By Kripamoya Das

Every year the disciples and followers of Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acarya of ISKCON, compose written tributes in celebration of the day of his birth. This year (2014) I was asked to write ‘The Meaning of Vyasa Puja’ for the international book. Here is what I wrote:

Earlier this year, I visited the city of Kolkata and was taken by a kind devotee to an old building on a short backstreet known as Ultadanga Junction Road. I had never been there before, but had heard about the place for forty years. The square, brown brick, rather plain three storey building was formerly known as Bhaktivinoda Asana and it was here, on the flat roof-top, that Srila Prabhupada met his spiritual master for the first time. I had always been intrigued by the idea of a sacred meeting place up on a roof, and it had a special relevance for me, too. In September 1977, Srila Prabhupada came to Bhaktivedanta Manor on what was to be his last visit. I had been sitting close to Srila Prabhupada when, during the Vyasa Puja ceremony, Tamala Krishna Goswami began recounting events from his spiritual master’s early life. He faltered when he couldn’t recall the date of this roof-top meeting. Even though Srila Prabhupada had said nothing until this point, and was in some obvious physical discomfort, he smiled and said “1922” drawing a cheery “Jaya!” from all of us disciples. I was a direct recipient of what had developed since that meeting, and it was because of what transpired on that Kolkata roof-top that I was now sitting before Srila Prabhupada.

The connection of guru and sisya comes after much searching on the part of the disciple and much compassion on the part of God. Srila Prabhupada explained that for the meeting of the disciple with his guru, God Himself makes the arrangements. He said:

“So guru is also incarnation of God, mercy incarnation of God. Guru means that… God is within you, caitya-guru, the guru, or the spiritual master, within your heart. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe ‘rjuna tiṣṭhati. So this Paramātmā is also incarnation of God. And the same Paramātmā, when He comes before you, being very much merciful upon you, to teach you from outside, that is guru.” (Lecture on SB 1.3.26 October 1, 1976)

“Therefore God is called caitya-guru, the spiritual master within the heart. And the physical spiritual master is God’s mercy. If God sees that you are sincere, He will give you a spiritual master who can give you protection. He will help you from within and without. Without in the physical form of spiritual master, and within as the spiritual master within the heart.” (Conversation on May 23, 1974)

On Vyasa Puja Day we worship Srila Prabhupada as the manifested compassion of the Supreme Lord, and we give thanks for the day he appeared in this world, as well as the blessed day we met him and heard his words for the first time.

* * *

And what are those words? The spiritual master teaches everything we need to know about the Lord who dwells within us, that one supreme person who is unseen by our eyes. As the external manifestation of the Paramatma, the guru teaches the Vedas, the sound manifestation of God. He teaches the Vedas, the Vedanta, the Puranas, and he does it as a messenger of the Lord’s incarnation, Srila Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa. Srila Vyasadeva is the original spiritual preceptor for all men. And all other preceptors are to be considered his representative.

Only by learning, understanding, living and teaching the Vedas is a person a spiritual master; and only being voiced through the spiritual master can the Vedas become fully manifested and understood in this world. The result of this successful combination – between God, the Vedas, the guru and the disciple – is that the cleansing of the heart takes place; the hard knot of material attraction is loosened; lifetimes of karma-phala are dissolved and the happiness of loving service to the Supreme Lord is established.

The spiritual master is a guru because he is heavy with knowledge and unmovable by any other, lighter arguments. He is an acarya because he moves and lives completely in accordance with the Vedas and teaches the deeper meanings of the scriptures to others. As the Manu Samhita states:

upaniya tu yah sisyam veda-madhyapayed dvijah

sankalpam sa-rahasyam ca tam acaryam pracaksate

One who confers the sacred thread, trains his disciples in sacrifice and teaches them the confidential meaning of the Vedas is known as an acarya, according to saintly authorities. (2.140)

Such a spiritual master is a rare personality indeed, and is someone whose very life contributes the best of all fortune to all those who seek his company. His presence in our life is so valuable because it gives us the greatest possible life: a life lived as a preparation for returning to our eternal home. Through the gifts of knowledge, guidance, encouragement and correction, the spiritual master takes us personally over the darkest valley of repeated birth and death and sets us up in the highest, most glorious place.

When the great Sri Vaishnava poet, Vedanta Deshika (1268-1370) was writing a book about the transmission of spiritual knowledge, he was trying to think of an analogy for the importance of the acarya, the foremost spiritual preceptor, when he remembered something his nephew, Mudaliyantan, had said to him:

“When a lion leaps from one hill to another, the little ants on its body are transported with him. Similarly, when Ramanujacarya leaped over this world of repeated birth and death, we were saved because of our connection with him.”

Srila Prabhupada has similarly leaped over the world of repeated birth and death, and we tiny souls have somehow or other been transported with him.

On Vyasa Puja Day we try to understand our incalculable good fortune of being connected with such an acarya as Srila Prabhupada. He not only carried the message of Srila Vyasadeva but showed us how to live it. He continues to personally lead us from this world of darkness to the world of eternal light. We give thanks for his boundless compassion and never-ending efforts to save us, and we think that through him, we have come to understand the meaning of the term ‘His Divine Grace’.

* * *

‘The juiciest, sweetest mango is always in the sunshine at the very top of the tree.’ Thereby begins the classic analogy of how the highest spiritual teachings are brought down from ancient times to today. A chain of ‘fruit-pickers,’ sitting in the branches of the mango tree, carefully hand down the delicate fruit from higher to lower branches until it reaches the ground. Similarly, the compassionate preceptors always ensure that the teachings are handed down to the next generations. Yet it is no easy task, and even Lord Krishna says that He must come to the Earth, age after age, to re-establish the teachings that have been lost. One essential component of preserving the living message is therefore the chain of teachers – the parampara.

The greatest spiritual master is moved by compassion to make the teachings of the Vedas accessible to as many as possible. Without compromising their integrity he renders them intelligible and accessible to contemporary listeners, protects them from adulteration, and preserves them by creating the next generation of teachers. Srila Vyasa codified, compiled and protected the entire Vedas and is therefore known forever as the ‘literary incarnation of God.’ The Srimad Bhagavatam provides a description of how the sage divided the responsibility for the preservation and extension of Vedic knowledge:

“Paila Rsi became the professor of the Rg Veda, Jaimini the professor of the Sama Veda, Vaisampayana protected the Yajur Veda, and Angira Muni the Atharva Veda. Romaharsana Suta was entrusted with the Puranas and historical records.” (1.4.21-22)

The illustrious son of Romaharsana Suta, the grand-disciple of Srila Vyasadeva, Suta Goswami, then assumed responsibility for protecting the Puranas.

Without teaching his disciples, empowering them to become advanced in spiritual practise and also engaging them in teaching and preaching, the acarya’s work is not complete. Only when he has safeguarded the message of the Vedas for the next generation – both in precept and example – can he be satisfied that he has offered the world what his own preceptor offered him. As the Vayu Purana explains:

Acinoti hi sastrarthan acare sthapayatyapi

svayam acarate yasmad acarya stena kirtitah

“The acarya is thus called because he has studied and understood the meaning of the scriptures, he practises what he preaches, and he establishes this meaning in the behaviour of others.”

The spiritual master not only comes in parampara, but he ensures that the parampara continues by making the Vedas accessible and intelligible, the essential spiritual techniques practicable, and by fully initiating and training his disciples. He encourages his students to do the same for their countrymen and the next generation. In this way the ancient knowledge and tradition is preserved yet always kept fresh. Thus the sacred mango gets passed down the tree to the next level and to the human society that is yet to come.

