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Another meaning of the word yoga is "plus." At the present moment we are minus God, or minus the Supreme. When we add Krishna—or God—to our lives, this human form of life becomes perfect.
- Srila Prabhupada, Beyond Birth and Death : 2 - Elevation at Death
The front cover art of Sankirtana Das’ Mahabharata book.
A New Vrindaban Storyteller Releases New ‘Fast-Paced’ Mahabharata
By: Madhava Smullen for ISKCON News on Aug. 9, 2013.
Professional storyteller Sankirtana Das (Andy Fraenkel) has just published his own retelling of the great Vedic epic Mahabharata that stands out from the crowd with its unique fast-paced approach.
The book, Mahabharata: The Eternal Quest, is the culmination of years of experience in the dramatic arts, as well as a long relationship with the Mahabharata.
Young Andy Fraenkel first encountered the epic while living on New York’s Lower East Side and studying theater in college in the 1960s.
In his college library, he came across The Indian Story Book by Richard Wilson, which included several stories from the Mahabharata.
“The story of Yudhistira and the dog really jumped out at me,” he says.
Andy created a script based on the story, and turned it into a short play that became part of a full-length presentation his college theater group put on for elementary schools in the New York City area, along with The Emperor’s New Clothes and Rudyard Kipling’s The Elephant’s Child.
After this, Andy began to get more interested in Indian spirituality. He got a copy of ISKCON Founder Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is at the ISKCON temple on 61 2nd Ave—Bhagavad-gita of course being a central part of the Mahabharata.
Then, in 1971, after graduating from college, he and his wife visited Nova Scotia to stay with another couple pursuing the arts. During their stay, they read the Bhagavad-gita more, bought and strung their own beads for chanting, and began to implement a vegetarian diet and cut out intoxicants.
After meeting Srila Prabhupada in Detroit later that year, they eventually joined ISKCON in Chicago in 1973, and were initiated by Srila Prabhupada as Sankirtana Das and Ruci Dasi.
“We knew we were making a very serious commitment,” Sankirtana says. “And at that time, I was ready to leave all my attachments about theater behind.”
Sankirtana became a dedicated missionary, spending his time distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books at Chicago’s O’Hare airport.
But in 1976, after moving to New Vrindaban in the West Virginia Hills, he began to think more deeply about what would come next for him.
“I began to realize that to stay in the movement for the long haul, I needed to be connected to some particular service,” he says. “I thought about getting into one of the arts and crafts, doing stained glass or pottery. And as I was trying to rack my brains as to what to do, I thought, ‘Wait a minute, I have something that I’m connected with—theater!’”
Starting the Theater Project in New Vrindaban, Sankirtana performed a one-man theater program called An Evening with Krishnadas Kaviraj. After a stint with the Vaikuntha Players in New York performing the Ramayana, he was joined back in New Vrindaban by Lokamangala Das of the Players when the group disbanded. The two had a close working relationship for a decade, putting on Nandulal: The Story of Bilvamangala Thakur; The Advent of Lord Krishna, The Ramayana, Lord Chaitanya and the Kazi, and Jada Bharat: Three Lives.
Throughout the 1980s, they would put together one play every year, and perform it through the summer for New Vrindaban visitors. Then, in 1987, their efforts culminated in a two-man performance of the Mahabharata.
“The international theater director Peter Brook was bringing his nine-hour Mahabharata to New York City, so we decided to develop our own Mahabharata,” Sankirtana says. “At first we tried to get more people involved. But when we saw that no one was going to make such a big commitment, we resigned ourselves to putting together a two-man Mahabharata.”
Sankirtana and Lokamangala performed their under two-hour Mahabharata for a five-week run in the 100-seat American Theater of Actors Off-Broadway in New York City, with a musician providing live musical accompaniment and Bharat Natyam dancer Deva Deva Jagat Pate performing dance.
Meanwhile, Peter Brook’s nine-hour Mahabharata production, with its forty actor cast and half a dozen musicians, played simultaneously.
