes on the classes we had in Rishikesh by Dharmatma and Mahabhavi Prabhus. I share notes from conversations with Amita Krishna and Hanuman Prabhus, and a quote from Maitreya Prabhu’s autobiography.
I would like to thank Tara Prabhu, who gave me a sizeable donation toward the purchase of his favorite book for distribution, Science of Self-Realization, so I can provide them to interested people I meet on harinama. Thanks to Navina Nirada Prabhu, who kindly paid for my train from Howrah to Haridvar and on to Mathura, so I could attend his wonderful program of distributing Krishna music, food, and literature in Rishikesh. Thanks to my friend, Pancatattva Prabhu, I knew from Alachua, for his contribution to my expenses. Thanks to the nice Indian devotee from Abu Dhabi, who paid for my trip from Howrah to Mayapur and who gave me a donation in addition. Thanks to Jaya Gaurasundar Prabhu and Kaumodaki Devi Dasi for the photos of their vanaprastha ceremony.
Itinerary
March 21–April 9: Vrindavan 24-Hour Kirtan
April 10–13: Mumbai
April 14–20: Ireland
April 21–24: Newcastle, England
April 26: Radhadesh (Kadamba Kanana Swami’s Vyasa Puja)
April 27: King’s Day in Amsterdam
April 28–29: Rotterdam
April 30–May 1: Birmingham 24-hour kirtana
May 2–July 9: The North of England and Scotland
July 10: Prague Ratha-yatra
July 12–16: Polish Woodstock
July 30: Berlin Ratha-yatra
August 5–11: Baltic Summer Festival
August 18–21: Trutnoff (Czech Woodstock)
September 13–: New York City Harinam
Impressions of Mumbai
I found out from the locals you can get to ISKCON Juhu from the international airport by taking a bus for 14 rupees to Vile Parle East Station and walking across the bridge at the station and taking an auto rickshaw for 40 rupees. I later learned from a Juhu devotee who works at the airport you can get to ISKCON Juhu by auto rickshaw from the international airport for 80 or 90 rupees.
The Western Union, not a long walk to the left, on the left side, as you leave ISKCON Juhu Main Gate, gives a good rate for changing money and does not charge commission. If you save enough rupees from your previous trip to reach the temple, you can avoid the exorbitant exchange prices at the airport.
I realized I never really appreciated the beauty of Sri Sri Radha-Rasavihari before. It was so wonderful to meditate Them as I chanted in the Hare Krishna kirtana.
Once a week, the devotees play a tape of Srila Prabhupada giving Srimad-Bhagavatam class, upstairs in Srila Prabhupada’s quarters. They give out the transcript for those who have difficulty with his accent. I found it pleasing to connect with Srila Prabhupada there in his quarters in that way.
Chanting on the Train from Mumbai to Howrah
Although I could not find a group of devotees to travel with from Mumbai to Howrah en route to the Mayapur Kirtan Mela, on the train I found devotees in my carriage, S2, and also in S10, S12, and S13. A group of devotees in S12 were very hospitable, and gave me prasadam, a seat, and let me charge up my computer (as in S2, we had only 2 outlets for 72 people). We chanted kirtana the second evening for about an hour, with several devotees taking turns. One devotee in this party showed me pictures of me chanting on the same train with his friends last time I came to Kirtan Mela two years ago. What a surprise! On my own, I chanted on the platform at two of the stations where we had a longer stop. I would walk along the length of the train, always careful to notice if it had started moving, so I could hop back on. I chanted on the platforms at Nagpur and Raipur, as those stops were longer than most.
A very nice Indian man from Abu Dhabi paid for my travel from Howrah to Mayapur, and I gave him some clues how to go so we got there before the other devotees. We took the Bardhaman train to Bandel and then the Katwa Local to Nabadwip Dham. We sang in the rickshaw to and from the boat ghats and on the boat as well.
Temple of the Vedic Planetarium Tour
Prishni Devi Dasi arranged for Antardvip Prabhu, who is in charge of the cosmology exhibits for the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, to give a few of us a tour of the temple in its partially constructed state.
It will have a dome with a volume greater than any other dome in the world.
