Planet ISKCON

Real Religion (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam Class by H.G. Prithu Prabhu at ISKCON Vrindavan, Dec 29, 2018.

By Mayapur Sasi dasa

For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada this report contains the following results of book distribution for the month of November 2018 from the whole planet. World Totals, Monthly Congregation and Weekend Warriors, Monthly Continents, Monthly Top Ten Temples by Size, Monthly Top Ten Temples by Continent, Monthly Top Teams and Individuals, Monthly All Countries, Monthly All Temples, Monthly All Prabhupada Disciples, Cumulative Top Ten Countries, Cumulative Top Ten Temples, Cumulative Top 50 Individuals Worldwide Continue reading "WSN November 2018 – World Sankirtan Newsletter
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Srila Prabhupada’s beloved disciple Yamuna-devi dasi passed away on Saphala-ekadasi, which falls on Tuesday, January 1.

There is so much to be said about Srimati Yamuna-devi dasi.

In October of 1970 I was one of a group of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples from America going to join him in India. On the way, we stopped in Brussels, and it was there, in an apartment, that I first met Yamuna—and Malati and Syamasundara (I had met Gurudas before that, in Boston). Upon entering, I could immediately feel their intense, extraordinary devotion to Srila Prabhupada—it was so palpable, so tangible; the room was just suffused with their devotion—and we spent the next several hours there together. As enthusiastic as I was to go to India to be with Srila Prabhupada, I felt like I could stay there forever; I never wanted to leave the association of these amazing devotees who were so attached to Srila Prabhupada and so capable of serving him in such different ways.

Gurudas had arranged a cheap flight on a small airline, and so, that evening we boarded an old converted dual-propeller cargo plane, bound for Bombay with a stop in Cairo. In my mood of Krishna consciousness then I was quite oblivious to things around me. I wanted to avoid maya—anything that could distract me from Krishna—and didn’t pay much heed to anything that didn’t relate directly to my service. I was focused on the idea of chanting and hearing every word of the Hare Krishna mantra distinctly and on always thinking about Krishna and never forgetting Him. I had heard that Srila Prabhupada had said that if you have trouble hearing you should chant loudly. So sometimes, to really get into the holy names—and to break out of any possible lethargy—I would jump up and down. One or two of the devotees told me that they were anxious about how people in Egypt might react to my chanting, but I was determined.

There was unrest there at that time, and when we landed in Cairo we were met on the tarmac by soldiers and armed security guards with bandoliers of bullets across their chests and machine guns slung over their shoulders. And as we deplaned and walked down the steps, the men were pointing machine guns in our direction. Then Yamuna, as I was later told, saw the guards suddenly move their guns up and down, shifting their aim. And when she turned around to see why, she saw me behind her, walking down the stairs chanting japa, jumping up and down.

Anyway, we escaped Egypt and flew to Bombay, where, as arranged by Srila Prabhupada, we were taken to Kailash Seksaria’s house. While there, I went through a period of confusion—some things were very difficult for me to understand and cope with—and I wasn’t sure what to do. I was a relatively new devotee, at least compared with the others in the group, and somehow I got the inspiration to approach Yamuna and Gurudas for help. What they told me was extraordinary, and for me, revolutionary. I entered their room feeling completely at a loss, but they turned the whole thing completely around, saying that Srila Prabhupada had sent me to engage them in thinking about him and about topics of deep significance. That was the beginning of what proved to be a very close relationship with them both.

While we were staying at Seksaria Bhavan, Srila Prabhupada introduced a new tune for the Gurvastaka prayers in the morning. He tried to teach it to some of the men, but they couldn’t quite get it. Then he decided to instruct Yamuna, in the presence of us all, and she picked it up right away. Afterward, Srila Prabhupada told Yamuna, “Learn to listen. You cannot follow nicely unless you hear nicely, and you cannot lead nicely unless you have learned to follow nicely.” And gradually the rest of us learned the new melody.

After a few days, Srila Prabhupada was invited to attend the Vedanta Sammelan in Amritsar, and so a party of seven men and two women—Yamuna and Kausalya—traveled there with him by train. The Vedanta Ashram offered us two small rooms and the use of the large common courtyard. Srila Prabhupada occupied one room, Yamuna and Kausalya the other, and the men slept either in the courtyard or in a large common hall for sadhus.

Srila Prabhupada was very protective of the women, and he would have them ride to programs with him in his car (while the men took rickshaws). He gave programs in the morning and evening—and often in between. Kausalya told me that driving to one engagement, he had mentioned that he needed new shoes. “Stop at the next Bata shoe store,” he had said. In the store, he had told Yamuna and Kausalya, “You choose the shoes for me,” and sat down. So they looked all around the store and found some white crisscross plastic sandals that they thought would be just right. Each of them carried one shoe up to Srila Prabhupada, and they slipped them on his feet. He smiled and asked, “Do you like them?” They responded, “Yes.” “Then we will buy them.” And so he did.

In the afternoons when there was some free time, Yamuna would chant in the courtyard. It was very cold in Amritsar in November, but it got a little warmer when the sun came out in the afternoon, and she would sit cross-legged with her back erect and chant Hare Krishna maha-mantra japa continuously with her eyes closed—nonstop. When she chanted, she told me, her ears and mind and heart opened up to the holy names and the names would enter and she would just hear the sound. She was not even thinking that she was chanting the holy names or that these were names she was hearing—she was just fully absorbed in the sound.

After Amritsar, Srila Prabhupada and his party returned to Bombay. On the way, the train stopped at the New Delhi station, and a gentleman, a lawyer named D. D. Gupta who had been corresponding with Prabhupada and had been informed of his stopover, came to meet him. He requested Srila Prabhupada to leave some disciples in Delhi to start the activities there. Prabhupada turned to Gurudas, who was riding in the same compartment, and said, “This man is inviting us. Get down and see what you can do.” Gurudas asked for some devotees, and then he and Srila Prabhupada agreed on a team: Yamuna, Gopala, Bhakta Bruce (now Bhanu Swami), and me.

Mr. Gupta arranged for us to stay in two rooms in Old Delhi, near Delhi Gate. The rooms were very basic—just plain concrete with whitewash on the walls—and they abutted the courtyard at the center of the building. We would have to walk (in urgent cases, run) around the courtyard to use the simple latrine.

