Take the high road!
Sometimes we find things when we least expect them, and it can remind us of the way to find the “ultimate” good things.

I drove to the garden to get some Tulsi leaves, and saw the exit I usually use blocked. Instead of grumbling and blaming, I decided to get on with it and take the long road around. As I turned the corner I came across a whole garden of blooming tube roses ready for the picking. I jumped out of the car, delighted with my surprise discovery. I would not have found them had I not taken the longer road.

The higher road, the road less travelled, the longer road - all are proven ways to find good things. If we don’t take them we can miss out on a ton of beauty, a treasure of experiences, and opportunities for deep growth and change. The long road is never easy because good things are not cheap.

Arjuna learned this on the battlefield where the Bhagavad-gita was spoken. He wanted an out, an easy way to walk away from the terrifying war. Krishna blocked his path. Take the high road, He urged him. Take the road to ultimate success - whether you win or lose the battle, serve under my direction and you will find good things.

And he did. Besides the extraordinary vision of the universal form (in the Gita’s 11th chapter), he also understood his friend Krishna in a completely different way. The long road didn’t make the battle easier, but all the way Krishna was there to help Him. The long road to Krishna is not about finding peace, it’s about finding our relationship with Him. That pure, spiritual, original relationship of love becomes revealed as we turn corners in our life, especially corners where we have decided to surrender and trust the detour.

Good things are only found when we can step beyond the ordinary course of ‘me’ first. By giving up this attachment to indulgence in and protection of our false worldly ego we find the most surprisingly good thing of all - a sense of who we actually are–a spiritual person. That’s really when life starts to live itself on a whole other level.

When Srila Prabhupada was asked one time what was the goal of the practice of Krishna Consciousness, he answered, “To become a servant of the servant of Krishna”. That’s the long road. When we take some trouble to serve Krishna and Krishna’s devotees, when we think more of others and less about ourselves - that’s the high road.

A genuine spiritual path, if done correctly, is the road less traveled. There is abundant goodness to be found there. Let the obstacles in your life open up splendid detours and then move down them with great joy. There are good things hidden around every corner.
Ananda Vrindavesvari Devi Dasi

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33347

This morning I awoke to the news that Donald Trump has been elected as President on the United States of America. For some Americans this is frightening news. Others are rejoicing. I think we can all agree that the world is a dangerous place. This post by Padmapani Prabhu is really quite timely.

Safety in a Dangerous World
by Padmapani das

Ever since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the world has been faced with unprecedented danger and uncertainty. Recent headlines suggest that the threat of terrorism has reached critical proportions. News of another possible attack in the U.S. has been circulating in the press and the rhetoric of war has dominated world politics for quite some time. Once again we are forced to contemplate our fragility and mortality in this material world. Anything can happen now and we know it.

For those of us old enough to remember, these recent events may conjure up memories of the Great Northeast Blackout in 1965. As a resident of Canada, I remember it well. Although quite young at the time, I distinctly recall the sense of fear and vulnerability that arose in my heart. I realized for the first time that our civilization wasn’t as strong and secure as we had been led to believe.

“At 5:27 p.m., November 9, 1965, the entire Northeast area of the United States and large parts of Canada went dark. From Buffalo to the eastern border of New Hampshire and from New York City to Ontario, a massive power outage struck without warning. Trains were stuck between subway stops. People were trapped in elevators. Failed traffic signals stopped traffic dead. And, at the height of the Cold War, many thought Armageddon had arrived. One pilot flying over a darkened New York City stated, ‘I thought it was another Pearl Harbor!’ By 5:40 p.m. that evening, 80,000 square miles of the Northeast United States and Ontario, Canada, were without power, leaving 30 million people in the dark. New York City was particularly hit by this blackout, due to its reliance on electricity for nearly all aspects of city life.” (The Blackout History Project)

At the time, Srila Prabhupada was staying in New York at Dr. Mishra’s yoga studio on Riverside Drive. He had recently arrived from Butler, Pennsylvania where he had been a guest of Mr. and Mrs. Agarwal for a month after arriving in the U.S. from India. Describing the blackout in a letter to Sally Agarwal, Srila Prabhupada wrote the following words:

“Yes there was all darkness in New York on the 10th instant and it was not a happy incident. I learn that many people remained in the elevators and in the subway trains for more than seven to eight hours in darkness. I do not read newspapers but there must have been some mishaps also which we do not know. That is the way of material civilisation too much depending on machine. At any time the whole thing may collapse and therefore we may not be self complacent depending so much on artificial life. The modern life of civilisation depends wholly on electricity and petrol and both of them are artificial for man.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, November 13, 1965)

More than forty years later, the world is even more dependent on electricity and petrol. The Internet (on which this website is being published) has become the preferred method of communication. We now have satellites orbiting the earth which allow us to communicate across the globe in seconds. Our methods of warfare are now laser-guided and accurate to the Nth degree. Yet are we any safer as a result?

Intelligence reports suggest that the Internet is now being used by terrorists and others of ill intent who communicate freely with each other. In fact, the World Wide Web itself may be attacked and brought down at a moment’s notice. The very fabric and infrastructure of our society could unravel without warning. The situation is perilous. Therefore Srila Prabhupada continually warned us that there is danger at every step in this material world (padam padam yad vipadam), and he urged us to immediately take to Krishna consciousness for the solution to all problems:

“As long as we are in this material world, there must be calamities because this is the place of calamity. But even with calamities our business should be to develop our Krishna consciousness, so that after giving up this body we may go back home, back to Krishna.” (Teachings of Queen Kunti, Chapter 8)

Not only has Srila Prabhupada helped us to identify the source of our miseries in this temporary world (duhkhalayam asasvatam), but he has meticulously provided the means of relief in his voluminous books and instructions. Despite that we are now in the midst of troubled times in a perpetually troubled world, we are still very fortunate to have Srila Prabhupada as our eternal spiritual preceptor. Although he has physically departed from this world, Srila Prabhupada so mercifully continues to guide us. The only qualification is that we hear from him sincerely and faithfully.

“In my books the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness is explained fully so if there is anything which you do not understand, then you simply have to read again and again. By reading daily the knowledge will be revealed to you and by this process your spiritual life will develop.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, November 22, 1974)

In whatever condition of life we may now find ourselves, it is to our eternal benefit to arrange our lives in such a way that we can follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions to the best of our ability. Although we can never fully repay him for the tremendous gift that he has given us all, at the very least we can be loyal to Srila Prabhupada and stick tightly to his lotus feet. After all, there is no safer place to be.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Pd

Text pasted from; Prabhupada Connection

Source:https://theharekrishnamovement.org/2016/11/09/safety-in-a-dangerous-world/

Question: Can you define lust?

If we serve our own senses, then it is called lust but if we serve the senses of Krsna, then it is called love. So love is about giving and satisfying others and lust is about satisfying ourselves.

So, when we are the centre in every situation… we are the centre of the universe… we are the main person here and everybody must be pleasing to us and if somebody is not pleasing to us causes a disturbance – that is all lust.

But if we are trying to be pleasing to others – if others are more important and we are trying to act in such a way that they will become pleased and happy, then we are free from lust. As soon as we think that others are there to please us then we are LUSTY. And from one level of lust comes intense lust and then we want to enjoy on the bodily platform. Therefore, we have to serve the senses of Krsna and his devotees. Everyone is a devotee of Krsna, only some know it and others do not.

Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2016/11/love-vs-lust/

The Devotee Care Committee, has been researching and working on creating awareness about embedding care in our communities, projects and yatras. After years of consultation and the study of the diverse needs of the various sections of the community, the committee had engaged
HG Rasamandala prabhu to work on structured courses to systematically educate care givers and leaders. With his great expertise in curriculum writing and help from other committee members, the Committee has developed two courses and is piloting them to further enhance the quality and practical application of the course.

It was piloted at GEV, Wada in the last week of October and from 2nd to 5th Nov 2016, at ISKCON Tirupati.

We would like to thank ISKCON Tirupati and specially HG Revati Raman Prabhu for hosting the four day Course (DCC 2) for South Indian leaders and managers at Tirupati.

HG Rasamandala prabhu, compiled the course material and expertly conducted the interactive workshop and obtained inputs and feedback on the course from the assembled leaders.

Inspite of the Kartik celebrations and Srila Prabhupada`s Disappearance day festival, several leaders and managers from different parts of South India attended the course and gave their valuable inputs. All their inputs have been recorded and would be appropriately included in the next version of the hand books. We would like to thank the leaders who evinced keen interest in the need for Devotee Care in their communities and took time out to participate. It shows that they really care!

At the end of the course leaders from South India went with renewed energy and commitment that the DCC will be of great help for them to offer care to the various sections of their community, with an equal hope that the leaders would also be cared for by their seniors. Unless the leaders are cared for, they wouldn`t be able to “care for” effectively.

The entire course was well organized by the enthusiastic devotees of ISKCON Sri Radha Govinda Lotus Temple.

The Committee is also working with helping professionals, on more specialised courses to teach the various skills required for care giving.

After being vetted by the GBC these courses would be offered at the institutes at Mayapur, Vrindavan etc.