The view is wonderful of the Prabhupada Samadhi and the Ganges River in the distance.
Apparently they have to collect 1.5 million dollars a month to finish it at the desired time. All the different levels of planetary systems, spiritual and material, will be depicted.
Vanaprastha Ceremony and Wedding in Mayapur
My friend, Radhika Nagara Prabhu, who assisted me greatly when I visited his native Spain and who I see in Manchester, England, each year invited me to his marriage with Vrajananda Devi Dasi, a disciple of Niranjana Swami and flute player in kirtanas at the Baltic Summer Festival. I was hoping that Niranjana Swami, who initially invited me to live in the 55th Street temple in New York City back in 1979, would give a lecture, but as a sannyasi, that is such a desirable opportunity for. I decided I would come at the end for the kirtana and the prasadam, especially because it was at the Jagannath Mandir in Rajapur, and I wanted to see Lord Jagannath.
That morning my friends told me that Jayadvaita Swami would speak at 10:30 a.m. at the old gurukula, and I decided to go hear him first and catch the end of the marriage.
Turns out I knew the couple taking vanaprastha, two disciples of my Guru Maharaja, Satsvarupa dasa Goswami, named Jaya Gaurasundar and Kaumodaki Devi Dasi from Baltimore, so it was especially nice I was able to attend. By notes on his very nice lecture are included in the “Insights” section before. As it turned out, the lecture did not happen until 12:20 p.m., and I missed Jagannath’s darsana, but fortunately not the wedding prasadam, which was very nice, and the opportunity to sit with my friend from the UK, Gaura Krishna Prabhu, who was leaving the next day. I also gave the couple a small gift and wished them well. Jayadvaita Swami considered it Krishna’s mercy that I missed all of the wedding but the prasadam.
Chanting with Harinam Ruci in Mayapur
Last year I chanted with the Harinam Ruci traveling chanting party in Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Germany, London, Prague, New York and Boston, and it was great to be singing with them again in Mayapur. It was nice to see Syama Rasa and Nrsimha Caitanya Prabhus again, as they did not make to New York City in the fall. Gopinatha Prabhu, from Finland but based in Mayapur, joined us and played the bass, which added another dimension. Sometimes, as on the last day I was there, they would join with the daily Mayapur harinama group along with their deities and sound system, and it was very powerful. So many people, old and new, were happy to sing and dance with the Harinam Ruci party. Here is some video I took on March 6 (https://youtu.be/FigstpI58_Y):
On March 9, Nrsimha Caitanya Prabhu, who assists his father, Muni Priya Prabhu, in managing the Czech Padayatra, led the Harinam Ruci worldwide harinama party chanting around the ISKCON property in Mayapur with unbounded enthusiasm and many people reciprocated by lively chanting and dancing (https://youtu.be/nt6Y2IgQ6C4):
On March 10, Syama-rasa Prabhu of Croatia led the Harinam Ruci party around the ISKCON Mayapur compound, and as you can see in this video, lots of people got into the chanting and dancing (https://youtu.be/vAtyyjIsJ0M):
Chanting in Rishikesh with Navina Nirada Prabhu’s Party
Navina Nirada Prabhu (dancing in the above picture), a famous Hare Krishna book distributor, has been coming to Rishikesh for seven years. Janardana Prabhu (distributing a book), based in Denmark, has joined him for several of those years. They and a group of about fifteen devotees chant Hare Krishna in the streets, distribute books, and distribute prasadam for one or two weeks in Rishikesh each March. There we would do harinama and book distribution from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. each day. Sometimes we would distribute a bucket of halava during the morning session.
Both devotees who happened to be visiting Rishikesh at the same time and new people just attracted would join our party.
The lady with the child on her lap is a Ukrainian devotee, who joined us a couple of times. The lady next to her is a devotee from Germany, who joined us almost every day, sometimes twice. The guy playing the shakers gave Navina Nirada nice donation and accepted several books including Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Mahabhavi Prabhu from Norway is leading the chanting and playing the drum. Pavitra Nityanand Prabhu plays the karatalas. I dance and give out mantra cards to interested people, briefly talking to them about their previous contact with Hare Krishna and telling them of Hare Krishna temples, restaurants, and festivals in their countries.
