Planet ISKCON

Mayavadis are those who consider the forms of the Lord to be temporary and made out of matter.

Read More...

It is 60 years ago, on 10^th of March 1959, that the MS Jaladuta was launched at its shipbuilding yard in Lubeck Germany. It is this vessel that brought A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada from Calcutta, via Boston, to New York on a journey that started on August 13^th 1965, in what did become an astonishing journey and the start of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

SABHA - First face-to-face meeting. Feb. 27th, 28th & March 2nd, 2019 (3 min. video)
SABHA: (Spiritual Advisors Bhagavata Assembly)
PURPOSES:
(a) Establishing the Spiritual Advisors Bhagavata Assembly, or SABHA, 1 has manifold functions.
It aims at strengthening unity among ISKCON’s global spiritual leaders. It facilitates their cooperation, communication and working relation for the progress of Srila Prabhupada’s movement.
(b) The SABHA provides checks and balances on the authority of the GBC and course-correction for its decisions. More consultation, more dialogue and more interaction can be conducive to better, wiser and more acceptable decisions.

Srila Prabhupada… igniting the spark.
As we read Srimad Bhagavatam we find that most verses speak directly about the process and instructions Srila Prabhupada gave us. One can’t miss seeing how Srimad Bhagavatam is non-different from a person Bhagavat, their teachings being the same.

Mayapur Kirtan Mela 2019 (Day 1) - HG Yadubara Das (video)
Srila Prabhupada: Srila Madhavendra Puri said, “O regulative principles of karma-kanda, please excuse me. I cannot follow all these regulative principles, because I am fully engaged in devotional service.” He expressed the desire to sit somewhere beneath a tree and continue chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. Consequently he did not execute all the regulative principles. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 5.9.4 Purport)

Today is Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja’s disappearance day. He comes in the Gaudiya Vaishnava disciplic succession after Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura and Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana. He was a renounced ascetic, fully engaged in chanting the holy names of Krishna and meditating on His pastimes. For some time, he made his residence at Surya-kunda in Vraja-dhama, near the temple of Suryadeva, where Srimati Radharani used to come and worship the sun-god—or, I should say, where She used to come to meet Krishna on the pretext of coming to worship the sun-god.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, who comes in the disciplic succession after Jagannatha dasa Babaji, accepted Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja as his main guru, his siksa-guru. Once, some of Jagannatha dasa Babaji’s disciples in Vraja approached Bhaktivinoda Thakura and complained that although they had come to Vraja to live like Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja, fully absorbed in chanting the holy names and meditating on Sri Sri Radha-Krishna’s astakaliya-lila, Babaji Maharaja had refused to instruct them in such esoteric topics and had instead engaged them in cultivating tulasi plants, flowers, and vegetables to offer to the Lord. They requested the Thakura to appeal to their guru maharaja to instruct them in the esoteric practices of Krishna consciousness.

Srila Bhaktivinoda told them, “Actually, your Gurudeva’s instructions are right for you. Because you still have anarthas, for you to try to sit and do nirjana-bhajana [solitary worship] and practice asta-kaliya-lila-smarana [meditation on the Lord’s eightfold daily pastimes] would be artificial, and you would just become degraded. So you should follow your Gurudeva’s instructions with full faith and work hard in Krishna’s service. Then, in time, you may be able to chant the holy names purely.”

Eventually, Jagannatha dasa Babaji Maharaja moved to Mayapur, where he lived by the banks of the Ganges, fully absorbed in chanting the holy names. He had the greatest reverence for the holy land of Navadvipa. Although he was so renounced and so absorbed in Krishna consciousness, as his reputation spread, gentlemen would come to him and give him donations. Once, Babaji Maharaja asked one of his servants to take the donations he had received, which he kept in an old burlap bag, and purchase a large pot of rasagullas. All the devotees were surprised, because Jagannatha dasa Babaji was so renounced and lived so simply; he would eat just the simplest rice and dal. Anyway, the servant brought the sweets, and Jagannatha dasa Babaji offered them to his Deities and then distributed them to the cows and dogs in the dhama. He said the creatures of the dhama were elevated souls and worthy of service.

