The ISKCON Chandradoya temple, Mayapur, will be opened for devotees, pilgrims and visitors from Sunday, 5th July onwards. However, to implement precautionary measures some restrictions have been imposed.
ISKCON temples in New Zealand have returned to their normal activities, with devotees going back to regular life after the government lifted all COVID-19 restrictions except for border control measures on June 8th. New Zealand has been widely praised for its aggressive response to COVID-19, aiming for an elimination strategy early on that many thought […]
New Zealand has been widely praised for its aggressive response to COVID-19, aiming for an elimination strategy early on that many thought would not work. On March 25th, when the country only had 205 COVID-19 cases and no deaths, the government announced Alert Level 4 and implemented one of the strictest lockdowns in the world.
This is the recording of a webinar that Krsnanandini dd was the guest presenter at, along with her son, Syama Vallabha das, for Vaishnava Academy on June 20th, 2020.
This is the recording of a webinar that Krsnanandini dd was the guest presenter at, along with her son, Syama Vallabha das, for Vaishnava Academy on June 20th, 2020.
Last weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the iconic Glastonbury Music Festival – a renowned feature of the UK cultural scene. This massive event attracts over 250,000 people, hosting live stage performances from the most famous international artists, and is shown worldwide by the BBC. It’s also a very important event for ISKCON in the […]
Despite cancelation due to the Coronavirus, the show still had to go on with many performances, highlights and activities being broadcast online or on TV instead. The devotees were no exception. Organisers of ‘GlastHomeBury’ made a special request for the Hare Krishnas to take part.
I continued chanting Hare Krishna three hours a day, mostly on the porch of our ISKCON Tallahassee temple, while we served our Krishna Lunch on the weekdays, and in the late afternoon on the weekends.
Once a neighbor enjoyed playing his djembe and chanting Hare Krishna as well.
I continued sharing the kirtan on Facebook, so that more people could hear the auspicious chanting of the holy names, and people continued to appreciate.
I am proofreading a book called Prabhupada in South India, by Rajasekhara Prabhu, who lives in Vrindavan, and I share many inspiring quotes from Prabhupada’s lectures in Hyderabad and quotes by his disciples, Anandamoya, Basu Ghosh, Mahamsa, and Yasodanandana Prabhus, who tell of Prabhupada’s visits there. I share wonderful nectar from my personal reading of Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Krishna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the “Uddhava Gita” section of Srimad-Bhagavatam, whichcontains inspiring wisdom from Krishna Himself.
I share notes on live classes by Janananda Goswami speaking at the Newcastle Sunday program and Jayadvaita Swami speaking on the ISKCON of NJ evening programs. I share notes on recorded lectures by Hridayananda Dasa Goswami, Niranjana Swami, and Radhanath Swami. I share notes on local classes by Brajananda Prabhu and Daniel.
Thanks to the New York State Department of Labor for their contributions. Many, many thanks to Sudevi of Tampa for supplying two fans to keep both our kirtan party and our prasadam distribution party free from heat and flies, a very welcome relief!
Itinerary
March 23–July 10: Tallahassee temple porch harinamas
July 11–August 3: Orlando temple kirtana
August 4–November 19: Honolulu harinamas [unless Europe opens up for Americans]
November 27–28 Alachua Festival of the Holy Name
December 5: Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Vyasa-puja
December 24: Albany
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee
I continued sharing our daily three-hour kirtans on Facebook, and many people appreciated:
Mrgaksi Devi Dasi, disciple of Srila Prabhupada and performer, commented: “Thank you and bless you for your commitment to this Sankirtan Movement🙏 All Glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to the assembled and solitary devotees💕”
Blue F. Love of Gainesville commented: “Usually when I go online now I am greeted with good vibes from Tallahassee.”
Famous devotee musicians like Jayadeva Richardson and Madhava Naidoo have supported our kirtans by liking or loving them on Facebook from time to time.
Here Brajananda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch in front of the Tallahassee temple (https://youtu.be/Ds5uZmC3dC0):
Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna, Brajananda Prabhu plays drum, Linda plays the shakers, and I dance in the background(https://youtu.be/_dLqHwxNerA):
Brajananda Prabhu leads the Hare Krishna chant, Christopher plays drum, Camilo, a neighbor from Haiti, plays djembe, Linda plays karatalas, and I dance (https://youtu.be/LqDsH8aslrY):
Linda, who is generally the most dedicated responsive singer in our daily three-hour nama-sankirtana party on the weekdays, chants Hare Krishna during Krishna Lunch in the Tallahassee temple (https://youtu.be/YskdhCG-eMM):
Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi chants an attractive three-part Hare Krishna melody by Badahari Das Prabhuin front of the Tallahassee temple (https://youtu.be/XbyODM6-yqk):
Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna and Brajananda Prabhu plays harmonium, and five of the seven of us here at ISKCON Tallahassee participate by playing instruments and dancing (https://youtu.be/e02KEAF_V4w):
Brajananda Prabhu plays harmonium and leads the chanting of Hare Krishna, Kumari Sakhi Devi Dasi plays drum, and I dance (https://youtu.be/oYrigpO3nrk):
Brajananda Prabhu plays guitar and leads the chanting of Hare Krishna, Christopher plays drum, and I dance (https://youtu.be/y8uSq2hAuQc):
I share the following statistics on our Hare Krishna chanting program for the second half of June:
The likes, comments, shares, and views all increased for the second half of June as compared to the first half, and the other figures were about the same.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From a lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.12 in Hyderabad on November 17, 1972:
“But Krishna says, mamaivamso jiva-bhutah jiva-loke sanatanah (Bg. 15.7). That amsa, part and parcel of God, he’s sanatana. Not that, being covered by illusion, he’s thinking, ‘I am separated.’ He’s separated always, sanatana. That is the statement of the Vedas. Separated . . . although separated, quality one, but that separation, that fragments of Krishna, that is sanatana. It is not that by maya we are fragmental separated, when we are liberated, we merge into the body or the effulgence of God. We are separated in . . . perpetually. Although we are eternal, but we are perpetually . . . vibhinnamsa. In the Varaha Purana it is said vibhinnamsa, ‘Separated part and parcel.’ So we should understand very clearly that although we are eternal, part and parcel, but we are separated. Separated in this sense, that we are, every one of us, are individual, not merge into the existence. Everything is existing.”
From a class on Bhagavad-gita 2.15 in Hyderabad on November 21, 1972:
“So the question was whether Vedanta means advaita-vada or dvaita-vada. So it is very easy to understand. The first aphorism of Vedanta: athato brahma jijñasa, to inquire about Brahman, the Absolute Truth. Now the, to inquire where? If you want to inquire, you must go to somebody who knows the thing. Therefore, immediately, in the very beginning of the Vedanta-sutra, there is duality, that one must inquire, and one must answer. Athato brahma jijñasa. So in Vedanta-sutra, how you can it is advaita-vada? It is dvaita-vada, from the very beginning. Athato brahma jijñasa. One must inquire what is Brahman, and one must reply, or the spiritual master, or the disciple, that it is dual. How you can say it is advaita-vada? So we have to study in this way.”
From a lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.23 in Hyderabad on November 27, 1972:
“Sometimes people, they say, ‘Swamiji, you have done wonderful.’ But what wonderful? I am not a magician. My only credit is I have not spoiled the Bhagavad-gita. I have presented as it is. Therefore it is successful.”
From a lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.26 in Hyderabad on November 30, 1972:
“Indian Gentleman: ...to know how to awaken kundalini, and how to have permanent state of awakened kundalini.
Prabhupada: Chant Hare Krishna. (laughter) That’s all. Thank you.”
From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.6 in Hyderabad on April 18, 1974:
“When mercy from Krishna comes, your blazing fire of material existence will be extinguished. Ceto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha... [Cc. Antya 20.12]. Then real spiritual life begins. So long you are disturbed materially, there is no possibility. But these material disturbances cannot be subsided by your concocted method. It can be subsided by the mercy bestowed by Krishna. That is the process.”
From a morning walk conversation in Hyderabad on April 20, 1974:
“Manu-samhita is not religion. It is moral principles for conducting society. Religion is how to become devotee of Krishna. That is religion.”
“To stick to Krishna bhajana is not so easy, that you will go on committing all sinful activities and you will become Krishna devotee. That is not possible. You have to give up.”
“First of all, try to understand. A devotee is neither brahmana nor sudra. He may act like a sudra, but he is not sudra. He may act like a brahmana; he is not brahmana. He is Vaishnava. Just like gopis. The gopis, they are village cowherds women. They are, according to social construction, they are not very high class. They did not belong to the brahmana class. But their worship, method of worship, has been taken the highest. Ramya kacid upasana vrajavadhu-vargena. They were village girls, and practically their character was also not good, because at dead of night they are going to Krishna. But why they have been taken as the most topmost devotee of Krishna? Because the love was so high class. It is the test, how much one has learned to love Krishna. That is wanted.”
From a class on Bhagavad-gita 7.1 in Hyderabad on April 27, 1974:
“As the body is changing, there are so many children, they will also become old like me. But the spirit soul is there. In the presence of mother, although the body is changing, the mother knows that ‘My son is there.’ Although from babyhood the son has grown to boyhood, the body, original body, child’s body, baby’s body, is not existing, the mother knows that ‘My boy is there.’ So this is commonsense understanding. People do not understand it, very nice common sense, that the body is changing but the soul is there. Exactly the same example: the mother knows that “My boy, my child, although he has changed body, now he has grown-up, say, fifty years old, but my child he is. He is my child.” Where is the difficulty to understand? Anyone can understand. But people do not believe in the transmigration of the soul.”
From a class on Bhagavad-gita 7.2 in Hyderabad on April 28, 1974:
“So, this Krishna consciousness movement, it is nothing of this material world. This Hare Krishna mantra, it is also not any vibration of this material world. There is a verse by Narottama dasa Ṭhakura, golokera prema-dhana hari-nama-sankirtana. This hari-nama-sankirtana is vibration from the spiritual world. Just like you receive some message, vibration of the material world, from Europe, from America. So that is not Indian vibration but American vibration or European vibration. Similarly, there is vibration in the spiritual world. Simply one has to catch. You must have that machine. So, that machine is there within you. The heart is the machine where you can receive the spiritual message, because within the heart there is Narayana [the Supreme Lord]. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese. Particularly it is mentioned, hrd-dese. So because Narayana, or isvara, is situated within the heart of everyone, there is no necessity of researching where is Narayana. The sastra says it is within your heart. Therefore the yogis, they practice yogic process how to see Narayana within the heart. Dhyanavasthita-tad-gatena manasa yam pasyanti yogino. The yogic process is to see Narayana within the heart. Similarly, you can hear also Narayana by this transcendental vibration. He can be perceived, because we have got senses, different senses. We can see, and we can hear also. Because the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Absolute Truth, by any of your senses, either by seeing or by hearing, it is the same thing.”
