Actual love
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“Actual love is possible with Krishna. That is actual love. Once you love Krishna, it cannot be broken at any time. It cannot be broken, any, any circumstances. So therefore somehow or other we have to… Yena tena prakāreṇa manaḥ kṛṣṇe niveśayet (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.2.4). Somehow or other you just engage yourself in loving Krishna. ThatRead More...
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Sri Vakresvara Pandita’s Appearance Day
Giriraj Swami

Today is the appearance day of Sri Vakresvara Pandita, one of Lord Chaitanya’s most dear associates. Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi 10.17–20) states, “Vakresvara Pandita, the fifth branch of the [Chaitanya] tree, was a very dear servant of Lord Caitanya’s. He could dance with constant ecstasy for seventy-two hours. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally sang while Vakresvara Pandita danced, and thus Vakresvara Pandita fell at the lotus feet of the Lord and spoke as follows. ‘O Candramukha! Please give me ten thousand Gandharvas. Let them sing as I dance, and then I will be greatly happy.’ Lord Caitanya replied, ‘I have only one wing like you, but if I had another, certainly I would fly in the sky!’ ”

In his purport to text 17, Srila Prabhupada writes, “In the Gaura-ganoddesa-dipika (71) it is stated that Vakresvara Pandita was an incarnation of Aniruddha, one of the quadruple expansions of Visnu (Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Aniruddha and Pradyumna). He could dance wonderfully for seventy-two continuous hours. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu played in dramatic performances in the house of Srivasa Pandita, Vakresvara Pandita was one of the chief dancers, and he danced continuously for that length of time. Sri Govinda dasa, an Oriya devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, has described the life of Vakresvara Pandita in his book Gaura-krsnodaya. There are many disciples of Vakresvara Pandita in Orissa, and they are known as Gaudiya Vaisnavas although they are Oriyas. Among these disciples are Sri Gopalaguru and his disciple Sri Dhyanacandra Gosvami.”

A contemporary of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu named Devananda Pandita had no faith in Mahaprabhu and thus avoided Him, but fortunately, Devananda Pandita developed great faith in Vakresvara Pandita and rendered service to him. And by Vakresvara Pandita’s mercy, he developed faith in Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and ultimately achieved His shelter.

Concerning this incident, Sri Caitanya-bhagavata (Antya 3.485–487) confirms the efficacy of serving pure devotees and the results one attains by doing so: “The service of Vaishnavas is superior to the service of Krishna. All scriptures, headed by Srimad-Bhagavatam, confirm this. There may be a doubt whether the servants of the Supreme Personality of Godhead will attain perfection, but there is absolutely no doubt that those who are attached to serving the Lord’s devotees will attain perfection. Therefore service to the Vaishnavas is the best means of deliverance.”

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Brahmananda prabhu in Vrndavana
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Today is the celebrated Appearance Day of Sri Vakresvara Pandit, 🙏one of Lord Caitanya’s special dancers at the annual Puri Rathyatra. On that auspicious day in 2015, Srila Prabhupada’s beloved Brahmananda das prabhu departed from this world on his preaching chair in his room in Vrndavana..🙏 Brahmananda pr was iconic in the way he described
Read More...

Why should one not go to the temple after there is a death in the family? Can we chant on Tulasi beads in a crematorium?
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Transcription in Hindi

प्रश्न – ऐसा क्यों कहा जाता है कि परिवार में किसी की मृत्यु के पश्चात मंदिर नहीं जाना चाहिए? किसी की मृत्यु के पश्चात क्या हम शमशान के भीतर तुलसी माला पर जप कर सकते हैं?

