Planet ISKCON

Nityananda Trayodasi Abhishek ISKCON Mayapur 29/01/18 (video)

Ambarisa Das: Srila Prabhupada was a true visionary. He always had very big ideas for the spreading of Krishna consciousness and the ideal Vedic culture.
One of Srila Prabhupada’s many gifts to his followers, and the entire world, was his detailed vision for the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
Srila Prabhupada had a clear vision for the temple, and he expressed it on many occasions. He wanted a unique Vedic Planetarium to present the Vedic perspective of life, including a gigantic display of the material and spiritual worlds, which could be viewed by pilgrims on different levels as they traveled through the Planetarium.
Now here in India we are constructing a very large Vedic Planetarium…within the planetarium we will construct a huge, detailed model of the universe as described in the text of the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. Within the planetarium the model will be studied by onlookers from different levels by use of escalators. Detailed information will be given on open verandahs at the different levels by means of dioramas, charts, films etc.
Srila Prabhupada
As in everything he did, Srila Prabhupada was acting in fulfillment of the desires of the previous Acharyas, or spiritual preceptors. A grand temple for Mayapur was predicted by none other than Lord Nityananda, the most intimate associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, some five hundred years ago.
Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, the father of the modern day Krishna Consciousness movement, narrates a description of the future development of Mayapur given by Sri Nityananda Prabhu to Srila Jiva Goswami:
Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Srila Jiva Goswami
Sri Nityananda Prabhu and Srila Jiva Goswami
When our Lord Caitanya disappears, by His desire, the Ganges will swell. The Ganges water will almost cover Mayapur for a hundred years, and then the water will again recede. For some time only the place will remain, devoid of houses. Then again, by the Lord’s desire, this place will again be manifest, and the devotees will build temples of the Lord. One exceedingly wonderful temple (adbhuta-mandira) will appear from which Gauranga’s eternal service will be preached everywhere.
In July of 1976 Srila Prabhupada expressed his preference for the outer design of the temple. While visiting Washington, he instructed Yadubara Prabhu and Vishakha Mataji to take photos of the Capitol building. When they inquired why, he replied:
“I wanted both of you to take various detailed photographs of that Capitol.”
“The Capitol Building.” Yadubara nodded. “For what purpose, Srila Prabhupada?”
“We shall have a planetarium in Mayapur,” Prabhupada told him. “To show spiritual world, material world, and so on succession of the planetary systems, everything. A building like that. We are acquiring three hundred and fifty acres of land for constructing a small township to attract people from all the world to see the planetarium. … You take all details, inside, outside. That will be nice.”

Vaisnava historian Chaturatma dasa speaking from an unpublished book about the glories of Narottama dasa Thakura. This episode cover...

Love, Learn, Pray, Give, Accept, Release, Let Go, & Celebrate!
Karnamrita Das: I often think about how to express the most important aspects of life that can most benefit us all. The following is one perspective and attempt to do this. We begin by sensing that love is our nature and that which we most hanker for. When we discover that our capacity to love in this world, and the capacity for others to accept the amount of love we are capable of giving, is limited and ultimately unsatisfying, we can begin our quest to realize our spiritual nature as beings of eternity, wisdom, and love.
We discover that the fulfillment we seek is only possible when our spiritual nature is gradually awakened since this nature is who we truly are. There are many stages of this divine awakening which will be promoted by those who seek the goal their path offers. According to the bhakti Vedic scriptures, the highest stage is when our loving propensity and full consciousness is reposed on the Supreme Original Person, God, or Krishna.

When we love Krishna, then we always know what to do. This is true learning and practical wisdom. Krishna teaches in chapter 15 of his Bhagavad Gita, that when we know Krishna as the Supreme Original Person, without doubting, then we know everything that is necessary.

In our endeavor to learn to love Krishna (bhakti), we learn that prayer—through chanting the holy name, reciting prayers in the scripture and by great devotees, and our personal prayers—is our connection to God and leads us to serve and remember him. We also learn that by serving, loving, and giving to others in the spirit of service to Krishna, we grow spiritually and help others as well (para-upakara). We can’t separate Krishna from his devotees, and that spiritual essence is in everyone.

If we are only interested in serving and acknowledging God, without being kind and serving his devotees—which includes all living beings—we are considered still beginners on the path of bhakti. We will be fulfilled to the extent that we can unselfishly give, on all levels, but especially when we give what the soul is truly hankering for beyond the desires of the flesh, to find our everlasting love and activity. Krishna says in his Gita’s 18th chapter that those who teach his Word from the Gita are the dearest to him, because then, we are an extension of his compassion and mercy to help others spiritually awaken.

As we live through life’s many challenges, we are required to accept many conditions and situations we may not like. Part of our spiritual maturity is to accept ourselves as we are now with faith in the person we can become, as well to accept the life we have created, and our apparent fortune or misfortune.

When we have faith that whatever comes to us, whether joy or calamity, is ultimately meant for our highest good to help us take shelter of God, then our acceptance is natural—as it’s a by-product of our faith that Krishna’s protection and maintenance sustain us. Krishna promises in the Gita’s 9th chapter that his devotees never perish, but are led to everlasting spiritual life.

Our spiritual “job” is to excavate the connection of everything to Krishna. We must go beyond our body, our circumstances, or worldly tribulations, and find our true rest in our soul’s relationship to Krishna and the love he has for us. Our love for him expressed through service and in his glorification becomes our life connection to our Source, now, and forever.

Giving to, and loving, the Center benefits everyone and everything. In this mood we can release and let go of whatever is unfavorable—attitudes, perceptions, and conditions—to this devotional giving. We celebrate this in gratitude thru song and dance, the overflow which we share with others.

