Chasing Red Herrings
→ NY Times & Bhagavad Gita Sanga/ Sankirtana Das


Last installment of Getting By In The Kaliyuga

Balancing the budget is a red herring. Politicians make it sound like it’s the most important thing in the world, but at this point and time, it’s not. Five years ago the economy  took a nose dive. When Bush left office, we were in  a free fall. First, you have to stabilize the economy.  When that’s done then you can think about balancing the budget. This takes years to unravel. Romney even said recently that, if he gets elected, he needs eight to ten years to turn things around (but blames Obama for not getting things done in four years).

What happened to the budget to begin with? What happened to the jobs?  Who made out big time when the economy went down? Did you? Is the debt your fault?   Should you and your children be penalized for the debt?  Follow the money trail. Look the events of the last thirty years. The people that are responsible for all this don’t want us to look at the past. And did you ever see those Senate hearings   where the senators are all indignant and huffing and puffing, and the Wall Street guys are cowering at the table in front of the bench. People swallow this stuff up.  But it’s a charade because nothing ever comes of it. Nothing ever changes.

If the bankers make a profit, they get to keep it for themselves and in turn keep the politicians who helped them in office. And if the bankers screw up then  they get the politicians to convince us that we   all need help clean up the mess they created.  This is capitalism and socialism at its finest.

Prabhupada explains in Light of the Bhagavat (in the purport of text 44) that politicians "want to flourish in the guise of servants of the people...(that they) want to exploit the administrative power for their own self-interest...although professing democracy, they want to be kings.... they compete for votes by bad propaganda."  This sums up the mentality and modus operandi  of many politicians. Nowadays politicians and bankers throw out so many misleading “facts” and “figures” to confuse people. They even hire so-called “research firms” to come up with the conclusions they want you to see. Someone said that you’re entitled to you own opinions but your not entitled to your own facts.  So the problem is if you don’t (or can’t because of the misleading information) study and learn from past mistakes then you’re  condemned to repeat them. You might remember Laural and Hardy – “Here’s another fine mess you’ve gotten me into.”  They never learn.

Of course, we have to learn how to maneuver through this material world, which often seems like a battlefield.  Sometimes, the battle is raging around us, and sometimes even within us. We have to try our best to do the right thing, without attachment to results, and in his books  Srila Prabhupada has provided an excellent basis, both materially and spiritually.  He has shown us that ultimately real happiness  is not about cultivation of mundane facts and figures. It’s not about who’s in the White House.  It’s not about attaining  satisfaction through the temporary connection we have to this body of ours.   It is about understanding our  own eternal nature as spirit souls and our loving relationship with the Supreme Soul of souls, the Lord Within The Heart.  It’s understanding the journey we're on in this life,  a journey of self discovery. Be true to yourself. Stay focused on the real goal. Don’t go chasing after red herrings.


"One who has renounced the fruits of his actions, whose doubts are destroyed by transcendental knowledge, and who is situated firmly in the self, is not bound by works, O conqueror of riches."  Bhagavad Gita 4:41

Chasing Red Herrings
→ NY Times & Bhagavad Gita Sanga/ Sankirtana Das


Last installment of Getting By In The Kaliyuga

Balancing the budget is a red herring. Politicians make it sound like it’s the most important thing in the world, but at this point and time, it’s not. Five years ago the economy  took a nose dive. When Bush left office, we were in  a free fall. First, you have to stabilize the economy.  When that’s done then you can think about balancing the budget. This takes years to unravel. Romney even said recently that, if he gets elected, he needs eight to ten years to turn things around (but blames Obama for not getting things done in four years).

What happened to the budget to begin with? What happened to the jobs?  Who made out big time when the economy went down? Did you? Is the debt your fault?   Should you and your children be penalized for the debt?  Follow the money trail. Look the events of the last thirty years. The people that are responsible for all this don’t want us to look at the past. And did you ever see those Senate hearings   where the senators are all indignant and huffing and puffing, and the Wall Street guys are cowering at the table in front of the bench. People swallow this stuff up.  But it’s a charade because nothing ever comes of it. Nothing ever changes.

If the bankers make a profit, they get to keep it for themselves and in turn keep the politicians who helped them in office. And if the bankers screw up then  they get the politicians to convince us that we   all need help clean up the mess they created.  This is capitalism and socialism at its finest.

Prabhupada explains in Light of the Bhagavat (in the purport of text 44) that politicians "want to flourish in the guise of servants of the people...(that they) want to exploit the administrative power for their own self-interest...although professing democracy, they want to be kings.... they compete for votes by bad propaganda."  This sums up the mentality and modus operandi  of many politicians. Nowadays politicians and bankers throw out so many misleading “facts” and “figures” to confuse people. They even hire so-called “research firms” to come up with the conclusions they want you to see. Someone said that you’re entitled to you own opinions but your not entitled to your own facts.  So the problem is if you don’t (or can’t because of the misleading information) study and learn from past mistakes then you’re  condemned to repeat them. You might remember Laural and Hardy – “Here’s another fine mess you’ve gotten me into.”  They never learn.

Of course, we have to learn how to maneuver through this material world, which often seems like a battlefield.  Sometimes, the battle is raging around us, and sometimes even within us. We have to try our best to do the right thing, without attachment to results, and in his books  Srila Prabhupada has provided an excellent basis, both materially and spiritually.  He has shown us that ultimately real happiness  is not about cultivation of mundane facts and figures. It’s not about who’s in the White House.  It’s not about attaining  satisfaction through the temporary connection we have to this body of ours.   It is about understanding our  own eternal nature as spirit souls and our loving relationship with the Supreme Soul of souls, the Lord Within The Heart.  It’s understanding the journey we're on in this life,  a journey of self discovery. Be true to yourself. Stay focused on the real goal. Don’t go chasing after red herrings.


"One who has renounced the fruits of his actions, whose doubts are destroyed by transcendental knowledge, and who is situated firmly in the self, is not bound by works, O conqueror of riches."  Bhagavad Gita 4:41

Save Europe’s Disappearing Cows, Say Campaigners
→ The Yoga of Ecology

Click here to read the full article from Sami Grover at TreeHugger



"Those who would build mega-dairies in Britain may not believe that cows belong in fields, but the majority of the public does. Yet while there's been some success by campaigners fighting specific intensive cattle farms, there does seem to be a steady creep toward larger, more intensive, and indoor-only cattle rearing operations in Europe.
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is about to fight back.

Citing the statistic that 67% of all cows in Denmark never feel the sun or chew a blade of grass, the WSPA is launching a new campaign to save Europe's disappearing cows and keep them out in the open where they belong."



Save Europe’s Disappearing Cows, Say Campaigners
→ The Yoga of Ecology

Click here to read the full article from Sami Grover at TreeHugger



"Those who would build mega-dairies in Britain may not believe that cows belong in fields, but the majority of the public does. Yet while there's been some success by campaigners fighting specific intensive cattle farms, there does seem to be a steady creep toward larger, more intensive, and indoor-only cattle rearing operations in Europe.
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is about to fight back.

Citing the statistic that 67% of all cows in Denmark never feel the sun or chew a blade of grass, the WSPA is launching a new campaign to save Europe's disappearing cows and keep them out in the open where they belong."



Indus Valley 2,000 years older than thought
→ Vedicarcheologicaldiscoveries's Weblog

Indus Valley 2,000 years older than thought

Nivedita Khandekar ,
Hindustan Times
New Delhi, November 04, 2012

The beginning of India’s history has been pushed back by more than 2,000 years, making it older than that
of Egypt and Babylon. Latest research has put the date of the origin of the Indus Valley Civilisation at 6,000 years before Christ, which contests the current theory that the settlements around the Indus began around 3750
BC.

Ever since the excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in the early 1920s, the civilisation was considered almost as old as those of Egypt and Mesopotamia.

The finding was announced at the “International Conference on Harappan Archaeology”, recently organised by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Chandigarh.

Based on their research, BR Mani, ASI joint director general, and KN Dikshit, former ASI joint director general, said in a presentation: “The preliminary results of the data from early sites of the Indo-Pak subcontinent suggest that the Indian civilisation emerged in the 8th millennium BC in the Ghaggar-Hakra and Baluchistan area.”

“On the basis of radio-metric dates from Bhirrana (Haryana), the cultural remains of the pre-early Harappan horizon go back to 7380 BC to 6201 BC.”

Excavations had been carried out at two sites in Pakistan and Bhirrana, Kunal, Rakhigarhi and Baror in India.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Indus-Valley-2-000-years-older-than-thought/Article1-954601.aspx


Lecture – Radhastami – Giriraj Swami
→ Classes and Bhajans

Morning lecture given on Radhastami by Giriraj Swami on Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 9, Text 13.

Dallas, TX
2012-09-22

TEXT 9.13

mahatmanas tu mam partha
daivim prakritim asritah
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jnatva bhutadim avyayam

TRANSLATION

O son of Pritha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.

PURPORT

In this verse the description of the mahatma is clearly given. The first sign of the mahatma is that he is already situated in the divine nature. He is not under the control of material nature. And how is this effected? That is explained in the Seventh Chapter: one who surrenders unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, at once becomes freed from the control of material nature. That is the qualification. One can become free from the control of material nature as soon as he surrenders his soul to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the preliminary formula. Being marginal potency, as soon as the living entity is freed from the control of material nature, he is put under the guidance of the spiritual nature. The guidance of the spiritual nature is called daivi prakriti, divine nature. So when one is promoted in that way -- by surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead -- one attains to the stage of great soul, mahatma.

The mahatma does not divert his attention to anything outside Krishna, because he knows perfectly well that Krishna is the original Supreme Person, the cause of all causes. There is no doubt about it. Such a mahatma, or great soul, develops through association with other mahatmas, pure devotees. Pure devotees are not even attracted by Krishna's other features, such as the four-armed Maha-Vishnu. They are simply attracted by the two-armed form of Krishna. They are not attracted to other features of Krishna, nor are they concerned with any form of a demigod or of a human being. They meditate only upon Krishna in Krishna consciousness. They are always engaged in the unswerving service of the Lord in Krishna consciousness.


Download: 2012-09-22 - Radhastami - 1 - Giriraj Swami Lecture.mp3

Gift of Fearlessness
→ Seed of Devotion

I was trembling. My heart was pounding.

I squeezed my way through the train compartment, people shouting and moving in every square inch. The devotee from the temple who was helping me carry all of my luggage finally settled my stuff on my bunk, Number 15. Then with a smile he said, "Okay, Mataji, I go now,"

Don't go, please don't go, I pleaded in my mind, but I spoke the words, "Oh, okay, Haribol,"

The devotee waved, and then he disappeared into the mass of bodies. He was my last link with the world I knew. I just sat there on my bunk in shock. I looked around and I saw men - all men - looking at me. I was going to be on this 2nd class train for 36 hours from Mumbai to Kolkatta. Alone. I had no phone. No access to anyone. I was cut off from the world. Anything could happen.

My mind whirred - I could still get off the train. I had 16 minutes to change my mind - grab all my luggage and somehow find a phone and get back to the temple. This was madness.

Suddenly, the train flooded with loudly chattering village women. They filled the aisles until there was barely room to move. I sat there utterly stunned. These women were joking. No way could they be riding with us.

But they were. When the train began to move, the women settled to the floor where they would be sleeping the night. I looked on in shocked disbelief.

I slept with my passport tucked into my shirt that night, murmuring the Nrisimhadeva Prayers for protection.

***

By the next afternoon, I hadn't smiled or moved from my bunk in over 14 hours. I had adjusted to the intensity of the train ride by putting up energetic shields and retreating deep inside of myself.

Towards midday, I was reading a book about Srila Prabhupad. There was this little girl trying to squish into my bunk (along with two other women). I decided to soften up a bit and give the little girl some space to lean her back against my bunk wall.

Suddenly out of the corner of my eye, I saw this old guy across the aisle gesturing to the popcorn he had just bought, this big creepy smile on his face, trying to get the little girl to take some. She was refusing silently. He would reach towards her, and she shrank away.

I looked up from my book, sized up the situation, and stared daggers at the man. He still smiled, trying to get the girl to eat his popcorn. I said with knives in my voice, "Leave."

He smiled at me as if I was being silly - this little girl knew him.

So I turned to the little girl, gesturing, "Do you know him?"

She shook her head.

I turned back to the man and said in a deadly tone, "Leave her alone." It was incredible. I experienced profound and lethal anger surge inside of me. I suddenly found myself willing to fight for this little girl, and I didn't even know her name.

The other young girl on my bunk giggled at my intensity. I wondered for a moment if maybe I was mistaken - maybe the little girl did know the man and I was overreacting.

But I didn't care. I was doing my duty, since obviously no one else was protecting the little girl.

The man lost his smile and never bothered the girl again. I kept looking over at him, checking in to make sure, almost as if to say, "Just you DARE, you lowlife," But he never dared again.

Some time later, the little girl asked where I was from and where I was going, and I understood enough to respond simply.

But then I ended up connecting with the little girl, her name was Seetal, and the other young girl on my bunk, Kajal. I decided to teach these girls the most valuable thing I knew, so I taught them the Hare Krishna maha mantra. They soaked it up like sponges.

They chanted the mahamantra a few times. I could see delight shining on their faces, like they had just been given a special and mystical gift.

I explained in my limited Hindi that this mantra is bliss for the soul. And in a very grave tone, I also mimed that this mantra would give protection. When in fear, something frightful, chant this mantra. I thought of the lowlife man across the aisle who still sat there, and that there might be many more men like him in these girls' futures. I wouldn't always be there to protect them, maybe no one would be there. But if they remembered this mantra, maybe Krishna would be there.

The two girls took my explanation gravely and said the mantra again. Little Seetal said to me in English, "Thank you,"

I replied with a warm smile, "You are welcome."

I almost feel like those two girls were the reason I didn't get off the train last night. I was experiencing such fear at the beginning of this journey, fear of being alone, fear of being exploited. Everything had been stripped away from me on this train.

In the process of teaching these girls the mahamantra, I got in touch with the fearlessness in my own heart.


P.S. The next time I travel by train in India alone, First Class only!
Subscribe

Gift of Fearlessness
→ Seed of Devotion

I was trembling. My heart was pounding.

I squeezed my way through the train compartment, people shouting and moving in every square inch. The devotee from the temple who was helping me carry all of my luggage finally settled my stuff on my bunk, Number 15. Then with a smile he said, "Okay, Mataji, I go now,"

Don't go, please don't go, I pleaded in my mind, but I spoke the words, "Oh, okay, Haribol,"

The devotee waved, and then he disappeared into the mass of bodies. He was my last link with the world I knew. I just sat there on my bunk in shock. I looked around and I saw men - all men - looking at me. I was going to be on this 2nd class train for 36 hours from Mumbai to Kolkatta. Alone. I had no phone. No access to anyone. I was cut off from the world. Anything could happen.

My mind whirred - I could still get off the train. I had 16 minutes to change my mind - grab all my luggage and somehow find a phone and get back to the temple. This was madness.

Suddenly, the train flooded with loudly chattering village women. They filled the aisles until there was barely room to move. I sat there utterly stunned. These women were joking. No way could they be riding with us.

But they were. When the train began to move, the women settled to the floor where they would be sleeping the night. I looked on in shocked disbelief.

I slept with my passport tucked into my shirt that night, murmuring the Nrisimhadeva Prayers for protection.

***

By the next afternoon, I hadn't smiled or moved from my bunk in over 14 hours. I had adjusted to the intensity of the train ride by putting up energetic shields and retreating deep inside of myself.

Towards midday, I was reading a book about Srila Prabhupad. There was this little girl trying to squish into my bunk (along with two other women). I decided to soften up a bit and give the little girl some space to lean her back against my bunk wall.

Suddenly out of the corner of my eye, I saw this old guy across the aisle gesturing to the popcorn he had just bought, this big creepy smile on his face, trying to get the little girl to take some. She was refusing silently. He would reach towards her, and she shrank away.

I looked up from my book, sized up the situation, and stared daggers at the man. He still smiled, trying to get the girl to eat his popcorn. I said with knives in my voice, "Leave."

He smiled at me as if I was being silly - this little girl knew him.

So I turned to the little girl, gesturing, "Do you know him?"

She shook her head.

I turned back to the man and said in a deadly tone, "Leave her alone." It was incredible. I experienced profound and lethal anger surge inside of me. I suddenly found myself willing to fight for this little girl, and I didn't even know her name.

The other young girl on my bunk giggled at my intensity. I wondered for a moment if maybe I was mistaken - maybe the little girl did know the man and I was overreacting.

But I didn't care. I was doing my duty, since obviously no one else was protecting the little girl.

The man lost his smile and never bothered the girl again. I kept looking over at him, checking in to make sure, almost as if to say, "Just you DARE, you lowlife," But he never dared again.

Some time later, the little girl asked where I was from and where I was going, and I understood enough to respond simply.

But then I ended up connecting with the little girl, her name was Seetal, and the other young girl on my bunk, Kajal. I decided to teach these girls the most valuable thing I knew, so I taught them the Hare Krishna maha mantra. They soaked it up like sponges.

They chanted the mahamantra a few times. I could see delight shining on their faces, like they had just been given a special and mystical gift.

I explained in my limited Hindi that this mantra is bliss for the soul. And in a very grave tone, I also mimed that this mantra would give protection. When in fear, something frightful, chant this mantra. I thought of the lowlife man across the aisle who still sat there, and that there might be many more men like him in these girls' futures. I wouldn't always be there to protect them, maybe no one would be there. But if they remembered this mantra, maybe Krishna would be there.

The two girls took my explanation gravely and said the mantra again. Little Seetal said to me in English, "Thank you,"

I replied with a warm smile, "You are welcome."

I almost feel like those two girls were the reason I didn't get off the train last night. I was experiencing such fear at the beginning of this journey, fear of being alone, fear of being exploited. Everything had been stripped away from me on this train.

In the process of teaching these girls the mahamantra, I got in touch with the fearlessness in my own heart.


