When he was 19, Richard Slavin, a nice Jewish boy from the suburbs of Chicago, went backpacking in Europe for two months.

“Hey,” I told him. “I have a son about to do the same thing.”

“But,” Slavin added with a twinkle, “I never came back!”

With that he gave a hearty laugh as jolly a sound as the ice cream man’s bell. Pure joy. He could laugh now he was laughing now, in a conference room in Midtown, in town for a book tour because at 60-something and bald, he is no longer the wandering hippie of 1970. In fact, he is no longer even Richard Slavin. Today he is Radhanath Swami, one of the most prominent leaders of the Hare Krishnas.

The swami was dressed in coral-colored robes, as well as a coral sweatshirt that he took off in the warm corporate office. His assistant jumped up to fold it for him, but the swami spiritual leader to millions nonchalantly did it himself. This is not a guy who lives a Kardashian life. He’s a monk. He sleeps on the floor. He rises at 4 every morning for chanting and meditation and breakfast isn’t until 9!

So how does a suburban American kid end up living in India, leading a congregation that feeds 300,000 impoverished children a day, along with running a hospital, an orphanage, a handful of eco-villages, and about a dozen schools for the very poor? The swami smiled and raised his eyebrows as I asked. He looked as surprised as me.

And by the way, in between all these India duties, the swami travels the world to lecture at campuses across the states, including Google’s and Harvard’s, talking about things like spirituality and stress.

“I have to admit to them that swamis have as much stress as them,” he chuckled. “It’s just a matter of how you deal with it.”

The trek from footloose teen to spiritual leader is what his first book, “The Journey Home: Autobiography of an American Swami” was about. A bestseller. His latest book, “The Journey Within: Exploring the Path of Bhakti,” is about the spiritual lessons learned along the way.

The lessons did not come easily. After he landed in Europe, Slavin hitchhiked across the continent in search of truth.

“I was going to cathedrals and synagogues to study, because I really believed in the unity of all religions,” he recalls. He studied Islam in Turkey and Iran. By the time he got to India to study the religions there, “I became a very serious ascetic. I would never sleep inside any building, because I considered that too luxurious. So I slept under trees, or in caves.”

Now, readers, here I must confess something: This man grew up one suburb away from mine. He went to my rival high school and is just about 10 years older. When we discussed our favorite childhood haunts, he gleefully recalled the local pancake house and summers on Lake Michigan, though, “As a swami, I can’t tell you what we used to do when we’d sneak onto the beach.” Another laugh. The point is, he comes from a background very familiar to me. But…most of us did not go off and sleep in caves. How on earth did his parents react?

When he finally returned to America for the first time, he says, “It was a culture shock for me and a culture shock for them. My father and brother came to meet me at the airport. The only luggage I had was a begging bowl. They didn’t know what to think. But we adjusted to each other in a very sweet and wonderful way.”

That’s probably because the swami was not the caricature that many of us had (or even still have) of the Hare Krishnas lost souls in loose robes chanting in the streets and offering flowers. Cult members.

“In every religion there’s wacky people,” the swami said matter-of-factly.

Because the Hare Krishna religion was first established in America in 1966, right around the time of the counterculture, the two got entwined in the public mind. Lost souls did join. So what?

Hare Krishna is not an American fad. It’s an ancient Indian religion that says we are all one humans, animals, all of us who seek sustenance here on earth. And when we chant the name of Krishna God we get closer and closer to realizing that connectedness.

That doesn’t sound any dippier than going to church or temple. And if it makes people ready to build schools, respect nature, and provide for the very poor, more power to it and the former Richard Slavin.

(But if my son is reading this, please note: Do not stay away for 40 years!)

Lenore Skenazy is a public speaker who authored the book, and founded the blog/Twitter feed, Free-Range Kids (freerangekids.com).

Source: http://chelseanow.com/2016/05/suburb-fleeing-hippie-pivots-to-wisdom-penning-swami/

Dawn is yet to streak across the horizon but at 4.30 am at The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple at Juhu, the air is thick with the fragrance of flowers, burning incense sticks and the clash of cymbals and drums to the rhythmic loud chants of Hare Krishna, Hare Rama. There is a clutch of devotees who sway and clap their hands as they chant. As the day progresses, one sees silk clad women with diamonds twinkling on their noses and ears and some celebrities of the city joining in the chant during arati. It is not just the swish set that come to the temple at Juhu but also the poor who pay obeisance to the smiling gods.

ISKCON is famous for its vegetarian food which is also distributed free on special occasions. Last year ISKCON Juhu distributed more than 10 lakh plates of prasadam meal and 60 lakh cups of halva in and outside the temple premises. The prasadam meals are also distributed to the underprivileged during several festivals, as part of Anna Dan Sevainitiative during Makar Sankranti, at temple anniversary celebrations and other occasions.

"We are able to give free prasadam meals due to donations that we receive from devotees," says Mukund Madhav Das, vice president, ISKCON, Juhu. Some of its most celebrated devotees offer their services either through dance and music and funds thus raised are donated to the temple. There are generous donations too made by the devout who visit the temple regularly either through cash or kind or by paying for services such as feeding cows, for free meals for the needy, etc. The temple also raises funds through sale of religious books, its restaurant Govinda in the premises, snacks and bakery shop and gift shop.

Golden Jubilee celebrations

It is the golden jubilee year celebration of ISKCON temples or centres across the globe.  ISKCON, also known as the Hare Krishna movement, was founded in New York City by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in 1966. The Society's Mumbai center is celebrating its three-day golden jubilee this weekend (5 to 7 February).

Prabhupada was born Abhay Chandra De, who in 1932 became the disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. The Gaudiya Vaishnava Society, in recognition of De’s scholarship, bestowed on him the title of Bhaktivedanta -- meaning one who has realized that devotional service to the Supreme Lord is the end of all knowledge. Later, he was known throughout the world as AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

It was on Thakura’s instructions that Prabhupada went to the US in 1965 to propagate the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. “Prabhupada’s spiritual master wanted the Bhagavad Gita to be known to the world and not to be restricted to India and Hindus,” says Das.

Prabhupada founded ISKCON in 1966 and since then it has expanded to 600 centres across the globe.

The ISKCON Structure

The structure of the religious foundation follows the instructions laid down by Prabhupada. All ISKCON centres must fully comply with all local laws of governance that apply in whichever country they are located.

Each centre has to be self-sustaining. According to Prabhupada’s instructions, no funds received through donations, sale of books, restaurants or gifts and artefacts from one temple can be transferred to another. Each temple has to devise ways to raise funds. Hence the size of the temples depend on the donations from its patrons.

Financial irregularities are avoided through the water-tight structure that is followed at ISKCON, says Das. The day to day running of every temple is the sole responsibility of the temple president. He is responsible for all members who work or serve in the temple and is himself accountable to the local Governing Board Commission (GBC), which does not have much involvement in the day to day running of the temple. The local GBC is accountable to the central GBC.

There are 95,000 initiators (people who have been taken into the fold after being initiated by senior gurus/meditators) across the globe and over 10 lakh life membership holders. Life membership is given to donors, well-wishers and associates who want to listen to kirtans and satsangs.

Governing Body Commission

A group of senior devotees take decisions on ISKCON's policy matters. They form the governing body commission (GBC). The GBC consists of 35-40 members. Most of them are senior devotees who are chosen for their leadership skills or fundraising abilities and other such allied skills. No one member can claim to be the sole decision maker in the GBC. Decisions are arrived at by consensus based on the principles laid down by Prabhupada.

Praghosha Das, currently the president of ISKCON, in an email interview explains the structure of the Foundation.

"The GBC sets the policy and members act as overseers for all of ISKCON's activities and are responsible for all the 600 centres or temples. They are also the final arbiters on any and all issues that may need clarification and decision,” says Das.

To avoid financial irregularities, most temples have their own methods. At ISKCON Juhu, no petty cash is available on the premises. Every need of the temple is fulfilled through encashing cheques. The hundis or donation boxes are opened when they are full in the presence of the temple committee and also captured on CCTV screens. The cash is then deposited in the temple’s bank account. If gold or any ornaments or gifts in kind are donated to the temple, they are weighed (in case of gold and silver articles) and the value in current terms noted in a register. The items that are donated are deposited in lockers immediately.

“We ensure that temple accounts are regularly scrutinised by internal and external auditors,” says Madhav Das.

The expenses of the executive committee members of the GBC are taken care of by the Foundation. “There is a small annual budget for the Executive Committee of the GBC but individual GBC members have to fund their own expenses. Often that is done via help from the temples they oversee, as well as individual members who are inspired to help,” says Praghosha Das.

Members of each temple are provided maintenance by the temple itself through its own funds. As a general rule, unmarried members are provided their maintenance directly and serving married members via a stipend.

Divine intervention

Praghosha Das has an interesting response to the query as to what should ISKCON centres do in case of shortage of funds. “Some of the most exalted devotees of Krishna have commented on this topic; in essence their advice is that if you sincerely absorb yourself in spreading the message of devotion, the message of selfless service to Krishna, then resources will never be an issue. We would have numerous examples of temples seemingly struggling and under great financial pressure and then unexpectedly from out of nowhere donations come or some other means of funding manifests,” he says.

