The ministry presented their new web platform, which was created with the intention to connect all the educators working in ISKCON and make the information about the different courses taught available to a wider audience.

“Да благословит тебя сегодня мать Ганга”

https://iskconnews.org/may-mother-ganges-bless-you-today,6862/?fbclid=IwAR1N9ir1jet9VR8bkOQEB3veCcGMmJ7JyJ5Qnqsm6RCW0zHB11sJQFpGH38

Ever since becoming a devotee of Lord Krishna in 1970, I have been fascinated with the Kumbha Mela festival. This year I decided to join millions of other pilgrims in the journey to the Ardha Kumbha Mela where, from January 15th to March 4th, ISKCON devotees were to follow in Srila Prabhupada’s footsteps by bringing his books, the Holy Names and prasadam to the festival.

Kumbha Mela is the largest religious gathering in the world. Estimates anticipated that 120 million pilgrims—nearly double the population of England and France combined—would visit the Mela over seven weeks. The Mela takes place four times within a twelve-year period on the banks of four of India’s most holy rivers: the Godavari River in Nashik, the Shipra River in Ujjain, the Ganges River in Haridwar and the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and Saraswati Rivers in Prayagraj (formerly known as Prayaga ).

This year’s Mela was to be held at the confluence site at Prayagraj. The point of convergence is called “Triveni Sangam.” Bathing in any of the sacred rivers has a purifying effect, but it is said that the purification is increased a hundred times at the sangam and a thousand times at the sangam during Kumbha Mela.

Srila Prabhupada writes:

“Bathing during the month of Magha at the Magha-Mela [Kumbha Mela] still takes place. This is a very old Mela (assembly), dating from time immemorial. It is said that ever since the Lord in the form of Mohini took a bucket of nectar and kept it at Prayaga, holy men have gathered there every year and observed the Magha-Mela. Every twelfth year there is a Kumbha-Mela, a great festival, and all the holy men from all over India assemble there. Bathing at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna, near the fort at Allahabad (Prayaga), is mentioned in the revealed scriptures:

“maghe masi gamisyanti ganga yamuna sangamam
gavam sata sahasrasya samyag dattam ca yat phalam
prayage magha mase vai try aham snatasya tat phalam

“If one goes to Prayaga and bathes at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna in the month of Magha, he attains the result of giving hundreds and thousands of cows in charity. Simply by bathing for three days there, he attains the results of such a pious activity.”

[ Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya 18.145 ]

I had a special desire to attend Kumbha Mela this year as the main bathing day, February 4th, was on Mauni Amavasya, which creates a special tithi that appears only once every 200 years. However, my main motivation to go was to meet with the holy men Srila Prabhupada describes in his above purport, and to share with them the glories of Lord Caitanya and His movement of chanting the holy names which He inaugurated just over 500 years ago. My experience in India is that most people are aware of the 10 primary incarnations of the Lord—the das avatars such as Lord Ramacandra, Varaha, Kurma, Matsya and so on. But very few are aware of the avatar of this age, Lord Caitanya, whose appearance is predicted in ancient scriptures like Srimad Bhagavatam:

krsna varnam tvisakrsnam
sanopangastra parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana prayair
yajanti hi su medhasah

“In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Krsna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krsna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.” [ Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.32 ]

The origin of Kumbha Mela is mentioned in the Vedic scriptures. It is stated that in bygone ages, the demigods and demons assembled together to churn the ocean of milk to produce the nectar of immortality. Mandara Mountain was used as a churning rod, and Vasuki, the king of serpents, became the rope for churning. The demigods took Vasuki’s tail and the demons his head, and they churned the milk ocean for one thousand celestial years. Among many other amazing things, a pot of immortal nectar was produced. The demigods were fearful that the demons would take advantage of it, so they stole the pot and hid it in the four places on Earth where the Mela is held. During the act of hiding, a drop of immortal nectar spilled from the pot at each of the four places. Kumbha Mela is held at the time when, according to astrological calculations, the immortal nectar is most readily available to those who bathe in the sacred rivers.

Approaching the festival site, we pulled over at a small hill that provided a panoramic view of the Mela. The magnitude of the site testified to the pilgrims’ enthusiasm to be liberated from the material world through contact with the nectar of immortality. Witnessing the vast landscape of tents, I was fascinated by the thought that so many people were coming simply for spiritual purposes.

Prabhupada said:

“At the Kumbha-Mela, millions of people come to take bath in the Ganges because they are interested in how to become spiritually liberated from this material world. They travel thousands of miles to take bath in the Ganges at the holy place of Prayaga.” [ Room conversation with Pusta Krsna das ]

From our vantage point on the hill, I could see thousands upon thousands of people pouring into the Mela. These people were prepared to travel long distances and tolerate many discomforts, including sleeping in austere conditions in very cold weather. Some arrived on overcrowded trains. Others came by bus, car and even ox carts. While the rich and famous flew into Prayagraj on chartered flights, the multitudes came on foot carrying all their necessities—food and a couple changes of clothes—in bundles on their heads. But whether rich or poor, everyone had the same agenda: to bathe in the sangam at the auspicious moment and attain passage back to the spiritual world. I could hear many people glorifying the Ganges with cries of “Ganga Ma ki jaya! All glories to Mother Ganges!”

Sastra supports their glorification:

nimna ganam yatha ganga
devanam acyuto yatha
vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh
purananam idam tatha

“Just as the Ganga is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta the supreme among deities and Lord Sambhu [Siva] the greatest of Vaisnavas, so Srimad-Bhagavatam is the greatest of all Puranas.” [ Srimad Bhagavatam 12.13.16 ]

I knew that as Westerners, we would be a tiny minority at the Mela, but we were not the first foreigners to take part by any means. A seventh-century diary written by Hiuen Tsiang from China mentions Kumbha Mela. He writes that he witnessed half a million people gather on the banks of the Ganges at Prayagraj to observe a celebration for 75 days. He even mentions that a king was present with his ministers, scholars, philosophers and sages, and that he gave away huge amounts of gold, silver and jewels to acquire pious credit and assure himself a place in heaven.

The current rulers of India, likewise, were taking part in the Mela by facilitating many of the logistical details. The government had been working on the services and accommodations for an entire year, and the statistics were mind-boggling. Over 6,000 religious and cultural organizations had been allotted land, including our International Society for Krsna Consciousness. The Mela site sprawled over 32 square miles, an area equivalent to a large town. There were 4,200 premium tents, 300 kilometers of roads, 122,000 toilets, 20,000 dustbins, 10,000 policemen and 30,000 military personnel. They had provided row upon row of simple tents for free accommodation. There were lost-and-found centers dotted throughout the Mela, intended mainly for helping people find their lost family members and friends. In 2013, thousands of people—mostly women and children—went missing in the huge crowds. The entire cost of this year’s Kumbha Mela was estimated at 400 million dollars.

There were many ashrams and camps distributing free food throughout the Mela, including our ISKCON camp. Overall, 5,384 metric tons of rice, 7,834 tons of wheat, 3,174 tons of sugar and 767 kiloliters of kerosene were allocated to the food distribution centers. 160 dispensers of clean drinking water were available throughout the Mela.

A 100-bed hospital and ten smaller hospitals staffed by 200 doctors and 1,500 health professionals were set up throughout the event. 80 practitioners of Ayurveda were also available. There were elaborate plans for waste management too. Every one of the 122,000 toilets were geo-tagged to help tackle any problems. Talk about organization!

Meeting India’s Spiritual Leader

It is generally very difficult to meet famous spiritual personalities in India due to strict security policies, but luck was on my side. My good friend Pundrik Goswami of the Radha Raman temple in Vrindavan invited me to stay with him at a camp where many of the principal spiritual dignitaries would be staying. It was called, Guru Karishni Camp, and was run by Swami Sharanandaji Maharaja, a prominent figure in Vrindavan. I considered this to be a golden opportunity to network with these personalities, most of whom would be unlikely to visit our ISKCON camp at the Mela or ISKCON temples elsewhere in India.

Once I arrived at the camp, Pundrik Goswami lost no time introducing me to the spiritual leaders present. His introduction followed a standard format: he would begin by glorifying Srila Prabhupada and explaining how he took Krsna consciousness to the West and how ISKCON has become a worldwide spiritual organization. Then he would introduce me and share some of the results of my service in different parts of the world. His introduction acted as an endorsement whereby India’s spiritual leaders gained confidence and respect for my humble self and, through me, Srila Prabhupada’s movement.

Over several days I had enlightening talks with numerous personalities. These included:

· Sri Ravi Shankar, the head of the Art of Living Foundation: I shared with him the work of ISKCON in communist countries like Russia and China. I told him of how Srila Prabhupada went to Russia in the 1970s and of the success of our movement there since that time. He was so touched that he gave me a beautiful silk chaddar as a gift.

· Swami Chidananda of Parmarth Niketan from Rishikesh: he wasn’t staying at the Guru Karishni Camp, but like many other sadhus, he visited to associate with prominent spiritual leaders. We had lunch together on two occasions. After I spoke to him about the glories of Srila Prabhupada, he offered to help renovate holy places in Vrindavan. He was especially eager to give money towards cleaning Radha Kunda so that pilgrims could drink the water from it, as well as establishing a large evening arotika on the banks of that sacred lake.

· Keshav Prasad Maurya, the deputy chief minister of UP: he had some misconceptions about our movement which I was happy to resolve to his full satisfaction.

