Planet ISKCON

Dearest Srila Prabhupada: Please accept my humble obeisances in the dust of your lotus feet. All glories to You!

On this solemn occasion of your disappearance day, my heart overflows with gratitude and devotion as I reflect on the profound impact you have had on my life. Your teachings, steeped in the timeless wisdom of our tradition, continue to be the guiding light of my spiritual journey. The personal mandate you gave me to “preach boldly and have faith in the holy names” resonates with every beat of my heart and in every step of my travels around the world.

For over 50 years, I, alongside my beloved godbrothers and godsisters have endeavored to carry your message to the far reaches of the globe. The “Festival of India” tour in Poland, the Sadhu Sanga Kirtan retreat in the U.S., and the annual Rishikesh Kirtan Fest represent some of my humble offerings to the grand tapestry of your global mission. Through these endeavors, I strive to fulfill your desire to spread Krishna consciousness far and wide.

By your grace, I have felt your presence at every step of my spiritual life, including on the darkest day of all – the day you left this world. Yet, even amidst that immense sorrow, almost miraculously, I felt that you were not far away, for you had prepared me for that moment from the infancy of my spiritual life. In 1971, after your visit to our Detroit temple, I wrote a letter to you wherein I expressed that I was missing you. Two weeks later, I received your gracious reply. You wrote:

“I can understand your feelings of separation, for I am also missing my Guru Maharaja. But I feel he is always watching over and protecting me.”

I held that letter to my heart the day we heard you had left us. It gave me great solace then and continues to do so to this very day.

Srila Prabhupada, as the years go by, all that I thought was mine has begun to fade away, even memories of the distant past. Nevertheless, one emotion deep within the inner recesses of my heart steadfastly endures and grows ever stronger, oblivious to the passing of time – and that is my deep feelings of separation from you. How can I escape such feelings in my old age, when in youth you so kindly granted me your mercy? Once, in firm appreciation for a menial service I rendered to you, you said to me:

“So much endeavor in this material world, but when I take you home – to the spiritual world – everything will be easy and sublime.”

Srila Prabhupada, my own disciples have heard me repeat your benediction a million times over, but even repeating it a million more times will never be enough. Any other benediction in the fourteen worlds pales in comparison to the one you bestowed upon me that day.

Once, in 1976, as you sat on the lawn surrounded by your disciples in New Mayapur in France, I asked you: “If a pure devotee sees Krsna everywhere, how is Lord Caitanya, in the role of a devotee, feeling so much separation from him?”

You replied, “Yes, He is praying how you can become mad without seeing Krsna. That is the highest stage. It cannot be explained. But when you gradually go higher and higher you will understand.”

Srila Prabhupada, now in the twilight of my life, I desperately want to “go higher and higher” to understand and realize the deeper mellows of Krsna consciousness. In fact, this is why I now spend more time here in Vrindavan “just wandering,” as you once instructed a disciple who had recently arrived in this transcendental abode. And this is also why I simultaneously continue with blissful, yet rigorous and demanding, preaching to the conditioned souls in this world. The formula you gave us is clear: “Work now, samadhi later.”

The relationship between preaching and residing in Vrindavan is confirmed in the words of Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati in his epic Sri Caitanya Candramrita:

yatha yatha gaura padaravinde
vindeta bhaktim krta punya rasih
tatha tathot sarpati hrdya kasmad
radha padambhoja sudhambu rasih

“To the degree that we surrender to Lord Caitanya’s service, to that degree we acquire qualification for service to Radharani’s lotus feet in Vraja.” (Chapter 8, text 88)

With this in mind, I think the most significant realization that comes with old age is the awareness of the limited time remaining to achieve spiritual perfection. This urgency leads me to approach my spiritual practices with increased seriousness and focus. And if blessed with good health, I will continue to serve to the best of my capacity, trying to follow your example of preaching until my final breath.

Now as I traverse the later years of my life, the inevitable signs of aging make their presence known. Yet, each stage of life carries its own merits and challenges. For a devotee, old age bestows a unique blessing: the senses become weaker and subsequently, the desire for sense gratification lessens. What’s more, the spiritual knowledge that one studied in youth and applied in middle age, ripens into deep realization; jnana transforms into vijnana and becomes our most cherished possession:

na hi jnanena sadrisam
pavitram iha vidyate
tat svayam yoga samsiddhah
kalenatmani vindati

“In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge. Such knowledge is the mature fruit of all mysticism. And one who has become accomplished in the practice of devotional service enjoys this knowledge within himself in due course of time.” (Bhagavad-gita 4.38)

Srila Prabhupada, as I stand on the precipice of another year without your physical association, I am reminded of the immense responsibility that comes with being your disciple. The world, now more than ever, is in dire need of the profound wisdom you imparted, and I am committed to carrying the torch of your teachings with the same fervor and dedication that you displayed throughout your extraordinary life.

So today, on this forty-sixth observance of your disappearance day, I offer my heartfelt gratitude for your boundless mercy, unwavering guidance, and profound love. Your divine legacy lives on, and I am eternally indebted for the opportunity to serve at your lotus feet.

“Having accepted the renounced order of life my home is this Vrindavan forest. My bed is the soft dust of Vrindavan. The sky of Vrindavan is my blanket and the flowering creepers of Vrindavan are my only belongings. The moon over Vrindavan is the lamp of my hopes and my chanting beads are counting the days until I meet you again.”

Srila Prabhupada, I am and will forever be,

Your eternal servant,
Indradyumna Swami

This Ekadasi has four names: Utthana – Haribodhini – Prabodhini – Devotthani, and it is the second Ekadasi (Kartik Shukla, light fortnight) in the month of Kartik. It is said that Lord Vishnu goes to rest for four months during the period known as Chaturmasya. Starting from Sayana Ekadasi, which is the first Ekadasi that falls in the month of Ashada Lord Vishnu rests and awakens on the day of Kartika Shukla Ekadasi, which is why it is known as Utthana Ekadasi.

It’s recommended to chant extra rounds and stay up all night chanting and hearing the Lord’s glories. It is also auspicious to donate to Vaishnavas and Lord Krishna’s service on Ekadasi and we invite our readers to consider this Indira Ekadasi to donate towards the Give To Nrsimha Fundraiser. We are focusing on the completion and opening of the entire Nrsimhadeva Wing during the 2024 Gaura Purnima Festival from February 29 – March 2. Please go to the Give To Give To Nrsimha Fundraiser page TODAY and help complete this offering to the Lord.

  NOTE: Utthana Ekadasi is observed on November 23rd worldwide. Please refer to your local calendar through www.vaisnavacalendar.info.

  View, download and share the TOVP 2023 Calendar​.

The Glories of Utthana Ekadasi

From Skanda Purana

The narration of Utthana Ekadasi is found in the Skanda Purana in a conversation between Lord Brahma and his son, the great sage Narada.

Lord Brahma said to Narada Muni, “Dear son, O best of the sages, I shall narrate to you the glories of Haribodhini Ekadasi, which eradicates all kinds of sins and bestows great merit, and ultimately liberation, upon the wise persons who surrender unto the Supreme Lord. O best of the brahmanas, the merits acquired by bathing in the Ganges remain significant only as long as Haribodhini Ekadasi does not come. This Ekadasi, which occurs during the light fortnight of the month of Kartika, is much more purifying than a bath in the ocean, at a place of pilgrimage, or in a lake. This sacred Ekadasi is more powerful in nullifying sin than one thousand Asvamedha sacrifices and one hundred Rajasuya sacrifices.”

Narada Muni inquired, “O father, please describe the relative merits of fasting completely on Ekadasi, eating supper (without grains or beans), or eating once at midday (without grains or beans).”

Lord Brahma replied, “If a person eats once at midday on Ekadasi, the sins of his previous birth are erased, if he eats supper, the sins acquired during his previous two births are removed, and if he fasts completely, the sins accumulated during his pervious seven births are eradicated. O son, whatever is only rarely achieved within the three worlds is obtained by him who strictly observes Haribodhini Ekadasi. A person whose sins equal Mount Sumeru in volume sees them all reduced to nothing if he simply fasts on Papaharini Ekadasi (another name for Haribodhini Ekadasi). The sins a person has accumulated over a thousand previous births are burned to ashes if he not only fasts but also remains awake throughout Ekadasi night, just as a mountain of cotton can be burned to ashes if one lights a small fire in it.

“O Narada, a person who strictly observes this fast achieves the results I have mentioned. Even if one does a small amount of pious activity on this day, following the rules and regulations, one will earn merit to Mount Sumeru in volume; however a person who does not follow the rules and regulations given in the Scriptures may perform pious activity equal to Mount Sumeru in volume, but he will not earn even a small amount of merit.

One who does not chant the Gayatri mantra three times a day, who disregards fast days, who does not believe in God, who criticizes the Vedic Scriptures, who thinks the Vedas bring only ruination to one who follows their injunctions, who enjoys another’s wife, who is utterly foolish and wicked, who does not appreciate any service that has been rendered to him, or who cheats others – such a sinful person can never perform any religious activity effectively. Be he a brahmana or a shudra, whoever tries to enjoy another man’s wife, particularly the wife of a twice-born person, is said to be no better than a dog-eater.

“O best of the sages, any brahmana who enjoys sex with a widow or a brahmana lady married to another man brings ruin to himself and his family. Any brahmana who enjoys illicit sex will have no children in his next life, and any past merit he may have earned is ruined. Indeed, if such a person displays any arrogance toward a twice-born brahmana or a spiritual master, he loses all his spiritual advancement immediately, as well as his wealth and children.

