By Dwarka Vasini Devi Dasi

The Lake shore city of Kenya –Kisumu, celebrated its annual Rath Yatra on the 18th of July, coinciding with the Puri Rath Yatra, and IDD- UL-FTR. Taking advantage of the auspicious date, the Kisumu devotees organized the festival in less than a week.

127 devotees travelled from the capital city Nairobi covering a total distance of approx.355kms to participate in the event. Kisumu devotees are known for their hospitality and very delicious Prasadam that was served three times a day at the temple premises to everyone who was present days before the festival started and after as well.

Unlike other years, ISKCON KISUMU changed the Rath Yatra route this year, making it longer so that the Their Lordships Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhdra would get to go to every part of the city.

Starting from the temple the Yatra took off with loud Kirtan and dancing heading towards the city center, passing through inquisitive onlookers who were handed BBTAfrica pamphlets and Srila Prabhupada’s books. To the surprise of the devotees, most wananchi (members of public) were very enthusiastic in getting the books and asked for more copies. A total of250 books were distributed along with 500 pamphlets which covered various topics from Karma, Reincarnation, vegetarianism and chanting the Holy names.

As the country was celebrating IDD- UL-FTR, most shops and businesses were closed in the city centre but there were crowds of people on both sides watching the festival from the streets.

Kisumu port was founded in 1901 as the main inland terminal of the Uganda Railways and named Port Florence. Although trade stagnated in the 1980s and 1990s, it is again growing around oil exports. Kisumu literally means a place of barter trade “sumo”.

Having a small congregation, ISKCON Kisumu has friendly ties with other Hindu temples like the Swaminarayan, Sikhs e.t.c. When the festival passed through the other temples, the congregation members of the particular temple showered flowers on the deities as well as devotees and cheered them on, while others joined the devotees in pulling the Lords Chariot.

The festival covered a distance of 7kms, and took approximately 5hours to reach its destination, which was also the point of start ISKCON Kisumu temple, where a very lavish Prasadam was served to everyone, while kirtana continued in the temple hall in front of the beautiful deities Sri Sri Radha Madana Mohana.

By Rohininandana dasa

Woke up again with barely any hearing (my Ménière fluctuating), so had to skip as usual the SB-lecture here in rural Almviks gard, ISKCON farming community, by Hari Sauri Prabhu (during our yearly Bhakti Sangam festival) which I was planning to attend. Therefore also no audible chanting today, had to rely on mind-chanting, which I am far, far from perfection yet.

Was serving the cows and devotees in the morning, hay to the cows, breakfast prasadam to the devotees.

Asked the glorious Danish bookdistributor Janardana Prabhu if he had a place in his car for me to the yearly Maha-Harinam (this year 2015, July 19) which was to start at 12:30 in Stockholm. He said “Yes, and we go at 10:30″. I asked “Why so early?”

Janardana said “We will distribute books (a group with Mahabhavi Prabhu, Raman Vanmali Prabhu, Amarendra Prabhu and other sankirtan-heroes), and we will start an hour before the Harinam starts. Do you want to distribute books also?”

I thought for myself “No hearing, what´s the use? But… why not try? Surrounded by almost 100 chanting vaisnavas and many book-distributors, maybe there is some mercy to get?” Suddenly a strong desire emerged in my heart so I said enthusiastically “Yes, let´s try!”

Ran home after the breakfast-serving, grabbed my old brown sankirtan-bag from the 90´s, packed a banana-box with all the distribution books left at home, 25 Maha-books (actually 28, but 3 I gave to a Danish devotee for distribution).

I don´t know why I took them all, because when I distribute in devotee-outfit, with a lot of people around me, very shy, inhibiting for me, and in Stockholm, never liked distribute in big passionate cities, it should have sufficed with maybe 10 books.

Sat waiting on the banana box for the sankirtan-car at the crossroads in Almvik near the mailboxes, waiting and waiting… and when the time was almost 11:00, Tribhanga Sundara Prabhu passed by and said jokingly “This is not a train-station, there ain´t gonna come any trains to pick you up”. I joked back and said “Maybe you can order a helicopter for me (112), because otherwise I think I will miss out the book distribution today with all my heroes”.

Then by Krishna´s mercy came bhakta Sergei Prabhu with his wife Shyama Kishori devi dasi driving out of Almvik with their car and they looked at me with compassion in my desperate situation and asked me if I needed a lift. Yes I said expectantly, and asked “Do you go to Stockholm?” They said “No, but we can drop you at Järna train station”. But when they saw in the timetable that there was not going any train for long time from Järna to Stockholm, they generously drove me all the way to Södertälje train station, so I could catch a train at 11:30. Thank you so much!

