Planet ISKCON

1970 March 12: "Krishna will give you timely a suitable place, don't worry. Our leader, Sanatana Goswami, was living underneath a tree, keeping His Deity hanging on the branch of a tree and still He was always engaged in the service of the Lord. So place or no place, we must go on with our preaching work."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1970

1972 March 12: "If self-realized souls write something song about Krishna, that is perfectly from the transcendental platform, without any tinge of mundane influence or nonsense imagination. Unless someone comes from this category, his manufacturing some songs about Krishna will be misleading to himself and others."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1972 March 12: "Become determined to fix all your attention for seeing Krishna face to face by the Krishna Consciousness process and chant always this Hare Krishna mantra - than you shall qualify yourself for writing songs about Krishna."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1972

1975 March 12: "Yes, you are right - all qualifications come if you simply surrender to the bona fide Spiritual Master. To take shelter of the Spiritual Master means to follow his instructions. So, you should be very careful to not deviate even a little bit from the order of the Spiritual Master."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1975

On 13th march there is a big festival held at shantipur a place near Mayapur which was the residence of Advaita Acharya. There will be a huge amount of cooking held and all devotees including Maharajas will serve Khichudi to the devotees and pilgrims. The pastime behind this festival is – A very auspicious festival […]

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(Kindly transcribed by Swetha Ganeshan Mataji) Download the audio for this lecture here: Download From: Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir! Date: March 10th, 2014 Speaker: HH Bhakti Asraya Vaisnava Swami Subject: S.B. 5.13.21 rajovaca aho nr-janmakhila-janma-sobhanam kim janmabhis tv aparair apy amusmin na yad dhrsikesa-yasah-krtatmanam mahatmanam vah pracurah samagamah TRANSLATION: King Rahugana said: This birth as […]

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Live from Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir! Date: February 20, 2004 Verse: Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.32 Speaker: HH Bhakti-tirtha Swami atah param yad avyaktam avyudha-guna-brmhitam adrstasruta-vastutvat sa jivo yat punar-bhavah TRANSLATION: Beyond this gross conception of form is another, subtle conception of form which is without formal shape and is unseen, unheard and unmanifest. The living being […]

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(Kindly transcribed by Mataji Swetha Ganeshan) Download the audio for this lecture here: Download From: Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir! Date: March 8h, 2014 Speaker: HH Danavir Goswami Subject: S.B. 5.13.20 HH Danavir Goswami: Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. S.B. 5th Canto, Chapter 13, Rahugana converses with Jada Bharatha, […]

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(Kindly transcribed by Mataji Swetha Ganeshan) Download the audio for this lecture here: Download From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir! Date: March 7th, 2014 Speaker: HG Krsnanandini devi dasi Subject: S.B. 5.13.19 HG Krsnanandini devi dasi: Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya So we are reading from the Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto […]

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(Kindly transcribed by Sheela mataji) Download the audio for this lecture here: Download From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir! Date: March 5th, 2014 Speaker: HG Anuttama Das Subject: S.B. 5.13.17 So reading today from the Srimad Bhagavatam Canto Five Chapter Thirteen entitled “Rahugana converses with Jada Bharata’ tair vañcito hamsa-kulam samavisann arocayan silam upaiti vanaran taj-jati-rasena sunirvrtendriyah […]

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(Kindly transcribed by Mataji Swetha Ganeshan) Download the audio for this lecture here: Download From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir! Date: March 4th, 2014 Speaker: HH Niranjana Swami Maharaja Subject: C.C. Adi Lila 8.16 HH Niranjana Swami Maharaja: jaya jaya śri-caitanya jaya nityananda jaya advaita-candra jaya gaura-bhakta-vṛnda (Call and response) Reading today from Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi Lila […]

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(Kindly transcribed by Sheela mataji) From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir Date: March 3rd, 2014 Speaker: HG Dravida Dasa Subject: S.B. 6.3.22 narayanam namaskrtya naram caiva narottamam devim sarasvatim vyasam tato jayam udirayet [SB 1.2.4] Before reciting this Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is our very means of conquest, we should offer respectful obeisances unto Lord Narayana, the Supreme […]

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“From my heart it entered your heart. I therefore understand that a great personality will soon take birth.”

(Kindly transcribed by Mataji Swetha Ganeshan) Download the audio for this lecture here: Download From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir! Date: March 2nd, 2014 Speaker: HH Radhanath Swami Subject: SB 8:23:16 HH Radhanath Swami: Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. mantratas tantratas chidram desa-kalarha-vastutah sarvam karoti nischidram anusankirtanam tava (word to […]

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(Kindly transcribed by Sheela mataji) Download the audio for this lecture here: Download From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir! Date: March 1st, 2014 Speaker: HH Lokanath Swami Subject: S.B. 11.5.36 In the glorification of sankirtana, Kirtan Mela, we are asked to, speakers these days, Bhagavatam speakers are asked to select a verse that glorifies the Holy name. […]