P.S. The next time I travel by train in India alone, First Class only!
Subscribe

Phone a Friend
→ Tattva - See inside out

Life is full of complexity, and making decisions can be incredibly tough. To spice it up there are emotional attachments, the stress factor, expectations of others and our general indecision and dithering. We can easily get stuck. Thankfully, we always have the option of “phoning a friend” and getting some good advice. Receiving good advice is a treat, and offering it to others is an art. It’s something we all do, and it’s something that we can all improve on. A few wise words can go a long way. Here are some reflections on refining your advice:

Before you give any advice:
  • Hear them out – sometimes people just need to be heard. Maybe they’re not expecting you to have all the answers. Maybe they just want someone to lend an ear.
  • Ask good questions – try to understand their predicament by asking questions. This gives you a clearer picture, and can help the other person see the same.
  • Reflection - what experience and wisdom can you draw upon which is relevant to this situation? Be aware of any biases and self-interest you may have, and try to be as selfless and impartial as possible.

While formulating your advice:
  • Philosophical & Practical – strike a balance between philosophical advice (that will address the deeper issues) and practical advice (that can offer immediate relief and progression). Both are important.
  • Achievable & Challenging – offer advice that people can actually follow through (this gives them hope and creates faith in you). But also challenge them to grow - don’t just give easy advice that makes you popular and doesn’t disturb them.
  • Inspirational not Intimidating – generate inspiration by sharing the benefits of following the advice. Avoid using fear tactics that force people or snooker them. 
  • Time Sensitive - always consider whether it’s the right time to offer advice. Are they in the right frame of mind to hear it? Do you need to give some intermediate steps first? Maybe things will be rectified automatically in due course of time?
  • Empathise - try to put yourself in their shoes. Avoid giving advice that you yourself wouldn’t follow. This is a good test of the strength and feasibility of your advice.
  • Another Opinion – don’t be afraid to admit that you may need another opinion. Refer them to someone else.

When you give the advice: 
  • Good delivery – demonstrate that you have understood their situation and considered the different angles. Offer the advice and explain the reasoning.
  • Get feedback - ask how it sounds. Often the best advice is created in an iterative way. Their reactions can help you refine it together and make it even more meaningful.
  • Detachment – accept that the person may not take your advice. They are not obligated. Learn to live with it, and let the person live with his or her decision.
  • Do the follow-up – keep in touch with them and see how things go. Offer ongoing support.

Maybe you can recall the last piece of advice you gave to someone. Did it follow some of these principles?

Phone a Friend
→ Tattva - See inside out

Life is full of complexity, and making decisions can be incredibly tough. To spice it up there are emotional attachments, the stress factor, expectations of others and our general indecision and dithering. We can easily get stuck. Thankfully, we always have the option of “phoning a friend” and getting some good advice. Receiving good advice is a treat, and offering it to others is an art. It’s something we all do, and it’s something that we can all improve on. A few wise words can go a long way. Here are some reflections on refining your advice:

Before you give any advice:
  • Hear them out – sometimes people just need to be heard. Maybe they’re not expecting you to have all the answers. Maybe they just want someone to lend an ear.
  • Ask good questions – try to understand their predicament by asking questions. This gives you a clearer picture, and can help the other person see the same.
  • Reflection - what experience and wisdom can you draw upon which is relevant to this situation? Be aware of any biases and self-interest you may have, and try to be as selfless and impartial as possible.

While formulating your advice:
  • Philosophical & Practical – strike a balance between philosophical advice (that will address the deeper issues) and practical advice (that can offer immediate relief and progression). Both are important.
  • Achievable & Challenging – offer advice that people can actually follow through (this gives them hope and creates faith in you). But also challenge them to grow - don’t just give easy advice that makes you popular and doesn’t disturb them.
  • Inspirational not Intimidating – generate inspiration by sharing the benefits of following the advice. Avoid using fear tactics that force people or snooker them. 
  • Time Sensitive - always consider whether it’s the right time to offer advice. Are they in the right frame of mind to hear it? Do you need to give some intermediate steps first? Maybe things will be rectified automatically in due course of time?
  • Empathise - try to put yourself in their shoes. Avoid giving advice that you yourself wouldn’t follow. This is a good test of the strength and feasibility of your advice.
  • Another Opinion – don’t be afraid to admit that you may need another opinion. Refer them to someone else.

When you give the advice: 
  • Good delivery – demonstrate that you have understood their situation and considered the different angles. Offer the advice and explain the reasoning.
  • Get feedback - ask how it sounds. Often the best advice is created in an iterative way. Their reactions can help you refine it together and make it even more meaningful.
  • Detachment – accept that the person may not take your advice. They are not obligated. Learn to live with it, and let the person live with his or her decision.
  • Do the follow-up – keep in touch with them and see how things go. Offer ongoing support.

Maybe you can recall the last piece of advice you gave to someone. Did it follow some of these principles?

Travel Journal#8.17: Kirtana in Germany and Eastern Europe
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk


Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 17
By Krishna-kripa das
(September 2012, part one)
Wroclaw and Leipzig Ratha-yatras, Kirtana-Mela, Kirtan in Eastern Europe
(Sent from London, England, on November 2, 2012)

Where I Went and What I Did

After traveling with Janananda Goswami in Slovakia and Czech Republic, Dhruva, Trevor, Vamana, and I went to Poland for the Wroclaw (pronounced Vrotswav) Ratha-yatra and then onward to Germany for Kirtana-Mela, which culminated in a wonderful Leipzig Ratha-yatra. The next day Trevor and I joined the Nitai Gauranga harinama bus tour led by temple president Ananda Vardhana Prabhu of Talinn, Estonia, and returned to Wroclaw with them for an ecstatic harinama there with over twenty devotees. Trevor and I did harinama in Wroclaw two more days, and then went to Bydgoszcz (pronounced Bidgoshch) for harinama and an Ekadasi evening kirtana program. Then Trevor and I traveled south and participated in evening kirtana programs arranged by Punya Palaka Prabhu in Trutnov and Prague, Czech Republic, and held at restaurants Baladeva and Gauranga, respectively. Next we went to Modra, Slovakia, where Parmesvara and Gopali Prabhus have a very successful nama-hatta program at their home, and we had a lot of nice kirtana, and more people asked more questions than usual after the lecture. Then Trevor and I traveled by an overnight bus and then an overnight train to Crimea for Bhakti Sangama, popularly known as the Ukraine festival.

Highlights in the “Insights” section include some quotes from a Srila Prabhupada lecture and purport and some great appreciations of the chanting of the holy name by the senior devotees who came to Kirtana-Mela, such as Bhaktivaibhava Swami, Lokanatha Swami, Sacinandana Swami, Krishna Ksetra Prabhu, Kadamba Kanana Swami.


Itinerary

London - Nov. 2–3
New York State - Nov. 4 – 14
Jacksonville, Florida: Nov. 15
Gainesville, Florida: Nov. 16, 2012–April 2013

Wroclaw Ratha-yatra

Of the three Wroclaw Ratha-yatras I have been on, this was one of the best. We went around the Rynek Square four times, more than some years, and the sound system was better. One year Trivikrama Swami had been there, and his enthusiasm in kirtana, would have certainly added some extra life, complementing the beautiful bhajanas and more mellow kirtana of Krishna Ksetra Prabhu, who played wonderfully on the stage in the show afterward, which was watched by a good crowd. There were not an unlimited number of invitations to the stage show afterward, but it was nearby, and there were flyers for those who showed obvious interest. Seeing I had flyers in my hand, some people even approached me asking for them, revealing their enthusiasm for the devotional event.

Kirtana-Mela in Germany

Kirtana-Mela in Germany was attended by fewer people than last year, but the people I talked to were all glad that they came. The fact that the fee was higher and its payment more enforced may be one reason why.

As a brahmacari I got a discount in exchange for doing a service which was to amount to four hours a day, but turned out to be less. I cut vegetables in the kitchen after lunch as usually my favorite kirana singers were in the morning or the evening. The second day we decided to have our own kirtana while chopping vegetables, and we went on for three hours, with different devotees taking turns leading. It felt good as we were there for kirtana and we were doing kirtana but at the same time were we serving the devotees who love kirtana by helping prepare their meals, and so we felt we got a special benediction.

Advaita Gauranga Prabhu, a Jayapataka Swami disciple from Ukraine who has lived in Germany a number of years, was inspired to organize a couple of harinamas, and other devotees inspired by those, organized one of their own the following day. The first was in Limbach, the town where the Kirtana-Mela was held.


The second harinama, the one in Chemnitz was attended by thirty-two devotees.



Several people took videos of us, and we passed out invitations to the upcoming Leipzig Ratha-yatra and biweekly Leipzig Sunday feast to the interested people.

There was also a harinama for the children around the compound where the Kirtana-Mela was held. The harinama was just after a drama about Lord Caitanya inspiring the animals in Jharikhanda Forest to chant and dance, and so many of the children were still wearing their animal costumes, so it was an especially wild sight! Several children took turns leading, including one girl who was dressed as Lord Caitanya, and it was beautiful to see. The following video shows just one of the child singers chanting in the parking lot, but before and after, the harinama visited other parts of the camp.


At Kirtana-Mela, B. B. Govinda Swami was beautiful to hear:


Lokanath Swami was full of transcendental life-giving energy, and he got a lot of people dancing. Candramauli and Janananda Maharajas’ excelled in the dancing department, inspiring others. Yadubara Prabhu chanted one of my favorite tunes in a beautiful way. Kadamba Kanana Swami led during the same time as we went out on the harinamas, and I felt bad to miss so many of his kirtanas, as he always seems to give it all he has in the way of enthusiasm. Madhava Prabhu’s singing reminded me of our trip on the Mexico bus tour where we got to hear him sing live practically every evening for three weeks. It is always a tease that now our encounters with him are just a few days here or there, never like the three-week stretch on the Mexican bus tour. Shyamananda Prabhu from Ireland put in more hours than all the male dancers and really excelled in that area. We feel gratitude toward all the kirtana leaders and responders who shared their enthusiasm for the holy name and to those great souls who helped organize the event.

Although we left early to take advantage of a ride to Leipzig with temple president, Sadbhuja Prabhu, we heard that Sacinandana Swami said at the morning class that that would be the last Kirtana-Mela there in Germany. Apparently not all of the organizers had known of his decision and many were upset as the festival was very successful from the point of view of the participants and the organizers had enjoyed the sacrifice to make it possible for all. We also appreciate all the work done by the largely Russian group of devotees who took a lot of trouble to give hundreds of people a chance to hear and chant the holy name for hours a day together and increase their inspiration in Krishna consciousness, and we hope that by the enthusiasm of the devotees it will continue in the future.

Leipzig Ratha-yatra



I have been to Leipzig Ratha-yatra three times and this year was clearly the best. As last year, it was right after the Kirtana-Mela so all the leaders and most of the responders were filled with enthusiasm from that event. 



It reminded us of how Lord Caitanya and His associates did their year of nocturnal kirtanas at Srivasa Thakura’s house, and then brought their enthusiasm to the streets of Navadvipa in massive sankirtana. Leipzig has a small downtown, and it is easy to reach many people in that concentrated place. 



I think of the many Ratha-yatras I have attended, Leipzig excels in the promotion department with three sizes of promotional literature describing the Ratha-yatra, the stage show after, the local temple programs, and the history of the event. Often people who see our Ratha-yatras are not invited to the stage show after nor the local temple programs and that is a great loss from the promotional point of view. Also an amazing large number of devotees volunteered to distribute the literature. The devotees also passed out fruit, cookies, and sweet balls, as the prasadam of Lord Jagannatha, and book distribution went on as well. There was always a crowd of people viewing the stage show which continued till almost 8:00 p.m. in the evening. The public feast was wonderful, with a curd and vegetable preparation and all the srikhand you could eat! Many, many thanks to Sadbhuja Prabhu and his team for putting on a wonderful Ratha-yatra event. Thanks to Vishnujana Prabhu (alias Harinama Ruci) for the pictures. More can be found on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.420275604702047.101837.100001588327802&type=3

A Day with the Nitai Gauranga Harinama Bus Party

Devotees, numbering about eighteen, from various countries, especially the Baltics, headed by Ananda Vardhana Prabhu of Tallinn, Estonia, have a six-month long traveling harinama bus program in the summer visiting different cities in Europe. Bhakta Trevor and I had the pleasure of traveling with them to Wroclaw after the Leipzig Ratha-yatra, and chanting with them there for three hours. Having an additional eighteen devotees to do harinama with for a day was a great blessing. There are many good singers, instrumentalists, and dancers in the party. We chanted in the Rynek Square where just one week before we had the Wroclaw Ratha-yatra, and it was great to be giving the people there another chance to connect with Krisna through kirtana. Several devotees distribute books and CDs simultaneously to spread the mercy and to maintain the program. Devotees in Wroclaw have open programs periodically at a venue other than the temple to attract new people, and we distributed many invitations to the upcoming one.

Other Harinamas in Wroclaw

Trevor and I did a couple days of three hours of harinama in Wroclaw afterward, the first day joined by Balarama Prabhu, who does programs in his hometown of Opole. You can see people are attracted by the chanting, even from a small party. The second day, we sang for an hour each, before, after, and during a semi-weekly prasadam distribution program, near popular Rynek Square. Many of the regular prasadam eaters were happy with the live kirtana. (Usually there is a tape playing.) One lady we met earlier on harinama, joined us again to listen, to take prasadam, to buy incense, and to give me the ultimate small donation, one grosze ($0.003). An enthusiastic personality in the prasadam program is a young lady named Vishnu Patni Dasi, from Pogorzelica, a coastal town in the north, who met Indradyumna Swami’s festival tour when she was sixteen. Now thirteen years later, she is initiated and assists greatly with the deity worship and prasadam distribution in our Wroclaw temple. I have seen her come many years on the tour festivals, and it is wonderful to witness the development of her enthusiasm for spiritual life.

Harinama and Program in Bydgoszcz, Poland


Several years ago Parananda Prabhu, nama-hatta leader in Bydgoszcz, invited me to harinama in his town. I thought if I went there alone, the two of us would not make much of a party, but this year as Trevor was traveling with me, I decided to go there as we could have a better harinama. 



We found a lot of people smiled, moved with the music, and seemed to appreciate the kirtana. One man who had an administrative role in one section of the city said he would like us to perform there sometime.



We had a program with a few devotees, a talk, and a very lively kirtana, with a lot of dancing, and some fine Ekadasi prasadam.

I was happy that with the cooperation of Parananda Prabhu and Bhakta Trevor, I got to do harinama in yet another city. Thanks to Krsna Karsani dd, wife of Parananda Prabhu, for the photos. More can be found at on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3584014324124.2131554.1386218307&type=3

Trutnov Evening Kirtana

Punya Palaka Prabhu, who organizes our Krishna camp at Trutnov Open Air Music Festival (the Czech Woodstock) arranged evening kirtanas in Trutnov and Prague.

It was an adventure getting to Trutnov as I was depending on a bus to cross the Polish-Czech border which never came. Turns out it only ran on Fridays, and it was Thursday. We walked about 4 km to the first Czech town but found the last bus for the day had already left. While Trevor was doing his voice lessons, and I was trying to get a ride, a couple stopped and offered to give us a ride to the next town to catch the bus. The guy knew a little English, and I knew a little Polish, and we managed to converse. They were impressed I knew as much Polish as I did, which is very slight. The lady was from Poland and the guy from Czech. She spoke Polish, and he spoke a combination of the two languages from living near the border. From my attempted conversation, they decided that they liked us and drove us the whole 16 km to Trutnov, and we were very grateful.

The kirtana was at the devotee restaurant there called Baladeva. We were happy to get some prasadam after our long journey.

Martin, the organizer of the Trutnov festival, and his kids came for the kirtana. He has a fascination for Lord Jagannatha’s smiling face which appears on all the promotional material for the festival. Martin’s kids amazed me because all though they could not have been more than four or five years old, they played some shakers in time with the music for over half an hour. Trevor did a good job leading some kirtana. A few other people came, and they all had a good time.

Prague Evening Kirtana

We went on the usual Friday harinama in Prague, and then did a kirtana program at the not-yet-opened-at-that-time restaurant known as Gauranga. There are so many Hare Krishna restaurants in Prague now, I lost count of them. The husband and wife running this new Gauranga restaurant were very hospitable. While traveling there from Govindas, we met a couple who had some interest in Hare Krishna, and they came along with us and stayed for the entire three and a half hour kirtana. The man was familiar with Hare Krishna, yet it was new for the woman, and you could see she really liked it, and I was happy that by the will of Providence, she got that opportunity.

Parmesvara and Gopali’s Program in Modra

Parmesvara and Gopali are very friendly and enthusiastic disciples of Kadamba Kanana Swami, and they have fifteen or twenty Krishna programs each year at their house in Modra, a suburb of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, under an hour from the Czech border.

I went there three and four years old, but was too busy the last two years, so I was happy to go again. Some of my friends from Czech Republic and Slovakia that I knew from the Polish Woodstock, the Czech Woodstock, and from Mayapur were there. There must have been about twenty people for the program which was an hour of kirtana and an hour of class. Valmiki Prabhu, who does kirtana at the Czech Woodstock, and Trevor chanted nicely, and then I spoke. I was pleased that several people asked nice questions. The prasadam was very nice and kept us going on the overnight bus ride to the Lvov, where we were to catch a train to Crimea for the Ukraine festival. There was a little time for an additional kirtana before we left on our trip, and I took advantage of that. Paramesvara Prabhu kindly asked his congregation to donate for my Ukraine trip as well as helping out himself, and I offer thanks to all the people who helped out in that way.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from a recorded lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam.

It is the duty of the father to instruct his the sons in the matter of the aim of life. Human life is meant for tapasya (austerity), not to imitate the hogs and dogs. People do not want to hear this, but because we are servants of Krishna we must instruct them anyway.

By our association with different modes of nature we are producing our next body.

The first instruction in Bhagavad-gta is “you are eternal.” Hearing this the intelligent person asks, “Why am I dying?”

