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ISKCON Pakistan: Printing Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita As It Is in Sindhi Language!
Srila Prabhupada: I don’t say, “Follow me.” I say “Follow Krishna.” Krishna says, “Surrender unto Me.” I say “Surrender unto Krishna.” Is there any difference? My position is simply repeating because Krishna says, “Anyone who preaches this confidential subject matter, he is dear to Me.” Allahabad, January 18, 1971
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Bonds of Love “Loving Krishna will help you love your son”
From the time she was 4, Urmila (Dr. Edith Best) was looking for God. If somebody said, “What do you want to do?” she’d say, “I want to be spiritually perfect. I want to find God.” They’d say, “Don’t you want to get married, have kids, have a career?” She’d say, “I just want to find God.”
Urmila Devi Dasi: My first contact with Prabhupada was in ’67 when I was 12 years old. I would regularly listen to him chanting on the Happening album playing in Alan Kallman’s shop on the Lower East Side. I’d ask, “What is this record? Who is this?” My next contact was through the Radha Krishna Temple Album, which I heard on the radio. Prabhupada’s picture was on the album and my initial response to it was skeptical. I thought someone who takes the role of guru might think he’s better than others.
When I was 17, I got Prabhupada’s translation of Bhagavad-gita. After reading it, I decided to move into the temple, but at first I didn’t want to get initiated. Soon after I moved in I got married; my husband was already second initiated, and in his association I started thinking, “How am I going to be able to find God and become spiritually perfect without a spiritual master?” Gradually my relationship with Prabhupada developed and I became his initiated disciple, after he accepted me through the mail.
When I first met Prabhupada in Chicago in the summer of ’74, a little more than a year after I’d moved in. I was expecting a mystical experience. Prabhupada was sitting on the vyasasana giving class and I was fanning him. I was standing very close, to his left, moving the peacock fan, absorbed in every word and gesture. My experience was, indeed, mystical, but not in the way I expected. I felt, “Prabhupada has always been here, because playing a recording of Prabhupada lecturing and listening to him lecture in person is exactly the same.” I was hearing him directly but I felt the same as when I was listening to a recording. It was satisfying and amazing – I realized that I could associate with Prabhupada even in his physical absence with potency equal to his presence. Still, I felt incomplete in the experience.
Later that morning, my father, husband, and I met Srila Prabhupada in his room and I got to know him as a person – he was funny, laughing, casual, jovial, and exchanging affectionately with my father. I understood he cared about me, as an individual, and I felt a loving relationship with him. At that point there was full satisfaction.
My father asked why we give people prasada, and Prabhupada said, “Just like if you eat the food of a sick person, you will get their disease. If you eat Krishna’s food, you will get Krishna’s disease.”
My father thought he was only supposed to come to the temple if he was a devotee, so he asked, “Can I come to the temple just to see my daughter and son-in-law?”
Smiling, Prabhupada said, “They are loving Krishna. Chanting and dancing are symptoms of loving Krishna. You are loving them and they are loving Krishna, so two things equal to the same thing are equal to each other.”
Prabhupada’s mood was light, but I thought, “Prabhupada said I love Krishna, so it’s just a matter of time. Someday I’ll love Krishna.” That meeting changed my life. And it moved my father. He said, “Prabhupada’s a genuine holy man.” He enjoyed Prabhupada’s company and became somewhat of a devotee.
Less than a year later, my baby son Madhava and I were with a group of devotees seeing Srila Prabhupada off at a New York airport. Prabhupada was sitting on a couch in the VIP lounge talking with Satyabhama, Kirtanananda, Jayadvaita, and a few others. I was a couple of feet away, holding Madhava. I felt left out of those devotees’ intimate connection with Prabhupada. I thought, “They really know Prabhupada well,” but it was also a relaxed time for me, getting to be with Prabhupada in a personal way again. During the kirtana, Prabhupada transported everyone to the spiritual world; I forgot that I had a body and that I was in New York. Prabhupada was meditating on chanting and I thought, “Prabhupada is chanting for his guru just as we are chanting for him.” It was incredible. Then at some point in the kirtana my external awareness flooded back: I was again in New York holding a baby.
For a year and a half after Madhava was born, I dove into Srila Prabhupada’s books and lectures. I read 4–6 hours a day, and listened 3–4 hours a day. Doing that deepened my relationship with him as much or more than when I personally saw him. During that period, in the summer of ’75, I went to Philadelphia for Ratha-yatra and to get Gayatri mantra. At class that morning, the devotee reading from the Bhagavatam manuscript said, “[Ajamila] called the name of his son very loudly three times, ‘Narayana, Narayana, Narayana!’ “
Prabhupada responded, “Who said in the manuscript? There is no three times. Not “Narayana” three times. One time, ‘O Narayana,’ that’s all. So did I say ‘three time’? Hmm? No, it is not said here. You should correct it. Once, ‘He, O Narayana,’ that’s all. There is no reason for calling three times. There is no mention here. Once is sufficient. [laughter] Hmm.”
(lecture Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.28–29, July 13, 1975, Philadelphia)
It was life-transforming for me to hear him say that calling out Krishna’s name just once in helplessness is enough.
Later that morning my father, husband, and I met with Prabhupada again. When he saw us Prabhupada’s whole face lit up as if we were his favorite people in the world. Like he was meeting a dear old friend he said to my father, “How are you now?” My father responded with similar exuberance and joy. As we were leaving Prabhupada said, “Good father, good daughter.” Prabhupada saw something good and worthwhile in me; he was pleased with me.
When I got Gayatri mantra my husband was carrying Madhava, and Prabhupada’s attention went to the baby. Prabhupada said, “He’s laughing. He’s very intelligent and fortunate.”
Prabhupada had me repeat the mantra, and I thought, “I don’t want to say it perfectly because Prabhupada will think I’m puffed up.” To try to be humble I purposely made a mistake when I repeated the last line. Prabhupada looked disgusted. I thought, “Oops, that wasn’t the right thing to do.” I said, “Prabhupada, I want to preach and please you, but I have this little baby. It’s hard to go out on book distribution.”
He said, “You must take care (of the child) so you may not go out.” The feeling I got from Prabhupada was, “This is really a stupid question.”
The next time I saw Prabhupada was in the summer of ’76 when he came to New York for the Ratha-yatra. Again my father met with him. At one point Prabhupada pointed to me, with my eighteen-month-old son on my lap. He said, “Just like this mother is loving her son without any expectation of return, in that way you should love Krishna.”
My father said, “Will loving her son help her love Krishna?”
Prabhupada said, “No, but loving Krishna will help her love her son.” I understood that if we have Krishna as the center and are attached to Him, then we can love everyone else. If we love people on a mundane level, it doesn’t help us love Krishna – it takes away from that love.
Somehow what Prabhupada said when I was with him was just what I needed to hear. His words changed me in deep and lasting ways.
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By Caitanya Carana Dasa There’s a particle more important than the Higgs boson, and we should be investigating it. Does ‘the God particle’ disprove the existence of God?” a young man asked me after a recent talk, referring to the discovery of the Higgs boson. “The so-called God particle,” I answered, “has zero charge, zero spin, and a near-zero lifespan; it exists for less than a trillionth of a second. Does that sound like God to you?” “No, not really,” replied the questioner, taken aback. “Exactly,” I said. “Its discovery has little bearing on the existence of God; it is just one step forward in the Standard Model, which is just one theory that deals with quantum physics, which is just one branch of physics, which is just one branch of science, which is just one area of human knowledge that deals with material nature, which is just one slice of reality.” I had anticipated questions on this topic and so was prepared. “Let me quote theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, who writes in the Wall Street Journal, in an article entitled The ‘God Particle’ and the Origins of the Universe: Continue reading "The God Particle – Is there Anything Godly About it
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Sriman Mahaprabhu Dhyana.
From Srila Dhyanacandra Gosvami’s “Sri Gaura-govindarcana-smarana-paddhati”
—
In his manasa-deha, the sadhaka will follow his guru, parama-guru, paratparaguru and paramesthi-guru to the temple of Sriman Mahaprabhu. By their order, he will awaken the Lord and offer Him scented water for washing His lotus face, etc., and do other seva as is appropriate. Then he will meditate upon the Lord as described in the Urddhvamnaya-samhita:
—
Absorbed in prema, the golden Lord Gaura stands holding one hand in the benediction pose and the other in the pose for awarding fearlessness, while He incessantly chants the holy names.