Arrived in Stockholm at 12:15 and at Åhléns just before 12:30, and there were only 3-4 devotees standing there by then, amongst them Prahlad Prabhu, which I took as a good sign, because when we once were distributing books together in Småland for a few days the books went out like anything.

About 12:45 the book distribution group from Almvik came, and they said that they had been looking for me for quite some time in Almvik, and I said that I had been waiting for them for quite some time. I speculated they had left earlier and therefore took a lift, so unfortunately I missed their association from Almvik to Stockholm. Felt so joyful with the very nice Harinam now going on (sweet melodies) and seeing so many book distributors around me, also Dharmaharmya Prabhu, blessing me with a hug.

Felt like back in the 80´s, with the famous extended Christmas Maha-Marathon in December 1984 – January 1985 (my first Marathon, book distribution my full-time service 1984-2000), when the whole Swedish yatra went out with books, with at least 10 book distributors each day just along Drottninggatan in Stockholm. Nothing beats the feeling of being surrounded by book distributors in every direction you look.

And yes, I got some special mercy today, the books went out like never before in Stockholm, and people gave one big donation after the other. Almost everyone whom I presented with Srila Prabhupadas Srimad Bhagavatams and Bhagavad-gitas bought books (one excited Muslim lady who was following and filming the procession for a long time I gave a book for free since she did not have any money), and by Krishna´s kind arrangement all books were distributed in 1 ½ hour, so I could join the blissful Harinam party for the last 1 ½ hour and just sing and dance. So the Harinam lasted for 3 long hours this year!

My hearing changed a bit to the better during the Sankirtan, so I could hear the people passably (with the help of hearing aids) while distributing books and the Hare Krishna-mantra while taking part
in the Harinam. I was completely blissed out.

I just said to people, “I am coming from… Hare Krishna! Do you like happy surprises?” And then handed out Krishna and Prabhupada into their hands, and a little philosophy into their ears, and they seemed to be so happy, especially when accompanied with the Hare Krishna-mantra pouring into their souls from His Holiness Bhakti Bringha Govinda Swami, Keshava Prabhu and all the other devotees in the Harinam party.

In the end I asked everyone, “Do you want to come back to this world after you leave your body or to go to a better world?” Their minds goes full spin on that, so I help them out, “To a better world of course?” “Yes”, they say then, after finding it logical, and then I end with, “This book is all about the better world”.

At Gamla Stan at one place we had a ring of devotees singing, with our devoted Harinam-general Nataraja Prabhu inviting people inside the ring to dance and sing to their hearts delight, and swinging people in the air in such a spectacular way, that making a trip to Gröna Lund (amusement park) would be pointless. People came out from the restaurants and shops along the street to partake, by clapping their hands, jumping and smiling. It was joy through and through.

All these nectarian episodes were filmed by Pitambara Prabhu, who made an 2 ½ hour long Harinam-documentary which is planned to be released on a DVD.

A few amazing things happened during the book distribution, things which only happen when one is out of the mental platform, when the mind is not in between you and the person you meet. For example, there were two boys who bought books, they said they were from Dalarna County, and without any thinking I just exclaimed, “From Avesta?” “Yes”, they said, completely astonished.

There was a living statue standing in Gamla Stan, with outstretched arms with slighly bent fingers in a graspable position. It looked so inviting, as if something was missing there, so I got inspired, couldn´t resist to place a Srimad Bhagavatam in the hands of her. Paramesvari devi dasi helped me with this delicate task.

The most astounding thing happened when I met the very last person, an extremely nice and humble boy from Norrbotten (you meet such persons maybe once a year) who bought the last 3 books I had with me. We went into the grocery store Konsum at Järntorget, because we didn´t find any cash dispenser outside, so he got cash from the cashier, and gave me 200 kronor and asked if I also wanted something from the shop. I said I just need some dextrose, so I don´t need to risk falling into an insulin coma when the blood sugar goes too low.

When we came out from the shop, I suddenly felt the urge from inside to tell him how old he is, so I looked him straight in the eyes and said, “You are 22 years old, aren´t you?” “Yes”, he said, “How did you know that?”. And then I said, “You´ve been studying philosophy in school, haven´t you?” (very few Swedes study philosophy) “Yes”, he said, now even more astonished.

Then I said to him, “Knowledge comes from different sources, one such is from God inside us, and He guides us, and now He has guided me to you, because now the time is ripe for you to start your spiritual journey back home to God”. Then I shook hands with him and his meek girlfriend and wished them good luck.