“We are always accompanied by the Supreme Personality of Godhead as paramatma, antaryami, within the heart. That is the Vedic statement, that there are two birds sitting on the same tree. One bird is enjoying the fruit of the tree, and the other bird is simply witnessing. So the two birds, jivatma and paramatma, are always associated. He is so kind, He is just looking forward, ‘When this jivatma, who is illusioned, bewildered, captivated by this material world, material enjoyment, when he will come back again to Me?’ Just like father and the son, the son who has gone out of home. The father is always looking forward when the son would come back at home and enjoy. Similarly, Krishna, the supreme father, He is always looking forward when we shall go back to Him. Therefore, He comes personally, yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata, tadatmanam srjamy aham. The general opportunity for human being is to understand God, or Krishna, and go back to Him again.”
“What is the amazement, wonderful thing, Sai Baba has done? If he is creator of gold, then why is he doing business of incense? You know that? He has a big incense business exactly like us. He can create gold? Why there is need of incense business?”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.2 in Hyderabad on April 11, 1975:
“As you have changed your body in so many ways from babyhood to childhood, childhood to boyhood, boyhood to youthhood, then, similarly, dehantara-praptih.
Now, Krishna does not say what kind of body you are going to get. That will depend on your work. Just like this is described as the dress. Now, if this dress is spoiled or torn, you have to purchase another dress. That will depend on your purchasing power. Similarly, after this dress is spoiled, no more usable, you have to purchase another body. That may be a dog’s body or a god’s body—that depends on your purchasing power. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gita that yanti deva-vrata devan [Bg. 9.25].”
From a conversation in Hyderabad on April 12, 1975:
“. . . any language, you should submit, and you should feel that, that ‘I am worthless. My Guru Maharaja has given this chance to serve Krishna, to offer Krishna... My Lord, I am worthless. I have no capacity to serve You. But on the order of my Guru Maharaja, I am trying to serve You. Please do not take any offense. Accept whatever I can do. That’s all. That is my request.’ That mantra is sufficient.”
From Krishna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 86:
“This statement by the brahmana [Srutadeva] is very instructive. It is a fact that the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, in His Paramatma feature, enters the creation of this material world as Maha-Vishnu, Garbhodaka-sayi Vishnu and Ksirodaka-sayi Vishnu, and in a very friendly attitude the Lord sits along with the conditioned soul in the body. Therefore, every living entity has the Lord with him from the very beginning, but due to his mistaken consciousness of life, the living entity cannot understand this. When his consciousness, however, is changed into Krishna consciousness, he can immediately understand how Krishna is trying to assist the conditioned souls to get out of the material entanglement.”
“When, therefore, the conditioned soul comes in contact with a pure devotee and takes to devotional service, beginning with the process of hearing Your transcendental pastimes, glorifying Your transcendental activities, worshiping Your eternal form in the temple, offering prayers to You and engaging in discussion to understand Your transcendental position, he gradually becomes freed from the contamination of material existence. And as his heart becomes cleansed of all material dust, You gradually become visible there. Although You are constantly with the conditioned soul, only when he becomes purified by devotional service do You become revealed to him. Others, who are bewildered by fruitive activities, either by Vedic injunction or by customary dealings, and who do not take to devotional service, are captivated by the external happiness of the bodily concept of life. You are not revealed to such persons. Rather, You remain far, far away from them. But for one who engages in Your devotional service and purifies his heart by constant chanting of Your holy name, You are very easily understood as his eternal, constant companion.”
From Krishna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 87:
“Krishna is always enjoying, either in the material world or in the spiritual world; because He is the supreme enjoyer, for Him there is no distinction between the material and spiritual worlds. The material world is an impediment for the ordinary living entities because they are under its control, but Krishna, being the controller of the material world, has nothing to do with the impediments it offers.”
“Sridhara Svami, the great commentator on Srimad-Bhagavatam, has composed a nice verse in this regard, the meaning of which is as follows: ‘My dear Lord, I am eternally a part of You, but I have been entrapped by the material potencies, which are also an emanation from You. As the cause of all causes, You have entered my body as the Supersoul, and I have the prerogative of enjoying the supreme blissful life of knowledge along with You. Therefore, my dear Lord, please order me to render You loving service so that I can again be brought to my original position of transcendental bliss.’”
“As a fatigued man feels refreshed by dipping into a reservoir of water, so the conditioned soul who is very much disgusted with material activities becomes refreshed and forgets all the fatigue of material activities simply by dipping into the transcendental ocean of Your pastimes. And eventually he merges into the ocean of transcendental bliss. The most intelligent devotees, therefore, do not take to any means of self-realization except devotional service and constant engagement in the nine different processes of devotional life, especially hearing and chanting. When hearing and chanting about Your transcendental pastimes, Your devotees do not care even for the transcendental bliss derived from liberation or from merging into the existence of the Supreme. Such devotees are not interested even in so-called liberation, and they certainly have no interest in material activities for elevation to the heavenly planets for sense gratification. Pure devotees seek only the association of paramahamsas, or great liberated devotees, so that they can continuously hear and chant about Your glories. For this purpose the pure devotees are prepared to sacrifice all comforts of life, even giving up the material comforts of family life and so-called society, friendship and love. Those who have tasted the nectar of devotion by relishing the transcendental vibration of chanting Your glories – Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare – do not care for any other spiritual bliss or for material comforts, which appear to the pure devotee as less important than the straw in the street.”
“The personified Vedas continued, ‘Dear Lord, when a person is able to purify his mind, senses and intelligence by engaging himself in devotional service in full Krishna consciousness, his mind becomes his friend. Otherwise, his mind is always his enemy. When the mind is engaged in the devotional service of the Lord, it becomes the intimate friend of the living entity because the mind can then think of the Supreme Lord always. Your Lordship is eternally dear to the living entity, so when the mind is engaged in thought of You one immediately feels the great satisfaction for which he has been hankering life after life.’”
“Materialistic persons generally worship the transient material body and forget the welfare of the spirit soul within the body. Some take shelter of materialistic science to improve bodily comforts, and some take to the worship of demigods to be promoted to the heavenly planets. Their goal in life is to make the material body comfortable, but they forget the interest of the spirit soul.”
“Sridhara Svami has composed a nice verse in this regard: ‘My dear Lord, to be engaged always in thinking of Your lotus feet is very difficult. It is possible for great devotees who have already achieved love for You and are engaged in transcendental loving service. My dear Lord, I wish that my mind may also be fixed somehow or other on Your lotus feet, at least for some time.’”
“The personified Vedas stated that persons born after the creation of this material world cannot understand the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead by manipulating their material knowledge. Just as a person born in a particular family cannot understand the position of his great-grandfather, who lived before the birth of the recent generation, we are unable to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana, or Krishna, who exists eternally in the spiritual world.”
“The personified Vedas presented the example that those seeking gold do not reject gold earrings, gold bangles or anything else made of gold simply because they are shaped differently from the original gold. All living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and are qualitatively one with Him, but they are now differently shaped in 8,400,000 species of life, just like many different ornaments manufactured from the same source of gold. As one who is interested in gold accepts all the differently shaped gold ornaments, so a Vaishnava, knowing well that all living entities are of the same quality as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, accepts all living entities as eternal servants of God. A Vaishnava, then, has ample opportunity to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead simply by reclaiming these conditioned, misled living entities, training them in Krishna consciousness and leading them back home, back to Godhead. The fact is that the minds of the living entities are now agitated by the three material qualities, and the living entities are therefore transmigrating, as if in dreams, from one body to another. When their consciousness is changed into Krishna consciousness, however, they immediately fix Krishna within their hearts, and thus their path toward liberation becomes clear.”
“Both the Paramatma and the jivatma are within this material world, and therefore this material world has a purpose other than sense gratification. The conception of a life of sense gratification is illusion, but the conception of service by the jivatma to the Paramatma, even in this material world, is not at all illusory. A Krishna conscious person is fully aware of this fact, and thus he does not take this material world to be false but acts in the reality of transcendental service. The devotee therefore sees everything in this material world as an opportunity to serve the Lord. He does not reject anything as material but dovetails everything in the service of the Lord. Thus a devotee is always in the transcendental position, and everything he uses becomes spiritually purified by being used in the Lord’s service.”
“Everyone is supported by You, and You are also situated in everyone’s heart. In other words, You are the root of the whole creation. Therefore those who engage in Your devotional service without deviation, who always worship You, actually pour water on the root of the universal tree. By devotional service, therefore, one satisfies not only the Personality of Godhead but also all others, because everyone is maintained and supported by Him.”
“It is said by Lord Ramacandra, ‘I always give confidence and security to anyone who surrenders unto Me and decides definitely that He is My eternal servant, for that is My natural inclination.’”
“One who has attained the perfect brahminical stage naturally becomes renounced; he does not strive for material gain because by spiritual knowledge he has come to the conclusion that in this world there is no insufficiency. Everything is sufficiently provided by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A real brahmana, therefore, does not endeavor for material perfection; rather, he approaches a bona fide spiritual master to accept orders from him.”
“The devotee engaged by the direction of the spiritual master in the transcendental loving service of the Lord contemplates as follows: ‘My dear Lord, You are the reservoir of pleasure. Since You are present, what is the use of the transient pleasure derived from society, friendship and love? Persons unaware of the supreme reservoir of pleasure falsely engage in deriving pleasure from sense gratification, but this is transient and illusory.’”
“A vivid example may be given: an intelligent person possessing one million dollars in currency notes does not hold the money without using it, even though he knows perfectly well that the currency notes in themselves are nothing but paper. When one has one million dollars in currency notes, he is actually holding only a huge bunch of papers, but if he utilizes it for a purpose, then he benefits. Similarly, although this material world may be false, just like the paper, it has its proper beneficial utilization. Because the currency notes, although paper, are issued by the government, they have full value. Similarly, this material world may be false or temporary, but because it is an emanation from the Supreme Lord, it has its full value. The Vaishnava philosophers acknowledge the full value of this material world and know how to utilize it properly, whereas the Mayavadi philosophers fail to do so, just as those who mistake a currency note for ordinary paper discard it and cannot utilize the money.”