Despite being much more low key, Sankirtana and Lokamangala’s play, referred to as ‘the other Mahabharata,’ was also reviewed in the New York Times, which stated that the duo “dedicate the work to their eternal Spiritual Master, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.”
Lokamangala Das and Sankirtana Das (right) perform their two-man Mahabharata Off-Broadway in New York City.
For four years, the two toured the Mahabharata at colleges, Hindu temples, and Rathayatra festivals around North America.
But then in 1991, Lokamangala moved away from the New Vrindaban community. And in 1994 Sankirtana suffered a major heart attack, rendering him unable to shoulder the intense task of producing plays.
A performer, however, is always a performer, whatever the medium. And so, undaunted, Sankirtana transitioned to solo dramatic storytelling.
“For the last twenty years, I’ve been a professional multicultural storyteller, telling stories from Indian, African, Jewish and Native American traditions,” he says. “I developed a repertoire of stories which I took to high schools, elementary schools, and colleges, and I also developed several workshops on the dynamics of storytelling.”
In 2005, Sankirtana Das received a West Virginia Artist Fellowship Award for his outstanding efforts in professional storytelling.
And in 2006, he was invited to the National Storytelling Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and told to submit three stories, of which he would tell one. He chose three stories from the Mahabharata.
“Devotees had been saying, ‘Why don’t you work on a film of the Mahabharata?’ But I didn’t have the capacity or energy for something like that,” he says. “So in 2000, I decided if I couldn’t make a movie I would write a treatment of the Mahabharata as if it were a film. It would be so visual, graphic and character and action driven, that when people read it it would be like watching a movie in their minds.”
When Sankirtana submitted his three stories the Storytelling Conference asked him to tell all three, which he did, in front of a thousand extremely appreciative listeners.
This encouraged him to refocus on the Mahabharata that year, in 2006. Finally, he once again refocused his energies on the epic in 2011, putting aside his other projects, and completed and published the work this year.
There have, of course, been many different versions of the Mahabharata, both outside of ISKCON and within, but Sankirtana’s brings its own unique style.
“Today’s culture is so visually driven, obsessed with Internet, video games, and movies,” he says. “So I wanted to make a Mahabharata available that addresses that inclination in our culture. I wanted it to be a fast-paced story, not bogged down with too much description and dialogue.”
In his relatively slim 280-page edition of the Mahabharata, Sankirtana attempts to retain the essence and depth of the story while always keeping it moving forward quickly. His years of experience in the dramatic arts, which he feels applies in all forms of art, helped him to keep this balance.
Sankirtana has geared his book towards a very broad audience, but hopes that the shorter, more digestible narrative will make it especially ideal for use in college classes compared to other editions, some of which near the 1,000 page mark.
At the same time, he has tried to make the book interesting to devotees who may already be familiar with the story by using narrative tricks and turns that keep readers on their toes.
“I have three prologues,” he says. “One with Bhumi and the demigods praying to Lord Vishnu in Svetadvipa; one about Vasishta Muni cursing the Vasus; and one of Lord Krishna telling a story about Dharma to Yudhistira.”
After these three prologues, the narrative jumps to Yudhistira walking across the battlefield at Kuruksetra to seek permission from Grandfather Bhisma and Dronacharya to engage in combat. Bhisma then thinks back on how it all came to this terrible war, and we flash back to the traditional beginning of the Mahabharata, wherein Bhisma’s father Shantanu meets his mother Ganga.
During the course of the narrative, Sankirtana ties all these different “loose ends” together, keeping even the most seasoned reader interested to see how he’ll do it. Through this, three important themes arise: Sankirtana helps the reader understand the nature of Dharma; the age of Kali; and Krishna’s relationship with his devotees the Pandavas.
Intriguingly, in relation to Krishna, Sankirtana recreates for his readers the experience that people had 5,000 years ago during the events of the Mahabharata. As ISKCON Founder Srila Prabhupada explains, a very small number of people actually knew that Lord Krishna was God Himself at the time.
