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On August 25th, 2016, ISKCON Korsnäs Gård in Stockholm, Sweden, not only celebrated a wonderful Janmastami festival and the 50th anniversary of ISKCON, but also presented the results of an European Union Erasmus+ project named 'Simple Living - High Thinking'. Present were ISKCON members, guests and several VIPs including the Ambassador of India and two politicians from the local municipality.
Sri Radhastami
A Talk by Giriraj Swami, August 30, 2009, San Diego
For the most auspicious celebration of Sri Radhastami, we read from Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto Two, Chapter Three: “Pure Devotional Service.”
TEXT 23
jivan chavo bhagavatanghri-renum
na jatu martyo ’bhilabheta yas tu
sri-visnu-padya manujas tulasyah
svasan chavo yas tu na veda gandham
TRANSLATION
The person who has not at any time received the dust of the feet of the Lord’s pure devotee upon his head is certainly a dead body. And the person who has never experienced the aroma of the tulasi leaves from the lotus feet of the Lord is also a dead body, although breathing.
PURPORT by Srila Prabhupada
According to Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, the breathing dead body is a ghost. When a man dies, he is called dead, but when he again appears in a subtle form not visible to our present vision and yet acts, such a dead body is called a ghost. Ghosts are always very bad elements, always creating a fearful situation for others. Similarly, the ghostlike nondevotees who have no respect for the pure devotees, nor for the Visnu Deity in the temples, create a fearful situation for the devotees at all times. The Lord never accepts any offerings by such impure ghosts. There is a common saying that one should first love the dog of the beloved before one shows any loving sentiments for the beloved. The stage of pure devotion is attained by sincerely serving a pure devotee of the Lord. The first condition of devotional service to the Lord is therefore to be a servant of a pure devotee, and this condition is fulfilled by the statement “reception of the dust of the lotus feet of a pure devotee who has also served another pure devotee.” That is the way of pure disciplic succession, or devotional parampara.
Maharaja Rahugana inquired from the great saint Jada Bharata as to how he had attained such a liberated stage of a paramahamsa, and in answer the great saint replied as follows (Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.12.12):
rahuganaitat tapasa na yati
na cejyaya nirvapanad grhad va
na cchandasa naiva jalagni-suryair
vina mahat-pada-rajo-’bhisekam
“O King Rahugana, the perfectional stage of devotional service, or the paramahamsa stage of life, cannot be attained unless one is blessed by the dust of the feet of great devotees. It is never attained by tapasya (austerity), the Vedic worshiping process, acceptance of the renounced order of life, the discharge of the duties of household life, the chanting of the Vedic hymns, or the performance of penances in the hot sun, within cold water, or before the blazing fire.”
In other words, Lord Sri Krsna is the property of His pure unconditional devotees, and as such only the devotees can deliver Krsna to another devotee; Krsna is never obtainable directly. Lord Caitanya therefore designated Himself as gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah (Cc Madhya 13.80), or “the most obedient servant of the servants of the Lord, who maintains the gopi damsels at Vrndavana.” A pure devotee therefore never approaches the Lord directly, but tries to please the servant of the Lord’s servants, and thus the Lord becomes pleased, and only then can the devotee relish the taste of the tulasi leaves stuck to His lotus feet. In the Brahma-samhita it is said that the Lord is never to be found by becoming a great scholar of the Vedic literatures, but He is very easily approachable through His pure devotee. In Vrndavana all the pure devotees pray for the mercy of Srimati Radharani, the pleasure potency of Lord Krsna. Srimati Radharani is a tenderhearted feminine counterpart of the supreme whole, resembling the perfectional stage of the worldly feminine nature. Therefore, the mercy of Radharani is available very readily to the sincere devotees, and once She recommends such a devotee to Lord Krsna, the Lord at once accepts the devotee’s admittance into His association. The conclusion is, therefore, that one should be more serious about seeking the mercy of the devotee than that of the Lord directly, and by one’s doing so (by the good will of the devotee) the natural attraction for the service of the Lord will be revived.
COMMENT by Giriraj Swami
This verse and purport are so deep. Practically the whole philosophy of Krsna consciousness is contained in the purport, and one could discuss it for many hours and days. The first point—the most basic point—is that the living entity is not the body. The living entity is the soul within the body. In the material body the living entity has material desires for sense gratification and more subtle material desires that express themselves in mental speculation. After leaving the body, some unfortunate living entities end up as ghosts, in subtle, ghostly bodies, but they still have gross desires.
How does someone become a ghost? A typical way is that a living entity full of material desires (which everyone has to come extent) becomes so frustrated and disappointed that he commits suicide. The result is that he gets a ghost body, a subtle body without a gross body. Krsna, the Supersoul, fulfills all desires. The person who commits suicide wants to be free from his gross body, so Krsna fulfills his desire and gives him a ghost body, a subtle body. But the frustration and disappointment that gave rise to the impulse to commit suicide came from strong material desires, and the person still has the material desires but not a gross body through which to fulfill them. So he is even more frustrated. And so the ghost will try to inhabit, or possess, someone else’s gross body in order to fulfill his desires through that person’s senses. Thus ghosts are disturbing elements and create fearful situations.
Another way a person can get a ghost body is if he is very attached to a thing or place—to a house, for instance—and at the time of death he thinks of that object of attachment. Yam yam vapi smaran bhavam tyajaty ante kalevaram/ tam tam evaiti kaunteya sada tad-bhava-bhavitah: “Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (Bg 8.6) Whatever you think at the time of death will determine your next body. Now, if you think of your house at the time of death, you can’t get the body of a house, because that is not one of the species of life, but you can take birth as a ghost in that house. Therefore many houses, especially big, opulent ones—mansions and castles—are reputed to be haunted by ghosts.