—
(20) Sri Gauracandra Pranama
I offer my humble obeisance again and again to that great soul who is known as Visvambhara (maintainer of the universe), Gaura, Caitanya, Saci-putra, the Husband of Laksmi and the Friend of All.
—
(73) Sri Gauranga’s Asta-kala-seva
The nectarous pastimes of Sri Navadvipa-candra are very wonderful. Eager to serve the Lord, the sadhaka shall always think of these pastimes.
(74) At the end of night (nisanta), he shall meditate on the Lord sleeping in His own home. In the early morning (pratah-kale), the Lord rises from His bed, bathes and takes His meal.
(75) In the forenoon, the Lord becomes deeply absorbed in krisna-lila-smarana and experiences intense feelings of separation. In the middle of the day, Mahaprabhu performs astonishing pastimes on the bank of the Ganga. The sadhaka shall meditate on Lord Gauranga in this way.
(76) In the afternoon, Gaurahari very joyfully roams about Sri Navadvipa-dhama. In the early evening, He returns to His own home, revealing His enchanting beauty.
(77) In the late evening, He meets His dear associates at the home of Srivasa Thakura, where they perform a great sankirtana festival far into the night. The sadhaka shall thus blissfully meditate on Sri Gauracandra.
New Android App “Krsna – The Sweet Lord” Launches.
An app for Android smartphones, entitled “Krsna – The Sweet Lord,” is now available on the Google Play Store for free and promises to place the best of what ISKCON has to offer in the palm of your hand.
The app, developed by ISKCON Juhu of Mumbai, received a soft launch for an internal devotee audience on December 14th, when it was unveiled by Radhanath Swami at Mumbai’s Chowpatty temple.
Bollywood actress and Mathura MP Hema Malini then launched it for the general public on February 7th, during the Mumbai ISKCON 50 celebrations, with the aid of a life-size smartphone imprinted with the app’s name.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/9TiUqs
Krishna is the real husband.
Ruchika Srivastava: I have written this poem based on Srimad Bhagavatam slokas 5.18.19-21, where Laxmi Devi says that Krishna is the real husband of all living entities.
“Seeking a husband for protection,
Of children, wealth and life’s duration.
Seekers of such a benediction.
Dwell in the kingdom of illusion.
Says LaxmiDevi with compassion
And guides us to this illumination.
—
Dependent on karmic reactions
Based on past fruitive actions
Who himself needs supreme protection
That is material husband’s position.
—
Krishna respects your decision
If worshipped with pure devotion
But outcome of material requisition
Is broken heart and lamentation
—
Supreme shelter and protection,
Deliverance from sinful reactions,
Krishna’s promise knows no violation,
One must have that firm conviction.
Trying to claim His position
Is false prestige and self-deception.
—
Serve Him without motivations,
Guru’s guidance and regulations
With dormant love’s manifestation
He guarantees His care and protection.
—
Living entities are all females
Krishna is the only male
We are not this body at all,
Soul is our identity real.
—
Who has nothing to demand, stay always at His command
Whose majesty is grand, and Whose glories outstand
Braj Gopis always understand, Krishna is the REAL husband…”
TEACHERS…
Mayapur needs you.
Few things in life infuse the heart with as much spiritual happiness as service to the devotees in the holy dham.
That opportunity awaits you now. As the community in Mayapur expands at an unprecedented rate, so too does the needs of Sri Mayapur International School. This school, presently home to over 230 Vaisnava children and prestigiously affiliated with Cambridge International Examinations, is looking for teachers for various grades for the August 2016 intake.
To attract the cream of our devotee teachers around the world, we are offering attractive salary and housing packages as we endeavour to fulfill our mandate to provide premiere spiritual and academic education in Mayapur.
So please, leave behind your material concerns and take this chance to join the growing community of international devotees living in the spiritual capital of the world.
Vacancies this year are: Reception class (children aged 4 and 5), middle school Maths and Science (must be able to offer both) and High school Biology/Chemistry, boys’ Physical Education
For further information on the positions available please contact the SMIS principal, Gunacuda dasi at : mayapurschooloffice@gmail.com
By Chandan Yatra Das The care of the house where Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was born was later taken on by the Gaudiya Matha. Now the entire house has been developed nicely, with a beautiful temple, devotee quarters, etc. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s murti is worshipped in the same spot where he took birth. When devotees were digging the soil to construct this temple, a nice smell of candana manifested from the place where he took birth. Six months after Bimala Prasada’s appearance was the event of Lord Jagannatha’s Rathayatra. As the procession moved towards Gundica temple, by the desire of the Lord the chariots stopped in front of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s house. At that time Srimati Bhagavati Devi took the child and placed him at the lotus feet of Lord Jagannatha. Immediately one flower garland fell from Lord’s neck, encircling the child’s body. Thus Bimala Prasada was blessed by the Lord. Continue reading "The Birthplace of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura
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Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 09.14.01-03 – Lord Reciprocates Even For Our Little Endeavour by Niranjana Swami at ISKCON Chowpatty
February 23. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada Was Not Obliged.
The Krsna Book describes the spiritual master as a waterfall, which sometimes flows in the rainy season and sometimes is still. When I asked Prabhupada what this meant, he said that the spiritual master is not obliged to speak. When he feels inspired, he will speak to his disciple in a relevant way. He will not give the disciple information he is not ready to receive. But he never handles his disciple roughly. He is interested in the disciple’s welfare, and therefore, he’s willing to teach Krishna consciousness according to the disciple’s needs.
Prabhupada was like this. He was not obliged. The fact that he did not speak so much Vrindavana krishna-katha was his mercy, his expertise. At the same time, he gave everything, including knowledge of krishna-lila, caitanya-lila, and the foundational wisdom of the Lord’s talks with Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=5
Prabhupada Was Not Obliged
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My journey in worship is an interesting and blissful one even amidst much anxiety. In my first months of taking to the path of bhakti, just after receiving initiation into chanting the maha-mantra, I was given the service to take care of our altar, which consisted of a large picture of Shri Chaitanya and his principle associates, also referred to as the “Panca Tattva,” and pictures of Prabhupada, his guru, and our line of teachers, or as some would say our “ascended masters!”
Although God is everywhere in his form as the Supersoul, or Oversoul of the Universe, we aren’t aware of his presence, except indirectly, and as the Witness he is generally neutral, though he becomes more accessible as we desire to make spiritual progress. On our Gaudiya Vaishnava path we prefer certain manifestations of God which offer the most possibilities for loving relationships as recommended in our line, first in a general way, and in more advanced stages in a unique way according to our developed relationship with him.
Some years later after I received seconded initiation, sometimes called “brahminical initiation,” but it’s really about deepening our relationship with the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, by the chanting of certain Gayatri mantras given in our tradition. This is in addition to what is universally called Gayatri within Hinduism, though every tradition understands its meaning through the lens of their ultimate goal. Soon after receiving this initiation, I began my formal service to various forms of Krishna in the old San Francisco temple on Valencia Street.
Throughout the years I have always gravitated toward Deity service, and many Deities toward me—by which I mean that I was somehow singled out to perform this worship without my seeking it, and sometimes without the devotees knowing my service, or seva, history. During a period of about 10 years my primary service was as a head pujari and head cook as I traveled around the world to Hawaii, Japan, India, New Zealand, Australia, and Berkeley, California.
Speaker: HG Kripamoya Dasa
Venue: Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir
Date: 22-FEB-2016
Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna!
Very nice to see everyone today. Very happY to be here. Very nice to see so many blessed Vaisnavas.
SB 7.1.47
vairanubandha-tivrena
dhyanenacyuta-satmatam
nitau punar hareh parsvam
jagmatur visnu-parsadau
Translation
“These two associates of Lord Visnu — Jaya and Vijaya — maintained a feeling of enmity for a very long time. Because of always thinking of Krsna in this way, they regained the shelter of the Lord, having returned home, back to Godhead.”
I have been requested to read the next verse.
SB 7.1.48
sri-yudhisthira uvaca
vidveso dayite putre
katham asin mahatmani
bruhi me bhagavan yena
prahladasyacyutatmata
Translation:
“Maharaja Yudhisthira inquired: O my lord, Narada Muni, why was there such enmity between Hiranyakasipu and his beloved son Prahlada Maharaja? How did Prahlada Maharaja become such a great devotee of Lord Krsna? Kindly explain this to me.”
