Planet ISKCON

Questions and Answers Part 2

With a heavy heart we have to let all of you know a sad news. H.H. Gour Krsna Swami, Disciple of H.H. Radha Govind Maharaj passed away due to heart attack today morning in Sridham Vrindavan. He was well versed dynamic preacher. He was well known for his Bhagavat Katha. Please pray for him. All glories to H.H. Gour Krsna Swami.

“Once, in Detroit, a child started to make a noise while Srila Prabhupada was talking. The mother started to chastise the child and Srila Prabhupada said. ‘In vedic culture children cannot be punished.’ So, then the mother’s husband began to chastise her for having chastised the child. Srila Prabhupada said. ‘In vedic culture women cannot be punished.’  So, then the temple commander started to chastise the husband and Srila Prabhupada said. ‘In vedic culture brahmanas are not punished. Then he said that our society consists of children, women and brahmanas so no one can be punished.'”

Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance

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Written by Nandan

The disappearance day of Narottama Das Thakur

Maharaj sang the morning Guruvastakam prayers in Srila Prabhupada’s samadhi. It was gentle, soothing and perfectly in sync with the Vrindavan morning mood. It was also the disappearance day of Narottama Das Thakur (Saturday, 31st October 2015), so in the afternoon around 3pm Maharaj took a sizeable bunch of disciples to Narottama Das Thakur’s samadhi in the Radha Gokulananda temple in Vrindavan.

The walk to the samadhi was accompanied by incredible harinams. First by the passionate kirtaneering monk Gurudas Prabhu from England and then followed by Maharaj himself. Going through the streets of the famous Vrindavan market, Loi Bazaar, and singing the mahamantra was quite an experience and the locals were loving it – all the shopkeepers, vendors and general crowds of people were looking on in amazement, raising their hands and joining in; the ‘rickshawallahs’ were honking away and even the dogs and cows looked perky and interested; it was kind of reminiscent of Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Jharikhand pastimes. The monkeys were also looking on with keen interest. No doubt, their darting eyes were appreciating the devotees’ belongings as much as the devotional singing!!

After going down a nondescript alley road in Vrindavan, the devotees finally arrived at the Radha Gokulananda temple. The entrance to the temple was quite inconspicuous and inside, it had that ‘rough round the edges’ old school Indian feel to it. But at the same time, there was some serious potency emanating from there as well. One was in no doubt that one had entered a deeply sacred place.

There was an interesting deity there called Vamsidhari Mahaprabhu who was a beautiful golden looking Caitanya Mahaprabhu standing like Krsna with a flute in his hand. This was in reference to Mahaprabhu manifesting various ‘Swarupa bhavas’ in his Vrindavan pastimes. And of course, the temple had the samadhis of Narottama Das Thakur and Srila Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur amongst others.

After everyone had paid their obeisances to the deities and the samadhis of the various acharyas, Maharaj got everyone to sit down near the samadhi of Narottama Das Thakur. Then for the next ninety minutes Maharaj spoke at length on the wonderful teachings, adventures, glories and overall life story of Srila Narottama Das Thakur – one of the greatest and most important vaishnava acharyas in history.

Maharaj made a lot of potent points within his discussion. For example, it was due to Narottama Das Thakur’s teachings that Bengal went from a culture of sentimentalism to one of real devotional culture based on astute philosophy. Not only that, he was also the one who established the famous ‘Drupada style’ kirtan – famous for starting melodies on long notes.

Once Narottama Das Thakur (as stated in the Narottama Vilasa) was in the Padma River and his body was melting in the river. So how was his samadhi here? The water from that time was actually taken here to form the samadhi.

Maharaj then clarified that the disappearance day is more powerful than the appearance day of an acharya because all the pastimes have been revealed. This is their mercy. All coming in line through Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur, Baladev Vidya Bhushan, Jagannath Das Babaji… all the way to Srila Prabhupada and then finally down to us! Yes us! Who end up wearing different coloured socks and forget our bead bags! It is ALL MERCY!!

But then Maharaj boldly stated that the crux is to stay in the movement – there may be 1000’s of reasons not to stay; for example, they’re not treating me well, my parents, my health etc. But we must make this a lifetime of devotional service. Srila Prabhupada gave us the entrance to Vrindavan, now we have to capitalize on that. Maharaj recalled how it was initially a remote land with just a stump of a Tamala tree and a nasty bull, who the devotees were convinced was the incarnation of Aristasura!

Then Hans Keilman came along, a Dutch architect. Srila Prabhupada said to him to come along for an initiation ceremony. He then asked for who? Srila Prabhupada replied, “For you!” The rest is history, as they say.