On Vyasa Puja Day we honour Srila Prabhupada as one who preserved Vedic knowledge and made it accessible to a fresh, new audience. We honour him as one who explained the deeper meanings of the scriptures and demonstrated by his example the efficacy of the spiritual techniques described in them. We honour him as one who walked through the Earth establishing the sacred arca-vigraha, restoring brahminical culture and arguing for cow protection – the hallmarks of civilized human life. We give thanks that he initiated and trained many disciples to carry forward his messages and preserve the chain of teachers.

* * *

On February 5th, 1919, just three years before Srila Prabhupada met him, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur performed one more duty of an acarya. He gave a human and organisational shape to the mission to perpetuate the parampara. Although the parampara will continue to exist whenever and wherever there is teaching of the Vedas, training and mantra-giving, it is such a delicate structure that sometimes it may not even be located by those who are any less than supremely dedicated. When an organised mission is established there can be greater strength. When disciples gather into groups, each with a specific task, the mission to serve the predecessor gurus can be done with improved efficacy. Yes, there is always danger that the power so accrued by such an efficient organisation may turn the heads of even the most devoted disciple, but done well and with devotion to the spiritual master, it will serve his purposes well.

The Six Goswamis of Vrindavan had similarly organised themselves and their followers and called their assembly the Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur had also revived the mission of the Goswamis as a human organisation. In 1919 Srila Saraswati Thakur gave a human shape to what he described as the ‘third descent’ of the Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha. Speaking at the property known as ‘Bhaktivinode Asana’ at Ultadanga Junction Road in Calcutta, before a large assembly of Vaishnavas, he said:

“Even though this Sabha is eternally established, it has descended into the world three times. Eleven years after the disappearance of Shri Mahaprabhu, when the world was beginning to darken, six wonderfully bright stars arose in Sri Vraja-mandala and were engaged in the service of Gaurachandra…

“Sri Chaitanyadeva is Krishnachandra Himself—the King of all the Vaisnavas in the world (Visva Vaisnava Raja). The gathering of His devotees is the Sri Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha; the foremost ministers amongst the members of the society are Sri Rupa Gosvami and his honoured Sri Sanatana Gosvami. Those who consider themselves to be the followers of Sri Rupa are the members of this Sri Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha.”

A guru lives to give systematic knowledge, relevant guidance and inspirational encouragement to all who wish to receive it from him and who are qualified to become disciples. He gives whatever he has with compassion, love and discipline, and he sets before his grateful receivers a living example of what it means to be in consciousness of God and His laws. To better share his gifts with others, the guru invites them to come and live with him.

Yet the guru’s mission is also to broadcast and propagate the teachings to as many newcomers as possible. Even to those who cannot live with him. That enormous task requires the training of future travelling teachers, preparation of various types of publications, and the building of temples and other venues so that people can congregate and become educated and inspired, no matter what their level of spirituality or commitment and no matter where they live. It involves organising groups and devotee farms and villages so that future would-be disciples can be part of a social network and helped toward discipleship. Existing disciples and their families can also live peacefully and be supported through the inevitable challenges of life. The disciple’s role in all this is to help the guru and to alleviate his burden. When this larger mission of the guru is understood by the disciple, he or she will participate in the mission of the guru by offering energy, time, intelligence and resources.

It is a privilege to be even a small part of such a glorious movement for the spiritualisation of human society. Although to mundane vision ISKCON may be perceived as merely a human institution, with transcendental vision it can be seen as a compassionate vehicle of Srila Prabhupada’s divine grace, the most important institution in the world, and an excellent means to accomplish the complete manifestation of the desire of the Six Goswamis.

Vyasa Puja is an opportunity for all of us gathered here today to reflect upon the mission and movement of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. It is a movement of inspired devotees of Krishna, established to make tangible the hopes of all the predecessor acaryas. It began on a suburban Kolkata roof-top in 1922 with a simple instruction to teach the message of the Vedas in the English language. Our appreciation for everything we have received from Srila Prabhupada, of how it has transformed our life, and our display of gratitude, must surely be to continue the mission and message of this most extraordinary of all representatives of Srila Vyasadeva. May we honour him today and always, and work together to share him with the world.

In 1977, I started to take interest in Krsna consciousness but then, in the same year, one after the other, both my parents died. It was such a family drama, I just had to put everything aside and deal with that situation. So, I joined in 1978.

It would sound, at least to me, it would sound very ridiculous to say that I never met Prabhupada because I know more about Prabhupada than I do about my own biological father and Prabhupada has completely taken control of my life. How can I say I never met him? It does not make sense. I met him in service. I met him in mercy from his followers. So, all of you can also have a direct relationship with Srila Prabhupada. If you think I am speculating then Prabhupada himself said that by reading the books of Rupa Goswami, you can directly associate to Srila Rupa Goswami. Still today, everyone can have a relationship with Prabhupada and still today, everyone must have a relationship with Prabhupada – not to the exclusion of our own spiritual masters but that relationship must be there, nonetheless, with Prabhupada.

So let us find out more and more who was Srila Prabhupada, who is Srila Prabhupada, what did he desire, what did he say, and once we have studied all the instructions then let us not make the mistake to become proud and think, “I know!” Let us remain humble and ready to hear from others what Srila Prabhupada really wanted. All of that will be our saving grace!

An excerpt from the Prabhupada Lilamrta about Srila Prabhupada’s mother, Srimati Rajani Devi.

Abhay’s mother, Rajani, was thirty years old when he was born. Like her husband, she came from a long-established Gaudiya Vaisnava family. She was darker-skinned than her husband, and whereas his disposition was cool, hers tended to be fiery. Abhay saw his mother and father living together peacefully; no deep marital conflict or complicated dissatisfaction ever threatened home. Rajani was chaste and religious-minded, a model housewife in the traditional Vedic sense, dedicated to caring for her husband and children. Abhay observed his mother’s simple and touching attempts to insure, by prayers, by vows, and even by rituals, that he continue to live.

Whenever he was to go out even to play, his mother, after dressing him, would put a drop of saliva on her finger and touch it to his forehead. Abhay never knew the significance of this act, but because she was his mother he stood submissively “like a dog with its master” while she did it.

Like Gour Mohan, Rajani treated Abhay as the pet child; but whereas her husband expressed his love through leniency and plans for his son’s spiritual success, she expressed hers through attempts to safeguard Abhay from all danger, disease, and death. She once offered blood from her breast to one of the demigods with the supplication that Abhay be protected on all sides from danger.

At Abhay’s birth, she had made a vow to eat with her left hand until the day her son would notice and ask her why she was eating with the wrong hand. One day, when little Abhay actually asked, she immediately stopped. It had been just another prescription for his survival, for she thought that by the strength of her vow he would continue to grow, at least until he asked her about the vow. Had he not asked, she would never again have eaten with her right hand, and according to her superstition he would have gone on living, protected by her vow.

For his protection she also put an iron bangle around his leg. His playmates asked him what it was, and Abhay self-consciously went to his mother anddemanded, “Open this bangle!” When she said, “I will do it later,” he began to cry, “No, now!” Once Abhay swallowed a watermelon seed, and his friends told him it would grow in his stomach into a watermelon. He ran to his mother, who assured him he didn’t have to worry; she would say a mantra to protect him.

Srila Prabhupada: Mother Yasoda would chant mantras in the morning to protect Krsna from all dangers throughout the day. When Krsna killed some demon she thought it was due to her chanting. My mother would do a similar thing with me.

