Sri Rama-vijaya-dasami
Giriraj Swami

We read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Nine, Chapter Ten: “The Pastimes of the Supreme Lord, Ramacandra.”

TEXT 20

te ’nikapa raghupater abhipatya sarve
  dvandvam varutham ibha-patti-rathasva-yodhaih
jaghnur drumair giri-gadesubhir angadadyah
  sitabhimarsa-hata-mangala-ravanesan

TRANSLATION

Angada and the other commanders of the soldiers of Ramacandra faced the elephants, infantry, horses, and chariots of the enemy and hurled against them big trees, mountain peaks, clubs, and arrows. Thus the soldiers of Lord Ramacandra killed Ravana’s soldiers, who had lost all good fortune because Ravana had been condemned by the anger of Mother Sita.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

The soldiers Lord Ramacandra recruited in the jungle were all monkeys and did not have proper equipment with which to fight the soldiers of Ravana, for Ravana’s soldiers were equipped with weapons of modern warfare whereas the monkeys could only throw stones, mountain peaks, and trees. It was only Lord Ramacandra and Laksmana who shot some arrows. But because the soldiers of Ravana were condemned by the curse of Mother Sita, the monkeys were able to kill them simply by throwing stones and trees. There are two kinds of strength—daiva and purusakara. Daiva refers to the strength achieved from the Transcendence, and purusakara refers to the strength organized by one’s own intelligence and power. Transcendental power is always superior to the power of the materialist. Depending on the mercy of the Supreme Lord, one must fight one’s enemies even though one may not be equipped with modern weapons. Therefore Krsna instructed Arjuna, mam anusmara yudhya ca: “Think of Me and fight.” We should fight our enemy to the best of our ability, but for victory we must depend on the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

Coming to Bhaktivedanta Manor, I was reminded of the struggle we faced here to keep the temple open to the public and to preach Krishna consciousness. Although in such battles the enemies sometimes appear to have the upper hand, in the end, as long as we remain faithful to and dependent on the Lord and at the same time make our best effort with all sincerity and intelligence, we will be successful, according to His will.

We had a similar struggle in Juhu, Bombay. In fact, in Juhu we were even less equipped than were the devotees here, who had already established the mission quite solidly and had many friends—a large congregation and friends in influential positions. Still, it was a great struggle here.

In Juhu we were comparable to the band of monkeys that joined Lord Ramachandra. Srila Prabhupada himself drew parallels between himself and Lord Ramachandra, and between us and the monkeys. He compared the Western countries to Ravana, because they had so much wealth, just like Ravana in his opulent kingdom of Lanka. And wealth is Lakshmi—a manifestation of Lakshmi, or Sita. So, Srila Prabhupada said that just as Ravana had kidnapped Sita, the Western countries had kidnapped, or taken possession of, so much wealth. And just as Lord Ramachandra had crossed the ocean to redeem Sita, so Srila Prabhupada had also crossed the ocean. And just as Lord Ramachandra was assisted by so many monkeys, Srila Prabhupada was assisted by us.

The Juhu struggle is a great story, which has been told to some extent in Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta. One incident took place after we had been successful in getting the land from the previous owner, Mr. Nair. Srila Prabhupada used to refer to him as “the demon Nair.” When we first got possession of the land, the front of the property was vacant, and in the back were some old tenement buildings. So, we built a temporary temple in the front for the Deities, Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari. At first, we were living on the roofs on the terraces of the buildings, but eventually we were able to get at least one of the apartments from a tenant—for Srila Prabhupada.

So, Srila Prabhupada was living there, and he would go up to the roof in the late afternoon and meet people. One evening, he was sitting on the terrace and his disciple Haridas was fanning him. Srila Prabhupada said to Haridas, “Do you hear that?” And Haridas said, “Hear what?” Prabhupada said, “Do you hear the sound of the kirtan in the temple?” Haridas said, “No.” Prabhupada said, “That’s the point! There’s no kirtan going on in the temple!” Then he said, “Where are all the devotees? They should be in the temple doing kirtan; it’s the time of arati.” Haridas speculated and said, “They are probably out collecting. They haven’t gotten back from the city yet.” And Prabhupada replied, “That was not my idea that devotees should go out all day and collect and neglect the temple programs.”