“Devotional service means that one does not do anything independently of the sanction of the acaryas. The actions of the Krishna consciousness movement are directed by the previous acaryas, headed by Srila Rupa Gosvami; in the association of devotees following these principles, a devotee is able to perfectly maintain his transcendental position.”
“Such a devotee can understand that all conditions of life, favorable and unfavorable, are created by the supreme will of the Lord. And when he has fully surrendered unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, he does not care whether his condition of life is favorable or unfavorable. A devotee takes even an unfavorable condition to be the special favor of the Personality of Godhead. Actually, there are no unfavorable conditions for a devotee. Knowing that everything is coming by the will of the Lord, he sees every condition as favorable, and in any condition of life he is simply enthusiastic to discharge his devotional service. This devotional attitude is explained in the Bhagavad-gita: a devotee is never distressed in reverse conditions of life, nor is he overjoyed in favorable conditions.”
“Because a pure devotee follows in the footsteps of the acaryas, any action he performs to discharge devotional service should be understood to be on the transcendental platform. Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore instructs us that an acarya is above criticism. A neophyte devotee should not consider himself to be on the same plane as the acarya. It should be accepted that the acaryas are on the same platform as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such neither Kṛṣṇa nor His representative acarya should be subjected to any adverse criticism by the neophyte devotees.”
“Offering worship to the Supreme Lord by praying means remembering His transcendental qualities, pastimes and activities.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.37 in Los Angeles on April 29, 1973:
If you become diseased, how can you execute Krishna consciousness?
We should not think our body belongs to us because we have already dedicated it to Krishna. Thus we should take care of the health of body for the service of Krishna.
We should think, “Without Krishna my life is useless. Without Krishna I am in a dangerous position.”
Unless Krishna gives you protection, there is no protection.
Our only protector is Krishna, and our duty is to serve Him.
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 15.106, purport:
“Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Ṭhakura says that a person who simply chants the holy name of Krishna once becomes perfect and should be regarded as a Vaishnava. This is confirmed by Srila Rupa Gosvami in his Upadesamrta (5): krishneti yasya giri tam manasadriyeta. With such faith in the holy name one may begin a life of Krishna consciousness. But an ordinary person cannot chant the holy name of Krishna with such faith. One should accept the holy name of Krishna to be identical with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Transcendence Himself. As the Padma Purana states, ‘The holy name of Krishna is identical with Krishna and is like a cintamani gem, a touchstone. That name is Krishna personified in sound and is therefore perfectly transcendental and eternally liberated from material contamination.’ Thus one should understand that the name ‘Krishna’ and Krishna Himself are identical. Having such faith, one must continue to chant the holy name.”
“Any devotee who believes that the holy name of the Lord is identical with the Lord is a pure devotee, even though he may be in the neophyte stage. By his association, others may also become Vaishnavas.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 15.107:
[Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu said:] “Simply by chanting the holy name of Krishna once, a person is relieved from all the reactions of a sinful life. One can complete the nine processes of devotional service simply by chanting the holy name.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 15.107, purport:
“Srila Jiva Gosvami states in his book Bhakti-sandarbha (173): . . . Out of the nine processes of devotional service, kirtana is very important. Srila Jiva Gosvami therefore instructs that the other processes, such as arcana, vandana, dasya and sakhya, should be executed, but they must be preceded and followed by kirtana, the chanting of the holy name. We have therefore introduced this system in all of our centers. Arcana, arati, bhoga offering, Deity dressing and decoration are all preceded and followed by the chanting of the holy name of the Lord — Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 15.108, purport:
“In this regard, Srila Jiva Gosvami states in his book Bhakti-sandarbha (173):
“It is Srimad-Bhagavatam’s opinion that the process of Deity worship is not actually necessary, just as the specific prescriptions of the Pañcaratra and other scriptures do not have to be followed. The Bhagavatam enjoins that even without practicing Deity worship one can achieve the complete success of human life by any of the other devotional processes, such as simply offering oneself at the Lord’s feet for His protection. Nonetheless, Vaishnavas following the path of Sri Narada and his successors endeavor to establish a personal relationship with the Lord by receiving the grace of a bona fide spiritual master through initiation, and in this tradition the devotees are obliged at the time of initiation to begin engaging in Deity worship.
“Although Deity worship is not essential, the material conditioning of most candidates for devotional service requires that they engage in this activity. When we consider their bodily and mental conditions, we find that the character of such candidates is impure and their minds are agitated. Therefore, to rectify this material conditioning the great sage Narada and others have at different times recommended various kinds of regulations for Deity worship.”
“The more one is freed from material identification, the more one can realize that the spirit soul is qualitatively as good as the Supreme Soul. At such a time, when one is situated on the absolute platform, one can understand that the holy name of the Lord and the Lord Himself are identical. At that stage of realization, the holy name of the Lord, the Hare Krishna mantra, cannot be identified with any material sound. If one accepts the Hare Krishna maha-mantra as a material vibration, he falls down. One should worship and chant the holy name of the Lord by accepting it as the Lord Himself.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 15.110:
“The holy name of Lord Krishna is an attractive feature for many saintly, liberal people. It is the annihilator of all sinful reactions and is so powerful that, save for the dumb who cannot chant it, it is readily available to everyone, including the lowest type of man, the candala. The holy name of Krishna is the controller of the opulence of liberation, and it is identical with Krishna. When a person simply chants the holy name with his tongue, immediate effects are produced. Chanting the holy name does not depend on initiation, pious activities or the purascarya regulative principles generally observed before initiation. The holy name does not wait for any of these activities. It is self-sufficient.” [Padyavali 29]
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 15.111:
“Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu then finally advised, ‘One who is chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is understood to be a Vaishnava; therefore you should offer all respects to him.’”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 15.120, purport:
“Unless Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu discloses the fact, no one can understand who is actually a great devotee of the Lord engaged in His service. It is therefore said in the Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 23.39), tanra vakya, kriya, mudra vijñeha na bujhaya: even the most perfect and learned scholar cannot understand a Vaishnava’s activities.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 15.163, purport:
“One who executes Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission must be considered eternally liberated. He is a transcendental person and does not belong to this material world. Such a devotee, engaging in the deliverance of the total population, is as magnanimous as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 15.169, purport:
“Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu here informed Vasudeva Datta that since Krishna is all-powerful, He can immediately deliver all conditioned souls from material existence. In essence, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, ‘You desire the liberation of all kinds of living entities without discrimination. You are very anxious for their good fortune, and I say that simply by your prayer all living entities within the universe can be liberated. You do not even have to take up the burden of their sinful activities. Thus there is no need for you to suffer for their sinful lives. Whoever receives your compassion becomes a Vaishnava immediately, and Krishna delivers all Vaishnavas from the reactions to their past sinful activities.’”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.44, purport:
“Anything that is enchanting in the world is said to be a representation of the Lord.”
The humble servants of Srila Prabhupada:
[Note: In the verses below, Lord Krishna is the speaker unless otherwise stated. In the purports the humble servants of Srila Prabhupada are speaking.]
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.21.43, purport:
“Within the Vedic literature there are various injunctions stating that at a particular stage of life one should give up fruitive rituals and take to the path of knowledge. Similarly, other injunctions declare that a self-realized soul should give up the path of speculative knowledge and take directly to the shelter of the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead. But nowhere is there an injunction recommending that one give up the loving service of the Lord, because that is the eternal constitutional position of every living entity.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.6, purport:
“In a society of learned persons who have understood the Personality of Godhead to be everything, there is no further cause of philosophical quarrel. Such unity of opinion is not based on the absence of philosophical inquiry, nor on the stifling of rational discussion, but is the natural result of spiritual enlightenment.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.9:
“Therefore, no matter which of these thinkers is speaking, and regardless of whether in their calculations they include material elements within their previous subtle causes or else within their subsequent manifest products, I accept their conclusions as authoritative, because a logical explanation can always be given for each of the different theories.” [I like this quote because it shows how broadminded the Supreme Lord is!]
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.10:
“Because a person who has been covered by ignorance since time immemorial is not capable of effecting his own self-realization, there must be some other personality who is in factual knowledge of the Absolute Truth and can impart this knowledge to him.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.11, purport:
“Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu described the actual situation as acintya-bhedabheda-tattva: the supreme controller and the controlled living entities are simultaneously one and different. In the material mode of goodness the oneness is perceived. As one proceeds further, to the stage of visuddha-sattva, or purified spiritual goodness, one finds spiritual variety within the qualitative oneness, completing one’s knowledge of the Absolute Truth.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.15:
“Hearing, touch, sight, smell and taste are the five knowledge-acquiring senses, My dear Uddhava, and speech, the hands, the genitals, the anus and the legs constitute the five working senses. The mind belongs to both these categories.” [I did not know that truth about the mind before.]