How can one be freed from ghosts? The chanting of the holy name is the best remedy for practically any ill in the world, and it is the best remedy for being troubled by ghosts. Sometimes devotees take advantage of this fact. A large estate will be haunted and so people won’t want to buy it, but the devotees will see, “Oh, here is a good opportunity. We can get a major property to use in Krsna’s service for only a small sum of money, and as for the ghosts, we’ll just do hari-nama-sankirtana and the ghosts will go away and we will have a nice place for Krsna.”
In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu Srila Rupa Gosvami composed a beautiful verse in which he says that one who is haunted by material desires can never experience the sweet taste of devotional service.
bhukti-mukti-sprha yavat
pisaci hrdi vartate
tavad bhakti-sukhasyatra
katham abhyudayo bhavet
“The material desire to enjoy the material world and the desire to become liberated from material bondage are considered to be two witches, and they haunt one like ghosts. As long as these witches remain within the heart, how can one feel transcendental bliss? As long as these two witches remain in the heart, there is no possibility of enjoying the transcendental bliss of devotional service.” (Brs 1.2.22) Pisaci means “ghost” or “witch.” Material desires are like ghosts that fill our minds with ideas foreign to us. In our normal consciousness we think in a certain way, but when a ghost possesses our mind, we think in a completely different way. As spirit souls, we are all originally Krsna conscious, by constitution eternal servants of Krsna (jivera ‘svarupa’ haya-krsnera ‘nitya-dasa’). So to desire anything other than to be a servant of Krsna or a servant of a servant of Krsna is like being haunted by a ghost. We get desires, ideas, for sense gratification, and instead of accepting Krsna as the supreme enjoyer, which is His constitutional position, we want to take His place and enjoy independent of Him. Such desires, such ideas, are foreign to our true nature. So being possessed by these desires is like being haunted by a ghost.
Everyone in the material world is in a fearful position, and everyone needs shelter. Once, someone asked Srila Prabhupada, “What do you personally feel when you chant?” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “I feel no fear.” Every conditioned soul is fearful. If we think about it, we are always afraid. We can’t even count all the things we are afraid of all the time. The Bhagavatam (11.2.37) says that fear arises from thinking of things as being separate from Krsna.
bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syad
isad apetasya viparyayo ’smrtih
tan-mayayato budha abhajet tam
bhaktyaikayesam guru-devatatma
“Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the material body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the Lord. When the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme Lord, he also forgets his own constitutional position as a servant of the Lord. This bewildering, fearful condition is effected by the potency for illusion, called maya. Therefore, an intelligent person should engage unflinchingly in the unalloyed devotional service of the Lord, under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, whom he should accept as his worshipable deity and as his very life and soul.”
If we recognize that everything is related to Krsna and that Krsna is the supreme enjoyer, the supreme proprietor, and our best friend, we won’t be afraid. We’ll feel peaceful.
We need shelter, and we can get the shelter we need only from Krsna. But we cannot get Krsna’s shelter directly. We have no way to approach Him directly. Therefore all scriptures and bona fide acaryas recommend that to achieve the shelter of Krsna we should seek the shelter of a pure devotee who himself has achieved the shelter of another pure devotee who has achieved the shelter of another pure devotee—all the way back to Krsna. This is devotional parampara.
mahatmanas tu mam partha
daivim prakrtim asritah
bhajanty ananya-manaso
jnatva bhutadim avyayam
“Those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.” (Bg 9.13)
The great souls are not under the material energy. They are under the divine energy, the spiritual energy. And they achieve the shelter of the spiritual energy by taking shelter of a pure devotee who is under the spiritual energy, who in turn has taken shelter of a pure devotee under the spiritual energy, and so on, back to Krsna.
When in 1976 Srila Prabhupada was invited to speak at the home of the wealthiest family in India, the Birlas, I presented Mrs. Birla a list of topics on which Srila Prabhupada could speak, and she chose “How to be Successful.” The guests would be people who were very successful, but her choice suggested that they wanted to become even more successful—that they were not satisfied as they were. And they would want to learn the secret of how to become more successful.
At the program, Srila Prabhupada gave an interesting definition of success, one that we had not anticipated. He explained that everyone in the material world is under the control of the material energy, personified as Durga, who rides on her lion carrier and exhibits many arms with many weapons. He said that Durga holds a trident (trisula), which represents the threefold miseries of material existence and is always piercing the conditioned souls with these miseries. And opposed to the material energy is the spiritual energy, personified as Srimati Radharani. Srila Prabhupada said that success in life means to transfer oneself from the control of Durgadevi, the material energy, to the shelter of Radharani, the spiritual energy. Of course, Durgadevi herself is serving Lord Krsna, but her service is to punish us conditioned souls who are under her control. She is the warden of the prison house of material existence, and success for a prisoner is to be released from the prison—not to get better facility within the prison house. Success is to be freed.
Srila Prabhupada’s definition was so intelligent and subtle. He was saying that success doesn’t mean to move to a better grade of prison: a better house, a better office, a better car—a better material position. Success means to get out of prison, and that is achieved by surrendering to Krsna, as stated by Him in the Bhagavad-gita (7.14):
daivi hy esa guna-mayi
mama maya duratyaya
mam eva ye prapadyante
mayam etam taranti te
“This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.”
We must take shelter of Krsna and move from the control of the material energy to the protection of the spiritual energy, Srimati Radharani. But we cannot do that directly. We do it by taking shelter of someone who has taken shelter of someone who has taken shelter of someone who has taken shelter of Srimati Radharani. That is parampara. We take shelter of Srila Prabhupada and of those working under his direction, just as he took shelter of his guru maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and served him, and as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura took shelter of his spiritual master, Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, and served him—like that, all the way back to Krsna.
