(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 23 August 2019, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Janmashtami Lecture)
The reason why we chant without taste or without being attentive is because we are chanting without remembrance of Krsna. The more we remember Krsna in our daily lives, the more naturally we will be inclined to chant with taste. For instance, while Srimati Radharani was churning yoghurt to make butter, she was remembering Krsna constantly. And as she was remembering Krsna, she was also chanting Krsna’s name. So it is this remembrance of Krsna that is really lacking in us. When we are not feeling inspired to chant the Holy Name, it is simply because we are not remembering Krsna enough.
In Nectar of Devotion, we find a description of the qualities of Krsna. These qualities of Krsna are very important. It says that He has very beautiful bodily features and the different parts of the Lord’s body are compared to the different material objects. Ordinary persons who cannot understand how exalted the bodily features of the Lord are, are hereby given the chance to understand the Lord with material comparisons. It is said that Krsna’s face is as beautiful as the moon. His thighs are just powerful like the trunks of elephants. His arms are like two pillars. His palms are extended like lotus flowers. His chest is like a doorway. His hips are like dens and the middle of the body is like a terrace. So in this way, we are trying to visualize Krsna to try and see how He actually looks.
One of the most important features of Krsna is His effulgence. In some scriptures, we find Krsna being described as white rather than blackish or shyama. Such a description is provided due to Krsna’s effulgence. His effulgence is so bright that sometimes one could even think that He is white even though He is of course of a blackish-bluish body. Prabhupada said that Krsna’s effulgence is so bright that it can light up the entire universe. The fact that the sky is blue is because of Krsna’s effulgence. The fact that the sun shines is because of Krsna’s effulgence. The fact that there are even electric bulbs is because they derive their power from Krsna’s effulgence. It is all part of Krsna.
But Krsna’s effulgence cannot only be seen in terms of light. Krsna’s effulgence is also to be seen in terms of His mercy, in terms of His transcendental potency. When that mercy touches the living entities, the living entities become transformed. By hearing about Krsna, by being touched by Krsna, somehow or other, we become transformed and immediately empowered. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains that real empowerment is when one is empowered with knowledge and with happiness – cit and ananda. And later, also with eternity. So in this way, we are entering into Krsna’s pastimes as we develop our taste for chanting.
Jump in for an exciting Super Sunday with HH Hanumatpresaka Swami, HG Chaitanya Candra Caran Prabhu and HG Vaisesika Prabhu as we look to finish off with a bang!
Indira Nayee passed away from cancer yesterday. She was a great devotee, wife, parent and a devout member of our community. She moved to Canada from Africa with her husband, Tusti Mohan and their two boys (my Sunday school students) decades ago. Here is my poem—a tribute to her:
It’s funny how the monkey mind works. When there are snow flurries, such as what we received today, then that monkey races to green space. When I’m in green space I think of snow and how it cools down heat intensity. And it was for a moment that my feisty mind landed in a place, like Jackson, California, a small city I walked through.
People came to meet me in Detert Park where we sat on the green and under the green. There were folks I met along the way as well as some who read about my walks and the scheduled talk for that Saturday morning. It was sweet being away from the sun for a change. Again, the rascal mind strikes.
So now, back in the land of snow, being in the present—this afternoon we broadcast, via Zoom, “Rolling the Dice,” our first film endeavor. Comments were good. I was proud of our actors. Although we still have a ways to go, technically, I think Michaela did a fine job with her camera work. People can still see this production through YouTube at https://youtu.be/N6xH1NuFDVs
Because of the pandemic and restrictions imposed on our thespian crew, who are accustom to stage presentations, they must learn to act for the camera. That’s the route we will be taking for the next little while. I’m hoping we will improve with this service and work towards excellence.
There goes the mind again. I am thinking about downtown Jackson. It’s got that old cowboy, western type of image.
′′ Всякий раз, когда вы молитесь, приходите в свою комнату, закрывайте дверь и молитесь своему Отцу, который находится в тайном месте. Твой Отец, который все видит, воздаст тебе.”
[ Библия, Матфея 6:6]
A Christmas Meditation
“Whenever you pray, go to your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in a secret place. Your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”
Are you wondering how to get 2021 started on the right spiritual foot with healthy habits? There are many guides and step-by-step processes to changing an unhealthy or unwelcoming habit. Breaking or evolving a habit is a process and no one can transform overnight. We at the GBC Strategic Planning Team (SPT) bring to you an expert HG Vraj Vihari Das, to discuss some of the key things that might get you started and help you advance in Krishna Consciousness.
“So our request is that you don't take this movement as something sentimental, religious faith. No. It is a very scientific, educational movement. Take advantage of it. That is our request. You can understand this movement by reading so many books. We have got about two dozen books like this. But we have got another alternative method which is very simple and easy. You chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.” Srila Prabhupada Lecture on Bhagavad Gita 2.9 -- Auckland, 21 February 1973Read More...
Today, Saturday, January 2, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s divine disappearance day, I was pleased to officially connect four devotees to Srila Prabhupada and the guru-parampara through hari-nama initiation. Amar Patil became Ambarisa dasa, Chandni Doshi became Chandrika Priya dasi, Mimi Wilheim became Vraja Gopi dasi, and Sukha Kamat became Sukhada dasi. Please bless them and support them in their service to Srila Prabhupada, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and their mission.
Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna.
Yours in service to Srila Prabhupada,
Giriraj Swami
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master, is my grand spiritual master, but I feel that I never really knew him very well until I read his biography Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava by my godbrother Bhakti Vikasa Swami. Many of the quotes and references below come from that work.
We are all here by the mercy of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. There’s a line through which the mercy descends upon us, beginning with Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and passing, one teacher after the other, through parampara, disciplic succession. Five thousand years ago Krishna came in His original form and instructed, in the Bhagavad-gita (9.34, 18.65), man-mana bhava mad-bhakto: “Always think of Me and become My devotee.” Five hundred years ago the same Lord Krishna came again, in the devotional form of Sri Krishna Chaitanya, to explain and personally show how to be a devotee and always think of Krishna. Lord Chaitanya quoted a verse from the Brhan-naradiya Purana (38.126):
harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha
“One should chant the holy name, chant the holy name, chant the holy name of Hari, Krishna. There is no other way, no other way, no other way for success in the present age of Kali.” He also desired and predicted:
prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama
“In as many towns and villages as there are on the surface of the earth, My holy name will be propagated.” (Cb 3.4.126) This desire and prediction were expressed at a time when it was almost impossible to imagine or believe that it could happen.
In the 1800s Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura began the effort to spread the holy name of Krishna to countries outside India. He wrote a small book in English called Chaitanya Mahaprabhu: His Life and Precepts and dispatched copies to libraries around the world. In recent years Srila Prabhupada’s disciples have discovered copies in libraries from Canada (McGill University) to Australia. Bhaktivinoda Thakura yearned for the day when devotees from all over the world would unite in harinama-sankirtana and wrote, “Very soon the unparalleled path of harinama-sankirtana will be propagated all over the planet. . . . Oh, for that day when the fortunate English, French, Russian, German, and American people will take up banners, mridangas, and kartals and perform kirtan through their streets and towns. When will that day come? Oh, for the day when the fair-skinned men from their side will raise up the chanting of ‘Jaya Sacinandana, jaya Sacinandana ki jaya!’ and join with the Bengali devotees. When will that day be?” (Sajjana-tosani)
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a very powerful spiritual master, an acharya. After the disappearance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates, many unscrupulous people claiming to be Mahaprabhu’s followers introduced concocted philosophies and practices—even illicit activities—to the point that if an educated Bengali heard the word Vaishnava, he would immediately think the worst. In educated circles Vaishnava had come to mean a sentimental, ignorant person with loose character who, in the guise of religion, engaged in all sorts of questionable activities. In this precarious situation, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura came forward and presented the true understanding of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, speaking strongly against the deviant groups that had distorted and perverted His pure teachings and practices.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura held a high position in the British rule of India—the highest an Indian could hold, and then only very rarely. He had important responsibilities in the government and had a large family, but his main interest was Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the sankirtana movement. He would sleep little and rise early. He did so much—wrote books, traveled, preached, established centers—and had a tremendous effect, especially on the people of Bengal and Orissa, including the intellectual elite, who were just then coming in touch with modern ideas from the West. He revived the true mission of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, inspiring hosts of people to join him, and pushed back the deviant groups, which lost much of their influence.
Having undertaken such a tremendous task and executed it so successfully but still being surrounded by so many parties with vested interests in covering the true intention of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was at a loss as to who would carry on his mission. So he prayed to Krishna to send someone—one of His own associates from the spiritual realm—to continue the work. It is understood that the appearance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was the answer to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s prayers.
There are many incidents from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s early life that indicate that he was that person sent by Krishna. When he was five months old, the Ratha-yatra cart halted in front of Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s home in Puri, and the Thakura directed his wife, Bhagavati Devi, to carry the baby to the chariot. When the infant was placed at the lotus feet of Lord Jagannatha, he extended his tiny arms to touch the Deity’s feet, and Lord Jagannatha dropped one of His garlands around him—a blessing and a confirmation of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s divine descent.
Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati understood his father’s mission and worked with him to fulfill it. His father initiated him into the chanting of the holy name (hari-nama), the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, but according to etiquette, a father does not give actual diksa to his son. So Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura instructed him to approach Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji, a great maha-bhagavata—a fully self-realized, liberated soul—for diksa. But Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was a renounced bhajananandi and was not inclined to accept disciples; he preferred simply to immerse himself in chanting the holy names and hearing scripture.
When Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati approached him, Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja told him directly that he would not accept him or anyone else as a disciple. Still, Siddhanta Sarasvati persisted, so Babaji Maharaja told him, “I will ask Mahaprabhu.” A few days later, when Siddhanta Sarasvati returned and inquired, “What was Mahaprabhu’s order?” Babaji Maharaja replied, “I forgot to ask.” And when Siddhanta Sarasvati came for the third time, Babaji Maharaja directly refused him: “Mahaprabhu has not given permission.” Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati was devastated. He stood up and quoted a line by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, addressed to the guru—karuna na hoile, kandiya kandiya, prana na rakhibo ara: “If you are not merciful to me, I will simply weep and weep and will not be able to maintain my life.” Finally, when Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja understood how sincere and serious Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati was, he accepted him as his disciple and initiated him.
Five years later, in 1905, Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati undertook a vow to chant at least three lakh holy names daily, or ten million monthly, until he had chanted one billion holy names. For his disciples, Srila Prabhupada fixed the minimum number of sixteen rounds per day, which takes most devotees about two hours. Four times sixteen is sixty-four rounds, or one lakh names. And three times sixty-four rounds comes to three hundred thousand names, which would take us, even at a good rate, at least sixteen hours a day. In Mayapur, Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati constructed a grass hut, where he lived very simply and chanted day and night. If rain came and leaked through the thatched roof, he would just hold up an umbrella and continue chanting: “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”
To complete his vow took more than nine years, but even then, Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati would write, preach, and serve the dhama. One program he attended was especially significant. In Bengal the caste brahmans held a stranglehold on people’s religious practices. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura had spoken openly against them and their false claim, based on their supposed high birth, that they possessed exclusive rights to be gurus and perform brahminical functions. Naturally, when Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati challenged them, the brahmans reacted. An assembly of smarta-brahmanas and jata-gosanis (caste Gosvamis) came together to try to refute the arguments of the pure Vaishnavas and published a tract against them. In response, the Vaishnavas called a three-day public meeting to discuss the relative positions of brahmans and Vaishnavas. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was expected to be the main speaker, but severe rheumatism rendered him bedridden.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura himself was not born in a brahman family, and obviously, neither was his son. Now, the question may be raised that since Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was a ray of Vishnu, an eternal associate of Krishna’s sent from the spiritual realm to the material world to preach, Krishna could have arranged for him to take birth in the highest class of brahman family, with all the brahminical qualifications, but He didn’t. Why not? Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati explains that the Lord does not arrange for pure devotees to take birth only in high-class families, with all the advantages of good health, education, culture, wealth, strength, and so on, because ordinary people would feel discouraged. They would think, “Oh, I didn’t take birth in a high-class family; I didn’t have this or that advantage. What is the hope for me?” So, great souls take birth in various kinds of families to show us the example that anyone in any condition—even if not born in a brahman family—can become Krishna conscious, and to give us hope that we too can be Krishna conscious.
So, after the publication of the caste brahmans’ tract, on the eve of the public meeting to be convened by the Vaishnavas, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was incapacitated, and he cried out in desperation, “Is there no one in the Vaishnava world who can reply to these people and, by presenting scriptural evidence and logic, put a stop to their base activities?” Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati took up the challenge, wrote an essay called “Conclusion Regarding the Comparison of Brahmans and Vaishnavas,” and went to attend the meeting.
Many caste brahmans, although not invited, also went to the meeting. Understanding that Bhaktivinoda Thakura was indisposed and unable to attend, they swaggered about, confident that they would easily triumph over the Vaishnavas.
Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati was the first speaker. He began by quoting various statements from scripture about the exalted position of brahmans, and the caste brahmans in the audience were delighted. He was so brilliant that he could speak better about the high position of brahmans than the brahmans themselves. But then he began quoting verses from scripture about the position of Vaishnavas, establishing that Vaishnavas were higher than even brahmans and that irrespective of one’s birth, if one accepted the Vaishnava principles, he would attain a position more exalted than that of a brahman. The brahmans in the audience were completely overwhelmed. Seeing no way to counter Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati’s arguments, the smarta-brahmanas and jata-gosanis slinked away.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura felt assured that his mission was in capable hands, that Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati was a worthy successor to carry on his cause. And Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati began to preach far and wide. He was fearless and open in his criticism of anything false. And his example and instructions remain relevant to us today.
Srila Sarasvati Thakura was a prodigious writer and speaker on various topics, including how to present the message of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. He noted that there are people who think that you should say only positive—not negative—things. I experienced that when I was in Madras. I was just preaching as I had heard Srila Prabhupada preach, and people reacted. Even friends, people who were hosting me and supporting me, advised me, “Don’t criticize others. Just say what you want about your philosophy and activities.” Srila Sarasvati Thakura averred that it was imperative not only to elucidate the truth but also to criticize anything false, because in Kali-yuga there is so much false propaganda that we have to be very clear; there cannot be any ambiguity in our message:
The positive method by itself is not the most effective method of propaganda in a controversial age like the present. The negative method, which seeks to differentiate the truth from non-truth in all its forms, is even better calculated to convey the directly inconceivable significance of the Absolute. It is a necessity which cannot be conscientiously avoided by the dedicated preacher of the truth if he wants to be a loyal servant of Godhead. The method is sure to create an atmosphere of controversy in which it is quite easy to lose one’s balance of judgment. But the ways of the deluding energy are so intricate that unless their mischievous nature is fully exposed, it is not possible for the soul in the conditioned state to avoid the snares spread by the enchantress [Maya] for encompassing the ruin of her only too willing victims. It is a duty which shall be sacred to all who have been enabled to attain even a distant glimpse of the Absolute.
Srila Prabhupada also demonstrated this approach. He had a friend named Dr. Patel, who would accompany him on his morning walks on Juhu Beach. Dr. Patel was quite literate, he knew Sanskrit, and he was quite sharp. So, one morning, Dr. Patel started praising a revered popular religious figure of India, and Srila Prabhupada, in turn, began to criticize the figure. Dr. Patel protested, “You cannot criticize like this.” But Srila Prabhupada replied, “I am not saying; Krishna is saying—na mam duskrtino mudhah prapadyante naradhamah, mayayapahrta-jnanaasuram bhavam asritah: If you are not surrendered to Krishna, you are a miscreant in one of these categories—fool, rascal, demon.”
Dr. Patel became very agitated and raised his voice, and Srila Prabhupada raised his. The whole situation became both tense and intense. Finally, Dr. Patel’s friends dragged him away. It was like in a boxing ring when the bell rings to signal the end of the fight and the two opponents just keep going at each other and the referee has to tear them apart.
For the first time, Dr. Patel stopped coming for the morning walks, and Srila Prabhupada also said, “Now no more discussion; we will only read Krsna book.” But after a couple of days, Dr. Patel was walking in one direction on the beach and Prabhupada was walking in the other, and, as Dr. Patel described it, something in his heart just drew him to Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet. He offered obeisance and said, “Prabhupada, I am sorry, but we are trained to respect all the accredited saints of India.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Yes, and our business is to point out who is not a saint.” He had learned from his guru maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati that we not only tell who is a saint; we also explain who is not a saint. And that is the mercy of the Vaishnava, so people know clearly what is what. Otherwise, they can be misled and, as a result, suffer.
Srila Sarasvati Thakura was a tremendously powerful and successful preacher who fearlessly spoke the truth. And his pure preaching inspired hundreds of thousands of people to follow.
But he also had enemies. He was the enemy of falsehood, and people who were thriving on falsehood sometimes became his enemies. Once, when he and his party were performing navadvipa-parikrama, the caste brahmans hired goondas, thugs, who let loose with a volley of stones and boulders on the party, aiming to take Srila Sarasvati Thakura’s life. (There were attempts on other occasions as well.) But one of his disciples cleverly exchanged his white dress for Sarasvati Thakura’s saffron robes, so Sarasvati Thakura emerged disguised and escaped. But it was a terrible scene. It looked like a massacre, with the streets of Navadvipa stained with the blood of the Vaishnavas. Some devotees suffered gashes and fractures, but by Krishna’s grace none were killed.
It was a dark moment, but when it came to light that the attack had been perpetrated by the caste Gosvamis, the public sided with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and the Gaudiya Matha, and the caste Gosvamis’ opposition to him lost whatever credibility it had. As news of the event spread, those in learned circles protested in newspapers and magazines. The chief police inspector in Navadvipa was sacked, and the parikrama continued under full police protection. Later, when urged to press charges against the culprits, Srila Sarasvati Thakura declined, saying that the goondas had done a yeoman’s service—otherwise how could the Gaudiya Matha have been featured on the front pages of all the newspapers? Srila Sarasvati Thakura was the enemy of falsehood, but he was the well-wisher of everyone, even of people who were inimical to him.
