Sunday, June 19, 2022
→ The Walking Monk

Brampton/Oakville

The Book Was Flying

The flight from Winnipeg on Air Canada was early, at 5:35 a.m. Usually at such an hour you can bet that passengers on a full flight like this will be fast asleep. Such was the case for all, except the pilot and flight attendants. I sat at the emergency exit seat, struggling to stay awake to fit in some japa meditation. It was hard. Fortunately, we are looking at a mere two-hour flight.

Nanda Maharaja Das picked me up in Toronto and zoomed me over to our Brampton ISKCON Centre.

“Happy Father’s Day!” was the greeting by young Jagadish, acting as Master of Ceremonies. As today’s speaker, I also opened up with the remark deserving of responsible daddies. I quoted from 14.4 of the Gita, wherein Krishna establishes His role in the seed-giving process. As I progressed in the talk, I slid into the promotion of the book, “The Saffron Path.” A book launch is what it’s called. I opened to Chapter 31 entitled, “To Dad With Love,” and read my poem to my father. It was hard to read it out loud from the emotional point.

After an ecstatic kirtan, where many dance up a storm, I went for the book signing. People were lined up for the occasion. The same transpired in Oakville with the community there. It was just amazing. I read the same poem.

Finally, Kasyapa Muni drove me home, to Toronto on Avenue Road. I plopped myself on a chair and pulled out the book after the program was over, still the interest in pedestrian pastimes persisted.

May the Source be with you!

3 km


 

Hera Panchami – Goddess Lakshmi Visits Lord Jagannath!
→ Mayapur.com

Today is Hera-pancami or Laksmi-vijaya! Lord Jagannath along with His siblings leaves for a vacation to His aunt’s place and His consort Mahalakshmi was left behind in the main temple. While leaving he had promised that He would return the next day, but time passed by and He never came back, nor did He give […]

The post Hera Panchami – Goddess Lakshmi Visits Lord Jagannath! appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Hera Panchami
→ Ramai Swami

The great festival of Hera Panchami is held on the fifth day after Rathayatra. Lord Jagannatha departs the temple in Jagannatha Puri (representing Dwarka) on the day of the Rathayatra and travels to the Gundica temple (representing Vrindavan).

Before departing, Lord Jagannatha gave his wife Lakshmi a final vow that He would return the following day. But the fifth day passed with no word regarding Lord Jagannatha. So Lakshmi summons her servants and gathers an army to bring Lord Jagannatha back.

She makes a big display and pompous entrance to the Gundica shrine. When they arrive at the temple, they begin beating and seizing Lord Jagannatha’s servants before forcing them to commit to returning to Him as soon as possible, preferably the following day.

The Nandigosh cart, the Ratha of Lord Jagannatha (which transported Lord Jagannatha to the Gundica shrine), is attacked by Mother Lakshmi’s servants as they return from the temple, and a small piece of the cart is broken off for them to capture.

“Lord Chaitanya performed several pastimes in the garden beside the road leading from the Jagannatha shrine to Gundica. The Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s bathing ceremony was conducted by a brahmana named Krsnadasa.

Following His dancing in the Gundica temple, the Lord enjoyed water sports with His followers. On the day of Hera-Panchami, they could witness Laksmidevi, the goddess of fortune, at work.”

We Live in Vrindavan and Nowhere Else
→ Dandavats

Although it is very difficult to enter into the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa pastimes, most of the devotees of Vṛndāvana are attracted to the rādhā-kṛṣṇa-līlā. However, since Nitāi-Gauracandra are direct incarnations of Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa, we can be directly in touch with Lord Balarāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa through Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda Prabhu. Those who are highly
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Reflections on Independence Day
Giriraj Swami

While I was leaving the Dallas/Fort Worth airport on July 4, a large American flag flying in the wind caught my eye, and I was surprised by how happy I felt. I reflected on how fortunate we were to live in a country where we have freedom of religion, and how Srila Prabhupada said, “America has been so good to me to give me money, men—everything. I have no designation that ‘this is my country,’ but because they have given me so much facility, I cannot forget my obligation to them. I want to make them happy and through them the whole world.”

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

God Is Joyful
→ Dandavats

Every living entity is by nature joyful, spiritually, and because he is materially covered, his joyfulness is hampered. That is the real position. Feverish condition, one becomes sick, attacked with fever—his joyfulness goes away. He becomes sick. Similarly, our natural position is joy. Ānandamayo ‘bhyāsāt. Kṛṣṇa is joyful. I am part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa;
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How I Came to Krsna Consciousness
→ Dandavats

By Brahma Muhurta Dasa Brahma-Muhurta Dasa With His Family Many of my friends thought life was just a huge meaningless game. But I always felt there was something more and I had to find it I was born near Boston in 1958. My father had a Masters in architecture from Harvard, my mother a B.A.
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