Mr. Gupta, it turned out, was a peculiar man. He was an advocate, but not a very big one. And he was miserly. He would keep his used, dead batteries in a drawer, in the hope that they would come back to life. The whole situation was very austere, but it was wonderful being with Gurudas and Yamuna. We were like a family, with Gurudas and Yamuna like our older brother and sister, taking care of us in the absence of our father, Srila Prabhupada.

After leaving us in Delhi and spending some days in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada proceeded to Indore for the Gita Jayanti Mahotsava, and our small party joined him there. Once, when we entered his room, he looked up from his desk, and Yamuna remarked, “Srila Prabhupada, you look just like a picture I have seen of your guru maharaja looking up from his desk.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, with all humility, “All that glitters is not gold. My guru maharaja was like gold; I am like iron.”

From Indore, Srila Prabhupada and his party traveled to Surat, in Gujarat, where we received an overwhelming reception. One day there, when I was chanting my rounds on the roof of the house where we all were staying, somehow my mind got fixed on an idea. I had heard that Srila Prabhupada had said that if you could deliver just one soul back home, back to Godhead, then your own deliverance would be assured. Somehow I thought of my girlfriend from before I joined, and I considered, “Maybe I should have her come and join me, and I will make her a pure devotee, and then I’ll go back to Godhead.” It all made perfect sense to me, but I thought I had better consult Gurudas and Yamuna. I was very serious, and they questioned me, “Why her in particular? There are so many souls that you could deliver back to Godhead—why her?” Indirectly, they pointed out my attachment for her, and they induced me to abandon that strategy.

After Surat, Srila Prabhupada stopped in Bombay, where he met with the few devotees based there. We were all staying at the Sea Palace Hotel, which was pure vegetarian and belonged to Sri Ramchand Chhabria, who knew the devotees from England and was himself vegetarian. While we were there, a new issue of Back to Godhead magazine came, and the first article was Srila Prabhupada’s poem “Markine Bhagavata-dharma,” written when he initially arrived in America, in Boston. We had never seen the poem before; it had never been published. Gurudas, Yamuna, and I got together to look at the magazine, and Yamuna read the poem out loud. It was written in a mood of deep humility and dependence on Krishna. And when she got to the end—“Signed—the most unfortunate, insignificant beggar, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami”—she burst into tears. She couldn’t contain herself.

Years later, in September 2002, after celebrating the anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in America, I wrote Yamuna-devi, “Two days ago I spoke of the time Srila Prabhupada’s poem “Markine Bhagavata-dharma” first appeared in English in BTG and you read it to Gurudas Prabhu and me and at the end you cried.” And she replied, “I sang this prayer this year on Vyasa-puja day, and all the while torrents of tears fell. One of my weaknesses is tears.”

From Bombay, Srila Prabhupada went to Allahabad for the Ardha-kumbha-mela, and Yamuna and I were there with him. Srila Prabhupada spoke on the story of Ajamila and the holy name from the Sixth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Only the first two cantos had been translated and published then, so Prabhupada read from his Sanskrit Bhagavatam with commentaries, sometimes translating from Sridhara Swami’s comments and occasionally from Jiva Gosvami’s. While there, I heard that Srila Prabhupada had said that he was speaking for Yamuna.

In April 2007, when Yamuna visited me at my ashram in Carpinteria, California, I asked her about it. And she told me something that etched an indelible impression on my heart. As she explained, she had always thought she had as much right as anyone to walk or sit close to Srila Prabhupada. And generally when he spoke, she would sit in front of the vyasasana at his feet. She had never really considered that men should walk or sit closer to Prabhupada, and women further away. The movement had been like that in the early days—like a family.

In Allahabad, however, one of the sannyasis explained to Yamuna that in India the women sat apart and that she should too. So during the next morning’s lecture she sat at some distance from Srila Prabhupada. Later that morning, Prabhupada noticed her passing by his tent, and he called, “Yamuna, come in here.” She entered and offered her obeisances, and before she got up he said, “So, you don’t want to hear anymore?” Yamuna burst into tears; Prabhupada—hearing from him—was her life. “Where were you this morning?” he asked. Yamuna told him exactly what had happened. Prabhupada was silent.

That, as she told me, was a turning point in her life; it changed her whole orientation in Krishna consciousness. She suddenly had the realization that she would not always have Prabhupada’s company. Since 1967, when Srila Prabhupada recovered from his stroke, she had never been able to conceive of ever being separated from him. The devotees were so dependent on him for everything, it was inconceivable to them that he would not always be with them. But, she told me, every disciple must come to a personal realization that there will come a time when the spiritual master will not be present. And for her that moment came in Allahabad, after her talks with the sannyasi and then Srila Prabhupada.

Sitting in Prabhupada’s tent, she asked him, “How much time did you actually spend with your guru maharaja?” “Very few occasions,” he said, “maybe five or six. But they were very intimate. We used to walk and talk so many things.” Then he said, “Those who think that association with the spiritual master is physical, they are no better than a mosquito sitting on the lap of a king. And what is the business of a mosquito? Simply to suck blood. So many of my godbrothers, they were big, big sannyasis, and they thought like that, and they simply sucked blood.”

Yamuna took Prabhupada’s words as confirmation. She now understood that she needed to go to another place to explore her relationship with him and her service to him in separation. She began to consider the question of vani (words, instructions) and vapuh (body, form), and she got more and more insight into it. As she told me, it is “unlimitedly deep and profound. You can hear the terms on the surface, but vani means to again be in Prabhupada’s presence”—to be in his presence in separation as much as when you were in his physical association. “So that was a turning point for me,” she said, “to realize that Prabhupada was going to leave this planet: ‘He is an old man, and he is going to leave, and I have to prepare.’ ” She understood that from that moment she must start mentally preparing—find a way of continuing in Krishna consciousness that was not based on Srila Prabhupada’s personal association.

“So, that is that story of hearing,” she continued. “Prabhupada said, ‘I am speaking so much because you want to hear so much.’ So he knew that hunger. I never expressed that to him, but he knew.” As Yamuna often said, Srila Prabhupada was completely aware of every disciple in every way—both their internal consciousness and the external manifestations of their service.

Vani and vapuh became a major theme in Yamuna-devi’s life—how to maintain one’s connection with Srila Prabhupada through vani to the same degree and with the same intensity as in his physical, even close personal, presence. She was convinced that it was possible, and she arranged her life in such a way as to always receive his guidance and mercy—to always be in his association.