Harinam Sankirtan yajna ki jaya!
Vaisnava association ki jaya!

Your servant,
Rohininandana dasa

By Devaki Devi Dasi

Ukraine is certainly one of the most dynamic preaching fields in this world. Over the last fifteen years I have been giving the yatra of Kharkov a lot of attention – we have so many sincere and sweet devotees here, who deserve all the care and encouragement they can get.
Even though Kharkov is in the very East of Ukraine – only 180 km’s away from the war zone and 60 km’s from the Russian border, nevertheless life here is basically going on as usual. The only noticable effect of the war is the bad economy – a huge inflation with the Euro being 25 Hgr’s now, whereas it was 8 Hgr’s last year. Prices are constantly increasing, but wages remaining the same. The gas for heating has increased six times in comparison to last year – people don’t know how to survive the next winter. Also our devotees are struggling, and we are planning to switch over the temple heating system from gas to wood….

Especially in such difficult times the devotees need association and encouragement. Naturally, foreign preachers are not so eager to visit this part of Ukraine at the moment, being afraid of instability, crime and violence.

We had scheduled a four-day Holy Name Retreat at the end of June. Like two years ago, we rented the same holiday camp 45 km’s outside of the city. Around one hundred devotees participated – many young devotees who had taken up the process of devotional service over the last two years. Also senior devotees attended the retreat, welcoming it as a wonderful opportunity to go into seclusion for four days and polish up their chanting habits in order to ongoingly deepen their relationship with the holy name.

The atmosphere was sweet and harmonious, and devotees gained valuable insights into deeper levels of chanting – in japa aswell as in kirtan. One day of mauna vrata helped us to become more introspective and do some internal work on our hearts. The holy name carries an echo called dvani, and even after chanting this echo still affects our heart. However, what immediately destroys this transcendental echo is unnecessary talk, or prajalpa. And little do we realize how much of our daily talking is unnecessary! Prajalpa immediately switches on the mundane mind, whereas the holy name stops the mind from rambling on and on.
As we know, overeating creates toxins within our gross body, and thus it is healthy to fast sometimes – simply in order to give the body a detoxifying break. In the same way, unnecessary talk creates toxins within our subtle body, especially the mind, and thus it is very beneficial to observe a little mauna vrata sometimes – simply in order to give the subtle body a detoxifying break!

Sometimes on such retreats the widely discussed question arises how we should chant – Hare Rama or Hare Ramo? In this regard it is interesting to note that in Bengali language the ‘a’ is often pronounced as ‘o’. In Bangladesh the devotees very commonly spell my name as ‘Deboki’, and they also pronounce it in this way. And of course they also pronounce the maha mantra as ‘Hore Ramo’. It is simply a linguistic matter. And when we hear German or Chinese devotees chant the maha mantra, it again sounds completely different. Infact, when we learn to speak as a young child the palate within our mouth even develops differently, according to our language. So obviously we would not do right by telling the Bengali devotees that they have to change their chanting now and cannot chant ‘Hore Ramo’ any longer.

However, what will ruin our movement is the tendency of introducing new fashions, especially in regards to chanting the holy name. Once we get on deeper levels of chanting we will feel an ever increasing satisfaction. We will no longer feel the need to introduce new fashions – Radhe Radhe Syam Syam, or Hare Ramo, or whatever it may be. The mundane senses always demand a new kind of stimulation and satisfaction. And if this tendency enters our chanting, then it will remain on an external level. We will not be able to receive the ultimate benefits which the chanting of the holy name can give. We will fall victim to this most dangerous mentality of thinking we have to come up with newer and newer ideas and practices, which will eventually water down the process of bhakti. Srila Prabhupada was repeatedly warning us of this tendency. And it is exactly this mentality, which will ruin our movement….

For further information please visit www.theholynameretreat.net

Your servant, Devaki dd

By Prema Vilasa Dasa

A doctor in residency finds that the key to fulfilling the great American dream is not what he expected.

My alarm goes off at six thirty. It’s Sunday morning. I take a shower, put on my dhoti, kurta, and tilaka, and after chanting the Gayatri mantra drive to the temple, just a few blocks away.

The devotees are chanting the Brahma-samhita when I arrive. I join them until it’s time to cook Krishna’s breakfast, a service I have done for nine years now. I make split mung dal, kichari, and papadam, complemented with a fresh salad of seasonal fruit in organic yogurt.