ISKCON has been mired in few cases of misappropriation of funds in the past at some of its centres. “The fundamental understanding of the devotees of Krishna is that everything belongs to Krishna. That is the main guiding force to ensure that all ISKCON members do not misuse the funds of the organisation, which are in effect Krishna's funds. In addition to that we have systems in place where all are accountable to a higher authority,” explains Praghosha Das.

Perhaps, the devotees have understood the real call of their inner conscience or as Madhav Das puts it succinctly, “We are not here as we failed in life. We are here because we have experienced life and were dissatisfied. Nothing is tempting about leading a religious life than to be disciplined and follow the teachings of the guru one has voluntarily chosen to follow.” Perhaps, that is true.

Source: http://www.firstpost.com/business/iskcon-at-50-how-indias-bhakti-movement-manages-its-finances-2614378.html

Professor Ravi M. Gupta (Radhika Ramana Das) is the newly appointed Charles Redd Chair of Religious Studies, and Director of the Religious Studies Program at Utah State University.

It’s a prestigious position that brings to mind a gruff, silver-bearded elder. But Radhika Ramana flips that idea on its head. At a youthful 34, he’s got a beaming smile of pearly whites and a full head of black hair. He’s also disarmingly unpretentious despite his astonishing academic journey.

Homeschooled by his mother Aruddha Dasi at his home in Boise, Idaho, Radhika followed a highly unconventional curriculum based mostly on Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam, from which he learned reading, writing, comprehension, grammar, and critical thinking skills.

It clearly worked. At 13, Radhika Ramana attended Boise State University. At 17, he received his Bachelor’s degree in philosophy and math. At 22, he completed his PhD at Oxford. Immediately after that, in 2005, he got his first teaching job. From there, it was moving up the ranks from assistant professor to associate professor to achieving tenure at the age of 29.

Now, as full professor, Radhika holds the highest rank possible in academics, signifying that he has developed an international reputation in his field of study, through his research, lectures, conference presentations and teaching.

Moreover, as Charles Redd Chair of Religious Studies he is also an an endowed chair in his field, an opportunity few in academia get. And as Director of Utah State University’s fast growing Religious Studies Program, he is responsible for developing it into the future.

Simply put, he’s ideally situated to make an impact.

Here’s the thing: he’s not alone. A consistently growing number of brilliant Vaishnava devotee religious studies scholars, specializing in their own tradition, are coming up through the ranks.

Along with early pioneers like Hridayananda Goswami (Howard Resnick), Garuda Das (Graham Schweig), and later senior devotees like Krishna Ksetra Swami (Kenneth Valpey), these new young wunderkinds bring the total to about two dozen Gaudiya Vaishnava scholars.

“And all of them are getting very good positions around the United States and across the world,” says Radhika Ramana. “It’s very, very exciting and heartening to see.”

This is key, because according to Radhika Ramana, it’s important to have both outsider and insider perspectives for a fully-developed picture on any tradition. And academic scholarship on Gaudiya Vaishnavism has been dominated almost exclusively by non-practioners. Until now.  

So what do these scholar-practioners bring? For one, they can dispel long-skewed perceptions. For instance, academic literature has always praised Gaudiya Vaishnavism founder Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as a great mystic who brought the emotional intensity within Krishna Bhakti to new heights. Which is true. But it has consistently left the Gaudiya tradition out of any descriptions of India’s intellectual heritage.

“This despite the fact that Gaudiya Vaishnavism’s 500-year history shows an incredibly high density of great philosophers, astute thinkers, and prolific writers and poets,” says Radhika Ramana.

Radhika himself began remedying this with his PhD thesis and 2007 book about the philosophy of one of Gaudiya Vaishnavism’s greatest thinkers, Jiva Goswami. Others have also made their own studies on towering figures of Vaishnava thought.

Next, scholar-practioners can bring to light great texts that have been ignored. Despite sister epics the Mahabharat and Ramayana being studied profusely in the academic world, the Srimad-Bhagavatam has been left by the wayside for over a century. So in 2013, Radhika Ramana, with Krishna Ksetra Swami, published “The Bhagavat Purana: Sacred Text and Living Tradition” with Columbia University Press. The book features chapters by various specialists demonstrating the Bhagavatam’s impact on numerous aspects of Indian and world history. And this October, a second book, “The Bhagavata Purana: Selected Readings” will follow.

“Both will be marketed as a pair for use in university classrooms,” Radhika says. “We feel that the time is ripe now for the Bhagavatam to be taken seriously in the academic world.”

All these foundational studies on Gaudiya Vaishnava subjects by devotee scholars are important, because as Radhika Ramana says, “When you produce a foundational study on a subject that hasn’t been looked at before, future studies will always refer to it as the basis.”

As well as shining a light on these gifts from the Gaudiya tradition, scholarship is also essential to the health of the tradition itself. One of the services it can provide in this regard is to study both the short term history (Prabhupada’s establishing it in the West) and the long-term (back to Chaitanya’s time and beyond) so as to better navigate problems already faced in the past.

Another service of scholarship is to identify how to keep the tradition both faithful to its roots, and relevant to today’s people. “We need to negotiate and be comfortable with both, “says Radhika Ramana. “And we need to realize that innovation is not the enemy of fidelity and vice versa – as Srila Prabhupada so expertly proved.”

There will always be a tug between relevancy and faithfulness in every world religion, Radhika Ramana says, but this is in fact a symptom of a healthy tradition.

“Without that tug, the religion will either become so mainstream that it loses its roots and withers away,” he explains. “Or so heavily stuck in the past, that no one can identify with it today, and it becomes inaccessible and irrelevant to people.”

With all these services and more being provided by Vaishnava practioner-scholars, Radhika Ramana is glad that his new position as full professor allows him to mentor new generations and ensure that Vaishnava scholarship continues to thrive. Because even a small group can make a major impact, he says.

“Scholarship is slow by nature, and its effects are not seen immediately,” he explains. “But once it’s developed, its effects are long-lasting and very powerful, changing the way the mainstream thinks on a fundamental level. Some of the biggest ideas that are now commonplace in the world, like the notion of equal rights for all human beings, began as ‘crazy ideas’ tossed around by thinkers.”

For his part, Radhika Ramana hopes to give the Vaishnava tradition ‘a voice and an active seat at the table’ when it comes to both public and academic intellectual discourse.

“For me, that would be a measure of success for the type of service that we do,” he says. 
Source:http://iskconnews.org/newly-appointed-professor-talks-scholarships-role-in-vaishnavism,5581/

Our Founder, Srila Prabhupada, said that the love a mother has for her child is the closest thing to pure love in this world. We will examine that love as it manifested in famous mothers in the Vedic tradition as well as how it still manifests today. From a Sunday lecture in ISKCON of DC

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=21442

Giriraj Swami read and spoke from Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.7.14

“When Krishna comes home from the pasturing grounds in the late afternoon, his body is sprinkled with the dust raised by the hooves of the cows and calves as they walk before him. The residents of Vrindavan see that Krishna’s beauty is enhanced by the dust and beads of perspiration that decorate His body. Every element accentuates Krishna’s beauty. Similarly, when devotees see Lord Nrsimhadeva splattered with the blood from Hiranyakasipu, they think that the drops of blood enhance Lord Nrsimahadeva’s beauty. The relationship between the devotees and the Lord is very beautiful. We can see from this incident how seriously the Lord takes an offense against His devotee.”

Nrsimha-caturdasi, Kirtan, Houston
Nrsimha-caturdasi, Talk, Houston 

Source:http://www.girirajswami.com/?p=11037

On Saturday, May 7, Radhanath Swami spoke before a capacity crowd at The Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. The Rubin Museum is dedicated to the preservation of the art and cultures of the Himalayas, India and neighboring regions. On the eve of the release of his upcoming book The Journey Within, Radhanath Swami was interviewed by yoga teacher and social activist, Dana Flynn on the topic of how to live spiritually through yoga in an increasingly materialistic and impersonal world.

Following the discussion Radhanath Swami took questions from the audience and then the speakers were joined onstage by Ananta Govinda Das, Acyuta Gopi and Govinda Jones, engaging the audience in an uplifting kirtan to conclude the event. One pleasant surprise was that an early shipment of copies of The Journey Within arrived and quickly sold out at the museum’s gift shop. After the talk Radhanath Swami met guests and signed books. Below are excerpts from the evening’s talk.

On Renunciation

I would like to give a little analogy which is from an ancient story.

There is the crane, which is a bird that stands on one leg in a stream of water and watches so many little fish that are swimming by. The crane continues to patiently stand there watching until finally a big fish swims by – and then he snaps it up. Now what does this mean?

If we want that higher, bigger thing in life we can’t be distracted by all the little things in life that will inevitable come. Dr. Cornel West, when I was sitting on the stage with him, used a beautiful example of how in this world we are constantly being bombarded with weapons of mass distraction.

And what is renunciation? Its not about getting proud and arrogant that “I can eat less than you”, or “I can sleep less than you”, or “I can be more celibate than you”. Real renunciation is becoming humble and giving up one’s false ego. And to not be distracted by all these little things can come into our life. Because most of the things we fuss over, crave for, and are in a state of disturbance and anxiety about are little things that are not really worth our time and energy. But when we are not focused on something bigger then inevitably the little distractions consume us.

