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2013 09 08 Sunday Feast Drama Mercy of Radharani On A Fox ISKCON Chowpatty

From Pancha Pandava P

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From Man Mohan P

Thank you very much for providing BG articles for free.
I have one request,if the English vocabulary used in articles can be made simple (normal or common vocab as in Srila Prabhupada’s books),it may be more understood by common people having normal English background like me without the help of dictionary.

Please forgive me for my offenses.

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Sample of Gita-daily article's use of literary devices:

18.32 - When the conscience is dumbed and numbed and dumped…[C1] 

A security provider[C2]  who has protected us for millennia from ourselves has now been branded as outdated and unneeded[C3] ; its very right to existence is being questioned.

That beleaguered battler [C4] is, of course, our conscience, the voice within who cautions us when we do wrong and commends us when we do right.[C5]

When we blatantly displayed sexual obscenity on TV, our conscience protested. We hit it on the mouth with a rock on which was emblazoned “the right to enjoy beauty.” The impact made the conscience dumb. That our “right” started erasing the difference between human society and animal society didn’t matter; the right was what mattered.[C6]

When we piled up tons of explicit content on the internet, our mute conscience expressed shock with its eyes. Not tolerating its audacity, we gave it an injection on which was embedded “the right to sexual freedom.” The jab left it numb. That our “right” led to the skyrocketing of horrendous sexual abuses like rape, incest and pedophilia didn’t matter; the right was what mattered.

When we legalized the murder of the infant by the mother, our conscience, though dumb and numb, still shuddered. Not wanting to see even its face, we threw it out of the door using a bouncer whose T-shirt roared [C7] “the right to moral relativism.”  That our “right” to choose which morality, if any, to follow bred psychopaths whose “morality” told them that nothing was wrong in massacring innocent people didn’t matter; the right was what mattered.

The Bhagavad-gita indirectly predicts our getting the rights wrong [C8] when it states (18.32) that intelligence in the mode of ignorance perceives everything topsy-turvy (sarvarthan viparitams ca).

Does our dumbed, numbed, dumped [C9] conscience have any chance of survival?

Only if we dare to ask ourselves a hard question: without it do we have any chance of survival?[C10]

From Kedar

Hare Krishna Prabhuji. How can we do our best and put all our efforts in discharging our own professional duties without aspiring for the results. In the context of material activities, I find it difficult to excel unless we have goals.

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Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 2.7.17 presents an interesting conversation. There, Brahmā says that Vāmana claimed the entire world from Bali using three “deceptive steps” (tripada-cchalena). This is said in the third line of the śloka. The fourth line answers the anticipated question, “How can Viṣṇu’s avatāra, Vāmana, employ deceit, an immoral tactic?”

The answer Brahmā submits is that it was not an immoral deceit because Vāmana begged (asked) the three steps of land from Bali, and Bali (very) willingly gave it. If someone gives you something willingly, it is not theft. There was some deceit involved because Vāmana literally asked for three steps (tri-pada), which on the surface literally means “three paces of land” – but which he intended to mean tri-pada - the three sections of the world: heaven, earth, and the netherworld.

Vāmana’s wordplay was deceptive, but the fact that he openly asked it from Bali, who did not request further clarification and willingly gave it, absolves Vāmana from immorality.

Actually, the case can be argued further. Bali’s guru, Śukra, told him that Vāmana was using words deceptively and would take the three divisions of the world by his “three steps.” Bali therefore was quite aware, and still very willingly granted the request to Vāmana.

Remember that Bali is the grandson of Prahlāda, and therefore is a Vaiṣṇava, despite living in netherworldly external trappings.

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Devotional service is more or less a declaration of war against the illusory energy. As long as one is not strong enough to fight the illusory energy, there may be accidental falldowns. But when one is strong enough, he is no longer subjected to such falldowns.

Bhagavad Gita As It Is 9.30 purport

Where our heart is, that’s where we are. Usually, our heart is in material things; we long for them fervently. As all material things are temporary, our attachment to them ensures the inevitable breaking of our heart. Again and again. Lifetime after lifetime.

Gita wisdom opens the door out of this tradition of heartbreaks by informing us of our spiritual identity and glory. We are indestructible souls who have an eternal loving relationship with Krishna – a relationship that we have forgotten. Our misguided attempt to replace Krishna with worldly surrogates is at the root of all our heartbreaks.