His mother would often take him to the Ganges and personally bathe him. She also gave him a food supplement known as Horlicks. When he got dysentery, she cured it with hot puris and fried eggplant with salt, though sometimes when he was ill Abhay would show his obstinacy by refusing to take any medicine. But just as he was stubborn, his mother was determined, and she would forcibly administer medicine into his mouth, though sometimes it took three assistants to hold him down.

Srila Prabhupada: I was very naughty when I was a boy. I would break anything. When I was angry, I would break the glass hookah pipes, which my father kept to offer to guests. Once my mother was trying to bathe me, and I refused and knocked my head on the ground, and blood came out. They came running and said, “What are you doing? You shall kill the child.”

Abhay was present when his mother observed the ceremony of Sadha-hotra during the seventh and ninth months of her pregnancies. Freshly bathed, she would appear in new clothing along with her children and enjoy a feast of whatever foods she desired, while her husband gave goods in charity to the local brahmanas, who chanted mantras for the purification of the mother and the coming child.

Abhay was completely dependent on his mother. Sometimes she would put his shirt on backwards, and he would simply accept it without mentioning it. Although he was sometimes stubborn, he felt dependent on the guidance and reassurance of his mother. When he had to go to the privy, he would jump up and down beside her, holding her säré and saying, “Urine, mother, urine.” “Who is stopping you?” she would ask. “Yes, you can go.” Only then, with her permission, would he go.

Sometimes, in the intimacy of dependence, his mother became his foil. When he lost a baby tooth and on her advice placed it under a pillow that night, the tooth vanished, and some money appeared. Abhay gave the money to his mother for safekeeping, but later, when in their constant association she opposed him, he demanded, “I want my money back! I will go away from home. Now you give me my money back!”

When Rajani wanted her hair braided, she would regularly ask her daughters. But if Abhay were present he would insist on braiding it himself and would create such a disturbance that they would give in to him. Once he painted the bottoms of his feet red, imitating the custom of women who painted their feet on festive occasions. His mother tried to dissuade him, saying it was not for children, but he insisted, “No, I must do it, also!”

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Our respectful obeisances to Srimati Rajani Devi who so tenderly raised “Abhay” who went on to became the Founder Acarya of ISKCON, the greatest Acarya of modern times

By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

 “Up the Ladder” by Dana-keli Devi Dasi.

Krsna-Kumari Devi Dasi: I would like to announce the birth of a wonderfully inspiring book written by a new Vaishnavi, Donna Lee, who was initiated Dana-keli Devi Dasi in May of this year by His Holiness Giriraj Swami. She has written the story of her 68-year adventure coming to Prabhupada’s movement. We often hear about climbing the ladder of spiritual growth through all the levels of disciplines. Here is a personal account of such a journey, and all done in one lifetime. Ever wondered what it might be like to slowly climb from one rung to the next and embody all the meaningful teachings along the way? Here it is! From this personal triumph, we can see that it is never too late to come to the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord.
This beautiful little book is a great treasure for any new person and should be kept handy in any FOLK meeting place, KC restaurant, gift shop, library or Festival event. Replete with moving quotes and lively narrative; you won’t be able to put it down. Do you always target young people when you preach? Think again! There are millions of receptive mature individuals who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s and who are now in their own 60’s and 70’s, and finally realizing that they have not yet fulfilled the dreams they were once searching for as Hippies and flower children. Many of them are professionals, like Dana-keli Devi, who have much to share in the way of life lessons and experience as well as love, joy, and enthusiasm which doesn’t fade. Lord Krishna is ready to rescue them all. You just need to find them, and this book is a finely-tuned homing device.
How many ladies in the movement are sharing their life, heart, and struggles along the path with us all? Very few, and yet we Dasis are just as much in need of inspiring role-models as our brother Dasas. This new book, as well as this new author, have much to share and many more experiences to unfold into your waiting hands. Whether you need inspiration, confirmation, revelation or an invitation—enter here with eagerness, and you will not be disappointed:
Up the Ladder by Donna Lee - Sanctuary Publishing on Amazon.com: https://goo.gl/Lfztwh

In preparing for Janmastami, I came across some wonderful teachings in a book called Krishna Book. The chapter is titled “Prayers by the Demigods for Lord Krishna in the Womb.” There Srila Prabhupada cautions against the tendency to be a bit impersonal towards God. We understand that Krishna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, has both personal and impersonal aspects – He is simultaneously one with everything and different from everything. It’s easy to see and appreciate the power and energy of Krishna in the world in front of us, but sometimes not so easy to see or understand Krishna as a person – who is He? What does He do?

The call of the soul, the dharma of life, is to reawaken our relationship with the person Krishna. Prabhupada says we have to have some ‘feeling for the Personality of Godhead’ and to become ‘affectionately attached’ to the Lord. How do we do that? How do we feel those feelings?

A good place to start is to ask ourselves ‘What do we love about Krishna?’. Maybe it’s His flute playing, or His dancing with the Gopis under the full moon? Perhaps it’s His love for animals and especially His affection for cows? Or His love of nature – forests and flowers, rivers and trees?

Is it the sweets He likes to eat? The kirtan of His holy name that warms our heart? Do we love His devotees who seem so happy to serve Him, or His philosophy of equal vision and spiritual consciousness? Or the incredible role He plays in the Bhagavad-gita as a friend and mentor to Arjuna?

There are so many things to love about Krishna. Read Krishna Book and be drawn to love and honor Him for who He is, not who we want Him to be. After all, He gives us our individuality and want’s us to be ‘real’ with Him. Let’s return the gesture, give Him His and allow it to nourish and grow our love for Him, for God as a person, for Krishna. 
Happy Janmastami!

One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.
(BG 4.9)

Our Lila!

Why are we born?

One has to take birth according to one’s activities of life. And after finishing one term of activities, one has to die to take birth for the next. In this way one is going through one cycle of birth and death after another without liberation.
(BG 2.27p)

How do we take birth?

When the child comes out of the abdomen through the narrow passage, due to pressure there the breathing system completely stops, and due to agony the child loses his memory. Sometimes the trouble is so severe that the child comes out dead or almost dead. One can imagine what the pangs of birth are like. The child remains for ten months in that horrible condition within the abdomen, and at the end of ten months he is forcibly pushed out.
(SB 3.31.23p)

We are forced to take birth

Everyone takes birth in this material world in continuation of his previous life, and thus he is subject to the stringent laws of nature, such as birth and death, distress and happiness, profit and loss.
(KB, chapter 73)

Any auspiciousness?

One who has taken birth in the material world is in a fallen situation.
(SB 11.2.7p)

And the results so far..

In whichever species of life I have taken birth, compelled by the force of my own activities, I have very painfully experienced two things, namely separation from my beloved and meeting with what is not wanted. And to counteract them, the remedies which I undertook were more dangerous than the disease itself. So I drift from one point to another birth after birth.
(SB 1.19.20p)

 Krishna’s Lila

Why does Krishna takes ‘birth’?

Lord Hari, who is  bliss personified, appeared in the home of Nanda Maharaja, the king of  Vrndavana for three reasons: to engage the self satisfied sages in  devotional service, to please the devotees by performing sweet  transcendental pastimes, and to relieve the earth’s burden caused by the  demons.
(Ananda Vrindavana Campu, chapter 2)

His appearance and disappearance vs. ours

His appearance and disappearance are like the sun’s rising, moving before us, and then disappearing from our eyesight. When the sun is out of sight, we think that the sun is set, and when the sun is before our eyes, we think that the sun is on the horizon. Actually, the sun is always in its fixed position, but owing to our defective, insufficient senses, we calculate the appearance and disappearance of the sun in the sky. And because Lord Krishna’s appearance and disappearance are completely different from that of any ordinary, common living entity, it is evident that He is eternal, blissful knowledge by His internal potency—and He is never contaminated by material nature. The Vedas also confirm that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is unborn yet He still appears to take His birth in multimanifestations. The Vedic supplementary literatures also confirm that even though the Lord appears to be taking His birth, He is still without change of body.
(BG 4.6p)

Is Krishna ‘obliged’ to take a birth like us?