· Swami Avdeshanand, the leader of one million Naga Babas and head of the Juna Akhada: Naga Babas (translated literally as “naked yogis”) are worshipers of Lord Siva. With their ash-covered bodies and matted dreadlocks, even their physique resembles his. They take vows of celibacy, renounce societal norms and live in the Himalayas. Swami Avdeshanand is such a respected leader that he is given the honor of being the first person to bathe at Kumbha Mela. After our talk he took my hand and said, “Your movement is creating a spiritual revolution all over the world!”

· Sri Rajendra Das Ji Maharaja, a well-known sadhu with a big ashram in Vrindavan: moved by Srila Prabhupada’s voyage to the USA and his introduction of Krsna consciousness in almost every country of the world, he invited me to visit him for lunch in Vrindavan.

· Lokesh Muni, leader of the Jains in India: this was the third time I have met him over the last few years. He invited me to spend time with him at his headquarters in Rajasthan.

Lost At The Mela

Going anywhere outside the Guru Karishni Camp was a challenge because there was a veritable flood of humanity outside its confines: an estimated 64 million people were descending upon the Mela to bathe on February 4th, the most auspicious bathing day.

I woke up early that morning which was an austerity in itself. It was mid-winter and it was cold in the tent where I was staying. I bathed quickly in an improvised bathroom which was without hot water, and then went out into the cold foggy morning.

“How in the world are 64 million people going to bathe along the river bank?” I wondered. And then a doubt entered my mind. “Will I actually be able to bathe in the river myself?”

The previous night I had searched the internet for all the information I could find on the three sacred rivers, the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati. A recent BBC article described the Ganges as the world’s sixth most polluted river. It said that 3,000 million liters of untreated sewage are pumped into the river every day; the figure didn’t include the industrial waste poured into the Ganges as it descends from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. By the time it reaches Prayagraj, a town that also contributes untreated sewage to its waters, the Ganges, the article said, becomes a sewer.

The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, claimed that cleansing the Ganges was nothing less than a mission from God.

“Ma Ganga has called me,” he told the crowd at his victory celebration some years ago when he was swept to power in a landslide victory. “She has decided some responsibilities for me. Ma Ganga is screaming for help; she is saying ‘I hope one of my sons gets me out of this filth’. It is possible it has been decided by God for me to serve Ma Ganga.”

He pledged serious money to his Clean Ganga Mission – more than $3 billion dollars.

This was sobering and disturbing information. I turned away from Google to the Srimad Bhagavatam and the purports of my spiritual master for guidance. My doubts were resolved when I read this:

yat pada sevabhirucis tapasvinam
asesa janmopacitam malamdhiyah
aadyah ksinotyanvaham edhati sati
yatha padangustha vinihsrta sarit

“By the inclination to serve the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, suffering humanity can immediately cleanse the dirt which has accumulated in their minds during innumerable births. Like the Ganges water, which emanates from the toes of the lotus feet of the Lord, such a process immediately cleanses the mind, and thus spiritual or Krsna consciousness gradually increases.” [ Srimad Bhagavatam, 4.21.31 ]

In his purport, Srila Prabhupada writes:

“In India, one can actually see that a person who takes a bath in the Ganges waters daily is almost free from all kinds of diseases. A very respectable brahmana in Calcutta never took a doctor’s medicine. Even though he sometimes felt sick, he would not accept medicine from the physician but would simply drink Ganges water, and he was always cured within a very short time. The glories of Ganges water are known to Indians and to ourselves also. The river Ganges flows by Calcutta. Sometimes within the water there are many stools and other dirty things which are washed away from neighboring mills and factories, but still thousands of men take baths in the Ganges water, and they are very healthy as well as spiritually inclined. That is the effect of Ganges water. The Ganges is glorified because it emanates from the toes of the lotus feet of the Lord. Similarly, if one takes to the service of the lotus feet of the Lord, or takes to Krsna consciousness, he is immediately cleansed of the many dirty things which have accumulated in his innumerable births.”

Elsewhere, Rupa Goswami writes that the Ganges is always pure, regardless of its seeming pollution:

drstaih svabhava janitair vapusas ca dosair
na prakrtatvam iha bhakta janasya pasyet
gangambhasam na khalu budbuda phena pankair
brahma dravatvam apagacchati nira dharmaih

“Being situated in his original Krishna conscious position, a pure devotee does not identify with the body. Such a devotee should not be seen from a materialistic point of view. Indeed, one should overlook a devotee’s having a body born in a low family, a body with a bad complexion, a deformed body, or a diseased or infirm body. According to ordinary vision, such imperfections may seem prominent in the body of a pure devotee, but despite such seeming defects, the body of a pure devotee cannot be polluted. It is exactly like the waters of the Ganges, which sometimes during the rainy season are full of bubbles, foam and mud. The Ganges waters do not become polluted. Those who are advanced in spiritual understanding will bathe in the Ganges without considering the condition of the water.” [ Nectar of Instruction, Text 6 ]

Reading these instructions, I decided to follow the advice of my spiritual master and the Srimad Bhagavatam. I remembered a key verse:

yasya deve para bhaktir
yatha deve tatha gurau
tasyaite kathita hy arthah
prakasante mahatmanah

“Only unto one who has unflinching devotion to the Lord and to the spiritual master does transcendental knowledge become automatically revealed.” [ Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.23 ]

“I’m going,” I said to myself out loud, with full conviction. “Whatever it takes, I will bathe at the Triveni Sangam at the auspicious time.”

The arrangements to travel to the sangam were made by Pundrik Goswami.

“Maharaja,” he said to me, “you’ll come with me and the spiritual leaders in a van, and your assistants, Narottam das, Vikram and Kartamashi das, can go in another. It will take us around four hours to reach the sangam.”

“That’s a long time,” I said. “How far away is it?”

“It’s 12 kilometers from here,” Goswami said.

“So we’ll be traveling at a rate of three kilometers an hour?” I asked.

“Well, remember there are 64 million people vying for that little space at the sangam,” he said. “The police say that since midnight last night 32 million people have bathed. But we’ll make it. We have a police escort.”

I sat on the floor of the van, relinquishing the seats to six elderly sadhus who were joining us on the journey. Wanting to focus on the purpose of our journey, I read aloud the following verse from Caitanya Caritamrta:

mahattvam gangayah satatam idam abhati nitaram
yad esa sri visnos carana kamalotpatti subhaga
dvitiya sri laksmir iva sura narair arcya carana
bhavani bhartur ya sirasi vibhavaty adbhuta guna

“The greatness of mother Ganges always brilliantly exists. She is the most fortunate because she emanated from the lotus feet of Sri Visnu, the Personality of Godhead. She is a second goddess of fortune, and therefore she is always worshiped both by demigods and by humanity. Endowed with all wonderful qualities, she flourishes on the head of Lord Siva.” [ Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi Lila 16.41 ]

When the sadhus heard me chanting the Sanskrit glorifying Mother Ganges, they all smiled broadly.

“May Mother Ganges bless you today!” one said, placing his hand upon my hand.

Our van crawled through the dense crowds. Seeing the sadhus inside, people folded their hands in respect, and some touched the van and then touched their heads. When they saw me crouched on the floor of the van, many smiled and called out, “Hare Krsna!”

“You Western vaisnavas are keeping our spiritual culture alive,” one of the sadhus said to me.

We finally arrived at the river confluence hours later. The bank seethed as people tried to move towards the water while others tried to move back after bathing.

“Alright! We’re here!” Pundrik Goswami called. “Everybody out!”

I hesitated. “Out where?” I thought. There was not an inch of free ground.

I quickly changed into a small red gamcha (thin cotton waist towel) and slung a small towel around my neck. Kicking off my sandals, I grabbed my cell phone and placed it in a small plastic bag. “Just in case!” I thought. Finally, I tucked my bag containing my passport and money safely under the seat. For a moment I contemplated taking a sweater because it was so cold outside.

“No,” I decided. “I’ll just take the bare minimum. The river is only meters away and we’ll be back in a flash!”

Without warning, the sliding door I was leaning on opened and I fell out of the van and onto the ground.

“I’m going to get trampled!” I thought. The crowd surged over me and around me. I pushed myself upwards to gasp for air; all I could see was waves of people for kilometers in every direction. When I finally managed to steady myself on my feet, I saw I was 20 meters behind the sadhus. They were intrepidly pushing their way towards the water, the policemen guarding them on all sides. The crowd was squeezing me and it was hard to breathe.

“Wait for me!” I yelled, trying to recover the distance between us. My cries merged into the tumultuous noise created by the pilgrims as they strained forward to bathe in the nectar of immortality.

I managed to rejoin the sadhus just a few meters from the Triveni Sangam where the Ganges flows alongside the Yamuna and the mystical Saraswati River joins them from beneath the ground. We were also joined by Vikram and Kartamashi, who was trying to take photos in the midst of it all. His face was ashen.

“I thought I was going to be crushed to death!” he blurted out.

The roar of the crowd at the sangam was deafening as thousands of people simultaneously achieved their goal of bathing. Cries of “Ganga Ma ki jaya! All glories to Mother Ganges!” reverberated everywhere.

Far away in the river, separated from the throng, I saw a small group of four sadhus standing motionless in the water, their hands folded in prayer. Their long, matted hair was tied up in topknots on their heads. Though thin, they were not emaciated; in fact, they were effulgent, almost glowing. Seeing their gravity and obvious devotion, the hair on my arms stood up for a moment.