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.34:
“The speculative argument of philosophers — ‘This world is real,’ ‘No, it is not real’ — is based upon incomplete knowledge of the Supreme Soul and is simply aimed at understanding material dualities. Although such argument is useless, persons who have turned their attention away from Me, their own true Self, are unable to give it up.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.39:
“When the living entity passes from the present body to the next body, which is created by his own karma, he becomes absorbed in the pleasurable and painful sensations of the new body and completely forgets the experience of the previous body. This total forgetfulness of one’s previous material identity, which comes about for one reason or another, is called death.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.39, purport:
“Death occurs when the specific karma allotted to a physical body is finished. Since that particular body’s karma is used up, it can no longer act upon one’s mind; in that way one forgets the previous body. The new body is created by nature so that one can experience the karma currently in effect. Consequently one’s entire consciousness becomes absorbed in one’s current body in order that one can fully experience the results of his previous activities. Because the living entity falsely identifies himself as the body, bodily death is experienced as death of the soul. Actually, however, the soul is eternal and is never subject to creation or annihilation. This analytic knowledge of self-realization is easily understood in Krishna consciousness.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.40:
“O most charitable Uddhava, what is called birth is simply a person’s total identification with a new body. One accepts the new body just as one completely accepts the experience of a dream or a fantasy as reality.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.45:
“Although the illumination of a lamp consists of innumerable rays of light undergoing constant creation, transformation and destruction, a person with illusory intelligence who sees the light for a moment will speak falsely, saying, ‘This is the light of the lamp.’ As one observes a flowing river, ever-new water passes by and goes far away, yet a foolish person, observing one point in the river, falsely states, ‘This is the water of the river.’ Similarly, although the material body of a human being is constantly undergoing transformation, those who are simply wasting their lives falsely think and say that each particular stage of the body is the person’s real identity.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.47:
“Impregnation, gestation, birth, infancy, childhood, youth, middle age, old age and death are the nine ages of the body.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.48:
“Although the material body is different from the self, because of the ignorance due to material association one falsely identifies oneself with the superior and inferior bodily conditions. Sometimes a fortunate person is able to give up such mental concoction.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.49:
“By the death of one’s father or grandfather one can surmise one’s own death, and by the birth of one’s son one can understand the condition of one’s own birth. A person who thus realistically understands the creation and destruction of material bodies is no longer subject to these dualities.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.54–55:
“The soul’s material life, his experience of sense gratification, is actually false, O descendant of Dasarha, just like trees’ appearance of quivering when the trees are reflected in agitated water, or like the earth’s appearance of spinning due to one’s spinning his eyes around, or like the world of a fantasy or dream.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.56:
“For one who is meditating on sense gratification, material life, although lacking factual existence, does not go away, just as the unpleasant experiences of a dream do not.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.57:
“Therefore, O Uddhava, do not try to enjoy sense gratification with the material senses. See how illusion based on material dualities prevents one from realizing the self.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.58–59:
“Even though neglected, insulted, ridiculed or envied by bad men, or even though repeatedly agitated by being beaten, tied up or deprived of one’s occupation, spat upon or polluted with urine by ignorant people, one who desires the highest goal in life should in spite of all these difficulties use his intelligence to keep himself safe on the spiritual platform.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.61:
[Sri Uddhava said to Sri Krishna:] “O soul of the universe, the conditioning of one’s personality in material life is very strong, and therefore it is very difficult even for learned men to tolerate the offenses committed against them by ignorant people. Only Your devotees, who are fixed in Your loving service and who have achieved peace by residing at Your lotus feet, are able to tolerate such offenses.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.23.5, purport:
“Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Ṭhakura comments as follows. ‘Often those who give up the materialistic path and devote themselves to renunciation are attacked by impious persons. This analysis, however, is superficial, since the punishment is actually the cumulative result of one’s past karma. Some renunciants show lack of tolerance when presented with the remnants of their previous sins and thus are forced to enter again onto the path of impious life. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore instructs that one should become as tolerant as a tree. If a neophyte on the path of devotional service to the Lord’s pure devotees is attacked by envious persons, he must accept it as a consequence of his previous fruitive activities. One should be intelligent and avoid future unhappiness by rejecting the ethic of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If one refuses to enter into enmity with envious men, they will automatically leave him alone.’”
“Bhurijana Prabhu told the story of Balarama killing Dhenukasura. Dhenukasura had been a rich, enjoying man with thousands of girlfriends. He used to play with them near the place of Durvasa Muni. Durvasa became annoyed by their loud frivolous noise and merrymaking. He cursed the rich man and said, ‘You have the intelligence of a donkey, and you’re making donkey-like sounds. I curse you to become a donkey. You will have to remain that way for hundreds of births until Balarama will kill you and bring you liberation.’”
“On Krishna’s order His cowherd boys run happily to the women’s quarters where the wives of the yajnic brahmanas are staying. They find them having cooked for the yajna and sitting, meditating on Krishna. When the boys enter their quarters, they become alert seeing the gopas dressed in cowherd attire and see them as Krishna’s associates, that they are very dear friends of Krishna and Balarama. They say that they have not eaten all day and they are very hungry, and Krishna is hungry too. Hearing the name ‘Krishna,’ the wives swoon at their good fortune. They are so overwhelmed that Krishna is nearby that they remain inactive, in trance. The boys are disappointed that the women don’t get into practical action. But finally the ladies break out of their trance and become fully engaged in preparing food for Krishna. They take all the foodstuffs they cooked for the brahminical sacrifice and put it in golden pots and wrap it with white linen. Although it is heavy, Yajnapatni and her friends stack the pots of food on their heads and shoulders, arms and hands.
“Just as they are about to go out and search for Krishna in the woods, their husbands burst onto the scene. When they understand that their women are bringing food to Krishna, they become furious and forbid them to do it. They say, ‘You can give some food to the boys, and they can bring it to Krishna, but on no condition can you leave the house and go out to see Krishna, who is another man and not your husband.’ Yajnapatni and her friends pull themselves free of their husbands’ grasp and say, ‘We must go! We must go!’ Other people connected to the yajna come around and also try to stop the ladies, but they pull away from their husbands and relatives and leave the house, thinking they will never return.”
From Journal and Poems, Book 1 (January-June 1985):
“We should look upon the criticisms of the agnostic intellectuals as a challenge. Let us not ourselves be dogmatic or fanatical. Rather, let us prove in our life and works that we can see the world as it is and with fresh, individual vision. Let us assert that we are trying to see Krishna in all things, and let us explain logically and philosophically why He is actually the ultimate Truth. And as we advocate our cause, let it be by works of art. Let us honestly express our own failings while at the same time explaining why we are committed to Krishna conscious truth.”
“The challenge is not whether a devotee can be an artist. The real challenge is whether an artist can be a devotee. The burden is on the ‘artist’ to learn to surrender at the lotus feet of Krishna and then write for Him, paint for Him, praise His glories. Otherwise, the artist and his patrons and audience will all be vanquished. Who will not be vanquished? And who can say at the end of his life that he has actually contributed to the liberation of humanity? And if he has not contributed, what was his use?”
“Yes, I am cheerful, especially at certain times of the day. Today after my morning exercise, I felt ‘good.’ I felt a sense of accomplishment when I dictated a rough version of my monthly column ‘Notes from the Editor,’ for Back to Godhead, and while on my noon walk I spoke into the tape recorder some thoughts about Krishna consciousness and other religions that also left me in good spirits. That’s how I feel, but how does Krishna feel about me? How does Srila Prabhupada feel about me? I can’t say, ‘When I’m pleased, they are pleased.’ But what is true is that if, by my actions, they are pleased, then I’ll be pleased to such a degree there will be no mistaking, and all other desires will vanish. Svamin krtartho ’smi varam na yace; ‘My dear Lord Vishnu, now that I’ve seen You, I have no other desires. I am completely satisfied.’”
“As we train ourselves in Krishna consciousness, we too should cultivate variety, steadiness, and loyalty in our devotional routine. A steady devotional routine is not necessarily cause for boredom or restlessness for a devotee. Rather, such a routine is a reflection of the blissful peace and security of Vaikuntha, where Krishna is always present and where one is always engaged in one’s rasa with Him through infinite, diverse and yet familiar exchanges.”
“It is possible to feel Vraja’s sweetness in a cool summer shower in Erie. You have to be captured by the Queen of Vrindavan and the narrations of sweet Krishna. Otherwise, it is only rain. I am here to unite two worlds.”
“Honest, genuine news from the life of a sadhaka is good writing and good reading—as long as he doesn’t spoil it with ‘officialdom,’ impersonalism, and an illusory covering of his real self. When a devotee breaks through the false covering, he gives more than a nondevotee can ever give—he gives the soul and his loving relationship with Krishna. Of course, only other devotees will believe it and be interested, but it is still preaching.”
From Japa Walks, Japa Talks:
“Give it [japa] priority in a practical way in your daily schedule. You know your daily rhythms, so when you have strength and peace of mind devoted to the holy name, always be sure to chant your quota without fail and in a peaceful place. If you do all of that and still can’t control your mind, then keep on chanting and praying to Krishna. You’ll break through one day or another. In fact, you are already breaking through bit by bit. As the hari-nama verse says, there is no other way. Take that verse personally. There is no other way but to keep striving, and in that striving you can feel a kind of righteousness. You are performing the yuga-dharma. Give it your best.”
From Truthfulness, the Last Leg of Religion:
“Formerly, Mayavadi sannyasis were strict ascetics. But in Kali-yuga, impersonalism and voidism—with their avoidance of obedience to the Supreme Personality of Godhead—are used as supports to hedonism: ‘Life is just a dream, so do your own thing.’
“To live in a world without truth, or any possibility of reaching truth, is to live in chaos and darkness. One may advocate this as freedom—‘We can do whatever we like!’—but it is more like hell.”
From My Relationship with Lord Krishna:
“How do I know that Krishna is listening? What does He think of my prayers? We know what Krishna thinks because He tells in His own words in the scriptures. He says, ‘If one offers Me with love and devotion . . .’ (Bg. 9.26) He also says, ‘Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.’ (Bg. 18.65)
“This means we go to Krishna not only at the time of death, but whenever we become fully and favorably absorbed in Him. Lord Krishna is not far away or difficult to reach: ‘To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.’ (Bg. 10.11)
“Prabhupada says that if we go one step towards Krishna, He comes a hundred steps forward to meet us.
“We shouldn’t doubt that He hears our prayers, and we should hear His response in the sastras, His own self, as caitya-guru in our hearts, and from the words of the bona fide gurus and sadhus.”
“I just heard Srila Prabhupada say how one could be stifled by remaining in the mode of goodness. Such a person might think, ‘I am a very learned man.’ He doesn’t feel the need to go further and surrender to You. Since surrender to You is the only way to be liberated from birth and death, the man in goodness remains bound.”
From Wicklow Writing Sessions, Session #4:
“I like the image of one page being a round, and at the top of the page you can signal, ‘Here is the start of another page.’ It is like a string of beads. The mala, the fingering of the beads, is like the fingering of the keys, the writing of the words . . . One might say, ‘But the Hare Krishna mantra is only sixteen words over and over and you are using many words.’ But actually, when we chant the Hare Krishna mantra our minds go through many words, right? So, this page is like that. It captures only a small amount of the words that pass through the mind, so it is less wordy than the japa rounds in which the mind is more uncontrolled. The writing controls the mind, perhaps better than the chanting does. But true, it doesn’t vibrate out loud, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. So, in that sense the japa does have the absolute edge over the writing. I do both and hope to reach a synthesis so that writing will help me to chant and the chanting will be something I can write about. I can say I chanted and experienced the Lord in my chanting.”
“You may not be doing as well as you think you are. You may have to go back and work on chanting the mantra in the proper way. You will be humbled to do it over again, things you thought you had mastered.”
“Then I gave out little carob balls and now it is over. The ladies and kiddies have returned.