It is a simple process, but it requires humility. And that can be a problem, a big, big problem. We don’t want to submit, to surrender. When Hiranyakasipu asked his five-year-old son, Prahlada, “What is the best thing you have learned in school?” he thought his son would say something agreeable. Sometimes we also ask a child, “What is your favorite subject?” and we would be shocked and dismayed if the child said, “The best thing I learned is how to cheat people and get ahead by pushing others into the ground.” We would wonder, “Where did he learn that?” Hiranyakasipu was the type who thought that being selfish and learning how to defeat others was a good thing. So when Prahlada replied, “The best thing I have learned is service to God (sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam),” Hiranyakasipu was shocked: “Where did you learn that? Who has spoiled your consciousness?”
The powerful tyrant accused the boy’s teachers, “You have taught him this nonsense, bhakti, devotional service to Lord Visnu. You have spoiled his intelligence.” “No, we haven’t,” they replied. “He hasn’t learned devotional service from us or from anyone else. He seems to be naturally Krsna conscious.”
Then Hiranyakasipu asked his son directly, and Prahlada replied with a verse similar to the one quoted by Srila Prabhupada in the purport. First he said,
matir na krsne paratah svato va
mitho ’bhipadyeta grha-vratanam
adanta-gobhir visatam tamisram
punah punas carvita-carvananam
“Because of their uncontrolled senses, persons too addicted to materialistic life make progress toward hellish conditions and repeatedly chew that which has already been chewed. Their inclinations toward Krsna are never aroused, either by the instructions of others, by their own efforts, or by a combination of both.” (SB 7.5.30) Now, if one cannot become Krsna conscious by one’s own efforts, by the efforts of others, or by the combined efforts of oneself and others, how can one become Krsna conscious? It seems that all logical possibilities have been eliminated.
Then Prahlada 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) One cannot become Krsna conscious unless one has been favored by the dust of the lotus feet of a pure devotee who has nothing to do with the material world. By taking shelter of the lotus feet of a pure devotee—by serving the instructions of a pure devotee—one becomes free from anarthas, unwanted, miserable conditions. The miseries of birth, death, disease, and old age are all unwanted. And by following the pure devotee’s instructions one becomes free from all unwanted, material desires, which bind us to material existence. One becomes free from everything unfavorable to Krsna consciousness.
Srila Prabhupada explains that Prahlada was indirectly telling his father, “You need not worry about becoming Krsna conscious, because one can become Krsna conscious only if he bows down to the lotus feet of a pure devotee, but you are too proud, so you will never bow down to a pure devotee. So, my dear father, you need not worry about becoming Krsna conscious. It just won’t happen.”
We tend to like to identify with Prahlada and to see other people as Hiranyakasipus, but if we look inside ourselves, we may see that we also are not that humble, that we also have some rebellious spirit. We don’t want to submit or surrender. We may also have something inside us that thinks, as some people actually say, “I’ll never surrender; I’ll never submit,” or “I can surrender to God but not to any human being. I can serve God but not some human being.” But that false spirit of independence will not help us.
Given that we have so many doubts and reservations and rebellious tendencies, what hope do we have? The good news is that in this age of Kali, Sri Krsna came in the mood of Srimati Radharani. And as we read in the purport, Srimati Radharani is the tenderhearted feminine counterpart of Krsna. In The Nectar of Devotion also, Srila Prabhupada says that Srimati Radharani represents the compassionate nature of Krsna. Because Krsna is the father, He might be a little strict (which is sometimes necessary and beneficial), but the mother may be more compassionate, more understanding, more encouraging. Therefore devotees approach Krsna through Sri Radha. “Because Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is very difficult to approach Him. But the devotees, taking advantage of His compassionate nature, which is represented by Radharani, always pray to Radharani for Krsna’s compassion.” (NOD Ch 22)
In addition to having other qualifications, Srimati Radharani is a maha-bhagavata. She sees that everyone is a better servant of Krsna than She. So if someone approaches Her with a desire to serve Krsna, She’ll very easily recommend the person to Krsna, and when Radharani recommends someone, Krsna is bound to accept, because ultimately Krsna wants to please Radharani. Transcendentally, Krsna comes under the control of Radharani. Thus in Radharani’s hometown of Varsana, the devotees have a saying: “Whatever Radha does, Krsna likes. Whatever Radha likes, Krsna does.” So if Radharani wants Krsna to accept us, Krsna will accept us.
Because today is a special day, Radhastami, we can approach Radharani directly—but even then it is through Her servants. Even when we are in the spiritual world, whenever that fortunate occasion arises, we will serve Radha and Krsna not directly, but under the guidance of Their servants. That is an eternal principle. There are different rasas, or relationships, that we can have with Krsna, but in whatever relationship we have, we will be under the eternal guidance of some eternal associates of Krsna. As Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu says,
naham vipro na ca nara-patir napi vaisyo na sudro
naham varni na ca grha-patir no vanastho yatir va
kintu prodyan-nikhila-paramananda-purnamrtabdher
gopi-bhartuh pada-kamalayor dasa-dasanudasah
“I am not a brahmana, I am not a ksatriya, I am not a vaisya or a sudra. Nor am I a brahmacari, a householder, a vanaprastha, or a sannyasi. I identify Myself only as the servant of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krsna, the maintainer of the gopis. He is like an ocean of nectar, and He is the cause of universal transcendental bliss. He is always existing with brilliance.” (Cc Madhya 13.80)
That principle, being the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of Krsna, the maintainer of the gopis, applies both in the conditioned state of sadhana-bhakti and in the liberated state of sadhya-bhakti, or prema-bhakti. It is an eternal principle. And we should welcome the opportunity to serve the servant of the servants. We shouldn’t think, “Oh, all right, in the stage of bondage I am in now, I guess I have to do it. It is the only way to get out.” Like, “Okay, I’m in prison now, so I have to do what the warden says, but once I’m out, that’s it. Then I’m free.” No. This is an eternal principle, and we should welcome it and relish it.