“That’s the mood I’m seeking,” I thought. I remembered a verse that encapsulated my aspirations:

tvayi me ‘nanya-visaya
matir madhu-pate ‘sakrt
ratim udvahatad addha
gangevaugham udanvati

“O Lord of Madhu, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else.” [ Srimad Bhagavatam 1.8.42, “Prayers by Queen Kunti” ]

As if hearing the verse I had just remembered, the sadhus I was with sat down together to do puja, their attention single-pointed on the sacred sangam, oblivious to anyone else.

“Here and now?” I thought. I watched in disbelief as they took out all sorts of paraphernalia and, in a peaceful reverie, began offering arotik to the three rivers. Hundreds of people directly behind us were straining to see the sadhus do their puja, while the build-up of people further back caused the line to bulge. People fell to the ground because of the weight of the crowd behind them.

I heard Vikram calling, “Maharaja! Maharaja!” Over to my right, the intense pressure of the crowd was pulling him away. Then he simply disappeared into the mass of people.

Suddenly the crowd surged forward with such force that all of us were thrown into the river. I clutched my phone in the plastic bag as I fell into the cold water. I swam up to the surface, gasping for air. There was transcendental chaos everywhere as people splashed each other in great joy. The glorification of Mother Ganges reached a frantic pitch: “Ganga Ma ki jaya! Ganga Ma ki Jaya! Ganga Ma ki jaya!”

Surrendering to the moment and remembering the four effulgent sadhus, I stood with my hands folded and prayed to Mother Ganges for loving devotion to the Supreme Lord. Then, following the prescribed method for bathing, I dunked three times into the cold water. When I came up the last time, one blissful sadhu jumped on me and we both tumbled back into the water. Coming up, he again pulled me under, this time going deeper into the water. We splashed each other in great fun, and more sadhus joined our little melee.

“Maharaja,” I heard a voice shout. I saw Vikram swimming towards me. “I finally found you!” he said. “Our group is back on the bank of the river and is preparing to leave. You must come now.”

As I prepared to get out of the water I saw Kartamashi on the bank taking photos. I raised my arms in bliss, and he took a last photo before being pushed from behind. He and his camera just escaped falling into the river.

I glanced back to catch a last glimpse of the four sadhus. They were nowhere to be seen.

“How is that possible?” I wondered. “There’s no way they could have moved through all the people bathing in the sangam back to the bank. It’s very peculiar.” I remembered something I had read a few days before:

“Prabhupada said that although a number of the saints and sadhus present [at Kumbha Mela] were inauthentic, many were perfect yogis, some of them three and four hundred years old. These yogis, from remote parts of India, would come out for the Mela and then return to seclusion. ‘I have personally seen,’ he said, ‘that they take bath in the Ganges and come up in the seven sacred rivers! They go down in the Ganges and come up in the Godavari River. Then they go down and come up in the Krsna River, and go down, like that. The devotees, therefore, should respect everyone who attended the Mela.’” [Srila Prabhupada lilamrta, Volume 4, Every Town and Village]

It took me a good half an hour to make it back to the van. Somehow we had acquired a number of additional sadhus for the ride back to the camp, so I offered to ride in the smaller car with Narottam, Vikram and Kartamashi. Always concerned about my welfare, Pundrik Goswami reluctantly agreed. I started to push through the crowd away from the van when I realized I had forgotten my bag with my passport in it.

“I left my bag under the seat,” I called to Goswami. “I’ll get it when we’re back.”

“Sure, Maharaja,” he called. He held the bag up so I could see it. “I’ve got it.”

Confident that the smaller car was nearby, I made my way inch by inch to where I had seen it parked some distance away. But to my astonishment, it was gone. I made my way as quickly as I could back to where the van was parked, only to find it had left as well.

I stood there, momentarily bewildered. I was alone in a crowd of 64 million people, dressed only in a small wet gamcha with a damp towel around my neck. I had no dhoti, no kurta, no shoes, and, perhaps most alarmingly, no jacket to protect me from the cold. I had no clear idea where I was. All I knew was that the camp I was staying in was in Sector 7, and that that was 12 kilometers away. 12 kilometers through a mass of humanity pressing its way along the 300 kilometers of roads crisscrossing the Mela site. I had no map, and there were no signs giving directions in Hindi, much less English. I glanced at my watch. It was 4 p.m. and sunset was imminent.

Then I remembered I had my phone clutched in my hand. I unwrapped it from its plastic-bag covering and turned it on. To my dismay I saw there was no service available, and my battery had only 3 % left in it. I hurriedly turned it off.

“How in the world do people know where they’re going?” I wondered. Then, laughing to myself, I thought, “I’m probably the only person in this crowd of 64 million people who doesn’t know where he’s going!”

Knowing for sure that the direction to proceed was not behind me, I started walking forwards through the thick crowds surging towards the river. An hour later, I made it to a crossroads, turned left and began walking down a dirt road with a myriad of shops and ashrams on either side. Each ashram was festooned with colorful banners advertising the resident guru and his teachings. Speakers blared music from inside. As it was now getting dark, bright lights illuminated the temporary city built on the sandy banks of the Ganges.

People gawked at me curiously, and I understood why. I was the only white person to be seen, and I was practically naked. Several times I was approached by Naga-Babas who, thinking me to be one of them, pulled me into their tents and offered me a chillum of hashish to smoke! Each time I declined they seemed perplexed.

I knew I needed to get directions, but to my dismay I couldn’t find a single person who spoke English. There were many different languages being spoken around me because there were pilgrims from every part of India, but not one of those pilgrims was speaking English. There were policemen on every street corner, but they too could make no sense of what I was saying. On a couple of occasions, they literally pushed me away, apparently thinking me to be insane.

A real blow came when I heard a young Indian man say to his friend, “Isn’t that Indradyumna Swami?” But before I could say anything, his friend pulled him away saying, “Come on! Are you crazy? That’s not Indradyumna Swami!” They disappeared back into the crowd before I could confirm my identity and ask their help.

Every now and then I would turn my phone on to see if I was in range. Each time I wasn’t, and each time the battery drained a little more.

By 8:00 pm it was quite cold. From time to time when I got too cold to continue, I slipped into an ashram where a program was going on and sat amongst the crowd for warmth. On one occasion, while sitting in a chair and watching a bhajan on stage, I was approached by one of the ashram leaders.

“Are you in need of anything?” he asked.

“Yes!” I replied enthusiastically, surprised and relieved that I had found someone who spoke English. “I am lost in the Mela and trying to find my way back to my camp. It’s in Sector 7. Can you help me to get there? I have been wandering around for four hours now. Is it far away?”

“Yes, it is,” he said. “It’s about 12 kilometers away at the far end of the Mela site. At the moment you are 50 meters from the bathing spot at the sangam.”

My jaw dropped. I had walked in a big circle, coming back to the exact place I had started. The ashram leader could see my disappointment.

“Why don’t you rest here for a while?” he said. “I’ll get you a blanket.”

“Thank you,” I said. Once I was wrapped in the blanket, I succumbed to my exhaustion and started to drift off to sleep in the chair. I awoke with a start when my entire body began to itch. The blanket was full of fleas and they were ruthlessly biting me. I threw the blanket to the side and quickly left the ashram, determined to reach my destination.

I started out in a different direction. Two hours later, around 10 p.m., I realized that I couldn’t keep going unless I had something to eat. I had learned the hard way not to eat food that I wasn’t 100% sure of in India, but this was an emergency. I joined a line of pilgrims waiting to be served prasadam at one of the food kitchens. It took 45 minutes for me to reach the front of the line. I was given a leaf plate and 2 leaf cups, and was served kichari, a subji, two warm chapatis and a cup of tea. Some smiling pilgrims waved at me to join them as they ate their meal in a circle on the ground. Several times I heard the word “Angreji” which means “English person”. They were kind and sympathetic to me, probably because of my paltry attire.

Hungry, cold and tired I devoured the prasadam. “This is some of the tastiest prasadam I ever had!” I thought, laughing to myself. Once I finished, I thanked the pilgrims and continued on my way with renewed vigor.

I began wondering what Pundrik Goswami, Narottam, Vikram and Kartamashi were thinking.

“Surely, they realized quite quickly that I had been left behind,” I thought. “They must be frustrated and worried, being unable to contact me or find me. But actually, I’m fine,” I realized. “There’s no real danger and it’s only a matter of time until I get back to the camp, whether it’s today or tomorrow. And I am meeting so many nice people! Krsna played a little trick on me just so I can see how the mass of people experience Kumbha Mela. He’s also teaching me how to fully depend on Him. Wonderful!”

Just then I felt a rock whiz past my ear. Then another and another. Looking back I saw a group of children laughing at me.

“Pagal baba! Pagal baba! Pagal baba!” they yelled. I knew the what the phrase meant: “Crazy sadhu!”

I walked quickly away but they followed me and continued throwing stones.

“I can’t blame them,” I thought. “I must look pretty crazy—a barefoot white guy with a dishelved sikha wandering around half naked.” Then one of the rocks hit my elbow causing me to yell out in pain. A policeman saw what was happening and yelled at the group of children to leave me alone. Then he came over and spoke to me in Hindi.

“No Hindi,” I said. “English.” I got down on my hands and knees and wrote “Sector 7” in big letters in the sand.

“There,” I said, pointing. “I need to go there.”