Later, Babaji Maharaja would not accept prasada until he had shared his food with ten newborn puppies. He would wait until they came, and he would count them with his hands. (In his old age, Babaji Maharaja’s eyelids drooped over his eyes and prevented him from seeing.) Only after the puppies had begun to eat would he also partake. He would say, “They are puppies of the dhama. They are not ordinary living entities.” He had so much faith in and affection for the dhama.

He had less affection for Mayavadi impersonalists. He used to say, “Let the dogs come in for darshan, but the impersonalists—kick them out!”

Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji lived to a very old age. In fact, some Vaishnavas say that he was just waiting for Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura to come—someone to whom he could impart his special knowledge and realization, for the benefit of humanity.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura had requested to be transferred from his post in Orissa to Bengal so he could be near Navadvipa-dhama. And eventually, he was posted at Krishnanagar, near Navadvipa. There, he did extensive research to determine the actual birthplace of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He studied various old maps, consulted the local people, and visited different places. Eventually he found a mound where many tulasi trees were growing. He had the intuition that this was the actual birthplace of Lord Chaitanya, but still he wanted confirmation.

At the time, Jagannatha dasa Babaji was the most renowned Vaishnava, and he was Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s siksa-guru. Thus, Jagannatha dasa Babaji’s disciples carried him to the place where Bhaktivinoda Thakura had found the mound and tulasi plants. Babaji Maharaja was so old (over a hundred and forty years old, some say) that his disciples had to carry him in a basket. And his eyelids were so heavy that he had to open them with his hands to be able to see. So, the disciples brought him, but they didn’t tell him that it was the site Bhaktivinoda Thakura had determined to be the birthplace. Still, when Babaji Maharaja arrived there, he spontaneously jumped out of his basket and began to dance in ecstasy, singing the holy names. And by doing so, he confirmed the location of Mahaprabhu’s birthplace.

Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji’s bhajana-kutira and samadhi are there in Navadvipa-dhama, in Koladvipa. Devotees who perform Navadvipa-parikrama visit there and get his mercy. We also pray to him for his mercy, that we may be instrumental in fulfilling the desires of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and the other acharyas in the line of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu coming to us through Srila Prabhupada and his disciples.

 

Today especially, we think of His Holiness Tamal Krishna Goswami Maharaja, who left this world on Jagannatha Dasa Babaji’s disappearance day, also in Gauda-mandala-bhumi.

Two years ago, I was in Dallas for the disappearance day of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, just a few months after Goswami Maharaja passed away. As we were observing the ceremony in the temple, I was thinking how Goswami Maharaja was the perfect servant and therefore the fit representative of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. Then I thought of him in relation to all of the acharyas in the last two centuries—Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and Srila Prabhupada (who are the most prominent of them)—and how he really took their mission to heart. He was absorbed in fulfilling all aspects of their mission: developing Mayapur, distributing books, spreading the chanting of the holy names throughout the world in various ways—all the programs that were so important to our predecessor acharyas.

Although I could speak of Goswami Maharaja’s surrender and service for days, we now have the rare opportunity to hear from His Grace Amoghalila dasa Adhikari.

Amoghalila Prabhu:

So, I am thinking of one or two incidents I can mention, and some realizations I had from them. One was the last morning Srila Prabhupada was in Bombay, in Juhu. After about a month in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada was leaving that morning for Vrindavan. By Giriraj Maharaja’s mercy, I was fortunate to be able to be in Srila Prabhupada’s room. Madhava Prabhu was also there, and Upendra was in and out of the room.

Srila Prabhupada was just lying on his bed. He could hardly move; he couldn’t even sit up by himself. He was so weak he could barely speak. But then he said something. It was hard to hear, so I leaned close and asked, “What, Srila Prabhupada?” He said, “Call Tamal.” So Upendra went out to get Tamal Krishna Maharaja. When Goswami Maharaja came into the room, he offered dandavat-pranama and then got up. Srila Prabhupada asked him about the arrangements for going to Vrindavan. Goswami Maharaja said, “Yes, Srila Prabhupada,” offered dandavat-pranama, and went out. A minute or two later, he came back in. He offered dandavat-pranama, got up, and then told Srila Prabhupada the answer to Prabhupada’s question. Then he said something, got something ready, again offered dandavat-pranama, and went out. This happened at least three times: he came in and went out, came in and went out, and came in and went out—all within just a few minutes. Practically every minute, he was coming in, offering dandavat-pranama, getting up, talking to Prabhupada for a few seconds or half a minute, offering dandavat-pranama again, and going out.