The Ultimate Sacrifice of Love.
In the Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, it is described how Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu along with His associates in the Panca-tattva broke open the sealed storehouse of love of Godhead, and became so intoxicated by it, that they simply couldn’t keep it to themselves, and decided to freely distribute it. Sri Nitai opened the marketplace of the holy name, allowing anyone and everyone to purchase the holy names for the price of faith.
Sri Nityananda Prabhu is understood be the most merciful - even more than Patita-pavana Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself! Sri Nitai risked His life trying to save the most wretched of people, and saved the offender Kazi from the wrath of Sriman Mahaprabhu, such was His mercy and compassion.
In his song “Madhur E Harinama”, Bhaktivinoda Thakura states: “Sri Nitai is more merciful than Sriman Gauranga Mahaprabhu. Sri Gaurasundara (Lord Caitanya) is wonderfully merciful. Sri Nitai is more merciful than Sri Gaurasundara. Sri Nitai is so merciful. He saw that the jivas have been suffering here, drowning in this ocean of materialistic existence from time immemorial. His heart bleeds, so Sri Nitai felt love, affection and compassion for them. He became sympathetic for the suffering souls, so He brought the Holy Name from Sri Vrajabhumi for those Kali-yuga people.”
Lord Nityananda is the embodiment of service in separation – the ultimate sacrifice of love. He only met Mahaprabhu after 32 long years in separation. He stayed by Lord Gauranga’s side until He was instructed by Mahaprabhu in Puri to go back to Bengal to get married so that he could preach to the householders. This broke Nitai’s heart. Lord Gauranga was His very life; how could He possibly live without Him? However, Nityananda took that instruction to heart and went back to Navadvipa, got married and preached.
No one can even begin to imagine the burning pain of separation the Nityananda Prabhu felt, but it was His sacrifice of love. His sacrifice of not having the Lord’s physical association was for the benefit of all the struggling conditioned souls, and ultimately for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord. He followed the Lord’s instructions without complaint, all the while enduring the burning pangs of separation.
The acaryas say that no one can get the mercy of Lord Gauranga without the mercy of Lord Nityananda. Sri Nitai is Adi-guru (original Guru), and only by the mercy of the Guru can one make progress on their spiritual path. With determination and faith in Guru, who is the representative of Sri Nityananda Prabhu, we must push on with our sadhana and service. Every endeavour for the pleasure of the Lord is a sacrifice that one has to make in order to execute his or her duty.

heno nitai bine bhai, radha-krsna pāite nāi
dṛḍha kori’ dharo nitāir pāy
“Unless one takes shelter under the shade of the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda, it will be very difficult for him to approach Radha-Krsna.”
Srila Locana Das Thakura, in Caitanya Magala, writes a beautiful song which describes the magnanimity of Sri Nityananda Prabhu.

“The noble Lord Nityananda is never angry, for He is the personification of supreme transcendental bliss. Devoid of any concept of false ego, Nitai wanders about the town.

“Going from door to door in the residences of the most fallen and wretched souls, He freely distributes the gift of the Hari-nama mahamantra.

“He exclaims to whomever he sees while holding straw between his teeth, ‘Please purchase me by worshipping Gaurahari!’

“Saying thus, Nityananda Prabhu rolls about on the ground, appearing like a golden mountain tumbling in the dust.

“Locana Dasa Thakura says, ‘Whoever has not experienced the awakening of affection for such an avatara as this, that sinful person simply comes and goes uselessly in the cycle of repeated birth and death.’ ”

Nityananda Trayodasi 2018 at ISKCON-London (Album with photos)
Please find below photos from Nityananda Trayodasi 2018 at the I...

The post Daily Darshan: January 31,2018 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

By Govinda Swami

According to many pure devotees, nama-sankirtan is not only the best means of devotional service but the final perfection itself. Of course, prema is the final goal of bhakti, but nama-sankirtan so quickly and infallibly leads to prema that the two are considered virtually identical. Wherever prema is seen to have developed, one can presume that nama-sankirtan must have been performed. Nama-sankirtan is the necessary and sufficient cause of prema. Continue reading "Vraja Vilas Stava
→ Dandavats"

• Real happiness starts with knowing our identity: we are servants of the Supreme Lord
• Service to the Lord reawakens the latent happiness in our hearts
• Daily devotional activities
• Work is turned into bhakti by offering the results of work to the Lord
• Real happiness is bitter in the beginning
• In proportion to being freed from bad habits we become liberated from material happiness and experience spiritual happiness

By Nitya Kishor Devi Dasi

ISKCON Mayapur welcomes all of you to the most auspicious of the events!. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur says: By performing Sri Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama the whole world will be liberated! In this way, with so much faith, the devotees of Lord Caitanya come to the holy dham and performed Harinam Sankirtan for the benefit of all living entities. Navadvipa Parikrama is a wonderful opportunity to have a deep spiritual experience in the association of so many devotees! Please come back to your home in Mayapur, and once you are here, join the Parikrama. The sacred places are eternal, the Lord's pastimes are eternal. It is here and it is yours! Continue reading "Sri Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama 2018
→ Dandavats"

By Amara Team

The ISKCON Amara service is a new service to be launched on the 12th of May 2018 as a National Service in the UK under the direction of the GBC National Office. The service will be launched through a free seminar for the ISKCON community which will seek to demystify end of life choices in medical care, cremation as well as legal & financial planning. It will also cover service requirements and support systems. The seminar will take place at ISKCON Leicester. Continue reading "Launch Of Amara Service – Iskcon UK
→ Dandavats"

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Bhagavad-gita verse-by-verse podcast

The post Gita 16.08 From atheism to hedonism is a natural slide appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.