Srila Prabhupada paraphrased Srila Rupa Gosvami’s verse about being haunted by ghosts: “Anyone who has any desire or aspiration for satisfying his senses by becoming more and more important, either in the material sense or in the spiritual sense, cannot actually relish the really sweet taste of devotional service.” (NOD Ch 3) And in a class, Srila Prabhupada stated the same thing in a positive way: “The more you become the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of Krsna, the sweeter and sweeter and sweeter and sweeter devotional service becomes.” So it is glorious to be the servant of the servant of the servant.
We want to take shelter of one who is niskincana, who has no material possessions. Yes, in India there are sadhus, saintly persons, who hardly have material possessions. But as Srila Prabhupada explains, niskincana also means one who is free from false proprietorship. Here we are in a beautiful temple, and if I think, “This is my temple,” that is false proprietorship. But if I think, “This is Krsna’s temple, and I am just a humble servant of His servants,” that is also niskincana. A pure devotee’s only possession, so to speak, is his or her service to the lotus feet of the Lord. And the more lotus feet we have to serve—the lotus feet of the servant of the lotus feet of the servant of the lotus feet of the servant of the servant of the lotus feet of Krsna—the richer we are in bhakti, which is the life of the living entity.
Today’s verse is one of a series that all make the same point: if we are not engaged in pure devotional service, we are dead. In other words, pure devotional service is real life, and anyone engaged in anything other than devotional service is just a walking, breathing dead man.
Srila Prabhupada has given us this life. He has given us this opportunity. Sri Krsna Caitanya is Krsna but in the mood of Radharani, and in Her kindhearted, tenderhearted, merciful, compassionate mood of love and care, He has given us the easiest and most practical process for success in the present age: the chanting of the holy names.
harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha
“In this Age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari [Krsna].” (Brhan-naradiya Purana 38.126) When one chants the holy names without offense, all the dirty things in the heart become cleansed (ceto-darpana-marjanam). Even if we have some of that rebellious spirit—“Why should I surrender?”—by chanting, which is both easy and enjoyable, all these dirty things, these misconceptions and false identifications, are cleansed, and naturally we come to our real position as eternal servants of the servants of Krsna. It is very easy. We just have to do it.
This, ultimately, is Srimati Radharani’s mercy. It is Her mercy that Srila Prabhupada came to America and gave us Krsna consciousness. In a poem he wrote on board the Jaladuta, the cargo ship he took to America, Srila Prabhupada wrote, krsna taba punya habe bhai, e-punya koribe jabe radharani khusi habe, dhruva ati boli toma tai: “O brothers, you will obtain your good fortune from the Supreme Lord Krsna only when Srimati Radharani becomes pleased with you.” First we must please Radharani. How? By following the orders of the spiritual master, serving the mission of the spiritual master. So, we have everything—every opportunity. We have beautiful Deities; we have Srila Prabhupada, our founder-acarya; we have his instructions, his books, his translations of the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam; we have the holy name; we have the association of devotees—we have everything. We just have to take advantage, and that is why we are here.
Any questions or comments?
Child: How do you become the servant of the servant of the servant?
Giriraj Swami: You are a very intelligent young lady. Do you know what ISKCON is?
Child: Not really.
Giriraj Swami: ISKCON is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, a spiritual organization founded by Srila Prabhupada, and the temple where we are sitting is part of that organization. You could say that the devotees here who are steady in devotional service, in following Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, are servants of Srila Prabhupada, that Srila Prabhupada is serving the instructions of his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, and that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta is serving the instructions of his spiritual master. So by following the instructions of one or more of the solid devotees of Srila Prabhupada here, you are automatically serving the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant, going through the line all the way back to Krsna.
Gentleman: How can one overcome the fear of losing one’s identity and uniqueness by surrendering oneself to a pure devotee?
Giriraj Swami: Every living entity has a unique spiritual identity, and the process of Krsna consciousness means to discover what one’s unique, specific, eternal identity is. So you don’t lose your identity; rather, you discover your actual unique identity.
Just imagine Krsna’s situation. There He is in the spiritual sky, Goloka Vrndavana, surrounded by wish-fulfilling cows and trees and gems, being served by unlimited numbers of beautiful, pure, loving devotees. And off somewhere in a cloud is a bunch of angry, morose, belligerent souls, each determined that they are not going to serve Him. Why should Krsna bother with them? Why should He even care? He is enjoying an eternal, celestial party. Why should He bother about us?
One answer is that each of us is a unique living entity. No two of us are exactly the same. And so when we are liberated our mood of service to Krsna will be unique. This means that as long as we remain in the material world, Krsna in the spiritual world will be deprived of the particular flavor of loving service that each of us is meant to offer Him. Each of us has a specific, unique contribution to make to Krsna’s pleasure that no one else can make in the exact same way.
