Finding mercy amidst struggle
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(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 2 January 2023, Vrndavana, India, Balarama Hall Q&A Program)

A lot of time in our movement is spent with struggles and discussing struggles – struggles with chanting, struggles with following the regulative principles, struggles with living with devotees, struggles with the institution, struggles with accepting every aspect of the philosophy, struggles with our anarthas, struggles with old habits – so there is so much struggle. There are groups of devotees who are meeting because they have a problem with the internet – they go to the wrong websites and then they try to meet and overcome such struggles together – this is widespread. So, we are all struggling. And with these struggles, sometimes people also become hopeless. One person was expressing to me in a message how they are struggling, and they do not want to live anymore, and this is not an isolated incident where people feel like they can no longer cope. So, we have on one side the element of struggle and on the other hand we have the mercy of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Now this mercy is not something abstract that we are reading about, and we are saying how amazing it is, but it is something that is very tangible that we need in order to make everything worthwhile. This mercy is not a luxury, but it is essential to all that we do.

On this topic, I am thinking of some verses where Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami is saying, “I am more fallen than a worm in stool. I am so fallen that anyone who comes in contact with me loses all his pious credit.” So, hearing this, one might think how this is a serious case of low self-esteem and how this will not have a happy end. But then he says, “Despite all this, how amazing is it that someone as fallen as I am, has received the mercy of Lord Nityananda.” So, this is the case. With all of our weaknesses and with all of our shortcomings, there is that unique mercy of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nityananda, and it is that mercy and the mercy of their representatives like Srila Prabhupada, who then add their own bit of mercy, that this movement is growing and carrying on. And in this way, we are sustained in spiritual life.

You can watch the full program on our YouTube channel or by clicking below:

The article " Finding mercy amidst struggle " was published on KKSBlog.

Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s Appearance Day
Giriraj Swami

For Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s appearance day, I thought to read a verse and purport about him from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Ten, “The Branches of the Caitanya Tree”:

TEXT 105

sri gopala bhatta eka sakha sarvottama
rupa-sanatana-sange yanra prema-alapana

TRANSLATION

Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, the forty-seventh branch, was one of the great and exalted branches of the tree. He always engaged in discourses about love of Godhead in the company of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami was the son of Venkata Bhatta, a resident of Sri Rangam. Gopala Bhatta formerly belonged to the disciplic succession of the Ramanuja-sampradaya but later became part of the Gaudiya-sampradaya. In the year 1433 Sakabda (A.D. 1511), when Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was touring South India, He stayed for four months during the period of Caturmasya at the house of Venkata Bhatta, who then got the opportunity to serve the Lord to his heart’s content. Gopala Bhatta also got the opportunity to serve the Lord at this time. Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami was later initiated by his uncle, the great sannyasi Prabodhananda Sarasvati. Both the father and the mother of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami were extremely fortunate, for they dedicated their entire lives to the service of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. They allowed Gopala Bhatta Gosvami to go to Vrndavana, and they gave up their lives thinking of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. When Lord Caitanya was later informed that Gopala Bhatta Gosvami had gone to Vrndavana and met Sri Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami, He was very pleased, and He advised Sri Rupa and Sanatana to accept Gopala Bhatta Gosvami as their younger brother and take care of him. Sri Sanatana Gosvami, out of his great affection for Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, compiled the Vaisnava smrti named Hari-bhakti-vilasa and published it under his name. Under the instruction of Srila Rupa and Sanatana, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami installed one of the seven principal deities of Vrndavana, the Radharamana deity. The sevaits (priests) of the Radharamana temple belong to the Gaudiya-sampradaya.

COMMENT

Actually, one of the families entrusted with the Deity service at the Radha-ramana Mandir has a history of relations with the line of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. Visvambhara Gosvami’s father or grandfather had relations with Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, the family maintained relations with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and then Visvambhara Gosvami had very friendly relations with Srila Prabhupada. And he spoke very nicely about Srila Prabhupada. Now Visvambhara Gosvami’s son Padmanabha Gosvami is also very favorable to ISKCON. In fact, ISKCON devotees often honor prasada at his home at the Radha-ramana Mandir. I took prasada there with His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami, and Padmanabha Gosvami showed us a letter that Srila Prabhupada had written to his father, Visvambhara Gosvami, about how all Vaishnavas should cooperate. So, not only does the Radha-ramana temple belong to the Gaudiya-sampradaya, but at least some of the sevaits have had close relations with the line of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura.