Why did Chaitanya Mahaprabhu choose this Hare Krsna mahamantra? And the reason is very important and if you understand  this you will have very deep appreciation for maha mantra.You see according to the shastra there is a rule, that when something is presented in an indirect way, it  actually  has more intimacy and sweetness than when you do it in a direct way. Rama means one whose life is utterly surrendered to giving pleasure to his divine pleasure potency Srimati Radharani. That is the meaning of Rama as lord Chaitanya chanted it. Shyama means Krsna who has a beautiful blackish complexion. And Hare comes from the word Hara which comes from the word Harana which means one who steals.

Srila Rupa goswami, Srila Raghunatha das Goswami and lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu explained this word harana means that it is Sri Radharani who steals the heart of Krsna. And Hare is the calling out of Radharani who has that devotional power to steal the heart of Krsna and Krsna is that one who steals the heart of all living beings. So when we are calling out the name Hare, we are praying to the divine mother, the supreme reservoir of all bhakti, and when she favors us ,the Goswamis explain when she favors us then  because she steals the heart of Krsna, Prabhupada said when she says "Krsna look at what a nice devotee this person is", then Radha and Krsna  they steal our heart.

- H.H.Radhanath Swami

The Sound Incarnation.
Srila Prabhupada: Although there is no Deity, still this Hare Krishna Mantra is considered to be the sound vibration incarnation of Krishna. Actually, we should give more stress in worshiping the incarnation of sound vibration but whenever there is possibility of installing Deities and strictly following the regulations of worship, we shall do this, but the essential part of our activities is to worship the sound incarnation.
- Letter to Visnujana – Bombay 4 April 1971

Class in Iskcon Vrindavan by H.G.Rohini Suta Prabhu

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Australia Day Rathayatra (Album of photos)
Ramai Swami: Australia Day is a national holiday and many parades are held in cities and towns across the country.
I was invited to participate in the multicultural procession by the Adelaide co TP, Adi Purusa Krsna das. The devotees brought our smaller size Jagannatha Ratha Cart from the Gold Coast to be one of the “floats” in the parade.
We chanted and danced in ecstasy before Lord Jagannatha down King William Street and the crowds showed their appreciation by waving and clapping.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/G54z4A

Transcendental Street Art (Album of photos)
Kardami Kapila Das follows his heart and nature…
Find them here: https://goo.gl/hrNRQn

The post Daily Darshan: January 30, 2018 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Nityananda Trayodasi 2018 - ISKCON Alachua (Album of photos)
“The ocean of Lord Nityānanda’s glories is infinite and unfathomable. Only by His mercy can I touch even a drop of it.” — CC Ādi 5.157
Find them here: https://goo.gl/rSnn1Y

Nityananda Trayodasi 2018 celebration in the Manor (Album with photos)
Let it rain mercy! Harinaam Sankirtan at Watford high st...

• A startling example of „progress” in India: Indian hay broom substituted by plastic one
• Pollutes in every way and is a ticking time bomb compounding the misery that a beautiful country is subjected to by carelessness, plastic, exploitation, all born of greed

BBT ANNOUNCEMENT — 28 January 2018
— Bhagavad-Gita As It Is in ARABIC!
Congratulations to Satyanarayana Prabhu and his BBT FEME team for producing this most important book! Srila Prabhupada is definitely pleased. May the Arabic-speaking world take full advantage of this timeless knowledge! Hare Krishna!

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 05 April 2015, Durban, South Africa, Ratha Yatra Lecture: The secret of spiritual advancement)

Krsna is our solution. Krsna will fulfil our desires. Everything we need, we find it in Krsna and if destiny does not go our way, “My dream, it didn’t work out. Everything, it all collapsed!” It is all right, accept Krsna’s will and somehow or other, tolerate it. If it is difficult, then know, “Krsna wants me to bear this difficulty and this will make me strong.” We know that if life was so soft and if life was so easy what we would become…

Once, I was on a train. I had to carry a suitcase of cash in India so I traveled by train in a first class, air-conditioned compartment. It was more expensive that flying so nobody goes there. In that compartment, you have a button at your seat and when you press it, a servant comes running. There was another man in the compartment and this man, his finger was like always on the button and the servant would come and the man would ask, “Do you have a cushion?” And the servant would go bring a cushion and then the man would ring the bell again and ask for another cushion! In the end, he had like twenty cushions! He was sitting propped up with many cushions. This man was very fat also so I was looking at him and wondering if he had any bones. More and more, I began to think that if you get too many cushions in life, you become like a jelly-fish! You become like very soft and weak when life is too cushy! You have to fight a little bit.

You know, with children also, if you shelter them too much then they don’t learn to deal with life and they become very helpless. So, come on, grow up and deal with the world; make the best of it; and what you cannot control, tolerate! That is life! So, we cannot shelter people too much and we cannot shelter ourselves too much. It is simple, when difficulties come, we accept. We try to make the best of it and for the rest… accept! This is Krsna consciousness, this faith that our happiness lies with Krsna. When I am faithful to what Krsna wants with my life then it will work and when I go for other things, it will not work! Then one can overcome personal weaknesses and one can get strength.

A six-session course explaining the Vedic approach to knowledge and science, and clearly answering key questions like: What exactly are “the Vedas”? How to the Purāṇas fit into the Vedas? How can we read and truly understand sacred Vedic text? And why are the Gīta, Sūtra, and Bhāgavata so important?