Then came the Bombay pandal. Syamasundara Prabhu, who was the temple president, divided the work into different departments, with one devotee in charge of each. (Often, that devotee was the department.) And Yamuna-devi was in charge of the Deities. We had very little money. Although we were raising funds for the pandal program, we needed it all for the event. And the treasurer, Rishi Kumar, was very tight with the money, which Srila Prabhupada considered a good quality for the treasurer. Sometimes Rishi Kumar would put a sign on his office door: “Closed for three days.” So, Yamuna was charged with raising the funds for the Deities—including the large marble ones that had just arrived. In the pandal we had small brass Deities, and on the last day of the program there was to be a procession from the pandal, at Cross Maidan, to Chowpatty, where there would be a program at the beach, at which the large ones, Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari, would be revealed for the first time to the people of Bombay. And Yamuna just couldn’t raise the money.

One day while she was out endeavoring to raise funds for the Deities, Yamuna became so disappointed and distraught that she just sat down on the sidewalk and wept. A black limousine, with a pious, distinguished-looking gentleman in the back seat, stopped on the road before her, and he got out of the car and asked her what was the matter. “We’re having a pandal program,” she explained, “and I’m in charge of the Deities’ outfits and decorations, and I have to raise the money, but no one is giving and we’re running out of time.” “Don’t worry,” he replied. “I am the chairman of two of the biggest temple trusts in Bombay. How much do you need?” “Two thousand five hundred rupees,” she replied—which was really a lot back then. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Just come with me to my office, and I’ll give you a check for the whole amount.” She was that sincere and dedicated, and she inspired that kind of response in others.

From Bombay, Srila Prabhupada sent Tamal Krishna and me to Calcutta to arrange a similar pandal program, and eventually Yamuna also came, and soon she was engaged in the service of the Deities there, Sri Sri Radha-Govinda. Every morning we would look forward to the darshan (viewing) of the Deities. The worship was so beautiful—so devotional.

One day at the pandal site, I approached Yamuna and told her that I had some questions regarding my future and the future of the movement that I just could not answer but that I didn’t want to approach Srila Prabhupada with them directly. The whole mood then was, “Don’t disturb Srila Prabhupada. He has to translate. He has important things to do.” When I told her my questions, however, she responded, “No, you should go to him. You are just the type of devotee he would want to spend time with, and these are just the types of questions he would want to answer.”

So, based on her advice, I approached Srila Prabhupada in his room at the temple. “Before joining the movement,” I said, “I was interested in making movies, and I even made one. So I was thinking maybe I should make movies about Krishna consciousness.” Srila Prabhupada replied, “That, others are doing. Our main medium is books.”

Then I said, “Srila Prabhupada, now you are here, so everything is all right. But what if, in the course of time, when you are not here, ISKCON falls from the standard? What should I do?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “You are also one of the important members of the Society [though I was actually quite new], so you work for the correction. But don’t leave.”

These instructions have been guiding me ever since. And it was Yamuna-devi who advised me to go and ask Prabhupada directly.

After Calcutta was the Delhi pandal. Again Yamuna arranged beautiful Deity worship, for Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda, who later went to Bhaktivedanta Manor in England. The darshans were spectacular. But after the program she was very sick. She was staying in the same, large house as Srila Prabhupada, and he noticed that she was missing. He inquired and found out that she was sick. She was resting in a small room—like a closet. Because she was sick, she had to have her own room, and that was all the devotees could offer. Srila Prabhupada went to visit her and found that no one was really taking care of her, and he became concerned and assigned a devotee to care for her. It was cold, and I think he gave her his own room heater—perhaps the only one. And he said that we have to take care of our devotees when they fall ill.

After the Delhi pandal, I went to Madras, while the rest of the party went to Vrindavan with Srila Prabhupada for the first time. There was one car—an Ambassador—with Srila Prabhupada and some men, and a bus with the rest of the devotees. Prabhupada was in the car, and he noticed Yamuna climbing into the bus. He said, “Wait! Wait!” He called her, knowing that she was very sick, and told the men to get out. Then he had her get in the back seat with Gurudas and one other man—Prabhupada was in the front with the driver—and the other men went on the bus.

In time, Srila Prabhupada got some land in Vrindavan and put Gurudas and Yamuna in charge. Later, she related a couple of incidents to me that I consider to be very instructive. Once, a small group of devotees went to the Radha-Damodar temple, and the Goswami in charge invited them to have prasada. The devotees sat in the courtyard, and the Goswami arranged the Deities’ maha-prasada for them. While they were honoring the prasada, he began to badly blaspheme Srila Prabhupada—“Why does he wear a ring?” and all sorts of things. The devotees felt extremely uncomfortable and were tempted to just get up and walk out, but somehow they decided not to. After the incident, Gurudas and Yamuna reported to Srila Prabhupada what had happened, and Srila Prabhupada instructed, “In Vrindavan there are five thousand caste Goswamis, five thousand shopkeepers, and five thousand widows, and we have to keep good relations with all of them; otherwise we will end up in court like the Gaudiya Matha.”

On another occasion Srila Prabhupada sent Gurudas and Yamuna to meet his godbrother Professor O. B. L. Kapoor. After Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura left, Professor Kapoor had taken shelter of a babaji as a siksa-guru (instructing spiritual master). Srila Bhaktisiddhanta had vehemently criticized this line of babajis, who had staunchly opposed some of his essential principles. So this was a peculiar situation, that Professor Kapoor had taken shelter of one of these babajis. But Srila Prabhupada simply said, “That is his weakness”—that’s all. He didn’t consider that this disqualified Dr. Kapoor from helping the movement. Srila Prabhupada had a very broad view of the Krishna consciousness movement and of engaging people in it, and that was demonstrated quite vividly in Vrindavan.

Then Srila Prabhupada left us, and things did change. I didn’t see Gurudas or Yamuna for many years. But then somehow my relationship with Yamuna was revived. She had really been a mentor to me, and decades later she was again. Although so many years had passed, when we met again it was more or less the same—the relationship hadn’t changed, and we shared thoughts about Srila Prabhupada and his service and his mission. She was always concerned about the mission, that Srila Prabhupada’s legacy should be preserved as it is and not adulterated or compromised.