He looked puzzled and took me by the arm to an ashram just a few meters away. He sat me down on a mat and disappeared. Ten minutes later he came back with a man who offered me a hot cup of tea. I gladly accepted it and then both of them went on their ways. I curled up on the mat and fell asleep. When I jolted awake, I checked my watch; I’d slept for 10 minutes. I got up and continued on my way, first checking to make sure the group of children was not around.

At 11:30 p.m. I checked my cell phone again. I was in range! But I was alarmed to see there was only 1 % battery power left.

“I have enough power for one phone call,” I thought. “If the person doesn’t answer, I won’t be seeing any of my friends tonight.”

I choose to call Narottam. He picked up immediately.

“Hello! Hello! Gurudeva, is that you? Hello?” Narottam sounded both excited and worried.

“Yes, it’s me!” I said.

“Good Lord! We’ve been so worried. What happened? Where are you? I’ve been out looking for you for hours!”

“I’m not sure where I am,” I said. “I’ve been walking around in circles since we were separated. But I’m fine. Just a little cold and tired. Can you find a car and come to collect me?”

“It’s almost impossible to find a car at this hour, but I’ll try,” he said. “The main thing is that we need to figure out where you are.” He was silent for a moment, thinking. “OK, here’s an idea. Take a photo of where you are and send it to me on WhatsApp. I’ll go to a police station and ask for their help in finding your location.”

“Brilliant idea!” I said. And without even saying goodbye I hung up and quickly took a picture of the scene in front of me. I sent the photo on WhatsApp and my phone immediately died.

It took Narottam just 30 minutes to find me. It turned out that his search had led him quite close to where I was, and the nearby police kiosk was quickly able to identify the junction where I was waiting. When he finally arrived, I jumped into the car and sat as close as I could to the heat coming out of the vents on the dashboard. Just as the car was pulling away there was a loud bang and it stopped in its tracks.

“What was that?” Narottam asked.

“The driver dropped his transmission,” I said with a wry smile.

“What does that mean?”

“Basically, it means we aren’t going anywhere in this car,” I said, getting out.

“Now what?” Narottam asked.

“Lots of walking!” I said. “Let’s go!”

“Where are we going?” he said.

“Sector 7 of course!” I replied.

With Narottam at my side, we were in a much better position to make it back to our camp, simply because he speaks Hindi. He asked people for the directions to Sector 7 and after a short time he had a good idea how to get there.

“How long will it take to walk there?” I asked.

“Through this crowd,” he replied, “Maybe 2 or 3 more hours.”

I looked at my watch. It was 12 p.m. For the first time that day I became a bit despondent.

And then a taxi came around the corner.

“Narottam, stop that taxi!” I yelled. He literally jumped in front of the taxi, surprising the driver, who screamed at him in Hindi.

“What did he say?” I asked.

“He said he’s not working now. No way.”

“Yes, he is,” I said. “Give me 1000 rupees.”

I opened the back door of the taxi and jumped in. The taxi driver looked shocked.

“Out!” he screamed in Hindi.

“Bhai sabh, brother!” I said. “This is for your trouble.”

He smiled when he saw the money. “No problem!” he said in English.

At 1 a.m. we pulled into our camp. Everyone was fast asleep, but I saw the light was still on in Pundrik Goswami’s room. I knew he would be worried about me. His eyes opened wide when he saw me standing there barefoot in my red gamcha, the cold wet towel still around my neck.

“Maharaja, I am so sorry!” he said.

“Nothing to be sorry about,” I said with a big smile. “Tonight, I experienced Kumbha Mela first hand, much like Hiuen Tsiang from China probably did in the 7th century. But whereas he walked amongst half a million people for 75 days, I walked amongst 64 million people for 9 hours. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life!”

We left the Mela around noon that day. When we drove out of our camp, I was surprised to see the streets were mostly deserted.

“Where is everyone?” I asked Narottam.

“Many of the people you saw yesterday came just to bathe in the sangam,” he said. “The majority were leaving on foot late last night when I was looking for you. More people will come again for other important bathing days in the next few weeks. Did you enjoy your visit, Gurudeva?”

“It was most satisfying,” I replied. “I feel as though the sadhu’s benediction upon me has come to pass, for I indeed feel as though Mother Ganges has blessed me. I was able to bathe in the Triveni Sangam in the association of advanced souls at the most auspicious moment to occur in 200 years. I spent time with the masses and, most importantly, I was able to share Krsna consciousness with a number of important spiritual leaders of the country. I feel very fortunate to have visited this sacred place on such an auspicious occasion.”

**********************

“There are several places in India. One of them is this Naimisaranya and another very important place is called Prayaga, generally known as Allahabad. But the original name is Prayaga. That is considered to be one of the most sacred places in India. Still every year there is a fair called Magha-Mela. Magha means during the month of January, February, a fair takes place in which all the sages, saintly persons, come from all over parts of India. They gather and take their bath at the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna. That is a very nice place. If you visit India, you should see all these nice places.”

[ Srila Prabhupada lecture, Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.6. London, August 26, 1971 ]

Between fifteen and thirty devotees are expected to take the course, which will run from May 29^th to June 6^th this year. Participants will hail from the US, Canada and Mexico and will comprise of current and aspiring ISKCON temple pujaris who have at least first initiation and are recommended by their temple authorities.

With the raising of Garuda and Hanuman flag, officially the Gaura Purnima festival has begun in Mayapur. Speaking in the inaugural ceremony HH Bhakti Charu Swami spoke about how Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakura and Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur began the real revival of Lord Caitanya’s pastime places and His teachings all over the world. […]

The post Gaura Purnima Festival Inauguration appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Going anywhere outside the Guru Karishni Camp was a challenge because there was a veritable flood of humanity outside its confines: an estimated 64 million people were descending upon the Mela to bathe on February 4th, the most auspicious bathing day.

During their 2018 Kartik Parikrama Indradyumna Swami and his group visited the village of Dauji, named after the presiding deity of the town, Dauji. Dauji means "the older brother" and is a name for Lord Balaram, Lord Krsna's older brother.

Our "Paramahamster" comic strip follows an enthusiastic devotee as he navigates a 9 - 5 work day in the corporate world. Please check back weekly for new episodes!

Bhakti Chaitanya Swami: The GBC Organizational Development Committee started its meetings  in Mayapur, just before the full GBC meeting starts. Some of the main management experts of the movement are taking part in the meetings.

The post The GBC meetings have begun in Mayapur! appeared first on Mayapur.com.

The preparations have begun! With great pleasure ISKCON Mayapur invites all of you out there to join the most auspicious Sri Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama!We are expecting at least 8 thousand devotees all round the world to join the blissful sacrifice of walking in Sri Navadvipa dhama! “… even the vegetables that grow in Navadvipa are […]

The post Welcome to Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama! appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Indradyumna Swami: During our 2018 Kartik Parikrama we visited the village of Dauji, named after the presiding deity of the town, Dauji. Dauji means "the older brother" and is a name for Lord Balaram, Lord Krsna's older brother. During that parikrama we discussed Dauji's pastimes and had A big Kirtan at the temple. All 500 of our parikrama devotees felt great bliss. We also did Harinam through the town, much to the delight of the townspeople!

Today is the auspicious Maha Sivaratri , a day to honor and pray to lord Siva. Lord Siva is known as Ashutosh, one who is pleased very easily, so somehow if we can please him on this Maha Sivaratri then we can make rapid progress in Krishna consciousness

Read More...

His Grace Bhaskara Prabhu ACBSP departed. He has just passed away suddenly from what appears to be a heart attack

Kalakanta Prabhu Lecture on Expanding The Guru Network (video)

This article appeared in the Kolkata edition of the Times of India, Times Nation, on February 27th, 2019. For the full article go to: https://goo.gl/qFnvJN

Why are the Jindals of JSW group of companies, the Goenkas of Welspun group and Goels of Essel group making a beeline to the world headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) at Mayapur in West Bengal, the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu? It is raining US dollars here from all over the globe — with USD 30 million from Alfred Ford, the great grandson of Henry Ford, another USD 30 million from international volunteers and more expected in the days and months to come. All this, towards setting up the Sri Chaitanya Cultural World Heritage Centre (SCCWHC).

The 700-acre ISKCON temple complex will house a Rs 3,000 crore World Heritage Centre, a new grand temple, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) and educational institutions that will impart not just science and humanities but spiritual knowledge and values, ethics and morals, too. The grand project is expected to be readied by the year 2022. The 68-year-old Alfred Ford (aka Ambarish Das), disciple of ISKCON Founder-Acarya AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada since 1975, is currently in India, using his good offices to inspire volunteers to give what they can for the Mayapur Project.

Speaking to The Times of India, Ford said, “In this day and age, people need inspiration from spiritually advanced people; they cannot become advanced spirituality, on their own. I try to serve my spiritual master; don’t we do that in the corporate world as well, serving our bosses?” Ford recalls being asked why he was willing to spend millions on a Temple, why couldn’t he build hospitals instead? His response was, “The best thing you can give someone is spiritual knowledge. Hospitals and food are temporary. But spiritual knowledge transforms your life — then maybe you will have less need for hospitals! Your life changes for the better. That is what the temple is all about. You will discard all your unhealthy habits and with a positive lifestyle, there is healing of mind, body and soul. There will be peace and harmony. Less greed and more selfless service.”

Ford says Mamata Banerjee was the first CM of West Bengal to visit Mayapur and she has promised all help in the making of the Centre. Says Ford, “The earlier regimes didn’t want to have anything to do with the Temple. Mamata Banerjee was very open-minded; she even made dinner offering to the deities. We were facing land issues and she has been helpful there and also in terms of putting in place infrastructure. She says she wants to make Mayapur a leading tourism/pilgrimage destination in the world.”