What is “knowledge”? How do we get it? What is “sacred text”, and how does it work with faith and intellect? Learn the structure and history of the Vedas, as well as their practical use.

The six live online sessions will be held at 9pm every Tuesday and Thursday starting February 13th (Pacific Time zone). To translate this to your time zone, enter your nearest city in the purple box on this page: https://goo.gl/iZLqH6

Live sessions are held via Zoom video-conference software. The free client installs very easily.

Even if you can’t attend the live sessions, you can take the course via the recordings, and still have full teacher-student interaction via the homework assignments and discussion forum.

Tuition is $81 (everything included). You can enroll by paying this through www.paypal.me/vic108/81 or vicdicara.com/donate.php

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Sri Nityananda Prabhu—An Incarnation of Mercy

We welcome you on the most auspicious occasion of Sri Nityananda-trayodasi, in the merciful presence of Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurahari and other Deities. We shall read two verses from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, Chapter Five: “The Glories of Lord Nityananda Balarama.”

TEXT 208

preme matta nityananda krpa-avatara
uttama, adhama, kichu na kare vicara

 SYNONYMS

preme—in ecstatic love; matta—mad; nityananda—Lord Nityananda; krpa—merciful; avatara—incarnation; uttama—good; adhama—bad; kichu—any; na—not; kare—makes; vicara—consideration.

TRANSLATION

Because He is intoxicated by ecstatic love and is an incarnation of mercy, He does not distinguish between the good and the bad.

TEXT 209

ye age padaye, tare karaye nistara
ataeva nistarila mo-hena duracara

SYNONYMS

ye—whoever; age—in front; padaye—falls down; tare—unto him; karaye—does; nistara—deliverance; ataeva—therefore; nistarila—delivered; mo—as me; hena—such; duracara—sinful and fallen person.

TRANSLATION

He delivers all those who fall down before Him. Therefore He has delivered such a sinful and fallen person as me.

COMMENT by Giriraj Swami

First we will discuss some of the important words in these verses so that we can better understand the direct meaning, and then we will see how the verses apply to us.

Preme means “in ecstatic love.” The author of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Sri Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami, following Srila Rupa Gosvami, has explained that there are different stages in bhakti and that the highest goal of attainment is prema, prema-bhakti—pure love for Godhead. Nityananda Prabhu is an incarnation of Balarama, who is the first expansion of Krishna, and so we may say that Nityananda Prabhu is the first expansion of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu also feels ecstatic love and is intoxicated by such love.

Krpa-avatara. He is an expansion of mercy. The word avatara literally means “one who descends.” Nityananda Prabhu, along with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, descended from the spiritual world specifically to distribute mercy. And in doing so He did not consider who was good or bad (uttama, adhama), high or low. He saved all who fell down before Him. Therefore (ataeva) He delivered one as duracara, sinful and fallen, as me. In other words, being duracara is not a disqualification to receive Nityananda’s mercy, as long as one has the qualification. The qualification is age padaye tare: one should fall down before Him. In other words, one should be humble.

Nityananda Prabhu, as the first expansion of the Lord, is the original spiritual master. He is the first servant of the Lord, and He is the first teacher to give knowledge of the Lord (outside of the Lord Himself). The duty of the spiritual master is to engage in the service of the Lord and to give knowledge of the Lord, and Nityananda Prabhu does both. Age padaye tare, to fall down before Him—to bow or fall down before the spiritual master, to surrender to the spiritual master—is the first qualification for any disciple. The Bhagavad-gita instructs, tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya. First, pranipata: you must fall down, surrender, before the spiritual master. So, anyone who falls down before Nityananda Prabhu, even though he or she may be duracara (sinful and fallen), will be delivered.

How will they be delivered? That is explained by Narottama dasa Thakura:

brajendra-nandana jei saci-suta haila sei
balarama haila nitai
dina-hina jata chila hari-name uddharila
tara saksi jagai madhai

“Lord Krishna, who is the son of the king of Vraja, became the son of Saci (Lord Chaitanya), and Balarama became Nitai. The holy name delivered all those souls who were lowly and wretched. The two sinners Jagai and Madhai are evidence of this.” (Prarthana)

Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda came to reclaim the most fallen souls by giving them hari-nama, the holy names of Krishna, to chant. In other words, They deliver people through the process of Krishna consciousness. And by engaging in bhakti-yoga and chanting the holy names of Krishna, the fallen souls gradually awaken their love for Krishna (golokera prema-dhana hari-nama-sankirtana).

Once, in Bombay, an Indian gentleman approached Srila Prabhupada and appealed to him, “Swamiji, Swamiji, only you can save me. Only you can deliver me. Please be merciful. Please save me.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “I cannot save you. You have to save yourself. But I can give you the process by which you can save yourself.” So the two Lords Gaura-Nitai have descended in the age of Kali and brought with Them hari-nama-sankirtana to deliver the fallen souls. They give it to us freely, but still, we have to take it.

Another time in Bombay, a disciple said to Srila Prabhupada, “Please give me your mercy so that I can follow your instructions.” And Prabhupada replied, “My mercy is that I have given you my instructions. Now you have to follow them.” And he gave the example that if someone has fallen in a well and a benefactor comes and hands down a rope, the person below cannot pray, “Please make my fingers curl around the rope.” The benefactor has sent down the rope, and he is prepared to pull you out, but you have to hold on to it. So Prabhupada said, “My mercy is that I have given you my instructions. Now you have to follow them.”

