Planet ISKCON

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 21, No. 7
By Krishna Kripa Das
(Week 7: February 12–18, 2025)
Tallahassee
(Sent from Tallahassee, Florida, on February 22, 2025)

Where I Went and What I Did

For the seventh week of 2025, I remained living at ISKCON Tallahassee and chanted three hours each day on Landis Green, behind the main Florida State University library, except for one day when it poured rain the entire day. No one joined me the other six days, so I chanted by myself. During the week, I distributed a few “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlets along with fifty-six little cups of halava to promote our Krishna Lunch at the campus. I added three students to our mailing list. I describe some special interactions with students and Christians on Valentine’s Day, and I tell how we celebrated the appearance day of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura in Tallahassee. I spoke at our Saturday program on the glories of Lord Nityananda because His appearance day was earlier in the week on a weekday.

I share lots of quotes from the books, lectures, conversations, and letters of Srila Prabhupada, many I read in Bhakti Vikasa Swami’s soon-to-be-published book on the mood and mission of Srila Prabhupada. I share quotes from Sanatana Goswami’s Brhad-bhagavatamrita with commentary by Gopiparanadhana Prabhu, and a quote from Vrindavana Dasa Thakura’s Caitanya-bhagavata. I share quotes from Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita and The Final Frontier, the latest book of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, which is in the production stage. I share a great story which Vijaya Prabhu, the book distributor, heard in his travels. I share notes on a class on Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s appearance day by Rama Raya Prabhu in New York City and notes on Bhagavatam classes by Govinda Kaviraja Prabhu, our temple president here in Tallahassee.

Many, many thanks to Satyaraja Govinda Prabhu, who donated a variety of foods to offer to Gaura Nitai, in honor of his mother, who passed away not long ago. May she get the auspicious mercy of Lord Caitanya.

Itinerary

Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee

Valentine’s Day was nice on the campus, with at least a couple people saying they liked my music and my presence there and more people accepting halava than usual. I taught a guitar player the chords to the Prabhupada melody, and he played several mantras with me. I sent him the recording that George Harrison made of the mantra.

Three Christians prayed for me. I told them, “Pray that my love for God always increases.”

Also on Valentine’s Day one young lady on our list for Krishna Lunch wanted in addition to learn of our mantra meditation and Gita study programs.

In New York, NYC Harinam devotees enthusiastically celebrated the birthday of Rama Raya Prabhu, our fearless leader, which is Valentine’s Day according to the solar calendar. He was born in 1959, the year that Srila Prabhupada took sannyasa. I decided to look up when Rama Raya Prabhu was born according to the Vedic calendar, and it turns out to be incredibly auspicious – the appearance day of Advaita Acarya!

I shared with my Facebook friends this section from Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita about Srila Prabhupada’s first meeting with his guru: 

“Yet as he [Abhay] continued to listen to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta speak, he also began to feel won over by the sādhu’s strength of conviction. He could sense that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta didn’t care for anything but Lord Caitanya and that this was what made him great. This was why followers had gathered around him and why Abhay himself felt drawn, inspired, and humbled and wanted to hear more.” (Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, Volume 1, Chapter 3)

I just love that phrase “Srila Bhaktisiddhanta didn’t care for anything but Lord Caitanya and that this was what made him great.” Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Thakura ki, jaya! 

Usually I find laddus too time-consuming to make, but for the last two festival days I made a quarter of the recipe, and they went very quickly, within the duration of an hour-long Bhagavatam class.

The next time I saw the student who had offered me the rose on Valentine’s Day, I thanked him. I told him I clipped the last inch or two off the stem and changed the water, and after six days it still looked fresh. He did not know that trick, which I just learned myself within the last year, and he was happy to hear it.

Insights

Srila Prabhupada:

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.19.4, purport:

“The state of India should follow the example of Maharaja Pariksit, the ideal executive head, rather than imitate materialistic states, which have no idea of the kingdom of Godhead, the ultimate goal of human life.”