During the first session of the first day, a book distributor took a break for 3 minutes, handing me his books, and I distributed one to a young lady from Manitoba, Canada, who was studying to be a yoga teacher.
During the second session of the first day, so many people participated. One young lady, who met the devotees in Ukraine, played the karatalas and chanted Hare Krishna intently with great joy. A Russian lady with neck beads chanted, smiled, and danced with us for a while. Three students at a college two hours away, who knew the devotees from Chowpatty, sang and danced for what seemed like an hour. They also induced others to dance, and they successfully dealt with vendors who complained about us being there. Many others chanted, danced, and took pictures of us. Janardana Prabhu met one young lady from Denmark, who remembered he had spoken to her before, while distributing books in Copenhagen, his place of residence. On the whole, it was a very enlivening day. The other days were similar.
We can gain some material knowledge through our material senses, but spiritual knowledge cannot be acquired through our material senses. Therefore, we must hear from spiritual authority to acquire spiritual knowledge.
No one says, “I want to see knowledge.” No, we want to hear knowledge.
When we are asleep, our other senses are also asleep, but our ears are still alert and can protect us.
Dharma is what is enunciated in the Vedas.
Dharma means constitutional position. We are eternal servant of God.
Our nature is to serve, but because we are serving wrongly, because our service is misplaced, we are not satisfied.
Our only duty is to serve Krishna, and because we are not doing that, we are not happy.
There is no difference between the Vedas and Narayana, or God. There is no difference between God and His instructions.
Now people say, “I can manufacture my religion and you can manufacture your religion” but that is not real religion.
If you do not accept Krishna is God, that is your mistake. The authorities say that Krishna is God. If you do not accept Krishna as God, you have to present an alternative. If you have no alternative, why do you not accept Krishna?
The guru distributes knowledge coming from the Lord just as a cloud distributes water coming from the ocean.
Those who are religious, regardless of their religion, know that God created.
To paint a flower, the artist requires so much concentration and skill. Do you think that the person who created the original flower was without skill? Actually the Lord is so expert, He makes the flower develop as if automatically, although He is behind it in every detail.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami:
“An example of a true scholar of scripture is the South Indian brahmana whom Lord Caitanya embraced. Although the brahmana was illiterate, he had a deep love for Krishna as Partha-sarathi [the chariot driver of Arjuna]. In his appreciation, he became overwhelmed with ecstasy. Lord Caitanya told him that his reading of the Gita was perfect. We are not looking for information or any other kind of learning when we approach scripture, but to understand Krishna as He is and to experience love for Him. To study with any other motive leads ultimately to dissatisfaction.”
“Thoughts about practical service should not intrude when you are chanting japa. That’s the peak performance of the day. So it should not be a discussion of “Things to Do.” That’s why it’s important to rise early in the morning after sufficient rest before the day increases in the modes of passion.”
“Normally they [the chanters in the city] sing six hours a day, which is a strenuous yajna. But they enjoy every minute of it glorifying the Lord. The people who pass by are interested in the phenomena, and the regulars have memorized the mantra. What they don’t know is that they are having their sinful reactions removed and seeds of love of Godhead planted in their hearts by hearing. It is a secret revolution going on in the City. The chanters are the instruments, and Krishna is in control.”
“Theharinamachanters in the City have a great responsibility. They are carrying out the legacy of Lord Caitanya to deliver congregational chanting in the Age of Kali. If they did not report for duty the City would be void of auspiciousness. If they did not come out and holdkirtana, the rogues and thieves would take over the square. By singing in their sacred spot, they are staving offmaya’sinfluence.
They owe it to the Lord and the people to keep themselves fit and keep going out onsankirtana.”
“They are blissful with Krishna Nama. Today I read the verse spoken by the Supreme Lord to Narada where He says, ‘I am not in My abode in Vaikuntha, or in the heart of the mystic yogis. I am wherever My pure devotees chant My names and discuss My pastimes.’ This is very encouraging for the Hare Krishna chanters in the City. The Lord says He is with His ‘pure devotees,’ and the kirtaneers are certainly pure devotees. Their lives are completely dedicated to chanting the holy names. They are compassionate, because they chant publicly for the benefit of the conditioned souls. They can be aware and assured that Krishna is personally present with them as they performkirtanaof the Hare Krishna mantra. The Lord says He is there wherever devotees gather to chant, so it is not restricted to the temple. He is there with them in the city streets all day long.”