उत्तर – सामान्यतः नियम यह है कि शमशान से लौटने के बाद अर्चाविग्रहों की पूजा नहीं करनी चाहिए। शमशान ऐसा स्थान है जहाँ जाने पर व्यक्ति भौतिक तथा भावनात्मक दोनों दृष्टिकोणों से अशुद्ध हो जाता है। भौतिक अशुद्धि इसलिए कि जैसे ही आत्मा शरीर छोड़ती है तो तुरंत ही शरीर में अशुद्धि आरम्भ होने लगती है और यदि शरीर को संरक्षित नहीं किया जाए तो दुर्गंध आना एवं सड़ना आरम्भ हो जाता है। भावनात्मक अशुद्धि इसलिए क्योंकि मृत्यु के समय दुख एवं आघात के कारण हम भावनात्मक रूप से अशुद्ध हो जाते हैं। अर्चाविग्रहों की पूजा-अर्चना के समय हमें शारीरिक रूप से स्वच्छ और भावनात्मक रूप से एकाग्र एवं सचेत होना चाहिए ताकि हम भगवान की सर्वोत्तम सेवा कर सकें।

अर्चाविग्रहों की पूजा का निषेध, यह नियम भागवत विधि के विरुद्ध नहीं है। भागवत विधि के अन्तर्गत श्रवण एवं कीर्तन और पांचरात्रिक विधि में अर्चाविग्रहों की पूजा-अर्चना का विधान है। अतः सामान्यतः परिवार में मृत्यु होने पर हमें स्वयं अर्चाविग्रहों की पूजा-अर्चना नहीं करनी चाहिए। किन्तु यदि किसी ने अपने घर पर अर्चाविग्रह स्थापित किए हों और किसी अन्य द्वारा अर्चाविग्रहों की पूजा का विकल्प उपलब्ध न हो तब हमें घर पर अर्चाविग्रहों की पूजा अर्चना बंद नहीं करनी चाहिए। ऐसे में भगवान की सेवा चलती रहनी चाहिए। किन्तु यदि कोई मंदिर में विग्रहों की सेवा करता हो तो सामान्यतः उसे ऐसी परिस्थिति में यह सेवा नहीं करना चाहिए।

किसी की मृत्यु पर मंदिर नहीं जाना, कर्मकाण्ड परम्परा में बहुत कड़ा नियम समझा जाता है। किन्तु भक्त समुदायों में यह नियम इतना कठोर नहीं है। कभी-कभी स्थानीय परम्पराओं का सम्मान करने के कारण ऐसा हो सकता है कि भक्त कुछ दिनों के लिए मन्दिर न जाएँ, परन्तु महत्वपूर्ण सिद्धांत यह है कि कृष्णभक्ति का अभ्यास उत्साहपूर्वक चलता रहे। यहाँ उत्साहपूर्वक का अर्थ यह नहीं कि हम कृत्रिम रूप से सकारात्मक एवं प्रसन्न दिखाई दें। परिवार में मृत्यु के पश्चात यह स्वाभाविक है कि हम शोकाकुल होंगे।

किसी प्रियजन की मृत्यु हमें यह सोचने पर विवश करती है कि यह भौतिक अस्तित्व क्षणिक एवं अनित्य है। यह अनुभव स्मरण कराता है कि हम अपने आध्यात्मिक जीवन के बारे में पूरी तरह गम्भीर एवं तत्पर बनें। श्रीमद्भागवतम् में हम देखते हैं कि जब परीक्षित महाराज की मृत्यु होने वाली थी तब उन्होंने अर्चाविग्रहों की पूजा नहीं की थी किन्तु भगवान की कथाओं के श्रवण एवं कीर्तन पर अपना ध्यान केंद्रित किया था। इसी प्रकार हम भी परिवार में किसी प्रियजन की मृत्यु पर श्रवण एवं कीर्तन द्वारा श्रीकृष्ण की शरण ले सकते हैं। ऐसी भी परम्परा है कि ऐसे अवसर पर दिवंगत व्यक्ति की स्मृति में उसके सम्बन्धियों द्वारा श्रीमद्भागवत सप्ताह अथवा भागवत कथा का आयोजन करवाया जाता है। ऐसे अवसर पर भगवान की कथाओं का श्रवण हमें शास्त्रचक्षु तथा भीतरी सांत्वना प्रदान करता है। यह ज्ञान एवं अनुभूति न केवल हमारे शोक को कम करने में किन्तु उससे ऊपर उठने में भी हमारी सहायता करते हैं।