Thus, not wanting to spoon feed his readers or bash them over the head, Sankirtana never mentions in his text that Krishna is God. Rather, he lets the other characters and events in the book steer them towards that natural conclusion: for instance, the way Grandfather Bhisma and others address Krishna as the Supreme, Krishna’s showing His universal form to Arjuna, and Krishna’s appearing instantly to save Draupadi when her modesty is attacked by Dusashana during the gambling match.
“Prabhupada used to say that when someone sees a [Krishna conscious] play, they’re performing devotional service,” Sankirtana says. “Because if the play is done well, the hearts of the audience will go out towards the heros of the play—the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So in my book I try to make the characters sympathetic and give the full scope of their relationships with Krishna, so that the reader will naturally sympathize with these personalites. And they’ll be performing devotional service as they read it, whether they know Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead or not.”
“I don’t spoon feed the reader,” he concludes. “I accept that the reader is intelligent, and hopefully Krishna in their hearts will lead them to the right conclusion.”
Sankirtana Das’s book Mahabharata: The Eternal Quest is available for order now at Mahabharata-project.com.
You can read more from Sankirtana Das at his blog.
Srimad Bhagavatam 06.03.28 by H.H. Indradyumna Swami at ISKCON Juhu on 12th February 2014
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi 1.87, Translation: The appearance of ?r? K???a Caitanya and Prabhu Nity?nanda has surcharged the world with happiness.
The purpose of the appearance of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nity?nanda is to dispel the darkness of the soul.
CC Adi 1.94, Translation and Purport: All kinds of activities, both auspicious and inauspicious, that are detrimental to the discharge of transcendental loving service to Lord ?r? K???a are actions of the darkness of ignorance.
The poetical comparison of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nity?nanda to the sun and moon is very significant. The living entities are spiritual sparks, and their constitutional position is to render devotional service to the Supreme Lord in full K???a consciousness. So-called pious activities and other ritualistic performances, pious or impious, as well as the desire to escape from material existence, are all considered to be coverings of these spiritual sparks. The living entities must get free from these superfluous coverings and fully engage in K???a consciousness. The purpose of the appearance of Lord Caitanya and Lord Nity?nanda is to dispel the darkness of the soul. Before Their appearance, all these superfluous activities of the living entities were covering K???a consciousness, but after the appearance of these two brothers, people’s hearts are becoming cleansed, and they are again becoming situated in the real position of K???a consciousness.
CC Adi 13.61, Translation: In R??hade?a, the part of Bengal where the Ganges is not visible, Nity?nanda Prabhu, Ga?g?d?sa Pa??ita, Mur?ri Gupta and Mukunda took birth.
Another place nearby is named H???ug???. A fair is held there on the birthday of ?r? Nity?nanda Prabhu.
CC Adi 13.61, Purport: Another place nearby is named H???ug???. It is said that Lord Nity?nanda Prabhu brought all the holy places there. Therefore the people in the surrounding villages go there instead of to the Ganges to take bath. It is named H???ug??? because ?r?la Nity?nanda Prabhu used to perform the dadhi-ci?? festival of distributing chipped rice with yogurt pras?dam there and He took the pras?dam kneeling down. A sanctified lake in this place is always full of water throughout the year. A great fair is held there during Go??h???am?, and there is another big fair on the birthday of ?r? Nity?nanda Prabhu. In the Gaura-ga?odde?a-d?pik? (58–63) it is described that Hal?yudha, Baladeva, Vi?var?pa and Sa?kar?a?a appeared as Nity?nanda Avadh?ta.
Please click here for more photos
A new temple in Delhi was opened on 12 February 2014, on the auspicious occasion of Nityananda Trayodasi. Lokanatha Maharaja was the driving force behind this temple and the installation of Sri Sri Radha Govinda, Sri Sri Jagannath Baladeva Subhadra and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai took place in grand style with many senior devotees present.