So the Lord gives mercy, but we have to take it. And the qualification for taking it is genuine humility. That is the meaning of pranipata. If you are humble, you will bow down, you will surrender.

If you are too proud, however, you won’t bow down. You may know the story of Sri Prahlada and Hiranyakasipu. Hiranyakasipu was a great and powerful demon, and he wanted his son Prahlada to become a materialist like him. But somehow, Sri Prahlada, even though he was just a young boy of five years, became inclined towards Krishna consciousness and devotional service to Vishnu. Hiranyakasipu was the deadly enemy of Vishnu, because Vishnu, in His incarnation of Varaha, had killed Hiranyakasipu’s brother Hiranyaksa, another great demon. And Hiranyakasipu vowed to avenge his brother’s death. So he considered Vishnu to be his worst enemy and was determined to kill Him.

Now, as devotees, we may think, “How silly. Nobody can kill Vishnu. Vishnu is God.” We know from scriptures that Vishnu is God, but if we were to see Him . . . Of course, we might recognize Him from the descriptions in the scriptures, but otherwise, He looks like a human being. And although He may perform extraordinary acts, any yogi or tapasvi who is advanced enough in his or her practices can develop mystic powers and perform wonderful feats. So Hiranyakasipu thought that Vishnu was a demigod, perhaps, who had mystic powers and thus could do wonderful things, but he thought that he could do even greater things by his own mystic powers and by the boons he had received from superior authorities by dint of his severe austerities.

One day, Hiranyakasipu asked Prahlada, “What is the best thing you have learned in school?” Sometimes we may also ask a child, “What did you learn in school today?” or “What subject do you like best?” So he asked his five-year-old son, “What is the best thing you have learned?” Prahlada replied, sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam pada-sevanam/ arcanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atma-nivedanam—in other words, devotional service to Vishnu. And he concluded that one who engages in devotional service to Vishnu is the best-educated person. Hiranyakasipu became furious and accused the boy’s teachers of misguiding him. When they replied, “No, we haven’t taught him about devotional service to Vishnu,” Hiranyakasipu asked Prahlada directly, “Where did you get this condemned inclination to serve Vishnu?”

In response, Prahlada ultimately said,

naisam matis tavad urukramanghrim
sprsaty anarthapagamo yad-arthah
mahiyasam pada-rajo-’bhisekam
niskincananam na vrnita yavat

“Unless they smear upon their bodies the dust of the lotus feet of a Vaisnava completely freed from material contamination, persons very much inclined toward materialistic life cannot be attached to the lotus feet of the Lord, who is glorified for His uncommon activities. Only by becoming Krsna conscious and taking shelter at the lotus feet of the Lord in this way can one be freed from material contamination.” (SB 7.5.32)

Unless one takes the dust of the lotus feet of a pure devotee of the Lord on his head and bathes in the dust of the lotus feet (pada-rajo-’bhisekam) of great souls (mahiyasam) completely free from material attachments (niskincananam), one cannot become Krishna conscious. Indirectly, as Srila Prabhupada explains, Prahlada told his father, “My dear father . . .” Of course, he didn’t exactly say, “My dear father.” Earlier, he had addressed his father as asura-varya, “the greatest of the demons.” But in effect, he told his father, “You needn’t worry about becoming Krishna conscious, because you will never bow down to the lotus feet of a pure devotee, because you are too proud. So there is no chance that you will become Krishna conscious.”

Thus we come back to the point of falling down before Nityananda Prabhu—falling down before the servants of Nityananda Prabhu, before the representative of Nityananda Prabhu, before the spiritual master. This is the only way to become Krishna conscious—and one who is proud will not bow down. Only one who is humble will bow down.

In the earlier days of the movement, in 1968, after a talk in Seattle, Srila Prabhupada asked for questions, and a young man remarked, “I feel that as beings we are all more or less equal. So I don’t feel that I have to bow down to anyone.” Srila Prabhupada replied, “You have diagnosed your own disease. That is the disease of materialism. Everyone is thinking, ‘I want to be master. I don’t want to bow down.’ ” Prabhupada continued, “You don’t want to bow down, but you are forced to bow down.” The young man admitted that he was subordinate to his boss but maintained that he didn’t want to bow down to anyone spiritually. Srila Prabhupada replied, “You are bowing down to everyone. You are bowing down to death, you are bowing down to disease, you are bowing down to old age. You are bowing down to so many things. You are forced. And still you are thinking, ‘I cannot bow down. I don’t like it.’ So, the question is ‘Where shall I be happy even by bowing down?’ That,” as Srila Prabhupada said, “is Krishna. Your bowing down will not be stopped, because you are meant for that. But if you bow down to Krishna and Krishna’s representative, you will be happy.” Otherwise, he said, you will be forced to bow down to maya. You have to find out where you can bow down and be happy. So, that is our choice. Nobody can say, “I refuse to bow down.” Every moment we are forced to bow down to the laws of nature and the miseries of material existence. It is not a question of whether we want or don’t want to bow down; we are forced. The question is to whom or to what we must bow down to become happy. And that is Krishna and Krishna’s representative, Nityananda Prabhu.

So, Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami says that anyone who falls down before Nityananda Prabhu—even if he or she is duracara, sinful and fallen—will be delivered. And in his great, profound humility, Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami cites himself: “He even saved me.”

The famous example is Jagai and Madhai. As Narottama dasa Thakura says, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu have come to deliver all who were lowly and wretched, and the proof is Jagai and Madhai (tara saksi jagai madhai). Although born in a brahman family, these two brothers became the most sinful of living beings—cheaters, thieves, womanizers, drunkards, and even murderers.