Then he said, “Why do you think we were successful here? Mr. Nair was so much more powerful than we were. He was a wealthy man; we had very little money. He had been the sheriff of Bombay and knew so many influential people; we hardly knew anyone. And he owned one of the three English daily newspapers in Bombay. So he was very powerful. And we had very little money or influence, yet we were successful. Why? Because we were working for Krishna, for the pleasure of Krishna, we were successful.” Regarding the temple program, he said, “We will be successful not because we go out all day to collect money and then come back late—we’ll be successful if Krishna is pleased. So, we should go out, but we should come back in time. The devotees should leave the city by five o’clock and come back, otherwise they will become like karmis. They should come and chant in front of the Deities and please the Deities, and when the Deities are pleased, we will be successful by Their mercy.” [

This is always our position, that we make our best effort but depend on the mercy of the Lord. And making our best effort means according to the desire of the Lord—in our case, according to the order of the spiritual master. In the case of the monkeys of Lord Rama, they were directly under the Lord. Arjuna was directly under the Lord. We are also under the Lord, but under sadhu, shastra, and guru. They tell us what will please the Lord, and if we act to please the Lord, if the Lord is pleased, we will be successful.

Although the monkeys were successful in killing the army of Ravana, ultimately it was Lord Ramachandra who killed the great demon Ravana, and Rama-vijaya-dasami celebrates the victory of Ramachandra and specifically His killing of Ravana.

Now, in one sense this was an easier battle, because it is easier to battle forces that are outside of one’s self. But there are also enemies inside us with which we have to contend, and that struggle can be more difficult and more painful than the battle against enemies outside. Prahlada Maharaja survived so many attacks on his life organized by his father, Hiranyakasipu, but in his prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva, he said that his biggest enemies were his own mind and senses. The Bhagavad-gita says that the mind can be one’s best friend or one’s worst enemy. So, that’s a constant battle we all face—how to keep the mind focused on Krishna, especially when we gather together to hear and chant the holy name, to hear and chant the transcendental topics. We should fix the mind on Krishna. Mayy asakta-manah partha. In the seventh chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna says that the mind should be attached to Him. For us, aspiring devotees or practicing devotees, the best way to fix our mind on Krishna is to hear the holy names of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—and to hear, to actually hear, each word, each syllable. But it is difficult, because the mind is flickering and unsteady (cancalam hi manah krsna). Arjuna tells Krishna that it seems more difficult to control the mind than to control the wind, and who can control the wind? Nobody. That means it is practically impossible to control the mind. But Krishna says that it is possible by suitable practice and detachment. Abhyasa is the word for “practice.” We have to practice chanting and hearing. It is a struggle—it’s an effort—but we have to practice. As Srila Prabhupada said, “Practice makes perfect—even in spiritual life.”

Still, we will not be successful by our own efforts alone. I think we all have that experience—it applies not only to chanting japa, but to any of our activities. It applies to book distribution: Sometimes devotees go out thinking, “Oh, I am really fit today. I am going to have a great day.” And then they hardly have any results. And other times they go out feeling miserable—they don’t even know how they are going to get through the day—and they are very successful. They experience the lesson that they are not the doers, not the controllers. Whatever they do is by the mercy of the Lord, the mercy of the spiritual master, the mercy of the disciplic succession.

So, we make our effort, but ultimately we have to depend on the mercy of the Lord. Srila Prabhupada showed this all the time. After the success of the first Bombay pandal, he sent Tamal Krishna Goswami and me to Calcutta to organize a pandal program there. There were many Naxalites—communist youth—in Calcutta at the time. They used to kidnap people from rich families, and they would kill for their cause. When Srila Prabhupada first came to Calcutta, the Naxalites shot a wealthy person dead right on the street, just a few blocks from where Prabhupada was staying. They were envious. They may have had their reasons, but still, they were envious.

When Prabhupada came for the pandal program, the Naxalites were very disturbed and even sent Prabhupada a note: “Fly or die,” composed of letters cut out of a newspaper and pasted on the paper so that no one could trace the typewriter. The mood in the city was very tense.