Taking the dust of the lotus feet of all the Vaisnavas gathered here, I shall try to say something.
Jaya and Vijaya are the last gatekeepers, at the seventh gate of Vaikuntha. In his Sri Vaikuntha Gadya, Ramanujacarya, he gives the names of each set of gatekeepers. There’s two gatekeepers for each gate. If you go to Srirangam, there is the sanctum sanctorum surrounded by the temple, a wall and ultimately seven walls and this makes a Vaisnava city. And at the time of Ramanujacarya there were some 25000 living there. Vaisnavas are very attracted to living in a place of the Lord as you may have noticed if you look around. Vaisnava are very attracted to come to those holy places which are sacred to the Lord.
I first came here in 1977. They were just finishing what we then called the Long Building. The temple as it was, was behind us here and there was Prabhupada’s bhajan kutir. Its a rice field, a rice field, but not just any rice field. It was a rice filed that was dedicated to the Supreme Personality of Godhead by his most trusted, loving servant His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada and now it is so famous that I step out of the aeroplane at the Calcutta airport and what do I see when I come in? I see a picture of the Temple of Vedic Planetarium. I see a large blow up picture of the Gurukula, I see a large blow up picture of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s associates.
Fame comes from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When one fixes one’s attention on Him, anything and anyone becomes famous. The devotees of the Lord become famous. The place where the devotees like to gather, that also becomes famous. How we deal with that fame is something else! How we deal with that wealth that comes in response to that fame, that is something else! But the path for those who have set their consciousness on that transcendent goal of Godhead, is a path of success. There is no lack of success for the Vaisnava.
(om) tad visnoh paramam padam sada
pasyanti surayah diviva caksur atatam
tad vipraso vipanyavo jagrvamsah
samindhate visnor yat paramam padam (Rg Veda)
A Vaisnava is one who has fixed his mind on the service of the Lord and who has fixed his mind on that supreme abode of the Lord. The devotee of the Lord, his task is to advertise that abode of the Lord and to say. ‘My dear friends,’ as Prahlada Maharaja did with his friends, ‘My dear friends, I am going to that place. Please come with me.’
‘This is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. My dear friends, we are going there. Please come with us. Sing with us! Dance with us! Eat with us! And if you do it just once, then I guarantee that you will be doing this for the rest of your life!’ What a wonderful thing! But one small ingredient, one very small ingredient, you have to be convinced that happiness lies there and not here. And that may take some time, may take some time. We have to be very very convinced that we are bound up tightly and our freedom has become restricted in order to want to be free.
Everybody wants to be free. People sing about freedom, they write about freedom, they engage in politics in order to be free, they engage in social work in order to feel freedom, to free people from ignorance, to free people from hunger. But we have to know what it means to be bound up. I don’t know if any of you in the course of executing your Krishna consciousness or teaching others about Krishna, have had your freedom curtailed. Have you? You know what its like? To be taken and have your freedom curtailed! To be locked up! And you’ll get a glimpse of the material entanglement, the position of being bound up.
The person who made me free, the person who set me free, who said, ‘I am going back to Vaikuntha. Come with me and I will introduce you to His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada, his name, his name I first learned in the middle of a field in pouring rain. He was an Irishman known as Tribhuvanath. Put your hands in the air, ‘Tribhuvanath ki jaya!’ He very mercifully intervened. He very mercifully intervened in my life. I was seventeen. I didn’t know which way to turn. I was experimenting with different religious persuasions and spiritual groups. He came to me and he said, ‘Please come, come with us!’
Many years later he was doing the same thing in the Middle East, he was in Lebanon in Beirut and he was arrested by an organization that is dedicated to freedom. So much dedicated to freedom, but if you do not share there vision of freedom, they will lock you up! (laughter) So Tribhuvanath was arrested by the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Ok. So in exchange for being arrested by them, he was placed in a cell, a prison cell, for months. This was no ordinary prison cell my friends, this was a cell whose ceiling was only 3 feet high. So for one month my dear friend Tribhuvanath did not stand up. Later on he told me, he said, ‘This really gave me an understanding of what it means to be in material bondage.’
Because we think, you know, I am six foot tall, I have a United Kingdom passport, that’s freedom. I can go anywhere I like, I can say what I like, I can vote for whom I like, I am free. Not so! Actually you are trapped in a piece of flesh! It may be British flesh, or German flesh, or Bengali flesh. If you see a piece of flesh at the side of the road you want to get as far away as possible. You don’t want to be squashed up, packed tight inside, as is the condition of the soul but we have to be convinced that we are in bondage.
Many years ago when I was young and single and Prabhupada was talking about the three fold miseries. I just took the three fold miseries, adhiyatkmika, adhidaivika, adhibhautika, and I just ticked them off as a philosophical abstract, just a philosophical abstract along with the five members of the Panca Tattva, the three modes of material nature, the four varna’s and asrama’s, the six Goswamis, the seven rsis, the eight gopi’s, the nine Yogendras and the ten (take your pick) avatara’s. I was just receiving lists. It didn’t really make a great deal of sense to me. I think as you go through life there is one thing that you become absolutely convinced of, is the infinite potential of the human body to suffer. Right! Any gentleman over the age of forty, put your hands up and give me a wave. I am not going to ask the ladies because we never ask the ladies how old they are but gentlemen if you are over forty you know what I talking about. Gentlemen over fifty you can….(laughs)…William Shakespeare said after fifty its all downhill or something like that. He said you lose your senses, you lose your nose, your sense of hearing, you lose your teeth, you lose everything. This is the condition. So its easier, I feel, to understand your frail condition and your vulnerable condition the older you get. And of course when I was 17, old age had no meaning, disease had no meaning and certainly death had no meaning. And now it does have meaning. Yamaraja has come knocking on my door once, coming knocking on my door twice, and the third knock – ‘My dear Lord Yamaraja, let it not be today! Such a nice day! The sun is shining!’ (laughs) But we never know. Yamaraja will come whatever the weather.
Not only are we bound up but we are in a repeat cycle. We are in a repeat cycle, cycle of reincarnation. And this is a very dire situation for us to be in. It has happened many many thousands of times. Even that I wasn’t convinced of but Prabhupada convinced me. Prabhupada came to Bhaktivedanta Manor when I was 20, three years in Krishna consciousness but I still wasn’t convinced of reincarnation. Except when Prabhupada directly told me. At the end of a class he looked at all these young men, from England and Germany I believe. He said, ‘So you’ve had many lives in the past. Many thousand of lives you’ve had. And in the future you can have many many more thousands of lives if you wish. But just this one life, just this one short life, you give this life to Krishna and you won’t regret it.’ And its one of those moments that you always remember. I remember where I was and I thought, ‘Oh! Its a very short life.’ Yes, its nothing! Its nothing when you are 20. (laughs) You give it Krishna. But he said that and I remember receiving great conviction from that. But that conviction has to come either from the sastra or the words from a great devotee or by hard experience. You have to become convinced that this is not the place I live! This is not my home! There is another place for me!
Prabhupada told about the, the football that was being kicked. He said, ‘The football is being kicked by one boy and then it is landing and it is kicked, another boy is kicking and it is going through the sky like this – Kick! Kick! Kick! And when it is here the football is thinking – I am flying! I am free!” He said, “But actually in a few moments he will be kicked again.” So we are kicked at every moment and in between we think I am free.
You know these things and I am hesitating to say anything to you because you have all travelled thousands of miles to be here. This is a Bhagavatam class. You already know these basic things but without the basics sometimes we, we can even forget, we can even forget the basics.
Material happiness is followed by material distress. Thats the sequence of events. No matter what we have, we lose it. No matter what we achieve, someone will come along and steal it. I have some prestige, I have some position, somebody will come along and take it. I have some wealth, somebody will spend it. And at the end of life we are left with nothing. We are left with whatever we came in with. And its because of this imminent sense of loss that we aspire for something. But we aspire for something greater, something more free, something more established, something more permanent.
We do it in two ways. We either try to establish through the path of karma-kanda, a happiness that is the most permanent we can possibly imagine in svarga, the higher dimensions of happiness. Or if we are very intelligent we try through the path of jnana-kanda to be free, to be liberated from any material desire and any material enjoyment. Cause let us not forget any material activity results in a reaction.