The nectar continued to flow throughout the evening and then after the discussion, all the devotees got to view the Govardhan Sila that Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to worship and then later gave to Raghunath Das Goswami. A beautiful sight to finish the trip with.

HH Kadamba Kanana Maharaj ki Jai!!

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The Hindi Bhagavatam translates qualification as “aukad” – is that correct?
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Govardhan Puja Panamá 2015 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: “For one who wants liberation from the fruitive reactions of material activities, the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, or glorification of the name, fame and pastimes of the Lord, is recommended as the most perfect process of atonement because such chanting eradicates the dirt from one’s heart completely.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.2.12)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/0AwlTO

Caitanya Simha das, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and friend and well-wisher to so many devotees, left his body today in the early morning hours at Sri Mayapur dhama, on the disappearance day of Srila Prabhupada,( also happened to be his birthday) to continue his journey back home to Godhead. He started so many on their path, built temples and opened farm communities, worked on Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi and at present with TOVP. The funeral procession, attended by Mayapur Community devotees took place in the afternoon and his body was laid to rest on the banks of Ganges. Thank you, Srila Prabhupada, for saving this soul, for saving all of us.

If crying is the preserve of advanced devotees steeped in devotional mellows, should it bother us to display a show of apparent weakness? Shedding tears in lamentation, as a plea for sympathy, as ostentatious syrupy hype or as a tantrum disguised as frustration, can all be good enough reasons not to appear less than masculine. Yet tears are required while treading the path of devotion. For the ‘average’ practitioner who plods along, pacing himself as if running a super life-long marathon, conserving his serious energy for a later time, the need for earnestness can be a zealous overstated subject matter. We may feel bombarded hearing sermons given by serious preachers who tell the rest of us to get serious. But sometimes the truth hurts. With this in mind, are there any grounds for crying for Krsna? If we fall far short of Lord Chaitanya’s standard of – vipralambha-seva, what on earth can behoove us to weep? Yes, we may shed tears of gratitude to the spiritual master who has kindly accepted us into the spiritual fold. We will bereave the passing of a vaisnava. With a heart softened due to devotional practices and good association, we may feel for those who are immersed in deluding pursuits. “But crying for Krsna?” one may ask. “Am I ready for this? Perhaps if I receive some special mercy I will understand the need for it.” Continue reading "Weeping For Krishna
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I recently heard a somewhat humorous exchange between two devotees. The first devotee in a mood of perhaps legitimate grumpiness said; “I have given the best years of my life to ISKCON” [therefore surely ISKCON owes me] The second devotee replied; “Well if you've given your best years then you might as well give the rest of your years!” This exchange is interesting for a number of reasons, not least because of the two apparent conflicting positions taken by the devotees quoted above. One devotee is clearly feeling that having served ISKCON for many years, ISKCON has perhaps not reciprocated accordingly, while the other devotee seems to be taking the view that come what may, better that he stick to with ISKCON regardless of any real or imagined lack of reciprocation. ISKCON is somewhat at a disadvantage, simply because it is an institution, although I'm not sure when history determined that institutions in and of themselves are negative. Still for sure some shudder to the bone at the very mention of institutions and in many ways that is the biggest challenge that faces those who find themselves charged with the service of maintaining the institution of ISKCON. It is no easy task to overcome the connection that is often made between institutions and how they apparently stifle individualism and encourage 'group think' etc. Continue reading "The Best Days of Our Lives
→ Dandavats"

Sankirtana in the land of Aztecs! (Album with photos)
Aztecs in Mexico, Mexico City, dance in the pace of Harinama!
Srila Prabhupada: Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat: even a little devotional service can save one from the greatest danger. Devotional service, which begins with chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is so powerful that even if one falls down, he can be saved from all calamities if he somehow or other chants the holy name of the Lord. This is the extraordinary power of the Lord’s holy name. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 6.1.63 Purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/X1r45T

Lord Indra was overcome by anger when the residents of Vraja canceled his sacrifice. He tried to punish them by sending forth a devastating rainfall to Vrndavan.

Lord Sri Krsna protected Gokula by lifting Govardhana Hill and for seven days used it as an umbrella to ward off the rain.

The Govardhana Puja festival was celebrated nicely at Sri Nila Madhava temple in Seattle. For go-puja, a two week old calf by the name Radhika-Priya was brought into the temple room and offered worship.

So the other day was Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day and although a little sombre is also a time to reflect and show gratitude for a life less ordinary, indeed non of us would be practitioners of bhakti if it hadn’t been through Srila Prabhupada’s service in fulfilling his guru maharajah’s wishes.