From Japa Walks, Japa Talks:
“I can’t think of anything more pleasant and spiritual to do than to take a walk just before dawn and to chant the holy names. I may fail to enter the potential of that rendezvous with the holy names, but I can’t fail to understand the holy name’s mercy. Just because I have a lot of work to do, I’m not going to forget my japa before the altar and – if I’m lucky enough to be in the right time and place – my morning japa walk. We who are workaholics, and who mostly associate with others who are similarly immersed in a vocation, might try to get association with devotees who have made chanting the purpose of their lives. Take a walk with one of them, or sit beside them in the temple room while you chant. Don’t neglect it. That’s my humble advice on a drizzly morning, advice I give to myself and to others.”
“The City workers pass by, and the tourists keep coming, hearing the harinama chanting. But they should be aware that time is precious. The passing away of the great sankirtana devotee, Jada Bharata, reminds us that we all must die one day. So seize the opportunity while health is with you, to serve in the kirtana party and go out every day to distribute harinama to the conditioned souls. Don’t waste a minute. Time is passing, and you can’t get a minute back if you paid a million dollars. Chant Hare Krishna and be happy.”
Bhakti Charu Swami:
A few days before he left his body Tamal Krishna Goswami told me, while I was chanting japa: “Please take of these boys from Calcutta. They are your children.” He was referring to a few bright boys from Calcutta who took initiation from him.
Tamal Krishna Goswami told Visvambhara Prabhu, “I am leaving tomorrow.” Visvambhara replied, “Yes, you are leaving tomorrow morning.” Tamal Krishna Goswami said, “No, I am leaving.” Only later did he understand the significance of it.
The postmortem said Tamal Krishna Goswami left his body before the accident.
Tamal Krishna Goswami was dear to Prabhupada, and Prabhupada was dear to him.
Srila Prabhupada had incredible confidence in him. Prabhupada made him president of the new Los Angeles temple. He helped out in Paris. He started the Radha-Damodara party which ultimately expanded to five buses and spread Krishna consciousness all over America. When Prabhupada started focusing on preaching in India, Prabhupada made him a leader there. He helped Prabhupada by getting the land for Mayapur.
I got Prabhupada’s association doing Bengali translations and answering Bengali letters. Thus I saw Srila Prabhupada’s interactions with Tamal Krishna Goswami. The topic was the court case in New York regarding brainwashing. Srila Prabhupada was practically shouting, “Brain washing? They have no brains. I am giving them brains.” Adi Kesava Maharaja was leading the charge, and Tamal Krishna Goswami was overseeing the battle.
Srila Prabhupada asked me if I could write Hindi. I said yes, but my Hindi handwriting is not very nice. He said not to worry, “No one’s Hindi handwriting is nice.”
Prabhupada shifted the secretary to the room next to the room next his as the manual typewriters made such a racket. Tamal Krishna Goswami invited me to share the room with him. He was extremely regulated, rising at 3:00 a.m., and he would play Srila Prabhupada’s tapes as he used the bathroom. He made it a point to chant his rounds before the day began, and that is one thing I learned from him. When we traveled with Srila Prabhupada, we would continue to share a room.
Srila Prabhupada went to Rishikesh. He was excited to go as he had never been before and looked forward to drinking Ganges water.
Tamal Krishna Goswami gave up all his responsibilities at the end of Srila Prabhupada’s life just to care of Srila Prabhupada, because he felt that was his responsibility.
In Rishikesh, Palika was sick, and the lady who replaced her did not cook so nicely. I volunteered to cook. One day I cooked nicely, but the next day, it was not so nice. Srila Prabhupada exclaimed, “You have no standard.” The next day I cooked, but I was more careful. Srila Prabhupada liked it. I told him, “I was in anxiety the whole time I was cooking.” Srila Prabhupada said, “That is good. You should be in anxiety when you are serving the spiritual master.”