जहाँ तक तुलसी माला का सम्बन्ध है यह अशुद्ध नहीं होती, पवित्र ही रहती है। शमशान में प्रवेश करने पर तुलसी माला को बाहर छोड़ने की आवश्यकता नहीं है। वापस लौटने पर आप माला की थैली को धो सकते हैं। यदि चाहें तो गोमूत्र अथवा गंगाजल तुलसी की माला पर छिड़क सकते हैं। किंतु सामान्यतः तुलसी माला को पवित्र समझा जाता है और शमशान ले जाने पर अशुद्ध नहीं होती।

End of transcription.

Please Accept Me!
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“This is a simple method. All you have to do is bow down before Krishna with faith and say, ‘My Lord Krishna, I was forgetful of You for so long, for so many lives. Now I have come to my consciousness; please accept me.’ That’s all. If one simply learns this technique and sincerely surrendersRead More...
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Rishikesh Yatra Sacred City of Ganges in Himalayas
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By Chandan Yatra Das

Endowed with spectacular natural beauty, Rishikesh is situated at the foothills of the Himalayas. Here the crystal clear Ganges River flows down from the Himalayas! Spiritually surcharging the holy town of Rishikesh has attracted many transcendentalists since time immemorial. Continue reading "Rishikesh Yatra Sacred City of Ganges in Himalayas
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Yogini Ekadasi and the TOVP, 2022
- TOVP.org

The 11th day of Krishna Paksha (Moon’s waning Phase) in the month Ashada (June – July) is observed as Yogini Ekadasi. This year the Ekadasi is observed on June 24 worldwide. It is considered a very auspicious and rewarding day to fulfill one’s wishes and destroy all the sins of a lifetime. This day is also known as Ashadi Ekadasi, and observing vrata (vow) on this day is equivalent to feeding 88,000 pious brahmins/priests.

As Gaudiya Vaishnavas, our main aim during ekadasi is to decrease bodily demands so we can spend more time in seva, especially hearing and chanting about the Lord. It’s recommended to chant extra rounds and stay up all night chanting and hearing the Lord’s glories.

It is also auspicious to donate to Vaishnavas and Lord Krishna’s service on ekadasi and we invite our readers to consider this ekadasi as an opportunity to donate towards the scheduled completion of Lord Nrsimhadeva’s Wing in the Fall of 2023. Go to the Give To Nrsimha Campaign page and sponsor a Nrsimha Brick inscribed with your name and placed under Nrsimha’s altar, a Prabhupada Medallion, Award or Trophy or give a General Donation of any amount.

  NOTE: Yogini Ekadasi is observed on June 24 worldwide. Please refer to your local calendar through www.gopal.home.sk/gcal.

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Yogini Ekadasi

from the Brahma-vaivarta Purana

Yudhisthira Maharaj said, “Oh Supreme Lord, I have heard the glories of the Nirjala Ekadasi, which occurs during the light fortnight of the month of Jyeshtha (May – June). Now I wish to hear from You about the suddha Ekadasi that occurs during the dark fortnight of the month of Ashadha (June – July). Kindly describe to me all about it in detail, Oh killer of the Madhu demon (Madhusudana).”

The Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna, then replied, “Oh king, I shall indeed tell you about the best of all fasting days, the Ekadasi that comes during the dark part of the month of Ashadha. Famous as Yogini Ekadasi, it removes all kinds of sinful reactions and awards supreme liberation.

“Oh best of kings, this Ekadasi delivers people who are drowning in the vast ocean of material existence and transports them to the shore of the spiritual world.
In all the three worlds, it is the chief of all sacred fasting days. I shall now reveal this truth to you by narrating a history recounted in the Puranas.