After preparing breakfast, leading Srila Prabhupada’s Guru-puja kirtana, attending the shringara darshana (viewing the deities after Their dressing), and taking part in the group reading of Bhagavad-gita, I sit down with the devotees for honoring breakfast prasada. I then clean the kitchen, chant japa in front of the deities, and perform some weekly tasks for the temple, like sorting mail and organizing devotee schedules.

In the evening I take part in the Sunday Feast program, sing and dance for the pleasure of the deities, and speak with guests. Then my wife and I go for a long drive to connect, catch up, and close the week. I feel blissful here, serving Sri Sri Radha-Natabara in Columbus, Ohio, but this hasn’t always been a typical Sunday for me. Sometimes I wonder, How did I get to this point?

A Temple Nearby

I came to the United States in September of 2000 to pursue the great American dream. I was twenty-three, had just finished medical school in India, and had secured a residency spot with The Ohio State University Medical Center, one of the top internal medicine residency programs in the country. My apartment was but a few blocks away from the medical center, which I soon discovered was just across the street from an ISKCON temple.

During my residency, I started visiting the temple regularly for pious association, prasada, and some peace from a hectic life of training. The devotees were nice; they never “preached” to me but always gave me prasada and encouraged me to join the kirtanas. Over time, I made friends with lots of devotees and slowly started relishing going to the temple.

Then, in May 2003, something special happened. I overheard devotees talking about an upcoming festival at New Vrindavan, the ISKCON farm community in West Virginia. The festival had an alluring title: “The Festival of Inspiration.” They invited me to join them, but the festival dates conflicted with my planned visit to a high school friend living in New York City.

My friend, a twenty-five-year-old multimillionaire who had amassed his fortune dealing in Belgian and South African diamonds, lived in an apartment he owned on Park Avenue in Manhattan. We spent the first part of the week drinking at all the expensive bars and eating at gourmet restaurants. But Thursday morning he received a call and had to leave town on urgent business.

All alone, I began driving back to Columbus. On the road, I suddenly remembered the devotees talking about the festival in New Vrindavan, which was on the way back. I decided to check it out.

The next three days were the happiest of my life. I attended the morning programs, feasted on prasada, met many inspiring devotee exemplars like Peter Burwash, Yajna Purusha Dasa, His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami, and His Holiness Radhanath Swami, and danced in the kirtanas with full abandon. I was amazed at the devotees’ beauty and simplicity. The experience was a huge contrast to Manhattan. There, I was spending hundreds of dollars to squeeze out some small semblance of happiness, and here, I was happy just eating simple kichari and fresh yogurt from the wonderfully protected New Vrindavan cows.

The festival made such an impact on my mind that before leaving I decided I’d start chanting a couple of rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and following the regulative principles as far as possible.

Since I enjoyed the kirtanas so much, I bought a CD called Vrindavan Mellows, by Aindra Dasa, from the temple’s gift shop. Listening to it on my drive home gave me goose bumps. I began listening to it every day, and I became bewildered by what was happening to me – I couldn’t enjoy any other music. I soon collected all my nondevotional CDs and donated them to a charity.

Developing a Higher Taste

I started visiting the temple more often. What began as sporadic chanting of two rounds on my beads became a daily practice, and every week or so I embraced more and more chanting. I began to dislike the food I was eating at restaurants and cafes, looking forward instead to the Sunday Feast prasada. I also developed a distaste for the superficiality of modern society – the petty social and political concerns, partying, drinking, and just generally wasting time. I found myself thinking deeply about the meaning of life.

One day I was working a long shift at the hospital, and the local cafeteria had nothing vegetarian to eat. With lots of guilt I ordered a chicken sandwich and prayed to Lord Krishna to forgive me. After eating the sandwich I developed intense nausea and vomited during the night. That was the last time I ate meat.

Towards the end of my residency, one of my temple friends, Vrindavana-natha, told me he was getting married and invited me to his wedding at New Raman Reti, the ISKCON’s rural community in Alachua, Florida. I drove to the wedding with my friend Carl, a student at Ohio State. We had started going to the temple at about the same time and had become good friends. We would discuss Srila Prabhupada’s books, especially in terms of pragmatic philosophy and life in general.

While we were enjoying the wedding festivities in Alachua, Carl and I took a walk around New Raman Reti. From a distance we saw a saintly woman in a sari coming toward us. Something about her made us stop and talk to her. I said hello and asked her name. She was Ragatmika Devi Dasi, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, and she lived nearby. She agreed to my request to visit her house and ask her some questions about her life.

I was already intrigued by the sacrifice and surrender of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples. She especially looked radiant and genuinely spiritual as she invited us in to unpack her entire life story for us. We were stunned.