So when we really focus on the higher meanings and purpose, the higher truths in life, and when we have good people there to help us to remain focused, we can live with integrity even despite the storms of temptations and fears. We can live with character. And we can live in a spirit of service to Krishna, to God and to each other and not be distracted by all these things.

And the Gita explains the way to protect ourselves from being distracted by all little things and thinking they are big things is to act on whats really important in our life, on our self realization. And we adjust all the little things and focus on the bigger issues. And that can be applied on so many levels. As a parent, a spiritual seeker, in our work place, to unite on the sacred issues that are always there.

I will give an example of a seed that later grew into a spiritual understanding. When I was about 8 years old I was sitting alone with my mother and she told me “Everyone loves your father and everyone loves your mother, but we don’t love each other. We are going to separate.” I was so hurt and ran off and hid somewhere. When my father came home my mother and father went to their bedroom and talked about what happened. And they said, “for the sake of our children we are going to make this work. We have so many little disturbances and problems but for a higher reason we are going to make this work.” And they did, and it wasn’t easy. I saw over the years, because they had a higher principle they were willing to adjust the little details. Afterwards they were so loyal and loving to each other, on such a wonderful level, that when my mother passed away they had just celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary.

From a spiritual prospective, when I came to Vrindavan and I learned about Krishna and I met my guru and found my spiritual path, I understood that to apply all of this on all levels of life is so important. Because whats really important and meaningful and purposeful and spiritual is what is going to eventually give us the deepest satisfaction.

On Practicing Spiritual Life in a Modern Urban Setting

Question: For one who can’t leave their corporate job or urban life or study in India, what do you think is the best practical advice is for someone to follow the spiritual path?

Answer: The spiritual path is not about changing our occupation or our dress or the location where we reside, its about changing our heart and through changing our heart, changing our prospective of the world.

Some principles in our tradition are very effective:

Satsang – to associate with people who help us to remain focused on these higher principles and who inspire us. Who help us to keep the compass of the choices we make in a direction in which we come closer to God and grow.

Sadhana – to put some time aside everyday, some very quality time to connect with our own being, our soul, with God and the peace and love that is within us. We chant God’s names through meditation, prayer, puja or some devotional activity. In the bhakti tradition, asana and pranayama, if they are focused in our consciousness as offerings of body, mind and soul to the Supreme, then they become bhakti too. So in that way, we tune into that grace within ourselves. Through that enlivening company, through that time with spiritual practice, then the wealth we receive there we apply to our life by living with character, morality and integrity by living in the spirit of service. And I have seen some of the most saintly people, who are CEO’s of corporations and I have seen saintly people who are monks too.

My guru Srila Prabhupada was living in New York City in 1966 and he was 70 years old then and his students were mainly teenagers in the beginning. One of his students took him for a walk and they came to a part of New York City where there was trash all over the streets and rats fighting over the trash. It really was pathetic scene. They were really ashamed and apologized. But he replied, “Don’t you see? New York City is the spiritual world, you just don’t have the eyes to see it.” Even when we see these difficulties, when we see how I can make a difference to these peoples lives, how I can have compassion, then we are seeing the spiritual world. And New York City has a lot of opportunities on so many levels. So if we have that mood of service and inner connection then whatever our profession and wherever we may be we can see the opportunity to express our love and that is where real happiness is, in the heart.

On Gurus

Question: I feel in todays world the concept of guru has vanished. Where have all the guru’s gone? There is the spiritual concept of a spiritual seeker finding a guru but I feel those shoes are empty. Who do we look to today to fill that void?

Answer: Ultimately God is the supreme guru and the guru’s of this world are humble messengers of that supreme guru. In the bhakti tradition the guru does not claim to be God but to be the representative who is helping to bring us to God by repeating God’s message especially through their example and words. In our tradition the concept of lineage is very important. And there is a simple saying that by the mercy of Krishna, or by the mercy of God, one gets a guru and by the mercy of guru one gets God. If we are sincere the Lord is within our hearts, then a divine power beyond ourselves makes a connection. Any time in world history God can make that connection.

Question: Sometimes it feels like there is a spiritual casualty that you are not really getting what you are seeking. Everyone is ready to take this journey within and willing to do the work but we can only go so far on our own and want someone to shine our light on our path.

Answer: I can speak from my own experience. I was seeking that light in so many ways and at a certain time in my spiritual evolution I understood how important it was to have a teacher and a path that I could really put my heart into. And when I met my guru Srila Prabhupada it was natural. I could feel his love for God and I could feel he could open my heart to receive God’s love. And the philosophy he spoke of was so inclusive and made so much sense. I wanted to follow and I wanted to assist. And that was my calling in life.

When we really have a connection, when we find teachers, when we find a community, when we find a path that we are confident will not make us a sectarian person but will actually open my heart to God’s love – when we experience that then we start to see the teachings of Krishna or God and our guru in so many people and so many incidents that happen. The Bible says, seek and ye shall find. Knock and the door will open. Whats really important is that we are sincerely seeking and then our beloved within our hearts will reveal that to us.

And in the Vedic context there are three principles, guru, sadhu and sastra. Guru means one who just is not a charismatic person, but a person who’s teachings are and behavior are exemplifying the conclusions of the sacred text as it has been understood and practiced by enlightened people throughout history. And those three are inseparable – the teachers, the holy text and the line of great people throughout history. When we find that harmony we can invest our faith and our trust.

On the Disheartening State of the World

Question: Growing closer to God and becoming more humble is imaginable to me, but when I look around us as a human race I have a question are we able to collectively do this and move forward?

Answer: From a spiritual prospective I would like to address your question and your genuine concern. There was a great saint, his name was Bhaktivinode Thakur, who lived in the latter part of the 19th century in Bengal. At the time that India was under British rule. He was a magistrate, a judge in the courtroom, and he had ten children. His wife was saintly just like him. Thousands of villagers, monks, British scholars, came for spiritual guidance from him because he was saintly and he cared so much. He was such a compassionate person. If he sentenced a person to prison, usually that person would thank him. “If you are telling me to do this then it must be the best thing.” That was what a caring and enlightened person he was.

He wrote something very important – that where there is the greatest need there is the greatest opportunity to serve.

So there is a lot of need in the world and humanity is fractured on most every level. In the name of a loving God there is so much hatred. In the name of service to the nation there is so much unnecessary political fighting and the people are the ones who are suffering. In the name of humanity a few people are getting richer, and more and more people are suffering poverty. Every living being is equally dependent on the gifts of Mother Earth and whenever one of us pollute her it is violence towards all living beings. So there are a lot of ecological problems and problems on every level. But as one famous person said, “Be the change you want to see in this world”. That is something you have the power to do. We may not have the power immediately to change the whole world, but we can change ourselves. If we can change ourselves and transform arrogance into humility, greed into generosity, indifference into compassion – if we can work in what little way we can, we can make a difference in the world. If we can inspire one person towards that spiritual awareness, its glorious! We should never be discouraged. And each one of us can begin with ourselves to try to do what we can genuinely. Then we are really part of make a beautiful difference in the world.

Photos by Maksim Brenner, Ananta Cuffee and Kaustubha Das

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=21454

Every conditioned soul wants to be special. Most souls in this world realize sooner or later that they are just one amongst millions and with no special attributes. They want to be heroes but are in fact quite ordinary. They rejoice in others’ heroic deeds secretly hoping to be in the heroes’ shoes someday. If the hero happens to be an acquaintance, their mind squirms in unexpressed envy. Even if a soul is relatively well-placed materially, he is painfully aware of others who are better placed. And those few who are indeed specially placed are acutely aware that their glory will be short lived. Craving for specialty is the cause of suffering.

The conditioned soul’s desire to be special and envy for those who are special is explained by Krishna (BG 7.27) thus:

iccha-dvena-samutthena dvandva-mohena bharata

sarva-bhutani sammohaà sarge yanti parantapa

O scion of Bharata, O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, bewildered by dualities arisen from desire and hate.

The soul’s home is the spiritual world where he blissfully serves Lord Krishna. But when the soul chooses to experience an independent existence, Krishna places him in the material world. This choice comprises the soul’s misuse of his Krishna-given minute free will. In such an independent existence the soul forgets his constitutional position of being a loving servant of Krishna. Furthermore, in the material world, the illusory energy of the Lord, Maya, rules. Maya causes the soul to experience the duality of desire and envy.

Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport: “The real constitutional position of the living entity is that of subordination to the Supreme Lord, who is pure knowledge. When one is deluded into separation from this pure knowledge, he becomes controlled by the illusory energy and cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The illusory energy is manifested in the duality of desire and hate. Due to desire and hate, the ignorant person wants to become one with the Supreme Lord and envies Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

The soul’s only fountainhead of happiness and satisfaction is service to Krishna. In the material world Krishna is lost to him and so the soul turns his attention toward himself. Earlier he was immersed in the ecstasy of loving Krishna, oblivious of himself; now, instead of Krishna, he himself becomes the center of his existence. Being special becomes his source of happiness and satisfaction. He desires to be special and envies those who are. This desire and envy culminate in the soul’s desire to become one with Lord and in envy for Him.