So we are fully individual and personal. Even in the stage of sadhana-bhakti, we always have our individual preferences, but as devotees we give the highest preference to Krsna’s pleasure. Parents often sacrifice doing what they would ordinarily like to do, for the sake of doing what their children would like them to do. The parents are still individuals, but they give priority to pleasing their children. And when their children are happy, they feel happy. One reason we try so hard to have nice programs for children is that when the children want to come to the temple, even if the parents are feeling a little lethargic, the children will prevail upon them: “Come on, Mommy. Come on, Daddy. I want to go to the temple. I want to see the Deities. I want to sing and dance in the kirtana and arati. I want to meet the other children. I want to eat prasada.” And the parents will come, not because they don’t have their individuality, but out of love. They get more happiness when they see their children happy than when they do things for their own satisfaction that would leave the children feeling neglected. So in devotional service you remain individual but you give preference to Krsna. And as you become purified, you actually experience more pleasure in doing what Krsna likes than you would get out of doing what you would ordinarily like for your own sake.
So do not hesitate. Serving a pure devotee, serving a servant of the servants of Radha and Krsna, is not a matter of force, being forced into a mold without any freedom or individuality. Rather, it is an opportunity for the conditioned soul to realize his or her fullest potential, fullest individuality, and fullest freedom, in divine, ecstatic love.
Thank you very much.
Hare Krsna.
A meditation on Srimati Radharani. She is the dearmost beloved of Sri Krishna, and also is pure spiritual energy incarnate. Srimati Radhika is always thinking lovingly of Krishna; she is the perfect example of a pure devotee, always wanting to serve and please Krishna.
Happy Radhasthami! Bhakti Without Borders - Shri Radhe by Madi Das - Featuring Chaytanya (Shrikalogy Remix)
A video by Ananta Vrindavan.
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In the hopes of launching a support network for ISKCON farms around the world, the GBC Ministry for Cow Protection and Agriculture is holding conferences on simple living in four continents this year. The first two, in South America and North America, were held last month with encouraging results. The South American conference took place at the Goura-Vrindavan farm in Paraty, Brazil. The second continental farm conference held this year was the North American one in Gita Nagari, Pennsylvania.
Harinama with the devotees of ISKCON Auckland, New Zealand (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Regardless of time or place, o...
TKG Academy, Dallas: Students recite Srimati Radharani’s holy names (6 min video)
Gopi Gita: This was just the highlight of my morning Sadhana Class today. The kids researched such beautiful names of Srimati Radharani.. it was so powerful as we were speaking about them in the classroom.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/EP04s8
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Radha Kunda Seva: August 2016 Photos and Updates (Album with photos)
The rains were relentless this month. And while our gardens and the foliage carpeting the Holy Dhama soaked it up with relish, our crew and the ladies we care for suffered from monsoon related ailments like dengue fever, typhoid, and malaria. And yet, our workers soldiered on, covering for each other when needed, and showing up for their services as soon as they were able. And our ladies’ medical needs were covered thanks to your generous contributions! So far so good. Everyone has survived a challenging rainy season. Like last month, we had to serve the feast to our Radha Kunda ladies in packets-to-go since the rain wouldn’t let up long enough for them to sit comfortably (albeit a little cramped) in our small rented facility as they usually do. But again, they were happy to collect a feast-to-go. :) Thank you, dear friends, for coming forward so enthusiastically to support feeding these worthy Radha Kunda ladies. We began this month with 62 widows sponsored out of the 80 we are presently feeding, and with your help we are now at 70 sponsored! http://radharani.com/daily-meals/ A major donor who was sponsoring 23 widows has retired and is now living much more simply, but because of you, 13 more are again sponsored! Thank you!!! We are excited to announce that construction on the kitchen is supposed to begin this month! We will keep you updated with the developments as they happen. Everything was on pause due to the very heavy monsoon season. Tomorrow is Radhastami, the appearance of Srimati Radharani. Her holy lake, Radha Kunda is non-different from Her, and as such any service we do here is service directly to our Swamini, Sri Radha. Thank you for joining our humble efforts to serve our Lord’s beloved Lady. Please browse our latest photos and join our efforts by visiting www.radharani.com. Your servants, Campakalata Devi dasi, Padma Gopi Devi dasi, Urmila Devi Dasi, and Mayapurcandra dasa.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/xH6ESM
he hema-kāra! para-duḥkha-vicāra-mūḍha!
kiṁ māṁ muhuḥ kṣipasi vāra-śatāni vahnau?
sandīpyate mayi suvarṇa-guṇātireko
lābhaḥ paraṁ tava mukhe khalu bhasma-pātaḥ
he hema-kāra! — O goldsmith!; para-duḥkha-vicāra-mūḍha — who is oblivious to others’ suffering; kim — why; mām — me; muhuḥ — constantly; kṣipasi — do you throw; vāra-śatāni — hundreds of times; vahnau — in fire; sandīpyate — keeps increasing; mayi — in me; suvarṇa-guṇātirekaḥ — the excellence of golden color; lābhaḥ — gain; param — highest; tava — your; mukhe — on mouth; khalu — but; bhasma-pātaḥ — the deposit of soot and ash;
“[The golden ornament says to the goldsmith]: O goldsmith! You are oblivious to others’ suffering! Why do you constantly throw me in fire hundreds of times? [Nonetheless, even if you do so,] the brilliance of my golden color keeps increasing in me, whereas your only gain is that your face progressively becomes covered with more soot and ash.”
— (Subhāṣita-ratna-bhāṇḍāgāra, Suvarṇa-kāraḥ, Page 246, Verse 23)
This Subhashita helps us see unfair criticism positively, as a refiner of character –as is fire for gold.
In life, few things are as hurting as criticism. Even more excruciating is unwarranted criticism, that is, criticism based on misunderstandings or untruths.
We tend to respond to such criticism in one of three broad ways.
Clarify: We try to defuse the antagonism by clarifying the situation. If the critic is too hostile to have a rational discussion with us, we may clarify through an intermediary whom both parties see as trustworthy or at least as neutral. Clarification offers the best possibility for resolution, all the more so if the critic is reasonable. If the clarification works, both sides understand each other better and may even come closer than earlier.