Later, after Srila Prabhupada left us, when I was Goswami Maharaja’s personal secretary, I mentioned this to him. He said, “Yes, Srila Prabhupada instructed me to do this. He said that, because familiarity breeds contempt, it is very important when somebody is intimately serving the spiritual master that they keep a reverential mood.” Goswami Maharaja, of course, was such an intimate servant of Srila Prabhupada’s, yet he always maintained that deep reverence—of course love, also, but at the same time he always had such deep reverence for Srila Prabhupada. He was such an ideal example of a personal servant and disciple.

I am also thinking of one other incident then, when I was Goswami Maharaja’s personal secretary in 1978 in Bombay. I think the real reason he wanted me to be his personal secretary was so he could train me, because he had seen how disturbing my mismanagement was (Giriraj Maharaja told me this). I had been the vice president and so-called manager of Hare Krishna Land, and at one point during that time, Giriraj Maharaja had mentioned to Tamal Krishna Maharaja, “Amoghalila is mismanaging the affairs here.” Goswami Maharaja had said, “There is no mismanagement . . . There is no management!” He felt that I needed some training, so he made me his personal secretary, to train me.

He trained me a lot, though I didn’t follow his training so well. One time, he was teaching me how to clean the floor. I mean, I had been a devotee for six or seven years, so I had been cleaning floors for a long time. But once, when I was cleaning the floor, he said, “No, that’s not how you clean the floor,” because I had the cloth bunched up or something. So, he took the cloth from me, got down on his hands and knees, spread the cloth out big, folded it over, and started cleaning the floor. I tried to stop him: “Maharaja, it’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll do it.” But he responded, “No, I want to show you how to do it.” And he cleaned for quite a while. He cleaned a large area, and I was protesting, but he said, “No. Just watch what I am doing.” He had the cloth spread out quite big, and he cleaned for some time. I tried to stop him again, but he explained: “No, Srila Prabhupada did this to me. Srila Prabhupada showed me like this. He got down on his hands and knees and he cleaned the floor to show me how to do it. So why can’t you let me show you how to do it?”

So, Tamal Krishna Goswami was the perfect servant of Srila Prabhupada. And as you said, Maharaja, the perfect servant becomes the ideal representative. Goswami Maharaja was so strict in following Srila Prabhupada, exactly to the detail—even how you open up a cloth and fold it and clean the floor. Every detail—everything! These are just a couple of little incidents I was thinking about.

Hare Krishna.

Giriraj Swami: When you began, saying how Tamal Krishna Goswami would come and offer full obeisances, I thought of what some devotees told me about his routine in Dallas after Srila Prabhupada left. Every night he would go into Srila Prabhupada’s room where the deity of Srila Prabhupada was installed, and he would chant his last Gayatri and put Srila Prabhupada to rest. He wanted to do that as his personal service. And they told me that whenever Goswami Maharaja would leave the temple premises, even for an hour or two, he would first circumambulate the building. They gave me the impression that he was circumambulating Srila Prabhupada, although, of course, he was circumambulating the other Deities as well. But he was very conscious of Srila Prabhupada. In general, he was always very conscious of his lords and masters.

I also think of how Goswami Maharaja had one of Srila Prabhupada’s teeth. He placed this tooth in a silver kavaca and hung it around his neck. Indradyumna Swami, who is quite expert in getting deities and sacred relics, once was asking him about the tooth—what was eventually going to happen to it. And Tamal Krishna Goswami, understanding that Indradyumna Maharaja was trying to see if he could one day get the tooth, just laughed and said, “Don’t even think of it. I am taking it with me. Even after I leave, it will stay with my body.” And it did. His idea was that by the tooth being put into his samadhi, people who circumambulated his samadhi or offered obeisances there would get the benefit of circumambulating Srila Prabhupada’s tooth, of offering obeisances to his tooth. And on the absolute platform, Srila Prabhupada’s tooth is as worshipable as he is.