Although Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was so austere and rigid, so strict with himself, when it came to preaching he was ready to spend any amount of money and do anything. When I was first serving in India, in 1970, only affluent people could afford cars, mainly the locally manufactured Fiats and Ambassadors. But Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had a limousine—back in the 1930s. And he dressed nicely. He would typically wear a dhoti, but on occasion, as required, he would don a double-breasted coat, stockings, and shoes. He had fine furniture for receiving special guests. Thus, referring to the elite, he said, “We are preaching by approaching the people of the world dressed even somewhat better than they, showing knowledge even somewhat greater than theirs, being even somewhere more stylish than they—without which they would think us worthless and not listen to our hari-katha. . . . I have to go to various places for propagating hari-katha, so I must present myself as a learned and decent gentleman; otherwise nondevotees will not give me their time.”
He used all means to broadcast the message of Krishna. Employing the latest technologies, he directed the construction of dioramas and other exhibits and staged huge theistic exhibitions. He built a grand marble temple on the bank of the Ganges at Bag-bazar in Calcutta. The procession that brought the Deities on a beautiful ratha, chariot, from the matha at Ultadangi to the new temple was enormous. Millions of people lined the streets along the two-mile route, which took four hours to traverse, and twenty-five thousand men, divided into forty-three groups, accompanied the Deities with loud harinama-sankirtana. For its work, the Gaudiya Matha owned four cars, a horse and buggy, an elephant, and a camel. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati would treat prominent guests to excursions on the Ganges in one of the Matha’s launches and expound hari-katha to them.
In January of 1935 the governor of Bengal, Sir John Anderson, visited Mayapur. This was a major event, because the Britishers were the rulers, and Srila Sarasvati Thakura was one of their subjects, their vassals. But the governor, accompanied by many other dignitaries, came all the way to Mayapur to meet Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and see his work.
Despite Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s tremendous purity and potency and success as a preacher, however, within his own institution there were disconcerting signs that some of his leading disciples were becoming materially infected. With so much opulence, facility, fame, and respect, some of them had become distracted. Instead of realizing that all the facility was meant for the service of the Lord, to bring people to the Lord’s unalloyed service, they were enjoying the facilities and adulation. In an effort to reform his followers, Srila Sarasvati Thakura spoke strongly, and he restricted the use of certain facilities—only for service, only for preaching—to curb the devotees’ materialistic tendencies. (Of course, he also had many sincere disciples, who did not become materially affected.) At the same time, Srila Sarasvati Thakura continued his propaganda activities—writing, publishing, traveling, and preaching—and was successful wherever he went. Still, he was disturbed that some of his disciples had become so mundane.
When he reached the age of sixty-two, Srila Sarasvati Thakura’s health declined, and he made statements indicating that he would soon be leaving. In late October 1936 he traveled to Puri, a holy place that was also warmer than Calcutta, but in December, though he was in a weakened condition, he wanted to return to Calcutta, and the disciples arranged for his travel by train.
In Calcutta Srila Sarasvati Thakura’s disciples called in some of the city’s most renowned physicians. When one advised him, “You have to rest more. You can’t speak so much,” Sarasvati Thakura proceeded to preach for hours about the purpose of human life, that the physical body was temporary and that the soul’s absolute necessity was to serve the Lord. He felt that if he couldn’t speak about Krishna, what would be the use of living?
On December 23 he instructed the devotees gathered at his bedside:
“I have upset many persons’ minds. Many might have considered me their enemy, because I was obliged to speak the plain truth of service and devotion towards the Absolute Godhead. I have given them all those troubles only so they might turn their face toward the Personality of Godhead without any desire for gain and with unalloyed devotion. Surely some day they will be able to understand that.
“I advise all to preach the teachings of Rupa-Raghunatha [two of the Six Gosvamis, direct disciples of Lord Chaitanya] with all energy and resources. Our ultimate goal shall be to become the dust of the lotus feet of Sri Sri Rupa and Raghunatha Gosvamis. You should all work conjointly under the guidance of your spiritual master with a view to serve the Absolute Knowledge, the Personality of Godhead. You should live somehow or other without any quarrel in this mortal world only for the service of Godhead. Do not, please, give up the service of Godhead, in spite of all dangers, all criticisms, and all discomforts. Do not be disappointed, for most people in the world do not serve the Personality of Godhead; do not give up your own service, which is your everything and all, neither reject the process of chanting and hearing of the transcendental holy name of Godhead. You should always chant the transcendental name of Godhead with patience and forbearance like a tree and humbleness like a straw . . . There are many amongst you who are well qualified and able workers. We have no other desire whatsoever.”
After midnight on December 31, Srila Sarasvati Thakura left this world. His disciples took his body to Mayapur and established his samadhi there.
News of his departure was broadcast on All-India Radio, and an official day of mourning was observed in Bengal. The Corporation of Calcutta held a special meeting in tribute to his memory and issued a resolution expressing its members’ deep sorrow. The mayor addressed the assembly:
“I rise to condole the passing away of His Divine Grace Paramahamsa Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, the president-acharya of the Gaudiya Matha of Calcutta and the great leader of the Gaudiya movement throughout the world. This melancholy event happened on the first day of this New Year.
“Born in 1874, he dedicated his whole life to religious pursuits and dissemination of the cultural wealth of this great and ancient land of ours. An intellectual giant, he elicited the admiration of all for his unique scholarship, high and varied attainments, original thinking, and wonderful exposition of many difficult branches of knowledge.
“With invaluable contributions, he enriched many journals. He was the author of some devotional literature of repute. He was one of the most powerful and brightest exponents of the cult of Vaishnavism, his utterances and writings displaying a deep study of comparative philosophy and theology. Catholicity of his views, soundness of his teachings, and, above all, his dynamic personality and the irresistible force of the pure and simple life, had attracted thousands of followers of his message of love and service to the Absolute as propagated by Sri Krishna Chaitanya.
“He was the founder and guiding spirit of the Sri Chaitanya Matha at Sri Mayapur (Nadia) and the Gaudiya Matha of Calcutta. The Gaudiya movement, to which his contribution is no small one, has received a setback at the passing away of such a great soul. His departure has created a void in the spiritual horizon of India, which is difficult to be filled up.”
That void was a big one—he was a monumental personality, and there was no one else like him. Practically, there had never been anyone like him before, and nobody could imagine anyone like him coming afterwards.
But then, in 1965, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s humble servant, a grihastha disciple named Abhay Caranaravinda dasa, who after his guru maharaja’s disappearance had been awarded sannyasa and the name “A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami” by Sripada Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja, boarded a steamer from Calcutta, traveled to New York, and began the Krishna consciousness movement, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in the West. Bhaktivedanta Swami—Srila Prabhupada, as he became known—embodied the spirit and teachings and potency of his guru maharaja and fulfilled the desire and prediction of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and Srila Sarasvati Thakura that the holy names of Sri Krishna, of Sri Krishna Chaitanya, be propagated in every town and village of the world.
Srila Prabhupada made adjustments, because he had his own audience and particular circumstances. Like his guru maharaja, he was ready to use anything and everything in the service of the mission. He engaged modern technology—tape recorders, Dictaphones, electric typewriters, printing presses, computers, airplanes—in the service of the Lord. He sent disciples to Bengal to learn the traditional art of doll making and also used modern technology to create diorama exhibits illustrating the principles of Krishna consciousness and the pastimes of the Lord. Adopting Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s idea of theistic exhibitions, he created the FATE (First American Theistic Exhibition) museum in Los Angeles.
So, the line of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura is continuing, by his divine grace.
But it is not easy to preach in Kali-yuga. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati had many enemies, and Srila Prabhupada did too. As Srila Prabhupada said, “Big preaching means big enemies.” If we just stay at home, or tell people, “I’m okay, you’re okay—everything is okay,” we’re not going to make many enemies, but neither are we going to have much effect. In fact, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati sarcastically remarked, mein bhi chup, tum bhi chup: “I’ll be quiet, you be quiet,” meaning, “I won’t disturb you, you don’t disturb me.” But that was not his mood, and that was not Srila Prabhupada’s mood, and that should not be our mood either.
And of course, the holy name: the essence of everything is the chanting of the holy name. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati advised, “Krishna and krsna-nama are not two entities. Krishna is His holy name, and the holy name is Krishna. Krsna-nama is the son of Nanda, Shyamasundara. Our only devotional service and duty is sri-krsna-nama-sankirtana. This understanding is auspicious.”