Before the pandal program began, we had a small press conference with Srila Prabhupada behind the tent, and one of the reporters challenged, “What is the use of spending all this money on this pandal? You could use the money to help poor people.” And Srila Prabhupada said, “What is the use? The use is to give people a chance to hear. Actually, the whole pandal has come from hearing. I went to America and spoke and some young people heard me, and because they heard me, now they have made all the effort to organize the program. So, the use is to give people a chance to hear, and everything comes from that.” In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna tells Arjuna, tac chrnu: “Just hear from Me.” So, first comes hearing (sravanam), and then kirtanam and the other items of devotional service. Srila Prabhupada said, “They heard from me, and now they are repeating what they heard.”

Thousands of people attended the first night of the pandal program; they were just streaming in. We had dhurries, simple Indian carpets, on the ground, and most people sat on them, cross-legged. To the side, we had folding chairs, and we charged one rupee for a seat. So, some Naxalites came, and they were agitated that some people got to sit on the seats while other people had to sit on the ground. They made a huge disturbance. Prabhupada was trying to speak, and they were banging chairs together to make noise so that Prabhupada wouldn’t be able to speak. It was really tense. We didn’t know what was going to happen. Suddenly Prabhupada leaned forward, toward the microphone, and his voice boomed through the speaker system: “govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami . . .” He was singing the Govindam prayers. Suddenly the commotion stopped, and the Naxalites just walked away. I thought, “He has so much of faith in Krishna. He completely depends on Krishna.” (Years later, I read Gurudas Prabhu’s account of that incident, and it seems that along with singing the Govindam prayers, Prabhupada was sending notes to Gurudas telling him what to do with the Naxalites. And that’s good, too. We make our best effort and depend on Krishna. That is our process.)

We are about to begin the special month of Damodara, Kartik, and during this month we celebrate this binding of Krishna with ropes. Dama means “ropes” and udara means “belly.” Many of you know the story: Mother Yasoda was breastfeeding baby Krishna, and while doing so she realized that some milk that was on the fire was boiling over. So she set baby Krishna aside before He was satisfied, to tend to the milk on the fire. Baby Krishna became angry, and eventually He broke a pot of makhana (freshly churned butter) and began to eat it and share it with His friends.

When Mother Yasoda returned to where she had left Krishna, He wasn’t there. She saw His little footprints—His feet had been smeared with butter—and saw the broken pot. She was concerned and considered that she would have to discipline Krishna so that He would grow up properly. All responsible parents are concerned that they have to raise their children properly—that if they don’t discipline them, the children will not learn how to behave. As it was, Krishna was going to the neighbors’ homes and doing mischief, and they were complaining to Yasoda, “You better take care of your son. He is not behaving properly.”

Ultimately Mother Yasoda found Krishna, and when He saw her approaching—He was sitting, eating the makhana—He immediately got up and began to flee, and she started to pursue Him, but because He was smaller and more agile, He was able to get away. But eventually He allowed her to catch Him, and once she caught Him, she wanted to bind Him with ropes. Every morning she would tie His belt before He went to the pasturing grounds, so she didn’t think it would be difficult. But when she attempted to tie the rope, it was two inches too short, or, as the Bhagavatam says, the width of two fingers too short. So she added some more rope, but it was still two fingers too short. She added more. It was still two fingers too short. She gathered all the ropes in the household—being in a cowherd community, they had a lot of ropes for tying the cows and calves. And the neighbors were bringing their ropes. It was miles and miles of ropes, yet she still couldn’t bind Krishna. But she didn’t give up. Her friends were telling her, “You are not going to be able to do it. This is not working. Just give up.” But she was so sincere, feeling that, as Krishna’s mother, she had a duty, that she endeavored to tie Him up so that He wouldn’t create further mischief—and to teach Him a lesson. So, she didn’t give up, and when Krishna saw her sincere effort, His heart melted and He allowed her to bind Him.

