Planet ISKCON

My dear Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept my humble, prostrated obeisances at your all-merciful lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace.

When an interviewer once asked you, “What is the goal of life?” you replied, “The goal of life is to enjoy.” The effort to enjoy materially, through the mind and senses, leads only to frustration and misery. But spiritually one can enjoy in relation to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and that pleasure, unlike the temporary so-called happiness of the material world, is eternal, and that eternal happiness can be realized through the mercy of Sri Nityananda Prabhu and you. Nitya means “eternal,” and ananda means “bliss.” So if we can come in touch with Lord Nityananda—through you—we can realize that eternal bliss for which we are hankering.

How do we become eligible for your and Lord Nityananda’s mercy? We can learn how from the description of His qualities and pastimes in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Seventeen: “The Pastimes of Lord Caitanya in His Youth”:

TEXT 17

tabe saci dekhila, rama-krsna—dui bhai
tabe nistarila prabhu jagai-madhai

TRANSLATION

Thereafter Mother Sacidevi saw the brothers Krsna and Balarama in Their manifestation of Lord Caitanya and Nityananda. Then the Lord delivered the two brothers Jagai and Madhai.

In your purport, you write:

“Jagai and Madhai were two brothers born in Navadvipa in a respectable brahmana family who later became addicted to all kinds of sinful activities. By the order of Lord Caitanya, both Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura used to preach the cult of Krsna consciousness door to door. In the course of such preaching they found Jagai and Madhai, two maddened drunken brothers, who, upon seeing them, began to chase them. The next day, Madhai struck Nityananda Prabhu on the head with a piece of earthen pot, thus drawing blood. When Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu heard of this, He immediately came to the spot, ready to punish both brothers, but when the all-merciful Lord Gauranga saw Jagai’s repentant behavior, He immediately embraced him. By seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face and embracing Him, both the sinful brothers were at once cleansed. Thus they received initiation into the chanting of the Hare Krsna maha-mantra from the Lord and were delivered.

“Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ordered Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura to go into Navadvipa to approach whomever they met on the way and to go door-to-door and request people to chant the name of Krishna, to worship Krishna, to follow Krishna’s instructions (bolo krsna, bhajo krsna, koro krsna-siksa)—and not to distinguish between who was qualified and who was not. And you, Srila Prabhupada, preached in that mood.

“When Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was ready to kill Jagai and Madhai because the latter had physically injured Nityananda, the all-merciful Nityananda Prabhu said, ‘No, Lord, don’t do that. Don’t harm them. In Kali-yuga Our mission is not to kill the demons but to deliver them. And in Kali-yuga almost everyone is like Jagai and Madhai.’ ”

In a conversation on June 11, 1975, in Honolulu, you said, “This is a good certificate we have got from some very authoritative person, that we are turning these drug-addicted hippies into servants of Krishna and humanity. Is it not a good certificate?”

“Yes. It’s true. We were all hippies,” Govinda Dasi responded.

And you replied, chuckling, “This is the fact. And I came to America for this purpose. Papi tapi jata chilo, hari-name uddharilo, tara saksi jagai madhai. Hari-name uddharilo, simply by chanting Hare Krishna mantra, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu delivered all sinful men, suffering humanity. Is it true? What is the evidence? Tara saksi jagai madhai. Just see, Jagai and Madhai was drunkard. So, I thought, ‘Why one Jagai and Madhai? Why not hundreds and thousands of them, if hari-nama has got so much power?’ So, actually it has done so. Now you also take it very seriously. Papi-tapi jata chilo, hari-name uddharilo. Papi means sinful, and tapi means suffering. So, these two classes of men are there all over the world: sinful and suffering. As soon as one becomes sinful, he will suffer. So, all these sinful and suffering beings were delivered simply by the method of sankirtana: hari-name uddharilo. Tara saksi jagai madhai. People would actually see Jagai and Madhai, what they were and what they have become. Try to administer this.”

In your purport to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya, 16.65, you write:

“Jagai and Madhai were delivered solely by Nityananda Prabhu’s mercy. When they injured Nityananda Prabhu, Lord Caitanya became angry and decided to kill them with His Sudarsana cakra, but Nityananda Prabhu saved them from the Lord’s wrath and delivered them. In the incarnation of Gaura-Nitai, the Lord is not supposed to kill demons but is supposed to deliver them by preaching Krsna consciousness. In the case of Jagai and Madhai, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was so angry that He would have immediately killed them, but Nityananda Prabhu was so kind that He not only saved them from death but elevated them to the transcendental position. Thus what was not possible for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was carried out by Nityananda Prabhu.

“Similarly, if one is true to Gaura-Nitai’s service in the disciplic succession, he can even excel Nityananda Prabhu’s service. This is the process of disciplic succession. Nityananda Prabhu delivered Jagai and Madhai, but a servant of Nityananda Prabhu, by His grace, can deliver many thousands of Jagais and Madhais. That is the special benediction of the disciplic succession. One who is situated in the disciplic succession can be understood by the result of his activities. This is always true as far as the activities of the Lord and His devotees are concerned. Therefore Lord Siva says:

aradhananam sarvesam  visnor aradhanam param
tasmat parataram devi  tadiyanam samarcanam

‘Of all types of worship, worship of Lord Visnu is best, and better than the worship of Lord Visnu is the worship of His devotee, the Vaisnava.’ (Padma Purana)

“By the grace of Visnu, a Vaisnava can render better service than Visnu; that is the special prerogative of a Vaisnava. The Lord actually wants to see His servants work more gloriously than Himself. . . . If we simply follow Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s instructions and follow in the footsteps of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, this Krsna consciousness movement can advance, and even more difficult tasks can be performed by the preachers remaining faithful to the service of the Lord.”

You took up the same mood of approaching anyone and everyone—pious or sinful, qualified or unqualified—without discrimination. As Nityananda Prabhu said, in Kali-yuga practically everyone is like Jagai and Madhai. That may be more apparent in America and Europe than in India—though I did hear a talk in which you were discussing how demonic Western civilization is and how the leaders, and pretty much everyone, are demons, but then added, “Actually in my country also, 80 percent are demons.” But still, what you encountered in 1965 when you came to America was something that people now, especially people in India, can hardly imagine.

Krsna Candra Prabhu (Hrishikesh Mafatlal) from Mumbai used to say that people cannot imagine who you encountered when you went to America. He recommended that everyone see the DVDs of you when you came to America, first at 26 Second Avenue in New York, then at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. People can’t believe, can’t imagine, the type of people you were approaching. And they didn’t always receive you well. To get some idea of what you experienced, everyone should read Srila Prabhupada-lilamrta and watch the DVD series Following Srila Prabhupada.

One of the most dramatic incidents occurred in the summer of 1966, when you were living in a loft in New York’s Bowery, which was the most degraded part of the city, its “Skid Row,” and was inhabited mostly by drunks. But even they had a little respect. They would be sprawled out on the sidewalk and on the stairs leading up to your apartment, but somehow they sensed that you were a saintly person, and so they would try to move over and make room for you to pass.

You were staying with a young man who seemed interested in Krishna consciousness. In fact, you thought, “I’ll train him as a Vaishnava.” But one day the young man went crazy, probably from taking LSD—the 1960s equivalent of the strong liquor Jagai and Madhai were taking five hundred years ago. In his crazed state he threatened to attack you. Indeed, he seemed ready to kill you, just as Madhai was ready to kill Nityananda Prabhu. You bolted out of the room and ran down the stairs, much as Haridasa Thakura and Nityananda Prabhu had fled from Jagai and Madhai.

It’s quite a history. In fact, how you stayed in different people’s places and endured so much hardship for the sake of delivering the mercy of Gaura-Nitai is inconceivable. On the boat to America you had suffered two heart attacks, and even in America you had a lot of physical problems. But you endured everything—all these “attacks of maya”—for the sake of delivering Gaura-Nitai’s mercy to us. And what Nityananda Prabhu wanted in India has been fulfilled by you outside India. What Nityananda Prabhu wanted was fulfilled in Bengal, but through you it’s been fulfilled throughout the world. So, you are really the embodiment of that mercy of Nityananda Prabhu. There had not been anyone in the history of our sampradaya, no one after Nityananda Prabhu, who had taken up that mood of approaching anyone and everyone without discrimination, without considering who is qualified and who is not.

And you gave the same message: chant Krishna’s name, worship Krishna, accept Krishna as your life and soul—but not in so many words, because the people that you were approaching didn’t even know who Krishna was. When Nityananda approached people in Navadvipa and told them, “Chant Krishna’s name, worship Krishna, follow Krishna’s instructions,” they knew who Krishna was, they knew what Nityananda was saying, but in America and Europe nobody knew who Krishna was. So “Chant Krishna’s name, worship Krishna” had to be explained in books, and thus you wrote so many books to explain who is Krishna, what is Krishna’s name, how to chant Krishna’s name, how to worship Krishna, why we should accept Krishna as our life and soul, why we should surrender to Krishna —the same message that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu asked Nityananda Prabhu to deliver to everyone, but in an expanded form, because the people you were approaching had no idea of Krishna’s identity or instructions.

When we go out with your books, it is like when Mahaprabhu sent Nityananda and Haridasa to approach people with that message. Sometimes devotees are not well received, but even Nityananda and Haridasa were not always well received. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would have nocturnal kirtans in Srivasa Thakura’s house, and if anyone was proud, he was not allowed to enter. Only humble, pure devotees were allowed. So all the proud people in Navadvipa were upset that they weren’t allowed to join the kirtan, and when Nityananda and Haridasa came to their doors, they were angry with them—“Oh, you’ve come from that Nimai Pandit and Srivasa Thakura”—and they spread rumors about them: “They are thieves. They come to your door and say to chant Krishna’s name and worship Krishna, but really what they’re doing is looking in your house to see what you have so that they can come back at night and steal it.” They were spreading a lot of false propaganda. So, we have to accept that—expect it and accept it—without being deterred. It didn’t stop Nityananda and Haridasa, and it didn’t stop you, and it shouldn’t stop any of us.