Those leaders and care givers who missed this opportunity and would like to be informed of the future offering may send an email to <iskcondevoteecare@gmail.com>.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33225

H.G. Jaga Jivana Prabhu was from New York. He joined ISKCON in 1970. Jaga Jivan Prabhu was initiated by His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada in 1972. He was a GBC member. Thank you, dear devotees for all your heartfelt prayers, but my husband left his body at 7:30pm today, November 10th, 2016, in Bhaktivedanta hospital while Srila Prabhupada`s kirtan was playing

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33249

When Srila Prabhupada was visiting Detroit in 1976, he met with two clergymen. First he asked them if they believed that God is a person. “Yes,” they agreed. Then he asked, “Aren’t we also eternal persons meant to love God?” They agreed again. “And isn’t the only thing separating us from enjoying ecstatic life with God sin?” Once again they agreed. Like a pouncing lion, Srila Prabhupada challenged, “Then why don’t you teach people how to lead a sinless life!” Srila Prabhupada went on to show that meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxicants, and gambling pollute people’s consciousness, and that if the clergymen rose above these things, others would follow their example. Mundane welfare work or political agitation would be simply a waste of time. As they left with flower garlands around their necks, packages of Bengali sweets in their hands, and Bhagavad-gitas under their arms, one of them turned to Srila Prabhupada. “Why, I feel like we’ve become your disciples.” Srila Prabhupada chuckled. After they’d gone he quoted a Sanskrit verse which confirmed that only a gosvami–someone who has gained complete control over his bodily senses–can give real spiritual life to his disciples. And we knew we had a gosvami for our spiritual master. 
Badarinarayana Swami, from a 1978 BTG

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33237

Suvarna Manjari dasi: This is the response to a question that was asked to Kurma Rupa Prabhu about the sustainablity of Cow Protection. This was published in the May Care for Cows newsletter

By Kurma Rupa Das

If a family keeps a cow and calf and has a few acres of land, a vegetarian diet is easily sustainable. I know a family in Colorado whose cow gives nine gallons of milk a day and she lactates for four to five years. They have enough land for the cow and her offspring to graze on and even with several months of winter they can easily maintain their cow. (see CFC News July 2010).

If you mean to ask will protecting a family cow produce enough income to maintain herself and provide for a family of five people with urban habits, then no, it won’t.
In an agrarian setting cows actually give more than they take.

However, when one tries to produce milk for commercial purposes and requires expensive farming equipment (tractors, bailers, combines, silos etc.) has to pay outrageous prices for veterinary aid, purchase homogenization and pasteurization equipment, conveyances to transport the milk to urban areas and so on, sustainability becomes a problem. In short, what makes cow protection unsustainable today is urbanization and consumerism.

Remove these two from the picture and you have the formula for a peaceful existence.
A large herd is sustainable in an agrarian community with common pasturing grounds and bordering forests, not otherwise.
I have visited village communities in India which still resemble the ancient Vedic model where every household hosts a few cows and a few cowherd men or women take the collective herd out to pasture daily leaving the calves behind. At the end of each day there is a celebration when the cows return with their stomachs full and many with udders full as well. The only investment is the time it takes for a few people to accompany the cows in their daily wanderings.

The cows are milked; the calves are fed; the milk boiled on a cow dung fire; hot milk is served; the remainder left overnight to become yoghurt; which is later churned to make butter; and the nourishing buttermilk is offered to unexpected guests and whoever else. I have never witnessed a more joyous existence. But the villagers I have examined pay their bills by farming, not selling dairy products.

“Excess males and unproductive females” are terms used by commercial dairy farmers that have nothing to do with cow protection but everything to do with cow exploitation. Urbanization and mechanization have rendered bulls unemployed whereas in the Vedic model the bull calves are valued more than the females as there is always ploughing and draught work to be done.

Since their dung and urine have numerous practical uses in agrarian life, and since Vedantists consider tending cows and pleasing them to be an activity which pleases God, real cow protectors always consider cows and bulls productive even when dry, retired or diseased.

We do not encourage commercial dairy farming or any type of attempt to make living from selling cow products. A profit orientation invariably leads to decisions which sell the cow short.

The term “humane culling” is an oxymoron at best or a euphemism at worst. If you are humane, how can you take the life of a creature who has not agreed to give it up?
Why not call it what it is?- – killing to increase profit. People who coin such terms do so to minimize the guilt resulting from acting against their conscience.

Other examples are “terminating the pregnancy” instead of saying “killing the child in the womb”; or “pacifying the enemy” instead of bombing the hell out of them; and so on. When the sinister want to manipulate others to perform horrible and unbeneficial acts which may disturb their conscience, they employ such devices to facilitate the phenomenon of self-deception.
Creation and employment of such devices indicates malignant narcissism.

In an agrarian society cows have a wonderful effect on the ecology. Their dung is known to be the best fertilizer and their hooves and horns have a nourishing effect on the earth.

You may find Rudolf Steiner’s (the founder of biodynamics) work interesting. A Google search will yield much on his work. Since in the Vedic formula, ahimsa is the first principle, I think a vegan diet is better than one including commercial dairy products obtained by violence. But the best and most wholesome diet is one which includes milk obtained from a loving cow who is treated like one’s own mother.

References to cow protection abound in Vedic literatures like Mahabharata, Ramayana, Srimad Bhagavatam and other Puranas which describe an agrarian social structure and lifestyle focused on attaining spiritual rather than material goals. Frankly, I think you will be hard-pressed to find much published research today condoning cow protection since it does not serve the purpose of urbanization which is to make the citizens dependent on exploitative and manipulative oligarchs.

Modern man has lost his roots. Cow protection hasn’t lost importance but because urban man has become so successfully indoctrinated and acclimated to artificial living and consumerism he no longer understands or values the fruits of it.

The real purpose of cow protection is to please the Supreme Lord Krishna. Milk, dung, urine, ghee, yoghurt and draught are the natural by-products and are considered most essential for religious rituals and producing the necessities for a wholesome life. In the Vedic agrarian model milk is not considered the goal of cow protection and a bull calf is celebrated more than a female calf as once trained, he is productive for more years than the dairy cows.

Go-raksha (cow protection) is done properly if one takes it as a religious duty rather than a career opportunity. In the former mindset one attempts to serve cows rather than be served by them; one aspires for spritual gain rather than material gain. This is what makes it work.
One famous verse explains, “One should follow the cows, feed them sufficiently, and circumambulate them. If the cows are happy then Lord Gopala is understood to be satisfied.” (Hari Bhakti Vilas 17.244)

When the Supreme Lord is satisfied with one, He carrys what one has and provides what one lacks. Thus, cow protection, if done properly is completely sustainable from the spiritual viewpoint.

—–

Dear Lovers of Govinda

Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Guru and Gauranga.

After reading the article from Care for cows, by Kurma Rupa Prabhu, Sustainable cow protection, my plea to all devotees is to protect a cow or two.

If you live in a rural area, there is no harm to purchase one or 2 cows and keep them. My husband and I own 2 cows that have not had calves, nor do we milk them, but they are 2 cows that won’t end up being slaughtered.

If every follower of Krsna or even every animal lover owned one or two cows, people will notice and see practical cow protection in action.

More importantly, as devotees of Krsna we actually have to start LIKING cows…and I don’t mean just the random “Jai Gomata!”…We actually have to care about Gomata. Care abouth the fact that most countries are just horrible concentration camps for our Mothers. Either they are cramped up in horrible so called “farming” conditions or they live “peacefully” in lush padocks surrounded by electric fencing! Only to eventually end up being tortured when taken to slaughter.

Prabhupada has stated in His books that without cow protection, human civilization is doomed.

It’s not at all difficult to maintain a cow. If you live in the city, please try to donate a cow to someone or support those who are protecting cows.

All glories to our sacred Mother Cow.

All glories to Guru and Gauranga.

your servant
Suvarna Manjari dasi

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=9594

Today is Gaura Kishor Das Babaji’s appearance day. In our line of gurus he comes after Bhaktivinode Thakur and before Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. He is a very important person because his life was an example of vairagya, or renunciation.

His life was an example of an authentic detachment from sense gratification and the utmost attraction to spiritual gratification. He lived alone most of the time, often on the bank of the Ganges river in Mayapur. He ate very little, and spent his time chanting the maha-mantra. For clothing he simply picked up discarded items, and for food he begged a little rice which he would soak in Ganges water.

When anyone came to become his disciple he would refuse. When they came to ask him questions he would reply that everything  could be found in the songbook of Narottama das Thakur. When they came to him and asked for ‘secret mantras’ he said that everything would be revealed by the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, which in itself was the highest of all mantras.

When they weren’t trying to become his disciples, some of them would try to imitate him. One time a man camped just down the riverbank from him, dressing like him and trying to chant like him. At times the man would let out cries of “Oh Krishna!” as if he was experiencing spiritual ectasy. However, the Babaji could see that the man was trying to attract followers with his behaviour. His comments were typical: “Sometimes a woman cries out with all the sounds of the labour of childbirth – but she is not yet pregnant even! Similarly a man thinks he has developed love of God, but the seed of love has not yet grown within him!”