I said, ‘Now you have a new generation of bhakti-latas to raise.’
The dad says, ‘We sometimes think of them as weeds.’
‘No,’ I said, ‘they are gems in the rough.’”
From recollections from a room conversation between Srila Prabhupada and an Endowments Officer in Hyderabad on April 22, 1974, quoted in Prabhupada in South India:
“Prabhupada said that if the Indian Government would finance him, he could rid India of godlessness in a year.”
“The commentators state that [after Krishna chastised Kaliya] Balarama took Krishna on His lap and examined His body to see if He had any injuries. When He was satisfied that Krishna was unharmed, He let Him go, and the Vrajavasis returned to their homes, singing Krishna’s glories.”
“Our garden is the most attractive on the block. People often compliment us. We do it as an offering to Krishna, but when they praise our garden it’s indirectly praise of devotional service. When neighbors ask us how and why we keep the yard so beautifully, we reply that the flowers are offered to God.”
From Journal and Poems, Book 1 (January-June 1985):
“Chanting
“1
Slow-start sadhana
when your life for it is gone,
your mind’s focus off,
then where is your improvement?
The answer is ‘Press on.’
“2
To a patient one, it comes—
the urge to be a devotee,
the energy to do it,
the blessings of Krishna.
These things I feel while chanting.”
“As I write this, it is almost dawn and dozens of nearby birds are playing on their natural flutes, pipes, and whistles. Their happiest moment is but a fleeting song between struggle and death. And we also may descend to that.”
“Sometimes I want it to be as quiet as possible, no sounds, no trouble . . . I know such peace will be interrupted, yet I seek it even for a little while. It is a way of healing, and afterwards I can more willingly enter needful exchanges with people. This solitude has its attractions. And it is not harmful, as long as I am ready to give it up when Krishna asks. Krishna gives us so many nice things, and by certain tendencies we are drawn to some more than others—either quiet forest settings, hearth and home and family, or the excitement and glitter of the city. But whatever it is we like, we have to be ready to give it up when Krishna’s service sends us in a different direction. Therefore, I am not here at Gita-nagari in this mood for my enjoyment, but to rest and regain health. And I am willing to go as soon as I am able to travel and preach.”
From Imperfection, Purity Will Come About: Writing Sessions While Reading Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Saranagati:
“How could a sinner be so presumptuous? One minute he says he has no good qualities and is sunk in the defeat of worldly existence, and in the next he’s praying to attain blissful param dhama. Doesn’t he know only a rare soul attains Goloka? Even good devotees have to return to the material world to continue the path of perfection.
“Yes, he knows, but he cannot help but hope. His soul is moved by spiritual desire. We could say that such a hope is beyond him, that he is not entitled to it, but what is the harm if a blind man prays to see? If he calls to Krishna and guru to be lifted to their feet, what is the harm? Dinanatha can do anything.
“This is asa-bandha, described in The Nectar of Devotion. It is a hope against hope, a symptom of bhava. Who is so cruel as to deny a dying man this hope? Neither can we take it away from him if we try.”
Hridayananda dasa Goswami:
The Ramayana does not try to be a history of greater India, but Mahabharata, as its name suggests, does.
In Mahabharata you do not see institutional religion nor do you see people fighting over religion. There is a more cosmopolitan and less fanatic view of religion.
In the Middle East you have a tribal monotheism, but in India there is a more philosophical monotheism.
Plato rejects polytheism and the study of Homer, who presented it in his works.
In India you do not find polytheism among the philosophers like Sankaracarya, Madhvacarya, and Ramanujacarya.
If you are not looking for a greater category that is beyond all other categories, you are not a rational human being.
Aristotle sees God as the unmoved mover. He understood there has to be something that exists that does not depend on anything else for its existence.
Even the polytheists do not claim that their many gods are the cause of everything. Generally they think there another level above them.
The people in general, who are not philosophical, are just looking for a being of superior power who can help them get what they need. These sorts of people were open to polytheism.
People like Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan, in hopes of creating a united Hinduism, decided to promote Sankaracarya’s philosophy of monism, thinking that would get rid of disagreements over whether Vishnu or Shiva is supreme. By doing that they practically eliminated Vaishnavism.
I told a famed Hinduism professor that I read Vivekananda and that it didn’t seem that he knew the conclusion of the Vedas. The man laughed, and said, “Oh, Vivekananda never studied the Vedas.”
The Indian supreme court at one point in history defined a Hindu as someone who accepts the Vedas as sacred.
It is the maturity of Indian thought that they did not kill each other over religious disagreements.
In Mahabharata they had a shared culture. Even the asuras had their hired brahmanas who studied the Vedas.
Every point in the universe is within every other point in the universe.
Sacrifice was a big part of the Vedic economy because at the sacrifices the king would deliver large quantities of charity. So sometimes people would go there merely for economic reasons. They had three fires, one for the gods, one for the forefathers, and one for your material success.
The Vedic sacrifices were a physical science, and you had to chant the mantras perfectly to get the result.
The Vedic brahmanas, who were doing sacrifices, were like scientists doing science, not like people doing religion. It is just that they were aware of more aspects of reality than the modern scientists.
Quantum mechanics is opening scientists’ minds to a reality beyond the physical reality.
The demons who worshiped Lord Shiva did not care about Lord Shiva. For them that was just an accepted way of acquiring power in that culture.
At present our cultural life is controlled by atheistic materialistic people.
In every religion, you find some people who are actually seeking God.
During Mahabharata times most people knew that Krishna was not just a human being. The asuras were thinking He was a being who had acquired a lot of power like themselves and so it would be possible to defeat Him.
In the history of both Christianity and Islam there is an aggressive militaristic spirit of propagation with the idea that their religion was superior. Places of worship in conquered lands were destroyed and churches or mosques were built in their place.
In general you see the Hindu leaders do not treat the Muslims in their countries as second class citizens to the extent that the Muslim leaders treat the Hindus in their countries.
Marxists, like Stalin and Mao, have murdered ten to twenty times as many people as Hitler. Some say it is because they did not understand Marx. I think it is that because they did understand Marx. In Marx and Engels you find a clear justification of genocide. They say you have to get rid of sections of society that do not have the vision you want.
Janananda Goswami:
Because Srila Prabhupada completely gave himself to executing the order of his spiritual master, he was successful.
From a Zoom lecture at the Newcastle Sunday online program:
By hearing of pure devotees and carrying out their instructions, we can gain their association even in their physical absence.
Every circumstance is a golden opportunity to take shelter of Krishna.
Honesty is what we are when no one else is around.
Lord Caitanya engaged the masses in congregational chanting to give them a taste of Krishna prema. When with His associates He liked to talk about great devotees from Srimad-Bhagavatam, especially Prahlada Maharaja and Dhruva Maharaja.
The more we are inclined to hear about Him, the more Krishna is inclined to cleanse our hearts, but when He desires.
We have a tendency, even in ISKCON, to adjust the situation, and sometimes some adjustments need to be made, but the biggest adjustment we need to make is to adjust our perception.
The qualification is to think that we are unqualified. To think we are qualified is a disqualification.
When asked if he was the spiritual master of this movement, Srila Prabhupada once replied, “I am trying to be the spiritual servant of this movement.”
In this material world, people are always suffering, and thus devotees are always praying that the people be relieved from suffering.
Repeating compassionate prayers of great personalities in the Bhagavatam can help us develop our own compassion.
For different circumstances in our lives, we may find certain prayers are very relevant to us.
Prayers are predominantly meant to please Krishna.
We have to be careful we do not become proud and think we are superior to others because of some abilities and then criticize or minimize them.
Krishna said to Arjuna, “You are a damn fool.” Srila Prabhupada used those words. He explained that was because Arjuna was speaking from the bodily conception of life.
Humility is not putting yourself in the center.
One thing that Stephen Hawking said that impressed me was that he focused on what he could do while many people worry about what they cannot do. “I focused on what I could do, and I did it.”
For the pure devotees, their suffering is to see Krishna’s parts and parcels disconnected from Him and wandering in the material world.
Our goal should be to become pure in heart. “Krishna, whatever you wish to do with me, I am yours.”
At New Mayapur in France are the only Krishna Balarama deities that Srila Prabhupada installed outside Vrindavan.
Even during Lord Caitanya’s time, there were people who were duplicitious, and sometimes most of the devotees there did not seem to be aware of that, but Svarupa Damodara was always able to detect them.
Many times Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura advised devotees to amend themselves. He was once asked if it was appropriate to use anger against the enemies of the Lord. He said it was, but that he found himself to be the most inimical to service of the Lord.
When the bombs were falling in Calcutta, Srila Prabhupada saw it as another version of the universal form of the Lord.
Q: Should we desire to be liberated and go back to Godhead?
A: We should just be dedicated to carrying out the order of our spiritual master and understand that by this all perfection is guaranteed.
If you try to share the message of the pure devotees as much as you can, Krishna will remove the impediments in your doing that.
Jayadvaita Swami:
When asked about quality chanting, Srila Prabhupada explained it was chanting without offenses. Thus he would often speak about the ten offenses in chanting at initiation lectures.
In the Chandogya Upanisad the Puranas are described to be the fifth Veda.
If you are thinking if I take sannyasa I will be better taken care than if I am a brahmacari, that is the wrong mentality. If you are worried about maintaining yourself, you are better situated as an honest grhastha. Then mentality of the sannyasi is that “Krishna will maintain me. I do not need to worry.”
There is a great opportunity for vanaprasthas at our temples in North America, which are largely understaffed, and where the management would be eager for experienced devotees who wanted to come and live, serve, give classes, counsel the grhasthas, etc. There are also communities like New Vrindaban, where there were once many devotees, but there is a lot of room now, that you could go and live and participate in the community.
Niranjana Swami:
“What I particularly like about this is that Srila Prabhupada describes the bhakti-lata-bija as some taste. . . . In a few verses the Vaikuntha-dutas are going to make the same point to Gopa Kumara. . . . ‘By hearing and chanting this transcendental vibration a particular relish will be awakened.’”
“Srila Prabhupada continues, ‘This taste is the seed of devotional service, and once who is fortunate enough to have received such a seed, is advised to sow it in the core of his heart.’”
“The concept is itself relishable.”
The Vaikuntha-dutas advise Gopa Kumara to go to Mathura, and “absorb yourself in harinama-sankirtana, and you will awaken a kind of relish that will just take you to the spiritual world. Don’t worry.”