PURPORT (concluded)

When Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami took permission from all the Vaisnavas before writing Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami also gave him his blessings, but he requested him not to mention his name in the book. Therefore Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami has mentioned Gopala Bhatta Gosvami only very cautiously in one or two passages of the Caitanya-caritamrta. Srila Jiva Gosvami has written in the beginning of his Tattva-sandarbha, “A devotee from southern India who was born of a brahmana family and was a very intimate friend of Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami has written a book that he has not compiled chronologically. Therefore I, a tiny living entity known as jiva, am trying to assort the events of the book chronologically, consulting the direction of great personalities like Madhvacarya, Sridhara Svami, Ramanujacarya, and other senior Vaisnavas in the disciplic succession.” In the beginning of the Bhagavat-sandarbha there are similar statements by Srila Jiva Gosvami. Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami compiled a book called Sat-kriya-sara-dipika, edited the Hari-bhakti-vilasa, wrote a foreword to the Sat-sandarbha and a commentary on the Krsna-karnamrta, and installed the Radharamana Deity in Vrndavana. In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (184) it is mentioned that his previous name in the pastimes of Lord Krsna was Ananga-manjari. Sometimes he is also said to have been an incarnation of Guna-manjari. Srinivasa Acarya and Gopinatha Pujari were two of his disciples.

COMMENT

Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami ki jaya!

One story about Gopala Bhatta Gosvami is that on the eve of Nrsimha-caturdasi all the other Gosvamis and Vaishnavas in Vrindavan were preparing to worship their Deities and hold festivals. Gopala Bhatta Gosvami had only a salagrama-sila; he didn’t have a Deity with arms and legs and a body that he could dress and decorate. So, he was feeling deprived of the opportunity to serve like the other devotees who had Deities they could serve in these ways. And out of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s strong desire, a salagrama-sila became manifest in the form of Radha-ramana. Radha-ramana is considered the most beautiful Deity of Krishna. He is the one original Deity of the Gosvamis that has remained in Vrindavan, while the others had to be taken elsewhere for fear of the Muslim invaders. And near the temple of Radha-ramana in Vrindavan is the samadhi of Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvami.

Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s uncle and guru was Prabodhananda Sarasvati. His samadhi is also located in Vrindavan, just off the parikrama path near Kaliya-ghata, which is quite near our Krishna-Balaram Mandir. So, often when we go on parikrama down the path near the Yamuna, we visit Prabodhananda Sarasvati’s samadhi and bhajana-kutira. And then we proceed to Srila Sanatana Gosvami’s samadhi. Srila Sanatana Gosvami was the most senior of the Gosvamis and was also a close associate and instructor of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. In fact, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami worked with Sanatana Gosvami to produce the great treatise Hari-bhakti-vilasa.

I feel that Gopala Bhatta Gosvami has been especially merciful to me on two occasions. On one, I visited his bhajana-kutira at Sanketa, a place between Nandagrama and Varsana where Radha and Krishna used to meet and sometimes perform rasa-lila. Gopala Bhatta would sit and chant underground in a deep cavern, accessible only through a long, narrow passage. At the end of the passage was a somewhat roomier place where Gopala Bhatta used to chant, now marked as his bhajana-sthala. I remember going there with Tamal Krishna Goswami and others on a very hot day and struggling to crawl through the passage to the bhajana-sthala. It was difficult, but when I finally reached there, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami was very merciful. He allowed me to chant with a glimpse of taste. And after all the devotees emerged from the cavern, I stole back in. I crawled back to Gopala Bhatta’s lotus feet, and I sat there chanting. I will never forget his mercy to me there, and I pray that he will enable me to chant with relish and love.