From Special to Sensual

A conditioned soul is sad when he thinks he is not special enough in terms of material distinction or influence. And when he starts thinking he is special due to his position in society, he soon realizes that many others are better placed. A thoughtful man realizes that to live a life of such perennial dissatisfaction is foolish. He seeks a way out in sense gratification. If I cannot have the egotistic satisfaction of being able to control people and things (siddhi), let me have the sensual satisfaction of enjoying life to the full (bhukti). He works hard, piously or otherwise, to earn means of sense gratification. Such fruitive work awards him only free passes to roam all over the universe. He keeps wandering all over the universe, sometimes in higher forms of life sometimes in lower, enjoying and suffering different grades of sense gratification and material tribulations based on the law of karma. A life of indulgence does not quench the wandering soul’s thirst for eternal happiness and satisfaction. Bhagavad Gita 13.22 says:

purunau prakati-stho hi bhuìkte prakati-jan guean

karaeaà guea-saìgo 'sya sad-asad-yoni-janmasu

The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species.

Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport: “… Due to his [the conditioned soul’s] desire to lord it over material nature [i.e. seek sense gratification], he is put into such undesirable circumstances. Under the influence of material desire, the entity is born sometimes as a demigod, sometimes as a man, sometimes as a beast, as a bird, as a worm, as an aquatic, as a saintly man, as a bug. This is going on. And in all cases the living entity thinks himself to be the master of his circumstances, yet he is under the influence of material nature.”

From Sensual to Non-Dual

The frustration arising from not being able to find satisfaction in the pursuit of material distinction and sense gratification makes the inquisitive soul look for spiritual alternatives. Krishna has designed the material world with exactly this outcome in mind. The material world is a playground for souls to enjoy the fulfilment of their material desires. At the same time, it presents enough tribulations for them to desire a way out (mukti). The frustrated soul reads that he is indeed an eternal spiritual soul and not the temporary material body he presently occupies. He reads that since matter and soul are mutually incompatible, seeking happiness in material sense enjoyment is the very source of his misery. Bhagavad Gita 5.22:

ye hi saàsparsa-ja bhoga duukha-yonaya eva te

ady-antavantau kaunteya na tenu ramate budhau

An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kunti, such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them.

Starting with this spiritual fundamental, the soul then starts training his mind in the doctrine of equanimity. He gives up all desire for sense gratification and tries to find satisfaction in the self alone (BG 2.55). In order to realize the soul, he trains himself to be equally disposed to all material varieties and dualities (BG 2.56). He acts with his senses only as much as needed to execute his obligatory duties, and not for sense gratification (BG 2.58). He sees all matter with an equal vision, and then sees all other souls with an equal vision too. (BG 14.24-25).

Such equanimity is the result of transcending the duality of material existence by realizing one’s identity as a spiritual spark having nothing to do with matter. An equipoised soul carries out his material duties without worrying about the results of his activities. He understands that his high and low position in the material world is merely a result of his past karma and that as such he is not the true cause of his high or low material position. His desire to be materially special disappears; he finds peace. Bhagavad Gita 2.71:

vihaya kaman yau sarvan pumaàs carati niuspahau

nirmamo nirahaìkarau sa santim adhigacchati

A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego—he alone can attain real peace.

From Non-Dual to Special

The cessation of material desires in the state of equanimity is not end of the spiritual journey; in fact it’s the beginning. Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport of the above Bhagavad Gita verse: “To become desireless means not to desire anything for sense gratification. In other words, desire for becoming Krishna conscious is actually desirelessness. To understand one's actual position as the eternal servitor of Krishna , without falsely claiming this material body to be oneself and without falsely claiming proprietorship over anything in the world, is the perfect stage of Krishna consciousness. One who is situated in this perfect stage knows that because Krishna is the proprietor of everything, everything must be used for the satisfaction of Krishna .”

While equanimity solves the problem of material duality, it might not solve the problem of false ego. The equipoised soul doesn’t care for material distinction. But if he’s not yet purified of the desire to be independent of Krishna, such a soul seeks to become one with Him. Thus he continues to envy the Lord by adamantly refusing to serve Him as a subordinate servant. He continues to want to be spiritually special and thinks he is already perfect. Not having taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord, he continues his wanderings in the material world. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.2.32:

ye 'nye 'ravindakna vimukta-maninas

tvayy asta-bhavad avisuddha-buddhayau

aruhya kacchreea paraà padaà tatau

patanty adho 'nadata-yunmad-aìghrayau

[Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahma and the other demigods said:] O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.

The soul wants to be special because that is his natural state. Every soul has a unique, and thus special, relationship with the Supreme Lord. In the spiritual world he serves the Lord in his own unique way, like no one else does, and feels ecstatically special all the while. Even in the conditioned state, every soul’s disposition to serve is unique, and thus special.

Even if one is not extraordinary, loving friends and relatives make one feel special. What then to speak of a soul knotted with the Lord in an eternal bond of ever increasing love? To reciprocate with a devotee’s love, Krishna makes that devotee feel most special. For example, when Krsna has food in the midst of his cowherd friends who sit all around him in circles, every cowherd boy thinks Krishna is looking only at him. Although each soul is constitutionally exactly same (a part and parcel of Krishna), and in that sense not unique or extraordinary, his existence is super-excellently special when united with the Lord.

The Bhagavad Gita takes the soul from equanimity to ecstasy in verse 18.54:

brahma-bhutau prasannatma na socati na kaìknati

samau sarvenu bhutenu mad-bhaktià labhate param

One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.

When one is situated in material equanimity, it’s time to start rendering pure devotional service to Krishna understanding that the soul is fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and therefore eternally a servant.

The stage of equanimity (brahma bhuta) takes one beyond material duality but only the path of pure devotional service cures the notion of the false ego that one can become as good as the Lord by becoming one with Him. Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport: “To the impersonalist, achieving the brahma-bhuta stage, becoming one with the Absolute, is the last word. But for the personalist, or pure devotee, one has to go still further, to become engaged in pure devotional service. This means that one who is engaged in pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord is already in a state of liberation, called brahma-bhuta [SB 4.30.20], oneness with the Absolute. Without being one with the Supreme, the Absolute, one cannot render service unto Him. In the absolute conception, there is no difference between the served and the servitor; yet the distinction is there, in a higher spiritual sense. … In that stage of existence [pure devotional service], the idea of becoming one with the Supreme Brahman and annihilating one's individuality becomes hellish, the idea of attaining the heavenly kingdom becomes phantasmagoria, and the senses are like serpents' teeth that are broken.”

The false ego is the rope which binds the conditioned soul to the material world. It makes the soul think himself as the center of his existence. Pure devotional service eradicates the false ego and thus truly stops the soul’s material existence. A pure devotee saturated with love for Krishna is so focused on service to Krishna that he becomes oblivious of himself; in other words, his false ego truly disappears. For him the problems arising from trying to be special, either materially or spiritually, don’t exist because he doesn’t want to be special; he is already brimming with spiritual joy. What’s more, he everlastingly experiences the most special existence of unadulterated love for Krishna - Krishna prem.

Yes, You are Special!

The conditioned soul’s quest for being special is a result of his original super-special position in the spiritual word. In the material world he seeks to be special at the egoistic level by trying to be materially distinct and influential - siddhi. Siddhi is difficult to obtain and so he immerses himself in sensual indulgence instead - bhukti. When even bhukti eludes him, he seems spiritual salvation – mukti. Mukti does not necessarily rectify the egoistic misconception of thinking oneself as being as good as the Lord. Thus he still continues his material wanderings.

Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu instructs Srila Rupa Goswami thus (CC Madhya 19.149):

krishna -bhakta—ninkama, ataeva ‘santa’

bhukti-mukti-siddhi-kami—sakali ‘asanta’

“Because a devotee of Lord Krishna is desireless, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers desire material enjoyment, jïanis desire liberation, and yogis desire material opulence; therefore they are all lusty and cannot be peaceful.

Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport: “The devotee of Lord Krishna has no desire other than serving Krishna . Even so-called liberated people are full of desires. Fruitive actors desire better living accommodations, and jïanis want to be one with the Supreme. Yogis desire material opulence, yogic perfections and magic. All of these nondevotees are lusty (kami). Because they desire something, they cannot have peace.”

Pure devotional alone reestablishes the soul in his true identity of being an eternal intensely loving servant of Krishna. That special existence is beyond words to describe; suffice it to say that the Supreme Lord personally goes out of His way to make the soul feel special – every moment. Need we say more?

Yes, you are special.

Source: http://thebandwagonofmoltengold.blogspot.in/2015/05/yes-you-are-special.html

Like any nice Jewish boy ought to, I decided to have lunch at a Hare Krishna temple.

Govinda’s Vegetarian Restaurant opened in 2007 in the basement of the ISKCON New York Hare Krishna temple at 305 Schemerhorn Street (just off Nevins Street) and it’s only open Monday through Friday from 12pm – 3:30pm.