She told us about her one and only meeting with Srila Prabhupada and how she decided to dedicate her life to him completely by distributing his books and sharing Krishna consciousness with one and all. At the end of our discussion, she advised me to read Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, the life story of Srila Prabhupada written by one of his earliest disciples, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami.

Inspiration from Prabhupada’s Life Story

Some devotees had given me a copy of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, but it had sat on my desk for three years. I just couldn’t understand its structure or content. I came back to Columbus and bought a copy of Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita. I could not put it down. I read it for seventy-two hours straight, hardly sleeping or eating. I even called in sick for work.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I read about Srila Prabhupada distributing his books and magazines alone in Delhi in ninety-degree heat, and about how while trying to print his Bhagavatam he had no money to buy breakfast.

I was amazed at Srila Prabhupada’s determination, his faith in the Lord, and his compassion for the drunks and drug addicts on the Bowery in lower Manhattan. Equally astounding were his success at the end of his life and his devotion and detachment in general. You could say I was sold.

After finishing the last page of the Lilamrita, I went to the temple, took whatever books the temple had, and went to set up a book table outside an Indian grocery store. Before I went I prayed to the murti (image) of Srila Prabhupada, feeling that His Divine Grace was listening to me and blessing me to distribute his books.

That day, my first day on book distribution, I sold eighty hardbound books and fifty paperbacks. I was thrilled beyond my wildest expectations. Never before had I felt so connected to the Lord. I felt that Lord Krishna was pleased by this service. The entire time I was out distributing books, the holy name simply rolled off my tongue without effort, giving me further impetus to approach people and ask them to buy the nectarean literature blessing my hands.

From then on I distributed Srila Prabhupada’s books every day – and read them too. Miraculously, I was now able to understand them and relish them in a way that had previously escaped me. I would listen to Srila Prabhupada’s lectures and read his letters as well, trying to follow the language, philosophy, and context. Now I was “tasting the nectar for which I was always anxious,” to paraphrase Lord Chaitanya. I was happy beyond compare and had the answers to all my questions in life. Everything made sense. Through the lens of Srila Prabhupada’s words I was able to weave all religions, philosophies, and scientific theories into one cogent reality. Every conscious experience now had new meaning. I was becoming Krishna conscious, awakening to ultimate reality.

I had always loved reading, but now I would spend my entire day in the library relishing the literature left by the Goswamis (Lord Chaitanya’s direct followers), as well as the commentaries of Vaishnava acharyas and the works of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, and the current generation of Vaishnava writers. Sadaputa Dasa’s seminal work Mechanistic and Non-Mechanistic Science gave me intense conviction, and his books in general deepened my understanding of Krishna consciousness. Another contemporary author who influenced me was Satyaraja Dasa (Steven Rosen). His works on Chaitanya Vaishnavism, comparative religion, vegetarianism, and yoga helped me bridge the gap between age-old wisdom and modernity. I was able to see Vaishnavism as a whole and in relationship to this world. He was deeply influential in the completion of my spiritual, intellectual, and emotional conversion to the world of devotion.

One day, in New Vrindavan, I heard a talk by Vaisheshika Dasa on how to distribute books. That presentation inspired me so much that I decided to dedicate my life to the cause of transcendental book distribution. Vaisheshika Dasa remains my hero and guide.

Finding My Guru

Shortly thereafter I met my spiritual master, His Holiness Radhanath Swami. His dedication to the mission of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Chaitanya inspired me greatly. I liked listening to his lectures on Lord Chaitanya’s pastimes and the Bhagavad-gita. He had inspired thousands of devotees in Chowpatty and Pune in India, and had started many centers and temples around the world. By this time I had met many of his disciples who were exemplary devotees and were trying to explain Krishna consciousness to others.

In my first meeting with him, he told me that the purpose of human life is not to work hard for material acquisitions and temporary sustenance, which only ends with the eventual destruction of the body. Rather, the purpose of human life is to find out who I am and my relationship with God.

This was the same message Srila Prabhupada had spoken to me in the first lecture I had heard so many months before, where he clearly explained that the human form of life is meant only for service to Krishna. For me, Radhanath Swami personified Vaishnava humility and etiquette. Everything about him was graceful, sublime, and saturated with divine peace. I felt I had finally met a representative in the mood of Srila Prabhupada. And I realized I was taking part in an entire movement of such representatives, although in my eyes Radhanath Swami shone even among so many bright stars.