From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.25.13, purport:

“A blind man can walk but not see, and a lame man cannot walk but can see. . . . The blind man may take the lame man over his shoulder, and as he walks the lame man may give him directions. Thus combined they may walk, but individually neither the blind man nor the lame man can walk successfully. . . . At the present moment, India may be compared to the lame man and the Western countries to the blind man. For the past two thousand years India has been subjugated by the rule of foreigners, and the legs of progress have been broken. In the Western countries the eyes of the people have become blind due to the dazzling glitter of material opulence. The blind man of the Western countries and the lame man of India should combine together in this Krishna consciousness movement. Then the lame man of India can walk with the help of the Westerner, and the blind Westerner can see with the help of the lame man. In short, the material advancement of the Western countries and the spiritual assets of India should combine for the elevation of all human society.”

From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 9.50, purport:

“The members of ISKCON must increase this movement more and more, according to the principles that we are presently trying to execute. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, thus being pleased, will smilingly glance upon them, bestowing His favor, and the movement will be successful.”

From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya, Concluding Words:

“Our society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, has been formed to execute the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.”

From the chapter on Hegel in Dialectic Spiritualism:

“It was my mission to go to America and educate the Americans in Krishna consciousness because I knew that if they become Krishna conscious, the whole world will follow.”

From a lecture on The Nectar of Devotion in Vrindavan on November 2, 1972:

“The Krishna consciousness movement is started with this summary idea, that nobody should think himself as belonging to certain family or sect or religion or country or nation. All these designation[s] have created havoc in the world, these false designation[s].”

From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.9.48 in Mayapur on June 14, 1973:

“My mission was that I shall go to America, and if some of the American boys and girls, younger section, would accept it, then I’ll bring them here [India] to show these rascals that how great this culture is.”

From a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.14–15 in Los Angeles on May 31, 1972:

“So if you actually feel for your country, for your community, for your people, just spread this Krishna consciousness. They’re dying. You spread this Krishna consciousness, they’ll come again to life, and everything will be actually beautiful. That is my request. I came to your country with this mission, that ‘The American people, they are feeling frustration. If they take to Krishna consciousness, they’ll be happy, and others will follow their example.’”

From a letter to Balavanta dasa on October 4, 1976:

“The main thing is to distribute books. . . . Introduce Ratha-yatra very nicely and distribute books.”

From a room conversation in New York on July 3, 1972:

“Krishna consciousness is not meant for India or America. Of course, I am deputed by my Guru Maharaja to spread this Krishna consciousness movement in the Western world. That is his grace. He wanted that Western people, who are intelligent, they should learn what is Krishna consciousness. So my mission is for the Western country, but it is not meant for any particular country, nation. It is meant for every living entity. ”

From a morning walk in Paris on June 13, 1974:

“Because in your previous life you had been pious, you have got your life in America, and now utilize it. Certainly I, several times I have told, that your previous life you were pious. There is no doubt about it. And now utilize that opportunity. You have got opulence. You have got money. You have got intelligence. Utilize it for Krishna. Then it is successful. And Krishna has also come. This Krishna consciousness movement has come to your country. So utilize it properly.”

From a morning walk in Los Angeles on June 6, 1976:

“They’ll understand as they read our books that we are all-round reformer[s].”

From a letter to Acyutananda and Yasodanandana on December 4, 1975:

“There is a big field in India, 600 million people. In every home there should be at least one BBT publication.”

From a letter to Ved Prakash on July 2, 1958:

“My idea of preaching in the foreign countries means that they are rather fed up with material advancement of knowledge. They are seeking the message guidance of the Vedanta-sutras or the Bhagavad-gita in an authorized way. And I am sure that India will again go back to the Vedantic life when the principle is accepted by the Europeans, Americans, etc., because the Indian people are now in the habit of begging, after neglecting their own property.”