The Lord is not obliged to take birth, but we are obliged to do so. That is the distinction between our birth and the birth of Krishna.

Krishna’s birth is transcendental, whereas our birth takes place by force, by the laws of nature. Krishna is not under the laws of nature; the laws of nature work under Him. Prakrti, nature, works under the order of Krishna, and we work under the order of nature. Krishna is the master of nature, and we are servants of nature.
(TQK, chapter 15)

Krishna’s Birth

In Mathura..

Vasudeva then saw the newborn child, who had very wonderful lotuslike eyes and who bore in His four hands the four weapons śaṅkha, cakra, gadā and padma. On His chest was the mark of Śrīvatsa and on His neck the brilliant Kaustubha gem. Dressed in yellow, His body blackish like a dense cloud, His scattered hair fully grown, and His helmet and earrings sparkling uncommonly with the valuable gem Vaidūrya, the child, decorated with a brilliant belt, armlets, bangles and other ornaments, appeared very wonderful.
(SB 10.3.9-10)

But something very special is happening in Gokula..

After Yasoda and her family members fell asleep in the maternity room,  Hari cried beautifully like a newborn baby. His crying sounded like the  maha-vakya omkara announcing the auspicious arrival of His pastimes.  Omkara is a transcendental vibration that had previously emanated from the  mouth of Lord Brahma. When the ladies of Vrndavana heard the sweet sound  of Krishna’s crying, they woke up and ran to see the Lord. With the mellow  of their matchless overflowing affection they anointed His body.

Krishna’s Body..

The natural fragrance of Krishna’s body smelled just like musk. After the  ladies bathed Krishna in sweet ambrosia, He looked cleansed and beauti­ful.  Then they smeared His body with fragrant sandalwood pulp. The pre­siding  deity of the house sent a campaka flower resembling the flame of a lamp  into the maternity room to worship that ornament of the three worlds. With  the strength of His little arms, delicate as the tender leaves of a tree,  Krishna made all the lamps in the maternity room look like a garland of  lotus flower buds.

The ladies of Vrndavana saw baby Krishna like a blossoming flower made of  the best of blue sapphires, or like a newly unfurled leaf of a tamala  tree. Krishna looked like a fresh rain cloud decorated with the musktilaka  of the goddess of fortune of the three worlds. The ointment of the  great­est auspiciousness lined His eyes. His presence filled the maternity  room with good fortune. Although a mere baby, Krishna had a head full of  curly hair. To hide the unique signs on His hands (goad, fish, conch etc.)  the Lord folded His delicate petal-like fingers into His lotus palm. At  that time Krishna laid on His back with His eyes closed.
(Ananda Vrindavana Campu, chapter 2)

Krishna’s beauty..

Due to Yasoda’s intense love, personified bliss flowed  from her breasts as steady streams of milk. When milk sometimes spilled  out of Krishna’s bimba fruit red lips onto His cheeks, Mother Yasoda would  wipe His face with the edge of her cloth. After feeding her son, After feeding her son, Yasoda  gazed affectionately at Him in wonder.

She saw her child’s body as made of dazzling blue sapphires. His mouth  resembled a red bimba fruit and His hands and feet looked like exquisite  rubies. Krishna’s nails shone like precious gems. In this way, Yasoda  thought her child was completely made of jewels. Then she perceived that  His naturally reddish lips looked like bandhuka flowers, His hands and  feet resembled Java flowers, His nails looked like mallikaflowers. Yasoda  then thought, “Krishna’s whole body seems to be made of blue lotus flowers. He does not appear to be mine.” After thus deliberating within herself  Yasoda became stunned in amazement.

The beautiful, soft curly hairs on the right side of Krishna’s chest  resembled the tender stems of a lotus. Seeing the mark of Srivatsa on His  chest Yasoda thought it was breast milk that had previously spilled out of  His mouth. She tried unsuccessfully to remove these ‘milk stains’ with the  edge of her cloth. Struck with wonder, Yasoda thought this must be the sign  of a great personality. Observing the sign of Laksmi (a small golden line)  on the left side of Krishna’s chest, Yasoda thought a small yellow bird had  made a nest amidst the leaves of a tamala tree. Could this be a streak of  lightning resting on a rain cloud, or could it be the golden streaks marking a black gold-testing stone? Krishna’s delicate, leaf-like hands and feet  glowing pink like the rising sun, looked like clusters of lotus flowers  floating in the Yamuna.

Sometimes Yasoda saw the curly, dark blue locks of baby Krishna as swarm of  bumblebees surrounding His face. Intoxicated from drinking too much honey  nectar, the bees just hovered in the sky. His thick, beau­tiful blue hair  appeared like the dark night. The two lotus eyes of Krishna looked like a  pair of blue lotus buds. His cheeks resembled two huge bubbles floating in  a lake of liquefied blue sapphires. Krishna’s attractive ears looked like a  pair of fresh unfurled leaves growing on a blue creeper.

The tip of Krishna’s dark nose appeared like the sprout of a tree, and His  nostrils looked like bubbles in the Yamuna River, the daughter of the sun  god. His lips resembled a pair of red Java flower buds. Krishna’s chin  rivaled a pair of ripe, red jambu fruits. Seeing the extraordinary beauty  of her son fulfilled the purpose of her eyes and submerged Yasoda in an  ocean of bliss.

Nanda maharaja is stunned..

The elderly Vrajavasi ladies addressed Vrajaraja Nanda, “O most for­tunate  one, you fathered a son!” Previously Nanda Maharaja had felt deeply  aggrieved over his long-standing inability to obtain a son. His heart was  like a small lake that had completely dried up during a long hot sum­mer.  But when Nanda Maharaja heard of his son’s birth he felt as if the dry  lake of his heart had been blessed with a sudden downpour of nectar. The  gentle sound of Krishna’s voice removed all his grief and lamentation. Now  he bathed in the rains of bliss, swam in the ocean of nectar, and felt  embraced by the joyful stream of the celestial Ganges.

Eager to see his son, Nanda’s body thrilled with astonishment and waves of  ecstasy as he stood outside the maternity room. Because he had  accu­mulated heaps of pious activities, it appeared that the King of  Vrndavana was now shaking hands with the personification of pious deeds.  Anxiously standing in the background, Yogamaya induced Nanda Maharaja to  en­ter the maternity room. He rushed in to see his son, the personified  seed of condensed bliss. It seemed that all the auspiciousness of the  three worlds now resided within Krishna, the original cause of everything.  Nanda saw his son as a perfectly charming person. The kajala around  Krishna’s eyes looked like lines on a black creeper of beauty. As the very  embodiment of Nanda’s good fortune, Sri Krishna bloomed like a beautiful flower in a garden of desire trees.

The aparajita flower is compared to the body of the Queen of Vrndavana.  Her son is like the representative of the Upanisads that are compared to  the fruit of the desire creepers. By seeing his glorious son Nanda felt  that he had attained happiness, perfection, and the fulfillment of all his  de­sires. Meeting that embodiment of bliss overwhelmed Nanda with  im­measurable satisfaction. He stood motionless, stunned; his hair stood  erect and tears flowed from his eyes. He appeared like a person carved in  stone or a figure drawn in a painting. For some time Nanda Maharaja  remained in this semi-conscious state like a sleeping man about to awaken.