Counter: A more instinctive response to criticism is to refute it, to objectively point out errors in the criticism. Such countering can work if the critic is intellectually honest and is ready to admit limitations in their perspective. They acknowledge the validity of our perspective of things, even if it is different from theirs. Sometimes, even if our perspective doesn’t become acceptable, it becomes at least intelligible, and they agree to “live and let live.”
Ignore: Some people stick to their opinions, whatever the facts or however valid the counter-arguments. About such people, it is rightly said, “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”
With such people, clarifying and countering are both wastes of time. The more the discussion prolongs, the more acrimonious it becomes. The only way to stop the nastiness is by ignoring the criticism.
No doubt, ignoring is extremely difficult. We fear that others may think we have been defeated – that in our refusal to argue any further, we have admitted our inability to argue any further. If such a fear goads us into dragging on an unfruitful interaction, we can check ourselves by contemplating a graphic quote of George Bernard Shaw: “I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.”
Characterizing a critic as a pig might be uncharitable and inaccurate even. If so, then we can use this metaphor to drive home not the nature of the critic but the nature of the fight – some battles are just not worth fighting.
Either way, to ignore criticism, we need to exercise our tolerance muscles. In this context, tolerance means calling off our war with reality – the unpalatable reality that some people are going to have negative opinions about us, and nothing we do is likely to change their opinion.
The Bhagavad-gita urges us to tolerate distresses by meditating that such distresses are temporary (02.14), whereas we ourselves are eternal (02.13). We are indestructible spiritual beings whose essential core can’t be hurt by anything (02.22) – not even criticism, no matter how caustic. The more we realize our spiritual essence, the more we get the inner fortitude necessary to tolerate criticism.
The easiest way to gain such spiritual realization is by practicing bhakti-yoga diligently. In fact, bhakti offers an even higher realization – not just the indestructibility of our souls, but also the infallibility of Krishna’s love for us. When we relish the comforting shelter of absorption in Krishna and feel reassured that he loves us, no matter what the world thinks about us, we recognize that our critics’ opinions are not all that consequential. And the hurts thereof become more bearable.
To further boost our determination to tolerate, we can contemplate this verse’s metaphor: Just as exposure to fire makes the gold’s effulgence more evident by purging alloys from it, exposure to criticism makes a person’s core character more evident. Their capacity to tolerate reveals how they are far higher than most people, who can’t resist the impulse to argue endlessly.
Still, while the increased shine of gold can be seen by everyone, the exalted character of the criticized person who tolerates is not seen by everyone – critics may believe they have proven their rightness. Such critics are like those who close their eyes to the gold’s increased effulgence. Little do they realize that their unrelenting criticism and self-congratulation ends up exposing their petty-mindedness and vindictiveness – just as a goldsmith’s face gets blackened.
Just as the sighted appreciate the gold’s effulgence, the intelligent appreciate the fortitude of those who refuse to engage in an arguing match. Most importantly, Krishna appreciates their fortitude. And ultimately, his view is the only view that matters.
The post Criticized? Clarify, counter – or ignore? (Subhashita commentary) appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
Devotional artist Sriman Jayadeva prabhu has created this new 5 min. musical video about Srimati Radharani.
«Странствуя по земле этой, медитирую на Нее,
луну, сияющую на арене танца раса,
хозяйку ярких светильников во дворце Вришабхану
и главную драгоценность в ожерелье Голоки».
[ Нарада Муни, «Гарга Самхита» 1.8.12 ]
Washington to Host Two Major ISKCON 50 Events.
Washington, DC—The capital city of the United States will host two major events over the next month celebrating in style and en masse the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON and the power of chanting God’s names to change the world.
Featured speakers include U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Vaishnava Philanthropist Alfred Ford, Religion Professor Graham Schweig, Islamic Scholar Sanaullah Kirmani, U.S. Commission on Religious Liberty Member Kristina Arriaga, Indian Embassy Minister NK Mishra, Maryland State Delegate Kumar Barve, Catholic scholar Father Leo Lefebure, and ISKCON Governing Body Commissioner Chairman Sesa Das.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/azOzzW
Prayers to the Queen of Goddesses, Shrimati Radharani.
In his Sri Prarthana-paddhati [Stavamala], Srila Rupa Goswami prays: “O Queen of Vrndavana, O Radharani, Your complexion is like molten gold, Your doe-like eyes are captivatingly restless, a million full and brilliant moons wane before Your lustrous countenance, and a blue sari, having stolen the hue of a fresh rain-laden cloud, has enwrapped Your exquisite form. O Radha, You are the crest-jewel of all the dallying damsels of Vrndavana, fragrant and pristine like a budding jasmine flower. Your sublime form is adorned with priceless jewelry, and you are the best of all the charming and intelligent gopis. You are decorated with all wonderful excellences and surrounded by eight dedicated and beloved cowherd girls known as the asta-sakhis. "The ambrosia of Your beautiful lips, red as the bimba fruit, is life-giving syrup to Krsna. O Radha, I am rolling on the banks of the Yamuna, my poor heart filled with anticipation, praying to You with all humility. I am guilty of being an offender, a rascal, a useless wretch–yet I beg You to kindly engage me in even the smallest service to Your lotus feet. O most merciful Lady, it will not become You to ignore this most distressed soul, for Your heart is always overflowing with compassion and love.”