“These three kinds of men ruin their acquired merits: he whose character is immoral, he who has sex with the wife of a dog-eater, and he who appreciates the association of rogues. Whoever associates with sinful people and visits their homes without a spiritual purpose will go directly to the abode of Lord Yamaraj, the superintendent of death. And if someone eats in such a home, his acquired merit is destroyed, along with his fame, duration of life, children, and happiness.

“Any sinful rascal who insults a saintly person soon loses his religiosity, economic development, and sense gratification, and he at last burns in the fire of hell.
Anyone who likes to offend saintly persons, or who does not interrupt someone who is insulting saintly persons, is considered no better than an ass. Such a wicked man sees his dynasty destroyed before his very eyes.

“A person whose character is unclean, who is a rogue or a swindler, or who always finds fault with others does not achieve a higher destination after death, even if he gives charity generously or performs other pious deed. Therefore one should refrain from performing inauspicious acts and perform only pious ones, by which one will acquire merit and avoid suffering.

“However, the sins of one who, after due consideration, decides to fast on Haribodhini Ekadasi are erased from one hundred previous lives, and whoever fasts and remains awake overnight on this Ekadasi achieves unlimited merit and after death goes to the supreme abode of Lord Vishnu, and then thousands of his ancestors, relatives, and descendants also reach that abode. Even if one’s forefathers were implicated in many sins and are suffering in hell, they still attain beautifully ornamented spiritual bodies and happily go to Vishnu’s abode.

“O Narada, even one who has committed the heinous sin of killing a brahmana is freed of all stains on his character by faster on Haribodhini Ekadasi and remaining awake that night. The merit that cannot be won by bathing in all the places of pilgrimage, performing a horse sacrifice, or giving cows, gold, or fertile land in charity can easily be achieved by fasting on this holy day and remaining awake throughout the night.

“Anyone who observes Haribodhini Ekadasi is celebrated as highly qualified and makes his dynasty famous. As Death is certain, so losing one’s wealth is also certain. Knowing this, O best of sages, one should observe a fast on this day so dear to Hari – Sri Haribodhini Ekadasi.

“All places of pilgrimage in the three worlds at once come to reside in the house of a person who fasts on this Ekadasi. Therefore, to please the Lord, who holds a disc in His hand, one should give up all engagements, surrender, and observe this Ekadasi fast. One who fasts on this Haribodhini day is acknowledged as a wise man, a true yogi, an ascetic, and one whose senses are truly under control.
He alone enjoys this world properly, and he will certainly achieve liberation.
This Ekadasi is very dear to Lord Vishnu, and thus it is the very essence of religiosity. Even one observance of it bestows the topmost reward in all the three worlds.

“O Naradaji, whoever fasts on this Ekadasi will definitely not enter a womb again, and thus faithful devotees of the Supreme Godhead give up all varieties of religion and simply surrender to fasting on this Ekadasi. For that great soul who honors this Ekadasi by fasting and remaining awake throughout the night, the Supreme Lord, Sri Govinda, personally terminates the sinful reactions that soul has acquired by the actions of his mind, body, and words.

“O son, for anyone who bathes in a place of pilgrimage, gives charity, chants the holy names of the Supreme Lord, undergoes austerities, and performs sacrifices for God on Haribodhini Ekadasi, the merit thus earned all becomes imperishable.
A devotee who worships Lord Madhava on this day with first-class paraphernalia becomes free from the great sins of a hundred lifetimes. A person who observes this fast and worships Lord Vishnu properly is freed from great danger.

“This Ekadasi fast pleases Lord Janardana so much that He takes the person who observes it back to His abode, and while going there the devotee illuminates the ten universal directions. Whoever desires beauty and happiness should try to honor Haribodhini Ekadasi, especially if it falls on Dvadasi. The sins of one’s past hundred births – the sins committed during childhood, youth and old age in all those lifetimes, whether those sins are dry or wet – are nullified by the Supreme Lord Govinda if one fasts on Haribodhini Ekadasi with devotion.

“Haribodhini Ekadasi is the best Ekadasi. Nothing is unobtainable or rare in this world for one who fasts on this day, for it gives food grains, great wealth, and high merit, as well as eradication of all sin, the terrible obstacle to liberation. Fasting on this Ekadasi is a thousand times better than giving charity on the day of the solar or lunar eclipse.

“Again I say to you, O Naradaji, whatever merit is earned by one who bathes in a place of pilgrimage, performs sacrifices, and studies the Vedas is only one ten-millionth the merit earned by the person who fasts but once on Haribodhini Ekadasi. Whatever merit one has acquired in his life by some pious activities becomes completely fruitless if one does not observe the Ekadasi fast and worship Lord Vishnu in the month of Kartika. Therefore, you should always worship the Supreme Lord, Janardana, and render service to Him. Thus you will attain the desired goal, the highest perfection.

“On Haribodhini Ekadasi, a devotee of the Lord should not eat in another’s house or eat food cooked by a non-devotee. If he does so, he achieves only the merit of fasting on a full moon day. Philosophical discussion of scriptures in the month of Kartika pleases Sri Vishnu more than if one gives elephants and horses in charity or performs a costly sacrifice. Whoever chants or hears descriptions of Lord Vishnu’s qualities and pastimes, even if but a half or even a fourth of a verse, attains the wonderful merit derived from giving away a hundred cows to a brahmana.

“O Narada, during the month of Kartika one should give up all kinds or ordinary duties and devote one’s full time and energy especially while fasting, to discussing the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Lord. Such glorification of Sri Hari on the day so dear to the Lord, Ekadasi, liberates a hundred previous generations. One who spends his time enjoying such discussions, especially in the month of Kartika, achieves the results of performing ten thousand fire sacrifices and burns all his sins to ashes.

“He who hears the wonderful narrations concerning Lord Vishnu, particularly during the month of Kartika, automatically earns the same merit as that bestowed upon someone who donates a hundred cows in charity. O great sage, a person who chants the glories of Lord Hari on Ekadasi achieves the merit earned by donating seven islands.”

Narada Muni asked his glorious father, “O universal sire, best of all demigods, please tell me how to observe this most sacred Ekadasi. What kind of merit does it bestow upon the faithful?”

Lord Brahma replied, “O son, a person who wants to observe this Ekadasi should rise early on Ekadasi morning, during the brahma-muhurta hour (an hour and a half before sunrise until fifty minutes before sunrise). He should then clean his teeth and bathe in a lake, river, pond, or well, or in his own home, as the situation warrants. After worshipping Lord Sri Keshava, he should listen carefully to the sacred descriptions of the Lord. He should pray to the Lord thus: ‘O Lord Keshava, I shall fast on this day, which is so dear to You, and tomorrow I shall honor Your sacred prasadam. O lotus-eyed Lord, O infallible one, You are my only shelter. Kindly protect me.’ Having spoken this solemn prayer before the Lord with great love and devotion, one should fast cheerfully.

“O Narada, whoever remains awake all night on this Ekadasi, singing beautiful songs glorifying the Lord, dancing in ecstasy, playing delightful instrumental music for His transcendental pleasure, and reciting the pastimes of Lord Krishna as recorded in bona-fide Vedic literature – such a person will most assuredly reside far beyond the three worlds, in the eternal, spiritual realm of God.

“On Haribodhini Ekadasi one should worship Sri Krishna with camphor, fruits, and aromatic flowers, especially the yellow agaru flower. One should not absorb oneself in making money on this important day. In other words, greed should be exchanged for charity. This is the process for turning loss into unlimited merit. One should offer many kinds of fruits to the Lord and bathe Him with water from a conchshell. Each of these devotional practices, when performed on Haribodhini Ekadasi, is ten million times more beneficial than bathing in all the places of pilgrimage and giving all forms of charity.

“Even Lord Indra joins his palm and offers his obeisances to a devotee who worships Lord Janardana with first-class agastya flowers of this day. The supreme Lord Hari is very pleased when he is decorated with nice agastya flowers. O Narada, I give liberation to one who devotedly worships Lord Krishna on this Ekadasi in the month of Kartika with leaves of the bel tree. And for one who worships Lord Janardana with fresh tulasi leaves and fragrant flowers during this month, O son, I personally burn to ashes all the sins he has committed for ten thousand births.

“One who merely sees Tulsi Maharani, touches her, meditates on her, narrates her history, offers obeisances to her, prays to her for her grace, plants her, worships her, or waters her lives in the abode of Lord Hari eternally. O Narada, one who serves Tulsi-devi in these nine ways achieves happiness in the higher world for as many thousands of yugas as there are roots and subroots growing from a mature tulasi plant. When a full grown tulasi plant produces seeds, many plants grow from those seeds and spread their branches, twigs, and flowers, and these flowers also produce numerous seeds. For as many thousands of kalpas as there are seeds produced in this way, the forefathers of one who serves tulasi in these nine ways will live in the abode of Lord Hari.

“Those who worship Lord Keshava with kadamba flowers, which are very pleasing to Him, get His mercy and do not see the abode of Yamaraj, death personified.
What is the use of worshipping someone else if all desires can be fulfilled by pleasing Lord Hari? For example, a devotee who offers Him bakula, ashoka, and patali flowers is freed from misery and distress for as long as the sun and moon exist in this universe, and at last he achieves liberation. O best of the brahmanas, an offering of kannera flowers to Lord Jagannatha brings as much mercy upon the devotee as that earned by worshipping Lord Keshava for four yugas. One who offers tulasi flowers (manjaris) to Sri Krishna during the month of Kartika receives more merit than can be obtained by donating ten million cows.
Even a devotional offering of newly grown sprouts of grass brings with it a hundred times the benefit obtained by ordinary ritualistic worship of the Supreme Lord.