“If you eat, healthy, good fresh home cooked food, you’re gonna feel happy and lighter and it’s gonna elevate your consciousness,” said Satya, who is both the manager and the chef.

I was surprised to learn that Govinda is much a chain or, as Satya put it, “like a franchise.” They have successful locations in Los Angeles, Tuscon, and in Hawaii as well as elsewhere around the world.

ISKCON New York opened Govinda’s in 2007 as a means of spreading their message and raising funds.

“Hare Krishnas are known for their food, fresh homemade, no preservatives, as healthy as possible,” said Satya.

The food is served cafeteria-style and seating is the same. The no-frills approach masks the many splendors of the meal. Depending on the number of items you get, it can run anywhere from $7 to $12 (cash only.) The menu is always vegetarian, as the name implies, and sometimes it’s vegan, but the emphasis is on whole ingredients and not things like isolated soy protein.

My tray was filled with nutloaf, mixed vegetables, black bean salad, roasted sweet potato, garden salad with tomato mustard seasoning, spinach rice, sundried tomato bread, and a cupcake.

The nutloaf was unlike any else I’d encountered anywhere. Made with cashews, brown rice and assorted sundries, it’s amazing. It’s nutty, as you’d expect, but also a sort of platonic ideal of filling, savory warmth. 

Satya said the recipe came from the devotee who runs the Govinda in Tuscon. I’d have traveled there for something this good.

The yellow split pea soup with okra also stood out, though not quite as far. It was light but hearty, strongly characterized by its eponymous ingredient and with just a hint of spice.

The bread was not as stellar as the standout nutloaf and soup. It was a bit dry, but I was assured that this was a one-off.

“It’s not our best day for bread. Once in a blue moon, I mess up. It’s usually really perfect. Today it wasn’t really perfect,” explained Satya.

Source: http://fortgreenefocus.com/blog/2016/05/11/govindas-vegetarian-seek-fill-fulfill/

ISKCON pins hopes on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Krishna temple in Moscow
Indiatimes.com (http://goo.gl/InVviV) Moscow, May 1 (IANS) 

It was in the forefront to stall a ban on the Hindu holy book, the Bhagavad Gita, in a Siberian city, but somewhat like the story of Lord Krishna, whose address at birth was said to be a gloomy dungeon in ancient Mathura, the address to Moscow’s only Krishna temple is in a basement in a rented building.

And quite like the story of persecution of Lord Krishna’s parents Devaki and Vasudev, the temple run by ISKCON’s Moscow chapter dedicated to the Hindu god, has had to be shifted to the makeshift subterranean abode, due to what is being perceived as sustained non-cooperation by the authorities as well as conservative religious groups, which have in the past, thwarted attempts to construct a temple on land officially allotted to the New York-founded society.

But for Sadhu Priya Das, who has been pursuing the issue for ISKCON in Moscow, the arrival of Narendra Modi as the Indian prime minister, who has already visited Russia twice since assuming office in 2014, could well be a catalyst in ensuring that a temple for Krishna comes alive in the land of the Kremlin.
“We are very hopeful that in the current tenure of Mr. Modi our temple will be built,” Das told this visiting IANS correspondent.
The history of the Hare Krishna movement’s efforts to build the temple appears as chequered as it seems mystifying.
The Hare Krishna movement was first legalized in the then Soviet Union 1988, after an initial spell of suspicion in the government establishment about the cult on account of its American lineage as well as unique methods of worship.

The real trouble however began in 2004, when its first and only temple located on the Begovaya avenue was demolished by the civic authorities on account of an urban development project. The Society was then awarded an alternative plot of land on the tony Leningradsky Prospekt, a move which saw strong protests from the conservative Russian Orthodox Church and was eventually stalled.An offer of another patch of land in the suburbs of Moscow was also withdrawn by the government just as construction of the temple was about to get under way.

“We have gone through a very long procedure for constructing the temple and finally the land was taken back by the government. Almost five years ago, we were promised another piece of land for the temple construction, but so far nothing has happened. The temple is currently located in a rented building in a basement,” Das said. The Krishna temple, according to ISKCON, would not just facilitate the religious needs of the 15,000-strong population of Indians and more than 25,000 ISKCON followers living in the Russian capital but also serve as a social and cultural centre for South Asians in general.
Apart from the Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government being at the helm in India, what has given a fresh lease of hope for ISKCON Moscow followers is the permission granted by the authorities in India to build the country’s first Russian Orthodox Church in the national capital New Delhi last year, following requests by the Russian embassy.

Many like Das are perhaps hoping that the Indian government is able to calibrate a diplomatic swap between a church for Christ in Delhi and a temple for Krishna in Moscow.
“If the government of India has approved the construction of the (Russian) Orthodox Church in India that is very good sign of our friendship and a good gesture. I am sure that a Hindu temple in Russia by ISKCON will soon be a reality,” Das said.

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=21424

Radha Kunda Seva - April 2016 Photos and Updates. 
We are excited to share photos with you of the progress on the building of Srila Prabhupada’s temple on the property adjacent to ours in Govardhan. The dome has appeared and is clearly visible from the Govardhana Parikrama path! Construction for the kitchen is scheduled to begin as soon as the temple is complete. 
If you’d like to be a part of Prasadam distribution in Radha Kunda, this is an excellent opportunity. More about the project at http://radharani.com/build-a-kitchen/
The service of cleaning and prasadam distribution in Radha Kunda and Govardhan is continuing despite these days of extreme heat and sporadic, extreme storms with baseball-sized hail.
And on this most auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya (the first day of Chandan Yatra), we want to express our humble gratitude for your support and prayers. Thank you! 
Please browse our latest photos and join our efforts by visiting www.radharani.com.
Your servants, Campakalata Devi dasi, Padma Gopi Devi dasi, Urmila Devi Dasi, and Mayapurcandra dasa.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/YJO4nI

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=21430

From Back to Godhead

By Uddhava Dasa

All conscious activity, whether in the course of duty or in defiance of duty depending upon the individual temperament is regulated by what Freud called the “pleasure principle.” Few will argue the fact that whatever action a living entity does, he does to produce a certain amount of pleasure in his life. With this in mind, we would like to consider what the highest form of pleasure the ultimate state of conscious existence may be.

From the teachings of Lord Krishna in The Bhagavad Gita As It Is, we learn that the relationship we have with Nature is maintained through the five senses of seeing, tasting, touching, smelling and hearing. This relationship is kept under control by the mind and intelligence, and it is kept in perpetual motion by desires for pleasure. This means that if one has a desire, say for a particular type of food, by his intelligence he can decide how to obtain that food, and through the mind one then sets his senses in motion to get the wanted morsel: the ears to hear of where it maybe, the nose to smell it, the eyes to see it, and the fingers to bring it to the mouth where the tongue can taste it. Doing this, one is satisfied for some time and finds himself in a state known as pleasure.

If, however, there is some desire which the senses are not able to obtain, or for some reason one’s surroundings cannot supply what one longs for, then one finds oneself in a state known as displeasure or misery. So, pleasure can be described as that condition where sense desire is fulfilled, and misery as one where it is not. It logically follows, then, that the highest state of pleasure is where the senses can be fully satisfied all the time.

For this state of pleasure to be obtained, two things are necessary a body or set of senses able to obtain the desire, and surroundings that can constantly supply what is desired. Man has always been working towards these two goals: to have a perfect body set in perfect surroundings. What keeps him working so hard in this direction, of course, is the fact that his present body and surroundings are incapable of producing for him a constant state of pleasure. We should now wonder why our bodies and environment cannot bring us this state.

The great minds of science teach us that everything in the universe is composed of units of energy which they call atoms. This is true of both our bodies and our surroundings. Biologists tell us that the cells in our bodies are always dying and that new cells are always being born to replace the ones that fail. In this way, all the cells in the body are replaced every seven years. This can be noticed as a baby turns into a young boy, who turns again into a young man. At the end of life this same person has the body of an old man, and soon after that, after death, there is no body left at all.

The environment of the living entities is made up of matter which is also changing. Man’s surroundings are his house, his clothes, his food, his associates, his job, his philosophy, his country and so on. A man may get some enjoyment from these objects, but what if his house burns down, he loses his job, he has no food, or some other equally depressing calamity occurs? Then he finds himself in a state of misery unless or until he can adjust to the circumstances.

Adjustment is the main business of the human being. To be in a state of pleasure he must constantly adjust to his own changing tastes as much as to his changing environment. Always his mind and body are changing and always his environment is changing. What chance, then, is there for him to ever find permanent pleasure in this world?

What naturally follows is for man to find an escape from this frustrating existence in one way or another. Contemporary society has often been described as a drug-addicted society. Millions of people wake up in the morning and reach instantly for a cigarette, go to the bathroom and take bromides to combat the effects of last night’s alcohol. Their breakfast consists of coffee and more cigarettes. At work on their coffee breaks more cigarette smoke enters their lungs. Lunch consists of plastic-wrapped sandwiches treated with at least one chemical preservative. At night one may relax with a nice drink of alcohol and more cigarettes or, as it is becoming more fashionable to do, a polite puff or two of marijuana. Occasionally the body reacts unfavorably to all these drugs, so we go to a doctor who prescribes more drugs to make us still more nervous.