At 3:00 p.m. Srila Prabhupada would dictate the main points in letters to Tamal Krishna Goswami and he would write them.
Tamal Krishna Goswami told me, “You are so fortunate to have taken birth in India.”
I told him, “I may have taken birth in India, but I was brought up with the understanding that the West is best.”
Later I made the point that he and the other Western devotees assisting Srila Prabhupada were not ordinary souls but special people sent to help his mission.
At the time, one of us would be awake at night, in case Srila Prabhupada needed something. My shift was from midnight to 2:00 a.m., and at 1:00 a.m. Srila Prabhupada rang his bell, and said, “Make arrangements for me to go to Vrindavan immediately. It is time for me to leave my body.”
Very intimately Tamal Krishna Goswami and Srila Prabhupada would discuss. Tamal Krishna Goswami always had such penetrating questions. Prabhupada began making his wills, and he would consult Tamal Krishna Goswami about who should be there.
Tamal Krishna Goswami’s sudden departure was a great loss to our society. He was not so active in the society’s leadership at that point, as he was focusing on his academic studies, but he was just about to return when he left.
I feel he is still serving Srila Prabhupada somewhere where Srila Prabhupada needs him.
Jayadvaita Swami:
The stations of varnasrama are external and have nothing to do with our eternal identities. Thus Lord Caitanya said, “I am not a brahmana, I am not a ksatriya, I am not a vaisya or a sudra. Nor am I a brahmacari, a householder, a vanaprasthaor a sannyasi. I identify Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krishna . . . ” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 13.80) Our goal is to be reinstated in our eternal service.
Varnasrama may be used to facilitate our attaining that eternal service.
Krishna consciousness is always the primary thing, and varnasrama is very much secondary.
For entering brahmacarya or vanaprastha no formalities are required.
Srila Prabhupada writes on a book flap he accepted vanaprastha in such and such a year, but as far as I know there was no ceremony.
Changing ashram is mainly a chance of consciousness.
The Bhagavatam details the entanglement of family life: “The attraction between male and female is the basic principle of material existence. On the basis of this misconception, which ties together the hearts of the male and female, one becomes attracted to his body, home, property, children, relatives and wealth. In this way one increases life’s illusions and thinks in terms of ‘I and mine.’” (Bhag. 5.5.8) Of course, the devotee can advance in that position as Lord Brahma advises: “Those who, even while remaining situated in their established social positions, throw away the process of speculative knowledge and with their body, words and mind offer all respects to descriptions of Your personality and activities, dedicating their lives to these narrations, which are vibrated by You personally and by Your pure devotees, certainly conquer Your Lordship, although You are otherwise unconquerable by anyone within the three worlds.” (Bhag. 10.14.3)
Grhastha life meets building up, and vanaprastha life means winding down. It means winding down the business of family life, because I am not this body, and in any case, this body will be finished. Before this body is finished, we want to be detached from things in relationship to the body.
Srila Prabhupada described vanaprastha life as midway between grhastha life and sannyasa life. It provides the space for gradually detaching people from family affairs.
This change of consciousness is the significant point in the vanaprastha ashram – thinking in terms of winding down one’s family life.
Vanaprastha is the invisible ashram, a rare species, hardly identified.
Grhastha life is not eternal but for some years only. It is not recommended one stay in household life forever. It is enjoyable for a few years only, and sometimes just a few days.
We are having this ceremony to a make an impression in the minds of the candidates and to remind the society of grhasthas that grhastha life is not eternal.
Because people have no direction, we see people having children when they are forty-five or getting married in their fifties.
Jaya Gourasundara said he entered grhamedi life at 23 and grhashta life at 42.
His guru, Satsvarupa dasa Goswami, advised him be an ideal grhastha, and he was.
He and his wife have been vanaprastha for years. This is just recognition of that.
Lokanath Swami:
namo maha-vadanyaya
krishna-prema-pradaya te
krishnaya krishna-caitanya-
namne gaura-tvise namah
This verse by Rupa Goswami glorifying Lord Caitanya mentions His name, form, quality, and pastimes. He is named Krishna Caitanya. His form is golden in complexion. His quality is His magnanimity, and He is giving Krishna-prema, love for Krishna.