Our acharyas have commented on the significance of the two fingers by which the rope was too short. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura explains that there was a competition between Krishna’s desire and Yasoda’s desire. Krishna’s desire was to be free and play with His friends, and Yasoda’s desire was to bind Krishna, so their desires were opposed to each other. Krishna has two shaktis. One potency is called satya-sankalpa-sakti, which means that whatever He desires is fulfilled. So, that came into play. Another potency is called vibhuti-sakti, which allows Him to manifest His opulences, although He usually doesn’t—only when necessary. Say there is a forest fire. He can be defeated by His friends in their sports, but when there is a forest fire or some other threat to the residents of Vrindavan, the vibhuti-sakti comes into play and allows Him to manifest His opulences and swallow the forest fire.

In this case the two shaktis—satya-sankalpa and vibhuti—joined together to fulfill His desire to play, and Mother Yasoda couldn’t bind Him. But when He saw her tireless efforts, He felt compassionate toward her, and He allowed her to bind Him. The acharyas say that one finger represents parisrama, personal endeavor, and that the other represents krsna-krpa, Krishna’s mercy. When these two combine, Krishna agrees to be bound.

So, we make our effort. We never give up, no matter what. We make our effort, and when Krishna sees that we are sincere in our effort to serve Him and please Him, His heart melts and He allows Himself to be bound. In any effort it is the same combination: our hard labor (parisrama) and Krishna’s mercy (krsna-krpa). It applies to our efforts to preach and to distribute books. It applies to our efforts to hear and to chant, to chant japa. We make our effort, and at the same time we pray for Krishna’s mercy. We depend on Krishna and pray for His mercy.

Here the mood of humility is essential. As long as we think we can do it on our own, we won’t get Krishna’s mercy, at least not to the same extent. That was Ravana’s mentality. He thought he didn’t need anyone. He thought he could do everything by his own strength and powers. So, we all have that little Ravana tendency. You may not, but I do. So, we have to be conscious of that tendency and pray to Lord Rama to subdue that Ravana-like tendency within us.

There’s a beautiful prayer by Prahlada Maharaja in the Fifth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, in which he prays to Lord Nrsimhadeva, “Please vanquish the demonlike desires in my heart, just like You vanquished the demon Hiranyakasipu.” Hiranya means “gold,” and kasipu means “soft bedding.” Those are the main interests of materialistic people—money and sense indulgence. So, “Just as You killed the great demon Hiranyakasipu, please vanquish the demonlike desires within my heart.” After Nrsimhadeva subdued Hiranyakasipu, He sat on Hiranyakasipu’s throne, lifted the demon onto His lap, and tore his heart out, so we want Lord Nrsimhadeva to sit on the throne of our hearts and kill these demonlike desires for gold and sense gratification.

Srila Prabhupada has given us everything. I am sure people have said the same thing before, but he really has. He has given us the knowledge, he has given us the process, and he has given us the way to invoke Krishna’s mercy. The best way to invoke Krishna’s mercy is to practice and preach. That combination will invoke Krishna’s mercy and make us successful.

In previous ages, the Lord would kill the demons—Nrsimhadeva killed Hiranyakasipu, Ramachandra killed Ravana, and Krishna killed so many demons—but in Kali-yuga, because we all have demonic tendencies within us and pretty much everyone has bad habits, the Lord doesn’t physically kill the person; He kills their demonic mentalities by His mercy, by giving them the holy name. We find that exemplified in the story of Jagai and Madhai. They were violent toward Lord Nityananda, and when Lord Chaitanya heard, He came rushing to the spot, ready to kill them with His Sudarshan chakra. But Nityananda Prabhu appealed to the Lord, “This is Kali-yuga, My Lord. In Kali-yuga You can’t just kill the people like that. In Kali-yuga everyone will be like Jagai and Madhai, so are You going to kill everyone? In Kali-yuga Your mission is to deliver them by Your mercy.” When Lord Nityananda intervened on behalf of the two sinful brothers, Lord Chaitanya hesitated, and the two surrendered to Lord Chaitanya, and He forgave them for their sins, with the condition that they would not commit sins again. They took up the chanting of the holy name. That means they developed faith in Nityananda Prabhu and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and because they developed faith, they took up the chanting and were eligible to receive the Lord’s mercy, and they were forgiven.