Hare Krishna!

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Jagannatha dasa Babaji’s disappearance day, February 20, 2004, Carpinteria, California]

Answer Podcast

The post Will accepting diversity lead to disintegration of standards and chaotic relativism? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

A video by Hare Krishna TV.

Iskcon Leicester: City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby joins ISKCON Leicester President Pradyumna Dasa to officially open Avanti Fields, Leicester’s first Hindu all-through school
To read the complete article please click here: https://goo.gl/HE2bw9

Pastimes of Srila Prabhupada (video)
By Ramesvara Prabhu on 4th Mar 2019 at ISKCON Juhu Mumbai.

The International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has a Temple in Agartala. The presiding deities are Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva, Subhadra. There is a book shop and a Prasadam stall in front of the temple. Behind the temple is Govindas restaurant.

Lord Ramacandra stands holding a bow and arrow in the center of the painting surrounded by a rocky landscape. Laksmaṇ stands behind Him and also holds a bow and arrow. Like Lord Ramacandra, He is effulgent. Both Lord Ramacandra and Laksman wear wooden sandals.

Also standing behind Lord Ramacandra are Hanuman, Angada, Arunda, Nila and Samrambha. They all hold maces in their hands and wear golden crowns.

In front of Lord Ramacandra stands King Sugriva holding an umbrella in his left hand and a mace in his right hand. He is followed by Nala, Vanara, Durvinda and Rambha who all hold maces.

[ Watercolor on paper. Early 1800’s ]

After preaching in Maharashtra’s Bhandara district the All-India Padayatra entered Nagpur city at Suryanagar on February 7. Walking for a further 7km, we reached the ISKCON Radha-Gopinath temple in Empress City, where the devotees welcomed Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar with garlands and a grand sankirtan. The matajis then washed the hooves of our oxen, showered flowers on them and performed arati of Their Lordships.

Praying to become an instrument for saving souls (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam Class by Ramesvara Prabhu on 5th Mar 2019 at ISKCON...

Every Purnima, sixty flags will be offered to the Deities and two raised every day in the names of their sponsors. The flags will then be shipped to the sponsors as prasadam for their seva. This transcendental monthly festival will continue into the future for as long as the TOVP stands and will become a tradition for future generations of devotees.

Iskcon Mayapur: Since Sri Sri Panca-tattva were installed in the Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir in 2004, every 5 years They have been worshipped by an elaborate and ecstatic Maha Abhiseka. This year, 2019, was the 15^th installation anniversary of Sri Sri Panca-tattva and the largest Maha Abhiseka yet.

By Yugala Kishor Gour dasa

On the 10th of March it will be exactly 60 years ago, 10th of March 1959, that the MS Jaladuta was launched at its shipbuilding yard in Lubeck Germany. It is this vessel that brought Srila Prabhupada from Calcutta, via Boston, to New York on a journey that started on the 13th August 1965, in what became an astonishing journey and also the beginning of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. This launch was organised by the Lubecker-Flenderwerke AG yard in Northern Germany at the completion of the ship. This event is standard in the shipbuilding industry and is likened to a christening name giving ceremony. The vessel receives its name and blessings from all present guests for its future journeys. An interesting fact is that Scindia named the majority of their vessels starting with Jala, Jalakrishna, Jalagopal, Jalakanta etc. The procedure is that the yard invites a prominent figure to speak the name of the vessel while simultaneously breaking a bottle of champagne over the bow. In this case the shipbuilders invited members of the board of Scindia, and instead of a bottle of alcohol, a blessed coconut was used to inaugurate the name giving ceremony. Continue reading "Jaladuta
→ Dandavats"

Radha Mohan das: Please view my latest Youtube presentation, entitled “Understanding the Multidimensional Universe of the Vedas”.