On the other occasion, in Kartik of 1999, shortly before my surgery, I visited Gopala Bhatta’s samadhi near the Radha-ramana Mandir. We arrived just after raja-bhoga-arati, and the pujari was closing the doors to the samadhi-mandira. But he was kind enough to open the doors for us, to allow us darshan of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. He gave us some flowers and caranamrta, and invited us to stay for prasada. Thus our small party, along with some local sadhus, honored Gopala Bhatta Prabhu’s maha-maha-prasadam with great relish, and we even stayed to take a little rest before, filled with bliss, we continued on our way. So, Gopala Bhatta Gosvami is very kind.

 Years later, when some of my disciples from Bombay went to Vrindavan on pilgrimage, they visited the samadhi. They told the pujaris about me, how my health no longer allowed me to visit Vraja, and asked for some prasada for me. And one of the pujaris kindly gave them a piece of cloth from the samadhi. It is very special. Now, twice a year, once on his appearance day and once on his disappearance day, we bring it out and touch it. So now we shall pass it around and touch it to our heads and to our hearts—and pray to Gopala Bhatta Gosvami for his sublime mercy.

Thank you.

Hare Krishna.

[ A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami’s appearance day, July 31, 2002, Carpinteria, California]

Srila Ramacandra Kaviraja Disappearance
→ Ramai Swami

Srila Narottama dasa Thakura has sung: “daya koro sri acarya prabhu srinivasa, ramacandra sanga mage narottama dasa—O Srinivasa acarya Prabhu, kindly have mercy upon me; Narottama dasa always prays for the association of  Ramacandra Kaviraja.”

Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja was one of the internal associates of Narottama Thakura. The two of them were practically inseparable. Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja had obtained the full mercy and blessings of Srinivasa acarya. Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja’s father’s name was Ciranjiva Sena—his mother’s name was Sri Sunanda. 

At first Sri Ciranjiva Sen lived in Kumara Nagara. After he married the daughter of the poet Sri Damodara Kavi, he moved to the village of Sri Khanda. Ciranjiva Sen was a Mahabhagavata, a topmost devotee of the Lord. The devotees of Sri Khanda, headed by Narahari Sarakara Thakura all had great affection and respect for Ciranjiva. 

One day, Ramacandra Kaviraja was on the road to Yajigrama, on his way home from his wedding. At that time, Srinivasa acarya was passing on the road, accompanied by his followers.

Later, Shrinivasa Acharaya was in Yajigrama at his own house, where many devotees had gathered to hear him lecture on Shrimad-Bhagavatam. At that time, passing by the house of Shrinivasa Acharya was Ramachandra Kaviraja the son of Chiranjiva Sen (one of Mahaprabhu’s eternal associates).  He had just been married, and he and his new bride were on their way back from the wedding. 

From a long way off, Shrinivasa Acharya saw Ramachandra Kaviraja, and Ramachandra Kaviraja also saw Shrinvasa Acharya from a distance. Upon seeing each other from a distance a deep mood of friendship arose within the hearts of those two eternally perfect devotees of Shri Gauranga.

After seeing each other they were eager to meet one another.  Shrinivasa Acharya inquired about Ramachandra Kaviraja from the local people.  They told him that he was a great pandita named Ramacandra—a learned poet and expert doctor from a family of doctors and scholars. Hear all this, Srinivasa acarya smiled, for he was greatly pleased. 

Ramachandra Kaviraja had heard about Shrinivasa Acharya and was eager to have his darsana.  In this way, he finally went to the house of  Srinivasa acarya along with his new bride and were introduced by some of the local people.  The day passed quickly in discussion of Hari-katha. They spent the night where they had been staying since coming to Yajigrama, at a brahmana’s house near the home of Shrinvasa Acharaya, and the following morning went to Shrinivasa Acharya and fell before his feet offering prostrated obeisances. 

The Acharya bade Ramachandra Kaviraja to get up from the ground, and heartily embraced him saying, “Life after life you have been my friend.  Providence has brought us together again today by arranging our meeting.” Both of them felt great happiness as a result of their having met. 

Seeing that Ramchandra had an acute and  deeply learned transcendental intelligence, Shrinivasa was very happy.  He began to make him hear the Goswami scriptures. Ramacandra’s pure behavior  which was always in accordance with the scriptures very much pleased Srinivasa acarya, and after a few days the Acharya initiated him in the divine Radha-Krishna mantra.