Gaura Kishor Das Babaji was leading a life that was only possible because he had factually realised the pleasure of chanting Krishna’s names, and simply could not be bothered to cater for his own eating, sleeping and comfort. It is not a life that could be imitated prematurely.

But as much as he shunned public attention, even refusing to have his photograph taken (there was only one picture ever made), he was a regular visitor to the home of Bhaktivinode Thakur. There in the garden they would discuss the Srimad Bhagavatam, and the Thakur was very impressed with his company.  At the side of the house was a small brick shed, and the Babaji  would sit inside there on rainy days, the holy name reverberating off the brick walls.

The Thakur insisted that his son, Bimala Prasada, take initiation from the Babaji, but he was educated and the Babaji was illiterate. But the father was so strict he told his son: “If you do not take initiation from him – don’t return to this house!” Repeatedly, Bimala Prasad asked until the Babaji simply said, “Alright, but I will have to ask Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. If he says ‘yes’ then I will initiate you.” The next week, Bimala came and asked what had been the reply. “Oh, I forgot to ask,” responded the Babaji. But eventually Bimala became the one and only disciple, and went on to become, years later, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur.

However, at first he was confused. His father, Bhaktivinode, was a great preacher, writer, and publisher of books. He moved in high social circles and had a large following. But his guru lived alone, had no followers, was a renunciate and a constant chanter of the name. Who should he follow – his father, a great devotee, or his guru, a great devotee?

He decided to first chant more than 100 rounds of Hare Krishna japa every day, and lived in a simple straw hut, even though the roof leaked. After some years he received the inspiration to begin his preaching mission, the result of which, through his dear disciple Srila Prabhupada, is now in cities all over the world.

Some years ago, I learned that the original shed where the Babaji chanted had been knocked down to make way for a concrete shrine built in his memory. Such things happen in India. I was able to salvage a few chips of one of the original bricks, and still have them for inspiration. Gaura Kishor Das Babaji’s body is now interred in a Samadhi shrine in the grounds of the Chaitanya Math, the original headquarters of the Gaudiya Mission.

Source:https://deshika.wordpress.com/2016/11/10/renunciation-personified/

Sastra Dana, Anna Dana & Damodara school programs in Malaysia (Album with photos)
Simheswara Dasa: Scriptures state that the Damodara Kartika month is beneficial for performing devotional services to Lord Sri Krishna. And this is why our ISKCON Sastra Dana Anna Dana & Damodara programme at schools is done this month and which is getting bigger every year. *Since 21 October we have already visited 12 national type Tamil schools and distributed 5,240 plates of vegetarian meals, handed 1,012 free Bhagavad Gitas and 3,682 smaller literatures to 4,410 students and 380 staffs.* *Total of 4,790 participants have offered ghee lamps to Lord Damodara.*

It is also through sponsors and volunteers help are we not only sustaining but also expanding this important project. We are just doing what is possible for us, our sponsors and our volunteers. A prasadam sponsor simply needs to make a gift of RM2 for each student he or she wants to feed. A book sponsor’s gift is RM20 per Bhagavad-gita or RM3 for a smaller literature.

Hard work begins with the ISKCON K.L. temple president H.G. Kripa Sindhu Krishna prabhu. He is personally with this project and as early as 6AM is with H.G. Rasaparayana prabhu to prepare meals while expertly engaging volunteers. H.G. Gokul Damodara prabhu and his team on the other hand manage the prasadam and book distribution to students. Overall it is teamwork to serve the thousands of wonderful students while being an instrument of Lord Sri Krishna.

*Past two days we were at two big schools with 1,707 students and teachers. Our gratitude to H.G. Sulochana Bhakti mataji for assisting with RM2,000 to partially defray cost of yesterday’s programme at the Rawang Tamil school. And at Batu Caves Tamil school today we distributed 192 Bhagavad-gitas, 743 smaller literatures, served our very own New Godruma Dhama farm fresh sugar cane juice and our Nadia Bakery buns apart from the regular full lunch meal to 935 students and 83 teachers. We are indebted to the newly formed Hare Krishna Cooperative Malaysia Berhad for sponsoring RM12,500 to defray the full expenses for today’s programme.*
Find them here: https://goo.gl/RGdtCB

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33256

ISKCON Youth Ministry's Mexico bus tour between December 9, 2016  and January 3, 2017, will be an extraordinary adventure presenting Krishna culture festivals in towns, auditoriums and yoga studios, and visiting pyramids, jungle waterfalls and tropical beaches.

"It's a life changing experience," says Manorama dasa, one of the organizers. "We get to put on Krishna Culture Festivals in exotic places, spreading the Holy Name through kirtana, dance, theater, prasadam and book distribution. We also go on Harinama and visit national parks, ancient ruins, Caribbean and Pacific Ocean beaches. The young people who travel with us get a taste for the pioneering spirit of adventure, spreading Krishna consciousness, and will make devotee friends for life."

"On the Mexico bus tour the youth get to do everything," Manorama explains. "They'll roll into a village, unload in the central square and set up a festival. While one team begins cooking a feast, another prepares the stage, sound system and lights. Dancers dress up, actors make up, kirtaniyas rehearse. Meanwhile, the village chief mobilizes his promotional campaign: an old truck with loudspeakers strapped to the roof drives up and down every street announcing 'Festival cultural de la India! Musica! Danza! Teatro! Comida!' Soon, the square fills with people. The festival begins. Kirtan, dance, theater, film, more kirtan, and finally a prasadam feast for everyone. The emcee announces, 'Everything you've seen here is from these books. Please don't leave without getting a book as a souvenir.' At the end of the evening, we pack everything and everyone back into the bus, and there's this exhilarating feeling of accomplishment among the youth, having just made their own contribution to help spread Lord Chaitanya's Sankirtana movement to another town, another village. In this way we continue across Mexico for three weeks of an incredible adventure." 

At the moment, there's room for more if anyone would like to go. They'll take youth ages 16 and older, and there's no upper age limit for the young at heart! They also need a little help to sponsor deserving youth who can only afford half their tour fees. With youth flying in from all over, a dozen festivals lined up, and just a few weeks before departure, they're still short $10,500. Here's your opportunity to support a very important cause, to help train and inspire the next generation of ISKCON's preachers, teachers and missionaries.

“What the world needs in these dark times is more young devotees traveling and spreading Harinama Sankirtana, Krishna consciousness in every town and village, ” says Manorama.

 * * *

Posters, photos and videos of previous tours: https://youthbustour.com/photos-videos/

Website: youthbustour.com 

Email: youth@krishna.com

Source:http://iskconnews.org/iskcon-youth-bus-tour-to-mexico,5911/

Two intrepid devotee explorers are set to travel to the last frontier, and bring kirtan and Srila Prabhupada’s books to Antarctica – the southernmost and coldest continent in the world.

The continent is largely uninhabited and 98 per cent of it is covered by ice, but it does have a tourist season and many international research stations to reach out to. One thing’s for sure – venturing there is a unique offering to Prabhupada for ISKCON’s 50th anniversary.

The two devotees set to travel this November are Kesihanta Das, a Prabhupada disciple and co-director of ISKCON Alachua’s Save the Cow program; and Trivikrama Das, bass player for Vaishnava hardcore band 108.

Cow protector Kesihanta (left) and 108 bassist Trivikrama, the two intrepid explorers set for Antarctica

“During the Prabhupada arrival festival at Boston’s Commonwealth Pier last year, many devotees were giving exciting and inspiring talks about Srila Prabhupada’s achievements, saying he went to six continents,” Kesihanta says. “That got me thinking – what about the seventh continent? What about Antarctica?”

To the best of his knowledge, Kesihanta says, no devotees have yet traveled to Antarctica in a missionary capacity. “We wanted to get there first before Indradyumna Swami found out,” he jokes.

Kesihanta and Trivikrama will leave on November 13th from Ushuaia, which is the capital of Tierra del Fuego in Argentina and is considered the southernmost city in the world.

From there they will take the MV Ushaia, a small 88-passenger ship originally built for the U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. The journey to the Antarctic Peninsula will take two days, and will cross the Drake Passage.

“We’ve been advised to wear prescription motion sickness patches, because the seas are generally very rough – it’s called the Drake Shake,” says Kesihanta. “Especially because our ship is relatively small, we’re expecting to feel it more.”

On the voyage, the devotees will observe the Western calendar day of Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance – November 14th – with a half-day fast and arati to their four-inch Prabhupada murti.

The Krishna South flag devotees will place in Antarctica, with the ISKCON 50 logo on the other side

For them the voyage, and any harsh weather or hardships on it, will be a meditation on Prabhupada’s bravery and determination through his trip to the USA on the steamship Jaladuta.

Kesihanta and Trivikrama will be arriving in Antarctica on November 15th. In winter, the continent sees four months of total darkness, weekly hurricane force winds, and unfathomable temperatures as low as 89.2 °C (−128.6 °F).