The old example is in the spring time in India, there is a little musk deer. The musk deer gives very beautiful perfume. Nice musk. But its secreted from a little gland on its inside. But he’s on all fours, he sniffs the air and he can smell this beautiful perfume. He doesn’t know where its from. So he trots over to the other side of the hill in search of this alluring perfume. Meanwhile the little musk deer on the other side, he’s also smelling and he is coming over this side. And a yogi is watching and he is seeing all this musk deer running. They are running to catch this beautiful smell, not knowing that it comes from deep within. He says, this is material civilization. And as we heard the other day everybody is running to go somewhere else, to have some other experience. Not knowing that the real pleasure lies within. And what we are actually searching for is final liberation, final liberation from birth and death.
Of course Srila Rupa Goswami says anyabhilasita sunyam jnana karmady anavrtam anukulyena krsnanu silanam bhaktir uttama (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.1.11)) that you can do bhakti in order to get some fruitive activity, yes you can serve Krishna in order to get something in this life. You can serve Krishna to get liberation. But the highest form, bhaktir uttama, is without any jnana and karma at all.
There are many people who try for nothing at all in particular other than eating, sleeping, mating and defending. If they get by with food everyday and they can raise their children and they can stay relatively free from political violence or from revolution or from the pains of drought and famine, then they consider their life successful. And there are those who really are civilised who want to attain the higher planets, more civilised want to attain liberation and very very few, vasudevam sarvam iti sa mahatma su-durlabhah (Bg 7.19), very very few aspire for the lotus feet of Govinda.
As the Padma Purana says asitim caturas caiva, 8400000 species of life, we’ve passed through all of them on our way to the human form of life, such a rare birth, laksams tan jiva-jatisu bhramadbhih purusam prapyam manusyam janma-paryayat, manusya janma, very very rare to get a human form. tad apy abhalatam jatah tesam atmabhimaninam varakanam anasritya govinda-carana-dvayam, but very few take shelter of Govinda.
asitim caturas caiva laksams tan jiva-jatisu
bhramadbhih purusaih prapyam manusyam janma-paryayat
tad apy abhalatam jatah tesam atmabhimaninam
varakanam anasritya govinda-carana-dvayam
But when we are ready to take shelter of Govinda what happens? Well this is a very beautiful question posed by Uddhava to Krishna. Now when Arjuna poses the same question, Krishna doesn’t have a great deal of time. He just says, tad viddhi pranipatena, you know the rest, Bg 4.34, this is very brief, ok. You wouldn’t really squeeze much for the ISKCON disciple course out of that one verse. But in the Eleventh Canto, the Uddhava Gita, the Lord explains more. He says, first of all a man’s mind can be his guru. This is in the very beginning when one uses his intellect to see, on one hand there is suffering, on one hand there is happiness. He says then in this world everything and everyone can become guru. And Krishna Himself tells the story of the young man who had 24 gurus. And it seemed as if, to use new age jargon, the universe was telling him! Because as yet its unspecified, you see! Its not Krishna. There’s no person involved. Its just the tree, the lake, the river, a snatch of conversation over here, a magazine article over here, a movie over there. And how many of us who came to Krishna consciousness through this random ‘guru-ness’ of the universe can add up all the different sequences in the chain of events which brought us to Krishna.
But finally Krishna says, finally you have to find a person with these qualities. He describes, in the Uddhava Gita He gives a list of 28 qualities of a sadhu in which all the lessons can be learned. And when you are ready for that person, that person does actually appear. Either that person directly or the messenger of that person or the messenger of that messenger. We have all experienced that. That’s why the Navayogendras say tasmad gurum prapadyeta (SB 11.3.21) when you have understood that everything in this world is suffering, jijnasu sreya uttamam (SB 11.3.21) go for something that is ultimate.
So in this sense everyone who has seen Vaikuntha and, I am talking about anyone who has had a wonderful day of book distribution, everyone who has ever really really become transported during a kirtana, everyone who has really glimpsed something during a class, anyone who has had an experience which is not occasioned by one of these instruments but you have glimpsed something above and beyond yourself, you then become not only charged with the responsibility of continuing on that path yourself but of taking other people with you. You become guru.
The Vedas describe a guru as someone who repeats one sentence of the Vedas to another human being. That means that every single member of the Krishna consciousness movement is guru. In 1975 right here, right over there, Prabhupada concluded a class and he said, he was talking about acharya, he said, ‘So now we are 5000 or 10000. So soon we will become 100000.’ And the devotees get excited with the idea of 100000 devotees in the world and they go ‘Jaya Prabhupada!’ He said, ‘Then we will become a million!’ ‘Jaya Prabhupada! He said, ‘Then we will become 10 million!’ He said, ’10 million acharyas. There will be no scarcity!” You can look it up! Vanipedia 001, the first quote, 10 million acharyas.
So this means that those who have seen Vaikuntha in their life, those who have had that experience of Krishna in their life, they become duty bound not only to perfect their own existence and to become purified but to bring others along with them. Its a grave responsibility. Our movement is that movement. Its a missionary movement. Missionary movements are to save souls. Its very easy for instance in the gentle art of book distribution to conceive that there are something called book distributors in ISKCON and then there are people who are non book distributor. Ok. Its very simple. That is like Amish people with beards and Amish men who don’t have beards. I am sorry but the concept of Amish and beard go along together, like Muslim and beard. You’ve got to have one. Its part of the package. So being part of the International Society for Krishna consciousness, reading the books and distributing them, distributing them is called, apparently there are no such species of life called book distributor into which category you do not fit. Its like if you are Jehovah’s witness. You cant be a Jehovah’s witness – Well I believe in Jehovah but you know I am not really much into this witnessing stuff! I don’t want to go out with the books, ok! The whole point is that everybody either buys them or buys them and gives them to others. I just thought I’d mention that.
Preaching means to exhort. The English definition of the word preaching means ‘to exhort’. Its not just teaching but it means to by a passionate explanation to bring people up to a higher level of understanding, higher level of participation. Prabhupada did that of course. Prabhupada was not passive. One time he said, ‘I was not passive.’ He said, ‘If I was passive I would not have come to America.’ He said, ‘I had to be aggressive.’ It was because, what was her name, lady distributor, she had gone to Prabhupada and she’d asked, ‘Prabhupada how can I be quiet and shy in the temple and yet when I get to the airport to distribute your books! I am just talking to strange men all day long!’ Huh? Lavangalatika! So he said, ‘No, you have to be aggressive!’ Doesn’t mean violent but aggressive means you don’t wait for people to come to you to buy books. Thats called a shopkeeper! A sales person is different from a shopkeeper. A sales person goes out. So this is, Prabhupada said, “I am practically whipping you to do this. I am practically whipping you – sell books! sell books! sell books!’
This was all the time when I was a boy, I spent just three days in the temple and they said, “Well you have done three days in the temple. Now would you like to go travelling?’ (laughter) And I was travelling for six years and I just thought thats what you do, thats what you do. You live in a ice cold box and you travel around the country. Prabhupada said that, “You boys and girls, you are travelling around England.’ He said, ‘You are living like yogis in the Himalayas. You are, its so cold. But you are thinking what is this thing on my skin.’
So he pushed everybody but he also thanked everybody. And this is sometimes the element that may be missing. There are sort of not two Prabhupada’s but two halves if you like. One is the person that was constantly pushing us to take part in the sankirtana movement. But the other person was the person who was constantly thanking his devotees for doing it.
That happened in my life in 1975 in January. Prabhupada came to Bhaktivedanta Manor and they asked Prabhupada could he give a sankirtana class to the sankirtana devotees. So at that time there was 15-20 devotees. We went into Prabhupada’s room and he gave us a sankirtana class about the importance of book distribution. But at one point he just looked at us, he looked at everybody in the eye and he said, ‘Thank you for helping me push on this moment. Thank you for helping me.’ And I remember, its just clear as day, how I felt. Here is Prabhupada who I owe my life too, I owe everything to him, everything that Prabhupada has given me. And he is thanking me for helping him push on the movement. So I think that is a very important element. If you are going to extend yourself as a preacher in the sankirtana mission, make sure that at the end of the day or the week or the month there’s someone saying Thank you! Thank you very much for doing what you have done! Sometimes we are very eager to push each other to do the right thing but not so eager to thank each other. I wont be over presumptuous but may I thank at least those younger devotees on behalf of Prabhupada – Thank you for helping Srila Prabhupada push on this Krishna consciousness movement! Hare Krishna! (applause)
Thats not the end! I like the applause but its not the end! (laughter)
Prabhupada said, “Krishna is not a poor man and a rich man will always pay good wages to his advertising executive.’ So if you advertise Krishna, you will always..You see what we are talking about is Jaya and Vijaya had it sort of arranged, it was pre planned, it was a pre booked taxi back to Vaikuntha. It was all arranged. They knew where they were going. The Lord had made that arrangement for them. We, we are not so sure, what is my destiny. Its hanging on our faith. Somedays we are very convinced and some days we may not be so convinced. Prabhupada told Mother Yamuna, he said, ‘I said that if you chanted these sixteen rounds and follow the four regulative principles, you will go back to Godhead at the end of your life. I would not lie to you! I would not lie to you!’ So Prabhupada would not lie to us. This is the formula. But we want to bring in as many people to that formula because its a remarkably, a relatively easy formula to do.