The demoniac were conquered by the arrows of his beauty and the power of His holy name. Other weapons include His prasadam, ISKCON bullets.
Srila Prabhupada made his destination New York City, the capital of the age of Kali.
Niranjana Swami:
From a conversation after class in Mayapur:
Once a young man, who was just married, asked for me to bless him that he have a happy marriage. I replied, “I am a sannyasi. I cannot understand what a happy marriage could possibly be. I could bless you that you could have a successful marriage.”
From a vanaprastha seminar:
The important contribution of the vanaprasthas is they can give invaluable instructions on grhastha life based on their personal experience, which the sannyasis and brahmacaris do not have.
Two quotes from Caitanya Siksamrita on service to elders:
“There are three types of service to elders: protection of parents, protection of teachers, and protection of other elders. One must follow the instructions of parents and serve them as much as is possible. A person should serve those who have protected him as a helpless child; he should also service those who have given knowledge, especially those who have given spiritual knowledge and mantra. Those are considered superior who are bigger in body, greater in age or more experienced in knowledge. One must respect and serve them all. One cannot follow incorrect orders of a superior but one should not show hostility towards him, using disrespectful or harsh words. One should put a stop to their improper behavior or instructions by using sweet words, humility, and gentle reasoning at the proper time.”
“Disrespect to elders has three objects: parents, teachers, and other superiors. Even if the superior makes a mistake, he should not be disrespected. A person should be careful to please superiors with polite and gracious conduct. To disobey the orders of superiors is also disrespect.”
From a class on janmaisvarya sruta sribhir:
Those who are materially satisfied or who are aspiring for material improvement cannot call out the holy name of the Lord feelingly.
Lord Shiva explained to Sati that those who are proud of material acquisitions lose all good sense and cannot appreciate spiritual advanced people.
This does not mean that merely not having material acquisitions necessary means that one is spiritual advanced.
The qualification is to be satisfied with only devotional service.
Those proud people cannot recognize those who are chanting with pure feeling.
The Six Goswami did not feel they had found Krishna, but they were always looking for Him.
Lord Caitanya felt he had no love for Krishna. If He had love, how could He live in this world in Krishna’s absence.
Haridas Thakura explained to the assembly of brahmanas that the true glory of holy name is by chanting the holy name one gets love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Liberation and freedom from sinful reactions are secondary results attained by namabhasa, a glimpse of the holy name.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains that the devotee only wants Krishna’s pleasure. He thinks, “I will someday get Krishna’s mercy, in one day, in one year, or in millions of years.”
A devotee never thinks, “Just see how ecstatic I am.”
The devotees know there is nothing of value to be attained in this world, and thus they only aspire for devotional service, and relish hearing the glories of devotional service.
By hearing the glories of pure devotional service, the devotee becomes inspired to pursue it.
Narada says that by hearing the glories of pure devotional service, by chanting the glories of pure devotional service, or by even accepting the existence of pure devotional service, even one who hates the demigods and all living beings, can progress.
In conclusion, our aspiration in kirtana with others,should be to chant with feeling.
Sivarama Swami:
From a class Brhad-bhagavamrita 2.3.184
Brhad-Bhagavatamrita is highly recommended for one who wants to advance in bhakti. If you do not have it, get it. If you have not read it, read it.
Gopa Kumara represents the seeker who attains the path of perfection, or in other words, ourselves. He advances spiritually and passes though different level of attainment by practicing chanting the mantra that his guru has given him.
“Dearer to the Lord than even His own beautiful form, His easily worshiped holy name benefits the entire world. Indeed, nothing is as full of nectar as the holy name of the Lord.”
This is the first of sixty or seventy verses glorifying the holy name.
Although it takes time, the holy name of the Lord forgives offenses to both the name and form of the Lord.
The Vaikuntha-dutas tell Gopa Kumara that his chanting of his mantra out of duty can only bring him to the platform of liberation. He must give up everything and engage in the nine items of devotional service. The Gopal mantra he has been given must be chanted not only out of duty, but with ecstatic devotion to please Madan Gopal, the deity of the mantra, as an act of devotional service. They also explain that understanding the sambhanda-jnana from books like the Bhagavatam is necessary to accelerate his progress.