ISKCON is the continuation of Nityananda Prabhu’s mission, and you really had His magnanimous mood. When one of your early disciples came to India and the Calcutta temple president phoned you in Bombay to tell you that the devotee was smoking ganja, marijuana, and asked what to do, you told your secretary to relay your response: “Tell him that if he doesn’t stop smoking ganja I will reject him.” Afterwards, Tamal Krishna Goswami asked you, “Is it true that if he doesn’t stop smoking ganja you will reject him?” And you said, “No—I cannot reject anyone.” Tamal Krishna Goswami asked, “But don’t you have to draw the line somewhere?” And you replied, “The mercy of Lord Nityananda is unlimited.” So that was your mood: you were in the mood of Nityananda Prabhu.

We are the recipients of Gaura-Nitai’s mercy through you. By your mercy we are chanting Krishna’s name, worshiping Krishna, and following Krishna’s instructions, accepting Krishna as the goal of our lives. And it is also by your mercy and order that we preach the same message to others. We can speak to our capacity, and whatever our capacity to speak may or may not be, we can give people your books, which convey the same message of Mahaprabhu. We just elaborate on it and present it in a way that people without any background in Vedic knowledge can understand.

So, on this most sacred and blessed occasion, we pray to you to inspire and empower us with your mood of humble persuasion. I saw that mood in you. You often instructed us, but I saw it personally. When we first came to Bombay, there was a program on the terrace of the house where we were staying—Seksaria Bhavan, on Marine Drive. It was very nice, very glamorous, near the sea, and our host, Kailash Seksaria, had invited all the elite, affluent, aristocratic people he knew in Bombay. And you, with the same humility as Nityananda Prabhu, implored them, “I am taking the straw in my mouth and begging you, Please chant Hare Krishna.”

You often quoted a verse by Prabodhananda Sarasvati about how we should approach people. The verse is, dante nidhaya trnakam padayor nipatya: “Taking a straw in my mouth [a sign of utter humility], I bow at your feet.” Krtva ca kaku-satam etad aham bravimi. “And I flatter you a hundred times.” He sadhavah: “O greatly learned man.” Sakalam eva vihaya durad: “Whatever you have learned, you keep it far away from you.” And gauranga-candra-carane kurutanuragam: “Just accept the mercy of Lord Gauranga, just surrender to Lord Gauranga, become attached to Lord Gauranga’s lotus feet.” You approached people in that mood.

One of my favorite statements of yours is “To approach Radha and Krishna, you need the mercy of Lord Chaitanya; to get the mercy of Lord Chaitanya, you need the mercy of Lord Nityananda; and to get the mercy of Lord Nityananda, you have to approach people like Jagai and Madhai.” If we ever feel, “Oh, I’m too high, I’m too holy, I can’t approach these people,” we should think of that instruction and your example and really pray, beg, to be humble instruments of your love and mercy and compassion. As your guru-maharaja told you, “That will be good for you and good for the people who hear you.”

Thank you, Srila Prabhupada, for all you have done for us—for the world. Kindly engage me as your servants’ servants’ servant.

Your eternal, grateful servant,
Giriraj Swami

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada appeared in a family of pure Gaudiya Vaisnavas in 1896 in Calcutta. From early childhood he showed signs of pure devotion to Lord Sri Krishna. At the tender age of five, he single-handedly organized a neighborhood Ratha-yatra festival to glorify Lord Jagannatha. He authentically decorated a small cart to resemble the Lord’s colossal chariot in Puri.

Unlike other children his age who would waste their time playing, Srila Prabhupada preferred to visit the local Radha Krishna temple. For hours together, he would lovingly gaze upon the transcendental forms of Radha-Govindaji, absorbing Their divine blessings and beautiful darsana.

In his youth, Maharaja Parikshit used to dress a Deity of Krishna. Similarly, from his childhood, Srila Prabhupada also began worshiping small Deities of Radha and Krishna. He quickly mastered the traditional beats and ragas on mrdanga and harmonium. With pure devotion Srila Prabhupada would sing sweet devotional bhajans to please Radha-Govindaji.

 At twenty-six, he met his eternal spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura (Founder-Acarya of Gaudiya Math). At their first meeting, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura gave Srila Prabhupada a divine command: “Go to the West and spread Krishna Consciousness in the English language.”

In full faith Srila Prabhupada embraced the order as his life and soul. After realizing his guru’s teachings, he started writing and distributing Back to Godhead, an English language magazine on the science of Krishna consciousness. Although begun in 1944 in a small way, Back to Godhead now circulates worldwide in over fifty languages. 

He took sannyasa in 1959 after retiring from household life.Taking shelter of Vrindavana, he rented a bhajana kutir in the Radha-Damodara temple where he absorbed the association of Sri Rupa and Sri Jiva Gosvamis. Srila Prabhupada spent the next six years performing intensive Krishna bhajana.

Regularly, he bathed in Yamuna, and took darshan of Madana Mohana, Govindaji, Gopinatha, and Radha Ramana. He prayed for the mercy of the six Gosvamis and continued writing and printing. During bhajana he would receive blessings, inspiration, and direct guidance from the all-merciful Sri Rupa Gosvami. 

At this time, he began his life’s main literary work, an English translation with commentary of the Srimad Bhagavatam. At the age of seventy, armed with karatals and a crate of Bhagavatams, Srila Prabhupada set off to America in 1965 on the steamship “Jaladutta.”

During the arduous forty-day sea journey the ship met heavy storms. For two consecutive nights, he had severe heart attacks which almost killed him. On the third night, Lord Krishna appeared to Srila Prabhupada in a dream. The Supreme Lord Himself was pulling the ship to America, encouraging Srila Prabhupada and giving him all protection.

In Manhattan, Srila Prabhupada struggled through the icy cold snowbound winter of 1965. He continued writing and occassionally selling a few Bhagavatams. But for one year nothing really happened. Gradually, a few yoga students began attending his classes on Bhagavad-gita.

The word spread that an “Indian swami was in town teaching a unique yoga method: chanting Hare Krishna.” After his room was robbed, he moved into a small storefront apartment at 26 Second Avenue in the Lower East Side.

In nearby Tompkins Square Park, Srila Prabhupada led the first public chanting of Hare Krishna in the Western world. On July 13, 1966, he founded ISKCON (The International Society for Krishna Consciousness) and initiated a dozen disciples. To receive initiation disciples must promise to give up all forms of illicit sex, meat eating, intoxication, and gambling. Srila Prabhupada was well on his way to realizing his mission. 

Under Srila Prabhupada’s pure guidance the Krishna consciousness movement quickly flourished. Within months ISKCON Radha-Krishna temples opened in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles, Montreal and London.

In the 1970’s, he traveled around the world fourteen times, establishing 108 Radha-Krishna temples in all the major cities of the Americas, Europe, Africa, India, Asia, and Australia. He initiated a total of five thousand sincere disciples from different nationalities.

In only eleven years, between the ages of seventy and eighty-one, Srila Prabhupada accomplished his mission. He credited his phenomenal success to personal effort, an unshakeable faith in his spiritual master and the Holy Names of Lord Sri Krishna. 

In Vrindavana, during the auspicious month of Kartika in 1977 on November 14, while surrounded by loving disciples singing their hearts out in kirtana, Srila Prabhupada chanted Hare Krishna and entered the eternal pastimes of Radha-Syamasundara.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10221933681394111&set=a.3707173840886

Dear Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept my most humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to you!

In mid-August in the midst of our summer tour in Poland, I was surprised to see that many trees were already turning to their autumn colors. Generally, they don’t change color until mid-September.

“They will start losing their leaves soon,” I thought.

Watching the bright colors blur together through my window as we sped towards our next festival site, two thoughts came to my mind. First, I thought about how I am in the autumn of my life and soon you will call me to another service, somewhere here in the material world or perhaps even in the spiritual world. The second thought I had was that I am fortunate to have lived as long as I have!

You said on a morning walk on February 21, 1975 in Caracas, Venezuela:

“Instead of contemplating what will happen to this world, you have got a short duration of life, say fifty, sixty years. You chant Hare Krsna and go back to home, back to Godhead.”

Fortunately, I’ve lived 13 years past the sixty-year deadline, but unfortunately, I have yet to shed a tear while chanting the holy names. I am not discouraged, though, because you said in a lecture in Los Angeles on May 4, 1973:

“This is called firm faith, that ‘Now, because I am engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness business, so I must be able to face Kṛṣṇa, face to face, see Kṛṣṇa face to face. That I must have.’ So don’t be disappointed. Go on with your Kṛṣṇa consciousness activities. Time will come when you’ll see Kṛṣṇa, just like Kuntī is seeing, face to face. There is no doubt about it.”

So, I don’t doubt that I will see Krsna one day, and I’m certain that that will happen only by your grace. Thus, whatever time I have left in this body I will fully dedicate to your mission of delivering the fallen conditioned souls. I realized long ago that it is only by serving your mission in this world that I can qualify myself to participate in your pastimes in the spiritual world. This means preaching the message of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu with full vigor just as you did!

yatha yatha gaura-padaravinde
vindeta bhaktim krta punya-rasih
tatha tathot-sarpati hrdya-kasmad
radha-padambhoja-sudhambu rasih

“As much as one can devote his full attention to the lotus feet of Sri Caitanya, to that extent he will be able to taste the nectarine service of the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani in Vrindavan. The more one engages in the service of Sri Caitanya, the more one finds oneself in Vrindavan, tasting the nectar of the service of Sri Radha.”

(Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati, Caitanya Candramrta, Verse 88)

There are many excuses I could use to stop preaching: I’m too old, I’m too tired, I’ve done my part. But nothing I’ve done can equal even one iota of what you’ve done for me. My dear spiritual master, my debt to you can never be repaid.

Recently, I watched again the heart-wrenching video of your last hours in this world. On your deathbed, you were using your final breaths to speak your Bhaktivedanta purports into a dictaphone held close to your mouth by a disciple. May I embrace those words to my heart and share them with the unfortunate people of this world!