On February 26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the world’s largest Gita weighing some 800 kg, at the ISKCON temple situated in East of Kailash, New Delhi. Alfred Ford and other prominent industrialists and devotees participated in the festive occasion.

The times of India – Kolkata edition

 

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The post Ambarisa Prabhu on the Cover of the Times of India appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Shastrakrit Das: Om Namashivaya! These wonderful ladies, came to get some Ayurvedic products and attend Shiva Ratri at the Shiva Mandir. I called them over to my book table, I had no idea how spiritual they were. The lady on the right asked me if I had any books on goddess Lalitha? I was shocked she knows about Lalitha and she even chants Lalitha sahasranam. I was like “ not really most of these books on the table are about Krishna” and my wife reminded me to show them the Bhagavatham set. So I quickly got up and showed them the Bhagavatam set and explained to them how Bhagavatam is a spiritual encyclopedia and they will find whatever spiritual information they are searching for in there. So they took a Bhagavatam set & all the other books they are holding!

By TOVP staff

On or around Gaura Purnima 2022 all of ISKCON will ecstatically celebrate together the Grand Opening of the magnificent Temple of the Vedic Planetarium at the World Headquarters of ISKCON in Sridham Mayapur on its 50th Anniversary, and our beloved Mayapur Deities will at last be moved into Their long-awaited new home. Continue reading "Happy Gaura Purnima 2019 from the TOVP Team
→ Dandavats"

He’s a devout atheist but he loves to read!
Mahotsaha prabhu distributes a “Saptarishi” set and a “Prabhupada Lilamrita” set together!
Super ”MahaTattva” stack (14 Maha big books in one shot)!
This fortunate soul was visiting New York for the day! He’s a 20 years old student from New Jersey! Believe it or not he told Mahotsaha prabhu that he’s a devout atheist but loves reading books! So we gave him a lot to read and he happily took all the books! Wow, unconditional mercy! Gaura Nitai ki jay!

Beautiful Govardhan Eco Village (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: I have been at Govardhan Eco Village outside of Mumbai, India for almost 2 months now. Each morning I walk in the natural pristine beauty of the community, marveling at the many projects that have won the devotees awards for sustainability and in the field of ecology. It is a ‘must see’ for all ISKCON devotees visiting India!

Worship of Lord Shiva as a seniormost Vaishnava.
Q. 1. Lord Krishna told Arjuna: “Those who claim to be directly My devotees are actually not my devotees. But those who are devotees of my servants are factually My devotees.” In Srimad Bhagavatam purports of first canto, Srila Prabhupada mentions that Lord Shiva is a pure devotee of Lord Krishna. According to the above sloka, does it not directly imply that all of us must serve Lord Shiva? How far is this justifiable?

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By Giriraj Swami

These pastimes with Lord Siva show his true nature, or internal mood, as a Vaishnava, a pure devotee of Krishna. In one pastime the hundred sons of King Barhisat, known as the Pracetas, were engaged in austerities to realize Vishnu, or Krishna. Lord Siva met them and, appreciating their austerities, acted as their guru to guide them. Continue reading "Siva-ratri
→ Dandavats"

Answer Podcast

The post How can we explain the need for spiritual education to secular people? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

We all know what Amazon.com is. But did you know you can now have a small percentage of your purchases on Amazon.com donated to the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium if you live in the United States and use Amazon.com to make purchases? Through AmazonSmile, many items that you purchase from Amazon.com will offer a 0.5% donation to the TOVP through our U.S. charitable organization, TOVP Foundation, Inc..

Below is a link with more information to help you understand how it works, answer any questions, get started by getting on the AmazonSmile platform, and add TOVP Foundation to your chosen charity to receive funds. This very simple, passive source of income will help provide more funds to complete the TOVP by 2022.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_aas_redirect?ie=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0

 
MISSION 22 MARATHON KI JAYA!! THINK 22 > TOVP NOW!
 

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Support us at: www.tovp.org/donate/seva-opportunities

The post Donate to the TOVP through AmazonSmile Purchases appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Being Silent about One’s Achievements.
Question: In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Lord Siva instructs Citraketu that instead of posing as a devotee externally while lacking in devotional attitude, one should keep one’s bhakti hidden and not pose as a devotee outwardly. In this connection, I sometimes think about how irresistible it is to speak about one’s accomplishments. When talking with friends or others you like to share what you have done and the value of it. In fact it’s normal in one sense. So how do we practically apply this teaching in life?

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Madan Mohan Ji Temple Opening Lecture - Radhanath Swami - Govardhan Eco Village (video)

Travel Adventures of a Krishna Monk.
Travel Journal by Krishna-kripa Das.
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 4.41, purport:
“Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s transcendental mission is to distribute love of Godhead to everyone. Anyone who accepts God as the Supreme can take to the process of chanting Hare Krishna and become a lover of God. Therefore Lord Caitanya is the most magnanimous.”
To read the complete article please click here: https://goo.gl/9SXK9w

AHMEDABAD ONE-DAY WALK DEDICATED TO FALLEN SOLDIERS
With the desire to maximize book distribution, ISKCON’s Ahmedabad temple devotees planned our thirty-second one-day padayatra to follow a route covering as diverse a cross-section of Indian society as possible. We contacted our groups regarding date, time and venue, but events then compelled me to think that this padayatra should include something special. On padayatra day many of our temple devotees were going to perform harinam sankirtan on the streets of Ahmedabad for the Indian soldiers martyred in the Kashmir terrorist attack, and on the afternoon before the walk the decision was taken to dedicate padayatra to the fallen soldiers. Our team immediately had a black-and-white banner printed to that effect and messaged our padayatris headed “Walk for Peace.” We were now set for the next day’s march.

Original flyer of ISKCON in 1966!
STAY HIGH FOREVER
No More Coming Down!
Practice KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS
Expan...

Today is Siva-ratri. Vaishnavas generally do not celebrate Siva-ratri, and to begin, I will explain why, with reference to the Bhagavad-gita. We read from Bhagavad-gita As It Is, Chapter 7, “Knowledge of the Absolute,” text 23.

antavat tu phalam tesam
  tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam
devan deva-yajo yanti
  mad-bhakta yanti mam api

TRANSLATION

Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

Some commentators on the Bhagavad-gita say that one who worships a demigod can reach the Supreme Lord, but here it is clearly stated that the worshipers of demigods go to the different planetary systems where various demigods are situated, just as a worshiper of the sun achieves the sun or a worshiper of the demigod of the moon achieves the moon. Similarly, if anyone wants to worship a demigod like Indra, he can attain that particular god’s planet. It is not that everyone, regardless of whatever demigod is worshiped, will reach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is denied here, for it is clearly stated that the worshipers of demigods go to different planets in the material world but the devotee of the Supreme Lord goes directly to the supreme planet of the Personality of Godhead.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

This is logical. As Srila Prabhupada remarked, if you buy a ticket to Calcutta, you cannot expect to reach Bombay. If you worship a demigod, you go to the planet of the demigod. If you worship Krishna, you reach the supreme abode of Krishna.

PURPORT (continued)

Here the point may be raised that if the demigods are different parts of the body of the Supreme Lord, then the same end should be achieved by worshiping them. However, worshipers of the demigods are less intelligent because they don’t know to what part of the body food must be supplied. Some of them are so foolish that they claim that there are many parts and many ways to supply food. This isn’t very sanguine. Can anyone supply food to the body through the ears or eyes? They do not know that these demigods are different parts of the universal body of the Supreme Lord, and in their ignorance they believe that each and every demigod is a separate God and a competitor of the Supreme Lord.

COMMENT

We read in the Fourth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam that just as by pouring water on the root of a tree all the limbs and branches and leaves are watered and just as by supplying food to the stomach all the different limbs of the body are nourished, similarly, by offering worship or rendering service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, all of the demigods and all living entities are served and satisfied:

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

“By giving water to the root of a tree one satisfies its branches, twigs, and leaves, and by supplying food to the stomach one satisfies all the senses of the body. Similarly, by engaging in the transcendental service of the Supreme Lord one automatically satisfies all the demigods and all other living entities.” (SB 4.31.14)

PURPORT (concluded)

The results achieved by the demigods’ benedictions are perishable because within this material world the planets, the demigods, and their worshipers are all perishable. Therefore it is clearly stated in this verse that all results achieved by worshiping demigods are perishable, and therefore such worship is performed by the less intelligent living entity. Because the pure devotee engaged in Krsna consciousness in devotional service of the Supreme Lord achieves eternal blissful existence that is full of knowledge, his achievements and those of the common worshiper of the demigods are different. The Supreme Lord is unlimited; His favor is unlimited; His mercy is unlimited. Therefore the mercy of the Supreme Lord upon His pure devotees is unlimited.

COMMENT

Everything material is temporary. The demigods—their bodies—are temporary, the bodies of their worshipers are temporary, their planets are temporary, and the fruits that one obtains from worshiping them are temporary. The demigods have authority only within the material world. They can give only material benefits to their worshipers. Only Vishnu, or Krishna, can award liberation from material bondage. No demigod can grant liberation. And beyond liberation, the devotees of Krishna also achieve krsna-bhakti, or krsna-prema—the ultimate goal of life.