“The king of Alakapuri – Kuvera, the treasurer of the devas – was a steadfast devotee of lord Shiva. He employed a servant named Hemamali as his personal gardener. Hemamali, a Yaksha like Kuvera, was very lustfully attracted to his gorgeous wife, Swarupavatii, who had large, enchanting eyes.

“Hemamali’s daily duty was to visit Manasarovara Lake and bring back flowers for his master, Kuvera, with which he would use them in the puja offerings to lord Shiva. One day, after picking the flowers, Hemamali went to his wife instead of returning directly to his master and fulfilling his duty by bringing the flowers for the puja. Absorbed in loving affairs of a bodily nature with his wife, he forgot to return to the abode of Kuvera.

“Oh king, while Hemamali was enjoying with his wife, Kuvera had begun the worship of lord Shiva as normal in his palace and soon discovered that there were no flowers ready to be offered in the midday puja. The lack of such an important item (upachara) angered the great Koshad-yaksha (treasurer of the devas) even more, and he asked a Yaksha messenger, ‘Why has dirty-hearted Hemamali not come with the daily offering of flowers? Go find out the exact reason and report back to me in person with your findings.’ The Yaksha returned and told Kuvera, ‘Oh dear lord, Hemamali has become lost in freely enjoying coitus with his wife.’

“Kuvera became extremely angry when he heard this and at once summoned lowly Hemamali before him. Knowing that he had been remiss and dawdling in his duty and exposed as meditating on his wife’s body, Hemamali approached his master in great fear. The gardener first paid his obeisances and then stood before his lord, whose eyes had become red with anger and whose lips trembled in rage.
So enraged, Kuvera cried out to Hemamali, ‘Oh you sinful rascal! Oh destroyer of religious principles! You are a walking offense to the devas! I therefore curse you to suffer from white leprosy and to become separated from your beloved wife! Only great suffering is deservedly yours! Oh lowborn fool, leave this place immediately and betake yourself to the lower planets to suffer!’

“And so Hemamali fell at once from grace in Alakapuri and became ill with the terrible affliction of white leprosy. He awoke in a dense and fearful forest, where there was nothing to eat or drink. Thus he passed his days in misery, unable to sleep at night due to pain. He suffered in both winter and summer season, but because he continued to worship lord Shiva himself with faith, his consciousness remained purely fixed and steady. Although implicated by great sin and its attendant reactions, he remembered his past life because of his piety.

“After wandering for some time here and there, over mountains and across plains, Hemamali eventually came upon the vast expanse of the Himalayan mountain ranges. There he had the wonderful good fortune to come in contact with the great saintly soul Markandeya Rishi, the best of ascetics, whose duration of life it is said, extends to seven of the days of Brahma.

“Markandeya Rishi was seated peacefully at his ashrama, looking as effulgent as a second Brahma. Hemamali, feeling very sinful, stood at a distance from the magnificent sage and offered his humble obeisances and choice prayers. Always interested in the welfare of others, Markandeya Rishi saw the leper and called him near, “Oh you, what sort of sinful deeds have you done to earn this dreadful affliction?’

“Hearing this, Hemamali painfully and ashamedly replied, ‘Dear sir, I am a Yaksha servant of lord Kuvera, and my name is Hemamali. It was my daily service to pick the flowers from the Manasarovara lake for my master’s worship of lord Shiva, but one day I was negligent and was late in returning with the offering because I had become overwhelmed with lusty passion for enjoying bodily pleasures with my wife. When my master discovered why I was late, he cursed me in great anger to be as I am before you. Thus, I am now bereft of my home, my wife, and my service. But fortunately, I have come upon you, and now I hope to receive from you an auspicious benediction, for I know that devotees such as you are as merciful as the Supreme Lord (Bhakta Vatsala) and always carry the interest of others uppermost in their hearts. That is their – your nature. Oh best of sages, please help me!’

“Softhearted Markandeya Rishi replied, ‘Because you have told me the truth, I shall tell you about a fast day that will benefit you greatly. If you fast on the Ekadasi that comes during the dark fortnight of the month of Ashadha, you will surely be freed of this terrible curse.’ Hemamali fell to the ground in complete gratitude and offered him his humble obeisances again and again. But Markandeya Rishi stood there and lifted poor Hemamali to his feet, filling him with inexpressible happiness.