And to one disciple, he wrote,
“I am overjoyed to hear that your enthusiasm for chanting is increasing. As our contaminations are removed by chanting, the Lord’s form, qualities, and pastimes will be revealed to us in the holy name. There is no point in making a separate effort to artificially remember the Lord’s form, qualities, and pastimes. The Lord and His name are one and the same. This will be understood clearly when the coverings in your heart are removed. By chanting without offenses you will personally realize that all perfections come from the holy name. Through chanting, the distinction that exists between the self, and the gross and subtle bodies, is gradually effaced and one realizes one’s own spiritual form. Once aware of the spiritual body, as one continues to chant, one sees the transcendental nature of the Lord’s form. Only the holy name reveals the spiritual form of the living being and then causes him to be attracted to Krishna’s form. Only the holy name reveals the spiritual qualities of the living being and then causes him to be attracted to Krishna’s qualities. Only the holy name reveals the spiritual activities of the living being and then causes him to be attracted to Krishna’s pastimes. By service to the holy name we do not mean only the chanting of the holy name; it also includes the other duties of the chanter. If we serve the holy name with the body, mind, and soul, then the direction of that service spontaneously manifests like the sun in the clear sky of the chanter’s heart. What is the nature of the holy name? Eventually all these understandings spontaneously appear in the heart of one who chants the holy name. The true nature of hari-nama is revealed by listening to, reading, and studying the scriptures. It is unnecessary to write anything further on this subject. All these things will be revealed to you through chanting.”
So, let us all chant, “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”
Thank you very much.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura ki jaya! Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s disappearance day, December 24, 2010, Ventura, California]
I have just recovered myself from covid-19 , although many symptoms take months to get rid of . During my illness Maharaja cared for me, sending me messages, prayers and having doctors he knew contact me. His love and concern for all souls is boundless. He is truly Srila Prabhupada’s Ambassador here in earth! We can’t imagine how to repay our debt to him.
One thing I learned from my experience with Covid is this: Prayers from all Vaisnavas work! They reach up to Srila Prabhupada and Sri Šrí PancaTattva. I believe I’m alive because of the devotees’ prayers.
We are pleased to announce the launch of the Vedic Cosmology Videos section on the TOVP website. Videos have been compiled from several well-known ISKCON devotees, authors and scholars who have studied and presented many details on the subject. Topics range from the structure of the universe according to the 5th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, time and cosmic cycles according to the Vedas, the universe and sacred geometry, the process of creation, the Puranic geography of Bharat-varsha (our local Earth region) and much, much more.
In an effort to begin the process of disseminating Vedic science from the TOVP as Srila Prabhupada desired, we are expanding our Vedic Science section on the website to include various sources of this most important information, including our new Book Marketplace. Our hope is to create a storehouse of science-based knowledge to challenge the ever-changing, speculative, atheistic, mechanistic explanations of modern science, and replace them with the authorized versions of our highly regarded Vedic acharyas and preceptors, past and present.
Visit the Vedic Cosmology Video section and while there please review the entire Vedic Science tab on the Main Menu of the TOVP website.
In 2016 the Mayapur Vasis group was invited to be part of the SA RE GA MA PA music show. The program aired at least 10 times getting near 30 million views!!! Last 7th Dec we went to the TV studio for rehearsal and this video is the recording of the program that was telecasted in January 2021
Whoever hears of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's pilgrimage to various holy places attains the riches of very deep ecstatic love.
CC Madya 9.361:
Please hear the transcendental pastimes of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu with faith and devotion. Giving up envy of the Lord, everyone chant the Lord's holy name, Hari.
CC Madya 9.362:
In this Age of Kali there are no genuine religious principles other than those established by Vaisnava devotees and the Vaisnava scriptures. This is the sum and substance of everything.
CC Madya 9.364:
The more one hears the pastimes of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu with faith, analytically studying them, the more one attains the ecstatic riches of love of Godhead.
As his new year’s offering to Srila Prabhupada, Bhaktimarga Swami has released the premiere of his new film, “Rolling the Dice.” The film is a slice of the Mahabharata that takes a contemporary look at greed, toxic tricks, and resolve. The video was first played for the virtual Mantra Men’s retreat which took place […]
The following message was sent out today, January 1st 2021, to the global ISKCON community on behalf of His Holiness Jayapataka Swami’s Health Team and the JPS Seva Committee: URGENT REQUEST FOR PRAYERS *H.H. Jayapataka Swami-Official health update *Friday 1st Jan 202123.00 hrs (Indian Standard Time) Dear God-family, disciples and well wishers of H.H. Jayapataka […]
H.H. Jayapataka Swami has tested positive for Covid-19 this evening. At the moment he does not have any symptoms but the doctors and the Seva-Committee are having an emergency meeting to decide on a plan of action for treatment and if it is necessary to move Guru Maharaja to a hospital.
Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 16, No. 24 By Krishna Kripa Das (December 2020, part two) New York City (Sent from Brooklyn on January 1, 2021)
Where I Went and What I Did
I continued staying at Radha Govinda Temple in New York City and assisting Rama Raya Prabhu with his NYC Harinam party, chanting four hours of Hare Krishna in public almost every day through Christmas Eve. I would also attend the Bhakti Center Thursday night harinama in the Lower East Side, and their Sunday harinama, this time at Bryant Park’s Winter Village. Around Christmastime I got sick, so the final week of 2020 there was no public chanting of Hare Krishna for me. I would chant for an hour with my roommate, and we would listen to two hours of either live or recorded Hare Krishna chanting, hoping to someday attain the love of Krishna which is the ultimate goal of the chanting.
I finished my third reading of Srimad-Bhagavatam, and starting over, I share some gems from my reading of the beginning of its First Canto. I also share inspiring quotes from my reading of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, the beautiful section on Lord Caitanya’s teachings to Sanatana Goswami, as well as quotes from Sri Isopanisad. I share a wonderful quote from the Garuda Purana in praise of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which was translated by Gopiparanadhana Prabhu. I share excerpts from the writings of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I share a note on a recorded lecture by Niranjana Swami. I share notes on classes at ISKCON NYC by Candrasekhara Swami, and Hansarupa, Rama Raya, Nikunjabihari, and Ananda Kirtan Prabhus.
Thanks to Dina Bandhu Prabhu of New Jersey for his generous donation. Thanks to my mother for her Christmas donation.Thanks to my sister for her Christmas presents. Thanks to Mera Chitra for cleaning my teeth so nicely they stopped hurting. Thanks to Dr. Anant Ram Gupta for his dental consultation.
Itinerary
September 12, 2020–January 12, 2021: NYC Harinam January 13–April 5: Florida harinamas
Chanting Hare Krishna in New York City
Before sharing my videos from the second half of December, I want to include a brief documentary a student made from the beginning of the month, which I accidentally omitted from my last journal.
Intrigued by seeing the Hare Krishnas chanting and dancing every time she visited New York, Tori Luecking, who is pursuing a masters degree in journalism at NYU and who comes from a Jewish background, decided to make this brief video about them for her own education and that of others (https://youtu.be/c-3pA-KIb5Q):
About her experience she wrote, “It was a blast to put together, and I hope you like it and that it helps people better understand Hare Krishna!” We thank her for her devotional endeavor!
Ananda Kirtan Prabhu of Los Angeles chants Hare Krishna in Brooklyn, and a guy does a unique dance (https://youtu.be/HtCU2c79LgU):
Godruma Prana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Lower East Side during the Bhakti Center Thursday night harinama (https://youtu.be/jDg94fcc728):
Here Godruma Prana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at a Lower East Side cafe, where one diner accepted a garland and played the tambourine briefly (https://youtu.be/jDg94fcc728):
Next Premananda Kirtan Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna, and more Lower East Side diners appreciated(https://youtu.be/XzKSnInjfS0):
At a diner near The Bhakti Center, two ladies had a great time dancing with the devotees (https://youtu.be/3IdaRPwD5EY):
They were happy to hear that we sing nearby every Thursday night, and perhaps they will join us again.