Srila Prabhupada said that the impersonalists want to become one with God but that the devotees actually become greater than God, because God comes under their control. We see in the Bhagavad-gita that Krishna is acting as Arjuna’s chariot driver. Arjuna is commanding Krishna, senayor ubhayor madhye ratham sthapaya me ’cyuta: “Please draw my chariot between the two armies so I can see who has assembled on the battlefield to fight.” The Lord likes to be controlled by His devotees, and He comes under the control of their pure love. Of course, the Lord is supreme—no one is equal to Him or greater than Him (na tat-samas cabhyadikas ca drsyate)—but out of love He becomes subordinate to His devotee. The idea of becoming one with the Lord is repugnant to a devotee, because in that impersonal oneness there is no service, no exchange of love.

The demigod worshipers, as described in this verse, are alpa-medhasah, “less intelligent.” The opposite of alpa-medhasah is su-medhasah, or “very intelligent.” Those who worship Krishna, especially through the sankirtana movement in the present age, are described as su-medhasah.

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
  sangopangastra-parsadam
yajnaih sankirtana-prayair
  yajanti hi su-medhasah

 “In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Krsna.” (SB 11.5.32, Cc Adi 3.52)

Further, the demigods are not able to give even material benedictions without the sanction of the Supreme Lord. Isvarah sarva-bhutanam hrd-dese ’rjuna tisthati—the Lord is in the heart of everyone, including the demigods, so unless He gives His sanction, the demigods themselves cannot give even limited temporary benefits. So, from every point of view, one should worship Krishna. And devotees of Krishna need not worship any demigod. Krishna, the Supreme Lord, is like the king, and the various demigods are like ministers in the cabinet of the king or department heads in the government. As Srila Prabhupada said, if you pay taxes to the central treasury, you need not bribe the ministers or officers in charge of different departments. When you pay your taxes into the central treasury, you have met your obligation and are entitled to all the benefits of a citizen.

So, there is no need to worship demigods, and in fact the worship of demigods is discouraged in the Bhagavad-gita. The Supreme Lord Krishna says,

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.” (Bg 9.23)

Therefore, Vaishnavas do not celebrate Siva-ratri.

Yet there is another aspect to Lord Siva, a confidential one that ordinary people with insufficient knowledge of shastra, of Srimad-Bhagavatam, do not know: Lord Siva himself is the greatest Vaishnava (vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh), and the worship of Vaishnavas, the service of Vaishnavas, and the glorification of Vaishnavas is included in Krishna consciousness. In fact, it is most highly recommended. So in an assembly of learned devotees we can appreciate Siva as a Vaishnava. But otherwise we don’t worship Lord Siva, because if we did, people could misunderstand and conclude, “ISKCON devotees worship Siva, so we will too.” And they will worship Lord Siva for material benefit. Or they may think that Lord Siva is on the same level as Krishna—or supreme.

In India there is a history of debate between Vaishnavas and Saivites over who is supreme. And as Srila Prabhupada said, in such debates the Vaishnavas always win. Still, that sense of competition is there. Saivites say, “Siva is supreme,” and Vaishnavas respond, “No, Vishnu is supreme.” In the 1950s a European gentleman came to India and took sannyasa in the line of Shankaracharya, receiving the name Agehananda Bharati. Later, in 1973, he wrote an article published in the popular Indian magazine The Illustrated Weekly of India, in which he gave his account of a debate he had with our Hridayananda das Goswami.

The editor, Khushwant Singh, apparently wanted to make them both look foolish, and he titled the article “Hare Krishna vs. Shiva Shiva,” as if to say, “How silly. These people are arguing over whether Krishna is supreme or Siva is supreme. God is one; there is no difference. Ultimately, God has no name, no form, no personality”—or “Ultimately, there is no God.” I wrote Srila Prabhupada about how I perceived the situation, and he remarked, “Yes, Giriraj is right. Bharati is a fool, but Singh is a demon.”

When I visited Madras in 1971, I met many intellectuals whose attitude was similar to that of the editor. They thought, “Oh, how silly. You are arguing that Krishna is supreme, and someone else is arguing that Siva is supreme.” These impersonalists considered themselves to be more intelligent than the naive sentimentalists who worship particular deities, and they counted us as naive sentimentalists because we loved Krishna, worshipped Krishna, chanted Krishna’s name, and preached Krishna’s supremacy.

In Madras there are many Saivites, and they argue that Siva is supreme. As the first ISKCON devotee to visit Madras, I became quite a sensation—an American Vaishnava. Most people there had never seen a Western sadhu, and they wanted to help. Several suggested that I meet a Mr. Ramakrishna, who they said was pious and religious and would be happy to hear of our activities. So I met him, and he turned out to be one of those people who thought that Siva was supreme. Very quickly we came to blows—verbal blows. He had a volatile nature, and he became angry. He became red in the face and raised his voice, and the meeting ended quite abruptly. But I kept preaching and meeting people who suggested, “You have to meet Mr. Ramakrishna. He is a very pious man. He is a very religious man.” And I imagine that he was meeting people saying, “Oh, you should meet the Hare Krishna devotees. They are very good people. They are doing excellent work.”

After a few weeks, I thought, “Maybe I should give it another try. This time I will be more careful.” So, I phoned him, and he immediately agreed to meet me. That made me think that people were also speaking favorably about us to him and that it was embarrassing for him as well that we had disagreed so vehemently. We met, and I tried to restrain myself, and he tried to restrain himself, but eventually we came to the same point: Who is supreme—Krishna (Vishnu) or Siva? The argument escalated, but neither of us wanted it to end the same way the previous one had. Then I got an inspiration and suggested, “In two weeks my spiritual master, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, is coming to Madras. So instead of us discussing, why don’t I invite you to meet him when he comes, and you can discuss with him directly.” He liked the idea. It was a way out for both of us. And ultimately, what could be better than to meet a pure devotee of Krishna?

After Srila Prabhupada arrived, Mr. Ramakrishna came to meet him. “I met your disciple Giriraj,” Mr. Ramakrishna said, “and I argued that Siva is supreme, and he argued that Krishna is supreme. So, who is supreme?”

Prabhupada took a different approach. He didn’t enter into the polemics about who was supreme. Rather, he said, “There are two words in Sanskrit—puja and bhakti. In puja one worships the deity to get some material benefit, and in bhakti one worships only to give pleasure to the deity, without expectation of personal return. The worshipers of Siva engage in puja—they worship to get some material benefit—whereas in bhakti we worship Krishna for the sake of Krishna’s pleasure, just to please Him.”

“Is it not possible to worship Siva in the mood of bhakti?” Mr. Ramakrishna asked.”

“It is possible, Prabhupada replied,” but it would be exceptional. For example, generally people go to a liquor shop to buy liquor. Now, one could go for another purpose, but that would be an exception. Generally people go to buy liquor.”

Mr. Ramakrishna was satisfied with the answer. Srila Prabhupada did not enter into the controversy over which deity was supreme; rather, he explained different moods in the worship of different deities.

Later, toward the end of Prabhupada’s stay in Madras, a wealthy householder invited him to his home for the consecration of his temple. The host had invited many dignitaries, and although the temple was a good size for a home, it wasn’t large enough to accommodate Prabhupada’s disciples along with all the dignitaries. So Prabhupada and the others went inside the temple, and we disciples looked in from outside.

As part of the ceremony, the host distributed flower petals to the guests to offer to the deity of Lord Siva, a siva-linga. And we all were interested to see how Prabhupada would deal with the situation. At the appropriate moment, all the participants threw their flower petals on the deity of Lord Siva—except for Prabhupada. He threw his in the corner. We thought, “He is the acharya. We have to learn from him.” So, after the ceremony, when the other invitees came out, we went into the temple and looked in the corner. And there we saw a small Deity of Krishna. Prabhupada had offered his flowers to Krishna.

As Srila Prabhupada’s representatives, ISKCON and its members are meant to follow his instructions and precedents. And we must be careful not to encourage people’s misconceptions—even if what we do is otherwise all right. If we were to observe Siva-ratri with participants who are not well versed in sastric conclusions, in Vaishnava siddhanta—if we were to celebrate Siva-ratri to cater to Hindus who want to worship Lord Siva on Siva-ratri but who do not know his actual position as a Vaishnava—they might mistakenly conclude that we accept Lord Siva on the same level as Krishna. Then, even if they chant the holy name of Krishna, as long as they maintain the idea that Siva and Krishna are the same, they will not make much advancement, because they will be committing an offense against the holy name. The second of the ten offenses against the holy name is to consider the names of demigods such as Lord Siva to be equal to or independent of the name of Lord Vishnu.

That is why we don’t observe Siva-ratri. And as Vaishnavas, we have no need to worship Siva, because we are worshiping Krishna directly. Still, we may worship Lord Siva as a Vaishnava, a devotee of Krishna, because the worship of Krishna’s devotees pleases Lord Krishna.

The basic definition of bhakti is given by Srila Rupa Gosvami in Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.1.11):

anyabhilasita-sunyam
  jnana-karmady-anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanu-
  silanam bhaktir uttama

“One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Krsna favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.” In pure devotional service, one should have no desire other than to serve and please Krishna (anyabhilasita-sunyam). And jnana-karmady-anavrtam—one’s service should not be covered by jnana, speculative knowledge that leads to a conclusion of impersonal monism; or by karma, fruitive work, as in ordinary puja, which one performs for personal gain. In ordinary affairs, for example, one may invite someone to a restaurant and give him food and drink in the hope of getting some benefit from him. In a similar way, one may offer bael leaves and ganga-jala to Lord Siva in order to get some personal return. That fruitive mentality has no place in pure devotion, and certainly the speculative idea of merging and becoming one with God has no place. Anything that covers the true nature of bhakti has no place (jnana-karmady-anavrtam). Pure devotional service must be rendered favorably to Krishna (anukulyena krsnanusilanam).