I also saw how absorbed Yamuna-devi was in Krishna consciousness. When I think of the five main processes of devotional service (pancanga-bhakti), she was very strong in all of them.

sadhu-sanga, nama-kirtana, bhagavata-sravana
mathura-vasa, sri-murtira sraddhaya sevana

“One should associate with devotees, chant the holy name of the Lord, hear Srimad-Bhagavatam, reside at Mathura, and worship the Deity with faith and veneration.” (Cc Madhya 22.128)

She was very strong in reading and studying. Every morning she would read the Bhagavatam and the teachings of the more recent acharyas—Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura—taking special note when they spoke about the holy name. This was a major focus for her, and she would relish reading, especially instructions related to nama-bhajana and to guru-seva.

Yamuna-devi was also fully devoted to Deity worship. One of the basic principles of Deity worship is cleanliness, and Yamuna didn’t distinguish between cleaning the guru’s ashram and cleaning the Deity room; she considered personal service to Srila Prabhupada to be in the same category as personal service to the Deity. And of course, she was right. Once, a devotee came forward to fan Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada stopped him, saying that he wasn’t a brahman. “In Bombay,” she told me, “I learned to take joy in that cleaning. Whether you are serving the spiritual master or the arca-vigraha, the cleaning is external and internal. It is a very spiritual engagement—as powerful as distributing books.”

Around the time of the first Bombay pandal, when we were staying in Akash Ganga, a high-rise apartment building in an affluent part of central Bombay, she would stay back and clean. She would clean the whole place, for hours. And while cleaning, she would sing in a very ecstatic mood. The rest of us were going here and there—for service, of course, but there were incidental benefits: seeing exotic India, meeting all sorts of cultured and interesting people, tasting varieties of delicious prasada—and she was staying back and cleaning; she put her whole heart into it.

Later, in April 2007, when she visited me in Carpinteria, I asked her about this, and she said that Srila Prabhupada had put greater emphasis on bhagavata-marga—chanting and hearing—because he wanted his books produced, so they would be there for all time, and because he wanted his books distributed, so the income from the sales would support the expansion of the mission. Thus he didn’t have much time to personally train disciples in pancaratrika-vidhi, procedures related to deity worship. But he did train her. She explained that Srila Prabhupada would teach each servant about the importance and standards of cleanliness according to the servant’s capacity to understand. And he had trained her very strictly. He had his four-tiered cooker, and if he found a black spot on the bottom of any of the sections, he would really chastise her, or whoever had done the cleaning: “This is not Vaishnava. This is Muslim. No Vaishnava will ever leave a black spot on any of the pots in the kitchen.” Prabhupada’s cooker was always to shine like gold.

Based on Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, Yamuna developed a whole system for cleaning his quarters in Vrindavan—an elaborate five-step procedure in which she would go from bottom to top and top to bottom. First she would get the big dirt off the floor, then she would work her way up the walls as far as she could reach, dusting, and then she would go back to the bottom, cleaning everything as perfectly as she could. If there was anything wrong, Prabhupada would notice and tell her about it. And keeping the rooms clean in Vrindavan was very hard: What with the drifting sands of Raman Reti and the whole place being a construction zone, there was always dirt and corrosion everywhere. The walls of Prabhupada’s rooms were pale yellow, and the floors were black stone. The floors were covered with rugs, and the rugs were covered with white sheets.

One morning when Srila Prabhupada came back from his walk, after Yamuna had gone through her five-step procedure and everything looked as clean as could be, he told her, “Please clean my room, Yamuna. Haven’t I taught you to clean?” “No, Srila Prabhupada,” she replied, meaning the she hadn’t yet learned. “How may I improve my cleaning?” He didn’t say anything. On his desk were a picture of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, his eyeglass case, his tilak, pens, a flower vase, and a stapler. Srila Prabhupada took the stapler, which was about two and a half inches long, removed it from its plastic case, lifted up the metal staple holder, and ran his little finger, his pinkie, across the thin metal strip between the staple holder and the hinge, and . . . dust. “When will you learn how to clean?” he asked.

If Srila Prabhupada had had the time, Yamuna told me, he would have trained all his disciples in both pancaratriki-vidhi and bhagavata-vidhi, but because he was focused more on bhagavata-vidhi, he mainly trained only his close managers and personal servants, be they men or women, in both. Srila Prabhupada knew the consciousness of his disciples—he knew their capacity to absorb his instruction—and he would train them accordingly.

Yamuna-devi absorbed his training enthusiastically. More than thirty years later she told me, “I can honestly say that I engage in cleaning joyously. In our ashram [in Saranagati, Canada] we sometimes sing and clean for hours and hours. Our place is very primitive—we have a dirt floor and walls, and a lot of earth outside—very simple, but we like to clean a lot. We enjoy cleaning for Srila Prabhupada and the Deities.”

Cooking, like cleanliness, is also part of Deity worship, and Yamuna-devi was most expert. Once, when Srila Prabhupada was coming to Vrindavan, she went to the Vraja-vasis and asked, “What is the best way to make Vraja-vasi rotis?” They told her, “You have to get red Punjabi wheat berries. You have to grind them in the morning, and then you have to cook the rotis with neem wood.”

When Prabhupada came she didn’t say a word to him, but she got red Punjabi wheat berries, had them ground in the morning, and then cooked the rotis with neem wood. When she went in to serve Srila Prabhupada and put a hot roti on his plate, he took one bite and said, “This is from red Punjabi wheat berries. You ground them this morning and cooked the rotis with neem wood.” She hadn’t said a word to him—he just knew. And even then, he had a suggestion for improvement. “Just one thing,” he said. “If you cook them one or two seconds more, they will be perfect.”

That was at the Radha-Damodar temple in 1972. Yamuna also recounted a sequel, from Raman Reti in 1973:

“One time when Srila Prabhupada came—I think it was the first time I met Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami; he was Prabhupada’s servant—I was on a bucket stove again, on the floor—no kitchen. I was making Prabhupada’s prasada, and as you may or may not know, when you cook with a bucket stove and you have a little bit of hard coal and then a little bit of soft coal and then a little bit of cow dung, it is a little hard to regulate. There is a certain temperature, and you cannot turn a switch to make it higher or lower. And then, depending on the thickness of the pot, you know what intensity you want. And then there is what you call a thawa, which is an iron griddle, concave, and to make a chapati you keep that on the stove and then you lift it off and you put the chapati on top of the flame. So, I made chapatis for Prabhupada’s lunch.