However my time wasn’t spent reading or watching Srila Prabhupada but watching closely clips and classes of my own Guru Maharajah HH Devamrita Swami; who has dedicated his life in serving Srila Prabhupada’s mission.

It was indeed hard for those disciples of Srila Prabhupada to comprehend their spiritual master leaving his body, and I have been meditating on the fact that at some stage in my devotional life the same difficulty and heartache will face me; yes one day my own beloved guru maharajah will leave his body.

So I watched closely trying to grasp and understand what has kept my own guru maharajah serving his beloved Guru Maharajah and how to serve so nicely despite many adversities; what is the key.

Firstly I noted love, for love motivates most of what we do and love for sri guru means even in absence one remains loyal.

But what I noted was that my Guru Maharajah is and remains totally convinced by the words and writing’s of Srila Prabhupada, that these words are enough to convince him that this is the solution to the problems each of us face here in material existence; and looking at how to enliven and enthuse others to read and learn from the books his guru maharaja Srila Prabhupada wrote.

Love and being completely convinced without a moments doubt.

If it wasn’t for this and his continuing enthusiasm to present to each and every one of us I wouldn’t be slowly growing in my own realisations in Krishna Consciousness.

So now as my guru maharajah simply follows and maximises the opportunity this human form of life provides to increase our dormant love of Krishna and sharing that with everyone he meets; may I too become this inspired and convinced to dedicate my own life fully in service to Sri Guru.

And as my guru maharajah followed the example of his guru maharajah Srila Prabhupada may I also learn and follow.

This was my thought’s yesterday I pray as always it makes sense, and as always welcome thought’s and corrections.

Hare Krishna

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2015/09/mind-acronym-3-the-mind-neglects-opportunity-and-denies-reality/

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2015/09/mind-acronym-2-mind-imagines-pleasure/

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2015/09/how-spirituality-increases-our-social-contributions/

http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2015/10/overcome-discouragement-through-spiritual-wisdom/

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Why then in Hungary do we set up a community structure that Srila Prabhupada didn’t write about?

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By Niranjana Swami

I have a lot I could say but I will try to keep it as brief as possible. First of all I really should say that I came to the Lithuanian padayatra this year because of the persistent requests of Ananda Gaurangi. And I am grateful that she was persistent in her requests. I came here with a sinus infection and it just wasn’t going away, but finally the last couple of days my voice started to come back. That’s why I was relatively quiet for the first part of the festival. But nonetheless I don’t think it was that relevant that I was relatively quiet, I was still fully participating as much as I could.

Bhakti Caitanya Swami asked us to share some of our realizations about padayatra, and I do have some realizations that I would like to share. As we were speaking, I was thinking about what Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur said in Sri Bhaktiloka. He talks about what it means to follow the path of the previous mahajanas and how sometimes, if people become proud after accepting the initiation, they do not follow that path but they invent new paths, and they cheat themselves and the rest of the world as well. Bhaktivinoda Thakur therefore gave the criteria of what are the symptoms of somebody who is strictly following the path set by our previous acaryas. He gives Srila Haridasa Thakur as the example of one who strictly follows. Srila Haridas Thakur manifested three symptoms of this fact: his determination for spiritual life, this constant chanting of the holy names of the Lord and his compassion for the fallen souls. Haridas Thakur manifested the three symptoms. He said that he would never give up chanting Hare Krishna, even if they cut his body to pieces. So therefore, in his constant chanting, he manifested his determination and his compassion to others. Never giving up chanting, that was also his compassion towards others, especially when he was challenged by one envious brahmana who said, “ Why are you always loudly chanting the holy names of the Lord ? Why aren’t you just chanting to yourself?” In fact, the brahmana was accusing Haridas Thakur: “ Because of your loud chanting, you are disturbing the Lord”. So the brahmana challenged Haridas Thakur, who then explained that actually the loud chanting of the holy names of the Lord is considered to be a hundred times more potent than simply silent chanting. Wherever Haridas Thakur went, he was always loudly chanting the holy names. And then the brahmana asked him to please explain that, “How could you make such a statement that loud chanting is more beneficial?”Haridas Thakura explained that even the plants, the insects and the reptiles are benefited by the loud chanting of the holy names of the Lord. He said that somebody who just chants softly to himself is only thinking of himself, but somebody who is chanting loudly is actually thinking about the welfare of everyone. And then he gave the reference from Srimad Bhagavatam about the importance of loudly chanting the holy names of the Lord, which stated that even plants, reptiles, plants, animals are all benefited, what to speak of human beings.