Mukti means attaining your original form.

Although there are many processes for self-realization mentioned in Bhagavat-gita, Krishna recommends if you want to know Him, you should execute bhakti.

Any child can do it. If a child sees the form of Krishna in the temple, he can remember that form. Then one can do a little offering. A little flower, fruit, water.

To miss this opportunity to attain your original form by the simple practice of bhakti is suicidal.

If you accept something as prasadam, the mercy of the Lord, then there is no reaction, but if you accept something for your own enjoyment, you become entangled.

Ashram, whether brahmacari, grhastha, or sannyasa, means consciousness of Krishna is there.

You are kicked by the material nature, and you are master? Why are you so falsely proud?

from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 8.78:

“To engage in the service of the Lord is the natural function of the living entity, but because he is covered by the influence of maya, the material energy, he thinks it to be a very difficult task. But if he places himself under the guidance of a spiritual master and does everything sincerely, immediately the Lord, who is situated within everyone’s heart, dictates how to serve Him (dadami buddhi-yogam tam). The Lord gives this direction, and thus the devotee’s life becomes perfect.”

Bhakivaibhava Swami:

Sometimes hearing is stressed and sometimes chanting is stressed. Why both? Because they both go together.

When Srila Prabhupada heard George Harrison and John Lennon liked to chant Hare Krishna, he invited them to lead the Ratha-yatra procession in London. Unfortunately that did not happen.

In the early days, we chanted minimum six or eight hours a day. We literally witnessed miracles right on the street.

One time a very rough looking person came toward the party, and I worried what would happen. Then he slipped and fell on his head, and walked away.

Once one devotee was speaking and stressing preaching, the brhad-mrdanga. Srila Prabhupada said, “If you do not know how to play the small mrdanga, how will you play the big mrdanga.” In other words if we are not attracted to Hare Krishna, how will we inspire others.

Association with devotees leads to attraction to chanting the holy name, and so it can be conceived of as most important. The Bhagavatam declares glories of the holy name. The dhama is constantly vibrating the holy name of the Lord. The mantras used in deity worship are filled with Krishna’s names. Also Jiva Goswami and Hari-bhakta-vilasa say deity worship should be accompanied by the chanting of the holy name.

There is no other religious practice as pure as the chanting of the holy name.

Four Vishnudutas came because Ajamila chanted the four syllables of Narayana. They opposed the three Yamaduta who came because Ajamila commited sins with body, mind, and words.

Although one may commit offenses, the solution is never to stop chanting. One must submit to the holy name, ask for forgiveness, and continue chanting.

Srila Prabhupada says our mauna vrata (vow of silence) is not to speak until we finish chanting our 16 rounds each day.

Lokanath Swami:

We are chanting the same mantra that made Lord Caitanya mad, and our goal is also to become mad with love for God.

Our madness in this world is a perverted reflection of the madness of the spiritual world.

Lord Caitanya had a night club, where they chanted and danced all night [Srivasa Angam]. You can say that Kirtana-Mela started at Srivasa Angam.

Wherever there is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, there is Kirtana-Mela. Those who come in contact with Him immediately begin chanting and dancing.

This Hare Krishna mantra is a Radha Krishna mantra, so if you chant it your ultimate destination will be Vrndavana.

The Lord has come to stop our endeavors for bhukti, mukti, and siddhi?sense enjoyment, liberation, and mystic power.

Lord Caitanya has talked less and chanted more.

Lord Caitanya even made the animals mad with love of God. The deer and tigers were embracing and kissing.

If you want to become fearless, chant Hare Krishna (etan nirvidyamanamam . . . ).

We are in the Krishna sun, and we are in the present?no past, no future.

There was left over nectar from the Kumbha-mela pot, and the people possessing it proposed to Sukadeva Goswami that he give some to Maharaja Pariksit in exchange for Krishna-katha. Sukadeva Goswami’s response was in effect, “Get lost.” Why? Because they committed a big offense comparing narrations of Krishna to fruitive activities.

Sacinandana Swami:

Bring your attention, your everything to the first name, the first “Hare.” If you pay attention to the first “Hare,” by the grace of Radharani, you will see that you can easily pay attention to the entire mantra. It will be as effortless as swimming downstream with the current of Mother Ganges. We have to start somewhere, so start with the first “Hare.”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

from his autobiography:

[Returning from a UN prayer meeting,] Swamiji said, “They will never have peace unless they chant and give up their sinful activities.”

from ISKCON in the 1970s:

In India, ISKCON published a book listing the names of every Indian scholar who supported us and his address. It was suggested that we do the same thing in America for the Americans. I suggested that this might be dangerous in America because our enemies had already taken the names of whatever professors we have published and written to them. They have slandered and blasphemed our movement to try to turn them away from us, and it hasn’t been good. When Prabhupada heard that, he immediately agreed that it would not be a good idea to publish a book like that in America. He said, ‘It will damage us by counter-propaganda. Yes, Canakya Pandita says don’t disclose your secrets, the enemy will take advantage.’ I asked Prabhupada, ‘But what about the injunction that a devotee should treat his enemy so openly that he should be willing to reveal everything to him?’ Prabhupada said that the days are different now in Kali-yuga. If the other party are cheaters, I shall cheat; otherwise they will take advantage.

He asked how much fifty books cost. He was told $250. ‘Is that much for an American? Make a policy and organization, whereby you introduce the books in every home?a full set in every home. Everyone can afford $250. The GBC should make such a plan. Print the full sets in every language. You have to use your intelligence. You have to find out how to remove $250 from their pockets and give them fifty books. They won’t be cheated. They will gain greater value for their lives. Don’t think your business is finished. There’s much work ahead. This is the water of the seed which has already taken root. Distribute more and more books and go on opening more centers. People should hear about us. In this way you have to protect the seed that is already planted there.’

“I told him the leaders were not enthusiastic about this outpost in Bhuvanesvara. He said, ‘Why not? This is the capital of Orissa. People are coming here. We have to have centers in every town, and even if it is not a big center, some have to work and stay here. Even if the people are coming every night only to eat kichari, that is also preaching.’
“Then he said that, ‘Our program for everywhere is kirtana and prasadam distribution. We distribute books and the collection is to support these things, kirtana and prasadam distribution.’ I mentioned that in America over the years, the devotees are not seen in the streets shaven-headed holding kirtana. He said, ‘It is not necessary to stress chanting in the streets. Distribute books and invite them to come for the love feast. They will see us by coming to the temple and joining in the kirtana.’”

Krishna Ksetra Prabhu:

Kirtana comes from kirti which means “fame” and implies that it should be spread.

Hobbs says, “Memory is the fading of experience.”

I see memories as being like cooking and the flavors are coming out.

Jiva Goswami says to make arcana (deity worship) complete we should have kirtana (chanting of the glories of God) before, after, and during the worship.

Narada Muni says the best way to see the Lord is to hear the Lord and to chant His name.

Vandanam (offering prayers) is part of arcanam (deity worship).

With gratitude we are acknowledging we are receptacles for the Lord’s mercy, and thus we become eligible to receive more mercy.

Srila Prabhupada indicated that we have one prayer, “O Lord, O energy of Lord, please engage us in eternal loving devotional service.”

The Hare Krishna mantra is in the vocative, calling out to Krishna. And when you call out, you hope to get a response. Not that you are so inattentive, you do not notice if there is any response or not.

Coming to Kirtana Mela, we get a sense that, “We have arrived. This is what it is all about.”

Q: How to recognize Krishna’s response?
A: By hearing the response of the kirtana of devotees we are hearing Krishna response to our chanting. By seeing how Krishna acts in our life is another way.

Kadamba Kanana Swami:

Generally we pray to the Lord to free ourselves from anxiety, but here Haridasa Thakura is desiring that the Lord be free from anxiety.

Those living entities who can’t chant, like the trees, are purified by the chanting of others.

For the materialists in their festivals there is just the pleasure of the moment, but for the devotees, there is the pleasure of the moment plus the eternal spiritual benefit. For us the benefit does not end when the kirtana (chanting) ends.

When Radha discovers a quality of Krishna, Her love embraces it. This continues more and more.

Most of the things I was asked to do as a devotee, I did not want to do, but I did them because it looked bad to say no. And people would say you have done so wonderfully, but I was just doing it because I was told to.

In Sri Caitanya-caritamrita it is said Lord Jagannatha is the most merciful deity.

If your ticket is booked to leave before the Ratha-yatra [at the end of the Kirtana-Mela], it is a useless ticket. Throw it away.

Externally Srivasa Thakura was a party animal until an astrologer told him he had one year to live and he was wasting his life. Then he engaged in the devotional service day and night. One night he was hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam and felt he difficulty breathing so he went to a balcony and in his weakened condition he fell off the balcony. He was caught by an unknown person who disappeared in the crowd. That was on the day he was supposed to die. The next morning the first book Srivasa Thakura saw was the Brhan-Naradiya Purana and the verse, harer nama harer nama, and Srivas Thakura began having kirtana every night at his home.

In a Caitanya-caritamrita purport, Srila Prabhupada tells whenever there are the activities of the Sunday feast Lord Caitanya is personally present. There is a special guest at the Sunday feast [Lord Caitanya]!

So here at Kirtana-Mela Lord Caitanya is also personally present. We may not see.

Our habits can be purified. We can be what we are, but purified. Purified by the chanting. May we leave here with wave of enthusiasm and end our festival with Ratha-yatra. Tell those who stayed home they made a mistake. Tell our friends who stayed home to watch it on the Internet.

The faithful can mean full of faith or loyal, and as faith increases we can be more loyal.

We have moments that give us faith and keep us going.

How can you miss the Ratha-yatra? How can use miss the dessert? You had the curd subji, but you can't have the dessert?

We have come here not just to taste the nectar we know but also the nectar we do not know.

If you want to see the entire lecture as a video, click below:


Ananda Caitanya Prabhu:

Without being humble we cannot perform sacrifice.

Ratha-yatra is meant for engaging the people in general in the auspicious congregational chanting of the holy name.

In Puri almost all the attenders of Ratha-yatra are devotees, but in the West we see the extent of Lord Jagannatha’s mercy.

In Lithuania one person came to the temple and inquired, “Can I participate in hearing, chanting, and worshiping with you?” “Yes,” we replied, “but how did you hear about it?” The person explained, “Someone asked me to guard his books one December ten years ago . . .”

Compassion arises when we are happy in Krishna consciousness, and when we see how everyone is suffering.

Lord Brahma says, “O great actor, my Lord, all these poor creatures are constantly perplexed by hunger, thirst, severe cold, secretion and bile, attacked by coughing winter, blasting summer, rains and many other disturbing elements, and overwhelmed by strong sex urges and indefatigable anger. I take pity on them, and I am very much aggrieved for them.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.9.8)

Krishna teaches that to the extent the you give up the desire to enjoy the fruits of your actions you can be peaceful.

The lotus relies on the sun although the sun is so very far away.

When you are self-centered cooperation is impossible, but for those who are Krishna centered, cooperation is possible.

Strive for the association of pure unalloyed devotees, and you will receive the inspiration.

Ananta Vardhana Prabhu:

Lord Caitanya forbade his followers from making fun of the defeated Kesvava Kasmiri, showing that although the Lord was victorious, He was not proud.

When Shiva was bewildered by Mohini, he did not feel angry at the Lord, but rather appreciated the greatness of the Lord.

-----

bhakti-sadhana-srestha sunite haila mana
prabhu upadesa kaila nama-sankirtana

“Then the Bhattacarya asked Caitanya Mahaprabhu, ‘Which item is most important in the execution of devotional service?’ The Lord replied that the most important item was the chanting of the holy name of the Lord.” (Sri Caitanya-caritmrita, Madhya 6.241)

Travel Journal#8.17: Kirtana in Germany and Eastern Europe
→ Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk


Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 8, No. 17
By Krishna-kripa das
(September 2012, part one)
Wroclaw and Leipzig Ratha-yatras, Kirtana-Mela, Kirtan in Eastern Europe
(Sent from London, England, on November 2, 2012)

Where I Went and What I Did

After traveling with Janananda Goswami in Slovakia and Czech Republic, Dhruva, Trevor, Vamana, and I went to Poland for the Wroclaw (pronounced Vrotswav) Ratha-yatra and then onward to Germany for Kirtana-Mela, which culminated in a wonderful Leipzig Ratha-yatra. The next day Trevor and I joined the Nitai Gauranga harinama bus tour led by temple president Ananda Vardhana Prabhu of Talinn, Estonia, and returned to Wroclaw with them for an ecstatic harinama there with over twenty devotees. Trevor and I did harinama in Wroclaw two more days, and then went to Bydgoszcz (pronounced Bidgoshch) for harinama and an Ekadasi evening kirtana program. Then Trevor and I traveled south and participated in evening kirtana programs arranged by Punya Palaka Prabhu in Trutnov and Prague, Czech Republic, and held at restaurants Baladeva and Gauranga, respectively. Next we went to Modra, Slovakia, where Parmesvara and Gopali Prabhus have a very successful nama-hatta program at their home, and we had a lot of nice kirtana, and more people asked more questions than usual after the lecture. Then Trevor and I traveled by an overnight bus and then an overnight train to Crimea for Bhakti Sangama, popularly known as the Ukraine festival.

Highlights in the “Insights” section include some quotes from a Srila Prabhupada lecture and purport and some great appreciations of the chanting of the holy name by the senior devotees who came to Kirtana-Mela, such as Bhaktivaibhava Swami, Lokanatha Swami, Sacinandana Swami, Krishna Ksetra Prabhu, Kadamba Kanana Swami.


Itinerary

London - Nov. 2–3
New York State - Nov. 4 – 14
Jacksonville, Florida: Nov. 15
Gainesville, Florida: Nov. 16, 2012–April 2013

Wroclaw Ratha-yatra

Of the three Wroclaw Ratha-yatras I have been on, this was one of the best. We went around the Rynek Square four times, more than some years, and the sound system was better. One year Trivikrama Swami had been there, and his enthusiasm in kirtana, would have certainly added some extra life, complementing the beautiful bhajanas and more mellow kirtana of Krishna Ksetra Prabhu, who played wonderfully on the stage in the show afterward, which was watched by a good crowd. There were not an unlimited number of invitations to the stage show afterward, but it was nearby, and there were flyers for those who showed obvious interest. Seeing I had flyers in my hand, some people even approached me asking for them, revealing their enthusiasm for the devotional event.

Kirtana-Mela in Germany

Kirtana-Mela in Germany was attended by fewer people than last year, but the people I talked to were all glad that they came. The fact that the fee was higher and its payment more enforced may be one reason why.

As a brahmacari I got a discount in exchange for doing a service which was to amount to four hours a day, but turned out to be less. I cut vegetables in the kitchen after lunch as usually my favorite kirana singers were in the morning or the evening. The second day we decided to have our own kirtana while chopping vegetables, and we went on for three hours, with different devotees taking turns leading. It felt good as we were there for kirtana and we were doing kirtana but at the same time were we serving the devotees who love kirtana by helping prepare their meals, and so we felt we got a special benediction.

Advaita Gauranga Prabhu, a Jayapataka Swami disciple from Ukraine who has lived in Germany a number of years, was inspired to organize a couple of harinamas, and other devotees inspired by those, organized one of their own the following day. The first was in Limbach, the town where the Kirtana-Mela was held.


The second harinama, the one in Chemnitz was attended by thirty-two devotees.



Several people took videos of us, and we passed out invitations to the upcoming Leipzig Ratha-yatra and biweekly Leipzig Sunday feast to the interested people.

There was also a harinama for the children around the compound where the Kirtana-Mela was held. The harinama was just after a drama about Lord Caitanya inspiring the animals in Jharikhanda Forest to chant and dance, and so many of the children were still wearing their animal costumes, so it was an especially wild sight! Several children took turns leading, including one girl who was dressed as Lord Caitanya, and it was beautiful to see. The following video shows just one of the child singers chanting in the parking lot, but before and after, the harinama visited other parts of the camp.


At Kirtana-Mela, B. B. Govinda Swami was beautiful to hear:


Lokanath Swami was full of transcendental life-giving energy, and he got a lot of people dancing. Candramauli and Janananda Maharajas’ excelled in the dancing department, inspiring others. Yadubara Prabhu chanted one of my favorite tunes in a beautiful way. Kadamba Kanana Swami led during the same time as we went out on the harinamas, and I felt bad to miss so many of his kirtanas, as he always seems to give it all he has in the way of enthusiasm. Madhava Prabhu’s singing reminded me of our trip on the Mexico bus tour where we got to hear him sing live practically every evening for three weeks. It is always a tease that now our encounters with him are just a few days here or there, never like the three-week stretch on the Mexican bus tour. Shyamananda Prabhu from Ireland put in more hours than all the male dancers and really excelled in that area. We feel gratitude toward all the kirtana leaders and responders who shared their enthusiasm for the holy name and to those great souls who helped organize the event.

Although we left early to take advantage of a ride to Leipzig with temple president, Sadbhuja Prabhu, we heard that Sacinandana Swami said at the morning class that that would be the last Kirtana-Mela there in Germany. Apparently not all of the organizers had known of his decision and many were upset as the festival was very successful from the point of view of the participants and the organizers had enjoyed the sacrifice to make it possible for all. We also appreciate all the work done by the largely Russian group of devotees who took a lot of trouble to give hundreds of people a chance to hear and chant the holy name for hours a day together and increase their inspiration in Krishna consciousness, and we hope that by the enthusiasm of the devotees it will continue in the future.

Leipzig Ratha-yatra



I have been to Leipzig Ratha-yatra three times and this year was clearly the best. As last year, it was right after the Kirtana-Mela so all the leaders and most of the responders were filled with enthusiasm from that event. 



It reminded us of how Lord Caitanya and His associates did their year of nocturnal kirtanas at Srivasa Thakura’s house, and then brought their enthusiasm to the streets of Navadvipa in massive sankirtana. Leipzig has a small downtown, and it is easy to reach many people in that concentrated place. 