I pray that nothing will ever distract me from your mission and from my desire to join you in your nitya-lila pastimes in Goloka Vrindavan. The present world is overrun with unlimited distractions. On the same morning walk on February 21, 1975 in Caracas, Venezuela, you warned us against becoming infatuated by these distractions:

“Don’t consider what will happen to this world. Nature will take care of it. You don’t puzzle your brain with these thoughts. You utilize whatever time you have got in your possession and go back to home, back to Godhead. You cannot check it. Best thing is that you mold your life and go back to home, back to Godhead. Because people will go on with their material civilization, natural consequences will be there. You better take advantage of whatever time you have got and become fully Krsna conscious and go back to home.”

That I will do, my beloved spiritual master, and knowing your compassionate heart, I will try to bring as many conditioned souls with me as I can. Like you, I will try my best to preach until my last breath, whether it comes today or tomorrow. If I am to be remembered, let it be only for my attempts to render service to your lotus feet. The Samurai warriors had a code: “Don’t ask me how he died. Ask me how he lived!”

I am early in my awakening as a servant of the Lord, so I can’t claim to know Krsna. But I am confident that I will reach the goal because I know you. It is you who will one day bring me face to face with the Lord.

One time the great Ramanuja Acarya asked Ranganath, the presiding deity of Sri Rangam, “My Lord, what will happen if for some reason Your devotee cannot remember You at the moment of death?”

Ranganath replied, “If My devotee cannot remember Me at the moment of death, I will remember My devotee!”

In my case, Srila Prabhupada, this could only happen by your causeless mercy. It is only because I am always remembering you that Krsna might remember me.

My dear spiritual master, you are my life and soul, the most cherished element of my existence. You are everything to me, my “saksad hari,” the Lord’s representative in this world. I surrender myself totally unto your lotus feet.

As the sun sets on my life, I am not afraid of what lies ahead, for it can only be service to your lotus feet. I have experienced in this life that I am happy serving you in any condition, at any time, in any place—in the jungles of the Amazon, the freezing steppes of Siberia, the deserts of Mongolia, the favelas of Rio di Janeiro, the ruins of Sarajevo and the concrete jungles of New York, London and Paris. I have always been happy sharing your message with others.

This is especially true when I am on the Baltic Sea coast with our festival, where, for the last 30 years, thousands of guests have been in attendance every summer evening. When the audience gives us a resounding standing ovation, tears come to my eyes and I look up to the sky and wonder, “Srila Prabhupada, are you watching?”

I hope that you are and I feel that you must be. Please know that by holding these festivals in my remaining years, I want to reciprocate with your tireless efforts in establishing this movement in the pioneer days of ISKCON. My life is coming to a natural conclusion and I often dream of where I will serve you next. Every day I am trying to improve myself so that I will be a real asset to your mission. Forgive me for using a mundane phrase I learned in the military, but I want to “hit the beach running.”

One time a godbrother of mine said to you, “Srila Prabhupada, I want to be just like you!”

The assembled devotees were shocked. One devotee chastised that person saying, “It’s offensive to say that. You can never be equal to the spiritual master!”

But you took it differently. You said, “That is the proper sentiment because the spiritual master is acarya – he is setting the example what kind of devotee the disciple should be.”

I still have time left: a few days, a few months or perhaps even many years. I will use this time to try to become like you, to serve with the same determination as you did.

You once wrote to me that I should “always follow in the footsteps of advanced devotees.” That instruction has guided me throughout my life. I have always honored my godbrothers and godsisters, understanding them to be more advanced than me. Most importantly, Srila Prabhupada, I have honored you as the most advanced devotee I will ever know, either in this life or the next. I look forward to meeting you again one day in the spiritual world. You told one of my godbrothers that when we return to the spiritual world our spiritual master will be waiting for us. He will take our hand and lead us into the forest of Vrindavan where he will introduce us to Krsna, our beloved Lord. I shall keep that vision in my heart as I wander the world attempting to bring fallen souls to your lotus feet, for you are Prabhupada, the master at whose feet all masters sit.

All glories to you on this occasion of your divine appearance in this world!

Your servant,
Indradyumna Swami

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We read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Ten, Chapter Two: “Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krsna in the Womb.”

TEXT 18

tato jagan-mangalam acyutamsam
  samahitam sura-sutena devi
dadhara sarvatmakam atma-bhutam
  kastha yathananda-karam manastah

SYNONYMS

tatah—thereafter; jagat-mangalam—auspiciousness for all living entities in all the universes of the creation; acyuta-amsam—the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is never bereft of the six opulences, all of which are present in all His plenary expansions; samahitam—fully transferred; sura-sutena—by Vasudeva, the son of Surasena; devi—Devaki-devi; dadhara—carried; sarva-atmakam—the Supreme Soul of everyone; atma-bhutam—the cause of all causes; kastha—the east; yatha—just as; ananda-karam—the blissful (moon); manastah—being placed within the mind.

TRANSLATION

Thereafter, accompanied by plenary expansions, the fully opulent Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is all-auspicious for the entire universe, was transferred from the mind of Vasudeva to the mind of Devaki. Devaki, having thus been initiated by Vasudeva, became beautiful by carrying Lord Krsna, the original consciousness for everyone, the cause of all causes, within the core of her heart, just as the east becomes beautiful by carrying the rising moon.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

As indicated here by the word manastah, the Supreme Personality of Godhead was transferred from the core of Vasudeva’s mind or heart to the core of the heart of Devaki. We should note carefully that the Lord was transferred to Devaki not by the ordinary way for a human being, but by diksa, initiation. Thus the importance of initiation is mentioned here. Unless one is initiated by the right person, who always carries within his heart the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one cannot acquire the power to carry the Supreme Godhead within the core of one’s own heart.

The word acyutamsam is used because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is sad-aisvarya-purna, full in the opulences of wealth, strength, fame, knowledge, beauty, and renunciation. The Supreme Godhead is never separated from His personal opulences. As stated in the Brahma-samhita (5.39), ramadi-murtisu kala-niyamena tisthan: the Lord is always situated with all His plenary expansions, such as Rama, Nrsimha, and Varaha. Therefore the word acyutamsam is specifically used here, signifying that the Lord is always present with His plenary expansions and opulences. There is no need to think of the Lord artificially as yogis do. Dhyanavasthita-tad-gatena manasa pasyanti yam yoginah (Srimad-Bhagavatam 12.13.1). Yogis meditate upon the Supreme Person within the mind. For a devotee, however, the Lord is present, and His presence need only be awakened through initiation by a bona fide spiritual master. The Lord did not need to live within the womb of Devaki, for His presence within the core of her heart was sufficient to carry Him. One is here forbidden to think that Krsna was begotten by Vasudeva within the womb of Devaki and that she carried the child within her womb.

When Vasudeva was sustaining the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart, he appeared just like the glowing sun, whose shining rays are always unbearable and scorching to the common man. The form of the Lord situated in the pure, unalloyed heart of Vasudeva is not different from the original form of Krsna. The appearance of the form of Krsna anywhere, and specifically within the heart, is called dhama. Dhama refers not only to Krsna’s form, but to His name, His form, His quality, and His paraphernalia. Everything becomes manifest simultaneously.

Thus the eternal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with full potencies was transferred from the mind of Vasudeva to the mind of Devaki, exactly as the setting sun’s rays are transferred to the full moon rising in the east.

Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, entered the body of Devaki from the body of Vasudeva. He was beyond the conditions of the ordinary living entity. When Krsna is there, it is to be understood that all His plenary expansions, such as Narayana, and incarnations like Lord Nrsimha and Varaha, are with Him, and they are not subject to the conditions of material existence. In this way, Devaki became the residence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is one without a second and the cause of all creation. Devaki became the residence of the Absolute Truth, but because she was within the house of Kamsa, she looked just like a suppressed fire, or like misused education. When fire is covered by the walls of a pot or is kept in a jug, the illuminating rays of the fire cannot be very much appreciated. Similarly, misused knowledge, which does not benefit the people in general, is not very much appreciated. So Devaki was kept within the prison walls of Kamsa’s palace, and no one could see her transcendental beauty, which resulted from her conceiving the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Commenting upon this verse, Sri Viraraghava Acarya writes, vasudeva-devaki jatharayor hrdayayor bhagavatah sambandhah. The Supreme Lord’s entrance into the womb of Devaki from the heart of Vasudeva was a heart-to-heart relationship.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

We have gathered here at the lotus feet of Lord Krishna to remember and celebrate His appearance in this world. According to Vedic literature, Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead (krsnas tu bhagavan svayam). He is the Absolute Truth, the origin of all that exists. And He is realized in three features, nondual (advaya), as explained in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.11):

vadanti tat tattva-vidas
  tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
  bhagavan iti sabdyate

“Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramatma, or Bhagavan.”

Brahman is the impersonal effulgence that emanates from the transcendental form of the Lord; Paramatma is the localized feature of the Lord, within the heart; and Bhagavan is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna Himself, full in six opulences.

The form of Krishna is not material. Our bodies are material, distinct from the soul, which is spiritual. The Bhagavad-gita (2.13) explains,

dehino ’smin yatha dehe
  kaumaram yauvanam jara
tatha dehantara-praptir
  dhiras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.” The soul is a nonphysical, nonchemical particle of spiritual energy, and it is the soul that animates the body. As long as the soul is in the body, we say the body is alive. Actually, the body is never alive; the body is just a machine. But it appears to be alive when the soul is present to animate it. And when the soul leaves the body, the body has no capacity to act, to function, and then we say that the body is dead. In conditioned beings, such as us, there is a distinction between the body, which is made of material energy, and the soul, which is composed of spiritual energy. But in the case of Krishna, there is no difference between His body and soul. Being absolute, His body and He are the same. In our case, there is a difference between us and the body, because our real identity is the soul. If someone’s father passes away, he or she will cry, “Oh, my father has left. My father is gone.” Although the body of the father is there, why do we say, “My father has gone”? Intuitively we know, especially at a time like death, that the body lying there in the room is not the person. The body is just a bag of chemicals. The real person is the soul who has left the body, and so the children and other relatives and friends cry, “Oh, he’s gone,” because he is the soul, not the body.