I had read about the trinad api sunichena verse, in which Lord Chaitanya says that to properly chant the holy names one must be more tolerant than a tree and more humble than a blade of grass. But I never understood the purport of the verse until I met His Holiness Radhanath Swami. His humble dealings, forgiving nature, and indomitable zeal for spreading his teacher’s mission won my heart. I had found my preceptor. When I told him I wanted to take initiation from him, he instantly replied that initiation had already taken place in my heart and the remaining formalities could wait.

I was happy, however, that they didn’t have to wait too long.

A Partner in Krishna Consciousness

Gradually I felt that to practice Krishna consciousness properly I needed a partner to help me and to share my life. I prayed to Srila Prabhupada and Radha-Natabara for a suitable wife, asking them to send a dedicated servant of theirs to help me serve them.

Shortly thereafter I met my wife, Lalita Devi. She was visiting Columbus for a residency interview and by the Lord’s divine arrangement showed up at the temple. I wanted to marry someone very serious about Krishna consciousness and serving Srila Prabhupada’s mission. In Lalita Devi I found everything I wanted and much more.

Through her I got to meet His Holiness Giriraja Swami, the most honest, courageous, and fully integrated person I have ever met. He personifies the expression “Vaishnava Thakura,” which refers to all the finer qualities of a devotee. His association and my many brief encounters with his exemplary disciples and well-wishers have thoroughly enriched my devotional life.

The Real “Great American Dream”

Now, let’s return to the present. Each day feels special. I serve in the temple, distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books, facilitate their study, travel all over the world, and attend festivals such as Rathayatras and retreats organized by devotees I can spend time and make friends with. Wherever I go I receive Vaishnava association, service to the Lord, and delicious prasada. I like to spend the month of Karttika (Oct.-Nov.) in Govardhan, India, in the shelter of Vaisheshika Dasa and His Holiness Keshava Bharati Maharaja. I am grateful to Srila Prabhupada for giving us such an expansive society, which is continually growing worldwide. My great American dream is just beginning, as I explore this brave new world of devotional theism while continuing my practice as a doctor.

About the Author:
Prema Vilasa Dasa

Prema Vilasa Dasa is a member of the temple council and board of directors for ISKCON Columbus. He is the managing director for Lord Krishna’s Academy, a nonprofit primary school in Accra, Ghana. He and his wife, also a physician, help sick and dying devotees. Among the many ISKCON projects they support are the publishing and distribution of books for west and central Africa.

By Jaganmohini devi dasi

(The following article meant for URI (United Religions Initiative) community was circulated in their forum by the author few days back. There were Id greetings exchanged within URI community, at that time she felt let them know little bit about Rath Yatra too)

The festive seasons have begun in India.

On Saturday, June 18th, 2015, while our Muslim brotherhood around the world were celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr with great joy and splendour, the devotees of Lord Jagannath from all over the world participated with full vigour in the annual Sri Jagannath Rathyatra festival at Jagannath Puri and elsewhere in India and around the world. This year by the will of the Lord, both the joyous festivals appeared on the same day.

Jagannath Puri is one of the most important holy places of this planet. It was here where this Rath yatra originated and the date of origin goes back to Satya-yuga (beginning of cosmological era) as the temple was inaugurated around that time as per the scripture Skanda Purana. There is also information in other scriptures that mentions about Rath yatra being celebrated in 3rd century BC and credits it to King Pandyavijaya, a devotee of Lord from south India. But with reference to present age, one can say the Rath yatra of Lord Jagannath is going on since time immemorial and there is not much information available regarding the nature of celebrations during yore days.

But approximately around 510 years back, it was Sri Chaitanya, an ardent servant of Lord Jagannath who revived this joyous festival in the right spirit of social oneness, equity and community uplifting through reverence, service and love towards the Lord. Sri Chaitanya also made Jagannath Puri as his head quarters and remained here until his final moments before he departed to Lord’s abode. So, sometimes Sri Krishna Chaitanya is considered by local people to hail from Puri and not Bengal. Later in the 20th century, following in the footsteps of Sri Chaitanya and his servants, Swami Prabhupada, founder of Hare Krishna movement, during early 70’s brought this joyful carnival festival of dance and chants and music to the west to bring together humanity on one platform through one identity, i.e all are part (children) of one God and so all can serve and love God without discrimination. Since then for last few decades, the Rath Yatra festival of Lord Jagannath has witnessed people from varied communities(all classes and castes) and religions(Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Mahayana Buddhists etc.) partaking in the celebration with enthusiasm and reverence and the numbers are indeed growing with the passing of years. The celebrations thus are not restricted to India, but extend to all western countries especially US, Europe, South East Asia, Middle East, Russia etc.