I think of the many Ratha-yatras I have attended, Leipzig excels in the promotion department with three sizes of promotional literature describing the Ratha-yatra, the stage show after, the local temple programs, and the history of the event. Often people who see our Ratha-yatras are not invited to the stage show after nor the local temple programs and that is a great loss from the promotional point of view. Also an amazing large number of devotees volunteered to distribute the literature. The devotees also passed out fruit, cookies, and sweet balls, as the prasadam of Lord Jagannatha, and book distribution went on as well. There was always a crowd of people viewing the stage show which continued till almost 8:00 p.m. in the evening. The public feast was wonderful, with a curd and vegetable preparation and all the srikhand you could eat! Many, many thanks to Sadbhuja Prabhu and his team for putting on a wonderful Ratha-yatra event. Thanks to Vishnujana Prabhu (alias Harinama Ruci) for the pictures. More can be found on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.420275604702047.101837.100001588327802&type=3

A Day with the Nitai Gauranga Harinama Bus Party

Devotees, numbering about eighteen, from various countries, especially the Baltics, headed by Ananda Vardhana Prabhu of Tallinn, Estonia, have a six-month long traveling harinama bus program in the summer visiting different cities in Europe. Bhakta Trevor and I had the pleasure of traveling with them to Wroclaw after the Leipzig Ratha-yatra, and chanting with them there for three hours. Having an additional eighteen devotees to do harinama with for a day was a great blessing. There are many good singers, instrumentalists, and dancers in the party. We chanted in the Rynek Square where just one week before we had the Wroclaw Ratha-yatra, and it was great to be giving the people there another chance to connect with Krisna through kirtana. Several devotees distribute books and CDs simultaneously to spread the mercy and to maintain the program. Devotees in Wroclaw have open programs periodically at a venue other than the temple to attract new people, and we distributed many invitations to the upcoming one.

Other Harinamas in Wroclaw

Trevor and I did a couple days of three hours of harinama in Wroclaw afterward, the first day joined by Balarama Prabhu, who does programs in his hometown of Opole. You can see people are attracted by the chanting, even from a small party. The second day, we sang for an hour each, before, after, and during a semi-weekly prasadam distribution program, near popular Rynek Square. Many of the regular prasadam eaters were happy with the live kirtana. (Usually there is a tape playing.) One lady we met earlier on harinama, joined us again to listen, to take prasadam, to buy incense, and to give me the ultimate small donation, one grosze ($0.003). An enthusiastic personality in the prasadam program is a young lady named Vishnu Patni Dasi, from Pogorzelica, a coastal town in the north, who met Indradyumna Swami’s festival tour when she was sixteen. Now thirteen years later, she is initiated and assists greatly with the deity worship and prasadam distribution in our Wroclaw temple. I have seen her come many years on the tour festivals, and it is wonderful to witness the development of her enthusiasm for spiritual life.

Harinama and Program in Bydgoszcz, Poland


Several years ago Parananda Prabhu, nama-hatta leader in Bydgoszcz, invited me to harinama in his town. I thought if I went there alone, the two of us would not make much of a party, but this year as Trevor was traveling with me, I decided to go there as we could have a better harinama. 



We found a lot of people smiled, moved with the music, and seemed to appreciate the kirtana. One man who had an administrative role in one section of the city said he would like us to perform there sometime.



We had a program with a few devotees, a talk, and a very lively kirtana, with a lot of dancing, and some fine Ekadasi prasadam.

I was happy that with the cooperation of Parananda Prabhu and Bhakta Trevor, I got to do harinama in yet another city. Thanks to Krsna Karsani dd, wife of Parananda Prabhu, for the photos. More can be found at on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3584014324124.2131554.1386218307&type=3

Trutnov Evening Kirtana

Punya Palaka Prabhu, who organizes our Krishna camp at Trutnov Open Air Music Festival (the Czech Woodstock) arranged evening kirtanas in Trutnov and Prague.

It was an adventure getting to Trutnov as I was depending on a bus to cross the Polish-Czech border which never came. Turns out it only ran on Fridays, and it was Thursday. We walked about 4 km to the first Czech town but found the last bus for the day had already left. While Trevor was doing his voice lessons, and I was trying to get a ride, a couple stopped and offered to give us a ride to the next town to catch the bus. The guy knew a little English, and I knew a little Polish, and we managed to converse. They were impressed I knew as much Polish as I did, which is very slight. The lady was from Poland and the guy from Czech. She spoke Polish, and he spoke a combination of the two languages from living near the border. From my attempted conversation, they decided that they liked us and drove us the whole 16 km to Trutnov, and we were very grateful.

The kirtana was at the devotee restaurant there called Baladeva. We were happy to get some prasadam after our long journey.

Martin, the organizer of the Trutnov festival, and his kids came for the kirtana. He has a fascination for Lord Jagannatha’s smiling face which appears on all the promotional material for the festival. Martin’s kids amazed me because all though they could not have been more than four or five years old, they played some shakers in time with the music for over half an hour. Trevor did a good job leading some kirtana. A few other people came, and they all had a good time.

Prague Evening Kirtana

We went on the usual Friday harinama in Prague, and then did a kirtana program at the not-yet-opened-at-that-time restaurant known as Gauranga. There are so many Hare Krishna restaurants in Prague now, I lost count of them. The husband and wife running this new Gauranga restaurant were very hospitable. While traveling there from Govindas, we met a couple who had some interest in Hare Krishna, and they came along with us and stayed for the entire three and a half hour kirtana. The man was familiar with Hare Krishna, yet it was new for the woman, and you could see she really liked it, and I was happy that by the will of Providence, she got that opportunity.

Parmesvara and Gopali’s Program in Modra

Parmesvara and Gopali are very friendly and enthusiastic disciples of Kadamba Kanana Swami, and they have fifteen or twenty Krishna programs each year at their house in Modra, a suburb of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, under an hour from the Czech border.

I went there three and four years old, but was too busy the last two years, so I was happy to go again. Some of my friends from Czech Republic and Slovakia that I knew from the Polish Woodstock, the Czech Woodstock, and from Mayapur were there. There must have been about twenty people for the program which was an hour of kirtana and an hour of class. Valmiki Prabhu, who does kirtana at the Czech Woodstock, and Trevor chanted nicely, and then I spoke. I was pleased that several people asked nice questions. The prasadam was very nice and kept us going on the overnight bus ride to the Lvov, where we were to catch a train to Crimea for the Ukraine festival. There was a little time for an additional kirtana before we left on our trip, and I took advantage of that. Paramesvara Prabhu kindly asked his congregation to donate for my Ukraine trip as well as helping out himself, and I offer thanks to all the people who helped out in that way.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

from a recorded lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam.

It is the duty of the father to instruct his the sons in the matter of the aim of life. Human life is meant for tapasya (austerity), not to imitate the hogs and dogs. People do not want to hear this, but because we are servants of Krishna we must instruct them anyway.

By our association with different modes of nature we are producing our next body.

The first instruction in Bhagavad-gta is “you are eternal.” Hearing this the intelligent person asks, “Why am I dying?”

Mukti means attaining your original form.

Although there are many processes for self-realization mentioned in Bhagavat-gita, Krishna recommends if you want to know Him, you should execute bhakti.

Any child can do it. If a child sees the form of Krishna in the temple, he can remember that form. Then one can do a little offering. A little flower, fruit, water.

To miss this opportunity to attain your original form by the simple practice of bhakti is suicidal.

If you accept something as prasadam, the mercy of the Lord, then there is no reaction, but if you accept something for your own enjoyment, you become entangled.

Ashram, whether brahmacari, grhastha, or sannyasa, means consciousness of Krishna is there.

You are kicked by the material nature, and you are master? Why are you so falsely proud?

from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila 8.78:

“To engage in the service of the Lord is the natural function of the living entity, but because he is covered by the influence of maya, the material energy, he thinks it to be a very difficult task. But if he places himself under the guidance of a spiritual master and does everything sincerely, immediately the Lord, who is situated within everyone’s heart, dictates how to serve Him (dadami buddhi-yogam tam). The Lord gives this direction, and thus the devotee’s life becomes perfect.”

Bhakivaibhava Swami:

Sometimes hearing is stressed and sometimes chanting is stressed. Why both? Because they both go together.

When Srila Prabhupada heard George Harrison and John Lennon liked to chant Hare Krishna, he invited them to lead the Ratha-yatra procession in London. Unfortunately that did not happen.

In the early days, we chanted minimum six or eight hours a day. We literally witnessed miracles right on the street.

One time a very rough looking person came toward the party, and I worried what would happen. Then he slipped and fell on his head, and walked away.

Once one devotee was speaking and stressing preaching, the brhad-mrdanga. Srila Prabhupada said, “If you do not know how to play the small mrdanga, how will you play the big mrdanga.” In other words if we are not attracted to Hare Krishna, how will we inspire others.

Association with devotees leads to attraction to chanting the holy name, and so it can be conceived of as most important. The Bhagavatam declares glories of the holy name. The dhama is constantly vibrating the holy name of the Lord. The mantras used in deity worship are filled with Krishna’s names. Also Jiva Goswami and Hari-bhakta-vilasa say deity worship should be accompanied by the chanting of the holy name.

There is no other religious practice as pure as the chanting of the holy name.

Four Vishnudutas came because Ajamila chanted the four syllables of Narayana. They opposed the three Yamaduta who came because Ajamila commited sins with body, mind, and words.

Although one may commit offenses, the solution is never to stop chanting. One must submit to the holy name, ask for forgiveness, and continue chanting.

Srila Prabhupada says our mauna vrata (vow of silence) is not to speak until we finish chanting our 16 rounds each day.

Lokanath Swami:

We are chanting the same mantra that made Lord Caitanya mad, and our goal is also to become mad with love for God.

Our madness in this world is a perverted reflection of the madness of the spiritual world.

Lord Caitanya had a night club, where they chanted and danced all night [Srivasa Angam]. You can say that Kirtana-Mela started at Srivasa Angam.

Wherever there is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, there is Kirtana-Mela. Those who come in contact with Him immediately begin chanting and dancing.

This Hare Krishna mantra is a Radha Krishna mantra, so if you chant it your ultimate destination will be Vrndavana.

The Lord has come to stop our endeavors for bhukti, mukti, and siddhi?sense enjoyment, liberation, and mystic power.

Lord Caitanya has talked less and chanted more.

Lord Caitanya even made the animals mad with love of God. The deer and tigers were embracing and kissing.

If you want to become fearless, chant Hare Krishna (etan nirvidyamanamam . . . ).

We are in the Krishna sun, and we are in the present?no past, no future.

There was left over nectar from the Kumbha-mela pot, and the people possessing it proposed to Sukadeva Goswami that he give some to Maharaja Pariksit in exchange for Krishna-katha. Sukadeva Goswami’s response was in effect, “Get lost.” Why? Because they committed a big offense comparing narrations of Krishna to fruitive activities.

Sacinandana Swami:

Bring your attention, your everything to the first name, the first “Hare.” If you pay attention to the first “Hare,” by the grace of Radharani, you will see that you can easily pay attention to the entire mantra. It will be as effortless as swimming downstream with the current of Mother Ganges. We have to start somewhere, so start with the first “Hare.”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

from his autobiography:

[Returning from a UN prayer meeting,] Swamiji said, “They will never have peace unless they chant and give up their sinful activities.”

from ISKCON in the 1970s:

In India, ISKCON published a book listing the names of every Indian scholar who supported us and his address. It was suggested that we do the same thing in America for the Americans. I suggested that this might be dangerous in America because our enemies had already taken the names of whatever professors we have published and written to them. They have slandered and blasphemed our movement to try to turn them away from us, and it hasn’t been good. When Prabhupada heard that, he immediately agreed that it would not be a good idea to publish a book like that in America. He said, ‘It will damage us by counter-propaganda. Yes, Canakya Pandita says don’t disclose your secrets, the enemy will take advantage.’ I asked Prabhupada, ‘But what about the injunction that a devotee should treat his enemy so openly that he should be willing to reveal everything to him?’ Prabhupada said that the days are different now in Kali-yuga. If the other party are cheaters, I shall cheat; otherwise they will take advantage.

He asked how much fifty books cost. He was told $250. ‘Is that much for an American? Make a policy and organization, whereby you introduce the books in every home?a full set in every home. Everyone can afford $250. The GBC should make such a plan. Print the full sets in every language. You have to use your intelligence. You have to find out how to remove $250 from their pockets and give them fifty books. They won’t be cheated. They will gain greater value for their lives. Don’t think your business is finished. There’s much work ahead. This is the water of the seed which has already taken root. Distribute more and more books and go on opening more centers. People should hear about us. In this way you have to protect the seed that is already planted there.’

“I told him the leaders were not enthusiastic about this outpost in Bhuvanesvara. He said, ‘Why not? This is the capital of Orissa. People are coming here. We have to have centers in every town, and even if it is not a big center, some have to work and stay here. Even if the people are coming every night only to eat kichari, that is also preaching.’
“Then he said that, ‘Our program for everywhere is kirtana and prasadam distribution. We distribute books and the collection is to support these things, kirtana and prasadam distribution.’ I mentioned that in America over the years, the devotees are not seen in the streets shaven-headed holding kirtana. He said, ‘It is not necessary to stress chanting in the streets. Distribute books and invite them to come for the love feast. They will see us by coming to the temple and joining in the kirtana.’”

Krishna Ksetra Prabhu:

Kirtana comes from kirti which means “fame” and implies that it should be spread.

Hobbs says, “Memory is the fading of experience.”

I see memories as being like cooking and the flavors are coming out.

Jiva Goswami says to make arcana (deity worship) complete we should have kirtana (chanting of the glories of God) before, after, and during the worship.

Narada Muni says the best way to see the Lord is to hear the Lord and to chant His name.

Vandanam (offering prayers) is part of arcanam (deity worship).

With gratitude we are acknowledging we are receptacles for the Lord’s mercy, and thus we become eligible to receive more mercy.

Srila Prabhupada indicated that we have one prayer, “O Lord, O energy of Lord, please engage us in eternal loving devotional service.”

The Hare Krishna mantra is in the vocative, calling out to Krishna. And when you call out, you hope to get a response. Not that you are so inattentive, you do not notice if there is any response or not.

Coming to Kirtana Mela, we get a sense that, “We have arrived. This is what it is all about.”

Q: How to recognize Krishna’s response?
A: By hearing the response of the kirtana of devotees we are hearing Krishna response to our chanting. By seeing how Krishna acts in our life is another way.

Kadamba Kanana Swami:

Generally we pray to the Lord to free ourselves from anxiety, but here Haridasa Thakura is desiring that the Lord be free from anxiety.

Those living entities who can’t chant, like the trees, are purified by the chanting of others.

For the materialists in their festivals there is just the pleasure of the moment, but for the devotees, there is the pleasure of the moment plus the eternal spiritual benefit. For us the benefit does not end when the kirtana (chanting) ends.

When Radha discovers a quality of Krishna, Her love embraces it. This continues more and more.

Most of the things I was asked to do as a devotee, I did not want to do, but I did them because it looked bad to say no. And people would say you have done so wonderfully, but I was just doing it because I was told to.

In Sri Caitanya-caritamrita it is said Lord Jagannatha is the most merciful deity.

If your ticket is booked to leave before the Ratha-yatra [at the end of the Kirtana-Mela], it is a useless ticket. Throw it away.

Externally Srivasa Thakura was a party animal until an astrologer told him he had one year to live and he was wasting his life. Then he engaged in the devotional service day and night. One night he was hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam and felt he difficulty breathing so he went to a balcony and in his weakened condition he fell off the balcony. He was caught by an unknown person who disappeared in the crowd. That was on the day he was supposed to die. The next morning the first book Srivasa Thakura saw was the Brhan-Naradiya Purana and the verse, harer nama harer nama, and Srivas Thakura began having kirtana every night at his home.

In a Caitanya-caritamrita purport, Srila Prabhupada tells whenever there are the activities of the Sunday feast Lord Caitanya is personally present. There is a special guest at the Sunday feast [Lord Caitanya]!

So here at Kirtana-Mela Lord Caitanya is also personally present. We may not see.

Our habits can be purified. We can be what we are, but purified. Purified by the chanting. May we leave here with wave of enthusiasm and end our festival with Ratha-yatra. Tell those who stayed home they made a mistake. Tell our friends who stayed home to watch it on the Internet.

The faithful can mean full of faith or loyal, and as faith increases we can be more loyal.

We have moments that give us faith and keep us going.

How can you miss the Ratha-yatra? How can use miss the dessert? You had the curd subji, but you can't have the dessert?

We have come here not just to taste the nectar we know but also the nectar we do not know.

If you want to see the entire lecture as a video, click below:


Ananda Caitanya Prabhu:

Without being humble we cannot perform sacrifice.

Ratha-yatra is meant for engaging the people in general in the auspicious congregational chanting of the holy name.

In Puri almost all the attenders of Ratha-yatra are devotees, but in the West we see the extent of Lord Jagannatha’s mercy.

In Lithuania one person came to the temple and inquired, “Can I participate in hearing, chanting, and worshiping with you?” “Yes,” we replied, “but how did you hear about it?” The person explained, “Someone asked me to guard his books one December ten years ago . . .”

Compassion arises when we are happy in Krishna consciousness, and when we see how everyone is suffering.

Lord Brahma says, “O great actor, my Lord, all these poor creatures are constantly perplexed by hunger, thirst, severe cold, secretion and bile, attacked by coughing winter, blasting summer, rains and many other disturbing elements, and overwhelmed by strong sex urges and indefatigable anger. I take pity on them, and I am very much aggrieved for them.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.9.8)

Krishna teaches that to the extent the you give up the desire to enjoy the fruits of your actions you can be peaceful.

The lotus relies on the sun although the sun is so very far away.

When you are self-centered cooperation is impossible, but for those who are Krishna centered, cooperation is possible.

Strive for the association of pure unalloyed devotees, and you will receive the inspiration.

Ananta Vardhana Prabhu:

Lord Caitanya forbade his followers from making fun of the defeated Kesvava Kasmiri, showing that although the Lord was victorious, He was not proud.