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(Kindly transcribed by Mataji Swetha Ganeshan) Download the audio for this lecture here: Download From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir! Date: February 28th, 2014 Speaker: HH Bhakti Purusottama Swami Subject: S.B. 12.13.23 HH Bhakti Purusottama Swami: Because we are celebrating Kirtan Mela, so these 4-5 days, we are instructed to speak on the glories of the Holy Name. […]

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(Kindly transcribed by Sheela mataji) Download the audio for this lecture here: Download From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir! Date: February 27th, 2014 Speaker: HH Kadamba Kanana Swami Subject: CC Adi 7.20-21 – The Holy Name So today they have asked me to speak, to inaugurate the upcoming Kirtan Mela. This evening there will be the adhivas […]

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Super colorful and with much joy, remembering Lord Krishna's pastimes! Read more ›

Niranjana Swami: My dear Abhyarci devi dasi, Please accept my blessings. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Yesterday, March 7, 2014, you left this world surrounded by so many loving devotees, loudly chanting Krsna’s names. As I was standing next to you, chanting and simultaneously hearing the kirtan, chanted so loudly and with such great fervor, […]

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Manu Prabhu at Kirtan Mela Mayapur 2014 Day 3

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. You can bring a man to knowledge, but you can’t make him think.

Svananda Kunja is Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s house at Sri Godrumadvipa Mayapur.

 Please click here for more photos

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 04 March 2012, New York, USA, Caitanya Caritamrta Adi-lila 9.37)

Question: Maharaj, you spoke about associating with the mode of goodness and being natural also. Do we do it step-by-step, little-by-little?

I am regularly in Germany and in Germany they have the autobahn (highway) with no speed limit. Some years back, they had a big sign at the side of the highway which said, ‘Turtles to the right!’ Similarly, in spiritual life, there is also a turtle lane. So as this German autobahn has different lanes, you can stay in the turtle lane forever, thinking, ‘Well, step-by-step; better safe than sorry!’ Or you can take a bit of a risk and go drive in the middle lane, and in Germany when you drive in a middle lane sometimes you see these lights flashing behind you and then some Porsche comes flying and that’s Rupa Gosvami or someone like that! So, think about that also. If we just stay in the turtle lane forever, I am not sure…

Is it under the guidance of devotees that we shift?

Yes, to some extent. You got to have some faith that Krsna is going to protect you. You cannot always be under the guidance of devotees, every step of the way. You cannot always be on the hand of your mother as a kid also – you have to venture out, to take some risk, fall on your face even! Nowadays, we have the counselor system and I am the first one to say, “Very good, very nice!” But of course as with every system, it also has a flip side. That is, we also don’t want to create overly dependent people. We want self-reliant people who are able to take care of themselves spiritually, to intelligently follow. It has to come to that – that is maturity. Certainly, we are always eager for association of devotees, we don’t want to live without that but we have to become spiritually self-reliant. That is important. Therefore step-by-step is okay but big steps! It’s a short life! (snapping fingers)

I mean, I am old fashioned – I still am. In 1999, I gave a seminar which was called, From 1966 till 1999. In ’66 the mood was, ‘We all are going to go back to Godhead in this lifetime!’ And in ’99, the mood was, ‘If your guru is a parama-prestha-priya sakhi, then maybe theoretically it would be possible to go back to Godhead but we are not going to make it, it’s gonna take many, many lifetimes.’ That kind of things. I am old fashioned, I still sort of believe that maybe it is going to be done in this lifetime, if I try hard. So the turtle lane, nah… I want to get out of this place.

 

 

By Her unsurpassed love, Radha charms He who performs wonderful lilas on the banks of the Yamuna. Therefore, those who are sober know Him as Krsna.

Srila Jiva Goswami

Harinama is the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord as shown to us by Srila Prabhupada. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu introduced the sankirtan movement 500 years ago and it is the spiritual process recommended in the Vedas for the age of Kali, the age we now find ourselves in. From the beginning of the Krishna consciousness movement in the West, Srila Prabhupada directed the devotees to chant congregationally in the temple as well as in the parks and streets of the towns and cities. Read more ›

Like the Vatican and its shepherding of a disparate flock of many-hued sheep, we may end up with several dozen ‘orders’ within the Hare Krishna movement, but at least they will be working under the same name and style. Theologies have a tendency of variation according to the very genuine physical needs and faith-levels of their proponents. As such, they won’t always mesh together, and practices may not always conform to strict orthopraxis, but splintering might be prevented, and we may all be spared the debilitation of any further reduction in size and influence. Splintering diminishes the strength of collegiate effort and repeated division is a scourge that ultimately ends in a loss of power and increased apathy. If people can be united to do good in the world it is helpful for everyone concerned. Read more ›

Not just the typical Vrindavan pig story that describes the ugly, dirty fellows bowling people over, in the wee hours of the morning, in order to claim their pig breakfasts. Read more ›

Watch it as it happened... Read more ›

Mayapur, India

A Plop That Plopped

A cow patty fell off the side of the village wall as we trekked by.  It got my attention.  The balance of the wall is perfectly populated with this stuff – round finger printed patties stuck to the brick.  They were getting dried by the sun, and just one lost its sticking power.