“Satsvarupa Maharaja wanted to bring in the lunch, thinking that I probably shouldn’t do it. He brought in the plate, came back into the kitchen, and said, ‘Prabhupada wants me to teach you how to make chapatis.’ And I said, ‘Oh, Maharaja, I would be so grateful if you could do that. I’d love to learn to make chapatis. Please.’

“Then I got up, and he began to wash his hands. By the time he sat down and rolled out a chapati, the thawa was really hot. He rolled out an octopus-like chapati. Now, when you roll out a chapati, the ball bearing for rolling it out is the dusting of flour, and if you roll the chapati in too much flour you actually roll flour into the surface of the flatbread, and then even if you try to flap it off you will still have a crust of flour. So you use a minimal amount for the ball bearing and then flap off the little extra.

“Maharaja’s octopus was covered with flour on a hot thawa. When he put it on, I said, ‘Maharaja, what should I be looking for?’ He said, ‘You wait until there are pimples on the top.’ As soon as the chapati hit the griddle, very hot, the pimples came very fast. He turned the chapati over, and there were little burnt holes. So there was no question of it puffing up.

“So, he put it on, and the little bubbles appeared at different places, and he took it in to Prabhupada. Then he came back and told me, ‘Prabhupada said, “This is excellent.” ’ ”

Yamuna concluded, “So that’s how Prabhupada taught me. It was never with a whip, but they were beatings nonetheless. They were beatings over my head.”

Another time, in 1974, one of the devotees based in Vrindavan approached Yamuna and said, “My wife is coming, and she is a very good cook. She wants to cook for Prabhupada.” Yamuna replied, “How wonderful. I will be glad to engage her in Prabhupada’s service.” The new cook arrived after the big Mayapur festival, when almost all the devotees had become very ill with dysentery and other maladies. There was really no proper arrangement for them, but Gurudas and Yamuna cared for them like parents. Yamuna was doing the cooking for the devotees at Fogel Ashram. Under the circumstances—trying to make arrangements for the devotees’ prasada without any facility, unable to speak Hindi and communicate with the locals, and with assistant cooks ready to walk out at any moment, Yamuna was working practically twenty-four hours a day and really didn’t have time to cook for Srila Prabhupada. So she was very happy that the new cook was there. And she didn’t go to see Prabhupada the entire time.

She began to get messages: “Prabhupada wants you”—but she didn’t go. She just replied, “Tell him I am really busy.” She commented later, “Bad, very bad—really low consciousness.”

When finally she went to Prabhupada’s room, he was about to go out. So she went back the next morning.

Yamuna had given the new cook specific instructions. Still, the woman had taken Srila Prabhupada’s cooker and his unclean laundry and stuffed them in a bolster pillowcase meant for his seating area, and it was now black all over the bottom. Yamuna arrived just as the lady was putting the cooker in with the clothes, in the pillowcase. Srila Prabhupada was also standing there, watching the cooker being shoved into the pillowcase. He didn’t say a word—not to the cook, not to Yamuna.

“Are you too busy to come?” he asked Yamuna. “So I am delaying my departure for one day.” The men said, “But the cars are ready. We’re just loading them.” “No,” Prabhupada stated unequivocally, “Yamuna will stay here and cook for me tomorrow. I am staying, and she is going to cook for me tomorrow morning, and then we will go.” “Prabhupada knows everything,” Yamuna told me later.

Of course, Yamuna-devi is still well known for her engagement in the next process of devotional service—kirtan. Once, she had a dream or vision—whatever it was, she took it as very real. She was a sage in the forest and Srila Prabhupada was also there, and he engaged her in doing kirtan. She felt that from her past life there was a connection with Srila Prabhupada in relation to kirtan.

“Srila Prabhupada’s kirtan,” she said, “had no tinge of being a performance. It was purely for the pleasure of Krishna. It allowed the chanters access to the fact that the Lord’s holy name and the Lord are nondifferent. He said that the key to engaging in kirtan without anartha was hearing and studying our literature, and that gradually it would rise to the platform of pure devotional service.”

And in an e-mail to Bhakta Carl, now Kalachandji das, she wrote, “Leading and chanting in kirtan has little to do with how we sound to each other. It has much more to do with how we call out to Krishna and immerse ourselves in hearing the vibrations of the holy names. What a vehicle for experiencing love of Godhead!”

When Yamuna and the other devotees were recording with the Beatles, George Harrison was so impressed by her singing that he told her he could make her one of the most famous and celebrated vocalists in the world. But she wasn’t interested. Her singing was meant for another purpose—pure devotional service to please Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha-Govinda.

Yamuna-devi said that to the degree one follows Srila Prabhupada, to that degree things are revealed. She gave the example of Bhakti Tirtha Swami. She felt that because of his deep connection with the holy name—his dedication to japa, his private time with japa—he was able to perceive Srila Prabhupada’s presence in separation. “Prabhupada freely gave everything to all of us,” she said. “But it is the individual’s hankering, which leads him to make certain decisions in his life to catch that mercy, that facilitates his, or her, perception of Srila Prabhupada, especially in separation.”

Yamuna recalled an incident that demonstrated to her unequivocally how fully Prabhupada knew his disciples. She came to the courtyard of the Radha-Damodar temple in the wee hours of one morning, remaining as silent as humanly possible so as not to disturb Srila Prabhupada, and he came out of his room and called her name. “There was no way Prabhupada could have known that I was there at one thirty in the morning,” she said. “I didn’t make any noise.”

But then she balanced her statement: “On the other hand, there were many times when he would say, ‘I want your report. Otherwise how do I know?’ ” And she added, “There were times when I did it, but other times, because of low Krishna consciousness, I ceased reporting in an honest way, and it contributed to my fall, to my weaknesses in Krishna consciousness. When I was open and revealed everything honestly in my reporting to Prabhupada, as we are supposed to report to Krishna, I was stronger in Krishna consciousness. And when I closed that avenue off, my consciousness suffered.”

In her profound humility, she explained, “Srila Prabhupada’s presence in vani and vapuh, or our ability to perceive his presence in his vani and vapuh form, depends on our consciousness—whether we are able to perceive a drop of who Prabhupada was. Some devotees who never had Srila Prabhupada’s company, with their laulyam and their greed for it had more of it than I sometimes did while I was in his company, depending on my consciousness. . . .