When Shiva was bewildered by Mohini, he did not feel angry at the Lord, but rather appreciated the greatness of the Lord.

-----

bhakti-sadhana-srestha sunite haila mana
prabhu upadesa kaila nama-sankirtana

“Then the Bhattacarya asked Caitanya Mahaprabhu, ‘Which item is most important in the execution of devotional service?’ The Lord replied that the most important item was the chanting of the holy name of the Lord.” (Sri Caitanya-caritmrita, Madhya 6.241)

Kurma Cooking DVD sets Special Offer – Special Offer for Christmas
→ kurma News

My 20-hour, 11-disc Cookery DVD Collection is on special for just $60 for the pre-Christmas months of November and December. This is inclusive of postage and handling, anywhere in Australia. Hurry since stocks are limited!!!

Respond to this post now to take advantage of the great offer! Please note that this offer is only for those residing in Australia.

Kurma DVD:

The set includes:

INDIAN ENTREES Includes scrambled Panir cheese; sweet and sour glazed carrots; North Indian red bean curry (Rajma); green beans sauteed in yogurt and poppy seed sauce, and many more recipes. Colour 111 min.

SOUPS, RICE, SAVOURIES & CHUTNEYS Includes whole green mung bean and tomato soup; creamy vegetable soup; rice pilaf with nuts and peas; deep fried cauliflower balls in tomato gravy (kofta); apple chutney; fresh tomato and cucumber Raita, and many more recipes. Colour 111 minutes.

BREADS, DRINKS & DESSERTS Includes basic unleavened whole wheat breads (chapatis); flaky pan-fried breads stuffed with green peas (parathas); sweet yogurt smoothie (Lassi); rose sherbet; classic semolina Halava; traditional vanilla sweet rice, and many more. Colour 109 minutes.

EAST MEETS WEST LUNCH, BUFFET & DINNER Includes tofu steaks; rainbow brown rice; potato and cottage cheese rolls with cranberries; baked, stuffed avocados... Colour 90 minutes.

ASIAN-STYLE LUNCH, BUFFET & DINNER Includes Indonesian vegetable stew; Thai vegetable curry; Malaysian hot noodles with tofu; vegetarian spring rolls & more. Colour 82 min.

MEDITERRANEAN LUNCH, BUFFET & FEAST Includes Italian fried corn bread (Polenta); Turkish nut pastries in syrup (Baklava); spinach filo triangles (Spanokopita); Moroccan couscous with vegetable sauce; stuffed vine leaves (Dolades); and many more mouthwatering recipes. Colour 90 min.

NORTH INDIAN LUNCH I, II & SOUTH INDIAN DINNER Includes cauliflower and potato supreme; peanut and coriander chutney; savoury wholemeal pancakes (Dosa), and many more recipes. Colour 90 min.

MEXICAN-STYLE BUFFET, MIDDLE EASTERN ENTREES, ITALIAN LUNCH I & II Includes vegetarian chili; baked, stuffed cheesy corn breads (Enchiladas); Israeli chickpea croquettes (Falafel); Lebanese bulgur wheat salad (Tabbouleh); eggplant Parmagiana; potato dumplings with tomato sauce (Gnocchi), and more. Colour 120 min.

SUMMER PATIO LUNCH I, II & III; THE COMPLETE GOURMET MEAL Includes ricotta cheese-filled pastries (Calzone); summer chilled fruit soup; sweet potato pie; baked cheesecake; savory samosas; fresh coriander chutney, and more. Colour 120 min.

INDIAN FEAST I, II & III Includes Bengali royal rice; yeasted, puffed fried bread (Khamiri Poori); date and tamarind sauce; curried chickpeas; tomato, peas and home made curd cheese (Matar Panir); and many more. Colour 90 minutes.

THE VEGETARIAN SMORGASBORD, PICNIC & CHILDREN'S PARTY; HOME-STYLE LUNCH Includes potato & pea croquettes; vegie nut burgers; asparagus & tomato quiche; North Indian potato salad; carob fudge cake; shepherd's pie; steamed cauliflower salad with eggless mayonnaise, and many more recipes. Colour 120 minutes.

Yamuna Has Left Us
→ Life With the Cows and Land

Yamuna gets a hug from Jahnava in 2009

Yamuna has left this world listening to Srila Prabhupada singing sweet bhajans of Lord Krsna, the eternal cowherd boy. This morning Balabhadra went to check on her. She seemed to be peacefully sleeping with her head tucked next to her side. Balabhadra called her name and she didn't move. Again he called her name and again there was no reply. It was then he was close enough to touch her and there was no response. On closer examination he found she was not breathing anymore. 

She had been successfully and easily moved by tractor and sling from the lower pasture to the safety of the barn, about a mile away, on Friday before the bad weather started. We were also very concerned about the ever increasing wild coyote population living in the woods. On our Facebook page there is an album, with captions of this event that you can view at: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151172300584471.471659.138008309470&type=3. 

She was far more comfortable and happy in the barn. However she kept trying to move and yesterday Balabhadra found her with her back legs split and her head crunched against the water tank even though he had offered her water several times a day along with hay. She was in such a tight situation and we again had to call for the tractor and sling to move her into a comfortable situation in the barn. She was quite happy in her new spot but appeared to be quite exhausted. Again she was offered fresh hay and water but declined both. Just before dark when Balabhadra was doing the evening herd check he again offered hay and water and she declined again. 

Yamuna was a wonderful sweet cow who grew up as a protected cow under the care of ISCOWP farm. She was friends with all the other cows in the herd and she very much liked her sweet treats whenever we brought them to the herd. She will be missed by all the cowherds and cows. Like the other 23 lifetime protected cows that have passed away on the ISCOWP farm, she will be buried on the farm. 

Thank you for praying for Yamuna. It is most fortunate that she left her body peacefully. 

Your servant, 
Chayadevi 
ISCOWP Co-Managing Director

Yamuna Has Left Us
→ Life With the Cows and Land

Yamuna gets a hug from Jahnava in 2009

Yamuna has left this world listening to Srila Prabhupada singing sweet bhajans of Lord Krsna, the eternal cowherd boy. This morning Balabhadra went to check on her. She seemed to be peacefully sleeping with her head tucked next to her side. Balabhadra called her name and she didn't move. Again he called her name and again there was no reply. It was then he was close enough to touch her and there was no response. On closer examination he found she was not breathing anymore. 

She had been successfully and easily moved by tractor and sling from the lower pasture to the safety of the barn, about a mile away, on Friday before the bad weather started. We were also very concerned about the ever increasing wild coyote population living in the woods. On our Facebook page there is an album, with captions of this event that you can view at: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151172300584471.471659.138008309470&type=3. 

She was far more comfortable and happy in the barn. However she kept trying to move and yesterday Balabhadra found her with her back legs split and her head crunched against the water tank even though he had offered her water several times a day along with hay. She was in such a tight situation and we again had to call for the tractor and sling to move her into a comfortable situation in the barn. She was quite happy in her new spot but appeared to be quite exhausted. Again she was offered fresh hay and water but declined both. Just before dark when Balabhadra was doing the evening herd check he again offered hay and water and she declined again. 

Yamuna was a wonderful sweet cow who grew up as a protected cow under the care of ISCOWP farm. She was friends with all the other cows in the herd and she very much liked her sweet treats whenever we brought them to the herd. She will be missed by all the cowherds and cows. Like the other 23 lifetime protected cows that have passed away on the ISCOWP farm, she will be buried on the farm. 

Thank you for praying for Yamuna. It is most fortunate that she left her body peacefully. 

Your servant, 
Chayadevi 
ISCOWP Co-Managing Director

The 8 Most Interesting Ideas to Revolutionize Urban Farms
→ The Yoga of Ecology


Click here to see the full photo essay from Lamar Anderson at The Atlantic Cities



"Today, while the Center for Science in the Public Interest was busy coordinating Food Day events across the nation, we got to thinking about all the delicious plants that will have to grow on buildings if our rapidly urbanizing world is to produce enough sustenance for the projected 9.1 billion people who will need access to fresh food by 2050. Could it really be a coincidence that so many of the causes CSPI addresses—healthy eating, hunger, food security, agriculture policy—find some resolution in the promise of agritecture, farmscrapers, and other utopian portmanteaus? We think not!

As the vertical farming trend has taken off in recent years, many architects and designers have begun tackling the question of how to marry agriculture with architecture. Here’s a look at some of our favorite concepts (most of them un-built) for fanciful food-producing pyramids, geodesic domes, flower pods, and insects."

All About Ghee
→ kurma News

Ghee – An Ayurvedic Perspective

(from http://www.amritaveda.com/learning/articles/ghee.asp)

"The milk of cows is considered to possess the essence or sap of all plants and Ghee is the essence of milk... When we consider Ghee we are in the company of superlatives. In India, Ghee has been so highly regarded for so many things, for so long, that one is slightly embarrassed to enter into this crowded river of praise.

Ghee2:

This is what I have heard:

The ingestion of Ghee is like offering the finest of fuels into the fires of digestion (Agni). In accord with this, Ghee builds the aura, makes all the organs soft, builds up the internal juices of the body (Rasa) which are destroyed by aging and increases the most refined element of digestion (Shukra or Ojas) the underlying basis of all immunity and the "essence of all bodily tissues”.

Maya Tiwari calls Ghee the “single most ojas producing food on earth”. Ghee is known to increase intelligence (Dhi) refine the intellect (Buddhi) and improve the memory (Smrti).

Although Ghee kindles or increases the digestive fire (Agni) on which all nutrition depends, it does so without aggravating Pitta - the elemental functioning of fire within the body. In fact, Ghee cools the body, essential in much of today’s world in which everything is overheating.

Ghee causes secretions and liquification in the dhatus - bodily tissues - that dissolve wastes allowing the functional intelligences of the body (doshas) to carry away toxins (Ama) (also known as aam). The ingestion of Ghee is used in Panchakarma specifically to first penetrate into and then dissolve ama in the dhatus, allowing the wastes to be then carried to the intestinal tract and then expelled.

It is traditionally considered, that the older Ghee is, the better its healing qualities. 100-year-old Ghee is highly valued in India and fetches a very high price. Such Ghee was often kept in Temples in large vats and families often pass on aged Ghee to their next generation to be used as medicine.

more ghee: Qualities of Ghee

Ghee is known as a substance that gives longevity… This is because it has opposite qualities (heavy, slow, oily, liquid, dense, soft), and thus pacifying effects, to the light, dry and rough qualities of Vata dosha. It is the increase of the qualities of Vata that are synonymous with aging. Ghee, in a very sure and steady way, slows the aging process by balancing the living one.

Ghee has the quality of snigda, oiliness, and unctuousness. It is smooth, lubricated and nurturing. Ghee is thought to make the voice soft and melodious.

Ghee is Guru, heavy. It increases the qualities of Kapha and decreases Pittaand Vata, which are both light.

Ghee has the quality of mrdu, softness. In Ayurvedic Panchakarma treatments, Ghee is the oil used on the eyes. In Netra Basti, a small dam is built around the eyes and filled with warm Ghee. Then, you open your eyes to its soothing softness. It seems after that treatment, that you see the world though a soft diaphanous curtain of love and loveliness.

more ghee: Healing Properties of Ghee

In ancient India, wells full of Ghee were especially for those who suffered wounds. When a surgeon cuts open a body, he only does so knowing that the body will be able to heal itself. The surgeon cannot do this. Ghee is known for the quality of Ropana - healing, and its effectiveness in facilitating recovery from wounds. In Ayurveda, when a person has a chronic peptic ulceror gastritis, Ghee is used to heal that ulcer inside the intestinal tract.

Ghee works wondrously on bedsores for the elderly or debilitated. It can be applied for broken bones and bruises. It is highly effective for all sorts of skin rashes. It is also used on burns of both fire and chemicals. Once, I accidentally got some sandalwood oil in my eye. It burned intensely and I was unable to wash it out with a variety of eyewashes. I spent hours in pain and finally I remembered to use Ghee. Almost immediately, the Ghee pacified the burning and the eye irritation ceased.

Just recently, a friend of mine who is a yoga instructor had a pressure cooker blow up in his face, giving him second and third degree burns. He immediately put some Ghee on his face and went to the emergency room. They told him that he would be scarred for life, that the burns would take several months to heal and that he should take steroids to help him (the body shuts down the production of testosterone after burns). He declined to take the steroids and continued to put on the Ghee, twice daily. After six days, he was completely healed without scarring.

Those with obesity should be very frugal in their use of Ghee and those with high ama should not take Ghee at all.

Ghee increases the overall strength, luster and beauty of the sarira - the body. Let us look at a variety of ways:

Used on the skin, Ghee softens and strengthens, protects and nourishes. Up until the last generation in India, there used to be men who gave Ghee massages on the street. It was always the preferred substance for the skin, but since it was more expensive than oil it has come to be used only for internal purposes. For generations, Indians have used Ghee for cooking and as an added measure on top of their food and as a medicine.

In India, medicinal ghee is passed on from one generation to the next. It was used for old and young, for new babies (Mothers in India will massage their children with Ghee) and for those in the last days of their life. I massaged my Father’s body with it before he died - He loved it. Sometimes, when he could not sleep, I rubbed it on his feet and temples and it soothed his agitation. It is considered it one of the best substances for self-massage (Abhyanga).

more ghee: Many Uses of Ghee

For Body Massage-Abhyanga. Apply ghee all over the body, rubbing into head, chest, limbs, joints and orifices. This will bypass the digestive system and allow the qualities of Ghee to penetrate directly into the deeper tissues. It is said that 60% of what is placed on the skin is absorbed into the body. We literally “eat” what we put on our skin. Western science has discovered that massaging the skin creates endorphins or peptides, which enhance the body’s immune system. Peptides are thought to be the vehicle that the mind and body use to communicate with each other, a literal chemistry of emotion. According to the Charak Samhita, regular Abhyanga slows the aging process.

Ghee is used in Purvakarma (early Panchakarma) where a small amount of Ghee is taken first thing in the morning by the practitioner to oleate the internal organs and “dissolve” the ama or toxic wastes in the tissues, allowing them to be carried to the digestive tract for elimination.

Ghee is used as a carrier or “yogavahi” for herbs and bhasmas because of its supreme penetrating qualities and thus ability to carry these substances deep into the dhatus or tissues. One or two teaspoons first thing in the morning followed immediately with hot water will promptly produce a bowel movement. It will also warm the body quickly. Two spoonfuls of Ghee in warm (non-homogenized) milk before bedtime is soothing to the nerves and lubricates the intestines and facilitates a bowel movement in the morning.

Ghee is excellent for cooking and sautéing or stir-frying. Ghee has one of the highest flash points of all oils and is very difficult to burn. In India, it is said that food is incomplete without the use of Ghee.

Ghee is excellent for a gargle (gandush) to improve the health of the teeth and gums.

Ghee can be used as a bath oil. Take two tablespoons of Ghee and mix with several drops of an essential oil of your choice.

Ghee is excellent for scrapes and both chemical and heat or fire burns. Ghee can be used in the eyes for tiredness or fatigue.

Ghee is an exquisite facial moisturizer.

In India it is said that if a few drops of ghee are placed in the nostrils then nosebleed can be checked. If this is done twice in a day, then headache can be relieved.

more ghee: How Ghee is Made

Ghee is the most refined end product of milk. (When you make Ghee, you are concentrating the quality of the milk you started with. This includes, antibiotics, hormones (rGBH), chemical pesticides, etc. For this reason, always use the best milk/butter you can find.) When you milk a cow, you get whole milk. If you let this milk sit for a while, cream rises to the top. If you skim off the cream and then churn it, after a while and all of a sudden, the fat globules will begin to stick to each other and form butter. What is left over is buttermilk.

In the west today, very little butter is churned the old fashioned way. Most modern dairies, even many “organic” ones, no longer churn their cream to make butter. In a typical dairy in America, the cream is now pushed (extruded) through a fine mesh screen in which the heavier and larger molecules of butter are held on one side of the screen while the smaller molecules of buttermilk pass on through.

I recently asked an Ayurvedic Teacher (Vaidya) about what difference this makes. He said that butter made without churning is lacking in a quality of fire (Agni). He even went further in his consideration of difference; the home-based Indian culture churns their cream with a hand churn, rolling it back and forth between their hands. This back and forth action, he said, imparts a particular balancing quality to the Ghee - instead of the one way churning of a gear driven churn.

As I have pointed out above, most of the butter made in the West today is not even churned. When we consider the process of butter and Ghee making at this level, we are in the realm of subtlety, but it is in exactly this realm (the subtle) that what is pure and purifying (sattvic) is found.

There is one very important difference in the way Ghee was and is made in India. The Indians start out with milk from a cow, just like in the West. But, they do not let the cream rise to the top and skim it off as we do in the West. Instead, and here comes the key difference - they culture the milk with yogurt, allowing it to sit for 4-5 hours, just before it becomes completely soured. Then they churn the whole milk. From that point on, the process is more or less the same.

This culturing with yogurt introduces another form of fire (agni) into the substance of refining the milk into butter and then Ghee.

As I have said, in my recent visit to modern day India, it was very hard to find high quality and pure cow Ghee. The commercial milk, cream and butter there are now homogenized and pasteurized or now ultra-pasteurized (This is a process whereby milk is heated to a higher temperature than pasteurization for a shorter period of time. This kills and destroys various living substances/enzymes in the milk thus prolonging shelf life. Ultra pasteurized milk can keep un-refrigerated for over a month). According to Ayurvedic Vaidyas I have consulted with, all of these factors increase the Vata (air and ether/destructive, catabolic, drying, rough) qualities in what was originally a very Kapha (earth and water, building, oily, tonifying, anabolic) substance - milk. Some of these processes, like homogenization, make the milk, and thus the cream and butter, indigestible. One of the things you can look for in milk and cream is the sticky quality (picchila), one of the gunas of Kapha. It will be lacking in processed milk products.