In England we have a slightly different legacy. Prabhupada wrote to us, or wrote to the devotees who are my seniors in 1973 and he said that, he described, you stay for some time in some place, you do harinama sankirtana, distribute books, you give free information, give some prasadam, answer their questions,(ok) answer their questions (I’ll come back to that in a second) answer their questions and arrange for a program in a school, a hall or a home, like that. In this way be free from anxiety, travel everywhere and give Krishna consciousness to others.’
And its interesting that to some people the idea of speaking to someone about Krishna is something that is far too involved. But the function of a guru, function of a acharya is certainly one of being one of 10 million. Prabhupada predicted that this place would be filled with all of you coming from different parts of the world. Bhaktivinoda Thakura predicted that all of you would come and sing and chant together. Prabhupada called you 10 million acharyas. We haven’t quite reached the 10 million mark. But acharya means acinoti iti sastrartham, he teaches, he practices, he knows and to be an acharya the followers who are taught by him also teach others. So to make Prabhupada the founder acharya we also have to teach others and bring them along and then you have to bring them along. The power of the acharya is that, many generations from his earthly appearance people are still following his teachings. That means to actively, dynamically engage them.
So Prabhupada talked to about those six steps. To us in England he did not say ‘What will your three minutes do?’ Thats a very famous quote, we’ve made that famous, haven’t we? The book distribution has made that famous. Sell books, what will your three minutes do. But to the devotees in England he said, no, stop for some time, give something free, give some prasadam, answer their questions. It takes at least three minutes to do that. If we do that sankirtana will transform all over the world, people will make friends.
Another aspect is if you make a pledge just to bring 10 people, 10 people back to Vaikuntha with you, 10 people back to Godhead. Don’t leave it all as a burden for those people who are ISKCON guru’s. Its an impossible burden for any one single person to do. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, he was one person. He had his 18 sannyasis. They had maha upadesikas underneath them. Every maha upadesika was looking after a upadesika. Every upadesika was looking after 10 disciples. It was a pyramid system. It didn’t run for too long before his passing away. If ISKCON runs like that, then everybody is looking after someone. Because we want to be known not just as a preaching movement but also as a caring movement. A movement that speaks to people and is friendly because thats what Prabhupada did.
Prabhupada gave in his Srimad Bhagavatam classes but also his morning walks, also his room conversations and his one to one conversations. There are 4 different components of Prabhupada’s ministry to others. We have to also as well as giving classes give that other 3 components to others.
Prabhupada talked about how kind Krishna is. It didn’t mean a great deal of sense to me until you actually experience Krishna’s kindness in some very incontrovertible way. In 1977 Prabhupada had just translated this book the 7th Canto. I was here in March 1977 for the Gaura Purnima festival. Prabhupada was giving classes everyday until he stopped due to ill health. He was talking about Prahlada and he was talking about Lord Nrsimhadeva. And one day because I had had enough of sitting at the back, it was usually, you know, Mayapur is always a place where you know queuing goes out of the window. You always have to be slightly aggressive to get to the front, whether it is caranamrta, prasadam, kirtana leading, Bhagavatam, whatever it is, you have to be a little just determined. You will have to have utsahan and drdha vratah to get to the front. And so one day I managed to have that. So I was sitting right up close to Prabhupada. He held his hand up like this. He was making this gesture with his right hand, like this. He said, so Lord Nrsimhadeva, he said, “His palms are very soft like lotus but His nails are very hard like a chisel.’ He said, ‘This is adbhuta. This is wonderful!’
So these two things are there. On the one hand the chisel for attacking and destroying and vanquishing and finishing off completely. You cannot get any more finished. But on the one hand the caring and the soft delicate. There was one Sri Vaisnava Acharya, he says rather playfully, he says that the pillar Lord Nrsimhadeva came out of, it wasn’t just any pillar. He said, it was Hiranyakasipu’s vijaya sthamba, his vijaya sthamba, it was his victory pillar into which had been carved all the heads of the demigods that he had defeated. That was his favourite piece of architecture in the whole wall. And it was that the Lord came out of. He said when He came out, Lord Nrsimhadeva, he said, no one, no one has the ability to have two different emotions in their two eyes except the Lord Himself. On the one hand He was looking at Prahlada with great affection with this side and the other eye He was looking at Hiranyakasipu with great anger. So two eyes, two distinctive emotions. Only the Lord can have that. And finally he says, when Hiranyakasipu is on the lap of the Lord, Lord Nrsimhadeva takes out His right hand about to disembowel him, and He touches his chest just to feel whether there is any good there. Just to see whether there is any…but of course Jaya and Vijaya they are perfecting their relationship of enmity with the Lord there is nothing there, not a scrap. So in a split second..(makes a tearing sound)…and that was the end.
The Lord comes for Prahlada Maharaja in his moment of need, He came for Draupadi in her moment of need, in just the time that she needed, in just the way that she needed, to confirm for her His presence in her life. He came for Gajendra at just the moment of surrender, just the moment of surrender. Thats why this phrase of saranagati is so much praised by the Vaisnava acharya’s. He came for Dhruva and He also came for you. He came for you in your different situations. There was a time in your life when you really needed the Lord’s presence. You didn’t even know.
I had a friend who was a Buddhist. He had been engaged in Buddhist meditation for eighteen months. He went all the way to Japan, so that just to make sure he was very serious. He was in Japan and it wasn’t working for him, just wasn’t working. He came back to England and one night he looked at the stars and he got down on his knees. And he said, ‘Dear God, You know I don’t believe in You, You know I don’t believe in You, but if You are there (imagine that prayer, I am speaking to someone I don’t believe in) but if You are there please give me a sign. Give me a sign. Tell me something that there is a connection.’ And the next day he met 3 Buddhist monks on the street who for some strange reason took him to the Radha Krishna temple. (laughter) And of course they weren’t Buddhist monks, they weren’t Buddhist monks.
This way of life is for everybody. Its not just for an exclusive few. A lady from Dublin, Ireland which is if you are Australian its like New Zealand, only shorter away. She rang up the Hare Krishna temple and she said, ‘I heard you do funerals. You are the priest there!’ I said, Yes. ‘You do funerals?’ ‘Well sometimes.’ She said, ‘Well I am Catholic but I’d like you to come and do my sister’s funeral.’ And I said, ‘Are you sure you’ve got the right place! This is the Hare Krishna temple. I don’t do Catholic funerals.’ She says, ‘No, no I want you to do it and there is a reason.’ So I said ok.
So in the chapel, the crematorium there was 80 people all dressed in black. One man, me, dressed in white. All Catholics. They all had come from Dublin that morning. And I looked out and as I do when I am faced with a big group of people I wonder what the heck am I going to say! So I said what am I going to say! Shall I tell a story from sastra, what am I going to say. So the body of the sister was lying there as you do and I said, I thought I’d tell an English story, an old English story about the Vikings. You know the Vikings, with the horns on their head like this, arghhh like this! So they came to attack England in 900.
Anyway so there is a story about a Viking king and he asks his minister, ‘Can you please tell me what lies after death?’ The minister was thinking for a moment and at that moment in a room full of Viking warriors all drinking and back slapping, there was a little bird that came in the far window and it just flew through the room and it flew out the far window and the minister turned to the king and said ‘Did you see that?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Thats your answer. Thats life.’ He said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘Well the bird is the self. And all of this is life and this is death. That is birth, that is death.’ He said, ‘oh! That is remarkable. So the bird flies through life but remains the same.’ ‘Yes. Any more.’ ‘Yes’ He said, ‘When the bird flies out of that window into the night sky does it stop existing?’ He said, ‘No of course not.’ He said, ’Before the bird came in this window, was it existing?’ He said, ‘of course.’ He said so ‘In the same way you fly into this body, you remain for some years and you fly off again.’ He said, ‘Thank You.’