Let the celebrations begin…

Cymbals, damru drums, bherries, and big drums vibrated auspicious sounds  in specific melodies. A celestial concert of precise poetical meters,  proper rhythms, and metrical compositions suddenly manifested there. The  musical ensemble inspired the society girls to sing and dance in mirth and  merriment. Though not good singers, by the will of the Lord they sang with  great virtuoso. Their wonderful songs filled Nanda Maharaja’s heart with  joy. The combined vibrations of brahmanas‘ chanting Vedic hymns, the  recitation of Puranic lore, and the panegyrists’ prayers trans­formed the ethers into sabda brahman.

The joy of Krishna’s birth celebration taxed the drains of Nanda’s capital  city as they swelled to the brim with milk, yogurt, and other auspicious  liquids. Soon rivers of this nectar flooded the streets of the town and  permeated the entire atmosphere with a sweet fragrance. Disguising  them­selves as birds, the demigods descended to Vrajapura to happily drink  the flood of nectar. The Vrajavasis decorated their cows with gold and jeweled ornaments. Then in great excitement they smeared them with oil,  fresh butter, and turmeric paste. Beholding Krishna in their hearts, these  fortunate cows looked like the essence of the earth’s auspiciousness. The  whole world resounded with their jubilant bellowing. Absorbed in the  ecstasy of Krishna’s birth, they forgot about eating and drinking. The festival drowned the gopis in an ocean of joy. After offering oil,  vermilion, garlands, and utensils in charity to all the assembled gopis,  Rohini, the wife of Vasudeva, asked them to bless Krishna. Upon comple­tion  of the sacrifice, Upananda and the other relatives felt constant  hap­piness while taking their baths. Keeping the King of Vrndavana in the  front, Nanda’s relatives offered opulent cloth, jeweled ornaments,  tambula, garlands, and sandalwood pulp to the guests. Then they humbly  requested all in attendance to bless that wonderfully auspicious boy who  had just appeared in Vrndavana.
(Ananda Vrindavana Campu, chapter 2)

Reading about both, ‘our’ lila as well as Krishna’s lila, do we have any doubt on whose lila should we be thinking and meditating upon!

On this Janmashtami let us read the first 3 chapters of Krishna book, or same chapters from Srimad Bhagavatam,  to our deities, praying Krishna that let His katha purify our heart and then beg Him that this Janamashtami let His lotus feet make an appearance in our heart. Let us think, feel that desire deep within us and then speak aloud unequivocally that I want Krishna’s lotus feet to be placed in my heart on this day. And then take a vow that from this very day I am willing to act and change my life to show my sincerity and determination. 

The appearance of the form of Krishna anywhere, and specifically within the heart, is called dhama
(SB 10.2.18p)

We remember the pastime of when Krsna first came to Mathura and he met a garland-maker, Sudama, who offered Krsna many nice garlands, sandalwood and other things. That garland-maker actually used go to Vrindavan regularly to collect flowers, so he had previously met Krsna and made offerings to Krsna with flowers, so that garland-maker was already recognized by Krsna as a devotee. At the end, he adorned Krsna and Balarama with beautiful garlands and they looked very beautiful. Then the two Lords offered to the surrendered Sudama, who was bowing before them, whatever benediction he desired. Sudama asked the Lord for unshakable devotion – devotion that could not be destroyed by anything. Then he asked the Lord for friendship with the Lord’s devotees and for transcendental compassion for all living beings. So this garland-maker was very intelligent. What would we ask for if we would suddenly, unexpectedly meet Krsna? What would we ask? It would not be so easy, ‘Well, Krsna, okay, give me love of God!’  But we can see the example of Sudama who was thinking much deeper about the matter than we are. Love of God is very good but Sudama asked to be given unshakable devotion, as he knew maya is very strong and did not want be affected by anything. Unshakable devotion means love of God!

This is very nice – this garland-maker who seems to be, in a way, a background personality; there is not a whole chapter in Srimad Bhagavatam dedicated to the garland-maker who offered some garlands to Krsna. But just see how profound his thinking is and how important unshakable devotion is, how important friendship with the devotees of the Lord are and how important transcendental compassion for all living beings is.

To approach Krsna we require blessings. Janmastami is an opportunity to approach Krsna and to really enter into Krsna’s reality. We are going to spend time remembering various pastimes of Krsna over the next few days and all these activities are actually taking us into Vrindavan because it is through remembering the activities of Krsna that we are getting entrance; as Jiva Gosvami explains, Vrindavan is a state of consciousness. So we are looking for blessings just as Sudama received benedictions from the Lord and asked for the unshakable devotion.  Like this, we are gradually preparing ourselves so may we all be blessed by such a meditation of Sudama.

The fact is that by committing ourselves to Krsna, by focusing, by giving ourselves, by making offerings to Krsna – even if only for a day: chanting, cooking, hearing, intensely focusing on Krsna the entire day – then we will find that our relationship with Krsna has become so much nourished and strengthened that we realize that this Janmastami is not just a festival where we get enlivened by the association of devotees and a wonderful program until the next enlivening festival. No, we actually realize that if we really make a commitment to focus on Krsna, to really get serious, just for a day, then this Janmastami makes a permanent change in our spiritual life. We are permanently coming closer to Krsna, so in this way, each Janmastami is another step closer to Krsna.

Janmastami is particularly meant for us as it is an opportunity to connect in a very serious way with Krsna and in service to him, because then it will be a great source of strength that will benedict us in our spiritual life. We build on that and then we surrender again and in this way we build up our spiritual strength.

Scriptures recommend performing of naimitika kriya – exceptional devotion practice, or special spiritual activity during special occasions that brings new life and that we bring back to our everyday routine devotional practices of nitya kriya. So doing something special on this Janmastami can renew our everyday practice, bring new life and at the same time because we have for one day functioned on a higher level of surrender than usual, we have come one step closer to making that permanent and that has the lasting effect. With this meditation we can begin our Janmastami celebration and get ready to come before Krsna. We are anticipating with great eagerness Krsna’s appearance day and hope everyone will have a wonderful Janmastami, Janmastami that will make all the difference!

Source : https://www.kksblog.com/2016/08/janmastami/

Recently, I have read one of interesting article from leading newspaper about spiritual organizations are started FMCG companies & become very successful in India. They are critics & generalized all the spiritual organizations. If you want to become successful business man in india first become spiritual teacher. Add the followers with skillful presentations through TV, internet…etc open the business.

From Wikipedia, get the information About Patanjali (from Ramdev baba). They are doing business from last 7 years from 100 crores to become approx. 5000 crores   In 2017 they are targeted revenues to become 10000 crores. Sri Sri Ayurveda (from art of leaving) following same suit. Stunning revenues in the public view from their business.

If we think deeply about spiritual + organization. It is one type of the organization about spirituality.

From Srila Prabhupad words(SB.1.2.5) There are two kinds of services, para and apara. In Sanskrit para means transcendental, and apara means material. Spiritual or material. Because we have two understandings, matter and spirit. Everything is material or spiritual, mundane or transcendental. So here Bhāgavata says, paro dharmaḥ. Paro dharmaḥ means spiritually.

If the organization does not cater core Spiritual or transcendental services like to publishing Vedic literature & educating & elevating people from lower to higher consciences above the material platform, then we cannot call it as real spiritual organizations.

In Bhakti tradition, whatever we can do make it spiritual by devotional process. food become prsadam by offering supreme personality of godhead Sree Krishna. Some activities might be seen as Philanthropic but mixed with devotion make the elevation of Spiritual or KRISHNA conciseness.