In the West, like India, there is a similar theme to the story. Although organic dairies are appearing all over the country, many of them make their butter by extrusion. Furthermore, they homogenize and ultra-pasteurize their milk (This is certainly not true of all milks available, but, like in Vrndavan, India, the tides of ignorance are increasing and the quality of milk and nutrition is decreasing,

Now, back to making Ghee. Once you have obtained your butter, you heat it in a stainless steel or enamel pot, bringing it to a boil. I believe that it is best to make your Ghee in stainless steel heavy pots, rather than aluminum because of the toxicity. It is best even to avoid thin stainless steel. This is because a heavier pot will distribute the heat of the fire more evenly, surrounding the Ghee.

Always try to use real fire rather than an electric range (This is again in the realm of subtlety and sattva that I referred to earlier). There is a quality of Agni that lends itself and pervades a substance cooked on flame that is not there when cooked on electricity. Because I could not understand the difference between the "heat” of a fire and the “heat” of an electric range, I asked several Vaidyas about this in India. They all simply said that fire was a superior (more sattvic) way to cook food. While I personally still cannot explain that to anyone, that is the way I do it.

It is very clear to me that it is most important to create and enjoy a beautiful and positive environment when you are making Ghee. This subtle recommendation is perfectly in line with cooking Ghee on an open fire - “it makes a difference”.

Once the Ghee begins to boil, turn it down to the lowest flame at which it will continue to boil. As it boils, moisture evaporates off it and it will begin to “clarify” - the butter will turn from cloudy yellowish liquid to a more golden color. Whitish cloudy milk solids will rise to the top and sink to the bottom. Do not stir it. After an hour and half to several hours, depending on the amount and the size of the pot and the amount of Ghee compared to the flame, your Ghee will be ready.

The moment Ghee is “ready” is very critical. If you cook the Ghee too little, you will be left with moisture in the Ghee and it will lack the exquisite taste and qualities that it can develop, also, it will tend to spoil or sour. If you cook it too much, it will burn and impart a certain nutty flavor to the Ghee. This does not ruin the Ghee at all, but it is to be noticed, so that over time you can capture the “perfect” Ghee to be experienced between these two “extremes”.

After the Ghee is done, you skim off the top light crust of whitish milk solids. These and the heavier ones at the bottom of the pot are traditionally used to make sweets. Children in India love them and always plead with their Mothers to have the leftovers when Ghee is made.

Then, you pour the golden, sweet-smelling liquid through layered cheesecloth - to catch any last impurities into a bottle, leaving the slightly burned milk solids (caramelized lactose) on the bottom of the pot you cooked it in (Ghee has no lactose or milk sugars in it). Be sure to not close the glass jar into which you pour the hot Ghee until it comes to room temperature. The reason for this is that there should not be any moisture from condensation that may form on the inside of the jar. It is moisture that spoils Ghee, allowing a mold to grow and causing it to go bad. This is the reason that you always use a clean and dry spoon to take your Ghee out of its container. It is also a reason not to refrigerate your Ghee. One, because it is not necessary and two, it causes condensation to form inside the jar as you take it in and out of the refrigerator.

more ghee: Time and Season

It is best to make Ghee on the waxing fortnights of the moon as the moon represents the Mother and nurturing and all the best qualities of milk and butter are energized at this time. Regarding time and season, the quality of Ghee will change as the time of year and the diet of the cows change. Not all milk cows in the West are given green pastures to graze on. Even those, which are allowed to graze in the fields, often do not do so all year round. In winter, there are many days that the cows are not able to go out in the pastures and there is more hay and silage in their diet. This will change the quality of the milk, butter and Ghee. I have noticed that the more the cows graze in the fields on grass, the more yellow is the Ghee. This “yellow” is the result of more chlorophyll in the butter.

The making of Ghee is a very beautiful and peaceful experience. The sound of softly boiling butter, the pouring of the thick golden liquid into bottles ... this wonderful smell permeates the space.

more ghee: Cows and Buffalos

In India, Ghee is made from both Cow and Buffalo milk. If we consider the qualities of both of these animals, we can see why the Ghee of Cows is to be preferred. If we look at the bodies of a Buffalo and a cow, the buffalo is more heavily muscled; it is a denser animal in its makeup. Cows have a more moderate make-up of fat. The Ghee of a Cow is in liquid form at body temperature. The Ghee of a Buffalo is still slightly solid. Buffalo will eat almost any food, even spoiled food, while Cows in their natural environment, will turn away from such fare. Buffalos are often quite dirty and smell more strongly than Cows. Cows tend to be clean and like little dirt on their bodies. Cows smell quite good as I have experienced, when I stopped to pet and smell them on the streets of India where they roam about, ubiquitously, slowly and peacefully. Finally there is the striking difference in temperament between a Cow and Buffalo. Cows are far gentler in nature. Buffalos are comparatively more stubborn and aggressive. Because of these qualities and more, Buffalo milk and Ghee are considered more dulling (tamasic) while Cow milk and Ghee are considered more pure and purifying (sattvic).

When I asked my Indian acquaintances why there is a growing use of Buffalo milk and ghee over Cow milk and Ghee, they all said, “It is because the Buffalo give more milk”. Furthermore, the Indian peasants seek the nourishment of Buffalo Ghee, which has a far higher fat content than cow Ghee.

Even in Vrndavan, the home of Sri Krishna, where he himself was a cowherd, protector of the cows (Govinda) and the divine lover of the Gopis, cowherdesses, I was usually unable to find anything but Buffalo Ghee in the marketplace. You can tell the difference because Buffalo Ghee is white and Cow ghee is yellow.

Cow Ghee is used in lamps in temples and pujas all over India. It is said that the light of a Ghee lamp is more beautiful and brilliant than any other light. The light of burning Ghee is said to ward off negativity and evil influence.

Ghee is nourishing and healing. Ghee is steady and dependable and always supportive of life and living. Ghee brings an excess of goodness wherever and whenever it is appreciated and used. I am thankful for a substance that of all the foods I know is most like a Mother."

(from http://www.amritaveda.com/learning/articles/ghee.asp)

Kartik is Here!
→ Arcanam: Worship of the Deity...

The auspicious month of Kartik (October 30th - November 28th, 2012) is here. This month is celebrated as an opportunity to dive deeper in our spirituality. It was during Kartik that Lord Krishna allowed Himself to be bound with ropes by His mother, Yashoda. Out of loving anger at her transcendentally naughty child, she tied him (dama) around the abdomen (udara) with ropes. Thus the month of Kartik is also known as the month of Damodara, "He Who was bound around the abdomen". Additionally, Kartik is observed by offering lamps and chanting a special prayer to Lord Damodar known as the Damodarastakam.


For the first part of this month, my Damodar is acting out the first part of this lila. This pastime is described by Srila Prabhupada as follows:

Once upon a time, seeing that her maidservant was engaged in different household duties, Mother Yaśodā personally took charge of churning butter. And while she churned butter, she sang the childhood pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and enjoyed thinking of her son.

The end of her sari was tightly wrapped while she churned, and on account of her intense love for her son, milk automatically dripped from her breasts, which moved as she labored very hard, churning with two hands. The bangles and bracelets on her hands tinkled as they touched each other, and her earrings and breasts shook. There were drops of perspiration on her face, and the flower garland which was on her head scattered here and there. Before this picturesque sight, Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared as a child. He felt hungry, and to increase His mother’s love, He wanted her to stop churning. He indicated that her first business was to let Him suck her breast, and then she could churn butter later.

Mother Yaśodā took her son on her lap and pushed the nipple of her breast into His mouth, and while Kṛṣṇa was sucking the milk, she was smiling, enjoying the beauty of her child’s face. Suddenly, the milk which was on the stove began to boil over. Just to stop the milk from spilling, Mother Yaśodā at once put Kṛṣṇa aside and went to the stove. Left in that state by His mother, Kṛṣṇa became very angry, and His lips and eyes became red in rage. He pressed His teeth and lips, and taking up a piece of stone, He immediately broke the butter pot. He took butter out of it, and with false tears in His eyes, He began to eat the butter in a secluded place.

In the meantime, Mother Yaśodā returned to the churning place after setting the overflowing milk pan in order. She saw the broken pot, in which the churning yogurt had been kept. Since she could not find her boy, she concluded that the broken pot was His work. She smiled as she thought, “The child is very clever. After breaking the pot He has left this place, fearing punishment.” After she sought all over, she found her son sitting on a big wooden grinding mortar, which was kept upside down. He was taking butter from a pot which was hanging from the ceiling on a swing, and He was feeding it to the monkeys. She saw Kṛṣṇa looking this way and that way in fear of her because He was conscious of His naughty behavior. After seeing her son so engaged, she very silently approached Him from behind. Kṛṣṇa, however, saw her coming toward Him with a stick in her hand, and He immediately got down from the grinding mortar and began to flee in fear...

Krsna Book Chapter 9: Mother Yashoda Binds Lord Krsna

Kartik is Here!
→ Arcanam: Worship of the Deity...

The auspicious month of Kartik (October 30th - November 28th, 2012) is here. This month is celebrated as an opportunity to dive deeper in our spirituality. It was during Kartik that Lord Krishna allowed Himself to be bound with ropes by His mother, Yashoda. Out of loving anger at her transcendentally naughty child, she tied him (dama) around the abdomen (udara) with ropes. Thus the month of Kartik is also known as the month of Damodara, "He Who was bound around the abdomen". Additionally, Kartik is observed by offering lamps and chanting a special prayer to Lord Damodar known as the Damodarastakam.


For the first part of this month, my Damodar is acting out the first part of this lila. This pastime is described by Srila Prabhupada as follows:

Once upon a time, seeing that her maidservant was engaged in different household duties, Mother Yaśodā personally took charge of churning butter. And while she churned butter, she sang the childhood pastimes of Kṛṣṇa and enjoyed thinking of her son.

The end of her sari was tightly wrapped while she churned, and on account of her intense love for her son, milk automatically dripped from her breasts, which moved as she labored very hard, churning with two hands. The bangles and bracelets on her hands tinkled as they touched each other, and her earrings and breasts shook. There were drops of perspiration on her face, and the flower garland which was on her head scattered here and there. Before this picturesque sight, Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared as a child. He felt hungry, and to increase His mother’s love, He wanted her to stop churning. He indicated that her first business was to let Him suck her breast, and then she could churn butter later.

Mother Yaśodā took her son on her lap and pushed the nipple of her breast into His mouth, and while Kṛṣṇa was sucking the milk, she was smiling, enjoying the beauty of her child’s face. Suddenly, the milk which was on the stove began to boil over. Just to stop the milk from spilling, Mother Yaśodā at once put Kṛṣṇa aside and went to the stove. Left in that state by His mother, Kṛṣṇa became very angry, and His lips and eyes became red in rage. He pressed His teeth and lips, and taking up a piece of stone, He immediately broke the butter pot. He took butter out of it, and with false tears in His eyes, He began to eat the butter in a secluded place.

In the meantime, Mother Yaśodā returned to the churning place after setting the overflowing milk pan in order. She saw the broken pot, in which the churning yogurt had been kept. Since she could not find her boy, she concluded that the broken pot was His work. She smiled as she thought, “The child is very clever. After breaking the pot He has left this place, fearing punishment.” After she sought all over, she found her son sitting on a big wooden grinding mortar, which was kept upside down. He was taking butter from a pot which was hanging from the ceiling on a swing, and He was feeding it to the monkeys. She saw Kṛṣṇa looking this way and that way in fear of her because He was conscious of His naughty behavior. After seeing her son so engaged, she very silently approached Him from behind. Kṛṣṇa, however, saw her coming toward Him with a stick in her hand, and He immediately got down from the grinding mortar and began to flee in fear...

Krsna Book Chapter 9: Mother Yashoda Binds Lord Krsna

Transcendental Fireworks – Diwali Sankirtan
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures


Submitted by Minakshi dd

We had the opportunity to do sankirtan at a Banquet Hall where there was a Diwali Event.

We got there at 5:30pm and met with resistance by one of the management as soon as we walked in.  However, we perservered and were able to get our table and get things setup.  Everyone was cooperative except for this one fellow we will call 'Angry Man' who had many objections - only 1 table, only in this corner, No picture of Srila Prabhupada, No picture of Radha Gopinatha, no distributing beyond your table and so on!

Anyhow, with the help of Mayur Prabhu, Vicky Prabhu, Jessica Mataji, Radhapriya and myself we kept approaching everyone and trying our best. 

I will relate a wonderful story. We were approaching many people and Mayur began speaking with one girl probably around 16 or 17 years old.  She really loved the Bhagavad Gita and wanted it badly, but did not have any money; she asked her mother and brother and both did not have (or want to give).  Suddenly it was realized that this girl is the daughter of this man who was objecting and indeed getting very angry at us.  So Mayur really wanted to get this Bhagavad Gita to this girl and told her just take it and have it.  She took the book.  Later in the lobby as we were packing up I went over to our 'Angry Man' to soften him and 'thank' him.  His daughter was right next to him and across from me.  She opened the Gita and asked me "Is this Hindi?" I told her no this is Sanskrit and then here is the phonetic English - the first word of the verse happened to be 'evam' and that this is the word by word translation such as evam=thus.  Suddenly our 'Angry Man' looked over and saw the Bhagavad Gita in his daughter's hands - the shock on his face was priceless.  So I told him that she really wanted the book, fell in love with it but did not have money so we gave it to her as a gift.  He got a little embarrased and asked how much is it - we said, no it is a gift - but he pulled out a $10 bill and handed it to us!  Thus despite all his offensive efforts to block Srila Prabhupada's Sankirtan Movement, a Bhagavad Gita ended up in his household!
 
Another quick incident - I was speaking with an older gentleman and showing him the books by Srila Prabhupada.  It turns out that he was a professor in Nairobi and had read the Bhagavad Gita As It Is.  He said he has ready many many books by others and the power of ISKCON is Srila Prabhupada's books bacause of their purity and authencity.  We couldn't agree more!

We left the Banquet Hall at 1:30 am and then proceeded to Vicky Prabhu's home where his mother kindly had wonderful prasadam prepared for us. 

Totals for this event:  115 Books including lots of Big Books and $900 Collected.

Thank you to all the devotees that helped in the service of Srila Prabhupada!

Transcendental Fireworks – Diwali Sankirtan
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures


Submitted by Minakshi dd

We had the opportunity to do sankirtan at a Banquet Hall where there was a Diwali Event.

We got there at 5:30pm and met with resistance by one of the management as soon as we walked in.  However, we perservered and were able to get our table and get things setup.  Everyone was cooperative except for this one fellow we will call 'Angry Man' who had many objections - only 1 table, only in this corner, No picture of Srila Prabhupada, No picture of Radha Gopinatha, no distributing beyond your table and so on!

Anyhow, with the help of Mayur Prabhu, Vicky Prabhu, Jessica Mataji, Radhapriya and myself we kept approaching everyone and trying our best. 

I will relate a wonderful story. We were approaching many people and Mayur began speaking with one girl probably around 16 or 17 years old.  She really loved the Bhagavad Gita and wanted it badly, but did not have any money; she asked her mother and brother and both did not have (or want to give).  Suddenly it was realized that this girl is the daughter of this man who was objecting and indeed getting very angry at us.  So Mayur really wanted to get this Bhagavad Gita to this girl and told her just take it and have it.  She took the book.  Later in the lobby as we were packing up I went over to our 'Angry Man' to soften him and 'thank' him.  His daughter was right next to him and across from me.  She opened the Gita and asked me "Is this Hindi?" I told her no this is Sanskrit and then here is the phonetic English - the first word of the verse happened to be 'evam' and that this is the word by word translation such as evam=thus.  Suddenly our 'Angry Man' looked over and saw the Bhagavad Gita in his daughter's hands - the shock on his face was priceless.  So I told him that she really wanted the book, fell in love with it but did not have money so we gave it to her as a gift.  He got a little embarrased and asked how much is it - we said, no it is a gift - but he pulled out a $10 bill and handed it to us!  Thus despite all his offensive efforts to block Srila Prabhupada's Sankirtan Movement, a Bhagavad Gita ended up in his household!
 
Another quick incident - I was speaking with an older gentleman and showing him the books by Srila Prabhupada.  It turns out that he was a professor in Nairobi and had read the Bhagavad Gita As It Is.  He said he has ready many many books by others and the power of ISKCON is Srila Prabhupada's books bacause of their purity and authencity.  We couldn't agree more!

We left the Banquet Hall at 1:30 am and then proceeded to Vicky Prabhu's home where his mother kindly had wonderful prasadam prepared for us. 

Totals for this event:  115 Books including lots of Big Books and $900 Collected.

Thank you to all the devotees that helped in the service of Srila Prabhupada!

Free Will
→ Tattva - See inside out

We may wonder why it isn’t blatantly obvious that God exists. How can so many people miss the most important concept? Why is there even a shadow of doubt? Surely such an astounding divine reality would shine out above and beyond anything else. The Vedic teachings offer an alternative perspective. It’s actually an amazing exhibition of God’s ingenuity to create the possibility of atheism. God designs the world in such a way that people can explain Him out of the equation! He leaves room for explanations which (at least externally) seem to coherently explain the universe in purely mechanistic terms. In other words, He doesn’t make it a completely ludicrous proposition to not believe in Him.

There is an element of force in intellectually cornering someone. If you were obliged to believe in something it would be difficult to simultaneously pour your heart into it. Thus, since God is ultimately interested in pure unalloyed loving relationships, He endows us with independence and offers an array of options. Having said that, He does also present a persistent spiritual philosophy which cements His ontological position as God. Ancient scriptures provide an in-depth analysis of creation, consciousness and the workings of Mother Nature. They clearly establish that belief in a higher reality is a scientifically credible option.

However, while one remains on the intellectual platform there will always be a ping-pong of arguments to consider. There will always be an element of doubt. Hesitancy will remain. To become truly convinced one must progress beyond the intellectual. The higher dimensional methodology involves a transcendental exchange with God. Great teachers have documented a sensible process of devotional practice that culminates in divine love. Scientific, calculated spiritual practices (in Sanskrit, sadhana-bhakti) performed with enthusiasm, patience and determination, usher one towards the spiritual reality. Eventually, we are able to relate to God, just as we would relate to anyone around us. That's the real proof that we're all looking for.