Cow patties are an excellent source of fuel.  They are there for the taking, free of charge.  The generous cow or bull leaves her or his earthy feces on the ground for people to do something smart with.  You have to be a little daring though.  It’s a hands on situation, and some patience is required to allow for drying time.  Somebody is doing a good job at gathering the stuff around here.  I can’t find fresh plops even if I were to take up the mission to secure even one. 

After the morning walk our small crew went to Radha Bhavan, the actual home of a gracious family from Poland.  Mahasringa, the man of the house, is the epitome of kindness.  He took us up to the roof of his home for a small ceremony, and for a talk that I was to give to a small group.  In the center of the flat roof, and under the sunshine, was a havan kund, a small fire arena.  There in its center was about six cow dung patties with a sprinkled amount of camphor on top of that, it made for a modest flame.  Mantras were to commence after I spoke a few words from the Gita, 2.57.  It’s a great verse:

“In the material world, one who is unaffected by whatever good or evil he may obtain, neither praising it nor despising it, is firmly fixed in perfect knowledge.”

The message was liked by all because it was geared toward the young man from Switzerland taking his second diksa (initiation).  Receiving this honour means that you endeavour to increase your application of wisdom.  To a large extent it also means to be level headed and to maintain one’s equilibrium as much as possible.  You enhance your consciousness. 

As a small fire was burning with its foundational fuel, the cow dung, mantras were recited by the presiding Brahman (priest).  Grains were tossed into the flame.  He had just about all the ingredients there to perform a perfect spiritual ceremony. 

It also made for a perfect last event before leaving the great retreat in Mayapur.  It all ended with some cow dung. 

May the Source be with you!

7 KM

Toronto, Ontario

My First

I took my first trek since returning from India.  So I went down Yonge Street near Dundas Street, a black chap held a stack of publications in one arm.  It is entitled, “Black Heroes”.  I justified not taking one as he extended one issue with his free hand.

“No thanks,” I said.  No racism intended.  In my mind I had three justifications.  In the first place, I carried no money to pay for the publication.  Number two, I was really needing to concentrate on japa meditation without major breaks.  Lastly, I already have the black hero in my life – Krishna.  I did not voice my simple concerns to him even though he demandingly responded with a, “Why not?”

The next person I took particular note of on the street was talking, but to no particular individual.  Paradoxically, he was speaking to everyone who passed by him.  His message was about Jesus.  I could see he was attracting no audience, and that should have no bearing on the personality Jesus himself.  It just appeared to be a gospel that’s been spoken many times over, so people had heard it before. 

The third person to speak to me directly was a woman appealing for change.  She was nice about it when I smiled and nodded, “No.”  I could actually hear her smile as I passed by and she remarked, “Well, maybe next time.”  She was most self-reassuring. 

It was nighttime and moving into the morning when I took this much needed trek.  I was addressing the jet lag syndrome chanting my japa.  Being awake to the non-worldly matters, I realized I was on another continent again, with different people, who have the same kinds of needs as on other continents and in other spheres. 

May the Source be with you!

7 KM

Kolkata / Delhi / Brussels / Toronto

Speed of Wind

Maha Mantra and I were moving with the speed of wind between airports.  First of all, the road from Mayapur to Kolkata is always a rough one, full of potholes and crazy traffic.  I will always love India for its people and its spirituality, but not its systems or lack of.

Delhi’s airport is world class, but not its air, it’s hot and stuffy.  You wonder why you call it an airport.  Our flights are on Jet Airways.  Maha Mantra and I managed to maintain a relative spiritual program on and off board.  It consists of a look at verses from the Gita.  We discuss.  We chant the song, Guruvastakam, in appreciation of the guru, right there in the airport in Brussels.  Of course, I also get a chance to contribute to this blog.  Some much needed dozing also happens to take place.  Then, Maha Mantra, being the disciplinarian and monk that he has been, asked me if there was anything I thought would be appropriate for him to watch on the televised screen in front of his seat.  Surely, I did my homework and gave my honest assessment.  I thought that the only good learning, near enlightening, or historic subject matter, would be a choice of films, “Lincoln”, or “The Butler”.

From Brussels to Toronto we experienced so little turbulence in the air.  The main turbulence would likely be that of mind.  As you may be aware, the Gita states that the wind is easier to harness than the mind. 

A word about that – the mind – is that it is the role played by my associate, Maha Mantra, in our Gita production.  He did splendid playing that sporadic character.  I am grateful to him for being with me in the travels and in the productions. 

I’m also happy about the pilgrimage to India.  I already expressed my likes and dislikes.  In it all, we are supposed to have the vision that God should be seen in all circumstances.  When there is a little bit less favourable circumstance, then it should always turn into an opportunity.

In landing at Toronto Airport, with a zero Celsius degrees, both Maha Mantra and I took a breath of that air, once the doors opened for us at the parking lot.  Personally, I see God in the form of fresh air, one of multiple manifestations.

May the Source be with you!

0 KM