Lokanatha Maharaja extended an invitation to the opening ceremony to Kadamba Kanana Maharaja and in his class on 19 January, Kadamba Kanana Maharaja shared that exchange with us:
In 1986, Lokanatha Maharaja came to me and said, “Can you take care of pada-yatra?” Pada-yatra included a wild elephant; a camel that would bite people; a whole caravan of tractors and exhibitions; and about a hundred and fifty to two hundred Indian villagers! And he asked me to take care of them.
I said to Maharaja, “I am so busy!” There was the samadhi and I was in charge of all the construction in Mayapur. I said to Maharaja that I was so busy and just had no time so please ask someone else.
He said, “In my village, if you want to get something done, you never go to a man who is not busy. If you go to a man who is not busy, he will not do anything because he is lazy. But if you go to a man who is busy, he may not have enough time but because he is active by nature, at least he will do something!”
So how could I say no! This year, he came to me and on an impossible date, when I’m really busy in Mayapur, he wants me to go to Noida, Delhi for the opening of his new temple! And I said to Maharaja, “How can I go?” And he told me the same story again!
So, okay, I am going to Noida on 12 February for the opening of the new temple. Didn’t really want to go but I am going because Lokanatha Maharaja wants it. So what can we do, let the vaisnavas control our life. Let us not be miserly and just think about me. I am happy to go because Lokanatha Maharaja will smile at me and with that smile, maybe I’ll get some selflessness in my heart…
Kadamba Kanana Maharaja describes the festival:
Lokanatha Maharaja celebrated the festival in a wonderful way. Maharaja and his team of devotees welcomed so many vaisnavas with great generosity – they gave us gifts, they arranged for all our travel, they were most attentive to any little need we might have.
Lokanatha Maharaja gave all his guests the opportunity to take leading roles in the program and he stayed humbly in the background. His humility came to the forefront, meanwhile giving credit to all. It was wonderful. The Deities of Radha Govinda look like They are intoxicated with bliss.
Maharaja made me give Bhagavatam class. I spoke about the descent of the river Ganges, how the mercy comes in the universe and how the demigods partake in distributing it. Then I spoke about how the Lord mercifully manifests Himself in His Deity form and in each Deity, manifests a different aspect of His unlimited qualities. I mentioned how once we were debating which Deity is the most beautiful. I said, “Radha Syamasundara, of course,” while a leading devotee from Delhi said, ‘It’s Radha Partha-Sarathi.’ Finally, the conclusion was that the most beautiful Deities are the ones that you serve.
I reminded the devotees once again how ecstatic Sri Sri Radha Govinda looked. Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhu from Vrndavana commented that the Deites take the quality of the place where they are at and that these Deities have taken in the ecstasy of Lokanatha Maharaja. Jananivasa Prabhu mentioned that Maharaja had said, “I already love these Deities very much. They have stolen my heart.”
And what can I say, I know that I will have to go back to the Noida temple and as far as you are concerned, I think that on the way to Vrndavana you should stop for a darshan and you will see that these Deities are really special.
I must also say that I thank Lokanatha Maharaja and all the Noida devotees for the very generous hospitality; in their association I felt purified.
After flying up-and-down, bumpy roads, arriving at 1 am, little sleep and cold for the last few days, I am going to have a big sleep, right now!
Here are pictures from the opening ceremony. If you cannot view the slide-show below, then please visit flickr.
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“We think of Srila Prabhupada staying in the Bowery with that young man, David Allen, who was taking the New York version of strong liquor—LSD. David just went mad. He could have done anything to Srila Prabhupada. And Srila Prabhupada went running down the stairs onto the street, not knowing where he would go. It was like Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura running for their life from the drunken brothers Jagai and Madhai. I cannot imagine anyone since Nityananda Prabhu and His associates who has taken up that mission of approaching anyone and everyone without discrimination and giving them the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as Srila Prabhupada did. And he is doing that through all of you; you are also doing the same thing. You are approaching people without discrimination and giving them the message of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the form of Srila Prabhupada’s books, or through or the hari-nama sankirtana party, which also carries books and magazines. By that activity we will get the mercy of Lord Nityanada and Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.”