“One who worships Lord Vishnu with the leaves of the samika tree is freed from the clutches of Yamaraja, the lord of death. One who worships Vishnu during the rainy season with champaka or jasmine flowers never returns to the planet earth again.
One who worships the Lord with but a single kumbhi flower achieves the boon of donating a pala of gold (two hundred grams). If a devotee offers a single yellow flower of the ketaki, or wood-apple, tree to Lord Vishnu, who rides on Garuda, he is freed from the sins of ten million births. Furthermore, one who offers Lord Jagannatha flowers and also a hundred leaves anointed with red and yellow sandalwood paste will certainly come to reside in Svetadvipa, far beyond the coverings of this material creation.

“O greatest of brahmanas, Sri Narada, after thus worshipping Lord Keshava, the bestower of all material and spiritual happiness, on Haribodhini Ekadasi, one should rise early the next day, bathe in a river, chant japa of Krishna’s holy names, and render loving devotional service to the Lord at home to the best of one’s ability.
To break the fast, the devotee should first offer some prasadam to brahmanas and only then, with their permission, eat some grains. Thereafter, to please the Supreme Lord, the devotee should worship his spiritual master, the purest of the Lord’s devotees, and offer him sumptuous food, nice cloth, gold, and cows, according to the devotee’s means. This will certainly please the Supreme Lord, the holder of the disc.

“Next the devotee should donate a cow to a brahmana, and if the devotee has neglected some rules and regulations of spiritual life, he should confess them before brahmana devotees of the Lord. Then the devotee should offer them some dakshina (money). O king, those who have eaten supper on Ekadasi should feed a brahmana the next day. That is very pleasing to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

“O son, if a man has fasted without asking the permission of his priest, or if a woman has fasted without asking her husband’s permission, he or she should donate a bull to a brahmana. Honey and yoghurt are also proper gifts for a brahmana. Someone who has fasted from ghee should donate milk, one who has fasted from grains should donate rice, one who has slept on the floor should donate a bedstead with a quilt, one who has eaten on a leaf plate should donate a pot of ghee, one who has remained silent should donate a bell, and one who has fasted from sesame should give gold in charity and feed a brahmana couple with sumptuous food. A man who wants to prevent baldness should donate a mirror to a brahmana, one who has second-hand shoes should donate shoes, and one who has fasted from salt should donate some sugar to a brahmana. During this month everyone should regularly offer a ghee lamp to Lord Vishnu or to Srimati Tulsidevi in a temple.

“An Ekadasi fast is complete when one offers a qualified brahmana a gold or copper pot filled with ghee and ghee wicks, along with eight waterpots containing some gold and covered by cloths. One who cannot afford these gifts should at least offer a brahmana some sweet words. One who does so will surely attain the full benefit of fasting on Ekadasi.

“After offering his obeisances and begging permission, the devotee should eat his meal. On this Ekadasi, Chaturmasya ends, so whatever one gave up during Chaturmasya should now be donated to brahmanas. One who follows this process of Chaturmasya receives unlimited merit, O king of kings, and goes to the abode of Lord Vasudeva after death. O son, anyone who observes the complete Chaturmasya without a break attains eternal happiness and does not receive another birth.
But if someone breaks the fast, he becomes either a blind man or a leper.

“Thus I have narrated to you the complete process for observing Haribodhini Ekadasi.
Someone who reads or hears about this achieves the merit earned by donating cows to a qualified brahmana.”

Thus ends the narration of the glories of Karttika-sukla Ekadasi – also known as Utthana, Prabodhini, Haribodhini or Devotthani Ekadasi – from the Skanda Purana.

From Hari-Bhakti-Vilas

PRABODHINIM UPOSYA EVA NA GARBHE VISATE NARAH SARVA
DHARMAN PARITYAJYA TASMAT KURVITA NARADA
(HARI BHAKTI VILASA 16/289 from SKANDA PURANA spoken by Lord Brahma)

Oh Narada Muni, one who fasts on Prabodhini (when the Lord gets up) Ekadasi, does not enter again into the womb of another mother. Therefore, a person should give up all varieties of occupation and fast on this particular Ekadasi day.

DUGDHABDHIH BHOGI SAYANE BHAGAVAN ANANTO YASMIN
DINE SVAPITI CA ATHA VIBHUDHYATE CA TASMINN ANANYA MANASAM
UPAVASA BHAJAM KAMAM DADATY ABHIMATAM GARUDANKA SAYI
(HARI BHAKTI VILASA 16/293 from PADMA PURANA)

One who fasts with one pointed intelligence on the day when the Supreme Lord Sri Hari, Who sleeps on a bed of the enemy of Garuda (snake) goes to take rest in the Milk ocean on the bed of Ananta Sesa and also the day He gets up, gets all of his desires fulfilled.

BHAKTIPRADA HAREH SATU NAMNA KSATA PRAVODHINI
YASA VISNOH PARA MURTIR AVYAKTA ANEKA RUPINI
SA KSIPTA MANUSE LOKE DVADADI MUNI PUNGAVA
(HARI BHAKTI VILASA 16/301 from VARAHA PURANA conversation between Yamaraja and Narada Muni)

This Prabodhini Ekadasi is famous for rewarding devotion to Lord Sri Hari.
Oh best of the sages (Narada Muni), the personality of Ekadasi is present on this earthly planet in an unmanifested form of Lord Hari.

Srila Sanatana Gosvami remarks in his Digdarsini-tika that one who exactly observes the Ekadasi fast by observing this, he directly worships Lord Sri Hari. This is the meaning of this verse. Therefore, Ekadasi is said to be equal to Lord Sri Hari Himself.

CATUR DHA GRAHYA VAI CIRNAM CATUR MASYA VRATAM NARAH
KARTIKE SUKLAPAKSE TU DVADASYAM TAT SAMACARET
(HARI BHAKTI VILASA 16/412 from MAHABHARATA)

A person who observed Caturmasya fast stated in four different ways should end his fast on the Dvadasi day on the light fortnight of the month of Karttika.

(Of course in ISKCON we do Caturmasya & Kartika-vrata from Purnima to Purnima.)

EKADASYAM PARER DATTAM DIPAM PRAJVALYA MUSIKA
MANUSYAM DURLABHAM PRAPYA PARAM GATIM AVAPA SA
(HARI BHAKTI VILASA 16/129 from SKANDA PURANA)

One rat (female mouse) had once burnt a ghee lamp which was offered by someone else on Ekadasi day. By doing so, she achieved a rarely achievable human form and at last attained the topmost destination.

Srila Sanatana Gosvami writes in his Digdarsini-tika:

In this verse it is found that it is possible to attain the results of directly offering a lamp on Ekadasi. This history of the mouse is very famous in the Padma Purana, Kartika Mahatmya. (In a temple of Lord Visnu, there was a mouse living who was eating the ghee from the extinguished ghee lamps which had been offered by others to Him. One day when she felt hungry to eat ghee, she tried to eat the ghee from a lamp which was not yet extinguished. While eating ghee from the lamp, the cotton wick got stuck in her teeth. Since the ghee wick had a flame, the mouse started jumping in front of the Lord’s Deity form and thus died due to fire. But Lord Sri Visnu accepted the jumping of that mouse with a lit ghee wick in her mouth as His aratik.
In the end He gave her liberation, the topmost destination.)

Glories of Remaining Awake on the night of Prabodhini Ekadasi from Padma Purana, Kartika Mahatmya:

The sins accumulated in thousands of previous births burn like a mass of cotton for someone who remains awake during Prabodhani-ekadasi. Even if guilty of the most heinous sins, such as killing a brahmana, O sage a person shakes away his sins by remaining awake in Visnu’s honour throughout Prabodhani-ekadasi. All his mental, vocal, and physical sins will be washed away by Sri Govinda. Results that are difficult to obtain even with great yajnas, such as Asvamedha, effortlessly accrue to those who remain awake during Prabodhani-ekadasi. The Lord should be taken out on a grand Ratha-yatra festival on this day after awakening Him from His sleep for the four months of Caturmasya i.e from Sayani Ekadasi when the Lord had taken rest on the Milk Ocean.

This article has been used courtesy of ISKCON Desire Tree

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Srila Prabhupada was born Abhay Charan De on September 1st 1896 in Calcutta, India. His father was Gour Mohan De, a cloth merchant, and his mother was Rajani. His parents in accordance with Bengali tradition, employed an astrologer to calculate the child’s horoscope, and they were made jubilant by the auspicious reading. The astrologer made a specific prediction: When this child reaches the age of seventy, he would cross the ocean, become a great exponent of religion, and open 108 temples.

At age 6, his father purchased upon his request, his own Radha-Govinda Deities. Seeing the family engaged from his birth, watching his father performing the ‘puja’ at home, and going regularly to see Radha-Govindaji, it was only natural. From this day on whatever foodstuffs were brought before him by his parents, he would first offer to Sri Radha-Govindaji, and then eat Their ‘prasadam’. He also used to daily offer them a ghee lamp, and properly put Them to rest at night.

1922 marked the first meeting of Abhay with his spiritual master. Some of Abhay Charan’s friends were going to see a ‘sadhu’ who was preaching in Calcutta, a descendant in the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya line coming through Bhaktivinoda Thakur, his father none less. 

His friends knowing his devotion, learning and expectations, valued his opinion, and so insisted that he come and see Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami. Abhay was reluctant, but his friends wanted his approval. So Abhay conceded to go.

No sooner did Abhay and his friends respectfully bow before the saintly person and prepare to sit than he said to them, ‘You are educated young men. Why don’t you preach Lord Caitanya’s message throughout the whole world?’

Abhay Charan then developed a strong relationship with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada, to the point where he requested formal spiritual initiation. On November 21st 1932, in the Gaudiya Math in Allahabad Abhay Charan De received ‘diksha’ initiation.