Aside from these oral methods of forgetting the perpetual frustrations of the world, there are also mental pathways of escape such as the movies, literature, music and television.

This desire to escape from the frustrations of material existence is not a new or exclusive activity of modern civilized society. It is age old, as old as the material universe itself, for that is the basis of this frustration the incompatibility of the living soul in a world of dead matter, the machine of Nature.

Actually, today’s escapism is a perverted reflection of the first step back towards spiritual life. Disentanglement from mundane duality is called, in the teachings of Lord Krishna, “Nirvana.” A simple definition of Nirvana is a state free from suffering. This state is very inviting to the living entity because it offers, above all, peace. But we learn in The Bhagavad Gita that if one does not try to go further beyond Nirvana he misses the whole point of spiritual life.

When a living entity escapes from the sufferings of this world it is called Nirvana. When he works to go beyond Nirvana he is on the path to self realization; or in other words, understanding what his real, positive identity is.

As mentioned above, our connection with material Nature is through the five senses, the mind and intelligence. If we analyze, though, asking, What am I? we will come to some surprising revelations about the senses. Am I this hand ? No, because if this hand is cut off I remain. Am I this body? No, because this body is always changing, while I remain. As we go on in this way, we can discover that the mind is always changing in the form of changing tastes and impressions, and that intelligence changes because we learn to do things differently; but at every step, I my real self remain unaltered.

Eventually, by this process of reasoning, one can come to the conclusion that he is pure consciousness that does not change. We can tell that this consciousness does not change because always, at every step, we are wishing we had three abilities: to live forever, to know everything, and to always be happy. Our desire for these three things never really changes, and we exist as something conscious of the desire for these three items.

The material body cannot supply these three items; the mind cannot “think” one into eternal life, intelligence cannot construct any plan whereby one can live forever. The only reasonable conclusion is that I am consciousness, and that I am not sure of the exact nature of this consciousness.

Whenever there is a discussion about eternity, full knowledge and complete happiness, God automatically enters into the conversation. God is generally described as eternal, all-knowing and completely content One without a second. Because the living entity has a desire for these three properties, we can understand that there must be some relationship between himself and God.

In the Fifteenth Chapter of The Bhagavad Gita, the Lord speaks of the living being as a fractional part of His Own Self. If we can accept this teaching, then we can see that, since the living entity is part of God, the position of eternity, knowledge and happiness is constitutionally his. Still, the material body does not live forever, cannot know everything and is not always happy. Therefore, this material body cannot be accepted as the constitutional situation of the living entity, and this material world is not his real home. His real home is the perfect place and his real body is the perfect body.

The further teaching of Lord Krishna in The Gita, and of all the world’s great scriptural writings, is that we can be in that perfect place with that perfect body simply by becoming fully aware of our relationship with God. This awareness of God is called Krishna Consciousness or God consciousness. Within this process of developing total awareness, one must have active service, and that activity is the ultimate message and conclusion of all spiritual considerations, including this essay.

The highest pleasure of the living entity is to love God. All scriptures confirm this truth directly; In every holy book of the world there are passages where God instructs that the highest joy of life is to love Him, and this indicates that the Lord’s presentation of scripture to mankind is for the purpose of offering him lasting ultimate pleasure not out of need, because Krishna is the supreme independent Source of all being, but out of a desire to benefit the living entities whom He loves.

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=21432

The basic principle of the living condition is that we have a general propensity to love someone. No one can live without loving someone else. This propensity is present in every living being.

In the primary stage a child loves his parents, then his brothers and sisters, and as he daily grows up he begins to love his family, society, community, country, nation, or even the whole human society. But the loving propensity is not satisfied even by loving all human society; that loving propensity remains imperfectly fulfilled until we know who is the supreme beloved. Our love can be fully satisfied only when it is reposed in Krishna.

Our loving propensity expands just as a vibration of light or air expands, but we do not know where it ends.  Krishna Bhakti teaches us the science of loving every living entity perfectly by the easy method of loving Krishna. If we learn how to love Krishna, then it is very easy to immediately and simultaneously love every living being.

It is like pouring water on the root of a tree or supplying food to one’s stomach. The method of pouring water on the root of a tree or supplying foodstuffs to the stomach is universally scientific and practical, as every one of us has experienced. Everyone knows well that when we eat something the energy created by such action is immediately distributed throughout the whole body. Similarly, when we pour water on the root, the energy thus created is immediately distributed throughout the entirety of even the largest tree. It is not possible to water the tree part by part, nor is it possible to feed the different parts of the body separately.  Krishna Consciousness teaches us how to turn the one switch that will immediately brighten everything, everywhere. One who does not know this method is missing the point of life.

It is not presented to condemn any way of materialistic life, but the attempt is to give information to religionists, philosophers and people in general how to love Krishna. At the present moment we are inventing so many ways to utilize our propensity to love, but factually we are missing the real point: Krishna.

Missing Krishna means missing one’s self also. Real self-realization and realization of Krishna go together simultaneously just like seeing oneself in the morning means seeing the sunrise also; without seeing the sunshine no one can see himself. Similarly, unless one has realized Krishna there is no question of self-realization.

Source: http://iskconofdc.org/what-love-does/

Lord Nrsimhadev is vigna vinasa – the destroyer of all the obstacles on the devotional path. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has written these two books – the Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya, which describes to us the parikrama of Sri Dham Mayapur and then he wrote the Navadvipa-Bhava-Taranga which is a book that visits the same places as in the Navadvipa-Dhama-Mahatmya but this time, Srila Bhaktivinoda is not describing the place and what the place is dedicated to, this time he describes the inner experience that he has at the place. Therefore, it is called Navadvipa-Bhava-Taranga. Taranga means waves or the waves of bhava that is experienced in Navadvipa, the different emotional states!

So then he describes going to Nrsimha Pali also known as Nrsimha Tirtha, the place dedicated to Lord Nrsimhadev. Then Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura prays to Lord Nrsimhadev that he may take away all the obstacles on the devotional path so that he can become fully engaged in unalloyed devotional service to Radha and Krsna.

So in that way, our primary reason for worshipping Lord Nrsimhadev is not protection. Or at least not protection from outside dangers, not protection from all kinds of Hiranyakasipu’s who are living next door or wherever they are. Okay, maybe to an extent but this is secondary.

Primarily, we are trying to overcome the demoniac tendencies in ourselves and Lord Nrsimhadev as vigna vinasa, purifies us from this contamination and takes away all the obstacles. Sarva vigna vinasa, all the obstacles on the devotional path are being removed and that is our prayer, that is Prahlad’s prayer also which is very nice.

Source: https://www.kksblog.com/2016/05/prayers-to-nrsimhadev/

Direct Descendants of Sri Advaitacharya’s Lineage Make an Invaluable Donation to Bhaktivedanta Research Centre! 
On Feb 18, 2016 BRC was blessed by a generous donation of a
special collection of 40 rare manuscripts from the Sri M K Goswami family, who are directly descended from Sri Advaitacarya (17th generation.) Originally from Shantipur, they currently reside in
Bangalore.
This donation of very precious and rare Vaishnava manuscripts
included Govinda Lilamrita by Ragunath Bhatta Goswami, Padyavali of Rupa Goswami, Stavavali of Ragunath das Goswami, and complete manuscripts of Chaitanya Charitamrita on handmade
paper. They are in good to excellent condition.
This donation was given in memory of Sri Nanda Gopala Goswami
and Nirmalya Rani Goswami, his revered parents. After a nice visit
to the library, Mr. Goswami was extremely satisfied that he had
made a good decision to place his manuscripts in our care. “A great spiritual feeling was accrued after visiting the library,” he wrote in the guest book.
Read this and more in the latest Bhaktivedanta Research Centre’s newsletter: http://goo.gl/hVOE9z

Vasudeva Dasa: I come from Holland, which is a very rich country by material standards. However, unlike India, where the family ties are still strong, the family culture in the west is fast eroding. Youngsters move out of parents’ homes to enjoy unrestricted freedom, working hard to finance their studies and social life. I too followed this system during high school, and would study five days a week and then clean dishes at a hotel on weekends. I used the money buy objects of sense gratification. Gradually, however, the hard work, irregular lifestyle, and bad habits began to take a heavy toll over my health.
I remember one particular evening: I had been nearing the end of washing what seemed like a mountain of dishes, when the cleaner dumped another stack before me. I was dead tired, still I continued and managed to clean them by mid night. My body was in excruciating agony, but more work was pending. “Clean the floor!” the boss shouted. Wearily, I picked up the broom and the mop. By the time I finished, the clock showed 2 am.
After the work that night, while walking home I asked myself, “Is this what I want from my life?” All my pent up emotions became impossible to hold back anymore and I broke down right there in the street. I tried to look for a way out of my hopeless situation, but nothing appeared.
Life continued.
Some time later, I came in contact with the Hare Krsna devotees and visited the center at my town. I was completely mesmerized with what I saw. The Deities, the chanting, the dancing, the lectures, the love of the devotees, and above all the prasadam completely conquered my heart. I realized that Krsna consciousness was the thing missing in my life.
One day I decided to render some voluntary service in the temple. I approached a senior devotee and asked him, “Can I help in some service?” He smiled and took me to the kitchen and pointed to huge black bottomed cooking utensils. “Can you clean them?”
“Of course,” I replied. “I have enough training in this art!” I lunged at the pots and began to scrub them with all my might. I soaped, scrubbed, and washed them for hours and hours untill they were sparkling bright. Then I cleaned the entire kitchen. By the time I finished I had half expected to collapse with fatigue. Yet there was something strange going on. I was not feeling tired at all Instead I was feeling fresh; I could have washed pots for another six hours. I was in euphoria! I felt as if I was floating in air.
It was then that I realized that service to Lord Krsna is unlike serving any mundane materialistic master. By serving Lord Krsna we engage in the natural activity of soul, as an eternal servant of Lord Krsna. The pleasure that one achieves by serving Lord Krsna is beyond any sensory and mental experience and purely on the spiritual level. Krsna consciousness’ transcendental nature thus became a tangible reality which I could perceive and experience in simple day to day activities and all this was so blissful. I decided at that moment never again to leave the shelter of Lord Krsna.
-Vasudeva Dasa 