But in the case of Krishna, He and His body are not different, because He is absolute. There is no difference between His inside and His outside. He is completely spiritual. The Brahma-samhita says, isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah: “Krishna is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal, blissful spiritual body.” Anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam: “He is the origin of all, but He Himself has no origin. He is the prime cause of all causes.” That is Krishna.

Everything we see in the material world has a cause. On a simple level, we can say, “I am caused by my parents” (or “my body is caused by my parents”). They in turn were caused by their parents, who in turn were caused by their parents. And if we keep going back, further, further, further, eventually we will come to the original cause, and that is Krishna (sarva-karana-karanam). He is the cause of everything—the cause of all causes. But He Himself has no cause.

This is hard for us to understand in the conditioned state, because everything material has a cause, everything has a beginning and an end. But Krishna has no beginning and no end; He is eternal (sanatana). Eternal means “no beginning and no end.” Even we, as spirit souls, are also eternal. We have no beginning and no end. Our life in a particular body has a beginning, which we call “birth” (or “conception”), and it has an end within a particular body, which we call “death.” But we, as spirit souls, have no beginning and no end, because we are parts and parcels of Krishna. We are of the same quality as Krishna, just in different quantity. The Lord says,

mamaivamso jiva-loke
  jiva-bhutah sanatanah
manah-sasthanindriyani
  prakrti-sthani karsati

“The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.” (Gita 15.7)

The living entity is an eternal, fragmental part of Krishna. This is the sublime philosophy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu called acintya-bhedabheda-tattva: the “inconceivable simultaneous oneness and difference” of the living entity and the Supreme Lord. We are one in quality with the Lord but different in quantity—He is infinite and we are infinitesimal. Because we have the same qualities, we can have a relationship with Him. Unless there is some commonness, we can’t have a relationship. And because of the difference in quantity—He is the whole and we are the part—our relationship is one of service. It is the natural function of the part to serve the whole. For example, the hand is part of the body, so the function of the hand is to serve the body. If the hand doesn’t serve the body, there is something wrong; it is diseased or dead. So, our natural function is to serve Krishna (jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’). And we are eternal, as Krishna is eternal, and our relationship, our service, is also eternal—it never ends.

Earlier we mentioned the three features of the Absolute Truth: Brahman, Paramatma, and Bhagavan. There are different classes of transcendentalists, who have different spiritual aspirations. Most people are materialists. They are not even interested in spiritual life. They just want to enjoy the world. But when one becomes a little more elevated, a little more purified in consciousness, one thinks of improving oneself spiritually. And when one becomes serious enough, one will actually enter into a discipline in a particular school of thought and practice. So, one category of transcendentalists is the jnanis. Their goal is to merge and become one with Brahman, the impersonal effulgence that emanates from the transcendental body of Krishna. And higher than the jnanis are the yogis. They want to realize the localized feature, the Lord within the heart (dhyanavasthita-tad-gatena manasa pasyanti yam yoginah). And the highest are the bhaktas. They want to enter into a loving relationship with Bhagavan, Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Although in one sense, because the Absolute Truth is nondual (advaya), all transcendentalists are the same, still, from an analytical or objective point of view there are degrees of realization. As stated earlier, Krishna is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. Sat means “eternal,” cit means “cognizant,” and ananda means “blissful.” The jnanis who attain impersonal Brahman realize only the sat feature, eternal existence. The yogis who realize Paramatma have perception of sat (eternity) and cit (knowledge), because they apprehend the individuality of the Lord in the heart. And the bhaktas have full realization of sat, cit, and ananda (eternity, knowledge, and bliss), because real happiness comes from loving relationships. Although one may say that there is a sort of bliss in impersonal Brahman, compared with the ecstatic happiness of loving service to Krishna it is insignificant. There are many statements in the shastra, the Vedic scriptures, to the effect that the happiness realized in relationship to Krishna is like an ocean and that the happiness of merging (or trying to merge) into impersonal Brahman is like a puddle of water in comparison.

tvat-saksat-karanahlada-
  visuddhabdhi-sthitasya me
sukhani gospadayante
  brahmany api jagad-guro

“My dear Lord, O master of the universe, since I have directly seen You, my transcendental bliss has taken the shape of a great ocean. Being situated in that ocean, I now realize all other so-called happiness, the pleasure derived from impersonal Brahman, to be like the water contained in the hoofprint of a calf.” (Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya 14.36) Practically, there is no comparison.

Furthermore, to realize impersonal Brahman is very difficult, especially in the present age. And even if one succeeds—or imagines that one has succeeded—there is every chance that one will fall down.

ye ’nye ’ravindaksa vimukta-maninas
  tvayy asta-bhavad avisuddha-buddhayah
aruhya krcchrena param padam tatah
  patanty adho ’nadrta-yusmad-anghrayah

“O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.” (SB 10.2.32)

More likely, they just imagine that they have realized Brahman, but whether they have actually realized it or just imagine they have, because they have neglected the service of the lotus feet of Krishna they fall down (patanty adhah).

We, conditioned souls, are rotating in the cycle of repeated birth and death (samsara), and our goal is to gain release from this samsara-chakra. Such liberation is called mukti, or moksha. The impersonal type of liberation, in which the individual soul merges into the spiritual light, is very hard to achieve—if one can achieve it at all. But even if one does, it doesn’t last. Therefore the Bhagavatam says patanty adhah: they fall down. Why? Because they have no engagement in the transcendental loving service of the Lord.

Impersonal liberation is like going to sleep. Intelligent people can perceive that there is misery in material existence, and they want relief. That is one factor that may lead someone to consider spiritual life.  So, a person trying to achieve impersonal liberation is similar to someone who is suffering and tries to escape the suffering by sleeping—“The world is too much.”  Well, all right, you can temporarily escape the misery by going to sleep, but how long can you remain asleep? Eventually you will wake up, and the same miseries will be there.

And being suspended in the impersonal Brahman effulgence can be boring. It is a relief—it is definitely a relief to be out of the material world—but eventually it gets boring. Someone may go on a cruise: “Oh, boy, I need to get away from things. Let me go on a cruise. I want to enjoy the sea.” And it may be nice for a while, but eventually one gets bored—just water and waves and wind. Eventually one wants to go back on dry land, even though the land is what one wanted to get away from. Although there was frustration and misery on the land, at least there was some stimulation, some variety.

So, the impersonal jnanis who want to merge and become one with Brahman eventually fall down (patanty adhah), because they become restless. They want some activity, and because they have no idea of the spiritual activities of Krishna consciousness, devotional service to Krishna, patanty adhah, they fall into material activities, and again they suffer, because the result of material activity is material misery.

So, why does the Lord descend? He is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha: eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. And He lives in His spiritual abode, where everything is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. And He is served by great souls completely free of material contamination, liberated from the material bodies that cause so much pain. Why should the Lord come here at all? What does He have to gain?

Personally, He has nothing to gain. But He comes out of His mercy, to deliver us. The material world is compared to a prison house, and we, conditioned souls, are the prisoners. We are restricted, like prisoners. We can’t just go anywhere and everywhere, wherever we want. Liberated souls can travel anywhere in the universe. They don’t need spaceships or any other such contraptions. They can move about freely. But we are bound. We are not allowed to leave this planet very easily, and even if we do, we don’t really have any other place to stay. So we are bound, and we have to suffer.

I mentioned the body, that there is so much pain in the body. Someone might think, “This swami is very negative about the body.” But the Bhagavad-gita says, janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-duhkha-dosanudarsanam: one should always perceive the miseries of birth, death, old age, and disease. You might say, “Why does the swami have to be so negative? I want to enjoy the body. I want to enjoy life. I want to enjoy the here and now”—which is good in a certain context—but if I ask any of you, “Truthfully, do you want disease?” “No.” “Do you want old age?” “No.” “Do you want death?” “No.” Well, that is what comes with the body. When you get a material body, those come in the package; they are what you get with it. You may think, “But there is so much happiness in the body. I can go surfing, I can go hiking, I can eat ice cream, I can drink and eat and enjoy with the body.” Well, yes, but it is not actually the body that enables you to enjoy; it is the soul within the body. All the parts of the body may be there when the soul departs, but where is the enjoyment? There is no enjoyment in the body after the soul leaves. We may think that we are enjoying with the senses, but it is actually because of the presence of the soul that we are able to enjoy and work and live.

The body is the medium for the conditioned soul’s experience. For example, I have these eyeglasses. I see through the eyeglasses—the eyeglasses themselves don’t see. Similarly, we have these sense organs—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin—and we perceive through them. They themselves cannot actually perceive. It is the soul that perceives—through the senses of the body. But we don’t need the body in order to perceive happiness. With the body, there is some perception of happiness—but with lots of pain.

There are different schools of philosophy—sad-darsana—and one philosopher has analyzed and concluded that the body is meant for misery. He gives the example of your little finger. How many ways can your little finger enjoy? Not many. And how many ways can it feel pain? So many. Even a little sliver or blister can be so painful. And the finger can be cut, burned, crushed. The body is so vulnerable. But the soul is not. As the Gita says, it can’t be cut, it can’t be burned, it can’t be made wet, it can’t be withered—it is beyond the range of material elements.

nainam chindanti sastrani
  nainam dahati pavakah
na cainam kledayanty apo
  na sosayati marutah

“The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.” (Gita 2.23) Without the body, the soul can enjoy freely, in every way, but without the pain.

And because the soul is part and parcel of Krishna, it derives its real happiness in relation to Krishna. We now are like fish out of water, because originally we come from Krishna, from the spiritual atmosphere, and we have come into the material world and are suffering in a foreign atmosphere. We are always restless, anxious, and fearful.

So, why does Krishna come? He comes to reclaim us, His lost children, to bring us back home, back to Him. That is why He comes. There is no other reason. There is nothing for Him here. He comes only for our sake.