One day Lord Chaitanya revealed to His intimate associates—Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura—that He wanted to spread the sankirtana movement throughout Navadvipa. He wanted them to go from street to street, from house to house, and implore people to chant Krishna’s name, follow Krishna’s instructions, and worship Krishna: bolo krsna, bhaja krsna, koro krsna-siksa. So Nityananda Prabhu and Haridasa Thakura took up the order of the Lord, and they considered, “Whom should we approach?” They concluded, “Let us approach Jagai and Madhai, because they are the most fallen and sinful. If we deliver them, Lord Chaitanya’s reputation as a greatly merciful and powerful incarnation will be spread.”

So they approached Jagai and Madhai, and Jagai and Madhai became infuriated. They blasphemed them, they abused them, and ultimately Madhai threw a clay pot that hit Nityananda Prabhu on the forehead, drawing blood. When word of their heinous acts reached Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He became so furious that His beloved devotee Nitai had been struck that He rushed to the spot and summoned His Sudarsana chakra, ready to kill both the offenders. But Nitai, Nityananda Prabhu, intervened. He said to the Lord, “My dear Lord, You have descended in Kali-yuga to save the fallen souls. Jagai and Madhai are representative of the fallen souls in Kali-yuga. If You kill them, You will have to kill everyone. Then what will happen to Your mission of delivering them?”

Even though He had been physically attacked by the two brothers, Nityananda Prabhu mercifully intervened, and Lord Chaitanya desisted. Seeing Nityananda Prabhu’s mercy, the two brothers bowed down. They fell at the feet of Lord Chaitanya and asked for mercy. And because Nityananda Prabhu had been merciful to them, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mercy followed and He forgave them. It is described that they had committed so many sins that Chandra Gupta, the scribe of Yamaraja who keeps track of all sins, couldn’t keep up. He would be recording their sins, and in the meantime they would be committing more. He practically had a nervous breakdown. Talk about stress in the office! He was under so much pressure trying to keep pace in recording the sins of these two fellows. That is how sinful they were.

But after they surrendered to Nityananda Prabhu and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and promised never to sin again—that is most important: they promised never to sin again—Jagai and Madhai took up chanting the holy name of the Lord. Then Lord Chaitanya absorbed all their sins. And although He was of golden hue, when He accepted the sins of these two miscreants, His beautiful golden body turned black for some time. They had been extremely polluted with sinful reactions, and He absorbed them all. And Jagai and Madhai became great devotees.

So that is the process: No matter how sinful you are, if you fall down before Lord Nityananda, He will deliver you, and when He is merciful to you, then Lord Chaitanya automatically will be merciful to you. But you have to take the mercy. You have to give up your sinful activities and chant the holy name. And if you do, you can be delivered—no matter how sinful and fallen you may have been.

That is the merciful mission of Gaura-Nitai, and especially Lord Nityananda. He is most merciful. And that is the mission of Srila Prabhupada. Earlier, His Holiness Ganapati Swami Maharaja and I were talking about Srila Prabhupada being an empowered incarnation. There is a verse later in Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 7.11):

kali-kalera dharma—krsna-nama-sankirtana
krsna-sakti vina nahe tara pravartana

“The fundamental religious system in the Age of Kali is the chanting of the holy name of Krsna. Unless empowered by Krsna, one cannot propagate the sankirtana movement.”

Sankirtana is the religious process for the Age of Kali, and krsna-sakti vina nahe tara pravartana: without being empowered by Krishna, no one can spread the sankirtana movement. And no one in history had ever spread the sankirtana movement like Srila Prabhupada. He spread it all over the world, which no one else had ever done. Thus the conclusion is that he was empowered. But if we analyze more closely, we can conclude, as one of Srila Prabhupada’s godbrothers suggested, that specifically he was empowered by Nityananda Prabhu, to deliver the duracara, the sinful and fallen. And he did. He was just like we read. The verses describe Nityananda Prabhu, but they could just as well describe Srila Prabhupada: “Because He is intoxicated by ecstatic love and is an incarnation of mercy, He does not distinguish between the good and the bad.” He spread Krishna consciousness without discrimination. “He delivers all those who fall down before Him. Therefore He has delivered such a sinful and fallen person as me.”

One of our dear friends in Bombay, a leading industrialist as well as a wonderful devotee, Hrishikesh Mafatlal, who was initiated as Krsna Candra das, told me that he felt that every devotee should see the films taken of Srila Prabhupada when he first came to America, to see the people he was preaching to on the Lower East Side of New York and in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. “One cannot imagine the people Srila Prabhupada was preaching to,” he said. “Until you actually see the films, you cannot have any idea.” And I do suggest you see them. It is beyond the power of words to describe the people that Prabhupada inspired when he first came to America. Just the fact that he went, that he lived amongst them, spoke with them, invited them, and cooked for them, is amazing.

In New York, at first Srila Prabhupada didn’t even have his own place to stay. He was living in different places. At one stage he was living with a young man who seemed to be interested, and Prabhupada was hopeful he could train him as a Vaishnava, as a brahmacari. But one day, on a dose of LSD, the man went crazy. He stood before Srila Prabhupada—he could have done anything—and Srila Prabhupada bolted down the four flights of stairs onto the streets of the Bowery, the worst part of New York, notorious all over the world. He didn’t know where to go. He had no place to go.