From Science of Self-Realization, Chapter 7:

“Our mission is to bring these rascals to their senses. The rascals are suffering, but because they are sons of God they should not suffer. They do not know that there is God or that there is happiness. They know nothing of bliss or of eternal life. They are carrying on so much research and living for fifty, sixty, or seventy years. After that they do not know what is going to happen. They have no knowledge that life is eternal. Actually their position is like that of an animal. An animal does not know what is after death, nor does he contemplate death. He does not know why he is here, nor does he know the value of life. Under the influence of maya, the animal simply goes on eating, sleeping, defending, mating, and dying. That’s all. People are endeavoring so hard, but for what purpose? They say they are struggling so hard to make provisions for the next generation, but what are the provisions for? They cannot reply to that. This Krishna consciousness movement is meant to give real purpose to life by establishing Krishna, God, as the center of everything. It is therefore to the scientist’s benefit to understand this important movement.”

Sanatana Goswami:

[Brhad-bhagavatamrita translation and commentaries by Gopiparanadhana Prabhu.]

From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.5.218–219:

“One develops that love by practicing the devotional service whose main ways are meditation on and singing about the many Vraja pastimes of the Lord. That service becomes brilliant by sankirtana of the Lord’s most beloved holy names. In the company of people whose only taste is for devotional service in pure love, that love appears of its own accord. Yet one must try hard to keep it concealed.”

From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.5.223:

“An intelligent person should carefully cultivate speech, behavior, and thinking that fix him in utter humility, and anything that stands in the way of it he should avoid.”

From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.5.224:

“Dainya at its most exalted comes forth when prema, pure love of God, reaches full maturity, as it did in the women of Gokula when they were separated from Krishna.”

From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.7.107:

“Krishna also touches the gopis with His feet and hands and glances at them very mercifully—but in addition the gopis receive the good fortune of Krishna’s embrace. In Vrindavan, therefore, the gopis are surely Krishna’s most favored devotees.”

From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.7.111:

“The vibration of His flute is the sweetest of all songs.”

“The waves of the rivers are like arms, with which the rivers take hold of Krishna’s feet in utter humility, gently covering those lotus feet in their embrace. The rivers do this just to calm the fever of lust in their hearts.”

“The rivers express their love for Krishna by catching hold of His feet with their waves.”

Vrindavana Dasa Thakura:

From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 13.160:

“Any sinful person who takes the side of one Vaishnava and blasphemes another Vaishnava is certainly ruined.”

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:

From Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, Volume 1, Chapter 9:

“Westerners, he [Srila Prabhupada] had concluded, were not satisfied with a materially comfortable life devoid of spiritual understanding; more than his fellow Indians, they would be open to the message of the Absolute Truth.”

From Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, Volume 7 (Srila Prabhupada-lila), Chapter 3:

“‘What if people don’t want to hear our message?’ Pradyumna asked.
“‘The people might not understand our message, but Krishna will be pleased,’ Prabhupada replied. ‘And that is our mission. They thought Jesus Christ’s mission was stopped. They killed him. But his mission was attained. He preached three years only, but so many followers. He pleased Krishna. We must not be disappointed that no one is hearing Krishna consciousness. We will say it to the moon and stars and all directions. We will cry in the wilderness, because Krishna is everywhere. We want to get a certificate from Krishna that, “This man has done something for Me.” Not popularity. If a pack of asses says you are good, what is that? We have to please Krishna’s senses with purified senses.’”

From The Final Frontier:

“I don’t mean to say my spiritual master was in any way short-minded in love of God. Rather, he was the one with true spiritual religion. He saved me from short-visions or sectarianism in religion. He is the one who has given me real sight of the Divinity.”

“My advice to younger devotees is to keep on trying to please Krishna until their last days. I am at the border of my last days, this uncharted territory, and I want to send back a message to the younger devotees to tell them what to expect. They should hold on to their vow to their spiritual master until the end of their days. If they are true to their vow given to their guru, they please him and they please the Lord Himself, and they will go back to Godhead.”

“I don’t know how much time I have on this Dictaphone, just as I don’t know how much time I have to live.”

“John Endler reminded me that although I write books somewhat like a free-writer, I always make sure it’s spiritual fare. I pray to Krishna through my words. I don’t leave it mundane. Prabhupada has taught me everything, and whatever I’ve learned from teachers like Natalie Goldberg, all of that, it is minor. My real teachers have been Prabhupada himself and spiritual writers.”