“A neophyte thinks I am relishing with my tongue, I am relishing with my ears. Elevated souls do not think these are actions under their own control. It has nothing to do with my tongue, my ears. This is all just simply a continuous flow of mercy. Therefore they are not caught up in that identification.”
“To the degree that we discriminate what is pleasing to Krishna’s senses, and do it because it is pleasing to Krishna’s senses, then what happens, . . . we get some pleasure, spiritual pleasure. But it is not my senses. It is me. It has nothing to with my senses. It has nothing to do with this physical body.”
“One has to hear about the transcendental glories and name of the Lord from the scriptures from the mouths of Vaishnavas because that’s how to get the taste, there is no other way to taste the name, no other way to get taste.”
Radhanath Swami:
Everyone is trying to run from death, but in reality they are running toward death. However, those who attend Srimad-Bhagavatam class are running toward eternal life.
Everyone is under the control of time, but time is under the control of Krishna.
Krishna is not figuratively but literally the ability in man.
A sun ray is the sun, but at the same time it is subordinate to the sun. So it is with us and God.
In the material world people are averse to subordination because they are afraid of being exploited, but in the spiritual world subordination is a beautiful idea.
Love means to serve selflessly and without arrogance.
The devotee enjoys being subordinate to the Lord, and the Lord enjoys being subordinate to His devotee.
All people are seeking satisfaction, just in different ways according to their conditioning. Love of God is the highest form of love.
When you love Krishna, you love everyone. That is the secret formula for love. Because everything comes from God, when you love God, you love everyone.
There is so much disturbance in this world, sometimes we think just to be without disturbance is the highest liberation.
Anandamoya Prabhu:
Quoted in Prabhupada in South India:
“Before he lectured, Prabhupada wanted to introduce his disciples to the audience that included many VIPs, amongst the seven thousand strong crowd. Prabhupada wanted to impress his audience by asking his western disciples to speak. So before Prabhupada himself spoke, Acyutananda gave a short lecture. Then one lady disciple also, Himavati, wife of Hamsaduta, she also spoke for few minutes. So people were impressed, “Oh, even a woman can speak Krishna consciousness philosophy.” Prabhupada wanted to show that ISKCON is a philosophical movement where men and women are being trained in sastric knowledge. People became very impressed that even women can speak. That was Prabhupada’s idea. Prabhupada never wanted to be the only one in the spotlight. Prabhupada wanted to introduce his disciples and that is Prabhupada’s way of doing things. That is very important, Prabhupada’s personality, Prabhupada’s character, his humility. Although nobody can match Prabhupada in the matter of delivering lectures, but he wanted that others also should have the opportunity to speak Krishna consciousness to such a vast audience. This aspect in our movement is very important. Nobody should think that he is so big that others are insignificant. That is not a Vaishnava attitude. Prabhupada is a world-teacher, but how he is teaching? By his humble attitude. We cannot forget Prabhupada as a great world teacher.”
Basu Ghosh:
Quoted in Prabhupada in South India: “In order to announce the daily discourses, we hung banners in front of the [Hyderabad] temple entrance on the main Nampally Station road. For example one of the weekly banners read: ‘Krishna, Krishna: where are you?’ This was one of the most successful banners which attracted so many people to the lectures. This one topic: ‘Krishna, Krishna: where are you?’ went on for a couple of weeks and hundreds were coming to the temple and on some occasions, there was such a big crowd in the temple, that they often spilled out into the street.”
Mahamsa Prabhu:
Quoted in Prabhupada in South India:
“After about two weeks, Prabhupada came back to Bombay. We all went to greet him at the airport with a big kirtana and there were many Indian well-wishers in the crowd. Prabhupada is quite short in stature and because there was a big crowd, I could hardly see him. I was really excited because finally I am going to see Prabhupada, my guru, whom I have surrendered to. Although I had not yet seen him, but I have surrendered totally to him, completely. Jesus said, ‘Blessed are those who have seen and believed, but more blessed are those who have not seen and believed.’ I thought like that. Finally, he is coming; I thought I must see him. I went backwards a few yards and there were steps, so I went up on those steps and from there I could see him. There was a huge crowd all around him offering garlands. Prabhupada was smiling and looking at everyone. Suddenly, he looked straight up at me and our eyes met. Our eyes met just like that. The feeling I got is like when two people who love each other, are separated and after a long time, they meet again, it was a very, very exhilarating feeling. It was like, ‘Ah! We meet again.’ That was the feeling I got. I immediately knew that my relationship with Prabhupada was not just beginning. It was a relationship from a long time ago. That was my realization at that moment.”
“People ask me many times, ‘How will I find my guru? How do I search for my guru?’ I always tell them, Paramatma, who resides in the heart of all beings as the supersoul, is the original guru. If you desire for a guru, Paramatma knows, so you just desire, ‘I want a guru.’ Then Paramatma will arrange that you meet your guru. Paramatma will arrange that. You don’t have to search for it. According to your sincerity, you will get a guru. If you want a guru who will allow you to smoke and do what you want, He will lead you to Asaram Bapu. If you want a guru that allows you illicit sex life, then you find Osho Rajneesh. If you want a guru that will allow you to do business, you will get a guru like that. If you want a guru who will teach you how to love God, then you will find Prabhupada. According to your sincerity, you will find a befitting guru.” Yasodanandana Prabhu:
Quoted in Prabhupada in South India:
“When we related that incident to Srila Prabhupada, he said. ‘The best thing you tell him is like this: “Unless you accept Krishna’s position you have no right, you are not eligible to understand Krishna’s activities.”’ Prabhupada also said, ‘Krishna’s activities can only be understood by those who accept Krishna.’ Then Srila Prabhupada quoted three verses. He quoted Bhagavad-gita (7.7) mattah parataram nanyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya, “There is no truth superior to Me.” Then he said, aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate (Bhagavad-gita 10.8) “I am the source of everything, everything comes from Me.” Then finally he quoted from the Brahma-samhita (5.1): Isvarah paramah krishnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah, anadir adir govinda sarva-karana-karanam. Prabhupada then said, ‘You quote him these three verses. Anybody who tries to challenge Krishna’s position, you quote him these three verses and you tell them that. “He says”, “Krishna says.” You preach like that. You tell them unless you accept Krishna’s position you cannot understand Krishna’s activities.’”
Brajananda Prabhu:
Madri asked Kunti if she could once use her mantra which could call the demigods to have children by them, and Kunti agreed, just once. She called for the twins, the Asvini Kumaras, and thus she was able to have two children. Kunti was not happy about being tricked in this way.
When things become bad, we take shelter of Krishna, and things get better. Then in our condition of happiness, we forget Krishna, and thus things become bad. We can get into a cycle of remembrance and forgetfulness like this.
There are people out there looking for something to dedicate their lives too, and we have to be completed dedicated ourselves and make this opportunity available to others.
Daniel:
Krishna does not like it when these greedy and lusty people exploit the planet for their selfish desires and encourage people in a demoniac life style.
We are looking for this love of Krishna through our conditioned body, mind, and senses in different species of life in the things of this world, but we do not find it and we become dissatisfied.
Because our loving propensity is not satisfied it can drag us into really dark places where we get addicted to drugs, and get involved in crime and all kinds of degrading things.
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Usually I end with a verse from the revealed literature, but this time I will end with a couple of my favorite paragraphs from the preface of The Nectar of Devotion which I found personally very inspiring about fulfilling our loving propensity:
“The basic principle of the living condition is that we have a general propensity to love someone. No one can live without loving someone else. This propensity is present in every living being. Even an animal like a tiger has this loving propensity at least in a dormant stage, and it is certainly present in the human beings. The missing point, however, is where to repose our love so that everyone can become happy. At the present moment the human society teaches one to love his country or family or his personal self, but there is no information where to repose the loving propensity so that everyone can become happy. That missing point is Krishna, and The Nectar of Devotion teaches us how to stimulate our original love for Krishna and how to be situated in that position where we can enjoy our blissful life.
“In the primary stage a child loves his parents, then his brothers and sisters, and as he daily grows up he begins to love his family, society, community, country, nation, or even the whole human society. But the loving propensity is not satisfied even by loving all human society; that loving propensity remains imperfectly fulfilled until we know who is the supreme beloved. Our love can be fully satisfied only when it is reposed in Krishna. This theme is the sum and substance of The Nectar of Devotion, which teaches us how to love Krishna in five different transcendental mellows.” (The Nectar of Devotion, Preface)
What is faith and why does it sometimes wax and wane? What can we do to enhance it and make it steady even in the midst of a society that often doesn’t value faith?
“When the lockdown started, nobody thought we could distribute books, and everybody was worried about what would happen,” says Shyama Mohini Dasi, co-sankirtan leader at ISKCON Toronto, Canada. “But Vaisesika Prabhu encouraged us to think differently, and innovate.”
Srila Prabhupada: But the caste system is made by God according to quality and work of the subject and it was never designed for the benefit of accidental birth right. Thus whatever is made by God cannot be destroyed by man. Destruction of the caste system as contemplated by some exponents, is therefore out of question. By the modes of nature different persons are imbued with different qualities and the scientific way of division of human society, from the qualitative aspect, by the caste system is quite natural. But the basic principle of such caste system is to serve the plan of Godhead and by doing so the four orders of caste system make a headway by the co-operative method. When such spiritual progress is definitely made, the materialistic progress is automatically effected as a matter of course. That makes a real classless society.
Each year more than 70 lakh people from different parts of the world visit Mayapur, the birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and headquarter of ISKCON. Over the years Mayapur has evolved as a significant tourist destination of not only West Bengal but the entire world. However this year the global pandemic cast a spell of gloom on the devotees, pilgrims and visitors all over the world who come in search of spiritual enlightenment and submerge in the blissful ocean of Harinam Sankirtan. Continue reading "Mayapur to open gates for visitors from 5th July → Dandavats"
ISKCON Temple’s free food initiative that has been feeding people on alternate weeks in Auckland CBD in the last few years has now expanded to schools providing hundreds of children with free lunch once a month. This initiative ‘Food for Life- No One Should Go Hungry’ in Schools started last year as a part of reaching out to the broader community, and ISKCON contacted four schools so far in different parts of Auckland providing them with free food. Continue reading "Hare Krishna Temple’s ‘Food For Life’ Initiative Feed Hundreds Of School Children Every Month → Dandavats"
Certain situations are extremely painful, and our intelligence fails to understand how this could be a blessing of the Lord. At such times, we can try humbly submitting a prayer: “O God, please give me the strength to see this situation as your mercy, although my intelligence fails to see it so.” This way we can tap the so-far-concealed grace of the Lord and develop gratitude for all inconceivable situations that God arranges for us in our lives.