Fortunately, November is its summer. And coupled with the fact that their destination is the Antarctic Peninsula – the northernmost point with weather less extreme than the South Pole --  the devotees will find temperatures “only” reaching freezing or just below.

They will, however, be sending Krishna’s message and Srila Prabhupada’s words to the South Pole.

“We are in touch with someone who works with the three year-round U.S. research stations in Antarctica, and has agreed to place pocket editions of Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita in their libraries,” says Kesihanta. “The stations are the Amundsen–Scott Station in the South Pole; the McMurdo Station, which is the largest research station in Antarctica; and Palmer Station, on Anvers Island off the coast of the Peninsula.”

The information plate in the Bhagavad-gitas devotees will be placing at U.S. research stations in Antarctica

Kesihanta and Trivikrama will live in their ship off the coast of Antarctica between November 15th and 21st, but will go ashore in large rafts called zodiacs daily. So they also plan to personally place copies of Bhagavad-gita As It Is in the libraries of research stations like Britain’s Port Lockroy Base, Argentina’s Brown Station, and Ukraine’s Vernadsky Research Base.

“We even brought a Ukrainian Bhagavad-gita for the Ukranian station!” says Kesihanta.

The devotees also plan to hold several kirtans, with kartals and mridanga, outside on the Antarctic Peninsula. They hope that some broad-minded fellow adventurers will participate, as well as a few penguins!

At least one of their kirtans will include guru-puja with a full set of arati paraphernalia to Srila Prabhupada, who will be set up on the ice on a fold-up table and his vyasasana.

Surrounded by glaciers, Srila Prabhupada will be dressed in a saffron parka specially made for the trip by Kesihanta’s wife and Save the Cow co-director, Devaki Dasi. 

The team's 'ISKCON Antarctica' t-shirt design

Kesihanta and Trivikrama will also place a Hare Krishna banner and a “Krishna South” flag in the ice to claim the final frontier for Srila Prabhupada.

Despite Antarctica’s remoteness, Kesihanta says there is further scope beyond his groundbreaking expedition to share Krishna consciousness there.

“During the summer, there are about 4,000 researchers at the different research stations,” he explains. “And the largest one, McMurdo, becomes like a whole city, with all sorts of events and concerts. So if someone like Indradyumna Swami or Radhanath Swami got inspired from our trip, they could take the effort further.”

Ultimately, Kesihanta hopes Srila Prabhupada will be pleased. “He was always very interested in devotees’ different landmark achievements, so this is my offering to him.”

Source:http://iskconnews.org/devotees-to-hold-first-kirtan-in-antarctica,5912/

Even when we are so transcendental ourselves, we still have to take people’s feelings very serious, even if they are partially motivated by false ego – it doesn’t matter, just like a child. But when you are an adult, you see it different although a father leaving home is not a small thing; that is real suffering but what can be done!?

When I was a kid, I lost my favourite toy car in a sand-pit; I never got over it. It was a big thing. I dug up the whole sand-pit and sifted through the whole thing but never found my little golden Jaguar, as it was called. What a drama it was!

Now, of course, I look at it a little bit different but my little golden Jaguar stands there to remind me that for me, that was a very important thing. So, what really counts is what is really important to people. I don’t think that we should go around and put labels on people and say, “False ego!”

I think that we should take serious what is serious to others otherwise how will they take us serious. If I am so transcendental that I don’t take anybody serious, that doesn’t make sense at all. Then I become cold and disinterested from people.

Like Prabhupada, he was very transcendental yet he could be very human with human beings. He was able to come down to what moved people although it didn’t move him in the same way.

Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2016/11/what-really-counts/

Vaishnava marriage counselors Partha Das and Uttama Dasi were recently invited, under the recommendation of GBC Bhakti Vijnana Swami, to offer marital and premarital education to devotees in Moscow, Russia, for the first time.

The effort was an important service to the vast and fast-growing 10,000 member ISKCON Moscow community, who were grateful to learn practical advice and new paradigms.

Initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1973, husband and wife Partha and Uttama have an incredible amount of experience and wisdom between them. They’ve been happily married for forty-five years, have premarital education training certified by Prepare and Enrich, and have offered that education with the Grihasta Vision Team – a group of professional devotee counselors – for the past decade.

In their native Canada, they also provide a mandated five-session premarital education course for all couples getting married at ISKCON temples.

“We were able to convince the leadership across the country that we don’t want to just perform marriages anymore – we actually want to support and nurture marriages,” says Partha. “We’re trying to create a culture where premarital education is an integral part of marriage in ISKCON.”

Visiting Moscow from October 7th to 20th, the couple offered an abbreviated version of their two-day seminar, Strengthening the Bonds That Free Us, which they’ve taught in eleven countries.

Their stay, organized by Ekanga Dasi, included four evening sessions. Audiences up to sixty men and women attended, both married and unmarried.

During the sessions, Partha and Uttama taught their 12 Principles and Values of a Successful Krishna Conscious Marriage, such as alignment with Srila Prabhupada, spiritual growth and progress, mutual respect and appreciation, open and honest communications, focus on children’s welfare, family love and affection, and regulated, balanced and exemplary lifestyle. (read the full list here: http://vaisnavafamilyresources.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/12_Principles-brochure-2012.pdf)

They also spoke about negotiating roles between husband and wife, gender differences, preparing for marriage, and communication skills.

Partha and Uttama with Moscow newly-weds

In preparation for marriage, they advised devotees to develop good qualities within themselves, and to look for certain qualities in prospective partners. They emphasized looking for someone who is kind first and foremost; as well as balanced, respectful, a good listener, humble, faithful to the Supreme Lord, free from addictions, and compatible.

“It’s important that you look for someone with similar values, personality and lifestyle,” says Uttama. “For instance, someone who shares your work ethics, family values, and the way you practice Krishna consciousness.”

Of course, she acknowledges, it is fine and natural to have small differences in values, and couples should support and encourage each other in these areas for a healthy marriage.

Partha and Uttama also emphasized getting to know a prospective partner well before trusting them, and making sure you trust them before you commit.

The communication skills part of the course, meanwhile, was largely based upon two of Rupa Goswami’s six loving exchanges between Vaishnavas: revealing one’s mind in confidence, and inquiring confidentially, or reworded here as “listening in confidence.”

“We’re trying to help devotees realize how important that exchange is, especially in household life,” says Partha. “We teach simple communication techniques that keep dialog from escalating into the modes of passion and ignorance where people end up having arguments, or isolating themselves in the relationship.”

Partha and Uttama feel that Krishna conscious marriage done right is something very special. If we truly stayed aware that Krishna is being worshipped in our homes, and is in our spouse’s hearts, they explain, we would never use unkind words or treat them harshly. 

The counselors also talked about negative paradigms sometimes touted in ISKCON that cause damage. “One is the misunderstanding that your marriage and your children are not devotional service,” says Uttama. “Because then devotees don’t work on their relationships, minimize them, and sometimes don’t even meet their children’s needs.”

Partha and Uttama at a young devotee couples' wedding, with Bhakti Vriksha leaders Angira Muni Das and Kaveri Dasi

Happy, caring marriages and family lives are devotional service not only because our children and spouses are devotees, Partha adds, but because the general public observes how devotees live and conduct themselves. “So just having a good marriage is a big contribution to Prabhupada’s movement – what to speak of having happy, well-adjusted, protected children.”

Another area commonly misunderstood that Partha and Uttama made an important distinction between is the difference between Vedic marriage – where the wife is often seen as subservient to the husband – and Vaishnava marriage.

In this connection, they cited an article on Vaishnava marriage by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati in his magazine The Harmonist. “The cardinal principle of grihasta ashram is that no one may be the owner of any property or service of another,” he writes.  Everyone is only a servant whose activities are ever in the service of the Lord.”

He continues, “Marrying and giving in marriage do not give rise to any rights of a master either to the husband or to the wife. Men and women are joined in wedlock for the purpose of serving each other in the performance of the joint service of Krishna. The wife is not an object of enjoyment of the husband, nor vice versa. They do not marry for gratifying their sexual appetites. They marry for pleasing the Lord, not for pleasing themselves.”

He concludes, “Neither the husband nor the wife should claim the services of his or her partner on their own account. Both of them are only to offer their services if and when their partner is pleased to permit them to share their service of Hari. None of them can force their partners to serve them….This system of household discipline has its roots in the joint worship of the household deity by all members of the household.”

The seminar was received with gratitude by Russian devotees. It contributed to two main needs: providing knowledge on what was required to keep a marriage healthy and happy; and correcting neophyte understandings by new devotees.

“ISKCON Moscow is expanding so quickly,” says Partha Das. “The preaching there is amazing. There are 10,000 devotees in Moscow, 100 different Bhakti Vriksha programs, and the temples are full of people dancing and chanting at every morning program.”

“But the challenge that goes with that is, growing very quickly means you have large numbers of neophyte devotees. So in Russia they are going through a lot of the same things now that other parts of ISKCON went through in the 1970s and early ‘80s. There are devotees with not so much maturity preaching whose intent is good, but who might not be always giving the best advice and information. For instance, that everything Vedic is automatically Vaishnava.”