2014 02 12 Festivals Nityananda Trayodasi Understanding the Mercy of Nityananda Prabhu Morning Lec
Dallas Morning News,Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.
Two things Americans take seriously are religion and football. With the Super Bowl set for Sunday, here’s a question: Why do so many people pray for their favorite sports team to win? Is it just a ritual? An act of faith? Or a hedge, just in case?
A new survey finds that half of American sports fans say they believe God or a supernatural force is at play in the games they watch. That includes Americans who pray for God to help their team (26 percent), think their team has been cursed (25 percent) or more generally believe God is involved in determining who wins on the court or in the field (19 percent).
So is God the 12th man on the field at kickoff when the Broncos and Seahawks meet in the big game this weekend? The Great Odds Maker in the Sky?
The Public Religion Research Institute finds that football fans are the most likely to pray for their own teams to win. About one-third say they ask God to intervene in games. When it comes to whether God rewards religious athletes with health and success, about half of Americans say yes, about half say no. The belief that God will help religious athletes was most prominent among white evangelicals (62 percent) and non-white Protestants (65 percent). When it comes to the religiously unaffiliated, only about 20 percent feel that way.
So why do so many Americans pray for God to help their team? Or believe that God rewards religious athletes?
Do they really think God works this way? Or like Pascal’s wager, do people figure — hey, I’ve got doubts, but what if it works, what if it’s true? Why not be on the winning side?
We put that question to our Texas Faith Panel and the result was a funny, thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining set of answers from some of the smartest people on matters of religion and faith in Texas. It’s not so easy as you might think. Some of the answers might surprise you.
NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas
The Supreme Lord is not an order supplier waiting to commanded at a whim. This survey illustrates that many in the world are very ignorant in regards to the position of God. We are His servants and He also loves to serve us. How does God like to serve us? He helps those who are seeking Him get closer.
"To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me." Bhagavad Gītā As It Is 10.10. Because of illusion, people misidentify the body as the self and become absorbed in the gains and failures that are related to this body. Thus one falsely thinks himself to be related to a particular group or nation.
In bodily consciousness one thinks himself to be Black, White, heterosexual, homosexual, Republican, Democrat, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, or being related to a particular team that they identify with. In this illusion one imagines that the gains and failures of those different groups are in relation to themselves. However the self is actually spiritual, eternal, and unaffiliated with the things of this world.
The ephemeral gains for our vehicle, the body, do nothing to bring satisfaction to the self, the soul. Thus God has no interest in fueling one's illusion but happily reciprocates with those who try to connect with Him beyond the Matrix.
To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.
Bhaktivedanta Manor is the UK headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness Read more › Dallas Morning News,Each week we will post a question to a panel of about two dozen clergy, laity and theologians, all of whom are based in Texas or are from Texas. They will chime in with their responses to the question of the week. And you, readers, will be able to respond to their answers through the comment box.
A new poll finds that religious hostilities have increased in almost every major region of the world. Perhaps not surprisingly, the sharpest increase was in the Middle East and North Africa, most likely an after effect of the 2010-11 political uprisings known as the Arab Spring. But the Pew Research Center study also found a significant increase in religious hostilities in China and the Asia-Pacific region.
Todd Slater
Some numbers in the new report: a third (33%) of the 198 countries and territories included in the study had high religious hostilities in 2012, up from 29% in 2011 and 20% as of mid-2007. Here’s the link: http://www.pewforum.org/2014/01/14/religious-hostilities-reach-six-year-high/
The study looked at efforts by governments to ban particular faiths, prohibit conversations and give preferential treatment to some religious groups at the expense of others. Those haven’t changed significantly. But acts of overt hostility toward religion – religion-related armed conflict or terrorism, mob or sectarian violence, harassment over attire for religious reasons or other religion related intimidation or abuse — have increased.