That’s our position in Kali-yuga. We need the mercy of Lord Nityananda and through Him the mercy of Lord Chaitanya. Srila Prabhupada said in LA, “To approach Radha and Krishna, we need the mercy of Lord Chaitanya. And to get the mercy of Lord Chaitanya, we need the mercy of Lord Nityananda. And to get the mercy of Lord Nityananda, we have to approach people like Jagai and Madhai.” In other words, the people on the street, the people in the subways, the people at the airport, the people in the offices, the people in the neighborhood, and sometimes even closer.

So, that is Prabhupada’s special mood, coming from the Pancha-tattva. It is his special mood to get the Lord’s mercy by preaching, by approaching anyone and everyone to give them Krishna consciousness, give them the holy name of Krishna. So, our effort (parisrama) has two sides: one is our own practices, hearing and chanting attentively and following the whole system that Prabhupada gave us (sadhana-bhakti), and the other is at the same time making the effort to give Krishna consciousness to others, to induce others to accept the great gift of the holy name.

Hare Krishna.

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Rama-vijaya-dasami, October 19, 2007, Bhaktivedanta Manor, near London, England]

 

 

The Eight Extraordinary Flowers
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By Madhumati Pushkarini Devi dasi

The ‘Sumadhva Vijaya’ is an exemplary biographical work by Sri Narayana Panditacharya belonging to the Madhva sampradaya. It presents the glorious life and teachings of Sripad Madhvacharya in the form of verses spread across 16 sargas or parts. In the 14th sarga, that describes the manner in which Sripad Madhvacharya would perform deity worship, verse 37 speaks about how he would adorn Lord Narayana with the eight kinds of ‘bhava pushpa’ or flowers of emotions. Continue reading "The Eight Extraordinary Flowers
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From Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāram
→ Traveling Monk

śatroḥ prāṇānilāḥ pañca
vayaṁ daśa jayo ’tra kaḥ
iti kopād ivātāmrāḥ
pāntu vo nṛharer nakhāḥ

“May the fingernails of Narahari (Nrisimha), who are assuming a reddish color and are thinking, ‘The enemy has only five life-airs while we are ten in number, so how can the enemy win against us?” protect you all!’ ” — (Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāram)

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Srila Madhvacharya Appearance
→ Ramai Swami

Shri Madhvacharya appeared in 1238 A.D. near Udupi, Karnataka in South India. He was considered an incarnation of Vayu (wind god). He had an unusually strong physique and extraordinary intellectual power.

Once a fierce Bengali tiger attacked Madhvacharya’s sannyasa disciple, Satya Tirtha. Madhvacharya wrestled the tiger and sent him away with his tail between his legs. Madhvacharya took diksha at age five, sannyasa at twelve and left home.

He appeared with a mission to fight and defeat Sankara’s Mayavada (impersonal) philosophy. By giving a pure interpretation of Vedanta-sutra he promoted pure theism. He named his innovative shastric explanation dvaita-dvaita-vada (pure dualism).

   After Shankaracharya, who had previously toured India spreading impersonalism, Madhvacarya also traveled the length and breadth of India preaching personaltheism and devotion to Lord Vishnu. He defeated innumerable Jains, Buddhists, Mayavadis, atheists, logicians, and agnostics.

   With a hope of meeting Shrila Vyasadeva himself Madhvacharya walked up the Himalayas. Vyasadeva gave him a Shalagrama sila called Ashtamurti, approved his Bhagavad-gita commentary, and blessed Madhvacharya with deeper realizations of the sastras. 

   In Udupi, Madhvacharya installed a beautiful Deity of Gopala standing alone holding a cowherding stick. This Deity manifested from within a chunk of gopi-candana (sacred clay). He established eight mathas (Temples) to lovingly serve “Udupi Krishna.” The sannyasi leaders of each matha worship the Krishna Deity with a rigorous regimen of ceremonial ritual, punctuality, and impec-cable personal conduct. Every Ekadashi they observe nirjala (total fast all food and water).