This year as per media report, around 3 million people have landed at Puri to participate in the nine day festival and more than 1 million devouts had converged at the street of holy Jagannath Puri to have a glimpse of the Deities in their chariots on the first day, important day of the festival.

So what is so special about this festival that it is attracting multitudes from all sections of society? Specifically this year was considered very special due to an auspicious occasion called ‘Nava-kalevara’before the Rath-yatra festival. ‘Nava-kalevara’ meaning ‘New Body’ is a festival when the transcendental bodies of the Deities(carved from special sacred Neem wood) of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva and Mother Subhadra are changed. Lord changing body? This sounds mystical indeed!

As per Bhagavat Purana and other scriptures, Lord Krishna is fondly called as Lord Jagannath and is worshipped as the Lord of the Universe (Jagan+Nath) and his first energy expansion or plenary expansion is Lord Balaram or Lord Baladeva who is known popularly as Krishna’s brother. Bal means strength and so he is responsible for the law of gravity and through his integrative power and immense strength, all objects of universe are sustained and planets are perfectly suspended or floating, moving along their respective orbits without falling down. The suspended objects like planets indeed points to the existence of a superlative or Supreme strength. Mother Subhadra is their sister, also expansion of Lord to oversee the operations within the entire cosmos. With reference to material Universe, she is popularly worshipped as Mother Durga or Mother Parvati. Subhadra means ‘all auspiciousness’. Mother Subhadra is the giver of auspiciousness to one and all who respect the creator and his laws.

These three powerful spiritual forces or Deities are seated in three separate chariots or Rath and are pulled by devouts in the mood of requesting them to enter their hearts during the chariot festival procession. This process is for cleansing the heart of all malice and ignorance and subsequently to realize the relation of self and all others with God and serve his mission in unity through the spirit of brotherhood with entire creation. Also the Deities come out of the temple to shower their blessings to all categories of people who otherwise cannot enter temple for whatsoever reason. Anybody can hold the rope of the chariot with faith and pull the Lord to their heart. Hence the Lord in these Divine forms is considered most compassionate and benevolent and thus attracts all sections of crowd. (There are real stories in this regard that has increased the faith of believers over a period of time.)

This ‘Nava-kalevara’ occasion has occurred after a gap of 19 years (last ‘Nava-kalevara’ took place in 1996), and is considered millennium’s first ‘Nava-Kalevara’ Rath yatra in Puri. One can thus appreciate why a sea of pilgrims and devouts from different parts of India and world converged at Jagannath Puri last week.  The nava-kalevara ceremony proceedings are performed secretly involving only the descendents of the families who established the original worship of Lord Jagannath. An authentic journal on Rathyatra (Sri Krsna-kathamrta Vol. 3 No. 1) throws some light about this confidential ceremony.  Readers interested can find detailed information about the significance of this special occasion. It mentions how change of body takes place by transfer of ‘nabhi-brahma’ or ‘Life force’ of Lord Jagannath from old Deity to new Deity and later old Deities devoid of ‘life force’ are buried near the temple.

<<small brief on deity worship

The ‘life force’ that enters the Deity makes it living and worshippable and relate with devotees unlike ordinary idols which looks externally like Deity but are just like imitation Deity that serves no purpose beyond meditation on any ordinary material object, that lacks spiritual power. Deity worship means there is relation between two spiritual entities, the object and subject and depending on the level of faith, the subject’s objective to worship the Deity(Lord) varies. With the progress of Deity worship, the relation gradually progresses to higher and higher levels until the Lord naturally manifest himself before the worshipper taking the relation to next higher level.

Prior to the entering of life force, the sculptor shapes the wood as per the Supreme personality’s descriptions mentioned in scriptures. Before engaging in this task he follows the procedure for internal and external cleanliness. As such he can belong to any caste or community or religion, but he has to tune himself with appropriate mindset and cleanliness/discipline before he begins the sculpting job.

(As per scripture, Deities can be made from eight different substances – stone, wood, metal, earth, paint, the mind or jewels, but the Deity of Lord Jagannath in Puri must be made from wood)

>> 

So on this Rath Yatra day, the congregated pilgrims could have the first glimpse of the new Divine form in their chariots and this is considered very auspicious.

Apart from that, the speciality of this festival in general arises from the fact that it is a perfect confluence of all schools of thoughts from philosophical and metaphysical level. It is a perfect confluence of varied grades of human consciousness who worship God directly or through his servants as per their respective faith. And it is also a confluence of engaging varied skills from different sections of society to glorify the Lord. So it is a meeting of single humanity who relates effortlessly with one another, help and supports one another through their relation with God.