So I told that story and I went on to do some other prayers, some Isopanishad slokas and various things. And the lady came up to me afterwards. She was about 76 and she had 50 of her black dressed relatives from Dublin with her. None of whom were smiling. And I thought ‘Oh dear! I’ve really done it this time!’ And she said, ‘You know that story you told.’ And I said, ‘Yes.’ She said, ‘That was true!’ I said, ‘What do you mean, that was true?’ She said, ‘That was true. You are speaking the truth!’ I said, ‘How do you know?’ She said, ‘Because that happened to me.” I said, ‘What, you are a Viking?’ (laughter) She said, ‘No! I was in the hospital having an operation and my heart stopped. And I just like a bird flew out of my body. And she said, ‘I went like this ..ooooo…like that.’ And the doctor came in and was trying to get my heart started and he was swearing and he was cursing. He couldn’t get the heart started. She said, ‘I had to listen to his foul mouth.’ Old lady, Catholic, good Catholic lady. She said, ‘Anyway then they got my heart started and I went…ooooo….like that.’ And this was all while the body of her sister was just lying here.
And she said, ‘Afterwards I said to the doctor you know when you had difficulty during the operation, you shouldn’t have sworn so much! Very bad for a doctor!’ And he said, ‘No no no! I can assure you I am a professional! I am a professional!’ In England when you say I am a professional that means trust me, I am professional, I would never do that. She said, ‘No, you did!’ He said, ‘How do you know, you were fully under anaesthetic!’ She said, ‘Oh no I wasn’t! I was on top of the ceiling listening to you!’ So she had had an experience whereby she left her body.
And its very interesting that many people are now coming to me in England and their children have started telling them stories of their previous life. Now in the past mummy and daddy would simply say – You never had another mummy! You never had another daddy! Its just us! But now they are thinking maybe there is a possibility because 40 years later, 40 years of book distribution and so many, we have stimulated the environment. And so people are coming and they say, ‘My son says that he’s lived before. Can you help us?’ One lady the other day she came to me and she said ‘I just had a vision of my past life. And it was so shocking. I knew that this was the only place the Hare Krishna temple was the only place I could come to talk about it.’
And so people are suffering, they are curious and the world is a different place than it was 50 years ago. There is a basic philosophical foundation that book distribution and the preaching of this movement has created. Maybe only wisps of an idea but I tell you this, this wisps of an idea are like means, they are like little ideas and they are populating the intellectual discourse of people. And people they are wanting to know ‘What do you people believe?’ And when they come to us they are expecting two things, not only information but also some friendship. And this movement practically speaking is there only hope in an ocean, in an ocean of false gurus and false swamis and false hopes. This is the one movement that can actually help them. And I really feel that in the case of Jaya and Vijay their deliverance was assured and in order to help someone we have to take them by their hand and help them as a father or mother would help a child. In a dangerous situation you don’t let go of your child. Or in sports. In England we have a game called cricket. Anybody here in India know the game cricket? Ok its an unusual game. I am finishing now. We don’t play it very well. But in cricket to make the team, if the ball comes to you, you have to catch the ball. If you don’t catch the ball once, twice, three time you get the name butter fingers. Your fingers are made of butter, you couldn’t catch the ball and you don’t make the team.
So in this team, ISKCON team we cannot be butter fingers. We have to catch those souls when they come to us and hold on. Catch them and hold on. P;ant the seeds grow and offer the fruits. Its very important. Otherwise we are spending more man hours in meeting the public than any other organization on the surface of this planet. If you look at the number of man hours spent by ISCKON touching the hearts and lives of the people, day after day after day, we need to be able to transfer that huge amount of human energy into people who have been saved and who have been gradually delivered.
So please fix your mind on the spiritual home of everyone, that home which is your home, become very determined to go there in this very lifetime and take people with you, take them with you. Every one of you, be acharya and take 10, 20,30.50,a 100 with you. Why not? They have no one else except you. No one else is going to do it. But you do it.
Hare Krishna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Granthraj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jaya!
Harinam and book distribution in Tel Aviv (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Philosophy is the highest, but even higher than philosophy is the practice of philosophy. So if you simply remain pure, your preaching will have effect. Letter to Brihaspati, November 15, 1971.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/fDH3IP
Harinama in Bali (Album with photos)
Bali - the Indonesian tropical island is another place on this planet where Krishna Consciousness is growing very nicely. The devotees here are very enthusiastically sharing Bhakti with others.
Srila Prabhupada: Chant Hare Krishna as many times as possible and be liberated. Thank you very much. Vrindavana, November 14, 1976.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/EY3Pzq
Book distributors in action (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If one renders even a small amount of sincere devotional service, Krishna becomes obliged to elevate such person; and what to speak of one whose entire life and soul has been dedicated to Krishna’s service. Letter to Harer Nama, November 6, 1969.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/ql3ZHv
Srivas Pandit’s mysterious clap.
Purushottam Nitai Das: Once Lord Chaitanya asked Srivas Pandit, “I do not see you going anywhere to earn livelihood. You have a big family so how you maintain them.” Srivas Pandit replied, “In my heart I do not have any desire to go anywhere. Whatever is destined will come to me anyway.” And then Srivas clapped three times. One. Two. Three.
“What does it mean?” the Lord enquired.
“If three times food does not come to me, I will fast, and then I will tie a waterpot to my neck and drown myself in the Ganges.”
Hearing this extreme vow Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was astonished. The Lord said, “Why should you fast Srivas? Even if Goddess Lakshmi becomes poverty stricken still poverty will not enter your house.”
Srivas Pandit’s vow was not based on some sort of sentiment. He along with his family members used to remain absorbed in chanting the holy names of the Lord entire day and night. Being a pure devotee of the Lord he was well aware that the Supreme Lord is the maintainer of all the living beings of the universe.
And moreover Srivas Pandit’s house although was in this material world but it was in fact a part of the spiritual world because Lord Chaitanya, the Supreme Lord, personally used to come to his house and in his house the holy names of the Lord continuously reverberated. And we know that in the kingdom of the Lord no one has to work hard for their maintenance. In the spiritual abode everyone just serves the Lord and experiences complete satisfaction while doing so.
In B.G. 9.22, Krishna says, ‘To those who always worship me with exclusive devotion, meditating on my transcendental form, to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.’ Lord has promised that he personally takes care of his unalloyed devotees.
Hairidas Thakura was not allowed inside the Jagannath temple but Lord Chaitanya who is none other than Lord Jaganath would personally bring different varieties of delicious mahaprasadam of Jagannath temple for Haridas Thakura and he used to make sure that Haridas Thakura ate it.
Mrugrari, the cruel hunter, got enlightened by the mercy and teachings of Narada Muni. But he was bit worried, he asked Narada Muni, “If I give up hunting then how will I maintain myself and my family.” And the great sage replied, “You don’t worry. Once you take shelter of the Lord then you will not be deprived of any necessities of life.” Mrugrari gave up his sinful profession, became a devotee, and the Lord made sure that his needs are well taken care.
When Durvasa Muni told to the Pandavas that he along with his thousands of followers will come to have food at their house then the Pandavas were in great anxiety. They were living in the forest and had nothing with them to feed their guests at that time. Draupadi had Akshay patra, a divine pot, which could supply unlimited food but once Draupadi finished her food then the supply of food used to stop for that time period. And all of them including Draupadi had finished their meal. It was a great crisis; Draupadi remembered Lord Krishna and he immediately appeared. In that divine pot just a grain of rice was left and the Lord ate it. And as soon as Krishna ate it everyone’s hunger got satiated including that of Durvasa Muni and his thousands of followers.
When Krishna is satisfied everyone is satisfied. As soon as we bring Krishna in our life then we do not remain deprived of anything. In this material world all the necessities which is a must for our survival has been arranged by the Lord: the water which we drink, the air which we breathe, the food which we eat have not been invented by mortal beings but has been given to us by the Supreme Lord.