   The Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya originates with the Madhvas. Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His followers thoroughly studied Madhva’s works before compiling their philosophy. For the Sat Sandarbhas Shri Jiva Goswami drew heavily from Madhva’s writings. Jiva Goswami found ‘the Gaudiya philosophy of acintya-bheda-abheda tattva in Madhva’s Bhagavat-parya. Shri Chaitanya Himself visited Udupi, the seat of Madhva’s sect. The Lord introduced Hari Nama sankirtana into their sect. 

Madhvacharya 3

In Udupi, Madhvacharya installed a beautiful Deity of Gopala standing alone holding a cowherding stick. This Deity manifested from within a chunk of gopi-candana (sacred clay). He established eight mathas (Temples) to lovingly serve “Udupi Krishna.” (In the image: Udupi Krishna, Karnataka).

   The Madhvas and Gaudiyas share many of the same philosophical points. Both consider it necessary to surrender to the lotus feet of the guru (gurupadashraya). In Sutra Bhasya, Madhvacharya cites the Brihat Tantra and Mahasamhita to show that a disciple may reject a “bogus guru” who proves to be useless. He may then accept another qualified self-realized person as his guru.

   In Prameya-ratnavalli, Shri Baladeva Vidyabhushana summarized the nine principles common to both Shri Chaitanya’s and Madhva’s teachings. In Vaishnava Siddhanta Mala, Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakura says Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ordered all Gaudiya Vaishnavas to carefully observe the nine instructions of truth given by Shri Madhavacharya through our guru parampara.

   Shri Madhvacharya’s Nine Teachings

   (1) Bhagavan Shri Krishna alone is the Supreme Absolute Truth, one without a second.
 
   (2) He is the object of knowledge in all the Vedas.

   (3) The universe is real, satya.
 
   (4) The differences between Ishvara (God), Jiva (soul) and Matter are real.
 
   (5) Jiva souls are by nature the servants of the Supreme Lord Hari.
 
   (6) There are two categories of jivas; liberated and illusioned.

   (7) Liberation (moksha) means attainmg the lotus feet of Bhagavan Krishna, in other words, entering an eternal relationship of service to the Supreme Lord.

   (8) Pure devotional service to Krishna is the only way to attain this liberation.
 
   (9) The truth may be known by pratyaksha (direct perception), anuman (inference or logic), sabda (spiritual sound or Vedic authority.

Shri Madhvacharya serves as Madhavi-gopi in Radha-Govinda’s eternal Vrindavana pleasure pastimes. 

Madhvacarya teaching differences.
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Madhva further enumerates the difference between dependent and independent reality as a fivefold division (pancha-bheda) between God, souls and material things. These differences are: (1) Between material things; (2) Between material thing and soul; (3) Between material thing and God; (4) Between souls; and (5) Between soul and God.


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THE DELIVERANCE OF THE YAMALA-ARJUNA TREES
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After stealing butter one day, Krsna allowed mother Yasoda to catch Him and bind Him to a grinding mortar. Thus by His own arrangement He was then ready to fulfill the words of His great devotee Narada Muni. Narada had cursed the two brothers Nalakuvara and Manigriva to become twin arjuna trees in Nanda Maharaja’s courtyard, but Narada had also promised that one day they would see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, face to face.


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New TOVP Dome and Chatri Photos
- TOVP.org

We are pleased to present a collection of new TOVP Dome and Chatri photos by our main photographer, Thakur Saranga das. We hope this will instill confidence and inspiration in devotees that we are progressing towards the Grand Opening of the TOVP in 2024.

Please consider this time to continue to support our construction by contributing to the TOVP 2024 Marathon or the Give To Nrsimha 2023 Fundraiser to open Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Hall in the Fall of 2023.

Please see full gallery.

TOVP Dome and Chatri Photos

 

 

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Kartik and the TOVP 2022
- TOVP.org

Dear Worldwide ISKCON Devotees and Congregation,

Please accept our obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

We would like to wish you a happy Kartik month full of divine service to Lord Damodar, and hope you and your family are well and in blissful Krishna conscious spirits. This time of the year is always greeted with great anticipation and excitement by devotees eager to chant the Damodarastakam and remember the pastimes of the Lord with Mother Yashoda.