“I’m saying these words and
they give me a pain in the head
but I’d rather have pain in the head
for pleasing Krishna
than anything else in the world.”

“I am doing my best and will continue writing until I have no more energy and no more creativity in my body. I will go on writing until it is no longer creative, until it is no longer filled with the drive of loving Krishna. I will go on writing until they take the Dictaphone from my hand and say, ‘That’s enough, you cannot write creatively anymore.’ They will take the Dictaphone from my hand.”

Mukunda Goswami:

From Miracle on Second Avenue:

“I suddenly realized how America’s current [1967] interest in spirituality left people wide open to be exploited by those offering some flavor of Eastern culture with a personal motive attached–be that fame, power or wealth. I knew from my own observation of our swami that he was not after any of these things; he was driven by a desire to fulfill the wishes of his spiritual master, and I felt immensely grateful to have found him in the great mystical melting pot that was America’s alternative culture.”

[I found this description humorous:]

“The Swami and I filed past a gaunt woman with knee-length hair who blew a perfect ring of marijuana smoke as she stared at us.”

Vijaya Prabhu:

From a post to his book distribution mailing list:

“I’m visiting the relatively new Rohini temple in New Delhi, and I asked Sukha Priya Dasa, the temple commander, how he joined.

“While in college, he had to write a paper on the Bhagavad-gita. So he read two versions – by Dr Radhakrishnan and Gandhi – and because of reading them, he became an atheist.

“Then he started working in France and Germany as an engineer. He met another worker who followed the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, and they would have conversations about the Gita. He would always be defeated by the devotee.

“Finally he became submissive and asked, ‘What is death?’ The devotee spoke with him on this subject for six hours.

“Then he asked the devotee, ‘What should I do?’

“The devotee suggested that he start by chanting eight rounds a day. He did. And eventually he joined the temple in Rohini.

“Now he’s the temple commander of the beautiful temple. All glories to the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, and down with the Bhagavad-gita as it isn’t.”

Rama Raya Prabhu:

From a class on the appearance day of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:

The position of humility is to expand the mission of our spiritual master. Any other position is a position of pride.

In the course of years of practice we can see how the message of the parampara is strong and reliable, never failing us.

Govinda Kaviraja Prabhu:

From Bhagavatam classes in Tallahassee:

We have to be useful, and then we will be maintained. First there is dharma, and then there is artha, economic development. I see so many homeless people who are not maintained because they are not useful to anybody.

The demigods want to enjoy and to control, but they also want to serve all living beings by maintaining and protecting them. The demons want to enjoy and to control, but they also want to exploit all living entities.

It is not like all the demigods have the same consciousness. There are varieties of demigods and varieties of consciousness.

Just as we lost the taste for eating meat, we will lose the taste for happiness in the mode of passion, and then we will lose the taste for happiness in the mode of goodness, and ultimately we will only be happy in devotional service.

One priest told me that there are 251 fast days in the Eastern Orthodox Church on which they are not supposed to eat meat but people do not follow.

Bhakti Vijnana Swami says that preaching means to help people come up to the next level.

When I would serve prasadam at events, sometimes homeless people would ask me for food. I would ask them to chant three Hare Krishna mantras before I would give them anything. Sometimes at first they would not be interested, but after a few minutes, they would come back and agree to chant the mantras. Then they would even invite their friends to come for prasadam.

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Everyday people engage in activities which they feel are very important. Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his “Arunodaya Kirtana Song 1” reminds us that in transferring ourselves from this world of temporality and misery to the world of eternal happiness, we actually have only one business – taking shelter of the holy name of the Lord.

Recently as I have been chanting on the campus of Florida State University for three hours a day by myself, to keep focused I have been reminding myself that taking shelter of the holy name is my only business.

jivana anitya janaha sar

“This temporary life is full of various miseries. Take shelter of the holy name as your only business.” (“Arunodaya Kirtana Song 1,” verse 6)