Incidents of abuse targeting religious minorities seen as offensive or threatening to the majority faith are up. In Libya, for instance, two worshippers were killed in an attack on a Coptic Orthodox church. Harassment of women over religious dress occurred in nearly a third of countries in 2012 (32%), compared to less than one-in-ten (7%) as of mid-2007. And mob violence related to religion occurred in a quarter of countries in 2012 (25%) – double the number from five years earlier.
So what’s happening here? Is this just a cycle, a phase? Or is it something else? The power of religious faith to divide as well as to unite has a long history. But clearly in the last few years, people are increasingly using religion for negative and destructive ends in many places.
Why are religious hostilities on the rise across much of the world? What, if anything, can be done about it? Our Texas Faith panel weighs in:
NITYANANDA CHANDRA DAS, minister of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness), Dallas
The cause of any type of injustice is ignorance. Specifically people misidentify the body at the self. Therefore, in ignorance, one thinks oneself to be White, Black, Asian, Republican, Democrat, male, female, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, as so on. The solution to injustice is knowledge of the self and practical application.
It is not that one needs to know just theoretically that one is not the body but the soul within. One must have a process to practically experience it. That individual who experiences himself beyond body is self satisfied and thus is peaceful and happy. A society of individuals who have no self knowledge will never be happy. Therefore peace and happiness is concomitant of actual spiritual knowledge, everything else is ignorance, despite that it may have a religious appearance.
To see all responses of the TEXAS Faith panel click here.
HG Saksi Gopal lights up Leicester Square with the Holy Name.
There is nothing like an old fashion Hari Nam.
Filmed by HG Bhaja Hari Prabhu.
There is about eight direct disciples of Srila Prabhupada going out regularly on this Hari Nam, in the old days these devotees would perform this sacrifice daily for eight hours.
That was the norm!
Please come out on the streets it’s “susukham kartum avyayam”, great fun.
your servant
Parasuram Das.
Dear Maharajs/Prabhus,
Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
The following video clip was taken from last Friday’s Feast at Matchless Gifts, UK. The singer’s name is “Youth” from one of my favorite bands “Killing Joke”.
He was a good friend of “Polystryne” or as we knew her “Maharani”.
x ray spex from Food For All on Vimeo.
Your servant
Parasuram Das
Nityananda Trayodasi: Appearance of Sri Nityananda Prabhu. Nityananda Prabhu appeared as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's principal associate for spreading the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord. He appeared in 1474 in the village of Ekachakra, now in West Bengal. He especially spread the holy name of Krishna throughout Bengal. His beauty was so enchanting and He was so full of ecstatic love for Krishna that, wherever He moved, crowds of people would follow and become lovers of God. He is considered an incarnation of Krishna's principal expansion, Balarama. Read more › 
The entire universe is full of miseries, and therefore the inhabitants of this material universe are always shedding tears out of intense grief. There is a great ocean of water made from such tears, but for one who surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ocean of tears is at once dried up. One need only see the charming smile of the Supreme Lord. In other words, the bereavement of material existence immediately subsides when one sees the charming smile of the Lord.
- Srila Prabhupada, Srimad Bhagavatam 3.28.32 purport
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New Vrindaban’s Transcendental “Throwback Thursday” – 02/13/14.
Each week we highlight an earlier era of ISKCON New Vrindaban.
This week’s challenge: These two devotees look like they are happily engaged in their service. Who are they and what do you think they are working on?
Post your guesses on the “who, what, when & where” in the comment section at the New Vrindaban Facebook Page.
Technical stuff: We share the photo Thursday and confirm known details Sunday. Let’s keep it light and have a bit of fun!
Special request: If you have a photo showing New Vrindaban devotees in action, share it with us and we’ll use it in a future posting.
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