Sanatana Goswami gives nine meanings for “sa-rasa:
“Sa-rasacan mean ‘very gentle,’ since the holy names consist of sweet-sounding syllables. It can also mean ‘composed of pure spiritual substance, sac-cid-ananda.’ Or it can mean that the holy names are accompanied by all the various devotional relationships, the nine rasas, headed by srngara (madhurya-rasa). In the pure chanting of the holy names, all these
varieties of prema-rasa are manifest, in the moods of both separation (viraha) and meeting (sanga). Rasa also means ‘attraction to Krishna’ (raga), which devotees performing sankirtana unavoidably experience as their krishna-prema is rapidly evoked by the holy names. In other words, the Lord’s sankirtana inspires His servants and everyone else to become attracted to the Lord.
“Rasaalso means ‘special potency’ (virya-visesa); the chanting of the holy
names is extremely powerful. And rasa can mean ‘exceptional quality’
(guna-visesa), indicating in the present context that nama-sankirtana has the
power to deliver the most fallen persons in the world. Rasa also means
‘exceptional happiness’ (sukha-visesa); hari-nama is the most concentrated
essence of happiness. And it also means ‘exceptional sweetness’ (madhurya-visesa). Nama-sankirtana is often glorified for its sweetness, as in this famous verse from the Prabhasa-khanda of the SkandaPurana:
‘O best of the Bhrigu dynasty, the holy name of Krishna is the sweetest of the sweet, the most auspicious of the auspicious. This transcendental fruit of all the Vedas is purely spiritual. Whoever chants it but once, whether with faith or with contempt, is liberated.’”
Chanting aloud and serving the Lord with one’s senses, according to the residents of Vaikuntha, are superior to meditation, and of all devotional acts, nama-sankirtana is the best. They said seeing Krishna is the result of chanting the names of Krishna.
Srila Prabhupada gave so much emphasis on chanting Hare Krishna, and thus we are all here in Mayapur chanting Hare Krishna.
The result of sadhana is bhava for Krishna, which develops into prema, and seeing Krishna in person.
Nama-sankirtana, as opposed to other kinds of glorification of the Lord, is best because it can evoke at once the treasure of pure love for the Lord. The holy name brings sweetness to all our senses, although appearing originally through the sense of speech.
One who has attained perfection has the symptom of not wanting to stop chanting.
Nama-sankirtana is also described as the fruit of bhakti.
Prataparuda Maharaja was astonished to hear the sankirtana of Lord’s associates. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya explained that was prema sankirtana, sankirtana of those endowed with love of God.
The holy name is a mantra that can draw Krishna near.
To get love of God, it is not enough to be without bad qualities and to chant out of duty.
If all you had to do is chant Hare Krishna, Srila Prabhupada would not have to write so many books. By reading these books, we will be able to chant with the proper mentality to achieve pure devotion and actually attain Krishna.
Agnidev Prabhu:
In “Gay Gora Madhu Svare”, Lord Caitanya sings the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.”
The sannyasis, those in the renounced order, and the grhasthas, those in household life have the same duty, to chant the holy name.
Dharmatma Prabhu:
There was one mentally challenged man who really absorbed himself in our Mayapur harinama. You could see he had no real qualification except being willing to receive the mercy.
When I was in prison, I saw so many prisoners were saved by Jesus because they had to take shelter of something. But how many remember him when they leave the prison?
Daily I see on harinama with the Harinama Ruci party,so many people, regardless of qualification, have the opportunity to get mercy.
Comment by Navina Nirada Prabhu: Sometimes people cannot chant, but they can clap or they can smile.
Rajendrananda Prabhu:
In chanting Hare Krishna, we are pleading, “Krishna please accept me.”
In Los Angeles once while chanting “Jaya Radha Madhava”, tears shot from Srila Prabhupada’s eyes like a syringe, reaching even the camera man.
Bhakti Purusottama Swami:
Formerly book distribution was our main service and even the pujaris and temple presidents would distribute books. Now there are so many nama-hatta, bhakti-vrksa, ISKCON Youth Forum programs, but if we do not engage the people coming from these programs in book distribution we will not achieve the perfection.