One important lesson to learn from this pastime is that Krishna responds to desire and effort in His service. These two elements, desire and effort, are essential in devotional service and play a key role in our progress towards love of God, Krishna prema. And therefore, it’s no wonder that the Lord tests us to see the extent of our strength of purpose and resolve in this regard, and rewards us accordingly. Krishna wants our love so we can join Him in His eternal lilas in the spiritual world and be happy, but He doesn’t force us to express it; it must come from our own heart. His job is to find ways to draw it out of us more and more as part of His lila.

The same principle applies to the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. How much do we desire to build this for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada and our acharyas, to fulfill their hearts’ desire to spread Krishna consciousness? The intensity of our desire and willingness to sacrifice must be there for it to manifest. And this pleases Krishna more than even the temple itself, just as Mother Yashoda’s sweat and tears pleased Lord Damodar more than being bound with the rope. Rather, He was bound by Mother Yashoda’s love, which overwhelmed Him.

We are making an appeal for help again to continue construction and open the TOVP on time in 2024, to relocate our beloved Mayapur Deities into Their long-awaited new home. This is the TOVP 2024 Marathon: “We run, you win!”. Our part is to run the marathon and build the temple on time, and your part is to help facilitate that, in which case you win; and we also win. Our slogan has always been, “The Temple Built by the Hands of Every Devotee.”

Our humble request to each and every one of you is to continue to support the TOVP. Some of you made pledges, but at some point stopped making payments. Some never even started their payments. Some have just a little ways to go to complete their pledges. And some of you have completed those pledges, for which we are grateful. Please re-evaluate your commitment to this project, strengthen and renew your level of enthusiasm, and show Lord Damodar that you really want this temple opened in 2024.

Please, kindly consider the above and go to the TOVP website: www.tovp.org during this auspicious Kartik time. You can begin or complete your pledges there or sponsor one of the many new options we have available for the TOVP 2024 Marathon. You can also sponsor a Nrsimha Brick to be placed under the Lord’s altar at the opening of the Nrsimha Wing in the Fall of 2023. Kartik is the best time for this kind of seva.

Thank you again and may the Lord bless you and your loved ones with unlimited mercy.

Your servants,
Ambarisa das
Braja Vilasa das

 

 

TOVP NEWS AND UPDATES – STAY IN TOUCH

Visit: www.tovp.org
Support: https://tovp.org/donate/
Email: tovpinfo@gmail.com
Follow: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur
Watch: www.youtube.com/c/TOVPinfoTube
View at 360°: www.tovp360.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOVP2022
Telegram: https://t.me/TOVP_GRAM
WhatsApp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LQqFCRU5H1xJA5PV2hXKrA
Instagram: https://m.tovp.org/tovpinstagram
App: https://m.tovp.org/app
News & Texts: https://m.tovp.org/newstexts
RSS News Feed: https://tovp.org/rss2/
Store: https://tovp.org/tovp-gift-store/

Kartik and the TOVP 2022
- TOVP.org

Dear Worldwide ISKCON Devotees and Congregation,

Please accept our obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

We would like to wish you a happy Kartik month full of divine service to Lord Damodar, and hope you and your family are well and in blissful Krishna conscious spirits. This time of the year is always greeted with great anticipation and excitement by devotees eager to chant the Damodarastakam and remember the pastimes of the Lord with Mother Yashoda.

One important lesson to learn from this pastime is that Krishna responds to desire and effort in His service. These two elements, desire and effort, are essential in devotional service and play a key role in our progress towards love of God, Krishna prema. And therefore, it’s no wonder that the Lord tests us to see the extent of our strength of purpose and resolve in this regard, and rewards us accordingly. Krishna wants our love so we can join Him in His eternal lilas in the spiritual world and be happy, but He doesn’t force us to express it; it must come from our own heart. His job is to find ways to draw it out of us more and more as part of His lila.