Then he went to the loft of another young man, Carl Yeargens. Carl was living with his wife in one large room with areas partitioned off for the bedroom and kitchen. Carl was nice. He was interested in Indian culture, and he liked to be with the Swami. Prabhupada was teaching him Sanskrit. They were all living together, but the wife didn’t very much appreciate having the Swami there all the time. So that became uncomfortable. Then Carl approached Michael Grant, who was later initiated as Mukunda dasa, and they rented a small storefront and apartment for Srila Prabhupada. But even then, Prabhupada was living among drug-addicted hippies who were most fallen and sinful in their habits and morality. But he did that for us, just to save us.

Later, the poet Allen Ginsberg wrote: “Swami Bhaktivedanta came to USA and went swiftly to the Archetype Spiritual Neighborhood, the New York Lower East Side, and installed intact an ancient perfectly preserved piece of street India. He adorned a storefront as his Ashram and adored Krishna therein and by patience and good humor singing chanting and expounding Sanskrit terminology day by day established Krishna Consciousness in the psychedelic (mind-manifesting) center of America East . . . To choose to attend to the Lower East Side, what kindness and humility and intelligence!”

Of course, the history of Srila Prabhupada’s merciful activities would take many days to recount and even then would remain incomplete. I dare say that even Lord Ananta, with His unlimited heads and tongues, with unlimited time, could not finish speaking about all of Prabhupada’s glories.

I will describe just one small but telling incident. One of Srila Prabhupada’s early disciples from the Lower East Side came to India, when the movement in India was still quite new. We had centers in Calcutta and Bombay and a small rented place in Delhi. So, the temple president from Calcutta phoned Bombay and informed Prabhupada’s secretary that that early disciple was in Calcutta and was smoking ganja (marijuana), and asked what he should do. Prabhupada replied, “Tell that devotee that if he doesn’t stop smoking ganja, I will reject him.” After the phone call, Tamal Krishna Goswami asked Prabhupada, “Is it true that you would reject him?” Srila Prabhupada said, “No. I cannot reject anyone.” Then Tamal Krishna Goswami said, “But isn’t there a limit? Don’t you have to draw the line somewhere?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “There is no limit to Lord Nityananda’s mercy.”

That was Srila Prabhupada’s mood in giving mercy—he wanted to give everyone the chance to chant the holy name in the association of devotees, in the hope that it would reform and transform them. And he wanted us to have to same mood—to give people the holy name. Because most of the time they don’t want to take it, it really means somehow or other convincing, or inducing, them to take it. As one devotee said about his first meeting with Tamal Krishna Goswami, Goswami Maharaja said, “Just say two mantras. Bas. Just two mantras,” meaning the maha-mantra twice—just to begin. So it is very difficult. Prabhupada said that giving Krishna consciousness to people in Kali-yuga is like feeding medicine to a horse. It takes six people to feed medicine to a horse: one to hold each leg, one to hold the jaws open, and one to put the medicine in. That’s how hard it is to get people to take to Krishna consciousness. But Prabhupada did that. He said that to make one disciple he had to spend gallons of blood, that to deliver one disciple he had to spend hundreds of gallons of blood. And he did that, and that is what he wanted us to do, too.

So, people come to the temple. That is very good. People give some donation. That is even better. But what should really be in their hearts is the desire to advance in love of God and to help others. Devotees are not selfish. People may come to the temple with different motives, and it is good that they come, but a pure devotee has no selfish desire. His only desire is to serve Krishna and please Krishna. People may come with any desire. They may pray, they may put money in the box, but what is their motive? A young lady might want a husband. A husband might want a job. A student might want to pass an exam. People may come with any desire, and pray and offer service, but their real goal may not be to please Krishna, which is the actual purpose of bhakti. Bhakti means to please Krishna. But their real goal is to get something for themselves.

Generally, the demigod worshipers go to Shiva, Durga, or Ganesh, and offer something, but their intention is to get something in return. They are doing business, actually—just business. Prabhupada gave the example that if you want to get a customer, you wine and dine him and give him gifts, but the real goal is to get something for yourself, something for your business. So, he compared demigod worship to that. He said, Okay, you offer bel leaves, or fruits, or flowers, or whatever, but it is like wining and dining a potential customer to get an order—not pure.

That is the general tendency in the worshipers of demigods, but people can bring the same type of mentality even to a temple of Krishna. And that is okay. At least they have come. But the problem is that because their goal is material enjoyment, they are not likely to bow down. Yes, they might bow superficially—“You are going to fulfill my desire now, aren’t you? Aren’t you?”—but they are not really going to fall down in full surrender, because their goal is material satisfaction. It is only when one is truly humble and falls down before Nityananda Prabhu or His representative that one can be delivered. Still, it is good they come. Whatever they do is to their eternal credit, but it may take some time.

By definition, the real goal in bhakti is to please Krishna:

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.” (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.1.11)

The real goal of bhakti is to please Krishna, and the best way to please Him is to bring others to Him. We should surrender to Krishna and be Krishna conscious, and we should share what we have received with others and bring them to Krishna consciousness. That will please Krishna most, and that is what distinguishes a devotee from a karmi, jnani, or yogi. A devotee wants only to please Krishna. And the best way to please Krishna is to bring others to Him. Therefore, genuine devotees do that; they work for that—difficult as it is.

In a lecture in Los Angeles, Srila Prabhupada said, “To approach Radha and Krishna . .  .” In a personal sense, that is the ultimate goal for the devotee—to approach Radha and Krishna. So Prabhupada said, “To approach Radha and Krishna, you need the mercy of Lord Chaitanya. And to get the mercy of Lord Chaitanya, you need the mercy of Lord Nityananda. And to get the mercy of Lord Nityananda, you must approach people like Jagai and Madhai.” So we start way down at the bottom, and we end up way up at the top. That is the extreme mercy of Lord Chaitanya and especially Lord Nityananda.