If you look good about corporate structure which is the more systematic planned manner. Spiritual organizations are required for propagating their missionary activities.

But if the corporate goal (Business) is making more & more profits. Irrespective of people around you. Enjoy material life with power, name & fame. Hurt the others without any care & concerned with the people.

If spiritual organization goal & intension is above then it should be condemned. They are not only deviating from core principal & mislead the other spiritual organizations & loss of respect from the society.

(Note: The presented views are writers views there is no relation with ISKCON or ISKCON Desire tree or any other related organizations)

 Your’s
Dinabandhu das

We all like a good story. It makes our day, inspires our heart, and we experience a gamut of emotions. When it comes to Krishna’s birth story he doesn’t disappoint. In Sanskrit, stories about God are called Lila. This is to remind us that His stories are not of the world, although sometimes taking place in the world.

There are many reasons Krishna comes here, and they converge, layer upon layer, story upon story, to create ”Lila”. For his birth Lila, Janmastami, we’ll pick up the action in the prison house of Kamsa, a paranoid selfish king, who created seriously dangerous conditions for the citizens of the world. Krishna’s parents, Vasudeva and Devaki, were imprisoned there – part of Kamsa’s reign of terror as prophecy told that their child would be the ruin of Kamsa. When it was time for Krishna’s birth, his mother was more beautiful than ever before and Kamsa, who was waiting to kill the child, knew that this was the one. His time of waiting was over, and he had his target under lock and key.

The saying “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans” is appropriate here. And Krishna says in the Gita, “Of cheaters, I am the greatest cheat.” So while Kamsa was sleeping, Krishna took birth quietly in the darkness of the midnight hour. To protect Him from Kamsa he was concealed in a basket and taken from the prison, carried across a wild and raging river, and brought to a small village called Gokul. There he was exchanged with a baby girl; she was returned to the prison house.

The baby girl, of course, was no ordinary one. This was Yogamaya, the powerful energy of Krishna. The following day, when Kamsa came to claim the newborn, she was ready. Being so fearful that this was the child who was destined to kill him, he took her from her mother and got ready to smash the delicate child on the ground. But Yogamaya slipped from his hands, took on her real form, and told Kamsa the real Krishna was elsewhere. Krishna was safe, Kamsa was devastated, and his parents elated.

More than just coming to remove the pride of the foolishly arrogant and greedy rulers, Krishna comes to delight, rescue, entertain and enliven his devotees. To those who depend on Him he brings Himself into their lives in thrilling scenes of last minute rescues and dramatic endings. This churns emotions and pulls the hearts of all who love Him. And we are also brought into these Lilas just by our very listening to them, our reflection and appreciation of them, and our growing affection for them.

Janmastami comes but once a year, but if we let the Lila sink in we can access the relationship that’s open to us with Krishna long after the bells are quiet and the midnight songs are sung. Being part of Krishna’s story will bring light and sunshine into our own. That’s the power of Lila.

Source : http://iskconofdc.org/janmastami-lila/

As we approach Janmastami, Krishna’s birthday, we’ll be thinking of what to give. It’s a birthday celebration after all and everyone’s invited. The guest list is unlimited and when it’s a birthday we think of expressing our love with a gift.

Each of us has a unique and personal relationship with Krishna. Our world is not just me, myself and I. It’s me, the world, and Krishna. And still, this is our story as we are the main player. Everyone else is a supporting cast member. Even Krishna stands back. He’s there with us as Supersoul in our hearts, but he remains an observer until we interact with Him.

So, what do we as an individual want to give to Krishna, who owns everything, who has everything, and who is not in want of anything? I suggest we give ourselves.

There is a right and wrong way of such giving. Wrong is thinking Krishna has everything, so why bother giving Him anything. I’ll just show up with a smile on my face and give myself.

Right is knowing Krishna has everything, giving as much as we can in gratitude for the privilege to able to do so, and also knowing that what really makes Krishna happy is the giving of ourselves in humility. Who am I? Someone very small, who sometimes thinks I am very big and important. Please accept me as your insignificant servant. Please engage me in your service.

That is the gift of you.

As the lead player in our own life story we can write the script. What do we want to be thinking, feeling, and doing in relationship to Krishna? Where do we want our energy to be focused on Janmastami? What do we want to be thinking?

The radical process of bhakti is all about changing our mindset. We exist as individuals…eternally. That’s our true ego which is defined as the “I” or soul. The false ego is the “I” that’s connected to the body and our identity in the world. Bhakti recovers our other ego, our original true ego, which is hidden behind the false one. And the process is radical because just by rethinking the way we think we can get past the false ego.

We can’t outsource ourselves and our conversations with Krishna. No one can do them for us. This is our life, our personal relationship. Plan, pray, prepare. Use your head to follow your heart and make it special. It’s His day. Add to it.

Source : http://iskconofdc.org/the-gift-of-you/

Every morning the meditation on theMahamantra offers us the possibility to discover important things, for example to achieve those intuitions which are rarely obtained during other moments of the day, because usually we are too busy in carrying out our worldly activities or mundane duties, which, of course, are also useful if we make them functional to our spiritual development.

But those sweet and sharp, enlightening and inspiring intuitions we can obtain during theBrahma Muhurta hours through the meditation on God’s Holy Names are the essential life lymph of our consciousness.
Through the practice of meditation, when we engage in it rigorously and intensely, many veils are lifted, some dark sides of our inner depths are enlightened; we get profound perception and sudden insights of concepts and solutions which are not part of the logical or mental world, but, on the contrary, of the higher dimension of inspired intuition. These intuitions arise, they become clear, and we become aware of these events happening inside us, as if they were facts that reveal themselves in our deepest part; we then have to be able to hand them down to the practical and relational situations we go through, that means in everything we do.
If life couldn’t be nourished with these intuitions and spiritual emotions, with these inner discoveries, with these intense and lively energies of change, it would be smothered by routine, just as something rolling up itself, and people would remain plastered, stuck in their conditionings. It’s these spiritual intuitions which give vitality and value to our life.
Matsyavatara das

Source : http://matsyavatara.blogspot.in/2015/08/nourishing-consciousness.html

The 2016 Srila Prabhupada Tributes book – “the open Vyasa-puja book” – is now available as a pdf file from www.sptributes.com. Physical books have already been mailed. Each year, all initiated disciples of Srila Prabhupada are welcome to write offerings for the book. And any disciple who sends an offering will receive a physical copy of the book.If you were initiated by Srila Prabhupada but didn’t receive an invitation to contribute, please write to sptributes (at) gmail.com in order to be added to the mailing list.

Below is a random offering:

Dearest Srila Prabhupada, please accept my humble obeisances and commitment unto your lotus feet. All glories to Your Divine Grace!

In this holy day of your appearance I would like to join the chorus of my god-brothers and god-sisters who are glorifying you in such a sincere and heartfelt way.

When I met you I immediately became aware of having in front of me an extraordinary personality. And as time went, this perception not only solidified but it became more and more verified and enhanced.

I became attracted especially by these qualities of yours:

Your concise way of speaking. You always described the Absolute Truth with a few and properly chosen words.

Your sense of detachment. You acted with urgency and involvement but at the end you withdrew your self out and let the results develop in their own way.

The integrity of your character. You were not influenced by your surroundings. You were always your self.

The true humility of your personality. You never took credit for all the success you were meeting, attributing everything to your spiritual master and the good will of the Lord.

Your vast knowledge of sastras and your ability to cite them in each and every circumstance.

Your steadiness. You performed your duty in all times, places and circumstances.