The same principle applies to the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium. How much do we desire to build this for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada and our acharyas, to fulfill their hearts’ desire to spread Krishna consciousness? The intensity of our desire and willingness to sacrifice must be there for it to manifest. And this pleases Krishna more than even the temple itself, just as Mother Yashoda’s sweat and tears pleased Lord Damodar more than being bound with the rope. Rather, He was bound by Mother Yashoda’s love, which overwhelmed Him.

We are making an appeal for help again to continue construction and open the TOVP on time in 2024, to relocate our beloved Mayapur Deities into Their long-awaited new home. This is the TOVP 2024 Marathon: “We run, you win!”. Our part is to run the marathon and build the temple on time, and your part is to help facilitate that, in which case you win; and we also win. Our slogan has always been, “The Temple Built by the Hands of Every Devotee.”

Our humble request to each and every one of you is to continue to support the TOVP. Some of you made pledges, but at some point stopped making payments. Some never even started their payments. Some have just a little ways to go to complete their pledges. And some of you have completed those pledges, for which we are grateful. Please re-evaluate your commitment to this project, strengthen and renew your level of enthusiasm, and show Lord Damodar that you really want this temple opened in 2024.

Please, kindly consider the above and go to the TOVP website: www.tovp.org during this auspicious Kartik time. You can begin or complete your pledges there or sponsor one of the many new options we have available for the TOVP 2024 Marathon. You can also sponsor a Nrsimha Brick to be placed under the Lord’s altar at the opening of the Nrsimha Wing in the Fall of 2023. Kartik is the best time for this kind of seva.

Thank you again and may the Lord bless you and your loved ones with unlimited mercy.

Your servants,
Ambarisa das
Braja Vilasa das

 

 

TOVP NEWS AND UPDATES – STAY IN TOUCH

Visit: www.tovp.org
Support: https://tovp.org/donate/
Email: tovpinfo@gmail.com
Follow: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur
Watch: www.youtube.com/c/TOVPinfoTube
View at 360°: www.tovp360.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOVP2022
Telegram: https://t.me/TOVP_GRAM
WhatsApp: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LQqFCRU5H1xJA5PV2hXKrA
Instagram: https://m.tovp.org/tovpinstagram
App: https://m.tovp.org/app
News & Texts: https://m.tovp.org/newstexts
RSS News Feed: https://tovp.org/rss2/
Store: https://tovp.org/tovp-gift-store/

Just give them my books
→ Dandavats



"Arguments are like a full-frontal attack on a person's identity. Reading a book is like slipping the seed of an idea into a person's brain and letting it grow on their own terms. There's enough wrestling going on in someone's head when they are overcoming a pre-existing belief. They don't need to wrestle with you too.


Read More...

“Save Earth Now!” Bhadra Campaign Smashes Goal
→ ISKCON News

Our global team continues to distribute unprecedented numbers of Srimad Bhagavatam sets through the Bhadra Campaign. This year, 250+ communities from 50+ countries distributed 45,800 sets of Srimad Bhagavatam, smashing the worldwide goal of 43,000 sets. The long-term goal is to reach 100,000 sets by 2026. This Bhadra Campaign was launched in 2017 by the […]

The post “Save Earth Now!” Bhadra Campaign Smashes Goal appeared first on ISKCON News.

TOVP in The Times of India
→ ISKCON News

The Times of India has published another article about the TOVP. Below is our short article with the direct link to the Times of India. The article about the TOVP in the TIMESNOW section is entitled, ‘World’s Largest Religious Monument to Open in India’. READ ARTICLE: https://www.timesnownews.com/viral/worlds-largest-religious-monument-to-open-in-india-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-iconic-building-article-93847270

The post TOVP in The Times of India appeared first on ISKCON News.

Value Education Olympiad (VEO)-2022: Bigger and Better
→ ISKCON News

ISKCON’S venture with UNEP and the Government of India to address climate change through Value Education for school students. 2,30,000 students from 15 countries participated in the Value Education Olympiad (VEO) organized by ISKCON in collaboration with the UN Environment Program in the year 2021. Along with live sessions, and practical workshops, 200000 trees were […]

The post Value Education Olympiad (VEO)-2022: Bigger and Better appeared first on ISKCON News.