Source:http://m.dandavats.com/?p=21396

Jagadambika Devi: HIs Grace Shom Prabhu left the temple around 5:00 p.m. We had to wait until the police investigated, doctor signed off on Death Details, cremation place etc. At first the police would not let the devotees touch Shom’s body. They finally figured it out that there was no foul play. Apparently Shom Prabhu got up at 5:00 a.m. to bath and get dressed for his service. Then Anadi Das Prabhu, roommate, did not hear Shom leave by 6:00 a.m. yet, so he went to his room to check and he was face down on the bed. He was already dressed. So he must have left his body somewhere between 5 a.m. - 6 a.m.
Shom Prabhu’s body was in the house all day. As they took his body away by transport, the devotees were out chanting Hare Krsna to see him off. Then some of us went and opened all the temple doors outside so he could get one final darshan of Sri Sri Rukmini Dvarakadisa. The mortuary transport stopped in front of the temple so Shom Prabhu could say goodbye. I opened Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra’s doors. Other devotees opened the other Deity doors. His body was the color of Krsna. He must have seen Krsna. I’ve seen many dead bodies but have never seen anything like it. He was really blue and had a big smile on his face. He became blue so quickly. He must have had another seizure. He’s had them a lot lately.
All glories to Her Grace Kriya Shakti Mataji! She’s cool calm and amazing! She was with Anadi Das Prabhu and Shom Prabhu’s body all day, arranging everything. She went through Shom Prabhu’s phone and got some close relatives contact, contacted a mortuary, etc. to pick up Shom Prabhu’s body. Mother Kriya Shakti Mataji arranged all the details for Shom Prabhu’s body, garlands and all. His Grace Rabindranatha Das Prabhu, Head Pujari came also. Mother Kriya Shakti must be exhausted from such a long day. I notice whenever a devotee is in need she’s always there to help out. She did such an amazing service with this sudden passing. She even got Shom’s family to allow the devotees to do everything for Shom Prabhu’s body from cremating, etc. There will be a Memorial for Shom Prabhu later. I don’t think they need to do an autopsy since doctor signed off.
It’s times like this I’m so grateful to be around devotees like Mother Kriya Shakti, and all the New Dwaraka Devotees. Family always come together when needed. They are always there. All glories to His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada! Such an auspicious day to pass!
This is his facebook page, active until few days ago: https://goo.gl/K21942

On Saturday, May 5th, (check your calendar) we request all worldwide centers to observe the disappearance day of Sriman Jayananda das Brahmacari. This will be very auspicious for the world community of devotees, especially for 3 reasons.

Hare Krishna Vaishnavas,
Please accept my humble obeisances, and all glories to Srila Prabhupada.

On Saturday, May 5th, (check your calendar) we request all worldwide centers to observe the disappearance day of Sriman Jayananda das Brahmacari. This will be very auspicious for the world community of devotees, especially for 3 reasons.

There are 3 wonderful reasons for all Vaisnava communities to observe Jayananda day with enthusiastic kirtan and speaking or reading, and sumptuous feasting.

1) There are numerous testimonials from many senior disciples, in which they claim that Jayananda’s day is one of the most blissful of all observance days of the year. The readings and memories and kirtan are especially blissful, and especially the feast is very special. Everyone knows how Jayananda loved prasadam (which invariably comes out in the readings of his pastimes), and this Jayananda prasadam spirit permeates throughout the transcendental process of prasadam preparation and offering and honoring thereof, thus transcendentally infecting the cooks and pujaris and the devotees who honor the feast, and invariably everyone comments how special the feast is.
Most important, Srila Prabhupada wanted us to observe this day in honor of Jayananda. By the desire of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, we are observing this day as the disappearance of a great Vaishnava. As Srila Prabhupada said, “Everyone should follow the example of Jayananda. I am very proud that I had such a nice disciple. If possible Jayananda’s picture should be hung in the Ratha of Lord Jagannath, and in all of our temples a day may be set aside for holding a festival in his honor, just as we do on the disappearance day of the other great Vaishnavas.”

2) And even more important, the Lord considers the worship of His devotee to be better than direct worship of Himself. As Lord Krishna says in Srimad Bhagavatam-“My dear Srutadeva, you may therefore accept all these great saintly persons, brahmanas and sages as My bona fide representatives. By worshiping them faithfully, you will be worshiping Me more diligently. I consider worship of My devotees to be better than direct worship of Me. If someone attempts to worship Me directly without worshiping My devotees, I do not accept such worship, even though it may be presented with great opulence.” from Krishna Book, chapter 86.

3) Therefore it will be especially pleasing to Lord Nrsimghadeva to see that His devotee is nicely honored the day before His appearance day. It seems there is no coincidence that Jayananda’s Day falls the day before Lord Nrsimghadeva’s appearance day, as The Lord will be attentive as to how His devotee is honored the day before Himself. If there is some neglect in this matter, we cannot guarantee that Lord Nrsimghadeva will be very pleased by the worship on His appearance day. Therefore to insure the auspiciousness of the Lord’s pleasure and Srila Prabhupada’s pleasure, and the resultant happiness of all Vaisnavas, we humbly urge all devotees to nicely honor Jayananda’s day on Saturday, June the 5th with great enthusiasm.

Such a festival is called an utsava, just like we talk about utsaha, or enthusiasm. So utsava means a celebration or a day of celebration. Just like when we talk about krishnotkirtana-gana-nartana-parau, we talk about the utkirtana performed by the Six Goswamis, that means that their kirtana was very enthusiastically jumping up and down. So similarly, we perform utsava by having kirtana, and traditionally the senior Vaishnavas speak on the qualities of the departed Vaishnava, and then there’s a feast, an offering of prasadam in honor of that personality. (this passage is from Adi-kesava’s memories)

Devotees may enter the Jayananda Web site, at this address–http://www.jayanandathakur.com/ And copy some pastimes of Jayananda for devotees to read on Jayananda day.

We are producing a book on Jayananda soon to be printed, “The Beautiful Life of Jayananda Thakur,” about 180 pages, and it is going through the final edit and then going to the printer. Five devotee editors have done uttama service of editing the book, going the extra mile to make this book a pleasing offering to Jayananda and all the devotees. We especially appreciate the hard work of Sriman Dasarathasuta dasa. The author has some laxmi for the printing, but volunteer devotees can offer an interest-free loan, or donation, to increase the printing quality and quantity. Especially such an offer would be auspicious on Jayananda’s day, June the 5th. You may go to the web site for information on how to make such an offering.

Hope to see you on the 5th!

Hoping this meets you in blissful service, your servant, Visoka dasa.

Please be sure to visit: www.jayanandathakur.com 

Source:http://www.festivalofindia.org/?q=node/344

Bombay
5 May, 1977
77-05-05

My Dear Jayananda,
Please accept my blessings.
I am feeling very intensely your separation. In 1967 you joined me in San Francisco. You were driving my car and chanting Hare Krsna. You were the first man to give me some contribution ($5000) for printing my Bhagavad-gita. After that, you have rendered very favorable service to Krsna in different ways. I so hope at the time of your death you were remembering Krsna and as such, you have been promoted to the eternal association of Krsna. If not, if you had any tinge of material desire, you have gone to the celestial kingdom to live with the demigods for many thousands of years and enjoy the most opulent life of material existence. From there you can promote yourself to the spiritual world. But even if one fails to promote himself to the spiritual world, at that time he comes down again on the surface of this globe and takes birth in a big family like a yogis' or a brahmanas' or an aristocratic family, where there is again chance of reviving Krsna Consciousness. But as you were hearing Krsna-kirtana, I am sure that you were directly promoted to Krsna-loka.
janma karma ca me divyam
evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti man eti so' rjuna
[Bg. 4.9]
Krsna has done a great favor to you, not to continue your diseased body, and has given you a suitable place for your service. Thank you very much.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Letter to: Jayananda -- Bombay 5 May, 1977

Source:http://www.festivalofindia.org/?q=node/345

We read so many things on the internet, on TV, the news etc. Some are true, some are false. That which is false, we can outright reject it. The problem is the admixture information that is a cocktail of truth mixed with falsehood. Of course, any admixture automatically should be considered completely false provided we are able to verify its veracity. In reality, it is very difficult to verify falsified truths and it is these falsehoods in the garb of truths spread through mainstream media and the internet that is causing sectarianism in the world today. We have sectarianism in the name of religion, politics, country, sports, race, culture, caste etc etc.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that when we rise above the mundane truths and falsehoods and its admixtures (that arise from our desire to seek it or hate it), only, can we understand God. So it is important we do not spend too much time trying to support or reject fallible soldiers of today who promise a hopeful future. In the ordinary daily sense of things, we do the needful not getting too worked up about trying to make our world perfect but instead focus our energy internally trying to always remain in consciousness of Krishna or God under all circumstances. As we seek Krishna, we shall find Him.