Although He comes into the material world, He doesn’t come in a physical body. He comes in His original, spiritual form (sac-cid-ananda-vigraha). And Krishna in particular comes in a form that resembles a human being. “Man is made in the image of God.” That Krishna comes in a humanlike form is very good for us, because it makes it easier for us in human bodies to relate to Him.

anugrahaya bhaktanam
  manusam deham asthitah
bhajate tadrsih krida
  yah srutva tat-paro bhavet

“When the Lord assumes a humanlike body to show mercy to His devotees, He engages in such pastimes as will attract those who hear about them to become dedicated to Him.” (SB 10.33.36) He comes to reclaim us and deliver us, His lost children and devotees.

And how does He come? He does not take birth like an ordinary human being, by seminal discharge. Rather, He manifests Himself, or appears.

ajo ’pi sann avyayatma
  bhutanam isvaro ’pi san
prakrtim svam adhisthaya
  sambhavamy atma-mayaya

“Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.” (Gita 4.6)

And that is what we read tonight. It is a very esoteric subject, how the Lord appears. But He chooses a completely purified devotee and enters the mind of that completely purified devotee. The name of the devotee whose mind Krishna entered is given here—Vasudeva. And the state that enabled him to receive Krishna within his pure mind is called vasudeva, which means completely beyond the three modes of material nature, completely transcendental—the state of pure goodness, suddha-sattva. As stated in Srimad-Bhagvatam, sattvam visuddham vasudeva-sabditam: completely pure consciousness is known as vasudeva.

sattvam visuddham vasudeva-sabditam
  yad iyate tatra puman apavrtah
sattve ca tasmin bhagavan vasudevo
  hy adhoksajo me manasa vidhiyate

“The condition of pure goodness, suddha-sattva, in which the Supreme Personality of Godhead is revealed without any covering, is called vasudeva. In that pure state the Supreme Godhead, who is beyond the material senses and who is known as Väsudeva, is perceived by my mind.” (SB 4.3.23, quoted as Cc Adi 4.66)

After Vasudeva received Krishna within his purified mind, or heart, he, by his spiritual power, transferred Him into the purified heart of Devaki. There was no seminal discharge. And the process by which the Supreme Personality of Godhead was transferred from the heart of Vasudeva to the heart of Devaki is called diksa. Diksa means “spiritual initiation.” Diksa takes place between teacher, or guru, and disciple. When the guru is qualified enough, he can carry Krishna within his heart. And when the disciple is qualified enough, he can receive Krishna from the guru—through an exchange called diksa.

The process of diksa is essential for the realization of God (Krishna). There is an entire science of bhakti-yoga, described in Srila Rupa Gosvami’s Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, and it begins with this process. Guru-padasrayas tasmat: “One must accept shelter at the lotus feet of a spiritual master.” Krsna-diksadi-siksanam: “One must take initiation from him and receive instruction from him.” And visrambhena guroh seva: “One must serve him with intimacy.”

We cannot attain Krishna by our own efforts. We have to receive Krishna by the mercy of one who has Him. Thus Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, a great spiritual teacher, prays to the pure devotee:

krsna se tomara, krsna dite paro,
  tomara sakati ache
ami to’ kangala, ‘krsna’ ‘krsna’ boli’,
  dhai tava pache pache

“Krishna is yours; you have the power to give Him to me. I am simply running behind you shouting, ‘Krishna! Krishna!’ ” (Saranagati, “Ohe! Vaishnava Thakura”)

This act of diksa, as described in today’s verse, is really the culmination of a gradual process. It is not so easy that we just decide, “Oh, let me find a guru who has Krishna, and he will give Him to me, and my business will be finished.” We have to be qualified to receive Krishna, and the process of becoming qualified proceeds gradually. We have to work to come to that stage of purity where we can receive Krishna in our hearts—and not just receive Him in our hearts, but actually see Him face to face. After residing for some time in the heart of Devaki, Krishna came before her, and they saw each other face to face. She saw Him face to face, and He saw her. That is the perfection of Krishna consciousness.

So, we have to qualify ourselves. We have to cleanse the mirror of the heart (ceto-darpana-marjanam).

The process of purification varies from age to age. Although the basic process is the same—Krishna consciousness—in the present age the specific process recommended is to chant the holy names of the Lord:

harer nama harer nama
  harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
  nasty eva gatir anyatha

“One should chant the holy name, chant the holy name, chant the holy name of Lord Hari [Krishna]. There is no other means, no other means, no other means for success in this age.” (Brhan-naradiya Purana 38.126)

Chant is repeated three times for emphasis. “You must do it, you must do it, you must do it.” There was once a cartoon in a newspaper, which depicted an elderly man sitting across from his wife. She was requesting him, “Chant, chant, chant,” and he was replying, “Can’t, can’t, can’t.” That is our misfortune. Shastra, scripture, tell us, “Chant, chant, chant” (harer nama harer nama harer nama), and for no good reason—just some causeless aversion—we say (not necessarily by our words but by our behavior), “Can’t, can’t, can’t.” “Can’t, because I am too busy.” “Can’t, because I prefer other things.” “Can’t, because . . .”—because, because, because. So harer nama harer nama harer nama is emphatic: chant, chant, chant. And kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva: there is no other way, no other way, no other way. Now, that phrase might conjure up images of a fanatical Christian insisting, “Jesus is the only way.” But this nasty eva, the “only way,” is a little different. (And we don’t want to presume that there is anything wrong with “Jesus is the only way,” either.) But in this context, nasty eva, “no other way,” has a special meaning.

In different ages, different methods for self-realization were recommended—in Satya-yuga it was meditation, in Treta-yuga Vedic sacrifice, and in Dvapara-yuga opulent temple worship. In the present age, however, harer nama, chanting the holy names of God, is prescribed. So, nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva means “not by silent meditation, not by elaborate sacrifices, not by ritualistic temple worship,” but by chanting the holy names.

The holy names are not sectarian. There are Christian sects in which practitioners constantly repeat the name of Jesus. We don’t say that you have to chant only the holy name of Krishna. You may chant any name of God. Because God is absolute, any name of God is as good as any other. But you should chant some name. The Muslim tradition also recommends chanting the name of God, of Allah. In Pakistan I came across a book titled, Ninety-Nine Names of Allah. In the Vedic tradition there is Visnu-sahasra-nama, “A Thousand Names of Vishnu.” So the principle of chanting the names of God is current in every tradition, but it is often overlooked. Then again, in any tradition, the majority of people are conventional. It is only the minority who are really mystical, or spiritual. But within the mystical, spiritual traditions, the chanting of God’s names is advised.

The process of chanting (sankirtana) cleanses the heart (ceto-darpana-marjanam) and makes it a fit place for the Lord to reside. That is what we have to do to prepare to receive Him. We have to chant. And chanting is pleasant, as I hope you have all experienced. It is pleasurable. That’s the other thing: although the results of Krishna consciousness are the highest, the process is also the easiest and most sublime. It’s almost too good to be true, but it is true. Chanting is easy and joyful, and at the same time it cleanses the heart (ceto-darpana-marjanam) and makes it a fit place for the Lord to reside. And that process is accomplished through diksa, the continuing process of diksa, which culminates in perfect realization of Krishna. And then, when one is fully purified and realized, Krishna can’t contain Himself within your heart. He becomes so pleased with your service and so eager to see and embrace you that He comes out of your heart. (Of course, at the same time, He also stays there.) In His own way, He comes out of your heart to look at you and touch you and embrace you and take you by the hand and invite you to come with Him to His eternal abode.

That is the perfection of Krishna consciousness, and it is possible for each and every one of us. We just have to make the effort to chant without offense, and remain encouraged and steady in that effort. And for that, we need association. In every endeavor one needs association. In every field there are associations of people engaged in the same endeavor, because they support each other. There is the chamber of commerce, the diabetes society, the birdwatchers association—there are societies for everything, because in association with others who are pursuing the same goal, we get encouragement to stay on the path and we learn from them, from their experiences, how to improve in our own efforts and quicken our progress. It is a natural thing—and essential. Once we become a little serious, once we develop a little faith and attraction, the next stage is to associate with devotees (adau sraddha tatah sadhu-sangah). That association will really help us.

Chanting is simple, but the real art of chanting is to hear the chanting. Anyone can chant mindlessly, “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna . . .” and look at the trees, look at the moon, look at the newspaper, look at the television, but that’s not real chanting. Real chanting means to hear with one’s mind fixed on the sound. This is meditation, mantra meditation, and it takes practice. If you chant for five minutes, will you be able to keep your mind fixed on the sound of the holy name? It will be a challenge. Even one minute is a challenge, because the nature of the mind is to flicker. It is restless. It always wants to go every which way—like the wind. In the Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna says that it is harder to control the mind than to control the wind.

cancalam hi manah krsna
  pramathi balavad drdham
tasyaham nigraham manye
  vayor iva su-duskaram

“The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate, and very strong, O Krsna, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind.” (Gita 6.34)

How can you control the wind? It is always going here and there. No one can stop it. So how can we control the mind? We can’t. Still, the Bhagavad-gita says it is possible—by practice (abhyasa) and detachment.

asamsayam maha-baho
  mano durnigraham calam
abhyasena tu kaunteya
  vairagyena ca grhyate

“It is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by suitable practice and by detachment.” (Gita 6.35)

This is the suitable practice: hearing about Krishna consciousness and then chanting—and hearing—Lord Krishna’s name. We chant and we hear. We practice fixing our mind on the sound of the holy name of the Lord. That is our sadhana; that is our practice. And it is serious business, and hard work. As our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, said, “Chanting is easy”—anyone can articulate the sounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna—“but the determination to chant [and hear with attention] is not so easy.” So that is what we need. We need that determination (drdha-vratah). And that determination develops in the association of devotees who are serious about chanting and hearing. Therefore the association of devotees is so valuable, and it is most important to maintain favorable relationships with devotees.