Bhakti-yoga offers us an easy and effective process for redirecting our love towards Krishna. When we learn to love him, we insure our heart against heartbreaks. Krishna never rejects or neglects us; he never lets us down; he never leaves us. Rather, through his unfailing and unwavering love, he heals and fills our heart – he heals the heart of the wounds caused by past heartbreaks, and he fills the heart with his warmth and strength.

Though this world is unchangeably a place of duality, Krishna’s love provides us a stability that takes us above that duality. The Bhagavad-gita (06.22) indicates that those relishing the supreme spiritual reality stay unshaken even amidst life’s severest reversals.

Bhakti-yoga is so inclusive that it grants us access to this supreme reality by developing love for Krishna without demanding that we reject all love in this world. It integrates that love with our love for Krishna. We see others as parts of Krishna by loving whom we can love Krishna better. This vision enables us to ive them a place in our heart without giving them the power to break our heart. Because ensuring the presence of Krishna at the center of our heart makes it unbreakable.

***

06.22 - Upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty.

From the Daily Athenian

New Vrindaban, West Virginia’s only Hare Krishna community and home of the awe-inspiring Palace of Gold, hosted the second annual Festival of Colors Saturday.

The festival, which is modeled after the traditional Indian festival Holi, drew more than 5,000 attendees to the outskirts of Moundsville, W.Va.

The festival blends together elements of a traditional Holi celebration, during which Hindus throw brightly colored perfumed powders into the air in celebration of springtime, with elements of a Western music festival.

Although traditional color festivals are deeply rooted in religious tradition, the event Saturday was a secular celebration of the ideas of The International Society Krishna Consciousness.  The event was open to participants of all ages, races, beliefs and walks of life.

Vrindavana Das, project manager for the festival, said the event was meant to be a symbolic celebration of life, unity and peace.

“We are all here today to live our lives and be with one another,” he said. “This is meant to be fun and joyful and to bring us closer to those who are around us.”

Throughout the course of the afternoon, four Krishna-centric bands played; each leading the crowd through their own unique interpretations of the Maha Mantra (including a version which incorporated the melody of a Led Zeppelin song).

While they danced and chanted along with the musicians on stage, the audience doused one another with continual bursts of organic vibrantly colored powders.

As the day progressed, the chanting and dancing became increasingly manic and expressive. The crowd responded to this heightened tempo with an equally measured increase to the frequency and randomness of the miniature kaleidoscopic explosions rolling from their frenzied mass.

The participants, most of whom had arrived dressed in pristine white T-shirts, quickly became stained from head to toe with a dusting of colors, all blending and converging into a psychedelic mess reminiscent of tie-dye.

“All I see is a collection of beautiful souls, sparkling in the sun like diamonds,” said Jai Krishna Das, lead vocalist of the Ananda Groove as he surveyed the splattered, smudged, splotched and spotted crowd.

In addition to bombing one another with colors, attendees had the opportunity to tour New Vrindaban’s grounds and partake in heaping plates of traditional Indian vegetarian cuisine. The food was doled out by the steaming spoonful by a line of cheerful monks who could be heard chiding   attendees for not being colorful enough.

During the time it took to make the short trek from New Vrindaban’s grounds to the parking lots, the attendees left cloudy trails of color behind them, making the receding lines of revellers look like live-action long-exposure photographs.

As they dusted themselves off for the drive home, many could be heard still reciting the Vaishnava mantra: “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”

Today marks the 175th anniversary of the birth—the appearance—of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, “the pioneer of the program for benedicting the entire world with Krishna consciousness.” To honor the occasion, I have written a short piece about “Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Srila Prabhupada.” We pray for their continued guidance and mercy.

“Dedicated to the sacred service of Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who initiated the teachings of Lord Chaitanya in the Western world (McGill University, Canada) in 1896, the year of my birth.” These words are Srila Prabhupada’s dedication to Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, the first book he published after coming to America. They also apply to Srila Prabhupada’s life, which was dedicated to the sacred service of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and his own spiritual master—Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s son—Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati.

Srila Prabhupada furthered many of Thakura Bhaktivinoda’s projects: engaging householders in local preaching initiatives (nama-hatta); establishing the principle that Vaishnavas, even not born brahmans, are greater than brahmans (and are brahmans too); translating, explaining, and publishing important Vaishnava scriptures for the understanding of the contemporary audience; implementing the vision of a wonderful temple and spiritual city in Mayapur; and, perhaps most significant, fulfilling the desire and prediction that the holy names and teachings of Sri Krishna Chaitanya—Krishna consciousness—be propagated all over the world.