Source:http://servantoftheservant-ananda.blogspot.in/2016/05/duality-of-truth-and-falsehood.html

om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri-gurave namah

When Srila Prabhupada was lecturing on the appearance day of Lord Nrsimhadev in Bombay, he was lecturing immediately after a play and he was glorifying Hiranyakasipu because the part was played so well. Then he explained more about the pastimes of Lord Nrsimhadev and at the end he said, “If I had more time, I would have spoken about the prayers of Prahlad.” These prayers of Prahlad were particular favourites of Srila Prabhupada and in a sense, the most important, because Prahlad is a devotee and we are following in his footsteps and are trying to be devotees of the Lord. Therefore, in these prayers, when Prahlad is praying from his position as a devotee, these are especially relevant for us. Of course, when we hear about Hiranyakasipu, we realize that there is a little Hiranyakasipu in us too! So every aspect of the pastime has its relevance but still, because Prahlad is a devotee, we want to give some special attention to his words.

So, I shall start with a very short introduction. The situation was that Lord Nrsimhadev´s anger had been aroused by Hiranyakasipu. Lord Nrsimhadev’s anger was so extreme and so strong that it was still raging even after Hiranyakasipu had been killed. This whole pastime took place in the celestial regions and the demigods who were present felt the incredible, overwhelming anger! Due to the heat of that anger, they felt thrown back and they were just overwhelmed by fear and by no means could they go near the Lord. Even Laxmi Devi did not dare go near the Lord but for another reason. Laxmi Devi had never seen this form of the Lord and because Her chastity is to the Lord Visnu, She had some doubt whether She was really dealing with Lord Visnu. So, even Laxmi did not appear before the Lord. No one could. Lord Brahma could not, Lord Siva could not. None of the demigods could possibly go near the Lord!

So Lord Brahma pushed Prahlad forward and said, “Well, He appeared because of you, so you go and pacify Him!” Well, it does not look very heroic when you shove a five year-old boy forward like, “You go and deal with Him!” (Laughter)

No, we should not take it in that way, we should see that Lord Brahma is most intelligent and therefore very deeply analysed the situation and also realized that Prahlad is not just a five-year-old boy, he is extremely powerful – nothing could kill him, nothing could possibly kill Prahlad! So many attempts were made to kill him but nothing worked.

Then the Lord benedicted Prahlad and placed His lotus hand – I guess it is a hand or transcendental paws or whatever it was. He placed His hand on the head of Prahlad and then, it is said that Prahlad was purified, further purified from any possible influence of his demoniac birth and subsequently Prahlad started to offer prayers.

So after having offered various prayers, Prahlad comes to this prayer that I chose, (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.11)

naivātmanaḥ prabhur ayaṁ nija-lābha-pūrṇo
mānaṁ janād aviduṣaḥ karuṇo vṛṇīte
yad yaj jano bhagavate vidadhīta mānaṁ
tac cātmane prati-mukhasya yathā mukha-śrīḥ

Translation: The Supreme Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is always fully satisfied in Himself. Therefore when something is offered to Him, the offering, by the Lord’s mercy, is for the benefit of the devotee, for the Lord does not need service from anyone. To give an example, if one’s face is decorated, the reflection of one’s face in a mirror is also seen to be decorated.

And I will read Srila Prabhupada’s purport which is not so long:

In bhakti-yoga it is recommended that a devotee follow nine principles; śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam/ arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam (SB 7.5.23). This service of glorifying the Lord by hearing, chanting and so on is not, of course, meant for the benefit of the Lord; this devotional service is recommended for the benefit of the devotee. The Lord is always glorious, whether the devotee glorifies Him or not, but if the devotee engages in glorifying the Lord, the devotee himself automatically becomes glorious. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam (Siksastakam 1). By glorifying the Lord constantly, the living entity becomes purified in the core of his heart, and thus he can understand that he does not belong to the material world but is a spirit soul whose actual activity is to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness so that he may become free from the material clutches. Thus the blazing fire of material existence is immediately extinguished (bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇam)…

So to comment a little bit… I found this quite important that the Lord does not need our glorification, especially because we are members of the sankirtan movement which is a movement dedicated to constant glorification of the Supreme Lord. Sometimes the question is raised, “But why does the Lord need to be glorified all the time? Is He enjoying this to hear His own glory? Is it almost like vanity? What is this quality in the Lord that He likes to be glorified and that we have to chant all His glories all the time? Why? What is this in the Supreme Lord?”

But from this verse, we see what the key is to the entire glorification of the Supreme Lord because Prahlad makes it very clear. Now Prahlad, as Srila Prabhupada states, is one of themahajans (Srimad Bhagavatam 6.3.20).

svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ, kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ

Prahlad Maharaj is one of the twelve mahajans, one of the authorities, therefore whatever Prahlad speaks is to be taken as authorized instruction. And Prahlad is stating that the Supreme Lord is atmarama, He is satisfied within the self, He does not need our glorification but the amazing thing is that by glorifying the Lord, the person who glorifies Him is purified. Just as when we decorate our face and when we look at our reflection, it is also decorated. So when we decorate the Lord in glorification, we ourselves become glorified and purified. As it is said in the Caitanya Caritamrta, Krishnadas Kaviraj Goswami says (CC Madhya 22.75) sarva mahā-guṇa-gaṇa vaiṣṇava-śarīre, and then it says kṛṣṇa-bhakte kṛṣṇera guṇa sakali.

He says that all the good qualities of Krsna will manifest within a vaisnava. So it is very interesting that by serving Krsna, the vaisnava gets the qualities of Krsna. The entire glorification of the Lord is actually decorating ourselves. Although we offer Him this praise and endless glorification, our own glories are increasing. And that is a  very important point made by Prahlad which really struck me very much.

Then I would like to go to one more prayer of Prahlad and then I will end, (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.15)

nāhaṁ bibhemy ajita te ’tibhayānakāsya-
jihvārka-netra-bhrukuṭī-rabhasogra-daṁṣṭrāt
āntra-srajaḥ-kṣataja-keśara-śaṅku-karṇān
nirhrāda-bhīta-digibhād ari-bhin-nakhāgrāt

Translation: My Lord, who are never conquered by anyone, I am certainly not afraid of Your ferocious mouth and tongue, Your eyes bright like the sun or Your frowning eyebrows. I do not fear Your sharp, pinching teeth, Your garland of intestines, Your mane soaked with blood, or Your high, wedgelike ears. Nor do I fear Your tumultuous roaring, which makes elephants flee to distant places, or Your nails, which are meant to kill Your enemies…

So throughout scripture, Lord Nrsimhadev is described as frightening, like in Nrsimha Tapani Upanisad, He is called bhisana or very frightening appearance. But the frightening appearance of the Lord is not at all frightening for the devotee, not frightening for Prahlad nor for the devotee because as Srila Prabhupada explains, a lion is very fearsome to all animals but not to his own cubs, right!

His own cubs are not at all afraid of the lion because the lion is their protector, so rather than being afraid, they feel very well-protected. Just as children like to say, “My father is a policeman,” or something like that, just to scare off other kids, “You can’t do anything to me. My father…” So when your father and protector is Nrsimhadev, then one is very comfortable. So in this way, the devotees are rather very comfortable, very happily discussing the intestines of Hiranyakasipu hanging as a garland around the neck of the Lord…

Srila Prabhupada says, “Prahlad stands next to the killer of his father and he has a garland ready. He wants to garland the killer of his father.” It is very transcendental and quite difficult to understand for the materialists. Sometimes people come into our temples and they see the painting of Hiranyakasipu and they see it for what it is and they say, “What is this?” And the devotees say, “Oh, it’s our Lord Nrsimhadev.” Because we see this all as the great mercy of the Lord, who is so affectionate, so much full of love towards His devotees that He will not tolerate, not tolerate any violence towards His devotees and thus the devotees, by worshiping Lord Nrsimhadev, become fearless.

Bahir nrisimho hridaye nrisimho, He is everywhere and outside of us is Lord Nrsimhadev, the Lord is in the heart. Yato yato yami tato nrisimho, everywhere we are Lord Nrsimhadev is there. In this way, we are feeling very safe and very happy to commemorate this pastime with all its bloody descriptions. I´ll end here. Thank you very much!

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! 

Source:https://www.kksblog.com/2016/05/the-prayers-of-prahlad-2/