There are different offenses to be avoided when one chants. The main offense is to be inattentive while chanting, and another is to offend devotees. Devotees are our best well-wishers. They give us the holy name. They give us support in our efforts to chant. And if we offend them, we cut ourselves off from our best well-wishers, our best friends, our best support for the chanting. We cut ourselves off from the mercy that we so desperately need to progress. But if we pay attention to these two points—chanting attentively and maintaining favorable relationships with devotees—then gradually we can come to the stage of perfection. It takes time, but we can actually come to that stage when Krishna will enter our hearts. He is there already, but He will manifest Himself fully to us, and then, eventually, we will see Him face to face. So we should always, every spare moment, kirtaniyah-sada-harih, chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Whatever you do when you are not chanting should be to place you in a position where you can chant. You may say, “I can’t chant all the time. I have to work. I have to earn money. I have to pay the bills.” That is true, but what is the goal of it all? Why do you want a roof over your head? Why do you want food on your plate? Ultimately, it should be to keep your body and soul together so you can chant the holy names and realize God. That is kirtaniyah-sada-harih, to “always chant the name of God.” We have the body. We must take care of it. We must bathe and dress and eat and sleep. We must get the necessities of life. We must do it all. But why are we doing it? The goal should be to chant the holy names of Krishna and realize Krishna.

Krishna comes to give us this message, and if from this occasion, Sri Krishna Janmashtami, we can just take this message—take it in our heart—that will be the beginning of our perfection. We must take it in our heart and practice it and repeat it to others—repeat it both for the benefit of others and for our own sake. And the results will be glorious. Krishna’s purpose in appearing in this world will be fulfilled, and our purpose as human beings will be fulfilled. And we will all be happy in Krishna consciousness together. Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments?

Guest (1): Christians believe in resurrection, and Buddhists and Hindus believe in reincarnation, but personally, I always ask myself, “What is the meaning of starting something and ending something? What is the meaning of several or many lives when we can be comfortable with maybe just one life? Why do we reach only after many lives?

Giriraj Swami: That is a very good question. Miguel says that Christians believe in resurrection and Buddhists and Hindus believe in reincarnation, but what is the need of passing through many lifetimes if you can realize God in one lifetime?

We agree with you completely. That is the whole idea. Especially now that we have come to this human form of life, which is achieved after many lifetimes, and especially now that we have come in touch with devotees who tell us about Krishna and the process of bhakti-yoga, we can and should complete our purpose in this world in this life.

labdhva su-durlabham idam bahu-sambhavante
  manusyam artha-dam anityam apiha dhirah
turnam yateta na pated anu-mrtyu yavan
  nihsreyasaya visayah khalu sarvatah syat

“After many, many births one achieves the rare human form of life, which, although temporary, affords one the opportunity to attain the highest perfection. Thus a sober human being should quickly endeavor for the ultimate perfection of life before his body, which is always subject to death, falls away. After all, sense gratification is available even in the most abominable species of life, whereas Krsna consciousness is possible only for a human being.” (SB 11.9.29)

And if we chant seriously—chant and hear and follow the regulative principles that support the chanting and hearing—we can achieve complete success in the same lifetime. And that should be our determination.

Still, the Bhagavad-gita explains that if by chance you are not completely successful, then in your next life you continue from where you left off in this one; you don’t have to start all over again. With anything material, you have to start all over again in the next life. In this life you might know seven languages, but in your next life, when you are born, all you can say is “Ga, ga, ga,” and you don’t even know ABC. Materially, whatever you acquire in this life is lost at the time of death. But whatever you gain spiritually through the practice of bhakti-yoga continues in the next life. Suppose in this life you complete only 50 percent; then in the next life you begin from 51 percent. You don’t have to start again from the beginning.

But still, we have the human form of life, and the association of devotees, so why should we take any chances? We should have that determination to be completely successful in this life, just like you said.

Guest (1): Why did we come here in the first place? Why do we have to go through so many lives?

Giriraj Swami: Actually, as mentioned, we all come from Krishna, but when we turn away from Him—when we forget Him and want to enjoy apart from Him—we come under maya and suffer in the material world.

krsna-bahirmukha hana bhoga-vancha kare
nikata-stha maya tare japatiya dhare

“When the living entity desires to enjoy separately from Krishna and turns away from Him, the illusory potency of the Lord, maya, immediately takes the soul in her clutches.” (Prema-vivarta)

But in that process, we don’t start at the bottom; we start at the top. We start as an elevated being on a higher planet. So we can reverse the process from that position and go back to Godhead. We don’t start as a germ or an amoeba. But if we are careless, we can keep declining and end up as an amoeba, in the body of an amoeba. But we don’t start at the bottom. We actually start at the top, and if we are attentive and vigilant, we can reverse the whole process in one lifetime. We don’t have to pass more than one life, and we don’t have to see any lower form of life.

Guest (1): Can we say that everything around us is energy—the material world? Animals, vegetables, minerals—everything is life, even if it doesn’t have consciousness by itself?

Giriraj Swami: Well, that is true—everything is energy—but as stated in the Bhagavad-gita, there are two kinds of energies. One is the material energy, and the other is the spiritual energy. The spiritual energy is conscious, alive. And the material energy is dull, dead.

bhumir apo ’nalo vayuh
  kham mano buddhir eva ca
ahankara itiyam me
  bhinna prakrtir astadha

“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego—all together these eight constitute My separated material energies.” (Gita 7.4)

apareyam itas tv anyam
  prakrtim viddhi me param
jiva-bhutam maha-baho
  yayedam dharyate jagat

“Besides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.” (Gita 7.5)

What we see alive in the material world is really a combination of the spiritual and material energies—the spiritual spark within the physical body. And as long as the soul is present, there is consciousness. But an inanimate object—say this piece of metal—has no consciousness. Of course, in an ultimate sense, we could say that there is consciousness everywhere, because Krishna is everywhere. He is expanded within the atoms and in the space between the atoms throughout the entire universe (andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham). But practically, in terms of individual consciousness, animals and vegetables have souls; they are a combination of matter and spirit. Minerals do not have souls; they are material energy. And then there is Krishna, who is completely spiritual.

Guest (1): Are there other forms of intelligence on other planets in the universe, or is it just here on our own planet?

Giriraj Swami: There is, in fact, even more advanced intelligent life on planets other than the earth. Everything is the creation of God. We don’t believe that anything has happened by accident or chance. God has created all these planets to provide different environments for different types of people. Just as there are different relativities on earth—Ojai or Santa Barbara may be relatively more congenial than Alaska or Antarctica—so there are relativities within the universe. Some planets are more heavenly, and some are more hellish. The earth is considered to be in the middle, though a little on the lower side. But there is intelligent life everywhere—and suffering everywhere—and everyone is ultimately meant to become God conscious and go back home, back to Godhead

a-brahma-bhuvanal lokah
  punar avartino ’rjuna
mam upetya tu kaunteya
  punar janma na vidyate

[The Supreme Lord Krishna said:] “From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.” (Gita 8.16)

Guest (2): You said that the only practice we need to do is chant the name of God. That seems to be asking God to receive from Him the grace of the holy name. But what can we do to prepare ourselves in everyday life to better understand and receive this grace?

Giriraj Swami: Yes, there are practices. Although chanting in and of itself is enough, there are disciplines that we can undertake to make it easier for us to get the full benefit of the chanting, to get the full grace of the Lord. There are certain personal restrictions. But the beauty of chanting is that even if it is hard at first to accept these restrictions, the process of chanting itself, the process of purification itself, will make it easier to accept them—to the point where we won’t even want to indulge in adverse activities anymore.

The first restriction is no eating meat. The second is no taking intoxicants. The third is no illicit sex—no sex outside of marriage, no frivolous sex. And the fourth is no gambling. If we are able to follow these regulative principles, our chanting will be more quickly effective, and we will be better receptacles for God’s grace.

And there are other things as well, such as getting up early in the morning. “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” The early hours of the morning, especially before sunrise, are considered the best for spiritual practice, and therefore we generally rise early. Some devotees, when feasible, get up at two. They may take rest at eight and get up at two. Otherwise, we try to rise by four. Initiated disciples have a certain quota of chanting, which takes about two hours to complete. So they rise by four and complete their quota of rounds between five and seven and still have the rest of the day ahead of them.

And the more serious you are, the more things you can learn to improve your practice. But if you can just manage those four restrictions—and get up early—you will be off to a good start. And if you want to know more, we have volumes of books . . .

Guest (2): Hard news. Thank you.

Giriraj Swami: I was going to ask if you were ready for the answer before I gave it, but I figured that you asked, and you seemed sincere, so I just said it.

But again, the good news is that if you chant, all the other things will become easier. That’s why we don’t emphasize the restrictions at first, because we know that if people just chant, they will lose interest in those indulgent acts, and they will become more and more eager to advance in Krishna consciousness.

Guest (2): Inshallah.

Giriraj Swami: When you said “inshallah,” it reminded me of a group of Ahmadiyya Muslims who would sometimes meet me at our Juhu Beach temple. They told me the same thing, that the prayers offered before sunrise—almost like we say, beginning an hour and a half before sunrise—are heard by God more than prayers offered later in the day.

Inshallah, or insha’Allah, means “if Allah wills.” Allah is a name of God, so insha’Allah means “God willing.” Of course, we also accept the name Allah. Allah is the same as Krishna. But our devotees in Pakistan, instead of “insha’Allah,” would sometimes say, “insha Krishna,” to mean the same thing—“God willing.”

Krishna Bhamini dasi: Maharaja, I was just going to give an example. In the beginning, some people think, “Oh, I have to be a vegetarian” when they hear all the negative restrictions. But the process of spiritual life is so pleasant that they experience a higher taste. They actually prefer our food, prasada, to other things they used to eat. And it is kind of like that with all of the seeming restrictions. As we chant and associate with devotees, we develop a higher taste.

Giriraj Swami: Good point.

Krishna Bhamini dasi: I was going to say one more thing. You already explained it. But in today’s world, fanatical Muslims, or fanatics in any religion, may be chanting God’s names, yet so much violence is going on. They may chant, for example, “Allah, Allah,” yet engage in so much violent activity. They are “God’s warriors,” so to speak. So, you have explained that there are ways to chant God’s names properly.