Extremely pleased by the devotion of Srivas Pandit, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “To anyone who always meditates on me with exclusive devotion, I carry alms for them on my head. Anyone who meditates on me need never leave his door. All perfections will come to him automatically. Piety, wealth, happiness, and liberation will come to him. My servant need not ask for them. They will never leave my servant. My Sudarsana-chakra will always protect My servant. Even when all the universes are destroyed, he will not perish. Whoever remembers my devotee, I will feed and protect. The servant of my servant is very dear to me. Without even trying, he easily attains me. Why should he worry about food? I personally feed my servant. Srivas, you happily stay where you are. I will bring everything to your door.” (Srila Vrindavan Das Thakura’s Chaitanya Bhagavata Antya 5.38-64)
Dear friends!
The 3-day worldwide book distribution effort is starting today (Monday, 22 February) with an aim to satisfy Srila Prabhupada. We shall combine all individual worldwide efforts into one big offering and we shall place it in front of His Divine Grace on Thursday morning. Then we shall humbly ask Him, if He is satisfied, to please ask Krsna to intervene and remove the health obstacles which currently prevent His dedicated servant Kadamba Kanana Swami from serving in full capacity. Maharaja has been diagnosed with cancer lately, but the state of the crisis is such that with Supreme Lord’s intervention he can possibly recover fully.
Why is such an effort aimed at pleasing Srila Prabhupada and not the Supreme Lord, one may ask?
The reason is that Srila Prabhupada is the most merciful grandfather one can ever have. He is the spiritual grandfather in the Guru-parampara line to Kadamba Kanana Swami. By pleasing Srila Prabhupada with what is most pleasing to him, book distribution, His Divine Grace will surely ask Krsna to intervene and at that moment the less probable, or even impossible, can change its polarity.
Please join the disciples and friends worldwide in this effort! Every book distributed will matter over the next three days, concluding on Wednesday evening. Even one book counts, but time is very short. You can distribute yourself, you can sponsor or you can help your local temple in any other capacity. If you are a full time or part time book distributor, all you have to do is to distribute for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada. Then, at the time your scores would normally be offered to your local Deities, you should withhold the offering, and send the results according to the below procedure. Everything shall be offered collectively to Srila Prabhupada on Thursday morning, with individual score readings, of course.
In order to make your offer recognized, please send an email with your scores at the end of each day according to the following zones. That is one mail on Monday, one email on Tuesday and one email on Wednesday evening.
For Europe, please contact Nama-rupa dasi at nama.rupa.kks@gmail.com. For Africa please contact Radhadyuti devi dasi at rdd.kks@icloud.com. For the rest of the world, as well as any other information, please contact Matsya das at matsyadas108@gmail.com.
Our hope is that Jayadvaita Swami will offer the result to Srila Prabhupada on Thursday morning, despite his intense engagements. Jayadvaita Swami expressed his heartfelt support and enthusiasm for this effort:
I encourage you to distribute as many books as possible, with Kadamba Kanana Maharaja’s welfare in mind. This will surely be pleasing to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. And if they so desire, Maharaja may pass this crisis well. We can’t make demands, or expect that Krishna will surely do this or that. Krishna has his own plans and his own reasons. We can only serve and offer our prayers. Everything else is up to Him. I offer you all encouragement. Hare Krsna. Yours in Srila Prabhupada’s service, Jayadvaita Swami
Please forward this message and make as many people aware as you can. Especially, make relevant leaders and devotees in your area aware and preferably inform them by phone or in person, so that valuable time is not lost. The time is very short in this effort to satisfy Krsna, the only person who can make difference in Maharaja’s health crisis.
Matsya Das
Dear Maharaja and prabhus,
kindly accept my humble obeisances. all glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Hare Krsna.
i beg for your help, please.
we’re trying to organize 3-day worldwide book distribution effort for the satisfaction of Srila Prabhupada. our idea is to combine all individual worldwide results into one big offering and to place it in front of His Divine Grace. then we shall humbly ask him, if he’s satisfied, to please ask Krsna to intervene and remove the health obstacles which currently prevent His dedicated servant HH Kadamba Kanana Swami from serving in full capacity. Maharaja has been diagnosed with cancer lately, but the state of the crisis is such that with Krsna’s intervention he can recover almost fully.
why Srila Prabhupada: because he is the most merciful grandfather one can ever have. and grandfathers tend to be very merciful, so if we can please Srila Prabhupada with what is most pleasing to him, book distribution, then Krsna will surely intervene. (Srila Prabhupada is the spiritual grandfather in Guru-parampara line to HH Kadamba Kanana Swami)
please consider motivating devotees to join the marathon and leaders to inspire their groups. every book will matter, even one counts, but time is very short. hopefully this will become a worldwide effort. the deadline is this wednesday evening. we’re hoping HH Jayadvaita Swami will offer the result to Srila Prabhupada on thursday morning.
i humbly beg if you could please inform me as soon as possible. i can be reached on Facebook page as Matsya das (Marko Jirasek) or at matsyadas108@gmail.com . my phone number is +385 91 7355 559 and i’m available through Viber and Whatsapp.
please forward this email to relevant leaders and devotees.
the time is very short to satisfy Krsna, the only person who can make the difference in Maharaja’s health crisis.
thank you very much for your time,
humbly, your servant
Matsya das
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By Mathura Lilesvari Devi Dasi
Yes! 50 years of ISKCON is a big deal. We have come a long way since Srila Prabhupada established ISKCON in 1966 but we still have miles to go. Srila Prabhupada envisioned Malaysia as a fertile ground to cultivate Krishna Consciousness as early as 1971. In May 1971, Malaysia was fortunate to have its soil blessed by the dearest devotee of Srimati Radharani, AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
In Malaysia, the devotees are enthusiastically and creatively coming up with various ideas on how to commemorate ISKCON’s 50 years. One such idea focuses on book distribution.
Srila Prabhupada has always emphasised on book distribution. Our movement was largely expanded in the early days due to book distribution. Keeping this in mind, the devotees in Malaysia came up with an idea that combined book distribution and ISKCON50 celebrations.
Every devotee in Malaysia is encouraged to distribute 50 Srila Prabhupada books as an offering to ISKCON50. 50 books a year translates to an average of only 4 books a month. This is something practically and doable by even a child.
To make it easier for devotees, the books have been bundled up as sets of 50 books and devotees who are eager to participate in this ISKCON50 book rally can take the 50 books up front and distribute it at their own convenience.
The regular book scores by ISKCON Malaysia averages around 40,000 books a year. This effort would increase the number by 25,000 making the yearly score for 2016 to around 65,000 books.
HG Kripa Sindhu Krishna Das, Temple President, Sri Jagannatha Mandir Kuala Lumpur said, “We launched this effort on Nityananda Trayodasi. We saw no better day to launch this initiative as Lord Nityananda is the primary preacher in Lord Caitanya’s movement. We hope to receive Lord Nityananda’s mercy and pray that he empowers the devotees in Malaysia to make this project a success”.
Meanwhile, HG Simheswara Das, Regional Secretary, ISKCON Malaysia said, “With the support of the various congregations in Malaysia we are targeting to at least get 500 devotees to participate in this book rally all over Malaysia. 500 devotees distributing 50 books each would mean by the end of 2016, we would have distributed 25,000 Srila Prabhupada books just on this initiative alone”.
The devotees who are participating in this book distribution rally are also encouraged to distribute the books to people who are completely new to Krishna Consciousness and if possible to take to the streets and create a larger visibility of the Hare Krishna’s in this way.
The devotees in Malaysia are seeking blessings from vaisnavas all over the world in making this effort a success and to bring the message of Lord Caitanya and Nitai to every town and village.
“The main thing is the distribute books more and more.” Srila Prabhupada’s letter to Balavanta, October 4, 1976
Photos : https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.838322276295730.1073742386.532840756843885&type=3
Diary of a Traveling Monk
Volume 14, Chapter 7
February 21, 2016
By Indradyumna Swami
The Singing Janitor
Whenever I come to Mumbai I stay at the home of my disciple Narottam Dasa Thakur Das and his wife Manjari Devi Dasi. Today, Narottam had come with me to the hospital for my PET scan, a checkup for any recurrence of the cancerous skin cells I had had surgically removed last year.
“I’m doubly nervous,” I said to Narottam as we sat in the waiting room. “What if the cancer comes back? I’ll have to go through another operation and all the rest.”
“We’re all praying for you,” said Narottam.
“And I’m nervous about the scan,” I said.
“Why?” asked Narottam. “Scans don’t hurt.”