“Thus, as the sage had instructed him, Hemamali dutifully observed the Ekadasi fast, and by its influence he again became a handsome Yaksha. Then he returned home, where he lived very happily with his wife.”

Lord Sri Krishna concluded, “So, you can readily see, Oh Yudhishthira, that fasting on Yogini Ekadasi is very powerful and auspicious. Whatever merit one obtains by feeding eighty-eight thousand brahmins is also obtained simply by observing a strict fast on Yogini Ekadasi. For one who fasts on this sacred Ekadasi, she (Ekadasi Devi), destroys heaps of past sinful reactions and makes him most pious. Oh King, thus I have explained to you the purity of Yogini Ekadasi.”

Thus ends the narration of the glories of Ashadha-krishna Ekadasii, or Yogini Ekadasi, from the Brahma-vaivarta Purana.

This article has been used courtesy of ISKCON Desire Tree).

 

 

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Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur and the TOVP, 2022
- TOVP.org

This article is being presented in honor of the divine disappearance day of the original pioneer of the Krishna consciousness movement, His Divine Grace Sri Srimad Bhaktivinoda Thakur, June 28 (US) / June 29 (India).

namo bhaktivinodaya sac-cid-ananda-namine
gaura-shakti-svarupaya rupanuga-varaya te

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Saccidananda Bhaktivinoda, who is transcendental energy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He is a strict follower of the Gosvamis, headed by Srila Rupa.

Bhaktivinoda Thakur wrote:

“Alas! When will that day come when all greatly fortunate souls in countries such as England, France, Russia, Prussia and America will take up banners, kettle drums, mrdangas and karatalas and thus cause the ecstatic waves of Hari Nama Kirtan and the singing of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s holy name to rise in the streets of their towns and cities? O when will that day come, when pure and transcendental Krishna prema (love of God) will be the only religion of all souls and all tiny sectarian religions will meet in the unlimited and universal religion of devotional service to Krishna, as rivers merge into the great ocean? O when will that day come?”

Sajjana-tosani

This was the heart’s desire of the Thakur, the spreading of the chant of the Holy Names and pure Krishna prema all over the world in fulfillment of Lord Caitanya’s prophecy:

pṛthivite ache yata nagaradi grama
sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama

“In every town and village, the chanting of My name will be heard.”

As an empowered Vaishnava acharya, his life was full of deep sadhana and bhajana, preaching activities through various programs, writing of devotional books, songs and poetry, and teaching actively to the public, all while maintaining a household and working as a Government Magistrate. His life is a perfect example of a householder fully infused with devotional service.

Amongst his innumerable accomplishments was the discovery of the janmasthan (birthplace) of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Nabadvipa and the building of a magnificent temple at this Yogapitha. His vision of preaching worldwide inspired him to write, Caitanya Mahaprabhu – His Life and Precepts, copies of which he personally sent to several Institutions throughout the world.

Because of Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s being the pioneer of the Krishna consciousness movement and the force behind its progression into the modern world, Srila Prabhupada took it as his great service to him to build the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium in Sridhama Mayapur as the fulfillment of the Thakura’s vision. So important was this to Srila Prabhupada that he said to Giriraja Swami, “If you all build this temple, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura will personally come and take you all back to Godhead.”

Interested readers can contribute to the Nrsimhadeva Wing construction scheduled for completion in the Fall of 2023. Go to the Give To Nrsimha Campaign page and sponsor a Nrsimha Brick inscribed with your name and placed under Nrsimha’s altar, a Prabhupada Medallion, Award or Trophy or give a General Donation of any amount.

To read more about the life and accomplishments of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur click the link below to an article by His Grace Sri Nandanandana Das (ACBSP).

https://www.stephen-knapp.com/srila_bhaktivinoda_thakura.htm

 

 

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