You were able to set your priorities correctly. So you executed the most important and the necessary. No wasting time in secondary engagements.

You were expert judge of place, time and circumstances. I saw you how you reacted and behaved in different kinds of situations and it was always perfect, appropriate and pleasing. I never have seen any other vaikuntha man acting like this while being in the same “mundane” plane where we were!

Once, in Los Angeles, when you were residing in your apartment which had a window towards the street, and if you were standing up, then you could be seen from the outside, I was passing that very street and looking up I saw you. And what you were doing? You were standing in front of a picture of your Guru Maharaja and offering him obeisances or prayers with your hands folded in the namaskar position. I was so moved by this manifestation of your love you were exhibiting in a solitary place!

The energy and creativity you generated was unbelievable, even though you were in a body so fragile and of advanced age.

You were always engaged with intensity, concentration and seriousness in whatever you were doing. You had complete control of your mind and your other senses and you submitted your body in austere and demanding conditions like traveling from one continent to the next and adjusting it immediately to the local timetable, climate, food etc.

Your faith to the Lord, the previous Acaryas and the sastras was so complete that you were able to move your disciple’s consciousness drastically and swiftly to the transcendental dimension.

You were balanced in your relations with others, even when confronting extreme elements, offensive behavior or craziness, still you didn’t overreacted and didn’t departed from your being a perfect gentleman.

Although you were like a general with the most important mission to save humanity still you had also the heart of a mother and never sacrificed an individual soul for the sake of your mission.

These elevated and attractive qualities could be experienced constantly by anyone fortunate to be in your presence. You had a taste for Krishna katha and you were 100% committed in the Sankirtan Yajna of Lord Chaitanya, which you carried with no signs that you were doing some austerity or sacrifice. You were always satisfied within, blissful and free from anxiety.

The benefit that all these qualities created for me, Srila Prabhupada, is that they brought me to the point of surrendering and offering all my energy to you, and through you to the Lord.

We all have the tendency and need to love, but in the material world, being continuously disappointed with our relations with the others due to the impurities, we can’t find any person we consider worth of our love, service and surrender. And as our nature is to be happy only when we experience love and express it through service, not finding a person deserving our trust and love we often end up with serving and loving nobody.

But for the fortunate souls, like us, who met your Divine Grace, finally these loving energies were liberated and manifested in the proper way, to the proper person and for the proper cause.

So, Srila Prabhupada, thanks to your personality, the personification of Bhagavatam, I found my way towards back Home, back to Godhead.

Every year my faith increases and the appreciation, gratitude and love I feel for you becomes deeper and bigger.
Your biggest gift, the chanting of the Holy Name, still reigns supreme in the center of my existence, and your teachings are still the favorable winds pushing my vessel towards the supreme destination.

I am your creation Srila Prabhupada, one of your miracles. From ignorant, lost and sleeping soul to aspiring servant of the pure devotee! What a fortune in the Kali Yuga times humanity is going through! Thank you Srila Prabhupada for bringing me back to life! I was unconsciously dreaming some nonsense and you brought me to the beautiful reality again!

You spent hours and hours translating the best of the Vedic literature so that you could convince us about the potency of the Holy Names of the Lord.

So if you engaged the most valuable time of your days for this goal then, following your example, I am considering that the highest benefit I should also strive to contribute to others is this development, maintenance and increase of their faith to the Holy Name. Because once one comes in regular contact and with faith for the Holy Name then the Name Himself will do the rest for the upliftment and perfection of that soul.

People in general may not understand why the devotees chant repeatedly these same words and they tend to think that the value and potency attributed to this chanting is exaggerated. So you have taught us to distribute your books to help them come to the proper conviction.

After all, in each and every religion, either through the prayer, the public worship, eucharistic rites or study of the holy scriptures, according to its particular beliefs, customs and traditions, all is based in the medium of the sound, pronounced silently, loudly or read, individually or collectively, as a means of connection. The same sound I am even using right now to express respectfully my deep esteem, love and gratitude for your Divine Grace.

You have described this transcendental sound to be like the favorable wind which is pushing our human life towards the supreme destination. You have also indicated that for the chanting to bring about its beneficial result there must be submissive and concentrated hearing.

So, dear Srila Prabhupada, through the chanting of the Holy Name every day, with all humility in my command and power of recollection, I am praying to continue being allowed to perform some small part in the Sankirtana movement and try, like this, to please you, reciprocating the mercy received.

Thank you for having me accepted as your disciple!
Please intercede with the Lord for this lowly soul to be able to attain His shelter! I know I am not up to the standard but if you talk to Him He will surely show some more mercy… And please help us cooperate among ourselves for your service! You are the unifying factor, if not you who else?

Mercy Srila Prabhupada!!! Mercy!!

Your aspiring servant
Citraka; dasa

Source : http://www.dandavats.com/?p=30686

The harmonium was born in Europe – so how did it become synonymous with Indian music?
The Indian harmonium similarly made its way to the United States in the first half of the 20th century, but it was the Asian immigration wave in the 1950s-1960s that popularised it.
This was also the period of the American Counterculture, an anti-establishment cultural movement fuelled by such disparate elements as women’s rights, race relations, and the Vietnam War. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, widely known was ISKCON, was assisted in his early years in America by Beatniks like Allen Ginsberg.
As the harmonium was by this time an established vehicle for devotional music, ISKCON members using it became a common sight. Beatniks and hippies gravitated towards the instrument. Ginsberg played it constantly, most famously when he whipped it out and chanted the Hare Krishna mantra to the conservative writer and commentator William F Buckley Jr on his “Firing Line” television show in September 1968.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/k1voGq

Source : http://m.dandavats.com/?p=23670

 The hole in the ground has been there for a month now, but Caru Das can’t stop admiring it.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) By Lee Bensen Deseret News

Aug 18, 2016

Who’d have thought? A Krishna temple in the heart of the Salt Lake Valley?

Caru (Cha-roo) and his wife, Vai Bhavi, are local leaders of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, started in New York City in 1966 by a devotee of Krishna — “God,” in the Hindu vernacular — named A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. It’s more commonly known as Hare Krishna, a branch of Hinduism.

An early Hare Krishna enthusiast was George Harrison of The Beatles, whose support helped the new religion gain its popular footing.

As for Caru, it wasn’t Beatles music that attracted him to the Hare Krishnas, but rather a search for a spiritual foundation that would carry him through this life and the lives to come.

Born in 1946 in Pennsylvania as Chris Warden, Caru traveled the world in the ‘60s, making his way to the Canary Islands, France, Israel, India and finally Australia, where he ran into Hare Krishna missionaries on George Street in Sydney. He was 24 years old and working construction at the time.

“I’d seen it all: beaches, palm trees, beautiful lands,” Caru says 45 years later. “But that horizon wasn’t as attractive to me as the inner landscape” those devotees helped him see.

He went all in, as did his wife, Christine (she’s from England; they met in Australia). In 1970, they were baptized as Krishna devotees and given their new spiritual names — preparing them both for further enlightenment and, as Caru likes to quip, rid them of the problem of “People calling on the phone and asking for ‘Chris’ and us having to ask, ‘Which one?’”

Whatever your mental image of a Krishna consciousness leader, add in humor, friendliness, kindness and charisma and you have Caru Das, a man whose ability to transcend borders, ideologies and religious differences has enabled him, and his religion, to survive and thrive in the middle of Mormondom.

He and Vai first came to Utah in 1982 to purchase a small AM radio station in Spanish Fork, along with the five acres the station sat on.