In 1935 on the occasion of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati’s 62nd birthday Abhay submitted a poem and an essay at as meeting of his Godbrothers in Bombay. The articles were well received and duly published in the ‘Harmonist’ for which Abhay was informally daubed ‘kavi’ (learned poet) by his Godbrothers. Abhay’s real pleasure in his offering was when it reached Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, who in particular liked one stanza and showed it to all his guests:
Absolute is sentient
Thou hast proved,
Impersonal calamity
though has removed.

Later Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati said to the editor of the ‘Harmonist’, “Whatever he writes, publish it!” Then Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati said directly to Abhay Charan, “I have a desire to print some books. If you ever get money print books”

In 1939 Abhay Charan prabhu in recognition for his devotional scholarship receives the honorary title ‘Bhaktivedanta’ from the Gaudiya Matha. In February 1944 A.C. Bhaktivedanta begins the ‘Back to Godhead magazine’, an English fortnightly magazine, single handedly. Srila Prabhupada edited it, typed the manuscripts, checked the galley proofs, and even distributed the individual copies.

In 1950 he retired from family life, adopting the ‘ashrama’ of ‘vanaprastha’ (retired). He was far from retirement in actuality. Now he dedicated his energy into study and writing. In September of 1956, Abhay Charan moved to Sri Vrindavan Dham eighty miles south of Delhi to begin an intensive preparation and study to embark on his life’s mission. 

Living at the historic Sri Radha-Damodar temple in Vrindavana he began his monumental ‘life’s masterpiece’ the multi volume commentated translation of the eighteen thousand verse Srimad Bhagavatam (Maha-Bhagavat Purana)

Humbly, Abhay Charan (Bhaktivedanta prabhu) although apprehensive, approached his senior godbrother, Srila Bhakti Prajna Keshava Maharaj in Mathura, who stressed that Abhay Charan take ‘sannyasam’ immediately.

In September 17th 1959, he received formal ‘sannyasa’ initiation in Mathura from Srila Bhakti Prajna Keshava Maharaj, a dear godbrother and senior disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada. He was given the suffix Goswami to his name, and so carried the full name A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.

In Vrindavan Bhaktivedanta Swami met Mr Agarwal, a Mathura businessman, and mentioned to him on passing, as he did to almost everyone he met, that he wanted to go to the West. although Mr Agarwal had known Bhaktivedanta Swami for only a few minutes, he volunteered to try to get him a sponsor in America by asking his son Gopal, an engineer in Pennsylvania, to send back a sponsorship form. 

On Friday August 13th 1965, at 9:00 am, he set sail for America aboard the steamship ‘Jaladuta’. By Saturday 14th, Bhaktivedanta Swami experienced seasickness, dizziness, vomiting as they moved slowly in heavy rains through the Bay of Bengal.

After a 35 day journey from Calcutta the Jaladuta docked at Commonwealth pier at 5:30 am, September 17th 1965, the ship docks in Boston, United States of America, stopping briefly before pushing on to New York City Harbour, for A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami a new journey had begun.

With complete disregard for his own safety he went to a place that Vaisnavas normally find distasteful, the most materially successful place, but a land of passion and ignorance, beset with misguided youth and scientists, and where intoxication, illicit sex, and cow killing were a way of life. Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, at an age when most elderly gentlemen would be thinking of rest and retirement, started a revolution that has, without any doubt, changed the face of the earth.

As a complete philosophy, a full and rich culture, a way of life, and a way to death, and beyond, the ‘acaryas’ like Srila Prabhupada have left a wealth of guidance that we can take advantage of to help us advance.

Srila Prabhupada, residing in the holy Dham of Sri Vrindavan, on Monday November 14th, 1977, at 7:30 pm, which fell upon the Caturthi of the Gaura (Sukla) Paksa, Mula nakshatra, gave up this mortal frame surrounded by loving disciples engaged in ‘Harinam-sankirtan’, the congregational chanting of the Holy Name.

Translating Srimad Bhagavatam up until the very last breath, in a peaceful condition, and with the Holy Name on his tongue, Srila Prabhupada passed from this world in Sri Vrndavana Dhama to rejoin his worshipful Lords Sri Sri Nitai Gaura, Sri Sri Krsna Balarama, and Sri Sri Radhe Syamasundara in Their eternal abode.

Once, on his guru maharaja’s disappearance day, Srila Prabhupada said, “On the absolute platform, there is no difference between the appearance and the disappearance of the spiritual master. Both are beautiful, just like the sunrise and the sunset.” So, although we feel separation, within that separation our remembrance of Srila Prabhupada is heightened, and thus we experience the beauty of his presence—in separation.

To straightaway speak about Srila Prabhupada’s departure feels abrupt to me, because it is a painful topic, but remembering Srila Prabhupada’s words that the disappearance is also beautiful, I wanted to share with you a lesson I learned from his departure.

A few days before he was to leave us, Srila Prabhupada expressed a desire to travel by bullock cart to different holy places in India. His Holiness Lokanath Swami had been traveling by bullock cart to different places of pilgrimage, and Srila Prabhupada was very enlivened when Lokanath Swami reported to him in Vrindavan. And Prabhupada said that he too would like to go on pilgrimage on a bullock cart. He asked Lokanath Swami to arrange it, and Lokanath Swami was enthusiastic, having been encouraged by Prabhupada in such a direct way. He immediately went to organize the cart and make all the arrangements. Govardhana-puja was to take place in a couple of days, and Prabhupada said that he would begin his pilgrimage by traveling on a bullock cart to Govardhana Hill to celebrate Govardhana-puja with the Vraja-vasis.

At that time, Srila Prabhupada was bedridden and emaciated. He was unable to eat, and he was able only to sip a little liquid. So he was very gaunt and weak, with almost no energy. He would just lie on his bed, and sometimes, with great difficulty, he would speak softly, often so faintly that only those very close to him could hear his words.

There were many devotees in the room when Srila Prabhupada had his exchange with Lokanath Swami. And immediately after the discussion ended and devotees went outside, they began to express two strong, heartfelt opinions about what Srila Prabhupada should do—and, more than that, how we as disciples should relate to Srila Prabhupada and serve him.

One group, which included Lokanath Swami and other esteemed, senior disciples, such as Hamsaduta Prabhu and Baradraj Prabhu, felt that we should just do what the spiritual master orders. We shouldn’t question his order; we should just execute it. And some of the other disciples, many of whom had been attending to Prabhupada’s personal care, felt that Prabhupada’s health would not sustain his travels on a bullock cart and that, because he was so emaciated (he had practically no flesh on his bones), it would be very painful for him to go. Even if they padded the cart with a mattress, it would still be a basic bullock cart, and the roads in Vraja were very rough, so the movement of the cart would jostle Prabhupada and he would feel pain. Some devotees feared that he might even give up his body on the way. So, they did not want him to be subjected to what they foresaw as certain pain—and perhaps the dire consequence of his death.

But this second position was very difficult to maintain under the circumstances, because Srila Prabhupada was so emphatic. “Let me travel to all the tirtha-sthanas,” he had said—to all the holy places. And whatever objections devotees had raised against the proposal, he had countered. “One-day experiment,” he had pleaded. “Rest assured. I will not die in one day.” When even Prabhupada’s kaviraja had predicted that with all the jostling on the bullock cart, Prabhupada would not survive more than two hours, Prabhupada had replied, “But I think I shall be cured.” Still, Tamal Krishna Goswami, Bhakti Charu Swami, Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Maharaja, Bhavananda Maharaja, and others felt strongly that this “experiment” would have dire consequences. But how to convince Prabhupada?

So, the controversy continued. When Prabhupada said, “I think I shall be cured,” Hamsaduta and others took it that he was supporting their position. But the other side took it differently: “What does it mean that he is going to be cured? It means that he is going to leave his body and get a spiritual body. That’s how he is going to get cured.” Each party was seeing things in a particular way that supported their particular point of view.

Finally, things came to the stage where the bullock cart was waiting outside the gates of the Krishna-Balaram Mandir. Everything was being readied. And for the devotees who were in the mood that Srila Prabhupada should stay, it must have been like when the residents of Vrindavan saw Akrura getting the chariot ready to take Krishna to Mathura.

The evening before the planned parikrama, Srila Prabhupada was lying on his bed (many of you have seen his bed in his house in Vrindavan). Bhakti Charu Swami was in the room, and Srila Prabhupada’s godbrother Akincana Krishna dasa Babaji Maharaja was there for a visit. Babaji Maharaja was a very advanced devotee; Srila Prabhupada had said that he was a paramahamsa. He was always engaged in hari-nama, absorbed in hari-nama, and he was always blissful. And he and Prabhupada had an extraordinarily affectionate relationship.

So, Bhakti Charu thought, “Let me appeal to Babaji Maharaja. If he asks Prabhupada not to go, then Prabhupada may listen.” And when he explained the situation to Babaji Maharaja, Maharaja declared, “Then he shouldn’t go.”

“So, do you all jointly request me not to go?” Srila Prabhupada asked when Maharaja had conveyed his conclusion. “Ji,” Maharaja confirmed.

“We were getting so upset,” Tamal Krishna agreed. “Two devotees told me this road is so bad that if you go on it you’re going to be jolted back and forth. The road is terrible. I just can’t understand, Srila Prabhupada, why it has to be tomorrow that we have to go. If anybody wants you to travel, I do. But why do we have to go when you’re in this condition? I can’t understand it.”

“All right,” Srila Prabhupada said. “I will not go.”

“Thank you, Srila Prabhupada,” said Bhavananda. “I was in too much anxiety.”

“No, no, I cannot put you in anxiety. I shall do what you like.”

“Actually, Srila Prabhupada,” said Tamal Krishna, “we’re so attached to you that you practically drive us to madness sometimes. Tonight we were becoming mad.”

“No, I shall not do that,” Prabhupada said. And to Babaji Maharaja he added, “Just see how much they love me . . . Left hand, right hand. I cannot refuse.”