Many more beautiful prayers here: http://goo.gl/NQZunm
Heaven On Earth! (7 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: New Vraja Dhama, ISKCON’s 300 acre farm in Hungary, is the largest eco village in Europe. It is situated in a small village in the southernmost part of the country, 2 hours drive from Budapest. It was established in 1993 with the purpose of educating people about the values of self sufficiency, cow protection and a natural, God centered lifestyle. It’s aim is to put Srila Prabhupada’s motto, “Simple living and high thinking” into practice. The entire project has manifest from the heart of Sivarama Swami as an offering of love to Srila Prabhupada and the presiding deities of Sri Sri Radha Syamasundara.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/uhI6r1
By Sri Nandanandana Das Srimati Radharani is the Supreme Goddess. She is most always seen with Lord Krishna. It is described that She is the Chief Associate and devotee of Lord Krishna, and topmost of all Goddesses. Her name means the She is the most excellent worshiper of Lord Krishna. However, She is also an expansion of the Lord's energy. Since She is also an extension of Krishna, She is the feminine aspect of God. Thus, in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, God is both male and female. They are One, but Krishna expands into two, Himself and Radharani, for the sake of divine loving pastimes. If They remained as One, then there is no relationship, there are no pastimes, and there can be no dynamic exchange of love. (Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi-lila, 4.55-56) Actually, if we all remained merged or amalgamated into one single force or light, then there is no further need of anything else. There certainly would be no need for the material manifestation to provide the innumerable conditioned souls with the means to seek out the way to satisfy their senses, minds, emotions, desires for self-expression, intellectual pursuits, and on and on. Continue reading "Srimati Radharani – the Supreme Goddess
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By Hari Narayana das Ramadewa is a rural village where the most of the residents are Hindus from Bali. Actually there was no devotee in this village. So how could Lord Jagannath reach this rural village? On one of the ratha yatra in Lampung a year ago, a parliament member of Lampung, Mr. I Komang Koheri, SH, from Ramadewa was invited to participate in the festival. He fell in love with the festival. He approached the devotees in Lampung to also organize a ratha yatra in his village. The devotees were surprised to hear this request. The request was then communicated to the other devotees to coordinate with team Ratha Yatra Nusantara (Ratha Yatra in the Archipelago) whether it would be possible to organize the event there. By the mercy of Srila Prabhupada the devotees accepted the opportunity to do the ratha atra in Ramadewa village. Soon the preparation started and the devotees collected the necessary paraphernalia for the ratha yatra. It took 4 hours to reach the village from Lampung city. The village was so beautiful with agricultural fields in view. It look like miniature Bali because the houses there use Balinese architecture. This is the first transmigration village in Lampung. Continue reading "Rathayatra In Jogjakarta and Ramadewa, Indonesia
→ Dandavats"
By Chaitanya Charan das 1. Tattva of Srimati Radharani 2. Parakiya-rasa which Srimati Radharani demonstrate through the emotion of Maha-bhava 3. One pastime from Anand Vrindavan Champu which demonstrates the service attitude of Srimati Radharani Continue reading "Appreciating Radharani’s position and devotion
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The capital city of the United States will host two major events over the next month celebrating in style and en masse the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON and the power of chanting God’s names to change the world. On September 13, in the Presidential Ballroom of the Capital Hilton Hotel three hundred people will gather for a formal ISKCON 50 Gala Evening. Picking up right where the Gala ends—with kirtan—on Saturday October 8th, the celebration will move just a mile away to the foot of Washington’s famed Lincoln Memorial.
Dear Devotees, Donors, and Well-wishers,
Hare Krishna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
I want to share with you the latest news from the TOVP project in Sridham Mayapur.
Construction continues to move forward with emphasis on the completion of the kalash and finishing work on the domes by the end of the year. The design and execution continue to be refined, and pink sandstone and sky blue tiles enhance their beauty as work progresses daily. Once finished and the domes are capped we will begin the interior finishing work .
Fundraising continues unabated worldwide and the new office in the United States is now fully operational and meeting with enthusiastic response. Our second tour in South Africa is scheduled for September with Lord Nityananda Prabhu’s divine lotus shoes and Lord Nrsimhadeva’s sitari (helmet) from the Mayapur Chandodaya Mandir, accompanied by His Grace Jananivas prabhu. Braja Vilas prabhu and Ambarisa prabhu with Svaha devi dasi will also join in the campaign. We are also planning several tours in India in the remaining months of this year and into 2017 which include Gujarat and South India. Our presence at His Holiness Gopal Krishna Maharaja’s recent Vyasa Puja celebration met with enthusiastic support and we raised over $350,000. Many of these devotees have already donated to the TOVP but were inspired to give again. Many thanks to them and to all our worldwide donors.
This temple continues to amaze visitors and will be a watershed event in the history of the Krishna consciousness movement. As His Grace Ravindra Svarupa prabhu writes in his brilliant treatise Revealing the Heart of ISKCON,
“When, by our cooperative efforts worldwide, the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium is completed at the heart of ISKCON, all of its associated centers everywhere will become more fully manifest as entranceways to the spiritual world. This will be a major achievement—a crowning achievement—of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s project, following Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, of “the respiritualization of the entire human society,” empowering the whole world to “convert the illusory consciousness into Brahman.”
Let us all push forward together to assist in manifesting this most divine accomplishment in the service of Guru and Gauranga. Thank you all for being a part of this glorious endeavor. We will continue to bring you exciting updates throughout the years ahead.
Your humble servant,
Ambarisa das
The post TOVP Chairman’s Quarterly Report – September 2016 appeared first on Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.
Why We Hear.
Sacinandana Swami: “There is no death” wrote Herman Hesse, “only fear of death. But that can be cured.”
In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, King Pariksit who was cursed to die within seven days asked his exalted spiritual master Sukadeva Goswami about overcoming the fear of death. Sukadeva gave a very practical answer in which he explained how one can transcend material consciousness and become fixed in god consciousness.