Partha and Uttama deeply appreciate that the Moscow devotees are sincerely looking for ways to strengthen their families, and find it encouraging to see that their ISKCON leadership cares about the devotees and wants to help them have healthy marriages.

The couple plan to return in April to offer their full Strengthening the Bonds That Free Us course at a Moscow Grihasta Retreat, and to train select couples to give premarital education to others. In this way and others, they’ll help Russian devotees design their marriage and family support network, and get good role models.

Next, Partha and Uttama are working on preparing an online version of their course that will be offered to everyone soon through Belgium’s Bhaktivedanta College website.

Preparing as well as taking the course takes time and effort – but so does having a healthy and happy marriage, they remind us.

“Sometimes devotees look for an easy fix, saying, ‘Can you give us your blessings?’” Partha says. “But our blessings are to tell them, ‘Marriage doesn’t make you happy, it makes you married. And once you’re married, then you can do the hard work of becoming Krishna conscious and happy in your marriage. If you do the work, it is very satisfying. But you have to do the work.”

Source:http://iskconnews.org/vaishnava-marriage-counselors-give-first-seminars-in-russia,5913/

Jagattarini Dasi (ACBSP): Puppetry was a big part of my life a long, long time ago… it’s a powerful form of artistic expression, and a great way to share a message or a story. Recently, much to the delight of some of my very dear friends (both young and old) who were attending our recent Kartik festivities here at The Sacred India Gallery, I spontaneously revived the puppetry spirit! Here’s a video capturing some more of the fun called “The Most Valuable Thing”
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/QY4vmJ

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33261

Selected quotes from Sadaputa Prabhu’s upcoming book “Maya: The World As Virtual Reality”

“The problem here is that anything that we can fully describe in words is something of which we are aware, and thus it is not awareness itself. But if awareness is not fully describable by words, then is it anything at all? One person will say, “Of course it is something; I am aware of being aware all the time.” But someone else may say, “If you can’t define it, then what is it? It doesn’t exist in the domain of rational discourse.”

“This is ironic, since the very feature of consciousness that disqualifies it for many modern philosophers is the starting point for meditative disciplines that try to realize the self by discriminating it from nonself.”

“Whether we use quantum theory or classical Newtonian physics, it is clear that no known computer or process of computation will enable us to predict what billions and billions of molecules will do. Physicists have taken it as a matter of faith that all of the molecules in nature move according to their equations, and in this sense, physics can be viewed as a branch of theology.”

“The phenomena studied by parapsychologists seem to radically violate the known laws of physics. If they are real, then physics will have to undergo fundamental modifications, and this is a daunting prospect for many scientists. Nonetheless, the laws of physics have been modified in unexpected ways many times in the past, and it will not be surprising if this also happens many times in the future.”

“I should also observe that although the virtual reality model does describe the physical world as illusion, it does not dismiss that illusion as a mere nothing, as the term maya may sometimes be thought to imply. As both magicians and computer artists know, it takes hard work to make a good illusion.”

“Physicists in recent years have sometimes lamented that they are approaching the end of fundamental discoveries in physics, but it appears that this worry is unnecessary.”

“The laws of physics are based on mathematical concepts that can be fully expounded in a few textbooks. But, in principle, these laws could be formidably complex. They could easily require hundreds or millions of textbooks to define. They might even be an indigestible morass of special cases and exceptions that could not be reduced to a rational system. There are many more ways to be complex than there are to be simple. The fact that the laws of physics are so simple and mathematically elegant has led many prominent scientists to conclude that God must be a mathematician.”

“Carbon nuclei are made in stars by a special nuclear reaction involving the simultaneous collision of three helium nuclei. The astrophysicist Fred Hoyle noticed that this reaction depends on a certain quantum mechanical effect (called a “resonance”) that occurs at the energy level of helium nuclei in large stars. Without this effect, carbon would be a very rare element in the universe. After a detailed study, Hoyle found several other “coincidences” that were necessary for the production and preservation of carbon within stars. Observations such as these led Hoyle to finally adopt a theistic position, and he remarked that, ‘A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question’ (Hoyle, 1982).”

“To account for one universe with life, this [multiverse] scheme requires us to posit a vast number of universes without life, as well as an underlying process that endlessly spawns universes. One could ask which theory carries more metaphysical baggage, this one, or the traditional idea of a cosmic designer.”

“Today, of course, scientists explain the succession of life forms in the fossil record by the neo-Darwinian theory of evolution. In this theory, evolutionary developments are attributed to random variation sifted by natural selection. This theory can create plausible explanations of many observed features of the biological world, and it is reasonable to suppose that the Darwinian mechanism of evolution does function in nature. However, it is far from clear that this mechanism is the last word. Organs of high perfection and complexity, such as the eagle’s eye or the human speech center, are notoriously difficult to explain by mutation and natural selection. In addition, many features of the fossil record can be placed in the Darwinian framework only by an act of faith.”

“By seeing the meaninglessness of material nature, we can be freed from attachment to it, and this opens the gateway to a realization of our true nature.”

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33264

Srila Prabhupada:

From a letter to Kulashekara, written in Los Angeles, on January 21, 1969:

“In this age no one is able to remain aloof from the general human society. Therefore one need not go into the forest in a secluded place to try to make spiritual advancement. Much better idea is that one associate with devotees in the Krishna Consciousness Centres; this will bring better spiritual results than living in the forest. Krishna Consciousness is possible when one is in association of devotees.”

From a letter to Upendra, written in Los Angeles, on January 16, 1969:

“Do not let even one minute go by without doing some sort of service for Krishna. Because as soon as there is a little gap of Krishna Consciousness, immediately maya makes an attack to grab us again. So keep up with your … engagements and always think of Krishna so that maya will not have a second’s opportunity to try to conquer you. And Krishna gives all assurance that the sincere devotee will never know defeat.”

From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Antya 1.101, purport):

“The transcendental vibration of the Lord’s holy name is completely spiritual. . . . As far as possible, therefore, the devotees in the Krishna consciousness movement gather to chant the holy names of Krishna in public so that both the chanters and the listeners may benefit.”

Satsvarupa dasa Goswami:

From Begging for the Nectar of the Holy Name:

“What about my request begging for the nectar of the holy name? Is that purely motivated? We have to examine it. The purest motive was expressed by Lord Caitanya: ‘You may make Me broken-hearted by not being present before Me or handle Me roughly in Your embrace, but I still love You unconditionally.’ This is how we should chant.”

“Italy is not the same as Vrindavana. When you are here, you think Italian countryside thoughts, whereas in Vraja, underneath the Kali-yuga covering, lies the heart of the chanting movement. It is here that Krishna led the gopis in the rasa dance while they chanted His holy names. It is described in the Sri Vishnu Purana, ‘Krishna sang the glories of the autumn moon, the moonshine and the lotus-filled river, while the gopis simply sang His name repeatedly.’ (Quoted in purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.29.44)”

“It is a fact that we don’t want mukti in terms of the so-called merging of the soul into the rays of the impersonal brahmajyoti; we want to go back to Krishnaloka. I am grateful that by the power of the holy name given by Srila Prabhupada, I am free from sinful life and its reactions. Srila Prabhupada writes confidently, ‘. . . We invite everyone to come with us and simply chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare, because we know that if one simply chants and hears the topics of Krishna, one’s life will change; he will see a new light, and his life will be successful.’ (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.7.44, purport)

“This is another aspect of harer nama. The faithful chanter lives to spread the holy name around. He is unhappy that others are suffering. He knows by his own experience that chanting Hare Krishna brings relief, that it brings one to pure-hearted, obedient Krishna consciousness. He strives to deliver the holy names and makes novel presentations so that nondevotees can take it up and receive relief from samsara. Where is that prayer in my japa retreat, ‘Please make me strong to spread the holy name’?”

“M. said that lunch would be late and I was on the verge of remarking, ‘I have an even better feast in the chanting. Eating only lasts for about fifteen minutes, but I can chant all day.’”

“Among the benefits that occur to human society just from chanting the holy names, Srila Prabhupada mentions peace, material prosperity, an auspicious political situation, and eradication of crime. Even when we don’t notice the development of the good symptoms in a chanter or in society, we should have faith that the holy name is all-powerful and that its influence is growing.”

From Vaishnava Compassion:

“We can take our cue from Srila Prabhupada. First, we can feel the fortune of our own position, feel grateful that we have prasadam at every meal, that we have the holy name, and that we have the opportunity to hear the Absolute Truth spoken every day. Second, we can try to understand Prabhupada’s kindness and tolerance, and we can let those qualities inspire us to want to share our wealth with others. We may not always be feeling compassionate toward others, but at the very least, we can, inspired by Prabhupada’s example, serve his compassionate cause.”

“There are people who do need to be clothed, fed, and housed, but all people need spiritual emancipation. Krishna gives the human being special facility not to become absorbed in superior standards of sense gratification but to realize himself and his relationship with God and to leave the material world behind. Animals are not given that intelligence. Human beings should not be left to work only for the animal propensities because they lack knowledge. Prabhupada wanted us to teach Krishna consciousness and to free others while we worked to free ourselves.”

“When we face the truth about ourselves, we realize both that we are utterly helpless and that only Krishna can help us. When we are that dependent upon Him, Krishna will certainly help us.”

“Self-compassion means being prepared to live in the ashram that is most suitable for us, even if we hear that another ashram is ‘higher.’ It means facing our material desires honestly, even if that means abandoning ideals we cannot live up to. Such honest and compassionate self-acceptance can lead us toward accepting others who also do not measure up to our ideals.”

“We know the nondevotees are suffering due to lack of spiritual understanding; actually, we often know that we are suffering from the same disease, although perhaps to a lesser degree. It seems prudent to be kind. Imagine what it’s like for these people who are forced to do the same monotonous jobs each day, and how easy it would be, in our exchanges with them, to lighten their load.”

“By definition, compassion is evoked by perceiving another’s suffering. If we fail to understand the suffering inherent in a life of sense gratification, we will not be able to feel compassion for those who live for the senses. We may even be tempted to live that way ourselves. We need a clear Krishna conscious philosophical understanding before we can know how to apply our compassion.”

“It may be that our willingness to preach is simply based on Prabhupada’s edict rather than on a personal conviction that we have something important to offer others. It may be that we have been convinced by Prabhupada’s presentation of the philosophy; we may never have heard anything like it before. It satisfies our intellect. We don’t mind sharing it. It is good to recognize the real reason for our interest in preaching, even if we feel embarrassed by its lack of profundity, and then work from there.”

“There are as many kinds of preachers as there are people in this movement. There are conservative preachers and their followers, and liberal preachers and their followers, and without both of these types of preachers, our movement would not have been able to grow as rapidly as it did.”

From a Facebook post on October 20, 2016:

“Prabhupada said,
‘Book distribution is
important and health
is important, but health
comes first.’”

From a Facebook post on October 27, 2016:

JAPA POEM

“Namabhasa chanting (at the clearing stage)
brings liberation, and
I assume it’s not
so important;
I’m already at that stage.
But wait a
minute, do I even
know what liberation
is? Have I actually
conquered all the namaparadhas?
This fallen soul
had better be
humble and think himself
lower than a blade of grass.”

Bhakti Charu Swami:

From a seminar on Lord Krishna’s Pastimes Outside of Vrindavana on June 2, 2016 at European Retreat on Island of Iz (Croatia):

“I am very thankful to Srila Prabhupada for giving me sannyasa, because after Srila Prabhupada left it was actually a very difficult phase because ISKCON had gone through lots of crises. And at the time of such crises one may lose faith, but fortunately that did not happen to me, and I think my sannyasa order played a very important role in that. There are three instructions I consider to be the most important instructions of Srila Prabhupada and those three instructions have actually saved me. The first instruction is: No matter whatever happens, don’t leave ISKCON. That’s why when I give you all initiation I ask you to promise that, because that’s what Srila Prabhupada wanted. No matter whatever happens, don’t leave ISKCON. Because where else can we go? Leaving ISKCON where else can we go? On the other hand, what ISKCON is giving, can we find that anywhere else? The second instruction: Your love for me will be shown by how you cooperate with each other. So if we love Srila Prabhupada, then we have to cooperate with each other in this community of devotees. And the third one is: The GBC is the ultimate managing authority. That automatically brings up another point: In this society Srila Prabhupada is the founder-acharya. This position of Srila Prabhupada will always be there. Not only will he always remain the founder of ISKCON, but as the acharya of ISKCON, he is the guru of all the devotees of ISKCON, for all time. And the GBC is there to hold this institution together.”

Ramabhadra Prabhu:

When we sing and dance during the arati, when we offer the lamps to Damodara, that is all love and devotion for Krishna.

Krishna says, “Govardhan Hill is to be worshiped as I am.”

If you cannot take it with you at the death, is it that important?

To help others get Krishna consciousness is the duty of every devotee. It is what the mission of Srila Prabhupada is all about. It is why he suffered multiple heart attacks on the boat to America.

Srila Prabhupada would say, “Save yourself first.” Do not use that fact some of your other family members are not Krishna consciousness to keep from becoming Krishna conscious yourself.

We have to become the greatest example of Krishna consciousness in our sphere of association. We must stay in the association of devotees who are fixed in the practice.

In New York City the schools are closed on all the Jewish, the major Christian, and the Islamic holidays, but not on the Hindu holidays. It is not my business to deal with civil and political things, but some of you should do something about this.

Yogesvara Prabhu:

Spiritual philosophies can be described in terms of zero, one, and two.

Buddhism is the world of zero. It explains that at the point of nirvana, consciousness dissolves away.

Advaita is the world of one. Our individual personality is illusion, and when it dissolves we are all one.

Bhakti is the world of two. You are already one. You are not to lose your identity but to lose your false identity.

I asked Srila Prabhupada why people favor the different philosophies.
Srila Prabhupada replied, “At the end of the day, it is personal choice.”

Krishna’s message in chapter 12 of Bhagavad-gita is to just do something. If you cannot do this, do that, but at least do something. If you start on the path by doing something, you will ultimately reach Me.

Many people are involved in yoga, but they do not know the philosophy beyond it. Someday I hope no one will be issued a yoga training certification without taking a course in yoga philosophy.

Because spirit is unchangeable, if we are a part now, we have always been a part.

“Just leave me alone” is the idea of Advaita Vedanta.

Srila Prabhupada told a story that he and his father were looking at artwork where artists were told to depict a mother witnessing her child mercilessly massacred. The winning photo was one with a mother whose eyes were closed. That is like Advaita Vedanta.

Western civilization is so averse to idols. They remind people of the original idol, the golden calf.

When I left the temple after 13 years, my mom commented, “The music is great. The food is great. What is it with the dressing of the dolls?”

As by understanding the philosophy behind art and music you can come to appreciate them better, so you can appreciate yoga better by knowing the philosophy behind it.

As you advance in yoga, who you are eternally comes to the surface, and your temporary identity begins to abate.

Nirodha is often translated as controlling when managing is more accurate.

The entire Bhagavad-gita was spoken because Arjuna was not angry when he should have been angry.

To understanding Krishna’s teachings, you have to know Krishna’s heart. Arjuna was not a Sanskrit scholar.

There were some mistakes in different printings of the Bible historically:
Thou shalt commit adultery.
Blessed are the placemakers.
Blessed are the unrighteous for they will inherit the kingdom of God.

One who is realized in love of Krishna can present His teachings.

I asked my teacher, Srila Prabhupada, how does a follower of Bhagavad-gita see art.
He replied, “Placing an object in the best environment for highest utility.”
He picked up a rose, twirled it, and, asked, “How did this flower know how to take this, of the many fragrances existing in the earth, as its own?”

Comment by student: George Harrison said, “Art is man’s attempt to imitate what God does at every moment.”

Creation is easy. Vishnu does it in His sleep.

I do not think it is possible to have a mentality of self-loathing and completely connect with Krishna.

Krishna speaks of coming in touch with Brahman (brahma-samsparsa) not becoming one with Brahman (Bg. 6.28).

Adi Purusha Prabhu:

By hearing of the benefits of devotional service, we are inclined to endeavor for it.

We chant our rounds with the burning desire to be in the center of Krishna’s will.

Our challenge is to not mix in our desires and preferences with our choice of devotional service to perform for Krishna.

Love means ‘I love you for you’ not ‘I love you for me.’

Vision Quest tells the story of a man who failed materially and was considering committing suicide, but then decided not to and volunteered for a suicide help line, and from that he realized many other people were in the same situation, and he decided to do something about it. Krishna sent him a Native American teacher who engaged him in what he called a vision quest, where you are dropped off in a forest setting with some water, and you fast for three days, and pray for a vision.

Two thousand high school students kill themselves in the America each year.

New Zealand, despite its idyllic situation, has one of the highest suicide rates in this world.

There is no material solution, but there is a spiritual solution: devotional service to Krishna.

One college student started attending a program Radhanath Swami had, but after a while, she could not accept the practice and she argued with Maharaja. Later she hid herself in a closet, poured gasoline on her body, and burned herself to death. The material energy is no joke, and if we do not take shelter of Krishna by devotional service, we suffer in its hands.

When two people meet, the one first to say, “How are you?” is the one closest to God.

Shyamananda Prabhu:

Some avatars have a whole Purana dedicated to them but not Rsabhadeva.

In India, many people are under the illusion that Lord Vishnu has but ten incarnations, when in reality you cannot count all the incarnations of Lord Vishnu. This is because Krishna is always making plans to deliver the conditioned souls.

The advancement of technology is so we can hear Srila Prabhupada’s lectures wherever we go. They had something else in mind, but we can use it in that way.

You can explain avatara as ava coming down and tara to save.

Your body is a manifestation of your past desires.

Getting an animal body is not punishment but what the living entity desires.

Many, many sunset pictures are on the internet, yet not so many sunrise pictures. Why? People do not get up that early!

Vaishnavas have more advanced mystic powers than the greatest mystics.

How did Srila Prabhupada come from India and change the world? By Krishna Shakti, the potency of Krishna.

I talked to one Indian man who goes to a Shiva temple and asked him why. He explained that Shiva fulfills my desires. I suggest he could also visit Radha-Rasabihari. He said no, He [Krishna] is Hari, one who takes everything away.

Karuna Gauranga Prabhu:

One is so happy performing devotional service he does not desire a more comfortable material situation.

It is the duty of the person who does outreach to explain the benefit of devotional service in the language of his audience. Offering the man on the street Krishna-prema is not meaningful because he has no understanding of its value.

Initially Dhruva did not want Krishna, but he engaged in devotional service, and attained Krishna nonetheless.

Management professionals say a person has three zones, (1) the comfort zone, (2) the stretch zone, and (3) the panic zone. They advise to keep your employees in the stretch zone, where they will best develop their abilities.

Role models help us advance. These are of three different levels (1) from the sastra [the revealed literature], (2) from our contemporary devotional society, and (3) from our daily association.

Vrtrasura prays, “O my Lord, source of all opportunities, I do not desire to enjoy in Dhruvaloka, the heavenly planets or the planet where Lord Brahma resides, nor do I want to be the supreme ruler of all the earthly planets or the lower planetary systems. I do not desire to be master of the powers of mystic yoga, nor do I want liberation if I have to give up Your lotus feet.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.11.25)

Srila Prabhupada beautifully defined dharma as being situated in one’s constitutional position of serving Krishna.

You can compare devotional service to Krishna to a master switch, which illuminates all the lights.

Vasudeva Prabhu:

Both the lifting of and the worship of Govardhan Hill are a cause of great joy to the devotees.

“O King Pariksit, when Rama and Krishna saw Vrindavana, Govardhana and the banks of the river Yamuna, They both enjoyed great pleasure.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.11.36)

The Vedic way is to worship Vishnu, along with His part and parcels, the demigods. The more advanced people, such as Bharata Maharaja, understood properly that the demigods are part and parcel of Lord Vishnu.

For the sadhu, there is no private life. There are no secrets.

In karma-mimamsa, understanding the Lord and the demigods are not as important as doing your duty. By properly doing your duty and executing the rituals, you attain svarga, and you come down again, and do it all over again. It is like the cycle of working hard and going on vacation.

Krishna argues in effect, “If it is just about ritual, we might as well do any ritual.”

The cowherd men were not concerned with the philosophy Krishna was speaking. They just wanted to satisfy Krishna.

Govardhana Hill supplies all necessities for Krishna’s pastimes. It does not require Indra’s help in the form of rain.

You do not separate the shakti from its source. Otherwise you become a Shakta.

By proposing the worship of Govardhana Hill, Krishna is making a shift from the stressing the ritualistic sacrifices of the Vedas to direct worship of Himself. This is simultaneously a simplification of worship and an elevation of worship.

When Adi Purusha Prabhu’s mother advises him to get a job, he replies, “I am working for God. He never goes out of business.”

Some argue that Krishna accepts Govardhana Hill as His own body in the same way as the deity or the sila is accepted by Krishna as His own body.

Even up to today, all the residents of Vrindavan love Govardhana Hill.

Krishna spoke in such a way as to make Indra angry to reduce his false pride.

If we have some material opulence, we want to showcase it to feel important, but a Vaishnava is so satisfied serving Krishna, he does not feel the need to showcase anything.

It is said that to accelerate the pastime, Narada informed Indra that Krishna was diverting the Indra sacrifice to Himself.

With all his clouds, thunder, and lightning, Indra could not move one grain of sand from Govardhana Hill.

There is a story that one king asked his court pundit, “What is the work of God?” The pundit said he would answer in three days, but he could not think of a good answer, so he decided to leave the kingdom. On his way out, he passed one of his disciples, and explained what had happened. The disciple was a simple cowherd man, but he said he knew the answer to that question and that he would tell the king. So the pundit and disciple approached the king, and the disciple said he would answer the question. The king was incredulous. How would the disciple answer the question when it was even a challenge for the pundit? The disciple affirmed that he could answer, and the king listened. First the disciple asked the king to get off the throne. The king was at first reluctant, but then he agreed. Then the disciple got on the throne, and said, “This is the work of God: that the proud be reduced and the humble raised up.”

Murali Gopal Prabhu:

The atheists enjoy bashing God and religion as much as the devotees enjoy glorifying Krishna, sometimes even more.

Jains do not eat potatoes or other root vegetables, because uprooting the vegetables is considered by them to be violent.

The goal of the Jains is moksha or liberation, and one symptom of this omniscience.

To understand whether a religion is bona fide, one must understand its goal and its path to attain that goal.

The Jains say the creation is always existing, and therefore, there is no need of a creator.

Comment by Arjuna: The Jains have great knowledge of the intricacies of karma, but it is a great foolishness that think that such a complicated arrangement could come into existence without a creator.

Comment by me: In a Caitanya-caritamrita purport, Srila Prabhupada discusses the Buddhist idea that the creation is always existing and thus a creator is unnecessary. What I understood from that is that we can see around us how everything is breaking down as time goes by, and thus it does not make sense the creation is eternal, as it would have completely broken down in the course of eternity.

Actually a cardinal who studied Einstein’s theories originally suggested the Big Bang model, but at first scientists did not accept it, because it sounded too much like religion. Later as the steady state models appeared to have different faults, they adopted it.

People will spend hundreds of dollars on Halloween to dress exactly as the character they pretend to be.

The psychology of imitation is “I cannot be that, but let me at least look like I am that.”

Our transmigration through different species is like dressing up on successive Halloweens.

How happy can you be if you are always pretending?

Comment Ananda Bihari Prabhu: Once we did harinama at a Halloween parade in Greenwich Village. People wondered if we were really Hare Krishnas or just pretending to be.

People desire to be self-sufficient. They imagine if they get a car they can go anywhere and do anything. Srila Prabhupada defines real self-sufficiency by quoting Bhagavad-gita 18.54, “One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything.”

To achieve satisfaction, we change our jobs, our partners, our ashram, our guru, but with all this change, we do not achieve ultimate satisfaction.

Before I met the devotees, I hoped to find success in life through finding a beautiful girlfriend. Unfortunately, I was neither good-looking or rich, so I was always unsuccessful. My philosophy was I wanted a lasting relationship, so if I got the most beautiful girl, I would not have to look for another one.

In that state of frustration, I came upon the philosophy of “I am the beautiful person I am looking for.” Unknowingly I was following the people who are frustrated in material life and then become Mayavadis, people who think themselves God, as a reaction to their frustration.

Benares wanted to remain the seat of learning in India, so the teachers there would not allow the students to have the books. Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya decided to memorize them, and after he completed his studies, he moved to Navadvipa and excelled all the other teachers of logic there, having the complete knowledge. His amazing abilities were not surprising as he was an incarnation of Brhaspati, the guru of the demigods.

Imagine the beauty of Radha and Krishna combined. That is the beauty of Lord Caitanya.

Natabara Gauranga Prabhu:

No religion promotes eating as much meat as possible. There is always some restriction, kosher, halal, etc.

The Mayavadis reject the world and everything in relationship to it out of fear, but that is difficult to maintain.

“One who knows that everything is Krishna’s property is always situated in renunciation.” (Bg. 5.2, purport)

The Goswamis were so elevated when they would chant the holy name they would be transported to the spiritual world.

Jayapataka Swami tells that Bhaktivinoda Thakura had a vision with Lord Caitanya dancing around tulasi in an ecstatic kirtana. Then Lord Caitanya transformed into Radha and Krishna, and tulasi assumed her sakhi form, and the devotees became gopis, and the scene transformed into the rasa dance.

In Portland Srila Prabhupada said, “If you follow the four regulative principles and chant sixteen rounds, you will go back to Godhead. I guarantee it. I guarantee it. I guarantee it.”

Mahotsaha Prabhu:

We have the transcendental remedy for all the sufferings of the conditioned souls.

We go everywhere and spend so much money on false gurus, but actually everything we need is in these beautiful books.

When Vrindavana dasa Thakura wrote “Gurvastakam” at that time Narottama Dasa Thakura was like the founder-acarya, and so that song is about him.

Lord Caitanya told Lord Nityananda, “There will come a devotee named Narottama who will continue spreading this Krishna prema in my absence.” Then Lord Caitanya deposited his personal Krishna prema in the river Padma, for Narottama to later collect.

Narottama had a dark complexion, but when he bathed in river Padma, he became golden like Lord Gauranga. Even his parents could not recognize him.

When Narottama traveled to Vrindavan, he was greatly fatigued. A golden brahmana brought him a pot of milk to give him energy. Then he rested, and Rupa and Sanatana Goswami appeared in a dream, and revealed to Narottama that Lord Caitanya was that brahmana.

Narottama cleansed his future guru’s latrine with such love and devotion, it was as if he was cleansing the altar of Radha-Krishna.

Narottama dasa Thakura had the attitude of the perfect disciple, and thus he was qualified to became an acarya, an elevated spiritual master.

Gaurikisora was asked, “How do I attain Krishna prema?”
He replied, “You can attain Krishna prema for just a few annas. Go to the marketplace and get the two books by Narottama dasa Thakura, Prarthana and Prema-bhakti-candrika. [An anna is less than a paisa, which itself is just a hundredth of a rupee].

It appeared that Narottama dasa Thakura introduced his own style of kirtana, but as an eternal associate of the Lord, he was just revealing a kirtana style already existing in the spiritual world.

“Sri Krishna Caitanya Prabhu Doya More” [which we sing every day in Mayapur before the Pancatattva] was the last bhajana that he wrote.

Bhakta Josh:

Sometimes I realize that it does not matter what I want to do and do not want to do. I should just be happy to do whatever I can to serve Krishna and the devotees.

Sometimes you go to music concert to distribute books and you meet someone who studied a bit of yoga and you go to sell them a Bhagavad-gita, and they say, “O I don’t need that. I already have my crown chakra open.”

There are subtleties in many departments of knowledge that you cannot really appreciate unless you hear from an expert, and so it is true with the spiritual science.

If we take a step toward God, he will take many steps toward us, but we have to keep taking steps if we want to ultimately reach Him.

Comment by Adi Purusha Prabhu: As you say, it is good if we can engage our natural talents in Krishna service to be situated nicely in devotional service, but then sometimes Krishna makes an arrangement where we have to do something that is completely against our nature. Actually we are still here in this world because in our past life there is something we were not willing to do for Krishna.

Comment by Arjuna Prabhu: It is better to think in terms of what guru wants us to do rather than what Krishna wants us to do. Sometimes Srila Prabhupada would say, “I do not know Krishna I only know my guru.”

Krishna-kripa Das:

Emphasis in the spiritual power of the glorification of the Lord is an important part of Srila Prabhupada’s mission.

It is powerful because the sound of the name, instructions, qualities, and activities of the Lord is not different from the Lord Himself.

Lord Caitanya says in “Siksastakam” verse 2, that the Lord has invested all His energies in His holy name, nija sarva saktih.

Once a yogi asked Srila Prabhupada what his process was and he replied, “Hearing. Whatever changes you see in the lives of my disciples have been brought about by hearing.”

Once when Srila Prabhupada was explaining that only one who is pious can take to devotional service, one disciple said that he had not performed any pious activities in his life and wondered how he was somehow engaged in devotional service. Srila Prabhupada replied, “I have created your pious activities.”

How did Srila Prabhupada create his pious activities [and ours]? By his mere presence and by his vibration of transcendental sound.

Presence: “My Lord, devotees like your good self are verily holy places personified. Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.13.10)

Transcendental sound: “Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.17) This is an important verse explaining the power of transcendental sound. Srila Prabhupada quoted it as first of the five verses from the Bhagavatam in his “Markine Bhagavata Dharma.”

Another important verse and purport about the importance of hearing Krishna-katha is this from Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 25.278:

“Men become strong and stout by eating sufficient grains, but the devotee who simply eats ordinary grains but does not taste the transcendental pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Krishna gradually becomes weak and falls down from the transcendental position. However, if one drinks but a drop of the nectar of Krishna’s pastimes, his body and mind begin to bloom, and he begins to laugh, sing and dance.”

Purport: “All the devotees connected with the Krishna consciousness movement must read all the books that have been translated (the Caitanya-caritamrita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita and others); otherwise, after some time, they will simply eat, sleep and fall down from their position. Thus they will miss the opportunity to attain an eternal, blissful life of transcendental pleasure.”

My favorite reading program is reading 15 minutes each from Caitanya-caritamrita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, and The Nectar of Devotion, each day. Each book has a different flavor, and reading all four is like having a whole meal. When you reach the end of The Nectar of Devotion, you can read Krishna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Isopanisad, The Nectar of Instruction, and the Brahma-samhita, before returning to it, but read the three other books, which are our main books each day.

Srila Prabhupada would also often quote this verse in connection with the importance of hearing:

“Glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is performed in the parampara system, that is, it is conveyed from the spiritual master to disciple. Such glorification is relished by those no longer interested in the false, temporary glorification of this cosmic manifestation. Descriptions of the Lord are the right medicine for the conditioned soul undergoing repeated birth and death. Therefore, who will cease hearing such glorification of the Lord except a butcher or one who is killing his own self?” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.1.4)

The celebrated gopis, famous for their complete absorption in Krishna, in their ecstasy of separation from Him, spoke this famous verse to Krishna, glorifying the power of narrations concerning Krishna:

“The nectar of Your words and the descriptions of Your activities are the life and soul of those suffering in this material world. These narrations, transmitted by learned sages, eradicate one’s sinful reactions and bestow good fortune upon whoever hears them. These narrations are broadcast all over the world and are filled with spiritual power. Certainly those who spread the message of Godhead are most munificent.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.31.9)

King Prataparuda spoke that verse to Lord Caitanya, who embraced him, saying, “You are the most magnamimous.”

Before leaving the pastime of Lord Rsabhadeva, I want to recall his first instruction:

“Lord Rsabhadeva told His sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one’s heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.1)

Srila Prabhupada is enlightening humanity, informing them of a kind of superior pleasure that we have never experienced before. We can experience this eternal spiritual pleasure even during this span of life by absorbing ourselves in pure devotional service to Krishna.

Comment by Adi Purusha Prabhu:

“The occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are only so much useless labor if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Personality of Godhead.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.8) If what we are doing does not help us develop our attachment for hearing about Krishna, it is useless.

Comment by a Prabhupada disciple: Srila Prabhupada told me in 1973, “Study my books carefully, follow the four regulative principles, distribute my books profusely, take prasadam sumptuously and prepare yourself to go back to Godhead in this way.”

—–

This final stanza of the song “Narada Muni Bajay Vina” by Bhaktivinoda Thakura reveals the pure desire of the advanced Vaishnava in our Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya and his dependence on Rupa Goswami. Thinking of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, I pray to Rupa Goswami when we do our public chanting of Hare Krishna that we might chant the pure name of the Lord so people get the supreme benefit:

sri-krishna-nama, rasane sphuri’,
pura’lo amar asha
sri-rupa-pade, yacaye iha,
bhakativinoda-dasa

“Thakura Bhaktivinoda, the humble servant of the Lord, says, ‘The holy name of Krishna has fulfilled all my desires by vibrating on everyone’s tongue.’ Bhaktivinoda therefore prays at the feet of Sri Rupa Goswami that the chanting of harinama may continue like this always.”

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33281

Nityananda Chandra das: The mayor gave a stellar introduction to our temple and also invited listeners to Janmastami both in the beginning and the end of our invocation. 
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/rVeq9Q

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33286

Hare Krishna respected Devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to His Divine Grace Srila
Prabhupada.

Gadeigiri is a beautiful village situated amidst the tranquil solitude of
rural Orissa surrounded by lotus-filled ponds and green paddy fields.
Gadeigiri has a most interesting history. The village is named after its
founder, Gadai Giri, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This
village is extremely special as Lord Gopal Jiu came here especially from
Sri Vrindavana Dhama in response to the desire of His devotee Gopal Giri
and has stayed here for over 250 years. During that time Gopal Jiu has
manifested many unique and amazing pastimes.

Please find article *Sri Gopal Jiu Temple at Gadeigiri* on website:
www.dandavats.com/?p=32765

This article is also available on: www.holy-pilgrimages.com



Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna!

Your servant,
Chandan Yatra Das
www.holy-pilgrimages.com

We pray that this update finds you all experiencing a very propitious and auspicious Kartika, dear friends. We began the month of October with a painting marathon in anticipation of the *millions* of pilgrims who would soon be inundating Radha Kunda to honor Srimati Radharani’s special Kartika month also known as the month of Damodara. As we hoped, construction on the kitchen has begun! Despite half the building crew coming down with chikungunya (similar to dengue fever only worse), they managed to start the work with several deliveries of earth in order to raise the ground at the kitchen site. This is a very important first step since otherwise, the low-lying area would be flood prone during the rainy season. We are so grateful to you, our family of supporters – those of you have newly joined our efforts and those who have so generously increased your donations - for stepping forward to sponsor our widows’ daily meals! We are up to 78 sponsored out the 80 we are presently feeding! We are feeling optimistic that with your help we will be able to reach even more ladies in need. The enthusiasm of the visiting pilgrims and sadhus inspired and enlivened our crew this month. So many festivals! So much color and celebration! Yes, the cleaning work quadruples, but joy is in the air and it’s an honor to serve the Vaishnavas in this way – cleaning and serving prasadam. Jai Sri Radhe! Shyam! Thank you for being part of the team! 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.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33197

Latest blissful photos of Arabic book distribution to university students from Saudi Arabia. Two of them insisted on also getting the English Gita -- to learn English from something they suddenly found fascinating -- after being amazed to receive books in their own language! (feel free to share this :))

** Make this bliss happen every single day at the universities and tourist spots in your own area! It's not only easy and ecstatic to do, but it increases your local language book sales at the same time! Leave a message or write us at info@bbtfeme.com for step-by-step details... **

(photos by Vijaya Prabhu)

Source:https://www.facebook.com/bbtfeme/posts/1528639157152372