Free Will
→ Tattva - See inside out

We may wonder why it isn’t blatantly obvious that God exists. How can so many people miss the most important concept? Why is there even a shadow of doubt? Surely such an astounding divine reality would shine out above and beyond anything else. The Vedic teachings offer an alternative perspective. It’s actually an amazing exhibition of God’s ingenuity to create the possibility of atheism. God designs the world in such a way that people can explain Him out of the equation! He leaves room for explanations which (at least externally) seem to coherently explain the universe in purely mechanistic terms. In other words, He doesn’t make it a completely ludicrous proposition to not believe in Him.

There is an element of force in intellectually cornering someone. If you were obliged to believe in something it would be difficult to simultaneously pour your heart into it. Thus, since God is ultimately interested in pure unalloyed loving relationships, He endows us with independence and offers an array of options. Having said that, He does also present a persistent spiritual philosophy which cements His ontological position as God. Ancient scriptures provide an in-depth analysis of creation, consciousness and the workings of Mother Nature. They clearly establish that belief in a higher reality is a scientifically credible option.

However, while one remains on the intellectual platform there will always be a ping-pong of arguments to consider. There will always be an element of doubt. Hesitancy will remain. To become truly convinced one must progress beyond the intellectual. The higher dimensional methodology involves a transcendental exchange with God. Great teachers have documented a sensible process of devotional practice that culminates in divine love. Scientific, calculated spiritual practices (in Sanskrit, sadhana-bhakti) performed with enthusiasm, patience and determination, usher one towards the spiritual reality. Eventually, we are able to relate to God, just as we would relate to anyone around us. That's the real proof that we're all looking for.

Please Pray for Yamuna
→ Life With the Cows and Land




Yamuna just a week ago


Just yesterday Yamuna, one of the older cows, went down. Please pray for her and us that we may be blessed to take the best care of her that is possible in her time of need.

 Yamuna is a sweet cow. She loves sweets. Sometimes she is friendly and sometimes she likes to be alone.

Here is an account of what has happened as written to her adopters.

10/24/12
While checking the cows every day, Balabhadra noticed that Yamuna has been having difficulty keeping up with the herd in the last week and a half. She is 17 years old and a lot of our older cows of the same age have this trouble but keep going often for a few years more. But just today, Balabhadra found her down in the pasture. With some help, he was able to get Yamuna to stand, but when she started to walk; her legs would not support her. This is usually the result of severe arthritis and/or some joint degeneration caused by old age.

Balabhadra said Yamuna is weak. She is sitting in a very nice spot that she chose. Balabhadra was finding her sitting in different spots in the pasture away from the other cows. Cows are social animals and usually stay with the herd. Often the cows and other animals will look for an isolated spot to leave their bodies when they feel it is time. So, the spot that she is in is one she has chosen. The weather right now is beautiful, a warm breeze and crisp.

 She drank and ate today and Balabhadra chanted the Maha Mantra to her. However, Balabhadra feels she doesn't have long to live.

10/25/12
Balabhadra went to visit her this morning and she had not moved. It appeared to him that her back legs/hips were paralyzed. We called the vet for his professional  analysis. He was able to come immediately as he was in the area. He examined her and said she had cancer, Lymphoma. He thinks that it has gone to her spine and that is what is immobilizing her. Dr. Moore, the vet, said to give her steroid injections. The hope is that we will be able to get her to stand up and therefore move her to the barns where we have more facility to take care of her. The diagnosis is terminal, it is just a matter of time. She presently looks healthy as you can see in the video. Please pray for her and for us so that we may take care of her in the best way possible and to keep her as comfortable as possible.

10/25/12 evening
We went to visit her and gave her water and hay. We left her with a recorder of Srila Prabhupada chanting.

Please Pray for Yamuna
→ Life With the Cows and Land




Yamuna just a week ago


Just yesterday Yamuna, one of the older cows, went down. Please pray for her and us that we may be blessed to take the best care of her that is possible in her time of need.

 Yamuna is a sweet cow. She loves sweets. Sometimes she is friendly and sometimes she likes to be alone.

Here is an account of what has happened as written to her adopters.

10/24/12
While checking the cows every day, Balabhadra noticed that Yamuna has been having difficulty keeping up with the herd in the last week and a half. She is 17 years old and a lot of our older cows of the same age have this trouble but keep going often for a few years more. But just today, Balabhadra found her down in the pasture. With some help, he was able to get Yamuna to stand, but when she started to walk; her legs would not support her. This is usually the result of severe arthritis and/or some joint degeneration caused by old age.

Balabhadra said Yamuna is weak. She is sitting in a very nice spot that she chose. Balabhadra was finding her sitting in different spots in the pasture away from the other cows. Cows are social animals and usually stay with the herd. Often the cows and other animals will look for an isolated spot to leave their bodies when they feel it is time. So, the spot that she is in is one she has chosen. The weather right now is beautiful, a warm breeze and crisp.

 She drank and ate today and Balabhadra chanted the Maha Mantra to her. However, Balabhadra feels she doesn't have long to live.

10/25/12
Balabhadra went to visit her this morning and she had not moved. It appeared to him that her back legs/hips were paralyzed. We called the vet for his professional  analysis. He was able to come immediately as he was in the area. He examined her and said she had cancer, Lymphoma. He thinks that it has gone to her spine and that is what is immobilizing her. Dr. Moore, the vet, said to give her steroid injections. The hope is that we will be able to get her to stand up and therefore move her to the barns where we have more facility to take care of her. The diagnosis is terminal, it is just a matter of time. She presently looks healthy as you can see in the video. Please pray for her and for us so that we may take care of her in the best way possible and to keep her as comfortable as possible.

10/25/12 evening
We went to visit her and gave her water and hay. We left her with a recorder of Srila Prabhupada chanting.

Time Line of Lord Krishna Supported by Science
→ Stephen Knapp

(An Excerpt from “Advancements of Ancient India’s Vedic Culture”)

By Stephen Knapp

 

As devotees and followers of the Vedic path, we already accept the premise that Lord Krishna appeared 5,000 years ago and spoke the Bhagavad-gita in the Mahabharata war. But it is always nice when scholars, other researchers and science can add support to what we already propose. So let’s take a look at this.

One aspect that can show us the early nature of Vedic society, and with a little more reliability, is highlighting the time when Lord Krishna was present. This is another point that has generated many opinions, but is now much clearer than ever with more recent research and findings.

Astrophysicist Dr. Narahari Achar, a physicist from the University of Memphis, clearly showed with astronomical analysis that the Mahabharata war took place in 3067 BCE. Examining the Mahabharata, books 3, 5, and 18, his sky map software showed that all these descriptions converge in the year 3067. Achar also acknowledged that some 30 years earlier, in 1969, S. Raghavan had arrived at the same date.

In determining the date of the Mahabharata war at Kurukshetra, astronomical references in the epic can be used, of which there are more than one hundred and fifty. Most of these that pertain to the war, though there are many scattered throughout the texts, is in the Udyoga and Bhisma Parvas. Those in the Bhisma Parva are especially systematic and are also in accordance with the astrological omens described in the Atharva Veda and its Parishishtas, referring mostly to comets. When these are put together with the retrograde motion of Mars before reaching Jyestha, this leads to the unique date of 3067 BCE for the date of the war, which was previously proposed by Professor Raghavan. 1

This corroborates with the view that the age of Kali-yuga started in 3102 BCE, according to Dr. Achar. As stated in the Puranas, Kali-yuga had already begun, but its full influence was held back because of the presence of Lord Krishna. Then when Lord Krishna departed from this world, which is said to have occurred 35 years after the war of Kurukshetra in 3067, making it the year of 3032 BCE, then Kali-yuga began to show more of its effects. 2

In the time line for the passing away of Grandfather Bhisma, for example, it is said that Bhisma passed away on the Magha (January-February) shukla ashtami, after the winter solstice, which leads to the date of January 13, 3066 BCE for the winter solstice. 3

So, in considering the chronology according Professor Raghavan, we have:

Lord Krishna’s departure from Upaplavya nagara on the mission for peace–September 26, 3067 BCE

Krishna reaches Hastinapura–September 28, 3067 BCE

Lunar eclipse–September 29, 3067 BCE

Krishna rides with Karna–October 8, 3067 BCE

Solar eclipse–October 14, 3067 BCE

The war begins–November 22, 3067 BCE

Fourteenth day of the war, continued into the wee hours of the morning–December 8, 3067 BCE

Balarama returns–December 12, 3067 BCE

Winter solstice–January 13, 3066 BCE

Bhisma’s passing away–January 17, 3066 BCE 4

Departure of Lord Krishna– 3031 BCE.

About when Vedavyasa composed the main Vedic texts– 3000 BCE

About when the Sarasvati had dried up or disappeared–1900 BCE

The above accounts for 48 days from the time of Bhisma’s fall to the time of his passing. However, it is generally accepted that Grandfather Bhisma had 58 sleepless nights between the time of his fall and the time of his passing. Yet, if you count the 10 days that he lead the armies into war in which he may also have not been able to sleep, that would give the full 58 sleepless nights that are described.5

The famous astronomical text known as the Surya Siddhanta also states that the sun was 54 degrees away from the vernal equinox when Kali-yuga began on a new moon day, which corresponds to February 17/18, 3102 at Ujjain.

From the internal evidence in the Mahabharata text, the coronation of Maharaja Yudhisthir can be determined to be 36 years before the beginning of Kali-yuga, or about 3138 BCE. One scholar, Dr. Patnaik, had calculated the date of the starting of the Mahabharata war to be October 16, 3138 BCE from references available in the epic itself.

Of course, different scholars may arrive at variations in their calculations, and there have been a few different versions of the Mahabharata, and over the many centuries since it was written, additions and accretions are found. For example, verses 2.28.48-9 mention roma and antakhi in Sanskrit, which some scholars interpret to mean Rome and Antioch. This places these mentions not earlier than 300 BCE since Antioch was founded in 301. 6 However, this does not limit the age of the earlier form of the Mahabharata, which is known to have been written shortly after the war of Kurukshetra.

Nonetheless, as B. N. Narahari Achar explains, other scholars have proposed varying years for the Mahabharata war, from 3102 BCE to 3139 BCE. However, none of these dates can produce the astronomical configurations described in the Mahabharata.

Another point of consideration is that it is generally accepted by most Vedic scholars that the age of Kali-yuga began in February 17-18 of 3102 BCE, which also coincides with the astronomical configurations. This also is given credence from the Aryabhatta Tradition in which Aryabhatta, who lived 476-550 CE, explains that when he was 23 years old, 3600 years of Kali-yuga had elapsed. Aryabhatta, one of the great mathematicians and astronomers of India in the 5th century CE, examined the astronomical positions recorded in the Mahabharata. In his work, the Aryabhattiya, he calculated that the approximate date to be 3100 BCE, justifying the date of the Kurukshetra war to have been fought about 5000 years ago, as the tradition itself and most Hindus have always said.

This again identifies the year of 3102 BCE. However, the Mahabharata itself does not describe when Kali-yuga began. All it says is that the war took place some time during the interval of Dvapara and Kali-yugas, and it certainly took place before Lord Krishna left this world. But there is evidence that Kali-yuga had already begun before Lord Krishna disappeared.

In the Bhagavata Purana (1.15.36) it is explained, “When the Personality of Godhead Lord Krishna left this earthly planet in His selfsame form, from that very day Kali, who had appeared partially before, became fully manifest to create inauspicious conditions for those who are endowed with a poor fund of knowledge.”

Therefore, Kali-yuga had already appeared, but it was only due to the presence of Lord Krishna who was holding back its influence. But after He left this world, Kali’s full potency took effect, which is also stated in the Kali-raja Vrittanta. Thus, the war is most likely to have been in 3067 BCE and the beginning of Kali-yuga accepted as 3102 BCE.

Some people, such as Max Muller and others, have had trouble accepting this date as the time of the Mahabharata, because they felt that the descriptions of the planetary positions of the Saptarishis (Ursa Major) were not real. However, a similar description is also given in the second chapter of the twelfth canto of the Bhagavata Purana, which helps verify the time of the Mahabharata.

One particular point to consider is that it has been shown that the positions of the Saptarishis, as explained in the work of Anthony Aveni, noted author of The Empire of Time: Calendars, Clocks and Cultures, that in many cultures, even in Africa and American Indian cultures, it is believed that the entire solar system revolves through the galaxy of the Milky Way, around the brightest star of the Pleiades, in the Taurus constellation. These are known as the Seven Sisters or Krittikas in the Vedic tradition. The brightest star in the Pleiades is Alcyone, and the sun completes one revolution around this star in approximately 3000 years. This has made the Pleiades a sacred object in the sky in many cultures. But the point is that it is this periodic revolution that is why the Saptarishis repeat their positions described in the Bhagavata Purana every 2700 years. Thus, when calculations are based on the position of these stars, we have to realize that the Vedic texts, including the Ramayana and the descriptions therein, could be relating to time periods much earlier than we think.

Additional evidence that can help establish the time of Lord Krishna was in Mohenjodaro, where a tablet dated to 2600 BCE was found which depicts Lord Krishna in His childhood days. This shows that Lord Krishna was popular at least prior to this date. 7

We also have records from Greek travelers who came to India following Alexander’s invasion which have left references to Krishna. Authors like Pliny referred to Krishna as Heracles, based on Hari Krishna. They record that Heracles (Krishna) was held in special honor by the Sourseni tribe (Shuraseni, based on Shura the father of Vasudeva and grandfather of Lord Krishna) in such places as the major city of Methora (Mathura).

The Greek records go on to record that Heracles (Krishna) lived 138 generations before the time of Alexander and Sandrocottas, which was about 330 BCE. This then calculates, based on about 20 years per generation, to roughly 3090 BCE, which is about the right time considering 3102 BCE is the date when Kali-yuga began. Thus, Lord Krishna was a genuinely historical figure who lived about the time of 3200-3100 BCE, having lived to 125 years of age.

 

WHEN LORD KRISHNA LEFT THIS WORLD

The above information leads us to the approximate date when Lord Krishna left this world. As B. N. Narahari Achar again describes: “According to the epic Mahabharata, Krishna first appears [in the epic] at the time of Draupadi’s wedding, and His departure is exactly 36 years after the war. No information about His birth is available in the epic itself, although there is information about His departure. Krishna observes omens (Mahabharata 14.3.17), similar to the ones seen at the time of the war, now indicating the total destruction of the Yadavas. [Astrological] Simulations show that in the year 3031 BCE, thirty-six years later than 3067 BCE, there was an eclipse season with three eclipses. A lunar eclipse on 20 October was followed by an annular solar eclipse on 5 November, followed by a penumbral lunar eclipse on 19 November, within an interval of 14 days and at an aparvani time. Thus the date of departure of Lord Krishna is consistent with the popular tradition that He passed away 36 years after the war. The information about His birth can be gathered from the Harivamsha and the Bhagavata Purana…. It should be understood, however, that the date of His departure from this world is established on the information in the epic and on the basis of [astronomical] simulations, and it turns out to be 3031 BCE.” 8

 

MORE PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF LORD KRISHNA

Sometimes there are comments and even controversies amongst those who are less informed regarding whether Christianity or Vedic culture came first. Some people point out that the devotional elements within the Vedic tradition, especially in regard to the Bhakti movements, must have come from Christianity first and then appeared in the Vedic Vaishnava tradition, the followers of which exhibit much love and devotion to Lord Krishna and Vishnu and His other avataras. But this idea, that Vedic culture came from Christianity, which some Christian preachers in India still try to use in their attempts to convert people, could not be further from the truth. The fact is that there is archeological proof that the Vaishnava tradition of devotion to Lord Vishnu existed many years prior to the appearance of Christianity.

Not far from the Buddhist site of Sanchi in Central India, we take a 45-minute ride on the very bumpy road to Vidisha or Besnagar where we find the Heliodorus column, locally known as the Khamb Baba pillar. This was erected by Heliodorus, the Greek ambassador to India in 113 BCE. Heliodorus was sent to the court of King Bhagabhadra by Antialkidas, the Greek king of Taxila. The kingdom of Taxila was part of the Bactrian region in northwest India, which had been conquered by Alexander the Great in 325 BCE. By the time of Antialkidas, the area under Greek rule included what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Punjab.

Heliodorus writes on the stone pillar the time it was erected and the fact that he had converted to Vaishnavism, or the worship of Lord Vishnu. The inscription on the column, as published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, says:

“This Garuda column of Vasudeva (Vishnu), the god of gods, was erected here by Heliodorus, a worshiper of Vishnu, the son of Dion, and an inhabitant of Taxila, who came as Greek ambassador from the Great King Antialkidas to King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior, then reigning prosperously in the fourteenth year of his kingship. Three important precepts when practiced lead to heaven: self-restraint, charity, conscientiousness.”

This shows that Heliodorus had become a worshiper of Vishnu and was well versed in the texts and ways pertaining to this religion. It can only be guessed how many other Greeks became converted to Vaishnavism if such a notable ambassador did. This conclusively shows the Greek appreciation for India and its philosophy.

It was General Alexander Cunningham who was doing an archeological survey in 1877 who first took notice of the significance of the column. However, he did not attend to the inscription that was on it because it was covered with vermilion. This was because the pilgrims who worshiped had a custom to smear the column with vermilion.

It was only in January of 1901 when a Mr. Lake uncovered the paint from what he thought was some lettering. Once the ancient Brahmi text was translated, the historical significance of the column became ever more apparent.

The British Sanskritists, due to their superior views of themselves, had developed the idea that much of the Vedic traditions and legends of Lord Krishna had to have been incorporated from the Bible and the stories of Jesus. However, this Heliodorus column was the archeological discovery that proved to the disappointed British that knowledge of Krishna and the Vaishnava tradition predated Christianity by at least 200 years. The column indicated that the Indians did not adopt legends of Christ to put in their Puranas to be used for the stories of Krishna as the British had hypothesized since this gave proof that knowledge of Krishna predated Jesus by almost 200 years.