“The way you deal with us simply deepens our attachment every moment,” Tamal Krishna said.

And Prabhupada replied, “It is my duty.”

For the devotees in the room, it was a jubilant occasion that Prabhupada had agreed to wait. As Tamal Krishna Goswami had said, “We will take you on tirtha-yatra, to all the places. Just get a little stronger.” But when the news reached the other group, they were upset: “This is not our duty as disciples, to try to prevail upon our spiritual master. Our duty is to execute his will. He said that he wants to go by bullock cart to Govardhana, and our duty is to arrange for what he wants. Our duty is not to advise him or prevail upon him according to our perception.” The controversy continued until the end—the anniversary of which is today.

Prabhupada spent his last three days with his disciples at the Krishna-Balaram Mandir, and the last day he didn’t speak. His only words were in the morning, when the kaviraja asked him to drink some juice and he replied, “Meri kuch iccha nahin”: “I have no desire.” After that, Prabhupada didn’t speak. He was in a completely internal state of consciousness, and the devotees surrounded him with kirtan. For the last few hours, in the afternoon, the leaders opened up the doors to everyone. Young, old, children, men, women—all were allowed to be in the room with Srila Prabhupada and to reciprocate love with him. Then, at about 7:26 p.m., his tongue and mouth moved—Hare Krishna—and he left.

As for the controversy, it continued; even after Prabhupada left, the feelings still ran strong on both sides. And I still couldn’t determine who was right. There were devotees senior to me on both sides—devotees whom I respected and had served. Personally, I may have been closer to some of the ones engaged in Srila Prabhupada’s personal service, but still I wasn’t sure who was right, and it was on my mind.

It was my habit, or practice, to chant japa in Srila Prabhupada’s rooms (though not when he was there), and after he departed, I did that. I was in his room chanting japa, and behind his bed was an area with his bookshelves. So, I found a little corner there and was chanting japa, when somehow my eyes fell upon the new volume of Srimad-Bhagavatam that had just arrived—the Tenth Canto, Volume Two. It had been delivered into Srila Prabhupada’s hands in his last days. When the devotees had presented the book to Srila Prabhupada and he was looking at the pictures, everyone could see the love in his eyes. Tamal Krishna Goswami had remarked, “How much love for Krishna Prabhupada has,” as evident from the way Prabhupada had been looking at the pictures of Krishna. So, I saw the book. It had gold embossing, made especially for Srila Prabhupada. I opened it up, and it happened to open to Chapter Nine: “Mother Yasoda Binds Krsna.” I read a few verses and purports, and then I came to a verse that, to me, answered the question:

TEXT 19

evam sandarsita hy anga
  harina bhrtya-vasyata
sva-vasenapi krsnena
  yasyedam sesvaram vase

TRANSLATION

O Maharaja Pariksit, this entire universe, with its great, exalted demigods like Lord Siva, Lord Brahma, and Lord Indra, is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yet the Supreme Lord has one transcendental attribute: He comes under the control of His devotees. This was now exhibited by Krsna in this pastime.

COMMENT

The pastime is encapsulated in the previous verse:

TEXT 18

sva-matuh svinna-gatraya
  visrasta-kabara-srajah
drstva parisramam krsnah
  krpayasit sva-bandhane

TRANSLATION

Because of Mother Yasoda’s hard labor, her whole body became covered with perspiration, and the flowers and comb were falling from her hair. When child Krsna saw His mother thus fatigued, He became merciful to her and agreed to be bound.

COMMENT

When I read these verses, I thought, “This is what happened.” The spiritual master is the transparent medium through which Krishna manifests Himself. Of course, in vraja-bhakti the relationship with Krishna is different. In Vraja, Krishna exhibits nara-lila, humanlike pastimes, in which there is complete intimacy and freedom between the devotees and the Lord. In the relationship between the disciples and spiritual master, there is always an element of awe and reverence—and duty. Still, duty is meant to lead to love. And Srila Prabhupada did say to Babaji Maharaja, “Just see how much they love me.”

One month earlier, there had been another incident. Srila Prabhupada had stopped drinking. Previously, he had said that when his father had wanted to leave his body, he had stopped drinking, and that this was a bona fide way to give up one’s body when the time came. Prabhupada didn’t make any announcement or anything; he just stopped drinking.

Upendra dasa, a very sweet devotee who was Srila Prabhupada’s servant at the time, innocently said to him, “Prabhupada, you have to drink. If you don’t drink, you will become dehydrated. And Prabhupada said, “Oh, you want me to drink? Call the GBC.” That decision—whether Prabhupada should drink or not—was no small matter.

So, Abhirama informed the GBC, and the GBC and senior devotees came into the room. Prabhupada said, “If I want to survive, of course I’ll have to take something. But my survival means so many inconveniences. Therefore I have decided to die peacefully.”

“Everything is in the hands of Krishna,” said Tamal Krishna. And that had been the mood, coming from Srila Prabhupada: everything depended on Krishna. Many times Prabhupada had said that he would accept whatever Krishna desired. If Krishna allowed him to stay, he would stay. And if Krishna wanted him to go, he would go. Previously, a disciple had asked him, “You said that your guru maharaja left early because he was disgusted. Is that the case with you?” And Srila Prabhupada had replied, “No. If Krishna allows me to stay in your association, I will be most happy to stay in your association.”

Now, however, Srila Prabhupada opened his eyes and said, “Krishna wants me to do as I like. The choice is mine. He has given me full freedom.” This was a different mood—a completely different answer. And it gave—and gives—us a glimpse into the intimate reciprocation between Krishna and Prabhupada.

So, we all went out into the anteroom and discussed. Kirtanananda Swami’s point was most clear and lucid and intelligent. “If Krishna has given Prabhupada the choice and Prabhupada is giving us the choice,” he said, “then we should ask Prabhupada to stay.” Everyone agreed: “Yes, we should ask him to stay.” Then a devotee said, “But all the GBC men aren’t here.” And Brahmananda retorted, “Come on. What GBC is going to say that they don’t want Prabhupada to stay?” So, it was decided, unanimously. We would go back into Prabhupada’s room and tell him that we wanted him to stay; Kirtanananda Swami would be the spokesman.

When we went back into the room, Prabhupada was lying quietly on his bed. As soon as we finished offering obeisances, Kirtanananda broke down and started sobbing. He couldn’t speak. Brahmananda, sitting behind him, rubbed his back to soothe him. Then Kirtanananda managed, “Srila Prabhupada, if Krishna has given you the choice, then don’t go! We need you!” Srila Prabhupada asked, “Is this your joint opinion? Have you discussed?” “Yes, we have all met together. We want you to remain and lead the movement and finish the Srimad-Bhagavatam.”

Prabhupada was silent for what seemed like an eternity. Then he yawned and said, “All right.” Just like that. He agreed to stay in such a nonchalant way. All the devotees were jubilant. Within ourselves, we were rejoicing: “Prabhupada is going to stay! Prabhupada’s going to stay! He is not going to leave us. He is going to finish Srimad-Bhagavatam. He is going to lead the movement.”

And Prabhupada said, “This is real affection.”

So, when I read this verse from the Tenth Canto, I thought of these two incidents and put them together. In both cases, when the disciples had expressed themselves—“We want you to stay,” “We want you to get healthy”—Prabhupada had said, “This is real love,” “Just see how much they love me.” So, I think that all the disciples in this controversy were acting on the basis of their realization of their devotion for Srila Prabhupada, but I believe that what Prabhupada really was doing was drawing out our loving sentiments—beyond our just following the order. Following the order is a given; there is no question. We have to follow the order of the spiritual master. To disobey the order of the spiritual master is an offense against the holy name. It is a basic principle of spiritual life. So, we are not talking about disobeying the order of the spiritual master; we are talking about developing loving feelings for the spiritual master and expressing them to him. When Srila Prabhupada brought us to that stage in those two incidents, he commented, “This is real love,” “Just see how much they love me.”

Relating the verse from the Tenth Canto to what Srila Prabhupada did with us, there’s also a parallel between the damodara-lila and that principle of spontaneous love. Every night during the month of Damodara, we recite the Damodarastaka, including verse three:

itidrk sva-lilabhir ananda-kunde
  sva-ghosam nimajjantam akhyapayantam
tadiyesita-jnesu bhaktair jitatvam
  punah prematas tam satavrtti vande

“By such pastimes He is drowning the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy and revealing to those devotees who are absorbed in knowledge of His supreme majesty and opulence that He is only conquered by devotees whose pure love is imbued with intimacy and is free from all conceptions of awe and reverence. To this Supreme Lord, Sri Damodara, whose belly is bound not with ropes but with His devotee’s pure love, I offer my humble obeisances.”

The damodara-lila shows pure, spontaneous love’s special power to conquer the Lord. The Lord comes under the control of such pure love. In the same way, Srila Prabhupada—not exactly that he came under the control of our love, but I would say that he brought that love out from deep within the recesses of our hearts, and then he reciprocated with us by coming under our control, by agreeing to our requests.

So, this is a very deep pastime of Srila Prabhupada’s. Among the disciples who were around him at the end, it was understood that he was the perfect acharya—he had taught us by his own example how to live in Krishna consciousness, and now he was teaching us how to die in Krishna consciousness. That was the general idea in those months and weeks, that he was showing us how to retire to a holy place and how to be absorbed in hearing the holy names of the Lord, and how up until the end, even in his delicate condition, he was trying to push forward the mission and was translating and dictating purports to Srimad-Bhagavatam—until the very end. In that way, he was showing us how to die in Krishna consciousness. But within that final lesson he also brought us to this more intimate level of exchange where we could express to him our heart’s deepest desires even in spite of the barriers that I would say he deliberately put up. He deliberately put up the barriers, but then he inspired us to break through them to reach out to him and express our love for him and ask him to stay with us.