“I still have no idea of the greatness of Prabhupada’s presence, then or now, although I think about it a lot, meditate on it a lot. We discuss it almost every day. It comes up in some form or other in our morning Bhagavatam class. . . . Prabhupada’s presence then and now—vani and vapuh. And it is very important to hold onto his presence as the focal point in our maturation in spiritual life, because he is the center in our spiritual life. Nothing comes without his presence. Even if the mercy comes to us through other forms, from endless different places—still, he is the fountainhead. . . . If I am qualified, then certain mercies will come to me. Mercy is not something you bargain for or arrange for or even desire for very deeply. You can have intense hankering, and then whatever comes—whatever form the mercy comes in—it is so Krishna conscious.”

Inevitably, we come toward the end of Yamuna-devi’s stay with us. After Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day in 2009, Yamuna wrote me a letter that shows her deep absorption in Srila Prabhupada and in the holy names, and her intimate relationship with Srila Prabhupada. She really did understand Srila Prabhupada and his mission; he gave her a lot of instruction.

“Dear Giriraj Swami, Pranama dandavats. Jaya Srila Prabhupada! I wanted to share a few thoughts and reflections on yesterday, Srila Prabhupada’s thirty-second disappearance day. We observed the day first at Radha-Banabehari Mandira with our morning program, then at a midday program at Govardhana Academy [the school at Saranagati], introducing the students to the traditional way Srila Prabhupada instructed us to honor this day, and then in the evening at a program with adults in the community, who for convenience regularly meet in the evening for any kind of Vaishnava holy day.

“Last night Yadubara showed his preliminary edited footage for DVD Eleven: ‘Srila Prabhupada’s Final Pastimes.’ Though I had seen much of the footage before, it had been without comment, and not arranged in sequence to tell a visual story of Srila Prabhupada’s final days and hours, the moment of his passing, and the aftermath—the Vrindavan parikrama and the samadhi entombment.

“One evening, sitting with my back to Srila Prabhupada’s front bucket seat, riding in a van from Tittenhurst [John Lennon’s estate] to a Conway Hall lecture in London, Srila Prabhupada said loud enough for me to hear, ‘When I die, see that my body is taken on a palanquin around Vrindavan on parikrama.’ Stunned, but immediately attentive to these words, I turned around, and on my knees, bent forward from the waist so that my head was even with his shoulder, I said, ‘Why have you told me to do this, Srila Prabhupada? Better that you tell Tamal Krishna. He has more access to seeing that this is done than I do.’ He replied, ‘No, you can tell him.’ He fell silent and said no more. I too fell silent and said no more.

“Yadubara’s footage last night of the thickest pastime of Srila Prabhupada’s life with us—his passing—was poignant and moving. Though I was not there physically with Srila Prabhupada, I could not have felt closer to him or experienced more of his presence had I been so. Every moment of every day has been a meditation on Srila Prabhupada, and we have been engaged in constant kirtan. Perhaps it would have been difficult for me even to have been there at that time, for except Pisima, it is clear that women were not allowed close proximity to Srila Prabhupada, and that might have been almost unbearable for me after the closeness I experienced in previous years with him.”

She writes more, expressing appreciation for the devotional mood and service of some of Prabhupada’s disciples who were there—they had “a shared intent to follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, glorify his mood, honor his example, and share that with others.” But her letter also expressed her concern about how at a certain point the role of women in the movement had changed. In earlier days, she would lead kirtan before thousands of people, speak before thousands of people, and render personal service to Srila Prabhupada. At Tittenhurst she was basically Srila Prabhupada’s personal servant—she and Malati and Janaki. Purusottama would do some of the correspondence, and some of the men would give massage, but basically these ladies were doing the personal service.

She said that one day Prabhupada came into his room—they had just made his bed and done whatever else had to be done in the room—and said, “This is very unusual,” meaning for a sannyasi to have women do that service. He said, “This is very unusual, but it is appropriate.” He continued, “Sometimes I am like your father and you are like my daughters, and sometimes you are like my mothers and I am like your son.”

In the last year there was tremendous concern about Yamuna-devi’s health. At different stages she spoke to me about her condition and options, but then very much towards the end, perhaps in September, she came to a very critical point with regard to her heart. Because of her age and size, the doctors were afraid to perform an invasive procedure, yet if they didn’t, she could have heart failure at any time. For a while she wasn’t sure what to do, but in the end she decided to just return to her home and depend on Krishna.

A few times she said that she was ready to go, that she felt she had done what she was meant to do in this life, or what she could do, and she was ready to go. She had no fear, no regrets. Personally, I questioned her conclusion about her service, and I suggested, “Well, you may have something left to do in terms of service to Srila Prabhupada.” I was thinking of her writing, that she should write about her experiences with and realizations about Srila Prabhupada. But she said, “No, I have thought about it, and there’s nothing really that I have to stay to do. If there is anything—if I am given more time—it is to try to help the women in the movement.” And she added, “I don’t think that you, as a sannyasi, can understand what the women in the movement experience. But if Krishna does give me some more time, I would like to do something for the women, to support the women, to give a strong voice to the women.”

No matter how dire her physical condition was, she was so Krishna conscious. My conversations with her were quite frequent after she went to Bhaktivedanta Hospital. Naturally, I was concerned about her medical condition, and so we would be talking about it, but somehow or other, without my knowing how she got there, she would be talking about Krishna and Srila Prabhupada and the holy name and how wonderful devotees are and how merciful Prabhupada and Krishna are and how grateful she was.

At about 6:30 in the morning on December 20, Yamuna’s constant companion and spiritual confidante, Dinatarini dasi, found that Yamuna had left. Her hand was in her bead bag, and she had a slight smile on her face. She looked completely at peace—even blissful. She had been unafraid of death. She had been confident that she would again be with Prabhupada, or somehow engaged in serving his mission. Such is the destination that awaits anyone who gives his or her life fully to serving Srila Prabhupada, even now.

Yamuna-devi was a beautiful soul, a divine servant of Srila Prabhupada, his mission, and his Lords. She exemplified nama-ruci (taste for the holy name), jiva-daya (mercy for the living entities), and vaisnava-seva (service to the devotees). She was a mentor, guide, and friend to many, including me. We will miss her personal presence. Still, we shall try to serve her in separation by upholding the ideals she held dear.