Acharyas who have commented on this verse from the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu—such as Srila Jiva Gosvami, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, and Srila Prabhupada—have explained that “Krishna” does not mean Krishna alone. Srila Prabhupada’s introduction to The Nectar of Devotion discusses this verse in detail and includes much of the commentaries of Jiva and Visvanatha. And all agree that in this verse “Krishna” does not mean Krishna alone but includes His personal expansions, such as Lord Ramachandra, Lord Nrsimha, Lord Varaha, and other visnu-tattvas, as well as His name, form, qualities, pastimes, paraphernalia, and pure devotees. “Krsna includes all such expansions, as well as His pure devotees,” Prabhupada writes. Serving and worshiping pure devotees is included within uttama-bhakti, pure devotional service to Krishna, and thus devotees of Krishna sometimes worship Lord Siva as a pure devotee.

Many of Lord Siva’s pastimes are described in Srimad-Bhagavatam. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the perfectly pure, spotless Purana (srimad-bhagavatam puranam amalam) and is called the Paramahamsa-samhita because it is meant for the highest class of transcendentalists, who are completely free from envy. It is the topmost scripture and discusses no subject other than Krishna and pure devotional service. These pastimes with Lord Siva show his true nature, or internal mood, as a Vaishnava, a pure devotee of Krishna. In one pastime the hundred sons of King Barhisat, known as the Pracetas, were engaged in austerities to realize Vishnu, or Krishna. Lord Siva met them and, appreciating their austerities, acted as their guru to guide them. He gave them a series of prayers to sing to please Lord Vishnu and become pure devotees. Upon first meeting the Pracetas, he made the following statement, from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Four, Chapter Twenty-four—“Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Siva”:

TEXT 30

atha bhagavata yuyam
  priyah stha bhagavan yatha
na mad bhagavatanam ca
  preyan anyo’sti karhicit

TRANSLATION

You are all devotees of the Lord, and as such I appreciate that you are as respectable as the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. I know in this way that the devotees also respect me and that I am dear to them. Thus no one can be as dear to the devotees as I am.

PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada

It is said, vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh: Lord Siva is the best of all devotees. Therefore all devotees of Lord Krsna are also devotees of Lord Siva. In Vrndavana there is Lord Siva’s temple called Gopisvara. The gopis used to worship not only Lord Siva but Katyayani, or Durga, as well, but their aim was to attain the favor of Lord Krsna. A devotee of Lord Krsna does not disrespect Lord Siva but worships Lord Siva as the most exalted devotee of Lord Krsna. Consequently, whenever a devotee worships Lord Siva, he prays to Lord Siva to achieve the favor of Krsna, and he does not request material profit. In Bhagavad-gita (7.20) it is said that generally people worship demigods for some material profit. Kamais tais tair hrta jnanah. Driven by material lust, they worship demigods, but a devotee never does so, for he is never driven by material lust. That is the difference between a devotee’s respect for Lord Siva and an asura’s respect for him. The asura worships Lord Siva, takes some benediction from him, misuses the benediction, and ultimately is killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who awards him liberation.

Because Lord Siva is a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he loves all the devotees of the Supreme Lord.

COMMENT

This is a symptom of a devotee. One who is actually a devotee of the Supreme Lord will love all other devotees of the Supreme Lord. Lord Siva truly loved the Pracetas. He went out of his way to help them, and further, he respected them as representatives of the Supreme Lord.

PURPORT (continued)

Lord Siva told the Pracetas that because they were devotees of the Lord, he loved them very much. Lord Siva was not kind and merciful only to the Pracetas; anyone who is a devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very dear to Lord Siva. Not only are the devotees dear to Lord Siva, but he respects them as much as he respects the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Similarly, devotees of the Supreme Lord also worship Lord Siva as the most dear devotee of Lord Krsna. They do not worship him as a separate Personality of Godhead. It is stated in the list of namaparadhas that it is an offense to think that the chanting of the name of Hari and the chanting of Hara, or Siva, are the same. The devotees must always know that Lord Visnu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that Lord Siva is His devotee. A devotee should be offered respect on the level of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and sometimes even more respect. Indeed, Lord Rama, the Personality of Godhead Himself, sometimes worshiped Lord Siva. If a devotee is worshiped by the Lord, why should a devotee not be worshiped by other devotees on the same level with the Lord?

COMMENT

In other words, if a devotee is worshipable by the Lord Himself, why should other devotees not worship a devotee on the same level as the Lord? Saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair: the spiritual master is worshiped on the same level as the Supreme Lord. But kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya—although one honors the spiritual master as much as the Lord, one knows that he is not identical with the Lord but is a most confidential servitor of the Lord.

PURPORT (continued)

If a devotee is worshiped by the Lord, why should a devotee not be worshiped by other devotees on the same level with the Lord? This is the conclusion. From this verse it appears that Lord Siva blesses the asuras simply for the sake of formality.

COMMENT

In relation to the demons (asuras), Lord Siva thinks, “Okay, they are worshiping me. They want something. Okay, I will give them something.” Thus one of Siva’s names is Asutosa, because he gives benedictions very easily. As Srila Prabhupada said, “Many demons go to bother Lord Siva: ‘Give me this. Give me that.’ And his name is Asutosa. He gives immediately: ‘All right, take it. Go away. Don’t bother me.’ ” He blesses then simply for the sake of formality, to get rid of them.

PURPORT (concluded)

From this verse it appears that Lord Siva blesses the asuras simply for the sake of formality. Actually he loves one who is devoted to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

COMMENT

In addition to the pastimes of Lord Siva described in Srimad-Bhagavatam, there are many pastimes with Lord Siva in Vrindavan that show his great love for Lord Krishna and his eagerness to serve Him. And Lord Krishna’s great-grandson Vajranabha, who established many of the main temples in Vrindavan, installed several deities of Lord Siva in Vraja to honor his pastimes there.

One prominent deity of Lord Siva in Vraja is Nandesvara Mahadeva, at Nanda-grama. He is worshiped in a small temple situated within the courtyard of the main temple there, and every day the pujaris offer him the remnants of food that has been offered to Lord Krishna in the main temple. This tradition goes back to the time when Krishna and Balarama lived in Nanda-grama with Nanda Maharaja and Mother Yasoda. As the local history goes, when Lord Siva came to Nanda Bhavan to see his beloved Lord Krishna, he arrived in his usual attire—with matted hair, ashes all over his body, and a snake wrapped around his neck—playing his damaru drum. When Mother Yasoda came to the door, she could not bring herself to let this wild-looking ascetic in to see her darling little child. And so she gave him alms and sent him on his way. After his leaving, however, baby Krishna began to cry. Mother Yasoda tried in many ways to pacify Him, but she couldn’t; He was inconsolable. She considered that she might have committed an offense against the ascetic and that he had put a spell on her baby, so she sent for him. In the end, Lord Siva was found in the forest now known as Asesvara-vana, the forest of hope, where he was praying, hoping against hope (aça means “hope”) that he would somehow get the darshan of Nandalal, Krishna. So he was very happy when he was asked to return to Nanda Bhavan.  And as soon as Lord Siva arrived, baby Krishna stopped crying. But when Mother Yasoda indicated that it was time for Siva to leave, Krishna again began to cry; he didn’t want him to leave. It was then settled that Siva would remain permanently in Nanda Bhavan and get the caranamrta and food remnants of Nandalal every day. And to this day it has been so.

Another important deity is Kamesvara Mahadeva, who resides at Kamyavana. He fulfills all desires, and so devotees pray to him to give them pure devotional service to Krishna.

Caklesvara Mahadeva resides at Cakra-tirtha, by Manasi-ganga at Govardhana Hill. It is said that Sanatana Gosvami was good friends with Lord Siva and always resided near him in Vraja. At Manasi-ganga, Sanatana Gosvami’s bhajana-kutira is next to Caklesvara Mahadeva, and at the Madana-mohana temple, near the Yamuna River in Vrindavan, his bhajana-kutira is not far from Gopisvara Mahadeva.

Once, at Cakra-tirtha, Sanatana Gosvami was being disturbed by mosquitoes and couldn’t do his bhajana or write his books. So he decided to leave. When Lord Siva saw that his dear friend was about to leave, he came in the guise of a brahman and inquired, “Why are you leaving?” Sanatana Gosvami replied, “I am too disturbed by the mosquitoes and cannot do my seva.” Lord Siva was relieved, because he knew that this was a problem he could easily solve. He requested Sanatana Gosvami, “Please stay one more night, and if the mosquitoes still bother you, you may go.” Then Lord Siva summoned the demigod in charge of insect life and told him, “I don’t want any mosquitoes disturbing this great devotee here. So tell your boys to lay off.” The mosquitoes stopped coming there, and Sanatana Gosvami stayed. So, from this we can see the intimacy of their relationship.