Even though Srila Prabhupada has now left that body, we still have that choice: Do we want him to stay with us or not? And I remember that at that time, although we had been going along in the mood that whatever Krishna wanted was all right, when we understood what really should have been in our hearts—that we wanted him to stay—we thought, “Maybe we want to be the controllers, to be the enjoyers.” So, there is always that question: Do we want the kingdom of God without God, without God’s representative, or do we want the kingdom of God with God, with His representative, as their humble servants? And so I pray to Srila Prabhupada that I will always remember this lesson and always pray and act in such a way that he will be pleased to stay with each of us individually and all of us collectively, and bind us to his lotus feet eternally.

Hare Krishna.

[“Srila Prabhupada’s Departure—Drawing Out Love”: A talk by Giriraj Swami on Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day, November 14, 2007, Mayapur]

We shall read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Seven: “Scheduled Incarnations.”

TEXT 32

gopair makhe pratihate vraja-viplavaya
  deve ’bhivarsati pasun krpaya riraksuh
dhartocchilindhram iva sapta-dinani sapta-
  varso mahidhram anaghaika-kare salilam

TRANSLATION

When the cowherd men of Vrndavana, under instruction of Krsna, stopped offering sacrifice to the heavenly king, Indra, the whole tract of land known as Vraja was threatened with being washed away by constant heavy rains for seven days. Lord Krsna, out of His causeless mercy upon the inhabitants of Vraja, held up the hill known as Govardhana with one hand only, although He was only seven years old. He did this to protect the animals from the onslaught of water.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Children play with an umbrella generally known as a frog’s umbrella, and Lord Krsna, when He was only seven years old, could snatch the great hill known as the Govardhana Parvata in Vrndavana and hold it for seven days continuously with one hand, just to protect the animals and the inhabitants of Vrndavana from the wrath of Indra, the heavenly king, who had been denied sacrificial offerings by the inhabitants of Vraja-bhumi.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

Lord Krishna was playing the part of a young boy. Here the Bhagavatam says salilam, playfully: just as a small child picks up a frog’s umbrella (a mushroom shaped like an umbrella) and plays with it, so Lord Krishna picked up Govardhana Hill and held it like an umbrella to shelter the residents of Vrindavan from the torrential rains of Indra.

PURPORT (continued)

Factually there is no need of offering sacrifices to the demigods for their services if one is engaged in the service of the Supreme Lord. Sacrifices recommended in the Vedic literature for satisfaction of the demigods are a sort of inducement to the sacrificers to realize the existence of higher authorities. The demigods are engaged by the Lord as controlling deities of material affairs, and according to the Bhagavad-gita, when a demigod is worshiped the process is accepted as the indirect method for worshiping the Supreme Lord. But when the Supreme Lord is worshiped directly there is no need of worshiping the demigods or offering them sacrifices as recommended in particular circumstances. Lord Krsna therefore advised the inhabitants of Vraja-bhumi not to offer any sacrifices to the heavenly king Indra.

COMMENT

Many of you know the story: Nanda Maharaja and the other men of Vrindavan were collecting the paraphernalia to perform the Indra-yajna, and when the child Krishna saw the men so engaged, He asked His father, “Dear father, kindly explain to Me the purpose for which you are gathering this paraphernalia. Is this ritualistic performance based on scriptural injunctions, or is it simply customary? What is to be gained by this performance?” Srila Prabhupada tells us the implication of Krishna’s inquiry: We should not engage in rituals simply because our parents or grandparents did—without any gain. Although we may have had forefathers who worshipped demigods, Lord Krishna here suggests that there is no need for us to continue such worship. Therefore, in due course, Krishna advised the residents of Vrindavan to stop the sacrifice to King Indra. So, in principle, we should not engage in ritualistic performances without any result. There should be some positive benefit from our activities, as there is with devotional service, which, according to both the Bhagavad-gita and practical experience, is joyfully performed. Pratyaksavagamam dharmyam su-sukham kartum avyayam: “It gives direct perception of the self by realization, and it is joyfully performed.” (Gita 9.2)

The Bhagavad-gita also explains that worship offered to demigods is actually meant for Lord Krishna but is avidhi-purvakam: it is offered indirectly, improperly, to the demigods.

ye ’py anya-devata-bhakta
  yajante sraddhayanvitah
te ’pi mam eva kaunteya
  yajanty avidhi-purvakam

“Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kunti, but they do so in a wrong way.” (Gita 9.23)

Therefore Lord Krishna, by His own example, showed us that we need not worship the demigods.

The question may be raised that if there is no need to worship demigods, why are sacrifices to demigods recommended in the Vedas? The answer is that although there is no need to worship the demigods when we worship the Supreme Lord, the fact is that the demigods are superior to ordinary human beings. They are entrusted with the management of different affairs within the universe. So, for those without knowledge of Krishna, sacrifices to demigods are recommended so that the performers at least acknowledge their debt to and their dependence on superior authorities.

Srila Prabhupada has compared the demigods to ministers in the cabinet of a king, and Lord Krishna to the king. The ministers are actually servants of the king and are obliged to do their jobs as directed by the king. So, if we satisfy the king, we need not satisfy the demigods separately. If the king wants to grant us some favor, the ministers are obliged to execute his order. And even if we approach some minister for some favor, if the king is against it, the minister has no authority or power to grant it.

Srila Prabhupada has also given the example that if you pay your taxes to the central government, you don’t have to go separately to the various offices to bribe them. When you pay your taxes to the central government, your money is automatically distributed among the different departments of the state. You don’t have to pay each department separately, and as a tax-paying citizen you’re entitled to all benefits.

Here Lord Krishna is acting on the principles of the Bhagavad-gita, in the role of a small child. He stopped the worship of the demigod Indra and ordered that the paraphernalia be used for the worship of the cows, the brahmans, and Govardhana Hill, which is actually the Supreme Lord Krishna Himself. As revealed later in the govardhana-lila, although Krishna, playing the part of a seven-year-old boy, accompanied the Vraja-vasis around Govardhana Hill in worship, He also expanded Himself into a separate, gigantic form and declared, “I am Govardhana Mountain.” Thus, together with the people of Vraja, the original, small Krishna bowed down to this form of Govardhana Hill, who was Lord Krishna Himself.

After Lord Krishna advised the inhabitants of Vraja-bhumi not to offer any sacrifices to Indra, the heavenly king, Indra, not knowing the position of Lord Krishna in Vraja-bhumi, became angry with the inhabitants of Vraja-bhumi and tried to avenge what he considered to be their offense to him. He ordered the Samvartaka clouds, the clouds used at the time of partial devastation to inundate the universe, to flood Vrindavan. We can just imagine: here is a simple cowherd community in Vraja, and King Indra was so blinded by pride that he summoned the clouds used to inundate the universe to attack this little community of cowherds, cows, and calves.

PURPORT (continued)

But competent as the Lord was, He saved the inhabitants and animals of Vraja-bhumi by His personal energy and proved definitely that anyone directly engaged as a devotee of the Supreme Lord need not satisfy any other demigods, however great, even to the level of Brahma or Siva.

COMMENT

The Fourth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam states:

yatha taror mula-nisecanena
  trpyanti tat-skandha-bhujopasakhah
pranopaharac ca yathendriyanam
  tathaiva sarvarhanam acyutejya

“As pouring water on the root of the tree benefits the trunk, branches, twigs and leaves, and as supplying food to the stomach nourishes the senses and limbs of the body, so worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that Supreme Personality.” (SB 4.31.14) Yet here in the govardhana-lila we find that although the Vraja-vasis worshipped the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, still the demigod Indra was not satisfied. In fact, he was most dissatisfied. Why? Because of his false pride. Govardhana Hill was being worshipped with paraphernalia meant for him. And because he was blinded by ignorance, he could not understand that the little cowherd boy Krishna was the Supreme Personality of Godhead and his eternal master. And certainly, he could not understand that Govardhana Hill was the same Supreme Personality. But demigods are not supposed to be proud—or ignorant. They are supposed to be faithful servants of Krishna. Thus, to break the false pride of Indra and bring him back to his original consciousness, Lord Krishna enacted the govardhana-lila.

The scriptures describe that for a moment Krishna thought that maybe He should just kill Indra but then decided that no, He should bestow mercy upon him, crush his false pride, and bring him back to his original position of service to Him. And so Krishna playfully lifted up Govardhana Hill. Any of you who have visited Vrindavan know that Govardhana Hill is quite long—at least eight kilometers—no toy for an ordinary person. But it was like a toy for Lord Krishna, and He lifted it and held it over His head with the tip of His little finger. The scriptures say that Krishna wanted to prove that He could defeat the mighty power of Indra with the tip of the little finger of His left hand. That was all He needed to dispose of the king of heaven. Eventually, after seven days, Indra came to his senses and realized that he, not the Vraja-vasis, was the one who had committed the offense, and so he withdrew the Samvartaka clouds and came to Vraja-bhumi to beg for forgiveness from Lord Krishna. And then he worshipped Lord Krishna.

As part of the worship of Govardhana Hill, Lord Krishna ordered the Vraja-vasis to prepare all sorts of foodstuffs, which they did, and they offered them to Govardhana Hill, and Govardhana ate them all. So, later in the day we’ll be having the celebration in which we offer, as the Vraja-vasis did, all sorts of preparations to Govardhana Hill, and He will eat them all. But out of His kindness He will again return them to us to honor as maha-prasada.

PURPORT (concluded)

Thus this incident definitely proved without a doubt that Lord Krsna is the Personality of Godhead and that He was so in all circumstances, as a child on the lap of His mother, as a boy seven years old, and as an old man of a hundred and twenty-five years of age. In either case He was never on the level of the ordinary man, and even in His advanced age He appeared a young boy sixteen years old. These are the particular features of the transcendental body of the Lord.