Giriraj Swami: Correct. One must avoid that offense of offending devotees, and devotees are there in every tradition. One may take the name of God in one’s own tradition, but if one is inimical to devotees in other traditions, that is an offense, not only against the devotees but against the holy name. And if one commits offenses against the holy name, one doesn’t get the benefit. In fact, it is described that when you offend devotees, the holy name is offended and withdraws its mercy. So even though such fanatics are mouthing God’s name, it is almost as if God has left. He has withdrawn His mercy from them, because they are offensive.

Of course, offending devotees is the worst, but offending anyone—causing pain to any living entity—is prohibited. That is the complete injunction. And that is one reason why we don’t kill animals or eat flesh.

So, it is not just a question of mouthing God’s name. One should be in the proper consciousness, the proper mood of service to God and to the devotees of God—in whatever tradition, culture, or community they may be. We should respect and appreciate all genuine devotees, servants of God, and encourage the devotees and chant the holy names. That will bring us all success, and one day the holy name will reveal Himself to us, and we will see Krishna face to face.

prabhu kahe,—“vaisnava-seva, nama-sankirtana
dui kara, sighra pabe sri-krsna-carana”

The Lord [Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu] said, “You should engage yourself in the service of the servants of Krsna and always chant the holy name of Krsna. If you do these two things, you will very soon attain shelter at Krsna’s lotus feet.” (Cc Madhya 16.70)

Hare Krishna!

[A talk by Giriraj Swami, September 2, 2007, Ojai, California]
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the two day Janmashtami festival approaches at Bhaktivedanta Manor, we were honoured to have Rishi Sunak visit today to deliver his well-wishes and gratitude to all the 1,500 volunteers for all their hard work over the festival period. He said that through challenging times the Bhagavad Gita has given him the strength to continue
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Eagle River, Alaska

Trekking and Meeting

There was the cry of a loon, which enthused Krsnadas and I to walk to its source, Sand Lake. Once we reached there, the loon was hard to spot. We did witness an osprey with deliberate determination to get breakfast. It sailed in the air, then dove like a dart for a catch. Looks like it caught something in its beak. Its speed restricted us from picking up all the details.

I did spot a group of sandhill cranes in flight at noon. That was majestic. Too bad it rains quite a lot. Sudevi tells us that August is the monsoon season. This means we spend substantial time indoors. That was not all that bad when you consider it allows us to spend quality time with Karly, who is an avid listener to the podcast “Wisdom of the Sages,” which has a big draw.

The moist weather today also made it conducive to make a home visit to Jagatikandha. She’s originally from New Orleans. She and her husband, Amsu (now deceased, great soul), were assigned to the Toronto temple back in ’72/’73, so I remember her from then. What a pleasure this was to chat with her and her grandson, Max, along with our host, Ryan and Sudevi. Chanting is always purifying. Another plus point here is that we are meeting people of bhakti or devotional orientation.

A final short walk was back to Kincaid Park. A side trail allured Krishnadas and I. Not to worry about grizzlies. We did see bear scat, which comes in different colors. We joked that bears may discharge scat based on their color. In that regard, polar bears may excrete white poop. That gave us a laugh.

May the source be with you!

5 km

 

Anchorage, Alaska

Peter

 

Recently a friend passed away. In homage is my poem to him.

 

Peter, it was always great

When we talked on different matters

It was not about sports, hockey or tennis

Certainly not about baseball batters

You did believe that game competition was good

That a team must learn to sometimes lose

In essence you were simply saying

Humility is like the healing of a wound or bruise

 

I always felt a commonality with you

The fact is we hail from the same country

And shared passion for stellar presentation

You always said something sweeter than a plum tree

You hit the spot with your message of wellness

Of values, protocol, manners, and respect

Motivational words that ring so true

Leaving your listeners with spellbound affect

 

Peter, you were traveling the world by air

And speaking in style like a paragon

Displaying those powerful bullet points

While I was on my own walking marathon

You’d tell followers, “If you can’t be on time

At least be early,” you’d add

It was important to you that people walk their talk

That integrity should become the real fad

-          Composed by Bhaktimarga Swami, The Walking Monk

 

May the Source be with you!

 

By kishori gopika devi dasi Pitter patter pitter patter Here He comes With His soft buttery feet Pitter patter pitter patter Here He comes With His soft curls bouncing up and down Pitter patter pitter patter Here He comes With His lotus like eyes looking out for you Embrace Him For He protects you like
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By kishori gopika devi dasi Pitter patter pitter patter Here He comes With His soft buttery feet Pitter patter pitter patter Here He comes With His soft curls bouncing up and down Pitter patter pitter patter Here He comes With His lotus like eyes looking out for you Embrace Him For He protects you like
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Pastimes of Lord Krishna day 2 Krishna Katha Day – 2, Speaker – HG Kripanidhi Prabhu
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Srimad Bhagavatam class given by HG Nrsimha Kavacha prabhu at ISKCON New Govardhana Temple.krishnafarm.net Srimad Bhagavatam 3.2.5 – Nrsimha Kavacha Dasa – 17 August 2022
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Srimad Bhagavatam (1.7.21-22) Class by HG Adi Karta Prabhu – 16 August 2022
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A thank-you video from New Mayapur, Ukraine
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New-Bright & Colorful Tents & High Tech Sound System
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The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, who is always ready to protect His unalloyed devotees, entered within the mind of Vasudeva as the Lord of the whole creation, with full inconceivable potencies. It is understood in this connection that Lord Krsna first of all situated Himself in the unalloyed heart of Vasudeva and was then transferred to the heart of Devaki.

He was not put into the womb of Devaki by seminal discharge. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, by His inconceivable potency, can appear in any way. It is not necessary for Him to appear in the ordinary way, by seminal injection within the womb of a woman.

Thus the eternal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with full potencies was transferred from the mind of Vasudeva to the mind of Devaki, exactly as the setting sun’s rays are transferred to the full moon rising in the east.

Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thus entered the body of Devaki from the body of Vasudeva without being subject to any of the conditions of an ordinary living entity. Since Krsna was there, it is to be understood that all His plenary expansions, such as Narayana, and incarnations like Lord Nrsimha and Varaha, were with Him.

Vasudeva saw that wonderful child born as a baby with four hands, holding conch shell, club, disc and lotus flower, decorated with the mark of Srivatsa, wearing the jewelled necklace of kaustubha stone, dressed in yellow silk, appearing dazzling like a bright blackish cloud, wearing a helmet bedecked with the vaidurya stone, valuable bracelets, earrings and similar other ornaments all over His body, and beautified by an abundance of hair on His head.

Due to the extraordinary features of the child, Vasudeva was struck with wonder. How could a newly born child be so decorated? Vasudeva could therefore understand that Lord Krsna had now appeared.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, who is always ready to protect His unalloyed devotees, entered within the mind of Vasudeva as the Lord of the whole creation, with full inconceivable potencies. It is understood in this connection that Lord Krsna first of all situated Himself in the unalloyed heart of Vasudeva and was then transferred to the heart of Devaki.

He was not put into the womb of Devaki by seminal discharge. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, by His inconceivable potency, can appear in any way. It is not necessary for Him to appear in the ordinary way, by seminal injection within the womb of a woman.

Thus the eternal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead with full potencies was transferred from the mind of Vasudeva to the mind of Devaki, exactly as the setting sun’s rays are transferred to the full moon rising in the east.

Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thus entered the body of Devaki from the body of Vasudeva without being subject to any of the conditions of an ordinary living entity. Since Krsna was there, it is to be understood that all His plenary expansions, such as Narayana, and incarnations like Lord Nrsimha and Varaha, were with Him.

Vasudeva saw that wonderful child born as a baby with four hands, holding conch shell, club, disc and lotus flower, decorated with the mark of Srivatsa, wearing the jewelled necklace of kaustubha stone, dressed in yellow silk, appearing dazzling like a bright blackish cloud, wearing a helmet bedecked with the vaidurya stone, valuable bracelets, earrings and similar other ornaments all over His body, and beautified by an abundance of hair on His head.

Due to the extraordinary features of the child, Vasudeva was struck with wonder. How could a newly born child be so decorated? Vasudeva could therefore understand that Lord Krsna had now appeared.

We Should Have Antennas for Humility | Mahatma Das
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Diary of a Traveling Monk Volume 15, Chapter 18 August 17, 2022 “A Summer Tradition on the Coast” The days of our summer tour along the Polish Baltic Sea coast are spent chanting and dancing. For four to five hours a day, we go on harinam and hand out invitations for the festivals we will
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This urgent and exciting message from His Grace Braja Vilasa das, Co-Chairman and Director of Development of the TOVP, expresses the importance of opening the temple on time in 2024 for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada and our acharyas. Please watch and take advantage of this historic opportunity by sponsoring one of the new TOVP seva options on the TOVP 2024 Marathon page.

 

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Hare Krishna!

Please accept our humble obeisances!

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga!

We at ISKCON Scarborough will be celebrating Sri Krsna Janmastami and Srila Prabhupada’s appearance day on Friday August 19th 2022 and Saturday August 20th 2022 respectively.

We invite you, your family and your friends to join us in these wonderful celebrations on Friday and Saturday.

The Spiritual programs on Friday will start at 5 am with Mangala Arti, followed by Tulasi Arti, Chanting on Maha Mantra, recorded Srimad Bhagavatam  class by His Divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanata Swami Srila Prabhupada followed by amazing Kirtan

Wonderful programs are also arranged on Friday evening from 6 pm until midnight when the Arti will take place

Programs for Saturday –Srila Prabhupada’s appearance day celebrations will be from 6 pm to 9 pm:

Sri Krsna Janmastami

The auspicious day of the appearance of Lord Krishna is celebrated all over the world as Sri Krishna Janmastami. It is celebrated on the eighth day of the Krishna Paksha (waning moon) of the month of Shraavan. Krishna, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, appeared in Mathura as son of Vasudeva and Devaki.