The most famous and important deity of Lord Siva for us is Gopisvara Mahadeva, established by Vajranabha near the site of the rasa dance, near Vamsivata, where Gopinatha played upon His flute to call the gopis. Gopisvara Mahadeva wanted to participate in the rasa dance, the highest and best of all of Lord Krishna’s pastimes. According to one version, Lord Siva approached Paurnamasi, an elderly brahmani and siksa-guru of the Vrajavasis, who was the mother of Sandipani Muni, Lord Krishna’s guru. She advised Mahadeva to perform some austerities and then take bath in the Yamuna; thus he would get the form of a gopi. According to other sources, Paurnamasi directed him to Vrndadevi and Vrndadevi advised him to take bath in Mana-sarovara, a little further south across the Yamuna River from Kesi-ghata. Be it as it may, he took bath and came out in the form of a gopi.

When Krishna was about to enjoy His rasa-lila with the gopis, this new gopi appeared. The other gopis took note—“Oh, a new gopi has come”—and gathered around her. They asked, “What village are you from?” She didn’t know what to say. “What is your husband’s name?” “How many cows does he have?” “Who are your children?” She had no answers. So the other gopis thought, “This is not a gopi. She is not one of us. This is an imposter.” They were ready to beat this imitation gopi when Mother Paurnamasi appeared and said, “This is Mahadeva Siva. He is a great demigod. Do not take any action against him.” She told Lord Siva, “No one can participate in the rasa dance without being a gopi. You can observe it from a distance, but you cannot actually enter it.” And she gave him a service: he could guard the arena of the rasa dance. One of Lord Siva’s regular services is to be ksetra-pala, protector of the dhama, and he serves as such in Vrindavan, Navadvipa, Jagannatha Puri, and other holy places. Paurnamasi gave Mahadeva the authority to restrain the unqualified and to admit the qualified. But beyond that, he would have the power to give someone the qualification to enter. So devotees, Vaishnavas, in Vrindavan pray to Gopisvara Mahadeva to enable them to enter the pastimes of Krishna with the gopis.

The deity of Gopisvara Mahadeva is worshiped as a regular siva-linga during the day, but every evening at about four the pujaris dress the siva-linga like a gopi. They cover the linga with a sari and ornaments and decorate it to resemble a gopi, with a crown on it or a shawl draped over its top. And devotees come and worship Gopisvara Mahadeva to attain the favor of Radha and Krishna.

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!

Once, as described in Srimad-Bhagavatam, Nanda Maharaja and the cowherd men went to Ambikavana to observe Siva-ratri. The Bhagavatam uses the word ekada, “once.” Srila Prabhupada explains, “Between the Dola-yatra ceremony [Holi] and the rasa-lila ceremony there is an important ceremony called Siva-ratri, which is especially observed by the Saivites, or devotees of Lord Siva. Sometimes the Vaisnavas also observe this ceremony because they accept Lord Siva as the foremost Vaisnava. But the function of Siva-ratri is not observed very regularly by the bhaktas, or devotees of Krsna. Under the circumstances, Srimad-Bhagavatam states that Nanda Maharaja and the other cowherd men ‘once upon a time desired.’ This means that they were not regularly observing the Siva-ratri function but that once upon a time they wanted to go to Ambikavana.” (Krsna, Chapter 34) And what was the result? “They had come to worship Lord Siva and Ambika, but the result was that they became more and more attached to Krishna.”

Are there any questions or comments?

Rasaraja dasa: I have a question about Lord Siva and impersonalists. Although many of his statements and songs are in the mood of bhakti, Lord Siva is normally worshiped by impersonalists. How is the impersonal philosophy associated with him?

Giriraj Swami: The first answer is that Lord Siva has a planet that is situated on the border of the material sky and the spiritual sky. And it is said that the impersonalists who want to merge end up there. It is the borderline between matter and spirit.

Another answer is that Lord Siva, for a very specific purpose, appeared as Shankaracharya, the great proponent of Mayavada philosophy. Earlier, because the so-called followers of the Vedas had been misusing the Vedas to support animal slaughter, Lord Krishna incarnated as Buddha, out of compassion for the innocent animals and to save these so-called Vedic followers from the sin of killing them. Buddha preached the philosophy of ahimsa, non-violence. He said, “Don’t follow the Vedas. If the Vedas say that you can kill animals, then don’t follow the Vedas. Just follow ahimsa.” Thus the Lord’s purpose was served: people stopped killing animals in the name of Vedic sacrifice. But then the Lord wanted to reestablish the authority of the Vedas, and because the Buddhist philosophy was nontheistic, followers would not immediately accept the correct, theistic understanding of the Vedas. So He wanted someone to reestablish the authority of the Vedas with a nontheistic interpretation—Advaitavada—which admits no difference between the individual soul and the supreme soul. In other words, it advocates impersonal monism. But when Lord Narayana approached His assembly of servants, no one was willing. They said, “Advaitavada? No, no—not Advaitavada. Ask anything but that. We don’t want to touch Advaitavada.” Only Lord Siva, the greatest of the Vaishnavas, agreed. It was like when the demigods and demons were churning the ocean and it turned into poison, Lord Siva was the one who came forward and said, “All right, I will drink the ocean of poison.” In this case, he spit out an ocean of poison in the form of Advaitavada, or Mayavada, as Shankaracharya. Shankara is a name for Lord Siva, and so he became Shankaracharya. Because of the connection between Shankaracharya and Shankara, or Siva, Mayavadis often are inclined toward Lord Siva. But whether Mayavadis worship Siva or Krishna, their goal is to merge and become one with Brahman.

Even Shankaracharya on occasion revealed his inner mood as a devotee. The most famous expression of his devotion was his parting words before he left this world: bhaja govindam bhaja govindam bhaja govindam mudha-mate. He advised his followers,

bhaja govindam bhaja govindam bhaja govindam mudha-mate
samprapte sannihite kale na hi na hi raksati dukrn-karane

“You fools and rascals, all your grammatical word jugglery of suffixes, prefixes, and philosophical speculation will not save you at the time of death. Just worship Govinda! Worship Govinda! Worship Govinda!”

There are other expressions as well. When Shankaracharya saw the Deity of Krishna, Vitthala Thakura, in Pandarapura, he recited many wonderful prayers to the Lord, which are inscribed in marble in the temple, the most famous and popular in Maharashtra. Similarly, Shankaracharya visited the temple of Guruvayurappan in Guruvayur, the most famous temple in Kerala. It is said that with his mystic powers he was flying over the temple and saw the devotees worshiping, and he thought, “What is this? What are these people doing? What is going on here?” As soon as that thought entered his mind, his power to fly was withdrawn and he came crashing down to the ground right in front of the Deity. Then he saw, “Oh, it is Lord Narayana, Lord Vishnu.” He recited many beautiful prayers, which are inscribed in the temple there. And in his Gita-bhasya commentary on Srimad Bhagavad-gita, he admitted, narayana paro ’vyaktat: “Narayana, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is beyond the material creation.”

Lord Siva, even as Shankaracharya is a devotee, but he has different services. As Lord Siva, he is the demigod in charge of destruction. He is in charge of the mode of ignorance, and he gives shelter to people in ignorance—to ghosts and hobgoblins. He is merciful even to them. But his true feature, his inner mood, is as a devotee of Krishna.

On this occasion we pray to Lord Siva that out of his immense compassion and love he may be merciful to us and help us to attentively chant the holy names, respect and honor all devotees, and serve his Lord and master, the Lord of the gopis, Sri Krishna.

Hare Krishna.

Sri Gopisvara Mahadeva ki jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Nitai-gaura-premanande hari-haribol!

[A talk by Giriraj Swami on Siva-rati, March 7, 2008, Dallas]

Detachment is absence of emotional dependence, not absence of emotion.
Chaitanya Charan Das: Some people fear, “If I become detached, will I become emotionless, uncaring, stone-hearted?”
No, detachment empowers us to care truly for others, for it frees us from emotional dependence on them. When we are emotionally dependent on someone, we make decisions based on considerations of their pleasure, without considering any higher principles or purposes. Being driven by such narrow considerations, we often act against their best interests and even our best interests.

HG Ambarish Prabhu On Cover Page.
Why are the Jindals of JSW group of companies, the Goenkas of Welspun group and Goels of Essel group making a beeline to the world headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) at Mayapur in West Bengal, the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu? It is raining US dollars here from all over the globe — with USD 30 million from Alfred Ford, the great grandson of Henry Ford, another USD 30 million from international volunteers and more expected in the days and months to come. All this, towards setting up the Sri Chaitanya Cultural World Heritage Centre (SCCWHC).

By Vijaya Dasa

There's a temple in Europe that's a relic of ISKCON's past. It's in Czech Republic and is called Prabhupada Bhavan. There are about fifteen brahmacaris whose main service is book distribution. This is the No. 1 temple in Europe in the Small Temple category in January, with 3,149 book points. Continue reading "WSN January 2019 – World Sankirtan Newsletter
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By Sri Giridhari Dasa

19 February 2019, Chennai: Tamil Nadu Government has issued "Best Translator Award 2019" to Sri Giridhari Dasa, for translating Srila Prabhupada's Sri Caitanya Caritamrta into Tamil. The government has recognized that the translation work of over 8,000 pages was done in fine language with elegance. In the function held in Chennai Secretariat Office, the Honorable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Mr. Edapadi K Palaniswami issued the award along with a certificate, and a cheque for INR One Lakh. The Honorable Deputy Chief Minister Mr. O Panner Selvam, Tamil Language and Cultural Development Minister Mr. K Pandiyarajan, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Mrs. Girija Vaidyanathan, Several IAS officers and many other high officials were present during the function Continue reading "Tamil Nadu Chief Minister issues “Best Translator Award” to Tamil BBT Editor
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