Priya Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Queens, and Rama Raya Prabhu plays shakers and dances (https://youtu.be/PrgeHl0DPc4):
Dipika of Bangladesh, now initiated as Dippriya Gouri Debi Dasi, returning to the U.S.A. after a long absence, chants Hare Krishna in Queens (https://youtu.be/DUhCoHtxKH0):
Premananda Kirtan Prabhu chants Hare Krishna on the Bhakti Center harinama at Bryant Park’s Winter Village in New York City (https://youtu.be/UBoIEONP0sM):
Then a couple of families became attracted to participate by watching, smiling, chanting, dancing, and accepting invitations (https://youtu.be/KubNw45ZbyI):
After Bryant Park, Premananda Kirtan Prabhu chanted Hare Krishna at Times Square (https://youtu.be/GXk8u7vs7d4):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in New York City, and a man enthusiastically dances with devotees (https://youtu.be/O2Y5a7qnEjU):
Natabara Gauranga Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Queens, and a young Bengali passerby plays the drum (https://youtu.be/IfKXt3DC0Oo):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Queens, and local devotees distribute pamphlets (https://youtu.be/keYbSzsOQZw):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Queens, several people take videos and an eclectic spiritualist blows a conch shell (https://youtu.be/U11v0KXzWJc):
Financial Report for 2020
Because people give me donations, I feel obliged to indicate how I spend them, so I publish my income and expenses every year. Because of the COVID pandemic, the year 2020 was very different from the financial point of view. Usually I go to Europe in the summer, and I travel and do harinama and give lectures in The North of England, Ireland, Paris, Belgium, and a few other places. People contribute by giving donations and each year I get around $5000, 80% of which I spend on travel. Being locked down in Florida, I could not do my usual program, and thus I got very few donations. I decided to apply for unemployment insurance, saying I was self-employed as a monk who traveled and made $5000 a year, but I that I could not do my usual service because of COVID restrictions on travel. The State of New York accepted my application and gave me $4,732, but the Federal government had their own program of giving people additional funds, and thus I accumulated all this money I did not really ask for. I gave a lot more away in donations this year, supporting the Tallahassee temple, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, and different swamis who have inspired me, and I paid my own travel expenses to come to New York City and to do harinama there. Although I spent $2640.86 on travel, several of my flights were canceled, but I can use the credit on future flights.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.23.8, purport:
“Love of God is not an ordinary commodity. Caitanya Mahaprabhu was worshiped by Rupa Gosvami because He distributed love of God, krishna-prema, to everyone. Rupa Gosvami praised Him as maha-vadanya, a greatly munificent personality, because He was freely distributing to everyone love of Godhead, which is achieved by wise men only after many, many births. Krishna-prema, Krishna consciousness, is the highest gift which can be bestowed on anyone whom we presume to love.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 25.20 verse and purport:
“When people came to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to discuss the principles of various scriptures, the Lord defeated their false conclusions and established the predominance of devotional service to the Lord. With logic and argument He very politely changed their minds.”
“Purport: We have been spreading this sankirtana movement in the Western countries, and in our recent tour of European cities like Rome, Geneva, Paris and Frankfurt, many learned Christian scholars, priests, philosophers and yogis came to see us, and by the grace of Krishna they agreed that the Krishna consciousness movement, the bhakti cult, offers the topmost conclusion. Following in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we are trying to convince everyone that the devotional service of the Lord is enjoined in every scripture. If a person is religious, he must accept the supreme authority of the Lord, become His devotee and try to love Him. This is the real principle of religion. It does not matter whether one is Christian, Muslim or whatever. He simply must accept the sublime position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and render service unto Him. It is not a question of being Christian, Muslim or Hindu. One should be purely religious and freed from all these material designations. In this way one can learn the art of devotional service. This argument appeals to all intelligent men, and consequently the Krishna consciousness movement is gaining ground throughout the world. Due to our solid logic and scientific presentation, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s prediction that Krishna consciousness will spread to every town and village throughout the world is gradually being realized.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.18.36:
“By manipulating a fire-generating stick, great saints and sages can bring forth the fire lying dormant within wood. In the same way, O Lord, those expert in understanding the Absolute Truth try to see You in everything—even in their own bodies. Yet you remain concealed. You are not to be understood by indirect processes involving mental or physical activities. Because You are self-manifested, only when You see that a person is wholeheartedly engaged in searching for You do You reveal Yourself. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.”
For Sri Isopanisad 8, purport:
“A living being desires something, and the Lord supplies the object of that desire in proportion to one’s qualification. If a man wants to be a high-court judge, he must acquire not only the necessary qualifications but also the consent of the authority who can award the title of high-court judge. The qualifications in themselves are insufficient for one to occupy the post: it must be awarded by some superior authority. Similarly, the Lord awards enjoyment to living entities in proportion to their qualifications, but good qualifications in themselves are not sufficient to enable one to receive awards. The mercy of the Lord is also required.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 23.116, purport:
“Sri Nilakantha confirms the existence of Goloka Vrindavana-dhama by quoting the Rg-samhita (Rg Veda 1.154.6):
ta vam vastuny usmasi gamadhyai yatra gavo bhuri-sringa ayasah atraha tad urugayasya krishnah paramam padam avabhati bhuri
‘We wish to go to Your [Radha’s and Krishna’s] beautiful houses, about which cows with large, excellent horns are wandering. Yet distinctly shining on this earth is that supreme abode of Yours that showers joy on all, O Urugaya [Krishna, who is much praised].’”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.29:
“Causeless devotional service is unmotivated by sense enjoyment, perfection or liberation. When one is freed from all these contaminations, he can bring Lord Krishna, who is very funny, under control.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.36:
“The word ‘ittham-bhuta’ is transcendentally exalted because it means ‘full of transcendental bliss.’ Before this transcendental bliss, the bliss derived from merging into the existence of the Absolute [brahmananda] becomes like a piece of straw in comparison.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.38:
“Lord Krishna is so exalted that He is more attractive than anything else and more pleasing than anything else. He is the most sublime abode of bliss. By His own strength, He causes one to forget all other ecstasies.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.39:
“Pure devotional service is so sublime that one can very easily forget the happiness derived from material enjoyment, material liberation and mystic or yogic perfection. Thus the devotee is bound by Krishna’s mercy and His uncommon power and qualities.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.43:
“Krishna has unlimited qualities. The devotees are attracted by His uncommon beauty, mellows and fragrance. Thus they are differently situated in the different transcendental mellows. Therefore Krishna is called all-attractive.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.50:
“‘Dear Krishna, we have simply surrendered ourselves as Your maidservants, for we have seen Your beautiful face decorated with tresses of hair, Your earrings falling upon Your cheeks, the nectar of Your lips, and the beauty of Your smile. Indeed, because we have also been embraced by Your arms, which give us courage, and seen Your chest, which is beautiful and broad, we have surrendered ourselves.’”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.128:
“‘In this Dvaraka-dhama, I am being attracted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, who is personified spiritual bliss. Simply by seeing Him, I am feeling great happiness. Oh, I have wasted so much time trying to become self-realized through impersonal cultivation. This is a cause for lamentation!’”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.134:
“One who has attained his constitutional position by the strength of devotional service attains a transcendental body even in this lifetime. Being attracted by Lord Krishna’s transcendental qualities, he fully engages in service at His lotus feet.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.161:
“When a purified yogi associates with devotees, he engages in Lord Krishna’s devotional service, being attracted by the Lord’s transcendental qualities.
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.181:
“‘Dhriti is the fullness felt due to the absence of misery and the attainment of knowledge of the Supreme Lord and pure love for Him. The lamentation that accrues from not obtaining a goal or from losing something already attained does not affect this completeness.’”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.198:
“Devotional service is so strong that when one engages in it, he gradually gives up all material desires and becomes fully attracted to the lotus feet of Krishna. All this is brought about by attraction for the transcendental qualities of the Lord.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.199:
“‘Whenever Krishna is requested to fulfill one’s desire, He undoubtedly does so, but He does not award anything which, after being enjoyed, will cause one to petition Him again and again to fulfill further desires. When one has other desires but engages in the Lord’s service, Krishna forcibly gives one shelter at His lotus feet, where one will forget all other desires.’”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.202, purport:
“It is here mentioned that every living entity is atmarama. Temporarily covered by the influence of maya, the living entity serves his senses, which are represented as kama-krodha-lobha-moha-mada-matsarya — lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness and envy. In the material condition, all living entities are engaged in sense gratification, but when they associate with devotees who follow the regulative principles, they become purified and awakened to their original consciousness. They then attempt to satisfy the senses of Lord Krishna and engage in His devotional service.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.205, purport:
“Everyone is eligible to become Krishna’s devotee. One simply has to be trained according to the approved process. It is the work of Krishna’s confidential devotees to turn everyone into a Krishna bhakta. If the confidential devotees do not take up the task of elevating everyone to Krishna consciousness, then who will do it? Those who claim to be devotees but do not engage in Krishna’s service to elevate all living creatures to Krishna consciousness are to be considered kanistha-adhikaris (people in the lowest stage of devotional service). When one rises to the second platform of devotional service, his business is to propagate Krishna consciousness all over the world. Those who are active in the Krishna consciousness movement should not remain in the neophyte stage but should rise to the platform of preachers, the second platform of devotional service. Devotional service is so enchanting that even the first-class devotees (uttama-adhikaris) also come down to the second platform to preach and render service to the Lord for the benefit of the whole world.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.261, purport:
“Taking the advice of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and our spiritual master, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, one can go to any part of the world and instruct people to become devotees of the Lord by following the regulative principles, worshiping the tulasi plant and continuously chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 24.262, purport:
“When a person takes to Krishna consciousness, there is no need to care for material necessities. Krishna says, yoga-ksemam vahamy aham: ‘I personally carry all necessities to My devotees.’ Why should one be anxious about the necessities of life? The principle should be that one should not want more than what is absolutely necessary. Narada Muni advises the hunter to accept only what is absolutely necessary for him and his wife. The devotee should always be alert to consume only those things that he absolutely requires and not create unnecessary needs.”