Glories to all the blessed Arabic book distribution temples and individual distributors, with some Special Glories to the European Yatras, especially the German Yatra, for somehow finding ways to distribute practically the same (mid-year) quantities of Arabic books during this global pandemic as they did before it arrived!
Maharaj is now established on dialysis to support his kidneys temporarily till kidneys start working on their own. His heart remains stable and is working well.
At this farm cows are taken care of by the attendants from their birth till death. When they stop giving milk, they are moved to Goshala and taken care of by the carers and fully protected for their whole lives.
A new short film by Karuna Productions, released on July 1st, depicts the journey of Avelo Roy (Ajita Das), a shy, often bullied, introvert boy from Kolkata, who moves to Chicago at the age of 19, and convinces major corporate CEOs to invest in his startup. He makes his first million dollars at 22, and now, ten plus years later, heads six businesses, while inspiring thousands to use their skills and passion to find their purpose in life.
Last weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the iconic Glastonbury Music Festival – a renowned feature of the UK cultural scene. This massive event attracts over 250,000 people, hosting live stage performances from the most famous international artists, and is shown worldwide by the BBC. It’s also a very important event for ISKCON in the UK as the movement’s biggest annual outreach event connecting with the diverse British public. Continue reading "50 years of Chanting at the Glastonbury Music Festival! → Dandavats"
Srila Prabhupada said it is a mark of a good man that he takes the good side, not the bad side, of others. He gave the example of his guru maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta had a disciple named Kunjabihari dasa—people used to call him Kunja Babu—who, Srila Prabhupada said, came to do business with their guru maharaja, to profit personally from his relationship with him and from his service in the Gaudiya Math. But Srila Prabhupada said their guru maharaja didn’t take Kunja’s dark side, that he was coming to make business, but took the bright side, that he was coming to offer service. Continue reading "How Shall I Take Shelter of One More Merciful Than He? → Dandavats"
I would like to give a piece of good news for your pleasure. In Turkey, we started to publish Online Back To Godhead Magazine in Turkish language. This was desire of HH Sivarama Swami for long time and pandemic time was a good period for Turkish devotees to form a team of 13 and start working on the project. From layout to any single details are made by our devotees here in Turkey. On the auspicious Sayana Ekadasi day, we published our Turkish BTG titled as "Benligin Kesfi" which means Disovery of Self. We know that there is a lot to improve and we plan to do it by next publishings ahead Continue reading "Back to Godhead in Turkish Language → Dandavats"
Within one hour of the start of my walking, the classic question came my way, first by three Chinese-Canadians.
“Are you a monk?”
“Yes, indeed.”
The second time the question was posed came from a Black Canadian standing at the corner of Yonge and Dundas. I wasn’t sure if he was poised to cross, but when I began answering, he remained planted right there, eager to listen.
“I am a monk. It’s a good life,” I said.
“So you’re celibate? You don’t have sex with your wife?” was his curious question.
“The way it typically works is this: one remains totally celibate ’till about twenty-five years of age, then one may marry and have a full family experience. Years later, maybe at sixty, if one so desires, albeit with the consent of one’s wife, one may return back to monkhood. At that stage of life, there’s less drive. One naturally gravitates to simplicity.”
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
I then thought: What else would a young man like to hear?and said, “You see, you become strong when you can control yourself. That’s what you want and that’s what she wants; a strong man in body, mind and spirit. So resist until the time is right.”
“This is all very interesting.”
“Would you like to be a monk?” I asked.
“I like the idea but I don’t know if I can….”
“Simple living! High thinking! You know you probably lived a monastic life in a previous life. Call me if you want to talk.” I gave him my card.
I walked northbound through three boroughs on a nineteen kilometre stretch beginning at 5:30 a.m., to the home of a very active member of our community. Rupanuga turned seventy-three today. It was his birthday.
Halfway through I realized I was trekking in the neighborhood of Pauline, my sister, a hairdresser. She wasn’t going to do my hair. However, I did want to drop in and say “Hello!” if not a “Haribol.”I wasn’t that early, once I reached her home off Bathurst. However, no one answered my doorbell ringing. Bummer!
I did see beautiful sites along the way. Near Earl Bales Park, there were giant white pines. A red cardinal also enthused me; it was brilliant and it knew it.
Sweeter still was being approached by a Mexican couple. They asked if I was a priest. I said, “Yes” and handed them a mantra card. “This is a prayer.”
“You can pray for us? And for our minds? And for the harmony of the world?”
“Yes!” I replied.
The three of us bowed our heads right there on the street. I chanted a mantra for that harmony they were wanting. They were relieved.
I found myself doing the old way of getting around—simply asking people for directions. I could have directions all stored in my phone, but, deliberately, I wanted to meet people.
“People…people who need people.” I thought.
At Rupanuga’s home, his wife, Bhakti, cooked a great meal. Afterwards, I was driven back for a Zoom call with devotees in Brazil. The topic: Enthusiasm. Ralph Waldo Emerson once noted: “Nothing great was ever achieved without it.”
Avelo (Ajita Das), a shy, often bullied, introvert boy from Kolkata, India, moves to Chicago, USA, at age 19, and convinces major corporate CEOs to invest in his startup. He makes his first million dollar at 22, and now, ten plus years later is heading six businesses in three countries, including East India’s biggest incubators, […]
Avelo (Ajita Das), a shy, often bullied, introvert boy from Kolkata, India, moves to Chicago, USA, at age 19, and convinces major corporate CEOs to invest in his startup. He makes his first million dollar at 22, and now, ten plus years later is heading six businesses in three countries, including East India's biggest incubators, while through his public speeches and social media channels inspires thousands of people to use their skills and passion to find their purpose in life. What's the secret of his success? A shot film directed by Krisztina Danka, Ph.D. (Krishna Lila Dasi), produced by Karuna Productions in collaboration with the New York Film Academy.
Avelo Roy (Ajita Das) is an entrepreneur having built eight businesses in the US with multi-million dollars worth of products and services ranging from consumer electronics, Artificial Intelligence systems, healthcare process automation, food science, wireless communications, wearable technology and graphical password applications. Ajita’s spiritual foundation plays a key role in his life choices and […]
A new short film by Karuna Productions, released on July 1st, depicts the journey of Avelo Roy (Ajita Das), a shy, often bullied, introvert boy from Kolkata, who moves to Chicago at the age of 19, and convinces major corporate CEOs to invest in his startup. He makes his first million dollars at 22, and now, ten plus years later heads six businesses, while inspiring thousands to use their skills and passion to find their purpose in life.
I will read a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Two, Text 23. This verse is very significant. Not only is the verse beautiful, but it also has historical significance, because when Sukadeva Gosvami came out of the womb, after sixteen years, he left home immediately, and his father, Srila Vyasadeva, followed him into the forest. And when he came close enough to him, he recited two verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam, one describing Krishna’s beauty, from the Tenth Canto, and one describing Krishna’s mercy, which is this verse.
When Sukadeva Gosvami heard these two verses—the one describing Krishna’s mercy and the one describing Krishna’s beauty—he became attracted. Although liberated, he became attracted by the transcendental qualities of Krishna, and he came back to hear Srimad-Bhagavatam from his father, Vyasadeva.
TEXT 23
aho baki yam stana-kala-kutam jighamsayapayayad apy asadhvi lebhe gatim dhatry-ucitam tato ’nyam kam va dayalum saranam vrajema
SYNONYMS
ho—alas; baki—the she-demon (Putana); yam—whom; stana—of her breast; kala—deadly; kutam—poison; jighamsaya—out of envy; apayayat—nourished; api—although; asadhvi—unfaithful; lebhe—achieved; gatim—destination; dhatri-ucitam—just suitable for the nurse; tatah—beyond whom; anyam—other; kam—who else; va—certainly; dayalum—merciful; saranam—shelter; vrajema—shall I take.
TRANSLATION
Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the position of mother to a she-demon [Putana] although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast?
PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada
Here is an example of the extreme mercy of the Lord, even to His enemy. It is said that a noble man accepts the good qualities of a person of doubtful character, just as one accepts nectar from a stock of poison.
COMMENT by Giriraj Swami
The Lord is absolute. He is all good for everyone, and He is neutral toward everyone. He is always thinking of how to do good for others. So even if one approaches Him as an enemy, He will try to do good for the person, as was the case with Putana. Although she came to kill Him by administering poison from her breast, He elevated her to the position of a nurse, like a mother, in the spiritual world.
Srila Prabhupada said it is a mark of a good man that he takes the good side, not the bad side, of others. He gave the example of his guru maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta had a disciple named Kunjabihari dasa—people used to call him Kunja Babu—who, Srila Prabhupada said, came to do business with their guru maharaja, to profit personally from his relationship with him and from his service in the Gaudiya Math. But Srila Prabhupada said their guru maharaja didn’t take Kunja’s dark side, that he was coming to make business, but took the bright side, that he was coming to offer service.
“Putana Raksasi—she offered Krishna poison. But Krishna is so nice that He thought, ‘She took Me as My mother,’ so He took the poison and delivered her. Krishna does not take the bad side. A good man does not take the bad side—he takes only the good side. Just like one of my big godbrothers—he wanted to make business with my guru maharaja, but my guru maharaja did not take the bad side. He took the good side. He thought, ‘He has come forward to give me some service.’ ” (Talk with Bob Cohen, February 28, 1972, Mayapur)
PURPORT (continued)
In His babyhood, the Lord was administered deadly poison by Putana, a she-demon who tried to kill the wonderful baby. And because she was a demon, it was impossible for her to know that the Supreme Lord, even though playing the part of a baby, was no one less than the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
COMMENT (continued)
On the occasion of the wedding of Vasudeva and Devaki, Kamsa, who was Devaki’s brother, was driving their chariot, and he heard a voice from the sky (akasa-vani) saying that the eighth son of Devaki would kill him. And he was so selfish and egoistic and demonic that he didn’t wait for the eighth child; he killed all the sons of Devaki, one by one. Then, eventually, Krishna appeared, and He manifested His four-handed form of Vishnu to convince them that He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But still, out of parental affection, they were afraid for Him, and thus Vasudeva carried Krishna to Vrindavan.