Ten years later, they had expanded to 15 acres and announced plans to build a temple. The ornate structure, believed to be the only legitimate example of Rajasthani architecture in the United States, was designed by Vai, opened in 2001 and has become not only a gathering place for Hare Krishna followers, but also a tourist site that attracts some 50,000 people a year. The annual Color Festival held on the temple grounds has evolved into a Utah County rite of spring, attended by thousands, many of them college students from Utah Valley University or LDS Church-owned Brigham Young University.

“We did it the hard way,” says Caru. “We opened our first temple in a place that’s 90 percent LDS. If we’d done our R&D, that would have never happened.”

But if converts weren’t exactly beating down their door, the neighbors, Caru adds, nonetheless welcomed them with open arms.

“Great neighbors, great friends,” he says. “The LDS Foundation gave us $20,000 just to get started.”

The only part that confused the locals, Caru recalls with a grin, was the accessibility of the temple. Mormon temples aren’t open to the general public, while Krishna temples, in addition to being houses of preaching, ritual and worship, are also community centers with places to eat, play music, study, socialize and even stay overnight — with no restrictions.

“People kept asking, ‘Will the public be invited?’” says Caru. “I was like, ‘Well, yeah.’”

Suffice it to say that the success in Spanish Fork paved the way for plans to build a similar, if smaller, temple in Salt Lake County on property the Hare Krishnas own just east of 900 East and south of 3300 South.

Also designed by Vai, the completed temple “will be exquisite,” promises her husband.

Caru envisions the Salt Lake temple as a beacon of spirituality for not only the 100 families active in the faith in the valley, but for others looking for positivity and enlightenment as well.

“Salt Lake City is a different story than Spanish Fork,” he says. “There are more here who need ministration. We can make a difference in more lives here.”

It took three years to get enough funds pledged and secure the proper building permits to get started, but on July 10, after a ceremony apologizing to Krishna for disturbing Mother Earth (but for all good purposes), track hoes moved in and dug the hole Caru has been admiring ever since.

Soon enough, the foundation will be poured and the temple will take shape. The domes and cones that will grace the exterior, Taj Mahal-style, have already been built and are in storage, awaiting the walls to get framed.

“We’ve got the batter and we’ve got the icing,” muses Caru, putting Krishna consciousness on a level all can understand. “Now we’ve just got to bake the cake.”

Source : http://news.hjnews.com/logan_hj/krishna-among-the-mormons-hindu-based-sect-plans-temple-in/article_3765db85-8a5f-5afb-836f-8fb856bcd8af.html

Hundreds of devotees and guests attended two programs at the Sydney Opera House. One in the afternoon and the other at night.

The theme was, “The Transcendental Journey,” which depicted Srila Prabhupada’s coming to America and incorporating ISKCON 50 years ago.

It was a wonderful day with plays, dancing, kirtana and speeches.

Source : http://www.ramaiswami.com/opera-house-function/

“Mrs. Nair’s husband died, and eventually she had a a change of heart. She surrendered to Srila Prabhupada and said, ‘I really didn’t go along with my husband; I didn’t want him to do that.’ Srila Prabhupada replied, ‘Don’t worry. You are like my daughter. If a man is going on the wrong path in the morning and comes to the right path in the evening, he is not lost. Now you have taken the right path and have reached home. You can stay in any of our centers; we will take care of you. Now you just devote the rest of your life to Krishna, chanting Hare Krishna and serving Krishna. Everything will be all right.’

“The registrar had come out to Juhu, and Mrs. Nair and Srila Prabhupada signed the documents. Then a big feast was served. Afterwards Srila Prabhupada leaned back on his asana and said, ‘It was a good fight. Someone should write a book about it.’ ”

Source : http://www.girirajswami.com/?p=11328

The Bhagavad-gita likens knowledge to a sword (jnana-asina). Its sharp edge can lop off our doubts and give birth to firm conviction. Yet, the acquisition of knowledge comes with a great responsibility. If one neglects to cultivate the appropriate devotional disposition, the sword of knowledge can actually be misused in one’s spiritual journey. Ancient sages therefore placed immense emphasis on the development of character, especially for those who were receiving the gift of wise words.

Knowledge without humility can give someone a falsely over-rated notion of their own spiritual status. Complacent and proud, their internal growth is stunted, leaving them highly susceptible to attacks of illusion. Knowledge without compassion and soft-heartedness can render one insensitive, condescending and judgmental. It can impair one’s vision of others, and block them from having the necessary discernment to mediate human relationships. Knowledge without a deep sense of selflessness can lead to exploitation, manipulation and deviation, creating a crisis of faith amongst unassuming followers. A leader is not ascertained simply by how much he knows, but by who he is. Knowledge without practical application can lead one into the deserts of dry philosophizing and mental gymnastics, falling way short of the incredible spiritual experiences that come from walking the talk. Krishna stresses that one who is actually in knowledge gives their heart and soul in the spirit of service. 

It was Socrates who said that real education is not about filling up a basket, but about rekindling a light from within. The sages who scribed so many verses and offered the world so much knowledge, repeatedly warned us not to simply read the books in a scholarly or academic way, but understand the spirit and call to action of the divine words. Srila Prabhupada repeatedly stressed that real education is character development. His name reminds us of the balance we have to strike – “Bhaktivedanta: knowledge with devotion.” I'm seeking the company of those who have perfectly married these principles, for I have neither. That’s the winning formula.

Source : http://sutapamonk.blogspot.in/2015/08/double-edged-sword.html

The International Society of Krishna Consciousness, better known as the Hare Krishna Movement, turned 50, last month. The Rising Sun has therefore decided to take a closer look at its achievements and the impact they have on society.

Residents have all seen devotees along the streets wearing a doti, sari, tilaka and chanting Hare Krishna with an assortment of instruments including the mrdanga and kartalas.

ISCKON has a sister organisation called Food For Life Global, which over a period of 50 years has distributed over three billion plates of vegetarian food. The food is said to be spiritual or karma-free, nourishing both the body and soul because it is first offered to Krishna (God). This is how the movement makes its contribution to curbing the poverty of the stomach, mind and the soul globally. In Durban alone, more than 10, 000 plates of food are distributed a day in schools, rural communities and to the homeless.

The main mission of the Hare Krishna is sharing for the betterment of society. Sharing their happiness with others via eatables, taking to the streets and chanting holy names of Krishna, which is always accompanied by dancing, this is activity called ‘Harinama Sankirtan’ or congregational chanting of the holy names. Fundamentally, the mission of the Hare Krishnas is to bring people closer to God.

Distribution of spiritual books is another critical element of ISKCON and in the 50 years that it has been around, the movement has distributed over 516 million books worldwide.

Founder-Acarya of ISKCON, Swami Prabhupada in this connection has said, “Books are the basis; purity is the force; preaching is the essence; utility is the principle.” Book distribution happens mostly on a one-on-one basis, where devotees take to the streets, malls, airports, people’s homes and concerts to share books with people for a small donation, to help print more books.

You can also find their books in book stores, online and in a ‘Smart-Box’. A Smart-Box is a portable book shelf with a donation slot usually kept in doctor’s offices and shops. These books carry the entire philosophy of the movement.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness which combats issues of physical, mental and spiritual starvation was legally founded on July 13 1966 by 70-year-old A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

In the spirit of service to God and all living entities and to celebrate the golden jubilee the movement has pledged to distribute 500, 000 books, 50 million plates of vegetarian sanctified food or ‘Krishna prasadam’ adding to the three billion already distributed since 1966, temples all over the world are also hosting Hari-Kirtan (chanting of the holy names) events such as the 50 hour Kirtan.

Source : http://risingsunchatsworth.co.za/67148/iskcon-celebrates-50-years-of-community-service/