COMMENT

There are impersonalists who try by yoga or meditation to become God, but Krishna is not that kind of god. He did not have to become God by yoga or meditation; He was always God. From His very appearance in the prison of Kamsa, when He manifested His four-armed form as Vishnu, He was God. When He was a three-month-old baby and killed the great demoness Putana, He was God. When He was a seven-year-old boy and lifted Govardhana Hill, He was God. And when He spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, He was God. Even at that time, although by material calculation He was a great-grandfather and more than ninety years old, because His body never ages or deteriorates, He appeared like a youth of sixteen. Krishna’s body is spiritual and not subject to disease, old age, or death, like the bodies of ordinary conditioned souls. After Krishna’s body matured to the point of appearing like a youth’s, it never grew older. That proves that Krishna had a spiritual body. We never see a picture of Krishna as an old man with gray hair and wrinkles, walking with a cane. He always looks like a handsome young man.

One more note about Krishna’s appearance and activities. We know from Krishna’s statement in the Bhagavad-gita, paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam (4.8), that He appears to deliver the devotees and to annihilate the miscreants. But actually, He does not have to come personally to destroy the miscreants; He has many agents to do so. The real reason He comes is to give pleasure to His devotees, and the special feature of the govardhana-lila is that Krishna gave His association—and the greatest pleasure—to all of the residents of Vrindavan continuously for seven days. Usually the residents of Vrindavan were with Krishna for only so many hours every day. For example, in the afternoon when Krishna would return from the pasturing grounds and enter His home and have dinner with Nanda Baba, He would give His association to Nanda and Yasoda and others in their household. And then He would take rest. But while He was taking rest at home, the cowherd boys were in separation from Him, eagerly anticipating, “Oh, when can we be with Krishna again? Oh, we have to wait until morning when we all take the cows to pasture.” So, they were in separation. And in the morning, when Krishna went into the pasturing grounds with the cowherd boys, Nanda and Yasoda and the residents of the village of Vrindavan were in separation.

The young damsels too were almost always in separation, except on special occasions when they would secretly meet Govinda at midday or in the dead of night. The young gopis could never gaze directly at Krishna except at their trysts, when they engaged in transcendental amorous pastimes.

So, the devotees were always alternating meeting and separation. Yet for the seven days of the govardhana-lila, all the inhabitants—the servants, the friends, the elders, and even the young damsels—could be with Krishna continuously. Thus the govardhana-lila, while it achieved the purpose of crushing the false pride of Indra, also achieved the purpose of satisfying the devotees, who hankered to have Krishna’s association without cessation.

So, here is another special feature of Govardhana Hill. Because of differences in rasa, Krishna could not reciprocate openly with certain devotees in the presence of other devotees. In the govardhana-lila, however, He could reciprocate with each and every devotee no matter what relationship they had, in the presence of all the other devotees. Therefore Govardhana Hill is very special, because Govardhana is witness to Krishna’s pastimes in all different mellows.

We can learn from this pastime that whatever onslaughts of material nature come upon us, if we take shelter of Krishna we can be protected and at the same time have all our desires for transcendental love and bliss satisfied in Krishna consciousness.

Hare Krishna.

Are there any questions or comments?

Devotee: You mentioned that Krishna comes especially for the devotees, to bestow His association upon them and give them pleasure—not for the purpose of killing the demons. So, the special demons killed by Krishna were not happy to be killed by Krishna? Can you comment?

Giriraj Swami: Krishna achieves many purposes with one action. Although His primary purpose is to please the devotees, His secondary purpose is to kill the demons, and He does both simultaneously. Actually, Krishna does not kill the demons personally; Vishnu within Krishna kills them. If His only purpose were to kill the demons, He would not appear personally. He really appears to pacify His devotees, though simultaneously He also kills demons.

Devotee: Lord Indra is such an elevated soul. How is it possible that he could not see Lord Krishna in the little seven-year-old boy? What stopped him from seeing that?

Giriraj Swami: Indra was proud, and vraja-lila is very special. In such nara-lila, humanlike pastimes, Krishna appears just like an ordinary human. Suppose, for example, if someone who held a high position in China—say, the president of China, whose face is not familiar to us—were to come here in disguise. We would not recognize him, because he would look just like everyone else. So, Krishna looked like everyone else. He looked like all the other cowherd boys; there was nothing special about Him. What distinguished Him was His potency. The head of a country is also a human being. There is nothing about his physical features that distinguishes him from others. What distinguishes him is his potency. He has the whole military under his command. He may be sitting here just like any of us, but if we order, “Declare war! Invade!” nothing will happen, and if he orders, “Declare war and invade!” it happens. That is the difference. He has potency that we do not have but still he looks the same. Because Indra was already proud and was not really interested to know more—he just wanted to be worshipped as usual—he saw superficially, “They are just a cowherd community, and Krishna is just a small child. He is so puffed up that he thinks he can stop my worship, and these adults are so foolish and so enamored of this boy that they follow his advice.” He thought that there was something really wrong, because that is how it looked. Therefore, sastra-caksuh: we should see the Lord through the eyes of scripture.

Devotee: Krishna came to earth to show favor to the human beings, but what about the demigods? The demigods also came to earth to participate in Krishna’s pastimes, but then we have this incident with Indra and another incident with Brahma, when they became bewildered.

Giriraj Swami: The demigods, although very powerful, can be covered by illusion just like any of us. We can be covered. We can chant Hare Krishna and feel great enthusiasm, and then later stop chanting. We are the same person, but something has happened. One day we were enthusiastically chanting and dancing, and the next day we were out in the material world. So, what happened? We got covered, and maybe puffed up. “Pride cometh before a fall.” That is what we have heard, and that is what we have experienced. Therefore Krishna mercifully displays some of His potency so that they realize His position as Supreme Lord and their own position as His eternal servants.

Sometimes when Krishna would return from the pasturing grounds with His cowherd friends, the demigods would come and shower flowers.

vatsalo vraja-gavam yad aga-dhro
  vandyamana-caranah pathi vrddhaih
krtsna-go-dhanam upohya dinante
  gita-venur anugedita-kirtih

“Out of great affection for the cows of Vraja, Krsna became the lifter of Govardhana Hill. At the end of the day, having rounded up all His own cows, He plays a song on His flute, while exalted demigods standing along the path worship His lotus feet and the cowherd boys accompanying Him chant His glories.” (SB 10.35.22)

So, the demigods also get to witness and worship Krishna in His pastimes. And although the cowherd boys would see the demigods worship Him, still they would not think of Krishna as God. They would think of Him as their dearest friend. There is a difference between Krishna’s two mayas, energies—yoga-maya and maha-maya. Yoga-maya partially reveals the Lord and partially conceals Him, so the residents of Vrindavan love Krishna but are unaware that He is God. They just love Him spontaneously. In Vaikuntha the devotees love the Lord but are aware that He is God. And the conditioned souls covered by maha-maya forget that Krishna is God and sometimes forget God altogether. Their eternal love for Him is covered. Generally, demigods are also conditioned souls. Consequently, influenced by illusion, they can also forget that Krishna is God and need to be reminded.

Of course, one could say that the pastimes are there to instruct us, and they do manifest eternal principles. So, we should learn from them, become Krishna conscious, and go back home, back to Godhead, to serve Lord Krishna and His associates in love.

Sri Giri Govardhana ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Govardhana-puja, October 26, 2003,  Houston]

govardhano jayati śaila-kulādhirājo
yo gopikābhir udito hari-dāsa-varyaḥ
kṛṣṇena śakra-makha-bhaṅga-kṛtārcito yaḥ
saptāham asya kara-padma-tale ’py avātsīt

Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī’s Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta (1.7)

All glories to the emperor of all the principal mountains, Śrī Girirāja-Govardhana, who is exalted in all splendor; who the gopīs proclaim to be haridāsa-varya, the best servant of Śrī Hari; whose worship was introduced by Śrī Kṛṣṇa when the Lord stopped the sacrifice for worshiping Indra, and who then received the good fortune of resting continuously on Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s lotus hand for one whole week.

Govardhan puja, one of the biggest festivals in the month of Kartika, observed on Shukla paksha pratipad, is celebrated with great jubilation in many temples all over the world. At New Govardhan, Australia, it is a festival that is eagerly anticipated and Lord Giriraja is worshiped with great pomp and enthusiasm.

We wish you all a happy Diwali. Diwali, or Dipavali, marks the end of the year, and by the year’s end we want to pay our debts and rectify our relationships—and then try to do better the next year.

The Vedic literatures inform us that in the present age, Kali-yuga, the recommended process for self-realization, or God realization, is the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. Lord Krishna appeared about five thousand years ago and spoke the Bhagavad-gita, and at the end of the Gita (18.66), He instructed:

sarva-dharman parityajya
  mam ekam saranam vraja
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo
  moksayisyami ma sucah

“Give up all varieties of religiousness and just surrender unto Me. I will deliver you from all sins. Do not fear.”

But how do we surrender to Krishna—practically? It is a big question. Therefore, Krishna Himself came again about five hundred years ago as Sri Krishna Chaitanya and showed us how to serve Krishna and develop love for Krishna, especially in the present age of Kali. He quoted one verse from the Brhan-naradiya Purana (3.8.126):

harer nama harer nama
  harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
  nasty eva gatir anyatha

“One should chant the holy names, chant the holy names, chant the holy names of Lord Hari. There is no other way, no other way, no other way for success in the present age of Kali.”