In conclusion, I quote from a letter Yamuna wrote me some years ago, which has given me some solace and guidance:

“I remember when Dina and I visited you in your house in Vrindavan. We asked you one question, and you took three hours to answer it: ‘How has your relationship with Srila Prabhupada changed since his departure?’ ” Again, vani and vapuh. She continued, “The departure of loved ones helps us to change, to go deeper. Surely this will happen.”

New Year’s Eve Harinam in Auckland NewZealand (Album of photos)
Goodbye 2018, welcome 2019.
Srila Prabhupada: Chanting the holy name is the chief means of attaining love of Godhead. This chanting or devotional service does not depend on any paraphernalia, nor on ones having taken birth in a good family. By humility and meekness one attracts the attention of Krishna. That is the verdict of all the Vedas. (Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila, 4.71 purport)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/abXv5j

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year 2019. A devotee always tries to see everything through the vision of Krishna's teachings. Below is Srila Prabhupada's vision of the new year;

So far as we are concerned, our new year is every day because Krishna belongs to the nitya lila. Nitya lila means that all of His Pastimes are going on in either of the so many universes. It is just like the rising of the sun. In your country the sun is supposed to rise at 6:30 at the present moment, but at any time you can inquire in some part of the world and there it is the same 6:30 and sunrise. While you are in this meridian, in another country it may be 6:30 AM, and the sun is rising.
- Srila Prabhupada, 1969

If also cultivate a vision that every day is like a new year by meditating on the nitya lila of Krishna, our life certainly will be fresh and new every day thus giving us joy!

I started writing this blog 11 years ago and now this is my 1000th post. I extend the readers of this blog my gratitude.

Hare Krishna.

Did you know?
545,599,371 pieces of literature authored by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada have been distributed worldwide by his sincere followers since 1965 to the end of November.
6,080,380 literatures this year.
601,385 literatures the month of November.
These are official stats issued by the BBT (Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, the publishing agency of Srila Prabhupada’s books)
Sankirtan Yajna ki Jaya!
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Srila Prabhupada Memories by HG Visakha Mataji at Hare Krishna Melbourne on 21 December 2018 (video)
Srila Prabhupada: An old ...

Lecture by HG Radhika Raman Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty

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Snana Yatra celebration at Hare Krishna Melbourne (Album of photos)
Aniruddha Dāsa: Snana Yatra was celebrated with enthusiasm, dedication and exuberance this year. Great decorations by Jaya Radha and her team. It was also Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Ṭhākura’s Disappearance Day. You’ll see him on the Vyāsāsana and Prabhupāda sitting on our smaller Vyāsaāsana. Just in case you were wondering.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/YJkcwg

Kirtan night at Mayapur (Album of photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Those who are advanced and highly qualified and are interested in the essence of life know the good qualities of Kali-yuga. Such people worship the age of Kali because in this age, simply by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, one can advance in spiritual knowledge and thus attain life’s goal. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 11.5.36)
Find them here: https://goo.gl/5rK2pG

At Kirtan50 today, Bada Haridas Prabhu and I spoke about the holy name, following the theme of this beautiful verse from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.2.55):

visrjati hrdayam na yasya saksad
  dharir avasabhihito ’py aghaugha-nasah
pranaya-rasanaya dhrtanghri-padma
sa bhavati bhagavata-pradhana ukta

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead is so kind to the conditioned souls that if they call upon Him by speaking His holy name, even unintentionally or unwillingly, the Lord is inclined to destroy innumerable sinful reactions in their hearts. Therefore, when a devotee who has taken shelter of the Lord’s lotus feet chants the holy name of Krsna with genuine love, the Lord can never give up the heart of such a devotee. One who has thus bound the Supreme Lord within his heart with the ropes of love is to be known as bhagavata-pradhana, the most exalted devotee of the Lord.”

The audio of our talks can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/premasindhu/hh-giriraj-swami-hg-bada-haridas-prabhu

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

On New Year's Day, Tuesday, January 1st, 2019, Toronto's Hare Krishna temple will be hosting our annual Srila Prabhupada Festival!  Promising to be a great way to start the new year, the festival is usually one of the biggest of the year.

The festival will feature plenty of kirtan, wonderful classes, a dramatic presentation by Bhaktimarga Swami and a sumptuous feast to help ring in the new year!  You won’t want to miss it!  There will be no better way to usher in the new year on an auspicious note!

Festival Schedule (Subject to Change):

4:00pm to 4:15pm - Kirtan (Arati)
4:15pm to 4:30pm - Tulasi Arati
4:30pm to 4:50pm - Guru Puja
4:50pm to 5:00pm - Welcome and Announcements
5:00pm to 5:20pm - Special Updates and Presentations
5:20pm to 6:00pm - Dramatic presentation by Bhaktimarga Swami
6:00pm to 6:30pm - Kirtan (Arati)
6:30pm - Vegetarian Feast (Prasadam)

Special Mercy In Shanghai (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: This afternoon on my last day in Shanghai we did a program in a popular yoga studio. Over two hundred mostly young people listened intently to the class and as always, chanted and danced ecstatically with us. I saw 6 people crying during the kirtan. In fact, I often see Chinese people cry during bhajans and kirtans. I can only conclude that Lord Caitanya and the holy names are showing special mercy to the people of the Khasa race as described in Srimad Bhagavatam:
”Kiratas, Hunas, Andhras, Pulindas, Pulkasas, Abhiras, Sumbhas, Yavanas and members of the Khasa [ Chinese ] races, and even others addicted to sinful acts, can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.”
Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.4.18
Find them here: https://goo.gl/B9izNo

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 22 April 2016, Radhadesh, Srimad Bhagavatam 7.8.14-16)

It is said sometimes that anger is the younger brother of lust. First, there is our desire to control. We want a world according to our desires and if people interfere with that then we become angry!

But it is not that people just interfere because you have to see Krsna behind it. So devotees accept, “Alright, so Krsna did not want this for me. Krsna has another plan for me. This is not destined to be.” One has to accept being an instrument of Krsna!

This is difficult. I know it is difficult. Tell me all about it. I find it very difficult also. But, when everything goes wrong, and you are sort of standing on shaky legs then we say, “Okay Krsna, I’m yours!” This is sort of how it is.