5th Jagannath Ratha Yatra at Chaukhutia, Uttarakhand.
Govind das: Deva-bhoomi or land of the demigods, otherwise known as Uttarakhand in North India, is indeed a place worth visting and what more can be said when Lord Jagannath Himself is present there with His enthusiastic devotees. It is the common belief that within the vast tract of land known as Deva-Bhoomi, Chaukhutia, located in Almora district, was the place where the demigods resided for this is a valley lying between lush green hills of the lower Himalayas and divided by the meandering Ram-Ganga river and at times you get to touch the clouds that comes down occasionally in the cool early mornings.
Lord Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi has taken shelter at the Prayageshwar temple in Bhatkot Village where They reside in the company of Lord Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha and, of course, Hanumanji. Devotees arrived on 29th August and stayed at the humble accommodation at Prayageshwar temple. Clear and refreshing mountain stream water quenched the thirst of the devotees, of course mineral water too was provided, and the same stream served the purpose for other necessities as well…cooking and bathing. Living in tune with nature is what would describe the surrounding areas. Strolling beside the Ram-Ganga early in the morning with the japa beads in your hands, hearing the water flow through the pebbles at the river bed, the eagle staring down at you sitting atop the pine tree, the group of monkeys patrolling the hill slopes, the small schoolkids waiting for their school buses calling out to you saying ‘hare Krishna’, …makes you feel that there is something special about this place.
2nd September, as a prelude to the Ratha Yatra festival we had a school program at Disha Convent School, Chaukhutia. Ramanuja Das gave a short lecture for the seven hundred students (primary till 12th) on importance of values and character, how one can be a scientist and a spiritualist as well and that how as students today they have inherited the legacy to become responsible leaders tomorrow. Examples citing Prabhupada, Eisntein, how God can be perceived in all that we observe…helped in interacting with the students. A small quiz was conducted by Sitakanta das and winners were given Srila Prabhupada books as prizes. Interestingly all the students, including the ones in primary sections, began to dance happily when the devotees began singing hare Krishna mahamantra. Indeed Srila Prabhupada is definitely correct when he mentioned that, “this chanting of Hare Krishna is so nice that even a child can take part.” The program was made complete by the distribution of halava mahaprasad. The teachers requested our devotees to visit their school and interact with the students more frequently. Later few students expressed that during the program what they liked best was the chanting and dancing.
3rd September, devotees started preparing sweet items for the ‘chhapan bhoga’ or the traditional fifty six items preparation to be offered on the day next for the ratha yatra, the cooking continued till the next day with the savoury items. A nagar sankirtan was also carried out in the market place of Chaukhotia. Many guest from the village and nearby areas came to take part in the festivities, devotees performed kirtan and also gave a lecture on pastimes of Lord Jagannath. There was a bhandara or feast arranged for the guests where all visitors took prasadam.
4th September, devotees chanted their rounds after mangal arti, some decorated the chariot with flowers, some dressed the dieties, and some were still engaged in cooking varieties of items. Morning was sunny with a dark patch of cloud hanging in the sky. At 12.30 pm the raj bhog was offered to Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra after which the deities took Their place on the chariot. The chief guest Mr. Madan Bisht, MLA of Chaukhutia was offered prasadam cloth offered to the deities and all the honoured guest proceeded to break the coconut for auspiciousness of the event. After arti was offered and prasadam for distribution was arranged on the chariot, all the visitors began to pull the chariot with devotees leading a fired up kirtan. The ratha yatra started from Prayageshwar temple going through Chandi khet and Chaukhutia market and finishing at Agneri temple where a huge feast for all the visitor was arranged. Hundreds of people followed the chariot and many more watched from their homes and from atop buildings. Prasadam was distributed all throughout the way. Just as the ratha yatra came to the Agneri temple rain started and it rained so heavily as if it had waited so long for this particular moment. 108 books were distributed…28 maha big books including Bhagavad-gita and Krishna book. Around two thousand or more visitors took prasadam at the Bhandara. Within that rain the deities were brought back to the temple. Interestingly there was no umbrella to cover the deities and devotees ran about to borrow an umbrella. One person gave his umbrella and by so doing…even without his knowledge he did the most wonderful service of protecting the Lord of the Universe from the unexpected downpour. Truly Jagannath had come out on His chariot to bless even those who would not come to see Him or make them lend Him their umbrellas.
Evening approached with a sense of triumph having seen the chariot festival of the Lord of the Universe, the village ladies coming back to their homes with huge pile of grasses for the cows, smoke rising from each of the houses on the hill slopes, the Ram-Ganga flowing down singing its own songs now imbued with a taste from the devotees’ kirtan….and everybody else sharing what they felt at the festival. As devotees laughed and shared happy instances of the festival Lord Jagannath also smiled as He went to take rest for the night with His elder brother and Sister. Next day after a sumptuous bath in the Ram Ganga river devotees parted from Chaukhotia with happy hearts and fond memories with a desire to return back to this small village marked with the Ram-ganga and flanked by the mountains…truly known as Deva-Bhoomi. Driving upon the cliffs and the passing through the clouds devotees passed through the Corbett National Park as they went on towards their next destinations…expressing their heartfelt gratitude to Srila Prabhupada who had so nicely brought Lord Jagannath from the sea shores of Puri to the mountains of the Himalayas. We sincerely thank all the devotees, friends and well-wishers for their support and kind prayers due to which we have been able to conduct this ratha yatra festival as a humble offering unto the lotus feet of Mahaprabhu, Srila Prabhupada and all our previous acaryas….we pray to remain so engaged always in their loving service. Jai Jagannath! Jai Srila Prabhupada!
For pictures please go to: https://goo.gl/hHnlar