Another point to consider is that if a Greek official was so impressed with the philosophy of Vaishnavism that he converted to it in 200 BCE, then it means that Vaishnavism and the element of spiritual devotion to God, as found in the Bhakti tradition, had to have originated several hundred years if not several thousand years earlier in order for it to have developed to a stage wherein the Greeks were so much impressed by it. So this is a serious historical site to see.

The Heliodorus column also indicates that the Vedic tradition accepted converts at that time. Only after the difficulties between Hindus and Muslims was there a hesitancy on the part of Hindus to accept converts to the Vedic tradition. The Vedic religion saw itself as universal and welcomed all people into its embrace. As Raychaudhari writes: “The Beshnagar record testifies to the proselytizing zeal of the Bhagavatas [Vaishnavas] in the pre-Christian centuries, and shows that their religion was excellent enough to capture the hearts of cultured Greeks, and catholic enough to admit them into its fold.”

This evidence further shows that Greece was but a part of Vedic culture and repeated what it and its philosophers had learned from the Vedic sages rather than being a source of the higher levels of philosophy as some people think. Furthermore, this evidence bears witness to the fact that the Christian tradition and its main element of devotion or bhakti to God was found in Vedic culture long before it appeared within the confines of Christianity. In fact, much of the deeper spiritual philosophy in Christianity is but a repeat of what had been previously established and much more deeply developed in the older Vedic tradition. So to fathom the deeper aspects of the different levels of devotion to God, one can investigate the Vedic and Vaishnava tradition to learn the finer details.

Additional archeological finds include the Mora Well and Ghosundi Inscriptions, which tell us that the rich and complex Vaishnava conception of God and full expansions of the Godhead into the material universes were already well established in the first two centuries before Christ. Seven miles west of Mathura in the small and unimposing village of Mora, General Cunningham made another vital find regarding the historicity of Vaishnavism. In 1882, on the terrace of an ancient well, he discovered a large stone slab filled with inscriptions. Although more than half of the writing had already peeled away on the right side, the remainder was legible. It was transcribed, and a facsimile of the inscription was published in the Archaeological Survey of India’s Annual Report. The message was clear. Not only was Krishna worshiped in the centuries before Christ, but also His expansions or associates, especially “the five heroes of the Vrishni Clan.” Scholarly research makes evident that these five are Krishna (Vasudeva), Balarama (Sankarshana), Pradyumna, Samba, and Aniruddha.

This was the proof that the complex theology, metaphysics, and cosmology of Sanatana-dharma and Vaishnavism definitely existed in an advanced state centuries before Christ. The Mora Well inscription is an important archeological proof of this historical fact.

Furthermore, in the village of Ghosundi in the Chitor district of Rajasthan is found the Ghosundi Inscription, which largely duplicates the message of the Mora Well Inscription. Kaviraja Shyamala Dasa first brought this evidence to light in The Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society. Today, the inscription can be inspected in the Victoria Hall Museum in Udaipur.

The surviving part of this inscription relevant to this chapter reads as follows: “[this] railing of stone for the purposes of worship is [caused to be made] in the Narayana-compound, [dedicated] to the Blessed Ones [bhagavabhyam] Samkarshana and Vasudeva, the gods…”

The inscription is in a form of Sanskrit script called Northern Brahmi script, which dates the inscription as being from the second century BCE in either the late Maurya or early Sunga periods. An almost identical inscription also was uncovered nearby and is called the Hathi-vada Inscription. According to K. P. Jayaswal of the Archaeological Survey of India, these inscriptions demonstrate that not only the Kshatriyas but also the Brahmanas or priestly and intellectual class worshiped Krishna as the “Lord of all,” and, thus, Vaishnavism was entrenched in the entire Indian society.

The same point is made in the famous Nanaghat Cave Inscription in the state of Maharashtra, where Vasudeva and Sankarshana (or Krishna and Balarama) are included in an invocation of a Brahmana. On epigraphical grounds, this inscription is dated conclusively as coming from the second half of the first century BCE. Additionally, Raychaudhuri reports:

The Nanaghat Inscription shows further that the Bhagavata [Vaishnava] religion was no longer confined to Northern India, but had spread to the south and had captured the hearts of the sturdy people of Maharashtra. From Maharashtra it was destined to spread to the Tamil country and then flow back with renewed vigor to the remotest corners of the Hindu Vedic world.

There is also much numismatic evidence that corroborates the antiquity of Krishna. For instance, excavations at Al-Khanum, along the border of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, conducted by P. Bernard and a French archeological expedition, unearthed six rectangular bronze coins issued by the Indo-Greek ruler Agathocles (180?-?165 BCE). The coins had script written in both Greek and Brahmi and, most interestingly, show an image of Vishnu, or Vasudeva, carrying a Chakra and a pear-shaped vase, or conchshell, which are two of the four main sacred symbols of God in Vaishnavism.

 

DATE OF LORD RAMA

Another point we could discuss is the approximate date of Lord Rama. Lord Rama appeared in the Solar Dynasty, but even the time frame of His appearance may shed more light on the antiquity of Vedic culture. Naturally, scholars have different views on when He may have existed. Some say He was here a few thousand years before Lord Krishna. In fact, in an April 2011 edition of the Times of India, Saurabh Kwatra writes that using the zodiac and the recorded tithis, days marked according to the phases of the moon, he calculated that the birth of Lord Rama, as related in the Valmiki Ramayana, was December 4th, 7323 BCE. While using other forms of planetary computer software, others have come up with other dates.

Though these may be some of the more recent calculations, still the tradition places the era of Lord Rama much earlier than that. For example, the Vayu Purana (70.48) says:

tretayuge chaturvinshe ravanastapasah kshayat

I

ramam dasharathim prapya saganah kshayamlyavan

II

This relates that the misbehaving Ravana was killed with his kiths and kins in a war with Rama in the 24th Treta-yuga. We are presently in the 28th chaturyuga (cycle of 1000 yugas) of the Vaivasvat manvantara. Furthermore, this is corroborated by Rupa Goswami in his Laghu Bhagavatamrita that Rama appeared in the Treta-yuga of the 24th yuga cycle. There are 71 cycles of the four yugas in a manvantara period, which would mean the appearance of Lord Rama would be about 18 million years ago.

Another interesting point is that in the Suderkand section of the Valmiki Ramayana (5.4.27)elephants with four tusks are mentioned as standing at the gates of Ravana’s palace. Also in 5.27.12 an ogress named Trijata sees in her dream Lord Rama mounted on a great elephant with four tusks. The fact that they knew of elephants with four tusks is very intriguing since, scientifically speaking, a quick reference to the elephant with four tusks is called a Mastondontoidea, which is calculated to have evolved around 38 million years ago, and is suspected of becoming extinct around 15 million years ago. This would help verify the ancient date of Lord Rama to be around 18 million years ago. Interesting… isn’t it?

The more we look in the right places for the right evidence, the more we see that the Vedic tradition indeed holds the universal spiritual truths.

CHAPTER NOTES

1. B. N. Narahari Achar, Origin of Indian Civilization, Edited by Bal Ram Singh, Center for Indic Studies, Dartmought, USA, 2010, p. 203.

2. Nicholas Kazanas, Origin of Indian Civilization, Edited by Bal Ram Singh, Center for Indic Studies, Dartmought, USA, 2010, p. 53.

3. B. N. Narahari Achar, Origin of Indian Civilization, Edited by Bal Ram Singh, Center for Indic Studies, Dartmought, USA, 2010, p. 225.

4. Ibid., p. 231.

5. Ibid., p. 244.

6. Nicholas Kazanas, Origin of Indian Civilization, Edited by Bal Ram Singh, Center for Indic Studies, Dartmouth, USA, 2010, p. 53.

7. V. S. Agrawal, India in the Days of Panini, 1953.

8. B. N. Narahari Achar, Origin of Indian Civilization, Edited by Bal Ram Singh, Center for Indic Studies, Dartmought, USA, 2010, p. 246-7.

 


Holy Dham
→ Seed of Devotion

When I first came to Mumbai, all I heard was relentless car-honking, construction hammering, and shouts.

All I saw was trash in gutters, slums, the hollow eyes of beggars.

All I smelled was the sewer, the burn of gasoline.

Over the past month, I have learned to listen to the arati bell, the ocean of voices singing the holy name in unison, the murmur of my own voice chanting on beads.

I have learned to see the gold and brown sheen within the eyes the beggar child, to not let my eyes dart away. I have learned to see the names of God in almost every shop name in this city.

I have learned to smell the richly burning ghee lamps which illuminate the forms of Laxmi Narayan.

I have learned to remember the dozens of names of the people I have met. I have learned to lead a kirtan even when I'm nervous and I don't believe in myself.

I have learned to let go, receive, surrender.

I seem to have found the holy dham within this city of Mumbai. 
Subscribe

Holy Dham
→ Seed of Devotion

When I first came to Mumbai, all I heard was relentless car-honking, construction hammering, and shouts.

All I saw was trash in gutters, slums, the hollow eyes of beggars.

All I smelled was the sewer, the burn of gasoline.

Over the past month, I have learned to listen to the arati bell, the ocean of voices singing the holy name in unison, the murmur of my own voice chanting on beads.

I have learned to see the gold and brown sheen within the eyes the beggar child, to not let my eyes dart away. I have learned to see the names of God in almost every shop name in this city.

I have learned to smell the richly burning ghee lamps which illuminate the forms of Laxmi Narayan.

I have learned to remember the dozens of names of the people I have met. I have learned to lead a kirtan even when I'm nervous and I don't believe in myself.

I have learned to let go, receive, surrender.

I seem to have found the holy dham within this city of Mumbai. 
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Kurma’s Spring Garden – ‘Not Hard Being Chard’
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Many people think that these handsome leafy red-stemmed fellows are beet leaves (called beetroot in Australia) but in fact they are rainbow chard, or sometimes called 'silverbeet' in Australia. I have 4 varieties - yellow-, red-, pink- and white-stemmed.

red chard:

I have always found chard very easy to grow, and the more plants I have, the more opportunity I can have for daily picking of outer, large leaves to add some interest, colour and nutrition to whatever I am cooking - whether it be soup, dal, curries, pasta sauce, noodles or in rice. In fact they are fine eating raw in salads as well.

like a rainbow:

The butterflies and snails and caterpillars also enjoy them, so I have to be diligent in keeping my eyes open for the hungry visitors. The parrots are always eyeing-off my fruiting plants like my roma tomatoes, but at least they don't seem to bother about green leaved plants.

my rainbow chard:

Hopefully the parrots won't be eating my broad beans, or else it will be all-out war. I don't feel like surrendering those after waiting 4 months for them to fructify.

Down to Earth
→ Tattva - See inside out

They say a little knowledge is dangerous. We can learn a philosophy, but if we haven’t understood it in a mature, balanced and well-rounded way, we can actually cause more harm to ourselves and others. Recently I was speaking to someone about friendship. They frankly told me that they found more integrity, sensitivity and kindness in their previous relationships with family and friends. They hoped that their camaraderie in spiritual circles would be deeper, warmer and more loving. Regrettably, they never really experienced that. Why would 'material' relationships seem more intimate and close than friendships amongst spiritualists? Surely spiritualists should be the best at connecting with others in a deep way.

A major part of the Bhagavad-gita highlights the temporary nature of the world, the futility of material acts, and the transitory nature of relationships. The ancient traditions outline how real satisfaction is found in the ‘other world.’ As we learn of the spiritual reality it’s easy to fall into the trap of neglecting what we may see as temporary, mundane and inconsequential day-to-day dealings. We may begin to see the things and people around us as unimportant in relation to the ‘bigger picture.’ However, should our spiritual outlook reduce our attention to the human experience? Maybe the human experience is the bridge to reaching the spiritual reality. Maybe we prepare ourselves for the ‘other world’ by becoming attentive to and conscious of our dealings in this world.

Great teachers have shown how to be rooted in eternal truths, while being simultaneously sensitive to the world around us. When a young disciple asked Swami Prabhupada how he could identify an advanced spiritualist, he was taken aback by the reply. Prabhupada told him “a spiritualist is a perfect gentleman”. The spiritual world is not an impersonal place – it’s a place of wonderful exchanges, deep friendships and loving interactions. How can we enter that place if we haven’t learnt to be like that here? It’s an art to be detached without being irresponsible, to embody spiritual gravity without being cold and impersonal, to have a philosophical outlook without losing sight of human emotion. It’s an art to transcend the world and simultaneously remain completely ‘down to earth.’

Down to Earth
→ Tattva - See inside out

They say a little knowledge is dangerous. We can learn a philosophy, but if we haven’t understood it in a mature, balanced and well-rounded way, we can actually cause more harm to ourselves and others. Recently I was speaking to someone about friendship. They frankly told me that they found more integrity, sensitivity and kindness in their previous relationships with family and friends. They hoped that their camaraderie in spiritual circles would be deeper, warmer and more loving. Regrettably, they never really experienced that. Why would 'material' relationships seem more intimate and close than friendships amongst spiritualists? Surely spiritualists should be the best at connecting with others in a deep way.

A major part of the Bhagavad-gita highlights the temporary nature of the world, the futility of material acts, and the transitory nature of relationships. The ancient traditions outline how real satisfaction is found in the ‘other world.’ As we learn of the spiritual reality it’s easy to fall into the trap of neglecting what we may see as temporary, mundane and inconsequential day-to-day dealings. We may begin to see the things and people around us as unimportant in relation to the ‘bigger picture.’ However, should our spiritual outlook reduce our attention to the human experience? Maybe the human experience is the bridge to reaching the spiritual reality. Maybe we prepare ourselves for the ‘other world’ by becoming attentive to and conscious of our dealings in this world.

Great teachers have shown how to be rooted in eternal truths, while being simultaneously sensitive to the world around us. When a young disciple asked Swami Prabhupada how he could identify an advanced spiritualist, he was taken aback by the reply. Prabhupada told him “a spiritualist is a perfect gentleman”. The spiritual world is not an impersonal place – it’s a place of wonderful exchanges, deep friendships and loving interactions. How can we enter that place if we haven’t learnt to be like that here? It’s an art to be detached without being irresponsible, to embody spiritual gravity without being cold and impersonal, to have a philosophical outlook without losing sight of human emotion. It’s an art to transcend the world and simultaneously remain completely ‘down to earth.’

Sankirtan At Garba – Leaving No Stone Un-turned
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Submitted by:- Minakshi devi dasi



On Saturday October 13th we had the opportunity to do book distribution at the Ontario Soccer Centre where there was a Garba Event. Imagine on the one hand loud pulsing live music with hundreds of people dancing with dandiya sticks and on the other hand Srila Prabhupada’s books trying to deliver these souls.  The sankirtan warriors included Mayur Prabhu, Vijay Patel Prabhu, Radhapriya and myself.

A quick incident: I had approached a couple of older men and started speaking to them and showing them the Krishna Book in Gujarati; they came closer to the table and we continued to speak.  In the meantime, another man came closer and said there is no need for these books – ‘everything is in your mind – you control your happiness’. Despite this, I showed them a paragraph about suffering and happiness and they ignored the interrupting man and purchased 2 Krishna Books and 1 small Gujarati book!

A lot of people said ‘we already have these books’ or ‘we already know about Krishna’.  Others had been drinking and we could clearly smell it on them. Anyhow we all persevered and by the end of the night we distributed over 60 books including many Krishna Books and Kid’s books and collected over $400.  Thank you to all the devotees who helped in this service! Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

Sankirtan At Garba – Leaving No Stone Un-turned
→ Toronto Sankirtan Adventures


Submitted by:- Minakshi devi dasi



On Saturday October 13th we had the opportunity to do book distribution at the Ontario Soccer Centre where there was a Garba Event. Imagine on the one hand loud pulsing live music with hundreds of people dancing with dandiya sticks and on the other hand Srila Prabhupada’s books trying to deliver these souls.  The sankirtan warriors included Mayur Prabhu, Vijay Patel Prabhu, Radhapriya and myself.

A quick incident: I had approached a couple of older men and started speaking to them and showing them the Krishna Book in Gujarati; they came closer to the table and we continued to speak.  In the meantime, another man came closer and said there is no need for these books – ‘everything is in your mind – you control your happiness’. Despite this, I showed them a paragraph about suffering and happiness and they ignored the interrupting man and purchased 2 Krishna Books and 1 small Gujarati book!

A lot of people said ‘we already have these books’ or ‘we already know about Krishna’.  Others had been drinking and we could clearly smell it on them. Anyhow we all persevered and by the end of the night we distributed over 60 books including many Krishna Books and Kid’s books and collected over $400.  Thank you to all the devotees who helped in this service! Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

40th Anniversary Festivities!
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40th Anniversary Festivities!
What makes TKG Academy so successful is its proximity to Radha Kalachandji Dham, a thriving community of more than 500 families, serving Krishna together. The magic of the festivals, the love shared with the Deities and the devotees, the traditions set in a young child's heart - these together determine…

Kurma’s Spring Garden – ‘The Bean Within’
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broad-beans:

My dwarf heirloom variety of Aquadulce broad beans are maturing nicely. Broad beans, sometimes known as fava beans, are enjoyed in many cultures the world over. They are a labour of love to grow, taking at least 120 days from sowing to fruiting. I have 100 plants in various stages of fruition in different spots in my garden, all sown from scratch - literally a couple of large handfuls of dried beans. The flowers are beautiful, and hopefully each will manifest a bean pod after dropping off.

broad beans:

When small, as some of mine are now, you can eat them whole, and they’re sensational. When mature they are big, puffy pods, much bigger than other beans. These large pods – from six to 10 inches long on average - need to be peeled to get to the beans. Apart from the patience in waiting for them to grow, the last labour of love part is that one can (or should) peel the beans again, a second time to reveal the bright green bean within.