“As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, the Lord says that His appearance, birth, and activities, are all transcendental, and one who understands them factually becomes immediately eligible to be transferred to the spiritual world. “ –Chapter 3: Birth of Lord Krishna, Krishna Book by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Lord Krishna Himself in Bhagavad gita, Chapter 4 text 8 describes the reason of His appearance as follows:

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāḿ

vināśāya caduṣkṛtām

dharma-saḿsthāpanārthāya

sambhavāmi yugeyuge

" To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to re-establish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium."

Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja

Vyasa-puja means “worship of Vyasa,” Vyasa being the compiler of the Vedic scriptures and thus the original spiritual master.

Devotees honor Srila Prabhupada - our Param Guru on the spiritual master’s appearance day (a respectful term for “birthday”) because he authentically transmits the teachings of Vyasa.

Although ISKCON has many spiritual masters, or acaryas, Srila Prabhupada, the founder-Acharya, holds a permanent position of special esteem. So just as when he was physically present (1965 through 1977), each year devotees gather on his appearance day to praise him and recall his glories.

With best wishes from,

ISKCON Scarborough

3500 McNicoll Avenue, Unit #3,

Scarborough, Ontario,

Canada,M1V4C7

Email Address:

scarboroughiskcon@gmail.com

website:

www.iskconscarborough.org

Anchorage, Alaska

Second Day in AA

Down Raspberry Rd., Krishnadas and I did go, at 6 am, for a five-kilometre trek and back. It was on our way that we met moose, a very young one, but the new addition of wildlife to view in Alaska was a bald eagle perched high in a tree. It peered down at us with super whitish feathers. We were reminded of our God, Balarama, who’s remembered today for His birthday. One way to celebrate this day is with meaningful walking and meaningful chanting.

By afternoon we were committed to hold kirtan in the downtown at the corner of 4^th Avenue and F Street. Tourist were there. So were the homeless. So were the gnats. Somehow or other, those pesky little flying critters are really drawn to the colours of a swami. They didn’t attack Krishnadas in the least.

Speaking of swamis or saffron monks, the local mushrooms that bear that bright orange coulor are something we are fascinated by. They are called fly agaric mushrooms or, in Latin, amanita muscaria. Apparently, they can absorb toxins and are unadvisable to eat. Some people use them for psychedelic purposes. Also, not advisable. They sure look pretty, especially with what looks like sprinkled oatmeal on top. When you look at them you might think they were fallen monks in their previous lives.

While here in Alaska we are meeting nature, people and opportunities for outreach. All is good, especially with Balarama.

May the Source be with you!

12 km

 

 

Anchorage, Alaska

North to Alaska

My God siblings, Krishnadas, Paurnamasi and I landed at Anchorage Airport where we were happily greeted by residents Sudevi and Ryan, a sweet couple, whom we had never met but are connected to culturally. It is our first time to Alaska and I would say everything you read or see about the place is magically true. The couple showed us the downtown, the views of the bay with Mount McKinley in the background and then there is Kincaid Park, which Krishnadas and I explored.

I was under the impression, initially, that we would be enwrapped in boreal forest but was surprised to be in the company of poplars, birches, aspens and a whole assortment of vegetation, amongst the horse tail, raspberries and even dandelions. We sighted moose – a mother and two calves – as well as other animals and watched an amazing tide come in at the bay. There is a popular location where the public views planes and their dissension and ascension. It gets quite loud. Remember that Alaska is very remote and flight is the main means of supplies coming in as well as carrying passengers, such as tourist.

Our purpose in visiting has more to do with assessing the area to see if features are favourable for establishing a community here; for developing higher consciousness. So far so good as we depend somewhat on our hosts in the endeavor to shape such a thing.

We all took to sitting by the beach near where the planes land and takeoff, to engage in kirtan and pass out books on transcendence, authored by our dear, Prabhupada. It was a fantastic welcome to Alaska.

May the Source be with you!

7 km

 

Port Coquitlam, BC

Two Good Books

It is always a pleasure to give a message based on either book, the Bhagavatam or the Bhagavad-Gita. A Zoom call for the morning brought listeners to the world of Vrindavan where village and tribal women are drawn, like a magnet, to the personality of Krishna. After all, Krishna literally means “the all attractive one.” So handsome is He that all eyes are on Him and very little distractions can take place. There are His looks, His moves and His charisma that somehow bedazzle the villagers. Depictions of Him in the form of two- or three-dimensional objects do not actually do justice. We are left to somewhat imagine this epitome of beauty.

Lust is the word used to describe the sensations of the women. That trait, found in all of us, can be directed to the Supreme Male; Mr. Right.

My second message today references chapter three of the Gita, which emphasizes the importance of yajna, sacrifice. Actually, you can’t live without it. Sacrifice reaps benefits. Lack of it leads to temporary alleviation of stress but, in the end, breeds misery. The sacrifice has an intent to expressed gratitude to the suppliers of nature. The bounties that are supplied come from the devatasor demigods; cosmic department heads.

All who listened appreciated that gratitude is an essential ingredient in leading a happy life. So, let’s get happy and start expressing thanks.

May the Source be with you!

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Port Coquitlam, British Columbia

Green Concern

A kind Sarva Rasa from Vancouver and his friend, Bharat from California, scooped me up at Vancouver’s airport and delivered me to Port Coquitlam for some recording on a “Green” initiative that’s chalked out by the ISKCON leaders of North America. Environment should be a top concern for everyone, especially for those on the spiritual path.

My hosts in this town are Janakijivan and Nandi Mukhi and I have to thank them for one of the better rests I’ve had in months. Their place on Manning Street is a quiet one, and in a neighborhood close enough to nature. In fact, bears frequently visit their home, usually at night, to see if their belly can get some satisfaction. It happens often enough but one at a time. I asked Janaki if he could please wake me up, even in the middle of the night, if you hear or see one scrounging around near the garbage. “I won’t mind the interruption. I like bear darshan.”

Yes indeed, it is great to have some tranquility. The last few days were of a high-pressure type; many appointments and getting stuck in traffic. I am simply reminded why I gave up my driving license years ago. While automobiles assist us in so many ways, they have also proven to add to the stress of life. There are just too many of them and it is hard to imagine any reverse of culture. I abhor the thought of future human mobility in the form of cars that fly. Ultimately, when such a thing occurs there will be, with no doubt, increased challenges placed upon the environment. This kind of concern should be taxing us all.

May the Source be with you!

3 km

 

Hamilton, Ontario

In the Heat of the Day

Temperatures are up. Early thirties Celsius. Lots of moisture in the air.

My challenge for the morning was two interviews that require the AC unit to be off. Too much noise.

During one hour I went through the joy of being interviewed by Kaustubha, of “Wisdom of the Sages.” Some technical glitches, but otherwise good. The theme was marathon walking and its correlation to monkhood. Kaustubha stayed right on topic and also added a message about my artistic side and the plays I do.

Personally, I love what he and Raghunatha do with their discussions; an overview on alternative lifestyle. Congratulations guys, on your show.

The second interview was with Paul of Eastern Europe. “What is Ratha Yatra?” This question centered on the summer chariot fest. “How does such an ancient event become relevant to today’s world?” Paul was also great with interviewing. Focused. It was tough though; again, no air ventilation or very little. We survived. The project is an upcoming documentary.

In the sweaty heat of the afternoon, Roman drove Ryan and I to Gage Park in Hamilton. We engage in kirtanand it was so great to have godbrother, Bhumna there. In fact, between chanting sessions he had our group quite immersed in history lessons. It took some ease off a humid day.

May the Source be with you!

2 km

 

Welland, Ontario

Visit

As soon as I saw the edible wild plant, lambs quarters, also known in India as bathua, I pulled two of them, stems and all, out of the ground. There they were, waiting to be consumed, right in front of the Vimala’s home, a condo in the burbs of Niagara, and before you know it, it was part of our scrumptious meal. Truly this is an amazing dish full of iron, tastier than spinach. In fact, it’s sometimes called white spinach.

Our healthy lunch at Vimala’s place, with his wife, mother-in-law and young six-month-old, Nadia, was followed by a visit to Welland and a one-year-old birthday event for Nimai. His mom and dad recently moved from Connecticut and secured a beautiful home half a kilometer from the famous Welland canal.

Several families participated including Chris and Amy from Hamilton, as well as the neighbors next-door; a happily married couple from Newfoundland. It was a jolly program with upbeat kirtanand the “Tales From Trails” presentation. Comments came afterwards, that the talk was very appropriate for newcomers. It takes time for people to take to Eastern ways. Some folks are just not ready for a powerful dose of Krishna Consciousness right off the bat.

All went well and then I had to ask our driver wile enroute to our temple ashram, to pull over and give me at least 4 km length of sidewalk to get some pedestrian pleasure in for the day. He complied.

May the Source be with you!

4 km

 

Mississauga, Ontario

Merging and Submerging

I was asked to give the class to the members of the Bhakti Academy Toronto and with gladness I’ve delivered. The theme from the first canto of the Bhagavatam was on overcoming the ills of a dark age, referred to as kali. What is always good about degradation, as we observe in these times, is the opportunity to bring on brightness. Of course, to do that takes a little more than switching on a light. It takes solidarity of purpose – a combined determination to overcome weakness. Cohesive Kirtan, all together celebration. A united force that creates a turnover. These things came to mind and were thus delivered.

A second class, this time on the Bhagavad-Gita, was more of a facilitation with ten families converged at the home of Rahul. I have been having regular classes on Zoom with alternate times between two groups. Tonight, we merged and agreed to work together in our studies.

Our focus was on chapter 2, verses 13 and 14, which are prime messages expressing the concept of transmigration of the soul and traveling through different situations while remaining fixed. Like the morning session, great questions arose at this Friday night gathering. I simply reflected on the good fortune that communities can come together for a recharge of bhakti, and introspection on the self, life, the universe and the power behind it all.

I’m a lucky dog to be part of it all.

May the Source be with you!

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