Sri Ramacandra Kaviraja delivered many sinners and nonbelievers to a life of auspiciousness as a result of his mercy. At the festival in Kheturi-grama, he was one of the leaders. On the order of Narottama dasa Thakura and Srinivasa acarya he went to Vrndavana.

When he arrived there, he found that almost all the Goswamis had passed away. When he found that so many great souls had passed away, his heart was deeply pained. 

After some days in Vrndavana, feeling the pain of separation in this way, while deeply meditating upon the lotus feet of Sri Radha and Govinda, he entered into their eternal Vrndavana pastimes.  His disappearance day is on the third day of the dark moon in the month of Pausa.

GBC Meeting Report January 4, 2022
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* A New Year Message from the ISKCON Governing Body Commission * Dear ISKCON Members and Friends, Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Looking back on 2022, we want to thank you for your many continued services to Srila Prabhupada, and to Lord Caitanya’s mission of spreading Krishna consciousness to every
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Sunday, December 25, 2022
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Oakville, Ontario

Looking Back and Ahead

I asked the group at “I Gita” if 2022 was a good year and I received mixed responses. One person responded with an ambivalent tone. Others expressed optimism. I simply asked this as a lead to have the folks think about a New Year’s resolution – practical steps towards sustainable improvement. It’s what many of us think about at this time of year as we flip the calendar.

My presentation tonight was quite impromptu. The organizers of the program, a marvelous couple, Kasyapa and Panchami, wanted something different and left it to me. Well, a beautiful chant by Annapurna had to be a component. I inserted into the program a reading and charade-ing from the story of the bumble-bee and Krishna. That was fun. Vallabha Hari cracked some jokes. I also engaged the groups in a form of Chi Gong; moving to the maha-mantra.

By the time it came to eating, something was prying at me when I had a few seconds to myself. I asked myself – tested myself – with the question, “What are you going to do about taking progressive steps that you are not doing now?” I really haven't come to an answer at the moment, but it is important to me to drive to some conclusion within the next few days.

In all frankness, I believe, as a bhakti yoga practitioner, there is an obligation to enhance and advance improvement. When the question re-visited me, about the year 2022, I’ll admit there were some bright sparkles in the year. The most taxing feature was dissension or bashing over the internet. People could be sweeter with each other.

May the Source be with you!


 

Saturday, December 24, 2022
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Caledon, Ontario

What to Do With Christmas?

Okay! So, it’s Christmas Eve and what might a believer in Krishna do on such a day, a day when Christians celebrate Christs’ birth?

One of our members of the Greater Toronto Area, Vishal, runs a successful family business – a mattress business to be exact. On the strength of the business, the family has channelled much of their energy towards developing a rural farm with Gir cows and bulls; bovine species from India. There are plans for greenhouses for growing plants. They built a lovely home and tonight was the night for a home warming. People came despite winter weather.

We held kirtan chanting sessions. I gave a talk on blessings and so did Vishal’s mum. Food was a big feature. People pitched in with methodology potluck. The mood was sweet.

I did mention about this time not being Jesus’ birth, but for the pagans it’s the birth of the sun and, hence, it was a big celebration. Theologians say Christ was born on January 6th, at least some have taken this position. And St. Nicolas was born December 6th. You have different Christian groups from Eurasia celebrating birthdays at different times. In any event, people have some time off and in our Krishna community, we are engaged in a glorification of the Divine in the form of Lord Krishna.

There is always a good excuse for us to come together.

May the Source be with you!


 

Friday, December 23, 2022
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243 Ave. Rd., Toronto

Don’t You Close Down

Schools are closed. Shops are closed. Businesses are closed. Some roads – shut down. It is not the weekend. It is not Christmas yet. Winter solstice, Gita Jayanti and Hanukkah have been celebrated already, or at least have kick started. The reason for the CLOSED signs being put up is because of the bad weather. Simply that.

However, one place that remains open and is on duty is the fire department. We know that because the sirens were sounded and the fire brigade dashed through the streets and headed for our ashram. I knew that something was up because the fire alarm went off in our building. In the most efficient way red fire engines responded.