[Bhagavatam class at ISKCON, New Govardhan, Murwillumbah, Australia]

Podcast

 

Podcast Summary

 

The post When time becomes unfavorable, don’t become unfavorable to Krishna appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Answer Podcast

The post How do we create our world by our words? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Official Opening of Krishna’s Castle, in the City of London Representatives from 10 banks and businesses attended the official opening of Krishna’s Castle on the 1st March 2019.Since 14 months Krishna’s Castle, situated in the heart of the banking world, has been a hive of devotional service. We need about 10 volunteers daily and half of them are bankers, come to do their Corporate Social Responsibly.One definition :The emerging concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goes beyond charity and requires the company to act beyond its legal obligations and to integrated social, environmental and ethical concerns into company’s business process.
All this comes under Agnatha Sukrti. Srila Prabhupada: “The beginning of contact with Krishna Consciousness is the beginning of good fortune. That some people may come and others may not, this is also due to association. Suppose a man accidentally comes in contact with our society and gives some service willingly or unwillingly, that is the beginning of his fortunate life.”
Daily there are over 2,000 healthy plates of Prasad to be cooked, pots need to be washed , including the biggest pot in the western world, veg chopped , pakoras and popadoms cooked, and Prasad distributed. 
Second Group of Volunteers:Work Away is a scheme where employers offer accommodation and food to young people in return for work. We have facilities for 10 young people in the Castle.Young people are queuing up from around the world for a chance to live in the City of London for a week or so ,and engage in meaningful activities. 

Your servantParasuram Das 

Srila Prabhupada jokes about bankers.Indian (1): So if about the bankers, if you permit me, I’ll give you another interesting story. There was a man who was very ill in America, and he had a heart trouble. In fact he had no heart, I would say. So, you know, they can replace the hearts nowadays. He went to a hospital, and the doctor offered him, “Here are three hearts. Which one would you like? One is of the general, the other is of a big businessman, and the third is of a banker. What would you like?” So he thought, “Let me have the heart of a…”Prabhupāda: Banker.Indian (1): “…banker.” [laughter] So the doctor said, “Why do you want to have the heart of a banker?” He thought, “Because I’m sure it has never been used.” [laughter]Prabhupāda: [laughing] I’ll recite another very nice story… [break]Indian (2): [Hindi—about opening a branch of the bank]Indian (3): [Hindi]Indian (1): There seem to be little misunderstanding, not that we are short of any space or any accommodation or anything for which we can’t open, but there’s a little technical thing that bank license does not permit, and we are immediately taking or for amending the license, and as soon as it is, we’ll start. We have no problem of this.Gurudāsa: Prabhupāda, did you want to tell another story?Prabhupāda: Yes. [laughter]Indian (1): But I had only two. I won’t be able to add.Prabhupāda: [laughter] The story is that one poor man was informed by his friend that “Money draws money.” That’s a fact. If you have got money, you can draw money. So he went to the bank, and the cashier was counting huge amount of money, and he threw his coin on the cash…, [laughs] and he was waiting = “When the whole money will come to me?” Then the cashier saw this man is standing = “What is it? Why you are standing?” “Sir, I heard that money draws money, so I had one coin. I have dropped with your money. I am waiting when it will come to me.” So he said, “No, no. The fact is that = money draws. Now my money has drawn your money.” [laughter] So… [Hindi]Indian (1): Perhaps it is in the Bible that “Those who have shall be given more. Those who have not shall be taken of what they have already.” I don’t whether it’s right or not, but more money draws the lesser money.Prabhupāda: Yes. [Hindi]April 6, 1976 Vrindavan.

Shiva-ratri occurs every lunar month on the 13th or 14th day of the dark half of the moon phase. Once every year during the month of Phalgun, a Maha Shiva-ratri occurs. This Maha Shiva-ratri day is considered to be the day when Lord Shiva married Parvati and it is celebrated elaborately by devotees of Lord […]

The post Honoring the Foremost Vaishnava-Siva-Ratri! appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Importance of historical events (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam (SB 9.15.16-24) by HH Bhakti Charu Swami in Iskcon Mayapur.

Read More...