Kamsa sent many demons to Vrindavan to kill Krishna, and Putana was one of them. And it is described in Srimad-Bhagavatam that when sucking Putana’s breast, He sucked out her life air. It is also described that He closed His eyes, and commentators explain that He closed His eyes because He didn’t want to look at her because although she was a demon, she was a woman who appeared to be showing motherly affection.
PURPORT (concluded)
And because she was a demon, it was impossible for her to know that the Supreme Lord, even though playing the part of a baby, was no one less than the same Supreme Personality of Godhead. His value as the Supreme Lord did not diminish upon His becoming a baby to please His devotee Yasoda. The Lord may assume the form of a baby or a shape other than that of a human being, but it doesn’t make the slightest difference; He is always the same Supreme. A living creature, however powerful he may become by dint of severe penance, can never become equal to the Supreme Lord.
Lord Krsna accepted the motherhood of Putana because she pretended to be an affectionate mother, allowing Krsna to suck her breast. The Lord accepts the least qualification of the living entity and awards him the highest reward. That is the standard of His character. Therefore, who but the Lord can be the ultimate shelter?
COMMENT
This verse reminds me of Srila Prabhupada: How shall I take shelter of one more merciful than he? There was no one more merciful than Srila Prabhupada. Lord Nityananda is most merciful, and Srila Prabhupada manifested the same quality of mercy as Nityananda Prabhu.
When Srila Prabhupada was in Bombay he received a phone call from the temple president in Calcutta, who reported that one of Prabhupada’s earliest disciples from America had come to Calcutta and was smoking ganja, marijuana, and asked what to do. Prabhupada told his secretary to relay his response: “Tell him that if he doesn’t stop smoking ganja I will reject him.” Afterwards, Tamal Krishna Goswami asked, “Is it true that if he doesn’t stop smoking ganja you will reject him?” And Prabhupada said, “No—I cannot reject anyone. The mercy of Lord Nityananda has no limit.”
Then maybe two years later, we were in Juhu, and Srila Prabhupada had a disciple who fell into bad company and was living on Juhu Beach and doing yogic tricks. He was doing things like putting a penny or paisa in his ear and then making it come out somewhere else—different strange things to collect money—and he was known as a disciple of Prabhupada and a member of ISKCON. So, Tamal Krishna Goswami approached Srila Prabhupada and said, “This is happening, and he is giving you a bad name and giving ISKCON a bad name. You should reject him.” And again Srila Prabhupada replied, “I cannot reject anyone.” Tamal Krishna Goswami asked, “But don’t you have to draw the line somewhere?” And again Srila Prabhupada said, “The mercy of Lord Nityananda has no limits.”
How shall I take shelter of one more merciful than he—Srila Prabhupada?
Another related quality of Srila Prabhupada’s is that he was always willing to give someone a chance. Around 1976, a strange person with a PhD came to the Juhu temple and said he wanted to join, and Srila Prabhupada invited him to stay upstairs with him. At that time there were six tenement buildings, which came with the Juhu land, and Srila Prabhupada had us build an additional floor on the top of each of those six buildings (though in the end we added an additional floor on only five of the six). In the bigger buildings each floor had two apartments, and in Srila Prabhupada’s building he had one side for himself and the other side for his personal staff. So, he let this sort of strange character stay upstairs with his personal staff next door to his own quarters. And Prabhupada was spending quite a bit of time with him. Hamsaduta Prabhu was visiting at the time, and he told Srila Prabhupada, “Prabhupada, you are just wasting your time with this man. He is never going to amount to anything.” But Prabhupada kept spending time with him. And in the end, the man left; he never did amount to anything. But when Hamsaduta mentioned that to Srila Prabhupada—“I could see that he never was going to amount to anything”—Prabhupada replied, “I wanted to give him a chance.”
Another person whom Srila Prabhupada encouraged was Dr. C. P. Patel, who would almost always accompany him on his morning walks on Juhu Beach. They had a friendly relationship, but Dr. Patel would sometimes speak like a Mayavadi. Prabhupada would accuse him, “You are a Mayavadi!” and Dr. Patel would reply, “No sir, I am a Vaishnava, a pure Vaishnava.”
One morning Dr. Patel and Srila Prabhupada had a huge argument. Dr. Patel would bring up different so-called holy men of India, and if they were not up to standard, Srila Prabhupada would criticize them. So, one morning Srila Prabhupada was criticizing one of Dr. Patel’s favorite revered so-called saints of India and Dr. Patel and he had a huge argument. Dr. Patel raised his voice to Srila Prabhupada, and Srila Prabhupada raised his voice to Dr. Patel—they were literally shouting at each other. And Dr. Patel’s friends (he had his cronies) were trying to pull him away, saying, “Don’t upset Swamiji; he has a heart condition.” And eventually they pulled him away.
Back at Hare Krishna Land, Tamal Krishna Goswami approached Srila Prabhupada in his room and asked him, “What is Dr. Patel’s position? Is he a Vaishnava or a Mayavadi, an impersonalist?”
In response, Prabhupada told a story about a man who could speak many languages. In whatever language people addressed him, he could respond fluently. No one could figure out where the man was actually from.
After much discussion, a neighbor said, “I will find out.” So, one day, when the man was preoccupied, the neighbor came up behind him and gave him a big whack. And when the man started to curse in his native tongue, his origin was disclosed.
“Dr. Patel is like that,” Prabhupada said. “He can speak very expertly. He can sound like a devotee, sound like a Vaishnava, sound like a Mayavadi, sound like anything. But when I gave a slap where it really hurt—this so-called saintly person that he revered—his real language came out.”
“So, why do you put up with him?” Tamal Krishna asked. “He is so offensive.”
“It is our duty to engage everyone,” Prabhupada said. He wanted to give Dr. Patel a chance. And as the years passed, Dr. Patel developed great affection for Srila Prabhupada and after Prabhupada left this world wrote a beautiful article for Back to Godhead about his relationship with him. The article was titled “My Life’s Most Precious Moments,” with the subtitle “A Bombay doctor wins the title ‘big fool’ and loves it”—because Prabhupada would always call Dr. Patel a mudha. He would say, “I am not saying—Krishna is saying: na mam duskrtino mudhah.” Anyone who doesn’t surrender to Krishna is a mudha, fool.
So, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than he? Srila Prabhupada had so many wonderful qualities, but his most important quality, for us especially, was his extreme mercifulness.
Srila Prabhupada had a good friend in Bombay named Bhogilal Patel. Bhogilal was elder to Srila Prabhupada by about three years, and he was extremely pious. The first devotee to meet him was Gargamuni, and when Gargamuni was explaining Srila Prabhupada’s work, Bhogilal Patel wept profuse tears of appreciation.
One day some years later, Bhogilal Patel came to meet Srila Prabhupada at Prabhupada’s flat at the back of Hare Krishna Land. I had a close relationship with Seth Bhogilal, so I brought him up to meet Prabhupada. They were talking and, as is natural in a conversation, when Prabhupada was speaking, I would look at him, and when Bhogilal was speaking, I would look at him. But at one stage, while Bhogilal was speaking, I looked at Srila Prabhupada, which Prabhupada wasn’t expecting, and he was looking at me with such love and affection, like a father or a grandfather. By age, Srila Prabhupada was more like a grandfather. I was surprised that he was looking at me with so much love. But as soon as Srila Prabhupada saw me look at him, he changed his expression and became very grave and serious. I think it was some special mercy that I got a glimpse of how much love he had for us, which he didn’t usually show very openly. His love for us was manifest in his care for us and his giving us the knowledge of Krishna consciousness and engaging us in Krishna’s service.
Srila Prabhupada was very reserved about touching people, including even disciples. In 1971 in Gorakhpur, as guests of Hanuman Prasad Poddar of Gita Press, we were staying in his large estate, Sri Krishna Niketan, which had previously been his personal residence.
Srila Prabhupada was traveling with his small Radha-Krishna Deities, and he wanted to establish an altar for Them in Sri Krishna Niketan. He wanted some foliage for the altar, so he sent a couple of devotees, including me, to collect some. I went out to a thicket and was collecting branches with leaves. I wasn’t tearing them live; I was looking for branches and leaves that had fallen. I just kept going deeper into the woods and collecting more and more foliage, and eventually I had a huge bundle, as much as I could possibly carry.
So, I was lugging the bundle up the stairs, and when I reached the temple room, Srila Prabhupada was there and the altar was being set up. I just dropped the bundle on the floor and offered my obeisances. And while I was on the floor, Prabhupada patted me on the back. It was one of the only times—maybe the only time—that he physically touched me. I looked up, and he was smiling broadly. I didn’t know if he even needed any more foliage, but he was pleased by my effort.
Now I ask you: How shall I take shelter of one more merciful than he?
[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.23, May 21, 2020, by Zoom with UAE.]
Since the beginning of the global pandemic caused by COVID-19, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has been doing its part to help, worldwide. The major donor of this food has been ISKCON in India, that has served more than 50 million meals and dry good boxes through its 75+ kitchens across 22 states, […]
Since the beginning of the global pandemic caused by COVID-19, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has been doing its part to help, worldwide. The major donor of this food has been ISKCON in India, that has served more than 50 million meals and dry good boxes through its 75+ kitchens across 22 states.
Once-in-a-lifetime event marking the commencement of the grand ISKCON Temple of Parsippany. One of the first Vedic-style ISKCON temples in Northeast. Our Chief Guest Mayor Soriano and our Committee Chairman Mr. Piyush Patel headlined this wonderful event. All the attendees enjoyed it thoroughly and auspiciousness was seen throughout.
By Subroto Das
By Rizwan Mohammad
Certain situations are extremely painful, and our intelligence fails to understand how this could be a blessing of the Lord. At such times, we can try humbly submitting a prayer: “O God, please give me the strength to see this situation as your mercy, although my intelligence fails to see it so.” This way we can tap the so-far-concealed grace of the Lord and develop gratitude for all inconceivable situations that God arranges for us in our lives.
By Narada das
By Giriraj Swami
By Nrsimha Krsna das
I will read a verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Three, Chapter Two, Text 23. This verse is very significant. Not only is the verse beautiful, but it also has historical significance, because when Sukadeva Gosvami came out of the womb, after sixteen years, he left home immediately, and his father, Srila Vyasadeva, followed him into the forest. And when he came close enough to him, he recited two verses from Srimad-Bhagavatam, one describing Krishna’s beauty, from the Tenth Canto, and one describing Krishna’s mercy, which is this verse.