I was curious, naturally, and made my way downstairs to check it out. Sure enough, one of the fellows in thick fire-protection regalia found the problem before I got to the scene of the problem. “No fire!” said the fire fighter. “This is an old-school issue here”. He explained that the fire alarm pulley was part open and one of our residents or workers swept by and his shirt got stuck in the device. When trying to set himself free, the alarm went off.

Clearly it was a false alarm. Whew!

I believe false alarms go off all the time. For instance, in the case of the general public always going after sense gratification – the dangling carrot – and when it doesn’t actually come to them, they go into a panic mode. It’s as if the world was to come to an end. And when some patience and austerity is called upon, they freak. The frenzy tactic is really a false alarm. Instead of feeling some deprivation over our stimulation, why not enjoy acceptance of a virtue?

May the Source be with you!


 

Thursday, December 22, 2022
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Burnaby/Vancouver/Toronto

A Friend In the Air

Every once in a while, I meet a real nice person as a passenger on the plane next to me. The timing on the flight between Vancouver and Toronto couldn’t be better for dodging storms. Vancouver got clobbered and there’s more to come. Predictions indicate that storms will hit Toronto, so there was a break of winter chaos and that happened to be my flight time for Air Canada 108. The stress reliever is always mantra power, so that’s what I resorted to. An additional soothe space was in meeting Mike, 23, whose last name was Greek.

A graduate of McMaster U., he is a smart chap who was fascinated, not by the latest action movie on the screen, but in the fabulous sunset which he photographed. He also indulged me in the topic of another of his passions such as the wonder of Egypt’s pyramids. He showed me some data from his screen on mathematical precisions that would indicate extraordinary accuracy in their engineering.

We talked of aliens. Would artificial intelligence, extra-terrestrials or aliens be somewhat involved in these incredible structures? These were our thoughts. I did tell Mike of such possibilities of demigods and celestials who likely participated in man’s early development on this very planet, according to the Vedas.

Our discussion went the way of spiritual concepts as well. “We are not these bodies. We are spirits that change bodies.”

Mike is a good listener. Naturally we talked about walking marathons. It was great to be able to pass the time quickly through meaningful conversation.

May the Source be with you!


 

In Social Attitudes Towards Misconduct and Accountability, Theology Can Help or Hurt
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Image Source: Wylly Suhendra I want to share some reflections on the role of scripture (śāstra) and theology in the context of ISKCON’s ongoing efforts towards accountability and justice related to sexual misconduct. The last few years have brought a new wave of attention to sexual misconduct and accountability in ISKCON. While this has been […]

The post In Social Attitudes Towards Misconduct and Accountability, Theology Can Help or Hurt appeared first on ISKCON News.

Japa
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From “Japa: Positive Thinking for Neophytes” in Among Friends, Volume 2 #4 (1994): HH Satsvarupa Das Goswami “Japa is everyone’s favorite topic because all of us hope that by discussing our sadhana, we have a chance to improve. Often when I talk to devotees about chanting, I say the first stage of improvement is to
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Japa
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From “Japa: Positive Thinking for Neophytes” in Among Friends, Volume 2 #4 (1994): HH Satsvarupa Das Goswami “Japa is everyone’s favorite topic because all of us hope that by discussing our sadhana, we have a chance to improve. Often when I talk to devotees about chanting, I say the first stage of improvement is to
Read More...

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami: On Kirtana
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Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami: From “On Kirtana” in Among Friends, Volume 2 #1 (1993): “When I heard the question [how to keep the mind from wandering during kirtana], different phrases came to mind. One was: ‘Hear the wonderful chorus and let it uplift you.’ That chorus is a dimension in kirtana that is not available to
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Vaisnava Compassion in Global Crisis
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By Bhaktin Allegra

What is the appropriate response of a Vaisnava or person of faith during a time of national or global crisis? The examples of great souls and of scripture can help us understand what a Vaisnava response can look like. From a certain perspective, we are always in a time of crisis. In the material world, there is danger at every step. Although the material world is the wonderful creation of the Divine, it is not our home, and our material position is never secure. A large part of spiritual practice is meant to help us realize this, and to seek to connect with the Divine and with one another on a spiritual level. Spiritual practice helps us find equanimity during times of unexpected or unwanted change, because we have placed our faith with our Eternal Friend. Continue reading "Vaisnava Compassion in Global Crisis
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