From Sri Isopanisad 2, purport:
“An ordinary man works for his own sense enjoyment, and when this principle of sense enjoyment is extended to include his society, nation or humanity in general, it assumes various attractive names such as altruism, socialism, communism, nationalism and humanitarianism. These ‘isms’ are certainly very attractive forms of karma-bandhana (karmic bondage), but the Vedic instruction of Sri Isopanisad is that if one actually wants to live for any of the above ‘isms,’ he should make them God-centered. There is no harm in becoming a family man, or an altruist, a socialist, a communist, a nationalist or a humanitarian, provided that one executes his activities in relation with isavasya, the God-centered conception.”
From Sri Isopanisad 3, purport:
“We are given this human form of life not to work hard like asses, swine and dogs but to attain the highest perfection of life. If we do not care for self-realization, the laws of nature force us to work very hard, even though we may not want to do so.”
From Sri Isopanisad 4, purport:
“All power is obtained from the Lord; therefore each particular power must be utilized to execute the will of the Lord and not otherwise. The Lord can be known by one who has adopted such a submissive service attitude. Perfect knowledge means knowing the Lord in all His features, knowing His potencies and knowing how these potencies work by His will. These matters are described by the Lord in the Bhagavad-gita, the essence of all the Upanisads.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.3, purport:
“Every living entity, beginning from Brahma, the first-born living being within the material world, down to the insignificant ant, desires to relish some sort of taste derived from sense perceptions. These sensual pleasures are technically called rasas. Such rasas are of different varieties. In the revealed scriptures the following twelve varieties of rasas are enumerated: (1) raudra (anger), (2) adbhuta (wonder), (3) srngara (conjugal love), (4) hasya (comedy), (5) vira (chivalry), (6) daya (mercy), (7) dasya (servitorship), (8) sakhya (fraternity), (9) bhayanaka (horror), (10) bibhatsa (shock), (11) santa (neutrality), (12) vatsalya (parenthood).
“The sum total of all these rasas is called affection or love. Primarily, such signs of love are manifested in adoration, service, friendship, parental affection, and conjugal love. And when these five are absent, love is present indirectly in anger, wonder, comedy, chivalry, fear, shock and so on.”
“The rasas are exchanged between members of the same species. But as far as the spirit souls are concerned, they are one qualitatively with the Supreme Lord. Therefore, the rasas were originally exchanged between the spiritual living being and the spiritual whole, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The spiritual exchange or rasa is fully exhibited in spiritual existence between living beings and the Supreme Lord.
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead is therefore described in the sruti-mantras, Vedic hymns, as ‘the fountainhead of all rasas.’ When one associates with the Supreme Lord and exchanges one’s constitutional rasa with the Lord, then the living being is actually happy.”
“Therefore, one who attains full knowledge of these different rasas, which are the basic principles of activities, can understand the false representations of the original rasas which are reflected in the material world. The learned scholar seeks to relish the real rasa in the spiritual form. In the beginning he desires to become one with the Supreme. Thus, less intelligent transcendentalists cannot go beyond this conception of becoming one with the spirit whole, without knowing of the different rasas.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.4 purport:
“The modern materialistic society is detached from its relation to the Supreme Lord. And all its plans which are being made by atheistic leaders are sure to be baffled at every step. Yet they do not wake up to this.
“In this age, the congregational chanting of the holy names of the Lord is the prescribed method for waking up. The ways and means are most scientifically presented by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and intelligent persons may take advantage of His teachings in order to bring about real peace and prosperity. Srimad-Bhagavatam is also presented for the same purpose, and this will be explained more specifically later in the text.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.5, purport:
“Those who listen to the Bhagavatam may put questions to the speaker in order to elicit the clear meaning, but this should not be done in a challenging spirit. One must submit questions with a great regard for the speaker and the subject matter. This is also the way recommended in Bhagavad-gita. One must learn the transcendental subject by submissive aural reception from the right sources.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.9, purport:
“The acaryas and gosvamis are always absorbed in thought of the well-being of the general public, especially their spiritual well-being. Spiritual well-being is automatically followed by material well-being. The acaryas therefore give directions in spiritual well-being for people in general.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.11, purport:
“Atma, or self, is distinguished from matter and material elements. It is spiritual in constitution, and thus it is never satisfied by any amount of material planning. All scriptures and spiritual instructions are meant for the satisfaction of this self, or atma.”
From a morning walk on February 26, 1976, Mayapur:
“As soon as we manufacture something, that is sense gratification. ‘I want to fulfill my desire. That’s all.’ That is sense gratification.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From My Purpose at Isola di Albarella:
“Then we think of Govinda dasi crying and pleading to Prabhupada in the airport in Santa Fe, ‘Prabhupada, you know Krishna. What does Krishna want us to do?’ Prabhupada replied, ‘Krishna wants to know what you want to do (to serve Him).’ You have to think and come up with your own sacrificial offering of love and service. Offer it with all humility, the best you can. And be confident that Krishna is accepting it, although the offering is defective in many ways.”
From Imperfection, Purity Will Come About: Writing Sessions While Reading Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Saranagati:
“‘Now in old age, deprived of all means of success, humbled and poor, Bhaktivinoda submits his tale of grief at the feet of the Supreme Lord.’ The word ‘humbled’ in this verse is significant. He is forced to his knees. It’s not a humility that he has arrived at by natural thought. He hasn’t voluntarily decided that humility is useful and should be cultured. Old age has taken away the illusion which fostered pride and false ego and possessions. This kind of humility can be as genuine as any other.”
“We also know from the Bhagavatam verse, ‘yasyaham anugrhnami’ that it is Lord Krishna who humbles the devotee by crushing his material life. The humbled man is humble. He grieves not simply because he has lost his money, beauty and sexual power but because he has been pursuing illusion of material happiness. He weeps. He thinks he has wasted his life and not worshiped the all-attractive Supreme Lord.
“This is true of me to some degree, but I cannot see it. Externally I wear saffron, carry my danda, follow the four rules and worship Govinda by the topmost religious process, harinama sankirtana, but internally I am not a Vaishnava. I live a subtle version of a life of illusion. I appear to be religiously successful. When I confess my wrongs, I don’t feel bad. I don’t even see what damage I did to myself in this lifetime before I met Srila Prabhupada. He saved me, but I’m still unredeemed in the core of my heart. I’m satisfied by the relief I’ve gained through Prabhupada’s association and pleased with the respect I’ve received among devotees, that I don’t feel myself a sinner. I have a tiny intimation that things may not really be as I see them, but how can I change my vision?
“I try to skip over remorse and go straight to the nectar of remembering Krishna’s pastimes. Who wants to dwell in the cesspool of bad thoughts and self-recrimination? Rise up!”
From Every Day, Just Write, Volume 1: Welcome Home to the One Big Book of Your Life :
“We draw a blank sometimes in trying to understand where to go or how to move forward in spiritual life. We hear from sastra, but it doesn’t move us. When we get up to that mood, it creates an emotion in which we question our entire identity and purpose as we have been living them out. At the same time, it’s not that we’re racing to make a change or bring relief. We have to face our lack of taste at certain times during the day because they seem to be almost physical cycles.
“I can just see the lake through my window, and it’s a perfect mirror today. Still cold, though. The lake will change. Will we? How long will we sit and measure time if we are forced to pray?
“Those words—bored, dry, empty. We watch ourselves going through the motions and wonder why we don’t chant more. It’s something to do. We’d feel bored, empty and dry no matter what we were doing sometimes. But that shouldn’t stop our attempt to increase our surrender to hari-nama. Chanting will take us where we want to go. And I know I’ve said this before, but I feel the same way about my writing service. The more I write, the more I will be able to forge ahead in the way I want to go. Simply chant (and for me, write). It doesn’t have to be pretentious. (There’s that word again.)”
From Memories in the Service of Krishna:
“Many well intentioned persons cannot figure out that it is wrong to eat meat and to indulge in sex pleasure outside of procreation. They can’t understand God’s plan. They think they have a better plan, more liberal than Krishna’s. They don’t know right from wrong. But in Krishna consciousness we have perfect codes and guides. This is not religious sentiment or speculation, but a phenomenal science. You can see it for yourself. If you act in the mode of ignorance, you get the result of madness; if you act in the mode of passion, you get distress; and if you act in the mode of goodness, you become purified. It works even in terms of hygiene and mental health. It also works in spiritual life, since the results of bhakti-yoga can be directly perceived.
“Whoever is without this Vedic direction is groping. Despite the best intentions, a person may commit serious mistakes, such as the mistake of thinking that animals have no soul and so there is no reaction for killing them. Or someone may think that after reading enough books, he can become a teacher and advocate that one can do whatever he likes and attain perfection. As a result of such teachings, a self-appointed guru paves his way to the worlds of darkness.”
“Please free me from the wrong of complacence, as if simply being ‘right’ were enough.”
From Niti-sastras: Sayings of Canakya and Hitopadesa as Quoted By Srila Prabhupada:
“Srila Prabhupada was fond of recalling the time when he was reprimanded by his spiritual master. ‘So far we are concerned, when our spiritual master used to chastise, we took it as a blessing.’
“Prabhupada’s disciples wanted to please him because we loved him. He attracted us to Krishna. He offered us a life of eternity, knowledge, and bliss. He fed us delicious prasadam. He let us live in his temples and gave us the responsibility for the buildings’ upkeep. He gave us japa and kirtana. We were obliged to him. We were willing to accept his strictures as the price for living a life we loved with the person we loved.