Lord Chaitanya Himself demonstrated how to chant the holy names. Actually, there are two methods: In japa, one chants softly but loud enough that one can hear oneself. Our acharyas have recommended that we chant on beads, japa-mala. I suggest that as a New Year’s resolution you all begin to chant at least one mala (round) every day, and that those who are chanting already try to increase. Suppose someone is chanting two malas every day. In the New Year that person can decide to do four malas, or whatever he or she can manage. One mala will take five to ten minutes. So, that is japa.

The other method is kirtan. Kirtan means loud chanting, all together, usually with musical instruments such as mridanga, kartals, and sometimes harmonium. That collective chanting of the holy names of God is very effective in the present age of Kali.

What does chanting do? As Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explains, ceto-darpana-marjanam: chanting cleanses the dirt from the mirror of the mind. If you want to know what you look like, you have to view yourself in a mirror. But if the mirror is covered with dust, you cannot see. So, we have to cleanse the dust from the mirror of the mind; then we can know who we are. In ignorance, we may think we’re the body. We may think that we’re black or white or red or yellow; man or woman; American, Russian, Chinese, or African. We have so many designations based on our falsely identifying with the body. But ceto-darpana-marjanam—when we clear the dust from the mirror of the mind by chanting, we can actually see who we are: not the body but the soul within the body. The soul is not black or white or male or female or Russian or Chinese. The soul is pure spirit, part and parcel of God, the Supreme Spirit, Krishna.

So, chanting will cleanse all the dirt from the mind, from the heart. But how does chanting work? A verse from the Padma Purana (quoted as Cc Madhya 17.133) explains:

nama cintamanih krsnas
  caitanya-rasa-vigrahah
purnah suddho nitya-mukto
  ’bhinnatvan nama-naminoh

“The holy name of Krsna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Krsna Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure. Krsna’s name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Krsna Himself. Since Krsna’s name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of its being involved with maya. Krsna’s name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Krsna and Krsna Himself are identical.”

The holy name of Krishna is Krishna Himself. Abhinnatvat nama naminoh: there is no difference between the name and the person who has the name. In the material world, the relative world, there is a difference between the name, or word, and the object. For example, if I am in the desert dying of thirst and chant “water, water, water, water,” my thirst will not be quenched, because the word water and the substance water are different. But in the spiritual world, the absolute world, the name of the thing and the thing are the same. So, when we chant the holy name of Krishna, Krishna is actually present, dancing on our tongue. Thus, because Krishna is all pure, when we associate with Him by chanting His holy name, we become purified (ceto-darpana-marjanam). And when we become purified—when we become Krishna conscious—we automatically develop all good qualities.

At present we have qualities that are good, and we have other qualities that are not so good. Often at the end of the year people make resolutions for the new year—how they will improve. It may be that one will try to not lose one’s temper, or try to not overeat. We make so many resolutions, but after some time we may fail in our determination because of weakness in the heart. The one resolution that will eventually help us develop all good qualities and keep our other, secondary resolutions is the resolution to chant the holy names of God.

Diwali also commemorates the return of Lord Ramachandra to Ayodhya. You all know the history of how Rama was banished from His kingdom into the forest. In the forest Ravana kidnapped Sita and took her to Lanka. Then Rama and Laksmana searched for Sita. They made alliances with many monkey warriors, and eventually They came to the southern tip of India. They built a bridge across to Lanka, and eventually Rama killed Ravana, which is commemorated by Dasara, or Rama-vijaya-dasami. Then Mother Sita was tested in fire, and she emerged pure. And Rama, Laksmana, and Sita, accompanied by other associates, returned to Ayodhya. To prepare for the Lord’s arrival, the residents of Ayodhya placed lamps on the rooftops and balconies and celebrated His return. And Lord Ramachandra was installed on the throne.

We too want to welcome Lord Rama (Lord Krishna)—into our heart. And just as before we install a Deity we clean the temple so that it is a fit place for the Lord to reside, similarly we each want to welcome Lord Ramachandra into our heart, to install Him on the throne in our heart. But to make our heart a proper, fit place for Him, we have to cleanse it. Therefore, on the auspicious occasion of Diwali, we chant the holy names of Rama and Krishna—Hare Krishna, Hare Rama—so ceto-darpana-marjanam: the heart is cleansed. Then we can welcome Lord Rama into our hearts and install Him on the throne of our hearts and celebrate His presence.

So, this should be our resolution: to purify our heart so that the Lord will have a proper place to sit there. And who could be more fortunate a person than one who has Lord Rama, or Krishna, with him or her?

There are many Ramayanas, histories of Ramachandra, but the most authorized is the Valmiki Ramayana. Consistent with that version, the Ninth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam also contains a short Ramayana. And at the end of the Bhagavatam’s Ramayana, there is a statement that during the reign of Lord Ramachandra all of the citizens were peaceful and happy, just like in Satya-yuga. There are four ages that repeat in cycles, like the seasons. Satya-yuga is the best of the ages, the golden age. Then come Treta-yuga, Dvapara-yuga, and Kali-yuga. The Bhagavatam describes that during the rule of Lord Ramachandra all of the citizens were religious and completely happy, healthy, and peaceful, just like during Satya-yuga, although it was actually Treta-yuga. Srila Prabhupada comments that by God consciousness, Krishna consciousness, one can invoke Satya-yuga, or Rama-rajya, even in Kali-yuga. Therefore, the same Krishna who appeared in Treta-yuga as Lord Ramachandra appeared in Kali-yuga as Lord Chaitanya to introduce the chanting of the holy names—Hare Krishna and Hare Rama.

So, if we take up the chanting of the holy names, we can not only invoke the presence of Lord Rama within our hearts, welcome Lord Rama into our hearts, but we can also recreate the situation of Satya-yuga, the situation of Rama-rajya. Sometimes Srila Prabhupada remarked, “People want the kingdom of God without God.” But we cannot have the kingdom of God without God. We cannot have Rama-rajya without Rama. But if we invoke the presence of God, of Krishna, by chanting His holy names, we can have the same experience of Satya-yuga in Kali-yuga. We can have the same experience of Rama-rajya when, as described in the Bhagavatam, Rama loved all of the citizens just like a father loves his children, and all of the citizens loved Lord Rama and obeyed Him just like children love and obey their father. By Krishna consciousness, we can have the same situation even today. And if on this Diwali you can take a vow, make a resolution, to chant every day in the next year—and in all the years to come—that will bring you all auspiciousness.

We pray that the Lord will bless all of you in the year to come, and that you will also take the blessing of chanting into the New Year.

Hare Krishna.

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Diwali, October 25, 2003,  Houston]

Today is the appearance day of Dhanvantari, who is described in the following verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (2.7.21):

TEXT

dhanvantaris ca bhagavan svayam eva kirtir
  namna nrnam puru-rujam ruja asu hanti
yajne ca bhagam amrtayur-avavarundha
  ayusya-vedam anusasty avatirya loke

TRANSLATION

The Lord in His incarnation of Dhanvantari very quickly cures the diseases of the ever-diseased living entities simply by His fame personified, and only because of Him do the demigods achieve long lives. Thus the Personality of Godhead becomes ever glorified. He also exacted a share from the sacrifices, and it is He only who inaugurated the medical science, or the knowledge of medicine, in the universe.

PURPORT

As stated in the beginning of the Srimad-Bhagavatam, everything emanates from the ultimate source of the Personality of Godhead; it is therefore understood in this verse that medical science, or knowledge of medicine, was also inaugurated by the Personality of Godhead in His incarnation of Dhanvantari, and thus the knowledge is recorded in the Vedas. The Vedas are the source of all knowledge, and thus knowledge in medical science is also there for the perfect cure of the diseases of the living entity. The embodied living entity is diseased by the very construction of his body. The body is the symbol of diseases. The disease may differ from one variety to another, but disease must be there just as there is birth and death for everyone. So, by the grace of the Personality of Godhead, not only are diseases of the body and mind cured, but also the soul is relieved of the constant repetition of birth and death. The name of the Lord is also called bhavausadhi, or the source of curing the disease of material existence.

* * *

May Lord Dhanvantari bless us all.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Miracle in the Making is an awe-inspiring video shot by His Grace Prananatha Das depicting the rise of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) in Mayapur, West Bengal, India – Future Wonder of the World – and the opening of its Nrsimhadeva Hall, the largest Nrsimhadeva Temple in the world, from February 29 – March 2, 2024.

At a time when turmoil, strife and all the symptoms of Kali-yuga are at an all-time high within the world, we need to pray to Lord Nrsimhadeva for His intervention and protection to ensure the TOVP is completed timely, and the world draws towards true spiritual understanding and awakening. All devotees can benefit themselves and the entire human race by helping to build this remarkable temple, inspired and spearheaded by Srila Prabhupada himself. This temples’ influence will be heard worldwide once opened, and all who participate will receive eternal blessings from the Vaishnava acharyas and Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Go to the Give To Nrsimha Fundraiser page on the TOVP website today and help open Prahlad-Nrsimhadeva’s new home in the TOVP during Their three-day opening celebration from February 29 – March 2, 2024.

  NOTE: The deities will not be relocated until the opening of the TOVP in 2025.

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Kartika (Damodar)…The Holiest Month…
Kartika (Damodara) is the best, the purest of purifiers, and most glorious of all months. Kartika month is particularly dear to Lord Sri Krishna. This month is full of bhakta vatsalya. Any vrata, even the smallest, will yield huge results.

The effect of performing a Kartika Vrata lasts for one hundred lifetimes, Kartika or the festival of offering lamps to Lord Krishna, glorifies Lord Krishna’s pastime of being bound with ropes by Mother Yashoda.

All over the world, in temples and devotee homes, Kartika month is celebrated with offerings of lamps, bhoga and kirtana. I was able to attend many festivals in honour of Sri Radha and Krishna and mother Yashoda.