In 1885, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote,

“Lord Chaitanya did not advent Himself to liberate only a few men in India. Rather, His main objective was to emancipate all living entities of all countries throughout the entire universe and preach the eternal dharma. Lord Chaitanya states in Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, ‘In every town, country, and village My name will be sung.’ There is no doubt that this unquestionable order will come to pass. . . . Although there is still no pure society of Vaishnavas, Lord Chaitanya’s prophetic words will in a few days come true . . .

“Very soon the unparalleled path of hari-nama-sankirtana will be propagated all over the world. . . . Oh, for that day when the fortunate English, French, Russian, German, and American people will take up banners, mridangas, and karatalas and raise kirtana through their streets and towns. When will that day come? Oh, for the day when the Western fair-skinned men, from one side, while chanting ‘Jaya Sacinandana ki jaya!’ will extend their arms and, embracing the devotees of our country coming from another side, treat us with brotherly feelings. When will that day be?”

In the caption to Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s photo in Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, Srila Prabhupada described him as “the pioneer of the program for benedicting the entire world with Krishna consciousness”; and he saw himself as the Thakura’s humble servant in that effort, fully dependent on his mercy. In a conversation in Mayapur in March 1974, Srila Prabhupada, hearing a kirtana party in the background, commented that Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura had desired “that ‘Europeans and Americans will come, and they will dance here with the chanting, “Jaya Sacinandana, Jaya Sacinandana!” ’ So that is being done. . . . When they chant and dance, I simply remember Bhaktivinoda Thakura. That’s all. I pray to Bhaktivinoda Thakura, ‘Now they have come to your shelter. Give them protection.’ That’s all. What can I do more? I cannot do anything more.”

So it is by the mercy of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, coming through parampara, through Srila Prabhupada, that we have been engaged in devotional service to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, His devotees, His holy names, His teachings, and His divine dhama—Mayapur.

In 1971, as a young devotee in Calcutta, I approached Srila Prabhupada, “I have been trying to understand what your desire is. And two things seem to please you most: distributing your books and building the big temple in Mayapur.” Prabhupada’s face lit up, his eyes opened wide, and he smiled. “Yes, you have understood.”

I did not know it then, but that desire for a big temple in Mayapur (and even for profuse book distribution) came from Thakura Bhaktivinoda. He had a vision of an effulgent city with a wonderful temple at its center, in Mayapur. And he wrote,

eka adbhuta mandira ei haibe prakasa
gaurangera nitya-seva haibe vikasa

“An astounding temple will appear and will engage the entire world in the eternal service of Lord Caitanya.” (Sri Navadvipa-Mahatmya, Parikrama Khanda, Chapter 4)

After my exchange with Srila Prabhupada, he spent several months in Europe and America and then returned to Calcutta with a design for the big temple. And in the meantime, Tamal Krishna Goswami had fulfilled Prabhupada’s longstanding, ardent desire to acquire some land in Mayapur. But there had been flooding in Mayapur, and the flooding there can be very severe. Therefore—although Prabhupada was so enthusiastic about the project, and had struggled so hard to get the land in Mayapur, and had personally brought the plans for the first building there—still, right when we were at the peak of our enthusiasm, he raised the question: “What will happen if the Ganges floods? What will happen to the temple, to the project?”

He then suggested that we not build the temple in Mayapur but at Birnagar, Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s birthplace—another indication of how important Bhaktivinoda Thakura was to Prabhupada, and to the world. Eventually, Prabhupada brought us back to the conclusion that we should proceed with the project in Mayapur. And he declared, “If you all build this temple, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura will personally come and take you all back to Godhead.”

Through his empowered service, Srila Prabhupada has made Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s shelter available to all of us, and now we are also “dedicated to the sacred service of Srila Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura.” We beg and pray for pure devotional service under their lotus feet and depend fully on their mercy.

—Giriraj Swami

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By hook or by crook Krsna makes us surrender everything, and not only can’t we complain, he wants us to be happy about it.

From Keshav Nimai P

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From: Latha M
"This material world is the manifestation of the inferior energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." BG 9.8
how can lords energy be inferior? He is supreme and everything about the lord is superior. can you please clarify this doubt .

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From Rahul

Srila Prabhupad had said " All Men should remain as Brahmacharis and All Women should get married" . So by saying so , does srila Prabhupad mean sexless marriages are the best kind of marriages and are highly respected.What is the Vedic prespective on the topic of sexless marriages?

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From Rahul

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