“We also had faith that he was a pure devotee who could give us Krishna. That faith took some of the sentimentality out of our following. Although in one sense, it’s a mystery how Prabhupada could have imposed discipline on so many young people, it was really our sense of obligation to him that made it possible. By fulfilling our obligation to him, we came to realize that the discipline was for our own good.
“I personally liked his strictness. I know others did too. It made us feel safe and righteous, not in an arrogant way, but in a religious way. Prabhupada’s discipline gave us the strength to avoid outside influences, to follow the regulative principles and chant sixteen rounds, to get up early and to talk about Krishna instead of something mundane. Within that discipline, which we soon learned to impose upon ourselves, Prabhupada developed a personal relationship as guru which was as real and familial and loving as any other relationship. We gave up everything—our girlfriends or boyfriends, our buddies, and often our families—to follow that one relationship.”
From Last Days of the Year:
“Looking forward to the new year. It is unsullied and waiting to be used. Please let us use it in devotional service to Lord Krishna and His pure devotee. Let it be a good year, not just for me, but for the whole Krishna consciousness movement. Let me have good humor toward the hype and funniness of ISKCON. Let me pay dues. And what if in this year I get severely tested? That’s the expression Prabhupada used in the Bali Maharaja chapters. He said Bali Maharaja was being severely tested by Krishna. So that happens. You go along free and easy and then something real hard and bad happens, like a car accident. It happened to Gobhatta in Santo Domingo. And then you are tested or examined.
“Krishna wants to see how you do under pressure. That is a difficult time, and you can’t do the things you normally like to do—sit and eat and be at leisure. But it changes you for the better. So the year will have some tests, and don’t be afraid of that. But build your will now in these last days of the year for going on writing and going on hearing about Krishna (as Arca-vigraha dasi loved to do in her last days, hear about Krishna).
“Pray Lord, be with me in the days to come. Give me strength for my usual little trials and bigger ones as may be ordained. I have not reached the goal of pure service yet. I try and try, but I can’t control the mind or taste the holy names. Krishna is not yet the center of my life. So how much longer do I have? How many more times can I stand at the end of a year and look forward to a new one? You had better . . . I tell myself.”
From Entering the Life of Prayer:
“This headache is a tiny thing: what about the pain when you have to leave the body? Does that mean you are not going to pray?”
From My Purpose at Isola di Albarella:
“Please guide me as the lights fade and my steps falter. Please show me the way.”
From “Vrindavan” in The Wild Garden:
“You are so distracted you catch only a fraction of it every day. That’s why there is value in the accumulated experience of attending the programs daily. Even a little devotional service will never suffer loss or diminution, and it can save you from the greatest fear.”
From My Purpose at Isola di Albarella:
“The living entity is the residence of the Supersoul. If you kill any living creature, even a plant, you dissatisfy the Supersoul. So, I’ll behave around mosquitoes, up to a point.”
“I’m a devotee, devotee, devotee of pure devotee, made it up the ranks to titular titles, names and positions. Now gliding down, will I reach virtues of honesty, humility, grace?
“I’m a devotee, true, true, don’t forget, pick any year from 1966 to 1996 and I’ll tell you an ISKCON story – like 1976 during the height of anti-cult scare I went to St. Louis academic conversation and collected petition names of profs and fed them in their hotel. That’s just the bare bones of it. I didn’t get headaches in those days, all of us ever- young and not even able to fully appreciate it.
“I’m a devotee, signing my letters, signing off, sounding depressed, feeling the pressure in my skull, white man, brown man poem, American gone to India many visits, been there and back, ISKCON. Just ask me. Please |let me tell you (in the brahma-muhurta hour after nine japa rounds, before any headache) let me tell you something nice about Krishna. I can do it and you can record it.”
Candrasekhara Swami:
Everything is connected to the virat-rupa, the universal form of the Lord.
In mathematics, infinity plus infinity equals infinity and infinity minus infinity equals infinity. This reminds us of the invocation to Isopanisad.
You can put everything in the universe in a pile, and Krishna is more than that because all that is within Krishna.
One of the first ingredients Brahma creates is ignorance. The material world could not exist without ignorance. Ignorance is not a mistake, but an important ingredient of the material world.
Before you create the beings you have to create the five kinds of ignorance which cover the beings.
The five kinds of ignorance are envy, the idea that everything ends at death, lack of knowledge of the soul, the conviction that one is the body, and absorption in enjoying the material world through sense gratification.
Things happen in a way we never see things happen in this world, especially at the time of creation. This is because they are Krishna’s energies that are acting, and they do not have to follow the laws of physics at that point. Later on things are more methodical.
We are very proud of our iron, electronic, gasoline-based technology, but there was and there still is another technology in India.
Niranjana Swami:
For Gopa Kumar awe and reverence is not sustainable.
Gopiparanadhana Prabhu:
From a Back to Godhead article “Serving the Words of His Predecessors: A Look at One of Srila Prabhupada’s Purports to the Srimad-Bhagavatam Reveals His Loyalty to the Vaishnava Tradition of Scriptural Commentary”:
“This [Purana] is perfectly complete. It is the purport of the Vedanta-sutra, establishes the meaning of the Mahabharata, is a commentary on Gayatri, and completes the message of the Vedas. It is the Sama Veda among the Puranas, spoken directly by an incarnation of God [Vyasa]. This work, consisting of twelve cantos, hundreds of chapters, and eighteen thousand verses, is called Srimad-Bhagavatam.” (Garuda Purana)
Hansarupa Prabhu:
In this society from the beginning of life people are taught that sex life is the highest pleasure in life and should be attained at all costs. Of course, this is completely opposite to the Vedic understanding.
Having sex without any commitment is like animal life.
People praise the idea of staying with one’s mate when they see it in the animal species.
When Krishna is not in the center, there is no ultimate commitment.
We have seen that those who have been brahmacari for many years are stronger grhasthas.
Without any attempt to control the senses, it is hard to advance spiritually. Thus the ashrams are necessary to assist with that.
On his last visit to New York City, Srila Prabhupada said we had enough temples, and now we should open reading rooms and restaurants. He got the idea of reading rooms from seeing an impressive Christian Science reading room in New York City.
Srila Prabhupada said knowledge is to understand spirit and matter and intelligence is to see things in their proper perspective.
You may be in this ashram or that ashram, but internally you must maintain your determination to make this life your last life in the material world.
In 55th Street the restaurant prasadam was Radha Govinda’s raja-bhoga offering. In the two and a half years I managed Govinda’s, I saw many people become devotees from eating it.
For brahmacaris it is very important to associate with brahmacari friends to maintain one’s determination.
Srila Prabhupada said you cannot become a grhastha unless you can increase your service. You are getting more facility and thus you must increase your service.
As a detective for years, I learned the bread and butter of the profession is husbands or wives who want to confirm their suspicion that their spouse is cheating on them.
The austerities one experiences in the brahmacari ashram are building up your bank account so in difficult times you can endure.
Srila Prabhupada said the temple managers should be grhasthas. They should think of themselves as caretakers of Krishna’s building.
It is important to accept the order of the spiritual master as the greatest mercy.
Living in the ashram is meant to develop our faith and conviction.
The householder cannot be all about my household but must make time to execute the mission of the spiritual master.
One person with commitment, dedication, and determination can do so much.
If you are still attached to material enjoyment after twenty-five years of grhastha life, you have not learned the lesson.
Rama Raya Prabhu:
One should remember throughout one’s life that material desires result in future material bodies.
Srila Prabhupada explains that living in the brahmacari ashram is meant to train the candidate to understand that the material world is not his home.
We will become worn out by the material energy if we are not sufficiently advanced.
Krishna is not so available where materialistic people are engaged in their materialistic activities. Krishna says He is to be found where His devotees are always chanting His glories.
The Lord’s plan is best for everyone in all circumstances, and the advanced devotees understand that.
There is a story that a scentless flower decided she was so useless the best thing for her would be to be stepped on by Krishna. She fell down on the ground just as Krishna was about to step. Krishna, being compassionate, immediately stopped, reached down, picked up the flower, and put it in His crown.
I found that people would come up to me impressed by the attractive sound of the kirtan when from the aesthetic point of view it was not that great. That is due to their sincere spiritual aspiration.
Srila Prabhupada said the way to control the mind is to always consider the ultimate good.
Nikunjabihari Prabhu:
The use of the word “tatah” implies there is something that happened previously.
“Purusa” comes from the word “puri” which means city. The body is compared to a city of nine gates. “Purusa” is he who lives in the body, that is the soul and the Supersoul.
Kumbhakarna performed austerities to obtain Indra-asana, the throne of Indra, the king of heaven. The priests chanted the mantra incorrectly as nidra-asana and thus Kumbhakarna attained a bed and was disappointed.
Narada was created from the intelligence of Lord Brahma.