Vijaya Prabhu:
This is a war on maya. Who likes war? Nobody likes war. But this is a friendly war. Have you ever heard of a friendly war? We gently, in a friendly way, encourage them to take Srila Prabhupada’s books, and the books kill their ignorance.
One person in 1976 encountered a devotee who spoke to him in a very friendly way about Srila Prabhupada’s books. He was not interested in the books but he was impressed with the polite presentation. At a rest area in Florida two years later, the man met another devotee, who also presented the books in a very gentle, friendly way. This time he wanted a book, but he had no money. He asked the distributor if they had a temple nearby. They did it, and he got the address, and went to the temple. He liked the devotees so much, he never left, and he has been a devotee ever since.
By our spiritual practice we develop qualities that attract the people when we present the books.
Amita Krishna Prabhu:
If a sannyasi been practicing to love Krishna and his guru for decades, why can he not speak about marriage? He has great experience keeping commitments in these relationships and keeping commitments in relationships is an important part of marriage.
Maha-bhavi Prabhu [from Norway]:
Sometimes we are struggling in devotional service, and we are thinking that Krishna is not pleased with us. But that is not the case. We are thinking that because Krishna is not fulfilling our material desires, He is displeased with us. But actually, Krishna is pleased that we are trying to perform devotional service.
To please one’s wife is not possible. I speak from experience. Similarly it is not possible to please all our friends or to please society.
Actually our intimate relationship is with Krishna, and that is what people are looking for, but they think that they will find that with the things of the material world.
If we are very attached to the material world, we are afraid of Krishna, because He is called Hari, one who takes away. Thus we tend to see Him as an enemy. By performing devotional service, we can become cured of this faulty vision.
We can be completely happy just chanting Krishna’s name on harinama.
Everyone is attracted to Krishna. We can see this when we are chanting on harinama. Sometimes they pretend to not be attracted as they walk by, and later we see them look with curiosity, “What was that?”
Lord Caitanya’s army is the most amazing army. What are the weapons? The karatalas, the mrdanga. No one is killed.
What is humility? Chanting Hare Krishna. Assisting in Lord Caitanya’s army.
Prahlad Maharaja could have such effect on his classmates because of the purity of his devotion.
Because Prahlada Maharaja was living in demoniac society, it makes sense he attained perfection by smaranam (remembrance), since hearing and chanting about Vishnu, who was considered an enemy, would be restricted.
Hanuman Prabhu:
From a conversation:
Mayapur has all the features I generally hate like cold water only, sleeping on hard floors, and crowds of people, and yet I am in complete bliss.
In the West I struggle to chant 16 rounds, but as an undercover security guard in Mayapur, I chant 32 or 64. I do not even count anymore.
Maitreya Prabhu [from England]:
From his autobiography:
“My aversion [to the Sunday religious service I was expected to attend in my youth] had nothing to do with form and substance but it was the lack of it that made the ordeal so unbearable and made escape the only remedy.”
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Sometimes we have difficulty fixing our minds on the sound of the holy name when we chant. If we internalize the understanding expressed in this stanza by Bhaktivinoda Thakura, that there is nothing but the holy name to be found in this material world, then it is easier to keep the mind focused.
krishna-nama-sudha koriya pan,
jurao bhakativinoda-pran,
nama bina kichu nahiko aro,
caudda-bhuvana-majhe
“Drink the pure nectar of the holy name of Krishna and thus satisfy the soul of Bhaktivinoda. There is nothing but the holy name within all the fourteen worlds.” (“Arunadaya Kirtan”, Song 1, by Bhaktivinoda Thakura)
Harinamas of western Iskcon devotees in the city of Mumbai (video)
Srila Prabhupada: Worship of the Lord, whose name is like the sun, for just as a slight appearance of the sun dissipates the darkness of night, so a slight appearance of the holy name of Krishna can drive away all the darkness of ignorance that arises in the heart due to greatly sinful activities performed in previous lives. (Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, 3.62)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/czO0lI
By Dwarakadhisha Devi Dasi