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has given a nice example. It is mentioned here, preme matta nityananda krpa-avatara: He is intoxicated with love of God. This worship of Radha and Krishna is so high. It is not there even in other Vaishnava sampradayas, at least not in the same way. So it is very high, and when you get into it, it gets even more specific and more esoteric: manjari-bhava, radha-dasya. Visvanatha Cakravarti has raised this question: “How is it that this highest type of devotional service—the service of Radha and Krishna in the mood of the gopis—is being offered to the most fallen people in Kali-yuga? How is it possible?” And he replies, “It is like a king who becomes intoxicated, goes into his treasury, takes out his most precious gems, and then goes out on the street and starts giving them away to the poorest people on the road.” How can you explain it? It is his choice. They are his jewels. He can do with them what he wants. And in his intoxicated state he distributes them very freely. So, that is what we are reading about here: preme matta nityananda krpa avatara—He is intoxicated with love of God. He is an incarnation of mercy and delivers anyone who falls down before Him, without considering who is high and who is low, and gives them the highest perfection of love of God, through the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Anyone who gets Lord Nityananda’s mercy will get Lord Chaitanya’s mercy, and by Lord Chaitanya’s mercy will get this most priceless jewel of devotional service, pure love for Krishna, vraja-bhakti. And that has all been made possible for us and for people all over the world by Srila Prabhupada’s mercy. So we are eternally indebted to him. I can’t even express how indebted we are.

naivopayanty apacitim kavayas tavesa
brahmayusapi krtam rddha-mudah smarantah
yo ’ntar bahis tanu-bhrtam asubham vidhunvann
acarya-caittya-vapusa sva-gatim vyanakti

[As Sri Uddhava said to Sri Krishna:] “O my Lord! Transcendental poets and experts in spiritual science could not fully express their indebtedness to You, even if they were endowed with the prolonged lifetime of Brahma, for You appear in two features—externally as the acarya and internally as the Supersoul—to deliver the embodied living being by directing him how to come to You.” (SB 11.29.6)

Although we can never repay our debt to Srila Prabhupada, if we have the mood of wanting to repay that debt, then we should follow his merciful example, as he wrote: “If you at all feel indebted to me, then you should preach vigorously like me. That is the proper way to repay me. Of course, no one can repay the debt to the spiritual master, but the spiritual master is very much pleased by such an attitude by the disciple.” We should follow in his footsteps and preach vigorously,work together to spread Krishna consciousness. That should be our prayer.

Of course, we all want Nityananda’s mercy. Everybody wants Nityananda’s mercy. We want the mercy to be able to chant the holy names and to be able to spread the mission—to engage others in chanting the holy names. That will make Nityananda happy, and Gaurahari happy, and when They are happy, then everyone will be happy. We will automatically be happy.

Narottama dasa Thakura prays, ha ha prabhu nityananda, premananda sukhi/krpabalokana koro ami boro dukhi: “My dear Nityananda, You are always happy (ha ha prabhu nityananda, premananda sukhi). You are always happy in the bliss of love for Krishna, and I am very unhappy. Please cast Your merciful glance upon me and make me happy.” Now, that might seem like a selfish desire. We said that pure devotees have no selfish desire. But really, the only way that we can actually be happy is by making Krishna happy. So, by the merciful glance of Lord Nityananda we can chant the holy names of Krishna and spread the sankirtana movement and through disciplic succession make Krishna happy. Then we will automatically be happy. That is what Lord Nityananda wants. And that is what Srila Prabhupada wanted: for people to be happy. Hence his motto: “Chant and be happy.”

Hare Krishna.

Ganapati Swami: Although what you said about Lord Nityananda’s nature is true, there may also be a psychological, or practical, reason why in particular He delivered the most fallen, and that is because Lord Chaitanya was preaching to the highest classes. He was preaching to the most learned and aristocratic people, so who would deliver the most fallen? Thus Lord Nityananda thought, “Let me do it.”

Giriraj Swami: Yes. Excellent.

Ganapati Swami: And Srila Prabhupada was like Lord Nityananda, delivering the most fallen.

Giriraj Swami: Yes. And it is true that when Prabhupada came to America he was dealing with the lowest, as Allen Ginsberg described and as Prabhupada related to his godbrothers when he said, “I am dragging them out of gutter.” Still, when Prabhupada went back to India, although he preached widely, there he was more like Lord Chaitanya: he dealt more with the leaders. He was always concerned about everyone, but he didn’t always personally deal with the masses; he dealt more with the leaders, because yad yad acarati sresthas tat tad evetaro janah: whatever the leaders do, the masses follow.

Still, he was concerned about the masses, and he thought the best thing for them would be self-sufficient farm communities where they would produce whatever they needed to live and chant Hare Krishna peacefully. He could see that by their coming into the cities, working in factories, they would become implicated in intoxication, illicit sex, and all sorts of bad things—really miserable. So he had programs for the masses—for everyone—but especially in India he dealt personally with the leaders. He paraded us “dancing white elephants” whom he had brought from America, and that really captured their attention, their imagination.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Sri Nityananda Prabhu ki jaya!
Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurahari ki jaya!

[A Talk by Giriraj Swami, Sri Nityananda-trayodasi, February 10, 2006, Phoenix, Arizona]

In the Sri Caitanya Caritamrta, it is described how Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu along with His associates in the Panca-tattva broke open the sealed storehouse of love of Godhead, and became so intoxicated by it, that they simply couldn’t keep it to themselves, and decided to freely distribute it. Sri Nitai opened the marketplace of the […]

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