The article " An instrument of Krsna " was published on KKSBlog.

“A Slave of Love” (5 min video)
By HG Mahatma Prabhu.
Love makes one a slave, either love of oneself, maya, the opposite sex, guru or Krsna. Make your choice who you want to be a slave of, but being a slave is unavoidable.

Devotees from the New Raman Reti ISKCON community participated in the Alachua Christmas Parade.
Devotees have been part of the...

A fabulous Rathyatra around the beautiful New Varshana, Auckland NewZealand (Album of photos)
Pure Nectar!!
Srila Prabhup...

RESOLUTIONS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE! (3 min video)
HH Sivarama Swami is sharing a few valuable and practical suggestions ab...Read More...

Materialists answer that the world is a place for our enjoyment. This answer is problematic because distress and death pervade the world.
Some spiritualists, especially impersonalists, answer that the world is a place of illusion – it is just meant to be renounced. This answer too is problematic because it is largely impractical, and it renders meaningless most of the things we value: our talents, aspirations, contributions.

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The Toronto Hare Krishna Temple is pleased to announce the next  Kirtan Standards Seminar with HH Bhaktimarga Swami on Saturday, January 5th, 2019 from 10:00am - 4:00pm at our lovely temple at ISKCON Brampton. This informative seminar will present the proper etiquette and standards that are meant to be followed at our temple with respect to leading kirtans.

Moreover, this will give an opportunity to ask questions and discuss various topics related to kirtan. This seminar is mandatory for all present kirtan leaders as well as anyone who would like to lead kirtan in the future.  We also encourage anyone who participates in kirtan (mrdanga and kartal players, etc.) to attend as well.

To attend the seminar, please fill out the simple registration by CLICKING HERE and please forward to anyone who may also be interested in this seminar! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at info@torontokrishna.com.  We hope to see you all there!

There are numerous busy times of year for the Hare Krishna Temple here in Toronto when activities and events come in abundance and the temple is buzzing with excitement. The end of the year is certainly one of those times and is always a fun time for everyone as Toronto's Hare Krishnas are known for closing the calendar in style and ushering in the new year on a transcendent note! The following is your guide to spending New Years Eve with Toronto's Hare Krishna Temple!

As we do every year, devotees gather at the temple on New Year's Eve and then head over to City Hall to join the tens of thousands of revelers, ushering in the new year. However, we come armed with our drums, karatalas (cymbals) and voices as well!

Here's all that you need to know about this evening:

This episode we’re interviewing His Holiness Hridayananda das Goswami about preaching in the West and taking initiative to spread Prabhupada’s movement. Some of the topics we cover: How the movement has changed… Why we need to create leaders not followers… The extreme importance of acting according to our nature… What it means to be an […]

The post 25-Creating Leaders, Taking Initiative and Krishna West with HH Hridayananda Maharaja appeared first on Successful Vaisnavas - Personal Development for Hare Krishnas.

Aspiration to Serve and Love Krishna (video)
HH Radhanath Swami speaks on SB 11.15.17 analyzing various practitioners of Yoga ...

Fifteen people from the North London and Cambridge area participated, many of whom were already interested in yoga and wanted to learn about Bhakti too.

https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2018/11/demons-krishna-lila-5-aghasura-cruelty-violence//

https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2018/12/demons-krishna-lila-6-bakasura-appearance-substance-transcendence//

The post Uploaded transcriptions for Krishna Lila – aghasura, bakasura demons appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

In a holistic and visionary way, what are the deepest needs and hungers of family, of community, of society, of the world?  We know when women’s voices are silenced a door opens for children and women themselves to become abused. 

A video by ISKCON Desire Tree.

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!

Around one hundred devotees from the New Raman Reti ISKCON community participated in the Alachua Christmas Parade on Saturday December 8^th, in Alachua, Florida. All the townspeople turned out for the occasion, packing the sidewalks. 

Immersive technologies are a major part of the plan for the still-under-construction TOVP, including a huge 23-meter planetarium theater under one of the temple domes. However, with the temple opening still two to three years away, a smaller, stand-alone planetarium theater has been built to give pilgrims a taste of what’s to come.

Preaching program in Izhevsk, the capital city of western Russia’s Udmurt Republic (Album of photos)
Bhakti Chaitanya Swami: Every year over the Xmas time we visit the city of Izhevsk in Russia. There is a wonderful group of devotees there, and among other things, they are extremely expert in dance and drama. While we were there, every evening we had a full program, with kirtan, a class, and usually two dramas, with nice dances.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/yXftgw

Churning the Nectar In Shanghai (Album of photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Shanghai is the 2nd largest city in the world and the mo...

The age of Kali is very dangerous for the human being. Human life is simply meant for self-realization, but due to this dangerous age, men have completely forgotten the aim of life.

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Digesting the False Ego.
Sacinandana Swami: “When an intelligent person engages constantly in worshiping Me through loving devotional service as described by Me, his heart becomes firmly situated in Me. Thus all material desires within the heart are destroyed. The knot in the heart is pierced, all misgivings are cut to pieces and the chain of fruitive actions is terminated when I am seen as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 11.20.29-30)

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Visiting Iskcon Melbourne, Australia (2018) (Album of photos)
Arjun Bhattacharyya: Melbourne is located at the head of Port Phillip Bay, and it is Australia’s second largest city and the capital of the south-eastern state of Victoria. Serving as Australia’s undisputed cultural capital, Melbourne is bursting with Victorian-era architecture, museums, galleries, theaters, street arts, large parks and gardens. Srila Prabhupada visited Melbourne many times. In 1973, he installed Melbourne’s presiding Deities, Sri Sri Radha Ballabha. And in May 1975 he attended the opening of the current temple at 197 Danks Street, Albert Park, installing the Deities of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and naming the temple Melbourne Mahaprabhu Mandir. We were surcharged by the wonderful enthusiastic spirit of the devotees. We had huge program attendance for all temple and house programs. We saw beautiful parrots flying around in huge numbers just outside the temple. Please relish the pictures of our visit to one of the most amazing Krishna conscious temples.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/5mZGAA

Secrets to Living COMPLETE Life of Krsna Consciousness - New Year GOALS (20 min video)
Excellent suggestions from HG Vaisesika...
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