Ananda Kirtan Prabhu:
Sometimes we are not willing to accept our own karma, but Vasudeva Datta was willing to accept all the sinful reactions of all the living entities in the universe.
Srila Prabhupada once said less than 10% of souls from the spiritual world come to the material world.
This is a historic time in the entire age of Lord Brahma in that Srila Prabhupada came to the land of the mlecchas and gave them Krishna consciousness.
The best offering to the spiritual master is to offer him disciples.
Srila Prabhupada said that Lord Caitanya’s prediction that His name will be chanted in every town and village means in every town and village all over the world there are people waiting to be delivered.
Srila Prabhupada told Svarupa Damodara that by defeating the atheistic scientists he would realize his svarupa [eternal spiritual identity] in Vraja.
Srila Prabhupada told Tamal Krishna Goswami, “If you give this one lifetime to Lord Caitanya, He will personally bring you back to Godhead.”
Srila Prabhupada says when a living entity leaves the spiritual world to come to this world he first takes birth as Lord Brahma. This makes sense because the reason we leave is a desire to imitate the Lord as the supreme controller and supreme enjoyer.
Srimad-Bhagavatam is the real door to perception because it gives us so much higher knowledge.
I spoke with one Srila Prabhupada disciple in Los Angeles, Punyatma Prabhu, on several occasions. He disappeared on Nityananda Trayodasi. He would always say things like “Prabhu, this is it. This is the spiritual world. You made it.” He would point to the deities, and say, “They are Radha and Krishna Themselves.” He would talk about how the members of the disciplic succession like Narada and Brahma are our family members.
As a child uses money given by the mother to buy her Christmas gifts, the devotees use parts of the universal form of the Lord to perform sacrifice for the pleasure of the Lord.
You cannot force yourself into the pastimes of Goloka Vrindavan. You have to be invited. By inviting others to practice Krishna consciousness we become qualified to be invited to that spiritual realm.
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The quote below by Lord Caitanya’s guru, Sri Isvara Puri Goswami, explains Lord Caitanya’s mission, which is the mission that Srila Prabhupada is giving us the opportunity to participate in. Lord Caitanya reveals it in a conversation with the impersonalist philosophers who wonder why He spends His time in chanting and dancing and not studying Vedanta like a proper sannyasi.
naca, gao, bhakta-sange kara sankirtana
krishna-nama upadesi’ tara’ sarva-jana
“‘My dear child, continue dancing, chanting and performing sankirtana in association with devotees. Furthermore, go out and preach the value of chanting krishna-nama [the name of Krishna] for by this process You will be able to deliver all fallen souls.’” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 7.92)
A hard, hard year has just ended, Yet many normal things remain suspended Leaving us with problems far greater than we’d conceived Exposing our existence to be frailer than we’d believed There’s light at the end of the tunnel, we are told. Yet the end seems too far away for us to behold. […]
A hard, hard year has just ended / Yet many normal things remain suspended / Leaving us with problems far greater than we’d conceived / Exposing our existence to be frailer than we’d believed
Devotees in the Czech Republic read the entireity of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is online during a nonstop 27-hour live broadcast on the sacred occasion of Gita Jayanti, December 25th. The idea was originated by Loka Saranga Das and moderated by Madhu Pandit Das, while Priya-kirti Das advertised the livestream. The reading, conducted via […]
Devotees in the Czech Republic read the entirety of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is online during a nonstop 27-hour live broadcast on the sacred occasion of Gita Jayanti, December 25th.
We would like to inform the ISKCON community that HH Jayapataka Swami has been tested positive for Covid-19 this evening. At the moment Maharaja does not have any symptoms but the doctors and the Seva-Committee are having an emergency meeting to decide on a plan of action for treatment and if it is necessary to move Maharaja to a hospital. We kindly request all disciples and well-wishers to pray to Lord Krsna for the well being of Maharaja and many of his servants who also tested positive. Continue reading "HH Jayapataka Swami has been tested positive for Covid-19 this evening → Dandavats"
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, the guru of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, appeared in Sri Ksetra Dhama.(Jagannatha Puri) on 6 February 1874 as the son of Srila Sacidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura.
In his childhood he quickly mastered the Vedas, memorised the Bhagavad-gita, and relished his father’s philosophical works. He became known as “The Living Encyclopedia” for his vast knowledge.
He preached convincingly against casteism and philosophical deviations from Gaudiya Vaisnavism. He tried to unite the four Vaisnava sampradayas by publishing their teachings. Srila Sarasvati Thakura earned the title Nrisimha Guru for his fearless and powerful delivery of the Vaisnava siddhanta. Mayavadis would cross the street to avoid confronting the “lion guru.”
Besides being a courageous preacher, he was ornamented with all divine qualities and full of ecstatic love of God. He established 64 Gaudiya Math temples in India and centers in Burma, England, Germany.
Srila Sarasvati Thakura excavated Lord Caitanya’s appearance place at the Yogapitha in Sridhama Mayapur and built a beautiful temple there.
Ultimately, when Srila Sarasvati Thakura reached the age of sixty-two, his health declined, and he made statements indicating that he would soon be leaving. In late October 1936 he traveled to Puri, a holy place that was also warmer than Calcutta.
After midnight on December 31, Srila Sarasvati Thakura left this world. His disciples took his body to Mayapur and established his samadhi there.
He was a monumental personality. News of his departure was broadcast on All-India Radio, and an official day of mourning was observed in Bengal. The Corporation of Calcutta held a special meeting in tribute to his memory and issued a resolution expressing its members’ deep sorrow.
In Radha-Govinda’s eternal pastimes in Goloka Vrndavana, Srila Sarasvati Thakura serves as Nayana-mani manjari. His pushpa samadhis are at Radha-kunda and Radha Damodara.
A hard, hard year has just ended,
Yet many normal things remain suspended
Leaving us with problems far greater than we’d conceived
Exposing our existence to be frailer than we’d believed
There’s light at the end of the tunnel, we are told.
Yet the end seems too far away for us to behold.
Life is a coin, whose one side is insecurity
Flip the coin, and there lies opportunity.
The opportunity to be here in the present
Leaving behind the past that we resent
Fearing not the future that we can’t see
Knowing we are where we’re meant to be.
Our Lord is forever within us, in our solitary heart
Raising beautiful flowers in broken soil is his art
What we see as broken, he sees as a work in progress
His glorious plan for us goes on, even through life’s duress
The world is the soil where our soul blossoms brighter
As he makes our path clearer, mind wiser, heart lighter
Seek first to do what is right in his eyes
Not to make the world right in our eyes
Let’s be here with him, open to improvement
And he will enrich us through life’s every movement
Resolve to be with the One who is omnipresent
And every moment will convey his loving present
Sydney, totally fired up in November, did 6,467 book points, almost doubling the second-place temple in the Medium Temple category. Chattagram, Bangladesh also did really huge: 38,351 book points, making it the No. 1 temple in the Small Temple category and the No. 2 temple worldwide, just behind New Delhi, with 38,761 book points. New Delhi is in a category of its own. All glories to Gopal Krsna Goswami and the team of enthusiastic book distributors! Moscow Gita-Nagari also got Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mercy by doing 14,548 book points. Continue reading "WSN November 2020 – World Sankirtan Newsletter → Dandavats"
2020. It’s been a rough year. Brutal for some. Revelatory for others, especially that the leaders in the Kali-yuga (the age of quarrel and hypocrisy) are pretend leaders. There is no proper training on how to be a leader. This pretending has been going on for quite some time, and now it has only become more evident. In Mahabharata, the teacher, Dronacarya, sent the two prime candidates for leadership into the city to perform a task. Duryodhana is sent to find someone better than himself. Yudhisthira is sent to find someone lower than himself. Duryodhana examines the people he encounters, but he can’t find anyone better. He thinks he himself is the best and greatest. Yudhisthira, on the other hand, sees the value in the various members of society: the brahmanas, the tenders of the cows, the merchants and workers. He concludes that he himself is the lowest. Continue reading "2021 – A Return to Kindness → Dandavats"
“The soldiers in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement must always possess physical strength, enthusiasm and sensual power. To keep themselves fit, they must therefore place themselves in a normal condition of life. What constitutes a normal condition will not be the same for everyone, and therefore there are divisions of varṇāśrama—brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa.” (SB. 8.2.30, purport) Continue reading "Attaining A “Normal Condition of Life” → Dandavats"
Today, Saturday, January 2, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s divine disappearance day, I was pleased to officially connect four devotees to Srila Prabhupada and the guru-parampara through hari-nama initiation. Amar Patil became Ambarisa dasa, Chandni Doshi became Chandrika Priya dasi, Mimi Wilheim became Vraja Gopi dasi, and Sukha Kamat became Sukhada dasi. Please bless them and support them in their service to Srila Prabhupada, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and their mission.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master, is my grand spiritual master, but I feel that I never really knew him very well until I read his biography Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava by my godbrother Bhakti Vikasa Swami. Many of the quotes and references below come from that work. 
By Mahavaraha Das
By Vijaya Dasa
By Sankirtana Das
By Kalakantha Das