“I know,” I said. “But it gives me the creeps when they lay me out on the table and roll me into that machine. It’s as if they were feeding me into the mouth of some big monster.”
I looked across the room and saw a janitor pushing a broom across the floor. “And just look at that guy over there,” I said. “He’s talking loudly to himself and laughing at his own jokes. It’s annoying, and it makes everything worse.”
“Maybe he’s a little crazy,” said Narottam.
“He’s not crazy,” said the man next to us. “I come here often and always see him. He’s just eccentric.”
The janitor strode past us, his thinnish frame dressed in a khaki-colored uniform, his brown eyes darting here and there. He was pushing his broom in wild motions, seemingly unaware of the patients in the room. I could see that others were disturbed by him too.
“Now he’s singing to himself,” I said to Narottam. “And off key at that.”
The man next to us laughed. “He keeps the place pretty clean, though,” he said. “And he means well.”
The receptionist behind the desk called out to the sweeper. “Mahesh! Deliver this package to Doctor Agarwal. He’s in room sixteen on the fourth floor.”
Mahesh’s broom made a loud clattering sound as he dropped it on the floor and hurried over to the desk. “Yes, Ma’am,” he said. “Right away, Ma’am.” His voice was high-pitched and reedy. As he walked toward the elevator he read out the address on the parcel in a loud voice. “Doctor Agarwal, room sixteen, fourth floor. Wow! A big package of stuff for the doctor!”
As the elevator doors closed, obscuring his grinning face, I breathed a sigh of relief. “Eccentric is an understatement,” I said to Narottam. “Anyway, it’s quiet at last.”
But just ten minutes later the elevator door opened and he was back. “Done!” he shouted. He hurried to pick up his broom and began sweeping again in the same big strokes, all the while singing in his shrill voice. The noise was oppressive, but I managed to doze off for a few minutes till I heard my name being called over the loudspeaker. I walked into the examination room, where I saw several nurses and, to my surprise, Mahesh busily organizing items in a medical cabinet. “Oh no,” I thought. “What’s he doing here?”
“Mahesh,” said one of the nurses over her shoulder, “could you kindly take this bag to Doctor Reynolds in room 404.” Mahesh didn’t say a word as he danced across the room to collect the bag. He opened the door with a theatrical flourish and disappeared down the hallway.
“While we are preparing the solution for your scan,” the nurse said to me, “please put on this hospital gown and then come and sit in this chair.” I went into another room to put on the gown, then came back.
“Ouch!” The nurse was sticking a needle into a vein on my wrist. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Mahesh had come back into the room. Suddenly, my chair began to slip under the pressure of my weight and knocked against the table where the nurse had all her equipment. A glass bottle teetered on the edge, and as she reached out to grab it, she accidentally yanked the needle out of my wrist.
“Mahesh!” she called, “Quick! Help!”
Mahesh dashed across the room, caught the bottle and put it back on the table. The nurse picked up the syringe, which was now in my lap. “Mahesh,” she said, “could you please hold this gentleman’s chair while I inject him.”
“Yes,” he said. He gripped the chair with both hands, a serious look on his face.
“Ouch!” The nurse found another vein. Mahesh leaned over and, to my surprise, began to speak in fluent English. “Sir,” he said, “this is a most auspicious day for me. Somehow by dint of my past pious activities, I have the good fortune to serve a sadhu. Such opportunities are rare.”
Then he quoted a verse from the Padma Purana:
aradhananam sarvesam
visnor aradhanam param
tasmat parataram devi
tadiyanam samarcanam
“My dear goddess, of all types of worship, the worship of Lord Vishnu is the best, and even better than the worship of Lord Vishnu is the worship of His devotee, the Vaisnava."
“What?” I said. “How do you know that verse?”
“I study sastra,” he replied softly, still gripping the chair.
“You’re a devotee of Krsna?” I asked.
“One day,” he said. “One day I hope to become a devotee of the Lord.”
“Are you from a family of Vaisnavas?”
“No,” he said. “I am an orphan. The devotees of the Lord are my family.”
Then he quoted a verse from the Bhagavad Gita:
mac-citta mad-gata-prana
bodhayantah parasparam
kathayantas ca mam nityam
tusyanti ca ramanti ca
“The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are surrendered to Me, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss enlightening one another and conversing about Me.”
I suddenly realized that I had been so busy criticizing him that I hadn’t noticed his peaceful face and his moist, sparkling eyes.
“Sir,” Mahesh said, smiling slightly, “when I saw you in the reception room earlier, I knew in my heart that the Lord had sent you to give hope to all the unlucky people suffering in this place. Your presence alone brings joy.”
The nurse’s voice brought me back to the present. “The injection is done,” she said. “Please go to the next room to wait for your scan.”
“Sure,” I said. “But first let me ask Mahesh if –––” I turned back to him, but he had gone.
“Where did he go?” I asked the nurse.
“To sweep, probably,” she replied without looking up.
As I waited in the adjoining room, I felt a wave of guilt wash over me. “I misjudged that man,” I thought. “I was ridiculing him in my mind, but he is more of a devotee than I am. I’ve committed a serious offense. I’ll have to beg him to forgive me.”
Suddenly a sign flashed my name. It was my turn for the PET scan. A nurse welcomed me and helped me lie down on the scanning machine. “Stretch your arms over your head,” she said. “You need to lie completely still for a full ten minutes.” Although I had been nervous about the monster, I relaxed and slowly drifted off to sleep. I woke up when I felt someone touch my feet. I heard a voice singing softly: “Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”
I opened my eyes. It was Mahesh. “Mahesh,” I whispered, “I need to talk to you.”
But again he vanished as quickly as he had appeared. The scan ended and the sense of shame came over me again. “I’m just an offender,” I thought as I changed into my clothes. I followed the exit signs until I came to the reception room, now twice as crowded as before. I was signing some papers at the reception desk when I heard the high-pitched voice of Mahesh singing. I looked up and saw him dancing across the back of the room pushing his broom.
I rushed across the room. “Mahesh! Mahesh!” I called out. “I need to speak to you!” But before I could reach him, he had disappeared through a glass door. As he danced down the hallway to another part of the hospital, I fell on my knees and prayed for forgiveness:
vancha-kalpa-tarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaisnava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls” [Sri Vaisnava-pranati].
As I stood up, I suddenly remembered that I was in a crowded waiting room. Everyone was staring at me.
“Let them stare,” I thought. “At the worst they’ll think I’m crazy; at the least they’ll think I’m eccentric. But I’ll know I am paying my respects to the wonderful Vaishnava I unexpectedly met today.”
Srila Prabhupada has written:
“Your complaint is that you have met two of my young disciples in California and they appeared to you as having ‘a very negative outlook towards the people they meet.’ Of course, I do not know the case, what are the circumstances, but kindly forgive my beloved disciples for any un-kindness or indiscretions on their part. After all, to give up one’s life completely for serving the Lord is not so easy thing. And maya, or the illusory material energy, she tries especially hard to try to get back and entrap those who have left her service to become devotees. So sometimes in the neophyte stage of devotional service, in order to withstand the attack of maya and remain strong under all conditions of temptation, young or inexperienced devotees will adopt an attitude against those things or persons possibly harmful, threatening to their tender devotional creeper. To come to that platform of understanding things as they are, that is not a very common thing, and therefore such persons who attain to it, they are described as ‘great souls.’”
[Srila Prabhupada letter to Lynne Ludwig, April 30, 1973]
HH Kadamba Kanana Swami Lunch Talk 04.02. 2016
February 22. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: Prabhupada’s Versatility.
Prabhupada was sometimes as strong as a thunderbolt, other times soft as a rose. When, sometimes, persons would ask Prabhupada esoteric details about Vrindavana or the rasa dance, he would cut them short. Rather than answer their questions directly, he would address their mentalities. Yet, at the same time, he would fully answer the questions of a sincere inquirer.
We should be proud to have such a guru, who adopted the chopping technique of his own spiritual master in trying to save the world from maya, but was fully capable of understanding Vrindavana bhajana-rasa. After all, he lived in Vrindavana for years, wrote his books there, and lived alone at the Radha Damodara Temple. He was very, very sensitive to the atmosphere in Vrindavana. Even his silence on the subject of rasa-lila made us feel his potency, his power. Krishna’s pastimes took place in Vraja, although, at present, They are aprakata, not manifest now, Prabhupada knew about Krishna’s pastimes.
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Prabhupada’s Versatility