By Parasuram dasa

At the official opening of Krishna's Castle in the City of London on March 1st 2019, representatives from 10 banks and businesses were in attendance. Since 14 months Krishna's Castle, situated in the heart of the banking world, has been a hive of devotional service. We need about 10 volunteers daily and half of them are bankers who come to do their Corporate Social Responsibly. Continue reading "Para-upakara and The Bankers
→ Dandavats"

How I Came To Krishna Consciousness - Bhakta Rex (China) (6 min. video)
Srila Prabhupada: Fate can be changed by Krishna consciousness. Krishna says, “I shall give you protection from all the resultant action of your sinful life.” That is fate changed. When you surrender to Krishna, He takes charge of squaring up all your sinful activities and their reaction. Surrender to Krishna; then your fate is changed. Delhi, November 28, 1975.

Kirtan Mela 2019 Mayapur Adhivas (Album of photos)
May the chanting begin. The exciting day before Kirtan Mela.
Find them...

Iskcon Mayapur: Shiva-ratri occurs every lunar month on the 13th or 14th day of the dark half of the moon phase. Once every year during the month of Phalgun, a Maha Shiva-ratri occurs. This Maha Shiva-ratri day is considered to be the day when Lord Shiva married Parvati and it is celebrated elaborately by devotees of Lord Shiva.

Kirtan Mela – festival of chanting the holy names of the Lord begins today. In a colorful Adhivas ceremony, worship was offered to the musical instruments and prayers offered for success of festival. HH Loknath Swami Maharaj led the first kirtan after Adhivas. Kirtan Mela : Day-1 Schedule: “I firmly believe that simply chanting the […]

The post Kirtan Mela begins today! appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Back in October, 2018 we announced the launch of the TOVP Victory Flag Campaign wherein devotees can sponsor the raising of the daily TOVP Victory Flags onto the temple domes. The response has been very good and the TOVP management has now decided to start a monthly Flag Festival to continue into perpetuity as long as the temple stands.

On February 2nd the first Flag Festival was officially launched during the grand inauguration ceremony of the 2019 Gaura Purnima Festival, with sixty flags being offered to the Deities for Their blessings and auspiciousness. Two flags were taken in procession around the Deities and to the TOVP office carried by Ambarisa and Braja Vilasa prabhus, and then hoisted onto the Main and Nrsimha domes of the temple.

Every Purnima, sixty flags will be offered to the Deities and two raised every day in the names of their sponsors. The flags will then be shipped to the sponsors as prasadam for their seva. This transcendental monthly festival will continue into the future for as long as the TOVP stands and will become a tradition for future generations of devotees.

To find out more about how to sponsor a daily Victory Flag, please visit the TOVP website at this address:

https://tovp.org/fundraising/tovp-daily-victory-flag-sponsorship-an-ideal-kartik-seva/
 

[See image gallery at tovp.org]  

TOVP NEWS AND UPDATES – STAY IN TOUCH

Visit us at: www.tovp.org
Follow us at: www.facebook.com/tovp.mayapur
Watch us at: www.youtube.com/user/tovpinfo
Phone App at: http://tovp.org/news/announcements/new-tovp-phone-app-goes-live/
Mailing List at: https://goo.gl/forms/ojJ2WcUUuqWh8bXt1
Support us at: www.tovp.org/donate/seva-opportunities

The post TOVP Monthly Flag Festival Launched appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Iskcon leaders meet in Mayapur (Album of photos)
The Sanga of GBCs, Gurus and Sannyasis (SGGS) began yesterday in Mayapur. 100 of the most senior devotees have gathered and are discussing all types of preaching activities in Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON.

Our deity of Sri Gopisvara Mahadeva at our ashram today, Siva-ratri.

In his Sankalpa-kalpadruma (103) Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura prays:

vrndavanavani-pate jaya soma soma-
  maule sanandana-sanatana-naradedya
gopisvara vraja-vilasi-yuganghri-padme
  prema prayaccha nirupadhi namo namaste

“O gatekeeper of Vrindavan! O Soma, all glories to you! O you whose forehead is decorated with the moon (soma), and who is worshiped by the sages headed by Sanandana, Sanatana, and Narada! O Gopisvara! Desiring that you bestow upon me limitless love for the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha-Madhava, who perform joyous pastimes in Vraja-dhama, I offer my obeisances unto you again and again.”

Sri Gopisvara Mahadeva ki jaya!

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami