750+ Ahmedabad youngsters participated in youth fest ‘UMANG’ - ISKCON Youth Forum Ahmedabad.
Umang, festival of Joy, was an enlivening experience for all the 750+ participants whose level of enthusiasm soared as the festival changed gears, bringing new twists and turns for the young blood.

​Thought provoking and intellectual talk was presented by HG Sundar Gopal Pr, graduate from IIT Delhi, who explained scientifically the dynamics of ‘Pleasure Hunt’.
Through his scientific and logical presentation, videos he proved that everyone is hunting for false pleasure. The session was very interactive and gave a food for thought to every reasonable person.
Youth present was intrigued by simple yet effective presentation and also participated in it positively.

​It was followed by Funny yet leasson giving drama 'Me & My Mind’ that gave a message that how our mind is so restless and always make disturbances in our life by presenting various type of sense objects in front of us like Movies, Alcohol, Pub & Hub, and how we can control it by chanting Hare Krishna maha-mantra, and reading Bhagavad Gita.

​A ten-minute guest lecture was delivered by HG Jashomati Nandan Prabhuji, who urged students to live a life based on the scriptures, while continuing with their studies and work.

The Rock Kirtan led by Sanatana Gauranga Das made every participants jump up and down for a half an hour.

The festival ended with the distribution of sanctified food, or prasadam, which everyone relished as they shared their exhilarating experience with devotees.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33043

Bhakta David: Please find below a few phone snaps of the Vyasana and bhoga offerings from Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day 2016 at Bhaktivedanta Manor.
A small murti of Srila Prabhupada was given abhishek earlier in the day, pushpanjali was performed after the 12:30 arati, and many devotees read out heart-felt offerings.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/obkvXD
If you are in the UK and can come to London please join our maha harinama sankirtan party THIS SATURDAY EVENING (5th November). It will leave the ISKCON-London Soho Street temple after Gaura Arati please also come for that and offer a candle to Sri Damodara for Kartik.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33048

ISKCON Youth Forum (IYF) is the youth wing of Sri Sri Radha Govind Temple, a branch of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). IYF is aimed towards nourishing the hearts of today’s youth with the sublime message of the scriptures and helping them flourish in their lives in a wholesome manner.

Happiness and the true fulfillment of the soul and unending success have been the goals of humanity from eternity. The purpose of life is a life of purpose and what makes a life valuable is the perfect blend of knowledge, skills and values. Most of us simply go through life but in the pursuit of going through life, we forget to grow through life. Therefore the reality is” one cannot upload love, one can’t download time, one can’t google all of the life’s answers therefore one must actually live some of his life.

Spirit of ISKCON Youth Forum
For a sincere human being to live a life of pure principles is a great challenge. ISKCON youth Forum is serving as an oasis in the sense that it is ‘life-giving and transforming’ society in a stress –ridden fast-paced rat race society’ that is like a desert. Thus ISKCON Youth Forum is committed to provide a facility like an Oasis in the middle of a desert to keep oneself surcharged in remembrance of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krishna always. The inspiration is the spiritual inspiration to practice devotion to God with full enthusiasm and developing the spiritual knowledge which acts like a beacon in the sea like unending mysteries of life. IYF is striving towards rekindling the wisdom and reviving their loving and serving propensities.

Mission
Change is an inevitable part of the life and history has witnessed numerous revolutions as part of the change. Most of these revolutions were spearheaded and lead by the youths only. As India makes rapid advancements in the field of technology and is recognized the world over for its vast and untapped resources, especially the ‘human’ resource, with 55% of the population in the age group of 18-25, the future seems bright. But along with this euphoria, there is also a darker side to the reality; one that finds today’s youth battling with drug and alcoholic addictions, pre and post marital infidelities and mental depressions. Therefore ISKCON Youth Forum has ventured into wisdom literatures with the desire to bring about positive revolutions in the misguided life of modern youths. Now ISKCON Youth Forum has taken a good shape in many prestigious cities of India.

The goals of IYF are as follow:

Training in soft skills like Public Speaking, Stress management, Leadership and Management by the application of the timeless wisdom in the modern scenario.
Bringing out the potential in the individual like Concentration, Motivation, Self Confidence etc.
Blending the character with competence in bringing about A Long Enduring Success.
Dealing With Sensitivity And self-awareness In Thought, Words And Action
Organizing Outing For Experiencing Closer Touch With The Nature And The Marvelous Gift Of The Supreme Divine

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33052

Indian lady: How does one contact the spiritual master? Through a book can you contact the spiritual master? 
Prabhupada: No, you have to associate. 
Syamasundara: “Can you associate through a book?” she asked. Prabhupada: Yes, through books, and also personal. Because when you make a spiritual master you have got personal touch. Not that in air you make a spiritual master. You make a spiritual master concrete. 
>>> Ref. VedaBase => His Divine Grace Srila Sac-cid-ananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s Appearance Day, Lecture – London, September 3, 1971
Find them here: https://goo.gl/EyDjDM

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33057

On the 4th of November 2010, 22:25 PM Moscow time Purnacandra Goswami passed away. It is a great loss for the entire ISKCON community.

On September 15th Maharaja was hospitalized with internal bleeding, and from October 19th he was in coma. Despite deep coma he manifested some signs of consciousness every time when devotees would come to him to chant the holy name.

Purnacandra Maharaja joined Srila Prabhupada’s movement when he was 17 years old. For more than 38 years he served ISKCON with great dedication. His knowledge of the Vedic scriptures was vast and profound. For many years he was teaching Bhakti-sastri course and many other courses to the devotees.

He had very deep attachment to Sri Vrindavana-dhama. He divided his preaching time between Russia and Balkans, but Karttik he would always spend in Vrindavan. Over the last few years he was writing a book dedicated to Lord Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavana. He was always deeply absorbed in the holy names. The concentration and intensity with which he would chant the holy name every day was incomparable.

By Niranjana Swami

The following is a partially-edited transcript of a short talk I gave during the memorial service for Purnacandra Goswami in Moscow on November, 9, 2010.

We are gathered here to pay our respects to His Holiness Purnacandra Goswami. For those of you who know him, you know that he is a person of substance. I often speak about this topic –substance versus form. If there is substance then everything else will eventually follow.

For the life of a Vaisnava this substance is his Krsna Consciousness, the activities which are performed by him in Krsna Consciousness, and the ability to share that Krsna Consciousness with others. That is the essence of our Krsna Consciousness Movement. And that substance is the heart of a Vaisnava. A Vaisnava is one who fully dedicates his life in service to the Supreme Lord. He feels compassion for the suffering of others.

Purnacandra Maharaja was such a Vaisnava. He was not interested in the external affairs of this world. I know that because of my personal association with him. I’m sure that we’ll hear more confirmation of this from others today– that Maharaja was more interested in sharing substance and less concerned about structure or form. That is one quality of Purnacandra Maharaja I’ve always appreciated.

Purnacandra Maharaja would oftentimes keep his firm commitment to substance even at the risk of being unpopular. He was not at all interested in winning some popularity contest. He was interested in preserving that which was passed on to him by his spiritual master.

Many times I would be with him and I would observe how meticulous he was in his simple, basic activities of sadhana. Sometimes I would come to see him and he would be sitting and chanting his japa alone, very much absorbed in chanting the holy name. His meditation was on his relationship with his spiritual master, and his service to his spiritual master, while aspiring for eternal devotional service to the Supreme Lord.

Because he always preserved this substance in his life, I am confident that it will continue to maintain his life as he continues serving his spiritual master and his worshipful Lord.

In many respects Purnacandra Maharaja was more of a teacher by his example. And though he taught this way, through this firm dedication to the simple, basic practices of Krsna Consciousness, we also know that he was very learned in sastra. He was very meticulous about his study of Srila Prabhupada’s books and the books of our previous acaryas. He was always eager to share his realizations and knowledge obtained from his studies.

Purnacandra Maharaja didn’t need large crowds to be satisfied sharing what he had learned and what he attained in his Krsna Consciousness. He would share his Krsna Consciousness even with a small group of devotees, or even with one devotee. I personally experienced this when we would sit and talk as he would share his realizations with me. This is another one of his qualities I will always remember. I’m sure that many of you who know Purnacandra Maharaja will also remember this quality of his too.

There is more that I could say about my remembrances of Maharaja but I’d like to just focus on this feature of him as a person of substance. So I’ll stop here and maybe I’ll have an opportunity some other time to speak about other remembrances of him.

I am also very eager to hear from those devotees with whom this substance was shared. I’m quite sure that their words will be a testimony to my words. I consider these Vaisnavas very fortunate to have an intimate, close relationship with him.

Thank you very much.

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=33060

In order to understand Shri Nityananda Prabhu’s image in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, we have to know the Avatara doctrine, which describes the way the Lord appears in this world in behalf of His spiritual energies. Shri Nityananda  Prabhu is a manifestation of compassion, of mercy and of divine love. He is the supreme Person, God himself who stepped into history and made His appearance in this world in the second half of the sixteenth century, according to the Western calendar. Like in the Shrimad Bhagavatam literature, which narrates Shri Krishna-Balarama’s adventures, in the Caitanya Caritamrita and the Caitanya Bhagavata, respectively written by Krishnadas Kaviraja Gosvami and Vrindavana das Thakur, they narrate Shri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s and Shri Nityananda Prabhu’s divine adventures.

Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna himself, who is manifested with a special rasa, that of Shrimati Radharani. Shrimati Radharani’s love for Krishna is experienced and manifested in full by Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who lives in Shrimati Radharani’s rasa and that ontologically  represents the divine union between Radha and Krishna. Shrimati Radharani is endlessly and for ever in love with Krishna, the same as Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s love is everlasting and infinite.

Like Shri Krishna, whose brother and inseparable friend is Shri Balarama, Shri Caitanya has an inseparable friend too, whose name is Shri Nityananda. They are inseparable in the feelings of love that join them together. Shri Nityananda Prabhu would have shared Shri Caitanya Deva’s company all time long, however he had to fulfill his mission in behalf of His beloved associate: to travel from city to city in order to spread the holy name of the Lord. Therefore Nityananda, together with one of his best friends, Shrila Haridas Thakur, engaged himself completely in the diffusion of the sacred science, practising Harinama Kirtana and Harinama Sankirtana. In this way, by sharing this responsibility with other dear devotees, in this supreme mission that is the diffusion of love for God, Shri Nityananda Prabhu became one of the most dear Shri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s spiritual associates.

Like Balarama, enterprising, strong, outgoing, generous, always compassionate towards the devotees, whose manifestation was considered as one of the original spiritual Master, the same Shri Nityananda Prabhu preached the sacred science and  spread his teachings to all the people of good will, in the practice of Bhakti.

Source:http://matsyavatara.blogspot.in/2013/05/in-order-to-understand-shri-nityananda.html

1896: (September 01) Srila Prabhupada was born in Calcutta.

1901: Srila Prabhupada conducted a Ratha Yatra festival in a suburb of Calcutta.
1902: Srila Prabhupada began worshiping Radha-Krishna.
1916: Srila Prabhupada joined as Student of Philosophy at Scottish Churches’ College.
1918: Entered married life (grihastha ashrama)
1921: Appointed as assistant manager of Bose Laboratory. Joined Mahatma Gandhi’s movement.
1922: Met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.
1925: Visited Vrindavana for the first time.
1928: Assisted in establishing Allahabad center of Gaudiya Matha.
1932: Initiated by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.
1934: Helped establish Gowalia Tank center of Gaudiya Matha.
1935: Instructed by his spiritual master on publishing books and constructing temples.
1936: Final order from his spiritual master to preach in the West.
1939: Honored with the title “Bhaktivedanta” by society of Gaudiya Vaishnavas.
1944: Started the Back to Godhead Magazine.
1953: Started League of Devotees in Jhansi. Initiated his first disciple, Acharya Prabhakar.
1954: Retired from family life, adopting vanaprastha (retired) order of life.
1959: Accepted renounced order of life (sannyasa).
1960: Published first book, Easy Journey to Other Planets.
1962: Published Volume 1 of First Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.
1965: Journeyed to USA in order to fulfill the order of his spiritual master.
1966: Established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
1967: Completed translation and commentary of Bhagavad-gita As It Is.
1968: Bhagavad-gita As It Is published by Macmillan Company.
1972: Established the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) for publishing his books.
1975: Completed translation of and published Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita in 17 volumes.
1976: Established the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Scientific Preaching.
1977: Disappearance from this mortal world.

Lately I’ve been wrapped up in the non-essentials of spiritual life: work, family, money, car problems, entertainment, sense gratification, etc. The only glimmer of devotional activity in my life right now is listening to Srila Prabhupada lectures on my commute to work. Even that has become sketchy lately, as I’m usually only half paying attention or zoning out.

I feel no enthusiasm for the devotional process right now. I don’t feel eager or excited to chant. I don’t have much desire to make the effort to attend the Sunday programs. Sure, circumstances play a huge part in those choices, because when I think about taking our difficult 3-year old daughter out late at night to the temple, I don’t feel that enthused about the prospect. Or even getting up early on Sunday and trekking into New York City. It’s a serious endeavor; one that I simply can’t justify or see the reason for.

But that’s totally the wrong consciousness, isn’t it? Isn’t that the point of tapasya? Voluntarily doing something inconvenient and difficult or troublesome for some higher benefit and purpose? Well right there is where I get hung up. What is the “higher benefit and purpose?” How will my life improve if I go crazy trying to daily rise at 4am, worship my Deities, chant 16-rounds a day, attend all the devotee programs, eat only prasadam, stop watching TV and listening to mundane music, etc? The answer I say to myself is, “Well, you’d be preparing yourself for your next body. You’d be breaking the identification with this current physical body and subtle mind.” Sounds good, but it seems so…extreme, maybe?

I recently heard a quote from Srila Prabhupada that we can’t “dance with God and dog at the same time”. The point being that you can’t dabble with maya and sense gratification and be any kind of serious devotee or Vaishnava. Being a Vaishnava means being devoid of desire for personal sense gratification. That just seems impossible to attain. This is why true Vaishnavas are so rare, special and worshipable in this world.

I just don’t know what to think anymore. I’m certain there’s a deeper, more profound experience of bhakti, but I don’t seem to be willing or have the desire to do what’s necessary to experience it first hand.

I know one day I will have to face my death. It may come unexpectedly. It may come with warning and preparation. Either way it’s a reality that I can’t shake from my mind. The uncertainties that go along with death drive most people towards religion and spirituality. They drive us to find peace and comfort within those constructs. So much of that world beyond this physical body and subtle mind are foreign to us. We think of it as fantasy, yet ironically it’s more real than this present world we’re experiencing with our material senses.

I want that inner world to become completely manifest, yet I’m not willing to do anything to attain it. I want it to be effortless, painless and easy. “But really, in kali yuga, why would Krishna make it so hard?” is what my mind says. Then I hear, “Is it? Is it really that difficult to just chant the Holy Name?” Hmm. I suppose not, but to chant it with FAITH sure is.

Source:http://nitaiprema.blogspot.in/2013/05/where-has-my-krishna-consciousness-gone.html

From: Bhakti Vikasa Swami 

nama om visnu-padaya krsna-presthaya
bhutale srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine.

I offer my humble obeisances unto His Divine Grace Prabhupada A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami, who is very dear to Lord Krsna on this earth, having
taken shelter of the lotus feet of that ever-youthful, beautiful,
transcendental Lord,

who, alone, in his seventieth year, threw family, society, friendship, love
to the wind, left mother India and set sail around the earth to foreign,
unknown shores because his spiritual master spoke to him in a dream,

who carried the glorious message of the munificent Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu
to a nation plagued with the leprosy of voidism and impersonalism, who
brought an ageless message of love of Godhead,

who landed in Manhattan with saffron robes, a suitcase and seven dollars and
wondered at maya's skyscrapers and empty, noisy dreams,

who, with white, pointed holyman shoes, walked through the snow to Times
Square and laughed at Kali's cinema ads,

who accepted residence with hashish-yogis who believed they were moving the
sun and moon,

who played cymbals and chanted Govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami, "I
worship Govinda the Primeval Lord," explaining to void-meditators that
Krsna's transcendental body is unlimited, that He can extend His hand to all
parts of His creation, that any one part of His body can perform all the
actions of all the other parts, and that simply by glancing at nature He
impregnated her with countless living entities and set the cosmic systems
spinning and struck up the song of the universe,

who journeyed downtown, out of compassion, and set up quarters in Lower East
Side narrow mice-ridden storefront and trusted Krsna to bring next month's
rent,

who opened the storefront doors even to Bowery derelicts and clashed cymbals
and chanted Sanskrit hymns to God, whose vibrations caught the ears of young
psychedelic middle class renegades searching for alternatives to their
legacy of lies and materialism,

who had and everlastingly has infinite mercy, delivering it free of charge,
a matchless gift, to whomever stops to hear,

who never, to my knowledge, turned one soul away, who effused them all with
kindness, affection, truth,

who had mercy on my soul one bright July morning amidst the roaring
Manhattan traffic of Houston and Bowery (Most holy spot! Transformed to
Vaikuntha by his feet! Bowery transformed to Vaikuntha!),

who lectured every morning on Second Avenue and as the gold of dawn lit his
face played cymbals and chanted softly, careful not to awake the neighbors
lest they pour hot water through the floorboards,

who opened Bhagavad-gita and explained Sri Krsna's message verse by verse
and set His names -- Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare, Hare
Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare -- on the lips of the young,

who, by contact only, warmed their hearts and lit the fires of love of God
in their souls and smeared their eyes with the ointment of devotion,

who defied cheap popular adoration by truthfully telling the youth of
America that to have Krsna the soul must be pure, free of everything,

who supplanted the old white-bearded Judaic-Christian God with a beautiful,
blue adolescent Boy and evoked gopi tears from the eyes of men,

who led his flock to Washington Square to chant, was invited off the grass
by the cops, sat complacently anyway on the asphalt and Hare Krsna'd as
nervous sailors flicked their cigarets,

who initiated his first dozen disciples with a fire sacrifice in his
apartment, told them their real, spiritual names, chanted their beads, threw
rice and ghee in the flames (Svaha!) and sat smiling amidst the smoke as
they coughed and ran to open the windows,

who listened, tolerant, to the threats of Jewish, Catholic and Protestant
mothers accusing him of stealing their sons, and offered them bananas,
apples, dates and tangerines and charmed them with his smile,

who every Sunday afternoon for a month sat down on the ground in Tompkins
Square Park, pounded a bongo and chanted Hare Krsna three hours straight
while dancing angels dropped exhausted and Lower East Side Ukranians and
Poles stared uncomprehendingly and grumbled,

who delivered a beautiful lecture on the spiritualization of energy to a
thousand empty seats in midtown's Judson Hall while across the street
hundreds flocked to hear the Boston Pops at Carnegie,

who patiently endured the red tape visa harassment of immigration offices
and allayed the fears of his children as they swore to follow him to India,

who, on a sudden invitation, jumped a jet to Frisco, telling his New York
disciples he'd return in a fortnight, and after four months' absence
laughed, "You have not reckoned a day of Brahma."

who lectured a thousand Hell's Angels, hippies and teenieboppers in the
strobe-flashing Avalon ballroom on the glories of Lord Caitanya's sankirtan
movement and, hands upraised, danced with poet Ginsberg, Moby Grape,
Grateful Dead and Big Brother to Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna as Tim
Leary looked on benevolently,

who chanted and danced in a ring with longhair boys, girls, beads, beards
and headbands below the shadow of Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park on bright
March and April afternoons,

who lectured at Frisco Christian Yoga societies, to hippies in the
Panhandle, to pacifists at Berkeley, to yellow, red, white and black
nationalists, to anyone, everyone and no one in the streets and parks of
Saint Francis,

who taught the students of Palo Alto a new dance -- the "swami" -- which in
fervor surpassed the frug and watusi,

who led a nighttime firelit kirtan at Frisco beach, roasted potatoes and
sang starlit hymns to Narada Muni,

who sauntered through Muir woods contemplating the redwoods and reflecting
how tired their souls must be for having to stand so long without Krsna,

who, back in Manhattan, wore his body down chanting and glorifying the
transcendental blue body of Krsna, cooking and writing for Krsna, and
suffered a stroke that would have killed a mere man, left his body and then
returned with the names of his love on his lips,

who sang to Yamaraj, Death, as he stood before him, sang songs of love to
the lotus-eyed Boy with pink bottom'd feet,

who, in Beth-Israel Hospital, sat like a helpless child as demonic needles
came at him, tolerated them and listened to the Western diagnosis: "Tell him
to take it easy. The old man prays too much,"

who, after five days, baffled obscene doctors by walking out the sickward's
pea-green walls to recuperate across country in the dazzling Pacific sands
of Stinson beach,

who sat amidst a labyrinth of kelp horns and sea shells proclaiming that
there are only devotees and demons, naught between,

who composed Sanskrit odes to the Primeval Spirit whose eternal teenage lips
play a flute,

who wept in a Frisco storefront -- "Take to this process. I may be with you
or not, but it is eternal." -- and bade farewell to his students who thought
he was going to India to die,

who bathed in the sun wearing a turban and flying on a carpet as the Pacific
crashed in his ears -- "All glories to the assembled devotees! All glories
to the Pacific Ocean!" -- and finally, following the sun, whizzed to Delhi,
Vrndavana and Calcutta to Ayur-Vedic physicians,

who bathed in the Yamuna, where Lord Krsna played His water games, and lived
in Radha-Damodar Temple, where repose the samadhis of Rupa and Jiva Gosvami,

who traveled through India, defying pneumonia, looking for a house for his
American children,

who returned to the U.S. via Japan, trying to see the mayor of Tokyo to
institute the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in a glass
American-made skyscraper,

who finally proclaimed the Japanese "not ready," and returned to a deluge of
tears and flowers in Frisco airport,

who, surpassing the Chinese, instituted a yearly festival of Jagannatha love
down Haight Street through Golden Gate to the beach, nine miles, and led
twenty thousand before the cart of Krsna, Subhadra and Balarama,

who bowed to Radha and Krsna in Seattle and sat in new glory on the New York
Vyasasana, the floating dais of praise, as his children fell at his feet,

who forgave his renegade disciples in Montreal with a garland of roses and a
shower of tears,

who told golden beachboys in Honolulu and Kaaawa, Oahu that sun, beach and
palm worship is all maya, that golden flesh, after all, is just a bag
covering blood, bone, stool, puss, bile, urine and guts, all rotting moment
by moment,

who danced to Krsna beneath the sun in L.A. and beneath the red, white and
blue flashing neon illusions of Hollywood Blvd., Kali-yuga plastic America,
and beneath the moon danced to Govinda and Radharani in a Manhattan alley,
searching for a possible temple,

who proclaimed natural vegetarian prasadamism to the nation's hamburger
stands, the cow-eaters of America, the pig-eaters, bird-eaters, fish-eaters,
lamb-eaters, threatening them with endless rebirths as tigers,

who declared that Colonel Sanders of the Fried Chickens of Kentucky would
have to undergo a chicken-birth-life-and-death for every chicken smeared
with his recipe making its saucy way into the all-devouring mouths of the
American karmavores,

who burst two thousand Ohio State students out their skins and jumped for
joy on his dais in the All-American City,

who, lauding the "big mrdangam," bought a press, said, "This is my heart,"
and printed his own books in Boston,

who, having chanted six years in temples of Vrndavana, India, where Lord
Krsna's lotus feet danced, walked two miles up a West Virginia dirt road,
stopping only once briefly for breath, and founded New Vrndavana in the
locust-flower'd hills,

who lived there in a shack, sauntered on morning walks through the locusts
and maples and blessed the dandelions, blackberries and pokeweed with his
gaze,

who sat quietly beneath a persimmon tree reading Srimad-Bhagavatam and
musing over the Appalachians,

who boarded the jet age from New York to Hamburg, carrying over the Atlantic
real Aryan Vedic civilization in his head and magic mantras on his lips, the
Paramhansa on Lufthansa, descending on Europe on his silver swan, singing
songs of Krsna-love for fractured Germany,

who, not knowing one word of German, lectured on ecstasy in a little
storefront temple on Eppendorfer Weg, chanting Hare Krsna uber alles,

who defined real Aryanism -- life according to spirit, not to flesh -- to
rapt disciples following him on a vigorous morning walk amidst cold,
implacable North German beer consciousness, sausages and Volkswagens,

who sat before an Elbe sunset, holding up a picture of Radha-Krsna dancing
on the lotus shaped Vaikuntha planet, and who smiled and transformed the
Elbe into the Yamuna,

who descended on London reporters like a thundercloud and deluged them with
the Absolute Truth -- "I have come to teach what you have forgot." "Which
is?" "God."

who sang "Bhaja Govindam" to this century's British bards, the Beatles --
"What are you doing? Your philosophical speculation and grammatical word
jugglery will not save you at the moment of death, so bhaja Govinda, just
worship Krsna," and struck up a new song in George's heart,

who shouted down the new crows in London's Conway Hall and continued playing
cymbals as their wings fluttered,

who founded a six-story Radha-Krsna temple a block away from a storehouse of
ravaged Indian treasures, the British Museum, and despite a Gandhi
exhibition began the Vaisnava colonization of England,

who buried his head in flowers and danced in ecstasy before the Lord,

who saw Arjuna throw down his bow at Kuruksetra and Lord Krsna and Balarama
pass through Mathura with Their cows and boy friends as the city girls
showered Them with flowers from their balconies,

and who at this moment deluges the blazing fire of the soul trapped in
materials and drowns the conflagration of even the most obdurant (my own!)
soul entangled in the great chain fire of action and reaction,

who even now insists on wishing me well despite my pigheaded gnawing at
o'erchewed stool,

who knows the innate sweetness of the soul in love with Krsna and who
delivers that love with truth, who draws it out the timid soul with truth
and who demands its flourishing and wishes it well,

who resides at the lotus feet of Krsna eternally, who is His ambassador on
earth, transmitting His message infallibly,

who views this universe to be no more significant than water in a calf's
hoofprint,

who floats upon the tossing ocean of material and looks with compassion upon
the countless dynasties of suffering souls struggling below,

who hears the discordant sounds of Kali's millennia and blends them in
harmony to one song that anyone can sing,

who must play in the starry sandbox of the universe like a child with his
toys,

who must laugh at the maya karmaval, the vast play of illusion, of America,
of the world,

who must talk to Krsna alone at night, sitting on his bed, conferring,
listening carefully to His advice,

who perpetually receives the waters of benediction from the ocean of mercy
and who pours them forth in torrents to extinguish the flames of
materialism,

who, always engaged in chanting and celebrating the message of Lord
Caitanya, sometimes dances in ecstasy and trembles and quivers in his
trance,

who, with his disciples, untiringly worships Sri Sri Radha and Krsna in
Their temple,

who is always offering food to Krsna and who derives great satisfaction in
seeing his disciples eat bhagavat-prasadam, the delicious mercy of the Lord,

who is eternally eager to chant and preach the glories of the loving
exchanges between Lord Krsna and Radharani and who aspires to relish these
pastimes at every moment,

who expertly assists the gopis, Lord Krsna's transcendental cowherd girl
friends engaged in the perfection of Radha-Krsna conjugal love affairs, who
makes various tasteful arrangements for Them,

who, as all scriptures reveal, should be honored as highly as the Supreme
and Almighty Lord, for he is the Great God's most confidential servitor,

whose mercy enables me to receive the benediction of the mercy of Krsna and
without whose mercy I cannot advance on the spiritual path, and who is
therefore worthy of my perpetual obeisances and my worship.

---------------------------------
by Hayagriva Prabhu, From BTG #36

Source:http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.in/2016/11/glorification-of-srila-prabhupada-from.html

In acquiring knowledge, it is said that what we can know depends on what we know. On seeing pale fingernails, a layperson sees just the discoloration of the nails, but a doctor sees signs of anemia. As the doctor knows more about the body’s functioning than a layperson, the doctor can come to know more about its possible malfunctioning on seeing symptoms that mean nothing to the uninformed.

Similarly, the more we come to know about bhakti and especially about the challenges of sharing bhakti with others, the more we can appreciate the sacrifice of those who have dedicated their lives for sharing bhakti. And the greatest among the modern sharers of bhakti is our exalted founder-acharya, His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, whose thirty-ninth disappearance day we are observing today. What he has achieved in terms of attracting millions of people to Krishna’s lotus feet is unparalleled in the history of the world. His contribution was not just what he himself did but also the legacy he created by which his contribution would endure and benedict people generation after generation, for many, many generations to come. His books, his followers, his temples and his movement are all his gifts to us. It is through these gifts of his that we all have the opportunity to relish krishna-bhakti.

Srila Prabhupada’s greatness is oceanic, and I would like to discuss just two small drops in that ocean. Though small, these drops have increased my appreciation of His Divine Grace because I have, by his mercy, got some small realizations by trying to serve Krishna in those areas.

During the last few years, since I started traveling in various parts of the world for sharing bhakti, I have gained increased appreciation of Srila Prabhupada’s capacity to transcend jet-lag and his capacity to transcend his body’s need of sleep for the sake of writing.

Transcending bodily limitations for spiritual purpose

I had heard from Srila Prabhupada’s close associates, especially his personal servants, how Srila Prabhupada was never affected by jet-lag. But the significance of this point didn’t register in me till I found jet-lag afflicting me. When we travel across time zones, the body’s biological clock remains in the time zone we were in earlier, even if the body is now in another time zone. Getting the body’s clock to adjust to the new time zone often takes several days. And during that interim period, our sleep cycles, digestion patterns and other bodily functions get disturbed, even disrupted, thereby adversely affecting our capacity to function effectively. That is the way with most normal human beings.

Srila Prabhupada traveled extensively and tirelessly, his functioning never impeded by jet-lag. Such uninterrupted service is testimony to his absorption in Krishna and in his capacity to transcend a bodily limitation that affects most human beings.

Another way in which Srila Prabhupada transcended his body’s normal limitations has been far more consequential for all of us: his sleeping for just a few hours so that he could write books for us. How difficult such writing can be, I would like to share from an author’s perspective.

As I have many writing commitments – and keep getting many more – many times I have resolved to cut down on my night sleep so that I can wake early and write. Even if I do manage to wake early, I have found that my brain is in no condition to write. On most such occasions, I simply struggle against sleep without doing any constructive writing. And the experience of most authors is similar. Whatever books on writing I have read, therein I have found that writers are unanimous in saying that one needs to sleep adequately to write effectively.

It could be said that any bodily activity requires the body to be sufficiently rested. That’s true, but that requirement of rest is all the more so for an activity like writing because writing is both sedentary and solitary. If while being inadequately rested, we have to do some activity that involves some moving about, that motion helps in fighting off sleep. Similarly, while insufficiently rested, if we need to do some work that involves talking with others, then that conversation too helps in warding off sleep. But when we are doing an activity such as writing that involves neither motion nor conversation, sleep attacks with full force – all the more so when we haven’t given the body its due quota of sleep.

That Srila Prabhupada could reduce his bodily quota of sleep to so little and still write his books – and write books that contain some of the most profound wisdom the world has ever seen – is simply astonishing. It demonstrates that he is in a class of his own, far above even the best of writers.

Beyond artistic expression to spiritual compassion

Another distinctive feature of Srila Prabhupada is his inspiration for writing. All creative artists, including writers, labor to bring their creations to fruition for many reasons. One reason that strongly drives many writers is the thought that that particular work of art will never be produced if they don’t produce it.

Srila Prabhupada’s motivation went far beyond artistic expression to spiritual compassion. He couldn’t tolerate living in a world where Krishna’s glories were not widely available for everyone in the world’s principal language of mainstream communication: English. And he couldn’t tolerate this absence because he could see, through the eyes of scriptural knowledge, that people, by the millions and billions, were suffering because of a lack of spiritual knowledge. So, he strove tirelessly to share spiritual knowledge, specifically the summit of spiritual knowledge in the form of the glories of the highest spiritual reality, Krishna.

Thus, it was Srila Prabhupada’s intolerance towards people’s suffering that enabled him to tolerate and transcend his own body’s needs.

Each day, when after getting adequate rest, I sit down to write, I hope and pray that remembrance of Srila Prabhupada’s sacrifice may fill me with gratitude. He gave me the content to write and he gave up his own comfort so as to lay the foundation of a global movement that provides me the facilities to write comfortably.

Offering my eternally prostrated obeisances to Srila Prabhupada, I beg for his mercy so that I can do my small part in practicing and sharing the bhakti wisdom with which he has enriched the world.

Source:http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2016/11/appreciating-srila-prabhupadas-transcendence-sharing-krishna-bhakti-prabhupada-disappearance-day-meditation/

There are lessons to be learned from all sources. In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna uses the humble tortoise to illustrate sense control: “One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise draws its limbs within the shell, is firmly fixed in perfect consciousness.”

Here are some other lessons we can learn from a tortoise:

1. Slow and steady

Yesterday is gone and we yet don’t have tomorrow. We only have today and really only this moment. I like to call this “everyday eternal.” As the mind pulls us to the past of what was, or the future of what could be, our daily practice of focused Krishna meditation brings us to the now. If we do that steadily every day, with the patience and determination of a slow and steady tortoise, then as our external life moves along it’s destined path towards old age and death, our transcendental life will move towards it’s destination – experiencing the complete and ultimate expression of love.

2. Withdraw

When life gets too much – withdraw. As the tortoise pulls in it’s limbs when in danger, pull yourself back into a quiet space when you feel overwhelmed.  Even better, practice retreating everyday to that most precious internal space of connecting with Krishna – whether through chanting, or singing, or reading about Him. Don’t wait until life is too stressful to do it – treat yourself to the benefits of withdrawing daily, and you will feel the difference.

3. Carry our Home

A turtle carries his home on his back. As the saying goes, “home is where the heart is.” What are you carrying in your heart?  Welcome Krishna into your heart space –  with Him there you will find it easy to keep a happy, open, generous, forgiving, and letting go heart.

4. Be Lean-able

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam story of Krishna’s incarnation as Kurma, the tortoise’s back provided the support needed to hold up a mountain. Be strong for others. Let them lean on you when they need to. To be strong in body and mind is a gift. Share it willingly and be a supporting part in another’s success. We truly become our best when we are helping others serve Krishna – and that’s the secret of pleasing Krishna as well.

Source:http://iskconofdc.org/4-lessons-from-the-tortoise/

Today marks the festival of Dipavali. Dipavali [Diwali} Sunday, October 30, 2016 [Mayapura, West Bengal, India time]. The Dīpāvalī festival takes place on the dark-moon night in the month of Kārttika (October-November).

Diwali or Deepavali is the Hindu festival of lights celebrated every year in autumn in the northern hemisphere (spring in southern hemisphere) is one of the major festivals of Hinduism. It spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair. Its celebration includes millions of lights shining on housetops, outside doors and windows, around temples and other buildings in the communities and countries where it is observed. The festival preparations and rituals typically extend over a five-day period, but the main festival night of Diwali coincides with the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika in Bikram Sambat calendar. (excerpted from Wikipedia)

Although we do not celebrate in typical Hindu fashion, we do honor Dipavli as Srila Prabhupada has explained that the actual meaning of Dipavali celebration is Lord Krsna breaking the pot of yogurt and being bound by Yasodamayi.

Srila Prabhupada Explains Dipavali (Diwali)

…Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, quoting from the Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī of Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, says that the incident of Kṛṣṇa’s breaking the pot of yogurt and being bound by mother Yaśodā took place on the Dipavali Day, or Dīpa-mālikā. Even today in India, this festival is generally celebrated very gorgeously in the month of Kārtika by fireworks and lights, especially in Bombay. It is to be understood that among all the cows of Nanda Mahārāja, several of mother Yaśodā’s cows ate only grasses so flavorful that the grasses would automatically flavor the milk. Mother Yaśodā wanted to collect the milk from these cows, make it into yogurt and churn it into butter personally, since she thought that this child Kṛṣṇa was going to the houses of neighborhood gopas and gopīs to steal butter because He did not like the milk and yogurt ordinarily prepared. (from purport to SB 10.9.1-2)

Full text and Purport

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: Canto
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Canto Ten, Chapter 9, Text 1-2

śrī-śuka uvāca
ekadā gṛha-dāsīṣu
yaśodā nanda-gehinī
karmāntara-niyuktāsu
nirmamantha svayaṁ dadhi
yāni yānīha gītāni
tad-bāla-caritāni ca
dadhi-nirmanthane kāle
smarantī tāny agāyata

śrī-śukaḥ uvāca—Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; ekadā—one day; gṛha-dāsīṣu—when all the maidservants of the household were otherwise engaged; yaśodā—mother Yaśodā; nanda-gehinī—the queen of Nanda Mahārāja; karma-antara—in other household affairs; niyuktāsu—being engaged; nirmamantha—churned; svayam—personally; dadhi—the yogurt; yāni—all such; yāni—such; iha—in this connection; gītāni—songs; tat-bāla-caritāni—in which the activities of her own child were enacted; ca—and; dadhi-nirmanthane—while churning the yogurt; kāle—at that time; smarantī—remembering; tāni—all of them (in the form of songs); agāyata—chanted.

TRANSLATION

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: One day when mother Yaśodā saw that all the maidservants were engaged in other household affairs, she personally began to churn the yogurt. While churning, she remembered the childish activities of Kṛṣṇa, and in her own way she composed songs and enjoyed singing to herself about all those activities.

PURPORT

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, quoting from the Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī of Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, says that the incident of Kṛṣṇa’s breaking the pot of yogurt and being bound by mother Yaśodā took place on the Dipavali Day, or Dīpa-mālikā. Even today in India, this festival is generally celebrated very gorgeously in the month of Kārtika by fireworks and lights, especially in Bombay. It is to be understood that among all the cows of Nanda Mahārāja, several of mother Yaśodā’s cows ate only grasses so flavorful that the grasses would automatically flavor the milk. Mother Yaśodā wanted to collect the milk from these cows, make it into yogurt and churn it into butter personally, since she thought that this child Kṛṣṇa was going to the houses of neighborhood gopas and gopīs to steal butter because He did not like the milk and yogurt ordinarily prepared.

While churning the butter, mother Yaśodā was singing about the childhood activities of Kṛṣṇa. It was formerly a custom that if one wanted to remember something constantly, he would transform it into poetry or have this done by a professional poet. It appears that mother Yaśodā did not want to forget Kṛṣṇa’s activities at any time. Therefore she poeticized all of Kṛṣṇa’s childhood activities, such as the killing of Pūtanā, Aghāsura, Śakaṭāsura and Tṛṇāvarta, and while churning the butter, she sang about these activities in poetical form. This should be the practice of persons eager to remain Kṛṣṇa conscious twenty-four hours a day. This incident shows how Kṛṣṇa conscious mother Yaśodā was. To stay in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we should follow such persons.

Source:https://theharekrishnamovement.org/2016/10/30/dipavali-diwali/

“Satisfaction of the self-realized spiritual master is the secret of advancement in spiritual life. Inquiries and submission constitute the proper combination for spiritual understanding. Unless there is submission and service, inquiries from the learned spiritual master will not be effective. One must be able to pass the test of the spiritual master, and when he sees the genuine desire of the disciple, he automatically blesses the disciple with genuine spiritual understanding.” (Bhagavad-gita As It Is 4.34, Purport)

“First there must be the devotee’s mercy; then Krishna’s mercy will descend. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado/ yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ’pi. Our first duty, therefore, is to satisfy the spiritual master, who can arrange for the Lord’s mercy. A common man must first begin to serve the spiritual master, or the devotee. Then, through the mercy of the devotee, the Lord will be satisfied. Unless one receives the dust of a devotee’s lotus feet on one’s head, there is no possibility of advancement.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 11.58, Purport)

“For advancement of material knowledge there is a need for personal ability and researching aptitude, but in the case of spiritual knowledge, all progress depends more or less on the mercy of the spiritual master. The spiritual master must be satisfied with the disciple; only then is knowledge automatically manifest before the student of spiritual science.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.1.10, Purport)

“A common man cannot rise to the topmost stage of spiritual perfection simply by following the rituals and religious principles. He has to take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and work under his direction faithfully and sincerely; then he becomes perfect, without a doubt.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.22.6, Purport)

“Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura’s eight stanzas of prayer to the spiritual master, it is clearly stated that simply by satisfying the spiritual master one can achieve the supreme success in life, and in spite of executing all ritualistic performances, if one cannot satisfy the spiritual master, one has no access to spiritual perfection.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.22.6, Purport)

“Your next question is, should we love Krishna or love the spiritual master: You cannot go to Krishna directly, loving Him. It is common sense that if Krishna is the object of your love, His pet dog is also the object of your love. Friends meet friends and if the friend is with his dog the gentleman pats his dog first, is it not? So the man becomes automatically pleased, his dog being patted. I have seen it in your country. The conclusion is this: Without pleasing the spiritual master he cannot please Krishna. If anyone tries to please Krishna directly, he’s fool number one.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, December 14, 1972)

“So far your questions are concerned. Nityananda is the principle of the Guru. So, the Gurudeva is the incarnation of Nityananda. Anyone strictly following the instruction of the Guru is following Nityananda. The price one has to pay if he wants to become Krsna conscious is that he must dedicate himself to following the order of the spiritual master, mahat seva. If the Spiritual Master is pleased with disciple then the blessings of Guru will be there. That is the best way to become Krsna conscious, and Krsna is non-different from Nityananda. You may pray to Lord Nityananda to help you become dedicated in the service of your Guru. Krsna consciousness cannot be achieved artificially. You should approach Nityananda Prabhu through your Spiritual Master.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, October 2, 1976)

Lord Krishna (to Sudama Brahmana): “With great compassion our gurudeva said, ‘My dear boys, it is very wonderful that you have suffered so much trouble for me. Everyone likes to take care of his body as the first consideration, but you are so good and faithful to your guru that without caring for bodily comforts you have taken so much trouble for me. I am glad to see that bona fide students like you will undergo any kind of trouble for the satisfaction of the spiritual master. That is the way for a bona fide disciple to become free from his debt to the spiritual master. It is the duty of the disciple to dedicate his life to the service of the spiritual master. My dear best of the twice-born, I am greatly pleased by your acts, and I bless you: May all your desires and ambitions be fulfilled. May the understanding of the Vedas which you have learned from me always continue to remain within your memory, so that at every moment you can remember the teachings of the Vedas and quote their instructions without difficulty. Thus you will never be disappointed in this life or the next.’

Krishna continued: ‘My dear friend, you may remember that many such incidents occurred while we were in the asrama of our spiritual master. Both of us can realize that without the blessings of the spiritual master no one can be happy. By the mercy of the spiritual master and by his blessings, one can achieve peace and prosperity and be able to fulfill the mission of human life.'” (Krishna Book, Chapter 80)

“The candidate must be prepared to satisfy the spiritual master in every way. A bona fide spiritual master who is fully cognizant of the methods of spiritual science, learned in the spiritual scriptures such as the Bhagavad-gita, Vedanta, Srimad-Bhagavatam and Upanisads, and who is also a realized soul who has made a tangible connection with the Supreme Lord, is the transparent medium by which the willing candidate is led to the path of the Vaikunthas. The spiritual master must be satisfied in all respects, because simply by his good wishes a candidate can make wonderful progress along the path.”(Easy Journey to Other Planets, Chapter 1)

Devotee: “Sometimes this question comes up, with the devotees especially, that it says the devotee makes advancement when the spiritual master is pleased. Right? So sometimes the spiritual master is far, far away. He may be in Los Angeles. Somebody is coming to Hamburg temple. He thinks, ‘How will the spiritual master be pleased?'”

Prabhupada: “Just follow his order. Spiritual master is along with you by his words. Just like my spiritual master is not physically present, but I am associating with him by his words.”

Devotee: “And Krishna knows that; therefore we make advancement. He is sitting in our heart. He knows what we’re doing. So He sees, ‘He’s serving My pure devotee,’ immediately there is advancement.”

Prabhupada: “Yes. Spiritual master… Krishna is not limited. It is not material. You can associate with Krishna and the spiritual master in any circumstance, provided you want two things. Just like we can associate with Krishna immediately if we take Bhagavad-gita as it is. He is not different from Bhagavad-gita. Nama-rupe kali-kale krsna-avatara (CC Adi 17.22). Krishna is incarnated in His name in this age. You associate with Krishna’s name, immediately associate with Krishna.”

Devotee: “And his devotees.”

Prabhupada: “Yes.”

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, London, July 7, 1972)

“Your strong desire to serve me is very beautiful; your serving me means serving Krishna. I am also your servant so I cannot accept your service from you, or from any of my disciples. I accept service from my disciples on behalf of Krishna. Just like a tax collector must collect for the treasury, not for himself. If he himself touches so much as a farthing it would be unlawful. So I have no right to accept service from any disciple, but on behalf of Krishna I can accept. Sincere service to the Spiritual Master is service to the Supreme Lord. As stated in the prayer, Yasya Prasadad Bhagavat Prasadad. That means because Krishna accepts service through the via media of Spiritual Master, therefore pleasing the Spiritual Master is equal to pleasing the Supreme Lord.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, February 13, 1968)

“Bhakti-lata-bija means ‘the seed of devotional service.’ Everything has an original cause, or seed. For any idea, program, plan or device, there is first of all the contemplation of the plan, and that is called the bija, or seed. The methods, rules and regulations by which one is perfectly trained in devotional service constitute the bhakti-lata-bija, or seed of devotional service. This bhakti-lata-bija is received from the spiritual master by the grace of Krishna. Other seeds, called anyabhilasa-bija, include karma-bija and jnana-bija. If one is not fortunate enough to receive the bhakti-lata-bija from the spiritual master, he instead cultivates such seeds as karma-bija, jnana-bija, or political, social or philanthropic bijas. However, the bhakti-lata-bija is different from these other bijas. The bhakti-lata-bija can be received only through the mercy of the spiritual master. Therefore one has to satisfy the spiritual master to get the bhakti-lata-bija (yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah). The bhakti-lata-bija is the origin of devotional service. Unless one satisfies the spiritual master, he gets the bija, or root cause, of karma, jnana and yoga without the benefit of devotional service. But one who is faithful to his spiritual master gets the bhakti-lata-bija.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 19.152, Purport)

“If you see that the spiritual master is satisfied, then you should know that Krishna is satisfied. That is confirmed by Visvanatha Cakravarti: yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah. And yasyaprasadan na gatih kuto ‘pi: If the spiritual master is not satisfied, then you are gone to hell. Yasya aprasadan na gatih kuto ‘pi. Because who will recommend to Krishna the promotion and so many things?” (Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Rome, May 24, 1974)

“When one serves a Vaisnava unknowingly, one still gets the good result, and if one unknowingly insults a Vaisnava, one suffers the bad result. A Vaisnava is especially favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Pleasing him or displeasing him directly affects the pleasure and displeasure of the Supreme Lord. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, in his eight stanzas of prayer to the spiritual master, has sung, yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah: by pleasing the spiritual master, who is a pure Vaisnava, one pleases the Personality of Godhead, but if one displeases the spiritual master one does not know where he is going.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.9.23, Purport)

“The spiritual master is certainly very merciful to his disciples, and consequently by satisfying him a devotee gets strength from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu therefore says, guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija: (CC Madhya 19.151) one must first please the spiritual master, and then one automatically pleases Krishna and gets the strength with which to cross the ocean of nescience. If one seriously desires to return home, back to Godhead, one must therefore become strong enough by pleasing the spiritual master, for thus one gets the weapon with which to conquer the enemy, and one also gets the grace of Krishna. Simply getting the weapon of jnana is insufficient. One must sharpen the weapon by serving the spiritual master and adhering to his instructions. Then the candidate will get the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 7.15.45, Purport)

Text pasted from Prabhupada Connection

Source:https://theharekrishnamovement.org/2016/10/30/the-secret-of-success-in-spiritual-life-2/

The entire TOVP Team wishes to publicly take this opportunity to recognize and thank the managers and devotees of the worldwide BBT/BBTI for their cooperation and service to the TOVP project since its beginnings in 2009. To date over $1.7 million has been given by the BBT/BBTI to the project, a most significant amount.

Many devotees are unaware of the financial commitment made by the BBT/BBTI to fund the construction of the TOVP. This is in accordance with Srila Prabhupada’s instructions that the BBT utilize the profits from the sales of his books to fund temple construction and other projects throughout the world. It is most laudable that this directive of Srila Prabhupada has been maintained and such a large financial commitment has been directed to the TOVP year after year. We could not have come to the point of our current construction without these funds. And based on future financial projections we feel we will realize our common goal to together celebrate the Grand Opening of the TOVP during Gaur Purnima 2022.

But none of this would have been possible without the blood, sweat and tears of the dedicated book distributors worldwide who made these funds possible in the first place by the distribution of millions of Srila Prabhupada’s books. Without their sacrifices there would be no lakshmi to disburse. Their service is most glorious and integral to the purpose of the TOVP. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts.

It is this mood of cooperation and unity to serve Srila Prabhupada which is pleasing to him and which strengthens our purpose and resolve as an Institution and also gives us each individually a taste of the nectar for which we are always anxious. Let us all continue to increasingly move forward in this single-minded fashion and become instruments for the glory of Sridhama Mayapur and the TOVP and the subsequent re-spiritualization of humanity, liberating one and all in the glorious sankirtan movement.

“You must allow Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to rise more and more so that this sun, moonshine, may be distributed all over the world. That is wanted. Therefore this temple is situated. Of course, we shall try to construct a very nice temple for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This morning we were thinking of this. So from this place, this moon, Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, will distribute. Sreyah-kairava-candrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam. The Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s Hare Krsna movement… Param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam. This is spoken by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Himself.

Srila Prabhupada – Lecture on Sri CC Adi 1.6 — March 30, 1975, Mayapur

Source:https://tovp.org/fundraising/recognizing-bbtbbti-service-tovp/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=recognizing-bbtbbti-service-tovp

Very few souls take to the path of pure unmotivated loving devotional service to God. This is because the gross or subtle egoistic disposition of the typical soul of this world prevents him/her from whole heartedly serving someone whom he/she considers "someone else". The typical soul wants to serve himself or those closely related to him materially.

This false ego is the fundamental reason for souls being averse to God. Once one understands that God is actually his most intimate relation, the path of pure devotional service to Him opens up. This understanding is the defining characteristic of the true ego, or in other words, the soul's true identify and relationship.

Thus, it is not surprising that most people serve something other than God. They see things as related to themselves, rather than seeing themselves as related to God. So much so, that even other spiritual paths focus on one's own liberation from matter, than on reviving one's relationship with God. This is the extent to which the egoistic disposition denies the soul it's true glory of being a loving servant of God.

The heart yearns for love, and true love is not found in this world of limits. To escape this fact, other spiritualists seek to reach a state of oneness or nothingness wherein the yearning for love stops. This is akin to the desperate suicide attempt of a heart-broken lover, and is born out of ignorance of the complete nature of spiritual nature.

God is our eternal friend and the worthy object of the heart's yearning for eternal love. Break your internal ego barriers - grossest to the subtlest, and fall in love. Are you the one in a million?

---

http://www.vedabase.com/en/bg/7/3

Bg 7.3

I ran across this interesting compilation of quotes this morning on the Prabhupada News website, by Vidura Prabhu. This is a nice reminder that Krsna is present today, through His spoken words on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, and by chanting his holy names. And that Srila Prabhupada is also present today, through his words and instructions. I have done some slight editing (highlighting), and have included the full text and purports to SB 1.15.27-31 at bottom of post. -Vyasasan das

Arjuna Teaches Us How to Serve the Spiritual Master in His Absence
by: Vidura dasa

Oct 23 2011, USA — “The Lord left behind Him the instructions of the Bhagavad-gita not for the benefit of Arjuna alone, but also for all time and in all lands(1). […]The problem which arose in the heart of Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra was solved by the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita. […]The merciful Lord left behind Him the great teachings of the Bhagavad-gita so that one can take the instructions of the Lord even when He is not visible to material eyesight(2). […] Thus the Bhagavad-gita, or any authentic scriptural sound representation of the Lord, is also the incarnation of the Lord. There is no difference between the sound representation of the Lord and the Lord Himself. One can derive the same benefit from the Bhagavad-gita as Arjuna did in the personal presence of the Lord.” (SB 1.15.27)

“Arjuna began to think of the Lord’s instructions to him on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra. Only those instructions began to eliminate the tinges of material contamination(3) in the mind of Arjuna.” (SB 1.15.28)

“As soon as Arjuna turned his attention towards the instructions of the Lord, as they are inculcated in the Bhagavad-gita, his true color of eternal association with the Lord became manifest, and thus he felt freed from all material contaminations.” (SB 1.15.29)

“As soon as Arjuna took up the instructions of the Bhagavad-gita, expert as he was, he could at once eradicate the material conception of Lord Krishna, his eternal friend. He could realize that the Lord was still present before him by His instruction(4), by His form, by His pastimes, by His qualities and everything else related to Him. […] One is not able to feel the presence of the Lord in all circumstances until one is endowed with the required transcendental vision made possible by devotional service prescribed in the revealed scriptures. Arjuna had attained this stage long before on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, and when he apparently felt the absence of the Lord, he at once took shelter of the instructions of the Bhagavad-gita(5), and thus again he was placed in his original position*.” (SB 1.15.31)

(1) Can everyone and anyone take shelter of Srila Prabhupada’s instructions?

(2) Does this depend on any physical presence?

(3) What is the result of following the instructions?*

(4) Is Srila Prabhupada really present before us by His instructions?

(5) So in Srila Prabhupada’s absence we only need to take shelter of His instructions?

(6) Is it fair to draw these conclusions i.e. can they be applied to Srila Prabhupada? See quotes below:

“As soon as we chant Hare Krishna or chant Bhagavad-gita or Bhagavata,so He is present immediately by His vibration. He’s absolute. Therefore try to remember His words of instruction; you’ll not feel separation. You’ll feel that He is with you. Soweshould associate by thevibration, and not by the physical presence. That is real association. Sabdad anavritti. By sound. Just like we are touching Krishna immediately by sound. Soundvibration. So we should give more stress on the sound vibration, either of Krishna or of the spiritual master. Then we‘ll feel happy and no separation. When Krishna departed from this world, at that time Arjuna was overwhelmed with sorrow and he began to remember the instruction of Bhagavad-gita. You’ll find in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Then he was pacified. He immediately began to remember the teachings which was taught to him in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, and he was pacified. He was his constant friend, so when Krishna went to His abode he was feeling overwhelmed, but he began to remember His teaching. So whenever we shall feel separation, the best thing is to remember the teachings. Then it will be very nice. Is that clear?” (Lecture | Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.12 | Montreal, August 18, 1968)

“Krishna and his representative are the same. Similarly, the spiritual master can be present wherever the disciple wants. A spiritual master is the principle, not the body. Just like a television can be seen in thousands of place by the principle of relay monitoring.” (SP – 28/5/68)

“When one receives the seed of devotional service by the mercy of the guru and Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one’s real life begins. If one abides by the orders of the spiritual master, by the grace of Krishna he is freed from service to the mind.” (SB 5.11.17 | Purport)

“One may argue that ‘Where is Krishna?’ No, you have got Krishna’s representative, guru. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado. The representative is there. If you act according to his instruction, if you want to please him, then Krishna is pleased.” (Lectures | Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.15 | Denver, June 28, 1975)

“So if you want to be anxiety-less, without any anxiety, then you must take shelter of the guru, or the spiritual master, and the test is that by the instruction of guru, by following the instruction of guru, you will be anxiety-less. This is the test.” (Lecture | Stockholm, September 9, 1973)

“If there is no chance to serve the spiritual master directly, a devotee should serve him by remembering his instructions. There is no difference between the spiritual masters instructions and the spiritual master himself. In the absence therefore, his words of direction should be pride of the disciple.” (C.c. Adi 1.35, purport)

“The disciple and Spiritual Master are never separated because the Spiritual Master always keeps company with the disciple as long as the disciple follows strictly the instructions of the Spiritual Master. This is called the association of Vani. Physical presence is called Vapuh. As long as the Spiritual Master is physically present, the disciple should serve the physical body of the Spiritual Master, and when the Spiritual Master is no longer physically existing, the disciple should serve the instructions of the Spiritual Master.” (S.B. 4:28:47, purport)

“The Spiritual Master is present wherever his sincere disciple is trying to serve his instructions. This is possible by the Mercy of Krishna. In your attempts to serve me and in all your sincere devotional sentiments I am with you as My Guru Maharaja is with me. Remember this always.“ (Letter to Bhakta Don, Dec. 1, 1973)

Full Text and Purport

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Canto One, Chapter 15, Text 25-31

TEXTS 25–26

jalaukasāṁ jale yadvan
mahānto ’danty aṇīyasaḥ
durbalān balino rājan
mahānto balino mithaḥ

evaṁ baliṣṭhair yadubhir
mahadbhir itarān vibhuḥ
yadūn yadubhir anyonyaṁ
bhū-bhārān sañjahāra ha

jalaukasām—of the aquatics; jale—in the water; yadvat—as it is; mahāntaḥ—the larger one; adanti—swallows; aṇīyasaḥ—smaller ones; durbalān—the weak; balinaḥ—the stronger; rājan—O King; mahāntaḥ—the strongest; balinaḥ—less strong; mithaḥ—in a duel; evam—thus; baliṣṭhaiḥ—by the strongest; yadubhiḥ—by the descendants of Yadu; mahadbhiḥ—one who has greater strength; itarān—the common ones; vibhuḥ—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; yadūn—all the Yadus; yadubhiḥ—by the Yadus; anyonyam—among one another; bhū-bhārān—the burden of the world; sañjahāra—has unloaded; ha—in the past.

TRANSLATION

O King, as in the ocean the bigger and stronger aquatics swallow up the smaller and weaker ones, so also the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to lighten the burden of the earth, has engaged the stronger Yadu to kill the weaker, and the bigger Yadu to kill the smaller.

PURPORT

In the material world the struggle for existence and survival of the fittest are laws because in the material world there is disparity between conditioned souls due to everyone’s desire to lord it over the material resources. This very mentality of lording it over the material nature is the root cause of conditioned life. And to give facility to such imitation lords, the illusory energy of the Lord has created a disparity between conditioned living beings by creating the stronger and the weaker in every species of life. The mentality of lording it over the material nature and the creation has naturally created a disparity and therefore the law of struggle for existence. In the spiritual world there is no such disparity, nor is there such a struggle for existence. In the spiritual world there is no struggle for existence because everyone there exists eternally. There is no disparity because everyone wants to render service to the Supreme Lord, and no one wants to imitate the Lord in becoming the beneficiary. The Lord, being creator of everything, including the living beings, factually is the proprietor and enjoyer of everything that be, but in the material world, by the spell of māyā, or illusion, this eternal relation with the Supreme Personality of Godhead is forgotten, and so the living being is conditioned under the law of struggle for existence and survival of the fittest.

TEXT 27

deśa-kālārtha-yuktāni
hṛt-tāpopaśamāni ca
haranti smarataś cittaṁ
govindābhihitāni me

deśa—space; kāla—time; artha—importance; yuktāni—impregnated with; hṛt—the heart; tāpa—burning; upaśamāni—extinguishing; ca—and; haranti—are attracting; smarataḥ—by remembering; cittam—mind; govinda—the Supreme Personality of pleasure; abhihitāni—narrated by; me—unto me.

TRANSLATION

Now I am attracted to those instructions imparted to me by the Personality of Godhead [Govinda] because they are impregnated with instructions for relieving the burning heart in all circumstances of time and space.

PURPORT

Herein Arjuna refers to the instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā, which was imparted to him by the Lord on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. The Lord left behind Him the instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā not for the benefit of Arjuna alone, but also for all time and in all lands. The Bhagavad-gītā, being spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the essence of all Vedic wisdom. It is nicely presented by the Lord Himself for all who have very little time to go through the vast Vedic literatures like the Upaniṣads, Purāṇas and Vedānta-sūtras. It is put within the study of the great historical epic Mahābhārata, which was especially prepared for the less intelligent class, namely the women, the laborers and those who are worthless descendants of the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas and higher sections of the vaiśyas. The problem which arose in the heart of Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra was solved by the teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā. Again, after the departure of the Lord from the vision of earthly people, when Arjuna was face to face with being vanquished in his acquired power and prominence, he wanted again to remember the great teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā just to teach all concerned that the Bhagavad-gītā can be consulted in all critical times, not only for solace from all kinds of mental agonies, but also for the way out of great entanglements which may embarrass one in some critical hour.

The merciful Lord left behind Him the great teachings of the Bhagavad-gītā so that one can take the instructions of the Lord even when He is not visible to material eyesight. Material senses cannot have any estimation of the Supreme Lord, but by His inconceivable power the Lord can incarnate Himself to the sense perception of the conditioned souls in a suitable manner through the agency of matter, which is also another form of the Lord’s manifested energy. Thus the Bhagavad-gītā, or any authentic scriptural sound representation of the Lord, is also the incarnation of the Lord. There is no difference between the sound representation of the Lord and the Lord Himself. One can derive the same benefit from the Bhagavad-gītā as Arjuna did in the personal presence of the Lord.

The faithful human being who is desirous of being liberated from the clutches of material existence can very easily take advantage of the Bhagavad-gītā, and with this in view, the Lord instructed Arjuna as if Arjuna were in need of it. In the Bhagavad-gītā, five important factors of knowledge have been delineated pertaining to (1) the Supreme Lord, (2) the living being, (3) nature, (4) time and space and (5) the process of activity. Out of these, the Supreme Lord and the living being are qualitatively one. The difference between the two has been analyzed as the difference between the whole and the part and parcel. Nature is inert matter displaying the interaction of three different modes, and eternal time and unlimited space are considered to be beyond the existence of the material nature. Activities of the living being are different varieties of aptitudes which can entrap or liberate the living being within and without material nature. All these subject matters are concisely discussed in the Bhagavad-gītā, and later the subject matters are elaborated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for further enlightenment. Out of the five subjects, the Supreme Lord, the living entity, nature, and time and space are eternal, but the living entity, nature and time are under the direction of the Supreme Lord, who is absolute and completely independent of any other control. The Supreme Lord is the supreme controller. The material activity of the living being is beginningless, but it can be rectified by transferral into the spiritual quality. Thus it can cease its material qualitative reactions. Both the Lord and the living entity are cognizant, and both have the sense of identification, of being conscious as a living force. But the living being under the condition of material nature, called mahat-tattva, misidentifies himself as being different from the Lord. The whole scheme of Vedic wisdom is targeted to the aim of eradicating such a misconception and thus liberating the living being from the illusion of material identification. When such an illusion is eradicated by knowledge and renunciation, the living beings are responsible actors and enjoyers also. The sense of enjoyment in the Lord is real, but such a sense in the living being is a sort of wishful desire only. This difference in consciousness is the distinction of the two identities, namely the Lord and the living being. Otherwise there is no difference between the Lord and the living being. The living being is therefore eternally one and different simultaneously. The whole instruction of the Bhagavad-gītā stands on this principle.

In the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord and the living beings are both described as sanātana, or eternal, and the Lord’s abode, far beyond the material sky, is also described as sanātana. The living being is invited to live in the sanātana existence of the Lord, and the process which can help a living being to approach the Lord’s abode, where the liberated activity of the soul is exhibited, is called sanātana-dharma. One cannot, however, reach the eternal abode of the Lord without being free from the misconception of material identification, and the Bhagavad-gītā gives us the clue how to achieve this stage of perfection. The process of being liberated from the misconception of material identification is called, in different stages, fruitive activity, empiric philosophy and devotional service, up to transcendental realization. Such transcendental realization is made possible by dovetailing all the above items in relation with the Lord. Prescribed duties of the human being, as directed in the Vedas, can gradually purify the sinful mind of the conditioned soul and raise him to the stage of knowledge. The purified stage of acquiring knowledge becomes the basis of devotional service to the Lord. As long as one is engaged in researching the solution of the problems of life, his knowledge is called jñāna, or purified knowledge, but on realizing the actual solution of life, one becomes situated in the devotional service of the Lord. The Bhagavad-gītā begins with the problems of life by discriminating the soul from the elements of matter and proves by all reason and argument that the soul is indestructible in all circumstances and that the outer covering of matter, the body and the mind, change for another term of material existence which is full of miseries. The Bhagavad-gītā is therefore meant for terminating all different types of miseries, and Arjuna took shelter of this great knowledge, which had been imparted to him during the Kurukṣetra battle.

TEXT 28

sūta uvāca

evaṁ cintayato jiṣṇoḥ
kṛṣṇa-pāda-saroruham
sauhārdenātigāḍhena
śāntāsīd vimalā matiḥ

sūtaḥ uvāca—Sūta Gosvāmī said; evam—thus; cintayataḥ—while thinking of the instructions; jiṣṇoḥ—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; kṛṣṇa-pāda—the feet of Kṛṣṇa; saroruham—resembling lotuses; sauhārdena—by deep friendship; ati-gāḍhena—in great intimacy; śāntā—pacified; āsīt—it so became; vimalā—without any tinge of material contamination; matiḥ—mind.

TRANSLATION

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Thus being deeply absorbed in thinking of the instructions of the Lord, which were imparted in the great intimacy of friendship, and in thinking of His lotus feet, Arjuna’s mind became pacified and free from all material contamination.

PURPORT

Since the Lord is absolute, deep meditation upon Him is as good as yogic trance. The Lord is nondifferent from His name, form, quality, pastimes, entourage and specific actions. Arjuna began to think of the Lord’s instructions to him on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra. Only those instructions began to eliminate the tinges of material contamination in the mind of Arjuna. The Lord is like the sun; the sun’s appearance means immediate dissipation of darkness, or ignorance, and the Lord’s appearance within the mind of the devotee can at once drive away the miserable material effects. Lord Caitanya has therefore recommended constant chanting of the name of the Lord for protection from all contamination of the material world. The feeling of separation from the Lord is undoubtedly painful to the devotee, but because it is in connection with the Lord, it has a specific transcendental effect which pacifies the heart. Feelings of separation are also sources of transcendental bliss, and they are never comparable to contaminated material feelings of separation.

TEXT 29

vāsudevāṅghry-anudhyāna-
paribṛṁhita-raṁhasā
bhaktyā nirmathitāśeṣa-
kaṣāya-dhiṣaṇo ’rjunaḥ

vāsudeva-aṅghri—the lotus feet of the Lord; anudhyāna—by constant remembrance; paribṛṁhita—expanded; raṁhasā—with great velocity; bhaktyā—in devotion; nirmathita—subsided; aśeṣa—unlimited; kaṣāya—dint; dhiṣaṇaḥ—conception; arjunaḥ—Arjuna.

TRANSLATION

Arjuna’s constant remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa rapidly increased his devotion, and as a result all the trash in his thoughts subsided.

PURPORT

Material desires in the mind are the trash of material contamination. By such contamination, the living being is faced with so many compatible and incompatible things that discourage the very existence of spiritual identity. Birth after birth the conditioned soul is entrapped with so many pleasing and displeasing elements, which are all false and temporary. They accumulate due to our reactions to material desires, but when we get in touch with the transcendental Lord in His variegated energies by devotional service, the naked forms of all material desires become manifest, and the intelligence of the living being is pacified in its true color. As soon as Arjuna turned his attention towards the instructions of the Lord, as they are inculcated in the Bhagavad-gītā, his true color of eternal association with the Lord became manifest, and thus he felt freed from all material contaminations.

TEXT 30

gītaṁ bhagavatā jñānaṁ
yat tat saṅgrāma-mūrdhani
kāla-karma-tamo-ruddhaṁ
punar adhyagamat prabhuḥ

gītam—instructed; bhagavatā—by the Personality of Godhead; jñānam—transcendental knowledge; yat—which; tat—that; saṅgrāma-mūrdhani—in the midst of battle; kāla-karma—time and actions; tamaḥ-ruddham—enwrapped by such darkness; punaḥ adhyagamat—revived them again; prabhuḥ—the lord of his senses.

TRANSLATION

Because of the Lord’s pastimes and activities and because of His absence, it appeared that Arjuna forgot the instructions left by the Personality of Godhead. But factually this was not the case, and again he became lord of his senses.

PURPORT

A conditioned soul is enwrapped in his fruitive activities by the force of eternal time. But the Supreme Lord, when He incarnates on the earth, is not influenced by kāla, or the material conception of past, present and future. The activities of the Lord are eternal, and they are manifestations of His ātma-māyā, or internal potency. All pastimes or activities of the Lord are spiritual in nature, but to the laymen they appear to be on the same level with material activities. It so appeared that Arjuna and the Lord were engaged in the Battle of Kurukṣetra as the other party was also engaged, but factually the Lord was executing His mission of incarnation and association with His eternal friend Arjuna. Therefore such apparently material activities of Arjuna did not drive him away from his transcendental position, but on the contrary revived his consciousness of the songs of the Lord, as He sang them personally. This revival of consciousness is assured by the Lord in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.65) as follows:

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te
pratijāne priyo ’si me

One should think of the Lord always; the mind should not forget Him. One should become a devotee of the Lord and offer obeisances unto Him. One who lives in that fashion becomes undoubtedly endowed with the blessing of the Lord by achieving the shelter of His lotus feet. There is nothing to doubt about this eternal truth. Because Arjuna was His confidential friend, the secret was disclosed to him.

Arjuna had no desire to fight with his relatives, but he fought for the mission of the Lord. He was always engaged in the execution of His mission only, and therefore after the Lord’s departure he remained in the same transcendental position, even though it appeared that he forgot all the instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā. One should, therefore, adjust the activities of life in pace with the mission of the Lord, and by doing this one is sure to return back home, back to Godhead. This is the highest perfection of life.

TEXT 31

viśoko brahma-sampattyā
sañchinna-dvaita-saṁśayaḥ
līna-prakṛti-nairguṇyād
aliṅgatvād asambhavaḥ

viśokaḥ—free from bereavement; brahma-sampattyā—by possession of spiritual assets; sañchinna—being completely cut off; dvaita-saṁśayaḥ—from the doubts of relativity; līna—merged in; prakṛti—material nature; nairguṇyāt—due to being in transcendence; aliṅgatvāt—because of being devoid of a material body; asambhavaḥ—free from birth and death.

TRANSLATION

Because of his possessing spiritual assets, the doubts of duality were completely cut off. Thus he was freed from the three modes of material nature and placed in transcendence. There was no longer any chance of his becoming entangled in birth and death, for he was freed from material form.

PURPORT

Doubts of duality begin from the misconception of the material body, which is accepted as the self by less intelligent persons. The most foolish part of our ignorance is our identifying this material body with the self. Everything in relation with the body is ignorantly accepted as our own. Doubts due to misconceptions of “myself” and “mine”—in other words, “my body,” “my relatives,” “my property,” “my wife,” “my children,” “my wealth,” “my country,” “my community,” and hundreds and thousands of similar illusory contemplations—cause bewilderment for the conditioned soul. By assimilating the instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā, one is sure to be released from such bewilderment because real knowledge is knowledge that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva, Lord Kṛṣṇa, is everything, including one’s self. Everything is a manifestation of His potency as part and parcel. The potency and the potent are nondifferent, so the conception of duality is at once mitigated by attainment of perfect knowledge. As soon as Arjuna took up the instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā, expert as he was, he could at once eradicate the material conception of Lord Kṛṣṇa, his eternal friend. He could realize that the Lord was still present before him by His instruction, by His form, by His pastimes, by His qualities and everything else related to Him. He could realize that Lord Kṛṣṇa, his friend, was still present before him by His transcendental presence in different nondual energies, and there was no question of attainment of the association of the Lord by another change of body under the influence of time and space. By attainment of absolute knowledge, one can be in association with the Lord constantly, even in this present life, simply by hearing, chanting, thinking of and worshiping the Supreme Lord. One can see Him, one can feel His presence even in this present life simply by understanding the advaya-jñāna Lord, or the Absolute Lord, through the process of devotional service, which begins with hearing about Him. Lord Caitanya says that simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord one can at once wash off the dust on the mirror of pure consciousness, and as soon as the dust is removed, one is at once freed from all material conditions. To become free from material conditions means to liberate the soul. As soon as one is, therefore, situated in absolute knowledge, his material conception of life is removed, or he emerges from a false conception of life. Thus the function of the pure soul is revived in spiritual realization. This practical realization of the living being is made possible due to his becoming free from the reaction of the three modes of material nature, namely goodness, passion and ignorance. By the grace of the Lord, a pure devotee is at once raised to the place of the Absolute, and there is no chance of the devotee’s becoming materially entangled again in conditioned life. One is not able to feel the presence of the Lord in all circumstances until one is endowed with the required transcendental vision made possible by devotional service prescribed in the revealed scriptures. Arjuna had attained this stage long before on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, and when he apparently felt the absence of the Lord, he at once took shelter of the instructions of the Bhagavad-gītā, and thus again he was placed in his original position. This is the position of viśoka, or the stage of being freed from all grief and anxieties.

Some text pasted from Causeless Mercy

Source:https://theharekrishnamovement.org/2016/11/01/arjuna-teaches-us-how-to-serve-the-spiritual-master-in-his-absence/

This is the month of Kartik and I was asked to speak on the month of Damodar but although Damodar is so much on my mind, even more than that is the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada actually.

We will have arati in Srila Prabhupada’s room, by his bed. At the end of the arati, Srila Prabhupada’s chadar goes around, the big grey woollen chadar and it is heavy. When I felt that heavy chadar, I felt the weight of responsibility – now we have to do something; we have to do something to take up this mission!

It is up to us now. See, we have inherited it. Now what are we going to do for Srila Prabhupada’s mission to make the whole world Krsna conscious. I feel that weight on my head with that chadar. So, we do not need to look at our hearts and do deep psycho-analysis to see whether we can find a trace of the six enemies: lust, anger and greed, madness and envy – don’t worry, it is there! But somehow or other, embrace the service of Srila Prabhupada – if you do that and if we do something to make others Krsna conscious, he will surely look in our direction. He will shower us with mercy and that will save us!

Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2016/11/srila-prabhupadas-disappearance-day-2/

Indradyumna Swami: Vrinda Devi helps Purnamasi plan and orchestrate Radha and Krsna’s daily pastimes in Vrindavan. Our parikrama party had the good fortune to visit her kunda ( pond ) and discuss her glories and chant her holy names in that beautiful and sanctified abode.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/cpeMdb

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=32950

The annual Bandung Light festival to commemorate the anniversary of Bandung city this year was celebrated on October 09, 2016. The grand festival was attended by most people in Bandung. This public festival was a chance for the devotees to introduce the Hare Krishna movement in Bandung. As Srila Prabhupada mention in his letter that “The time is fast approaching when we will have to perform such public kirtana in all the important cities of the world. Here also, in the Expo, they have performed kirtana for two days, and it is wonderfully successful.” (SPL to Yamunä, July, 1968). The devotees did ratha yatra on the festival and this was the third Jagannath Ratha-yatra held in Bandung.

When the month of October approached many devotees in Indonesia asked, “where will Ratha yatra be done this month?” because many devotees are used to participating in the ratha yatra in Indonesia at least once in every month. They have tasted the sweetness of the association of the Lord on the Jagannath Ratha-yatra. As Srila Prabhupada stated that “This Rathayäträ is one of the activities of Krishna. Therefore to take part in the Rathayäträ festival means to associate with Krishna directly. SP lecture on Ratha-yäträ;London, July 13, 1972”

A news came from Lokanath prabhu in Bandung. he informed that the light festival would be held on 9 October 2016, and it was only 5 days left. This made the devotees make express arrangements for the festival. The preparation was discussed through social media because only a handfull of devotees stayed in Bandung. The manager of Ratha-yatra Nusantara called all team to come to Bandung and many came forward to help. Garuda prabhu and his team fromJogjakarta along with Lord Jagannath, Lord Balaram, and Their beloved sister Subhadra Devi also came to Bandung.

The devotees from various part of Indonesia arrived a day before the festival. They brought the necessary ingredients that were needed for the festival which were not available in Bandung. The chariot also arrived on the same day and the chariot team started to reassemble the chariot. The rain started to fall when they started to decorate the chariot. They skipped the work until the next morning. Early in the morning, the devotees started the work again. The sky was blue and even there was no any cloud hanging in the space, very peaceful. Some devotees did Harinam Sankirtan in the Gazebo field where there was car free day program. Lokanath prabhu told that the theme of the festival was “Robotic and Galaxy” and the devotees thought for a moment what would they make for this. Then the idea came that the horses of the chariot should be modified into flying horses “Pegasus”. Matsya prabhu started the work to make two pairs of the wing. Under his guidance, the devotees helped him to finish the wings.

When the preparation was ready, Indradev again gave his mercy. A heavy rain started falling and the devotees hope that the rain would stop when the festival started. This time the Lord had other plan for the devotees. Until the time of the Lords were carried to the chariot, the rain continued relentlessly . A thunderbolt also heard when the Lord was brought on the chariot. The devotees pulled the chariot under the heavy rain to the Gazebo field in front of Gedung sate.

The spirit of the devotees never faded out even under the heavy rain. The Hare Krishna Maha Mantra lead by Sridhar prabhu, filled the entire atmosphere while other participants quite without any activity were waiting for the start. At 07.00 Pm. the carnival started. One by one participants headed to the main road of Bandung. Remembering the Lord’s pastime of Govardhan Lila, the devotees cheerfully pulled the lord’s chariot under the heavy rain. A ton of oranges that was already offered to the Lord donated by Dhina darini Mataji were distributed to the people who saw the festival. The euphoria of the devotees attracted three girls from other faiths who enthusiastically sang and dance in front of Lord. They also gave a helping hand in distributing the prasadam.

When the chariot entered the Asia-Africa Street, the rain stopped. The devotees adjusted their formation of the line before entering the main stage. Entering the main stage, not like other participants who welcomed by the host, the mayor of Bandung, Mr. Ridwan Kamil personally greeted and welcomed the Lord. He said to the audience that the community of Hare Krishna always participated in the light festival and he also requested the audience to give applause to the devotees. The Lord’s chariot also gave a shock to the guests on the stage because they were worried that the doom of the chariot was higher than the advertisement board. They were puzzled how could the chariot with chariot it’s high canopy pass under the advertisement board? Suddenly the dome came down slowly and it invited the applause from the audience one more time..

“Try to make this Hare Krishna movement popular through any source that is possible. That is our business.” (SPL to Syämasundara, 29th June 1969)”

Our ever grateful obeisances are due to HH Kavichandra Swami and HH Ramai Swami, the GBCs of Indonesia, for their support and guidance to always look for new avenues for sankirtan. Our humble obeisances to HH Subhag Swami for his inspiration and always reminding us of the importance of the Sankirtan movement of Mahaprabu and for inspiring us with the dedication of Sriman Jayananda Prabhu, for bringing us closer to Srila Prabhupada and keeping us united in family of ISKCON.

For more photos: https://goo.gl/dtKzFg

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=32959

For 10 days devotees from different parts of the world attended the pilot course on “Vaisnava Life Counseling: A practical framework to support individuals and communities in ISKCON”.

An assorted group of devotees, interested in developing further their counseling skills and gaining a deeper understanding on how to help devotees, gathered in Sridhama Mayapur for a “hands-on” training in counseling.

For over a year the CDM, in partnership with the Mayapur Institute (Atul Krsna Prabhu), has been working in the development of this course seeing the need for providing informed support to devotees experiencing difficulties of different kind.

Iksvaku das, an Australian Social Worker and Counseling trainer -who facilitated the course- commented, “I am impressed by the great response we got from different temples and leaders about this course. This shows that this kind of training was long overdue in ISKCON. We hope Srila Prabhupada is pleased with this endeavour to attend to the devotees’ well-being.”

The congregational ministry aims at establishing this course as a regular feature for those interested in supporting congregations and individual devotees in ISKCON. By providing formal training in the area of counseling, devotees will be better equipped with practical tools and skills to assist those in need -an essential aspect of devotional line-.

“Those who are devoted to the cause of the Personality of Godhead live only for the welfare, development and happiness of others. They do not live for any selfish interest…” (SB 1.4.12)

Source:http://www.dandavats.com/?p=32964