So my realization of this Padayatra is that all three elements are here in this festival. You have the loud chanting of the holy names of the Lord, you have the compassion by benefiting others and giving them the opportunity to hear the holy names. And for those who are determined to always be engaged in chanting, not only in this festival, but to continue to go on with this process, even after this festival, this determination is also very pleasing, although just fully participating in this one week event requires determination. So all three elements are there of what is the bona fide path to follow and to properly represent our parampara: constant chanting, compassion and determination. This was very satisfying for me to see this. And especially what was also very, very satisfying to me was seeing that not only we are preserving the parampara by manifesting these three symptoms but that these events are also wonderful opportunity for distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books. For me that is the icing on the cake. That makes it so sweet. These events are very, very good opportunities to inspire people to want to know more about this. And therefore these are very, very, good opportunities for making Srila Prabhupada’s books available, so not only these people will hear the holy names but they will carry the embodiment of the holy names in their hands. Srila Prabhupada followed in the footsteps of Haridas Thakur and manifested these three symptoms of strictly following the path of the previous acaryas. This fully manifested in these books. So, all of you, by taking part in this event, are given the opportunity to fully take part in properly representing our tradition and our parampara, our sampradaya. This was particularly very inspiring for me.

I am praying that all of you remain firm in your determination to properly represent our sampradaya, our Srila Prabhupada and Haridas Thakur. Incessantly chant the holy names of the Lord, compassionately give them to others and as much as possible help in distribution of Srila Prabhupada’s books. In this regard I would like to also thank Santa Maharaja for his determination for seeing that Srila Prabhupada’s books are available for everyone here in Lithuania. We should all be grateful for him for his incessant determination and efforts to keep Srila Prabhupada alive here in the form of his books. Hare Krishna!

A beautiful dancing rendition by Srimati Campakalata Devi Dasi and her team of the Yadi Prabhupada Na Hoita song written by HH Jayapataka Swami (9 min video)
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/01bMA0
Lyrics:
(1)
(yadi) prabhupada na haita tabe ki haita
(e) jivana bahita kise?
nitai-gaurera apara karuna ke dita sakala dese
If Srila Prabhupada had not come, what would have happened? How could we have passed our lives?
Who else would have distributed the unlimited mercy of Lord Nityananda and Lord Gauranga all over the world?
(2)
pascatyera yata papi duracari sunyavadi mayavadi
tadera uddara karibare mana hena kon dayanidhi
Which other compassionate person would have endeavoured to deliver the miscreants , sinful, impersonalistic and voidistic people in the West?
(3)
tadera nikate kon jana asi bilaita harinam
sabhya jiva rupe gadite tadera ke haita aguyan
Who else would have come to distribute Harinama to them? Who else would have come forward to transform them into civilized beings?
(4)
dese dese hari-vigraha seva arati ratri-dine
ratha yatradi mahotsava saba sikaita kon jane
Who else would have taught them how to worship the Deity form of Lord Hari day and night with arati-kirtana, and how to conduct the Ratha-yatra and
other grand festivals
(5)
gita-bhagavata caitanya carita premamrta rasasara
kata na sundara sarala kariya ke bujhaita ara
Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam and Caitanya-caritamrta contain the essence of the nectarean mellows of love of Godhead.
Who else would have explained these scriptures so clearly and beautifully?
(6)
kata kasta sahi prita mane rahi ke va dita harinam
ke dita modera puri vrndavana mayapura mata dham
Who else would have tolerated all difficulties, and distributed Harinama with a pleasant heart?
Who would have given us the dhamas such as Mayapur, Vrindavan and Jagannatha Puri?
(7)
parama mangala sricaitanya maha-prabhura siksa dhana
acare pracare sada amadere ke karita niyojana
The teachings of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu constitute the greatest and most auspicious treasure.
Who else would have engaged us in constantly practicing and preaching it?
(8)
premakalpataru nitai-gaurera krpa kana labhibare
niravadhi jaya-pataka hrdaya tomare sarana kare
Sri Sri Nitai Gaura are desire trees of love of Godhead. Desiring a drop of Their mercy, Jayapataka’s heart incessantly takes shelter of Your Divine grace.

A Dozen, Yet More to Come.
Vrindavanlila Devi Dasi: “Agriculture and cow protection are the way to become sinless and thus be attracted to devotional service.”
Read the entire article here: http://goo.gl/6811uy

Seven years before the ToVP opens and much interest is found at the World’s biggest travel/tourism fair.

Little doubt then that by the time Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Sri Sri Pancatattva and Lord Nrsimhadeva move to their new glorious temple, we will have one of the world’s biggest tourist attractions to manage!

[See image gallery at tovp.org]

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