Sri Chaitanya quoting from Bhagavata Purana had concurred about the three levels of God realization, namely God can be worshipped without a material and spiritual form as formless all pervading Supreme Brahman or as Paramatma in one’s heart (regulator of universes and living entities within) or as the one with transcendental form having transcendental qualities (Considered top worship for establishing and sustaining relation with God, experience qualities like love, affection, etc..bestowed by God). As per Vedic traditions, there are different school of thoughts corroborating all the levels of God realization and Gaudiya Vaishnavism specifically synthesizes all the three through its Acintya-beda-abeda-Tattva doctrine(Simultaneous oneness and difference with God).

Adi Shankara (early 8th century CE) set up four monasteries in different parts of India to practice inclusive Hinduism as a way of life predominantly based on monism/Advaita and his followers mostly adopted Shaivism and Shakta cult. The holy city of Puri is one amongst them where Adi Shankara set up his monastery. The present Shankarcharya who graced the Rathyatra festival and prayed to Lord Jagannath is considered 45th in the line of Adi Shankara descent.

But the sacred temple of Lord Jagannath and Lord’s Rath yatra has mystically brought together all groups including followers of Vaishavism under one identity, i.e. ‘All are worshipper of same one God – Lord Jagannath’ and all external differences in terms of school of thought, caste, community, religion melts as a worshipper stands with folded hands in complete reverence and love towards the Lord, glorifying his beautiful and special divine form. As a result of this common identity in relation with Lord, one can practically watch the manifestation of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (Hitopadesha 1.3.71), during Jagannath Rath yatra. The whole earth planet is one family whose source is one God, Lord of Universe. During the crowded chariot procession, one doesn’t feel any uneasiness or get angry when pushed or elbowed by another stranger based on caste or such external differences. There is no un-touchability practiced. It is like our own bodily part touching us. Normally one feels uneasy, when in crowded transport or market, if one is shoved by a stranger. But during Jagannath Rathyatra procession, the focus is on the Lord and through that focus; one sees the crowd/strangers as one family and related to one another through Lord Jagannath. Besides this, behind the enormous arrangement to organize the festival, huge manpower is engaged for months helping them improve economically. Here again no discrimination is shown while employing manpower for Lord’s festival. It purely goes by skills and talent and several are picked from grassroots who otherwise are rarely recognized or engaged in mainstream jobs.

Briefly, a festival like Lord Jagannath’s Rathyatra is setting a good precedent of appreciating the true spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam towards peaceful co-existence. It clearly indicates how with Lord in the centre of humanity, the earth’s family can remain united and uplifted through social equity and as well as economically such that the welfare of all sections of society are accommodated. Even from environment protection perspective, there is responsibility exhibited with creator in the centre. Today there is a hard struggle to unite mankind adopting complex paradigms and routes. The time taken to successfully implement such path is longer than the pace at which humanity is dividing itself through several secondary identities and these identities are growing more with selfish motives.

During such time, festivals like Jagannath Rath Yatra are undoubtedly offering valuable lessons from social and spiritual perspectives and as the surest way to bring mankind together.

By Chaitanya Charana Dasa

When the Lord of the universe rides His chariot along city streets throughout the world, beneath the colorful spectacle lie profound devotional truths.

This year, some of us will see on a street in our city a grand procession known as the Jagannatha Rathayatra, the annual “chariot festival” of Lord Jagannatha (Krishna) that dates back centuries, even millennia. In its earlier days the Jagannatha Rathayatra, which originates in Jagannatha Puri, Odisha, was mostly for the residents of Odisha, Bengal, and some nearby states. But today it is much more – it’s a global cultural phenomenon celebrated in scores of countries and hundreds of cities, from Boston to Belfast to Brisbane, from Dublin to Dubai to Dnepropetrovsk. New York City has hosted an annual Rathayatra down Fifth Avenue since 1976. The first one was attended by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in a triumphant return to the city where he had incorporated his International Society for Krishna Consciousness ten years earlier.

Breaking across geographical and cultural boundaries, Lord Jagannatha’s Rathayatra demonstrates the universality of spiritual love. Let’s explore what this ancient festival offers modern people the world over seeking to evolve as better beings.
The Face of the Mystery of Indian Spirituality

The Rathayatra expands divine love in circles of increasing grace.

First, it expands divine grace from the sacred space of the temple to the rest of the city. The Lord riding atop the majestic chariot offers the blessing of His darshana (audience) to one and all – even those who do not come to the temple. The sway of the magnificent chariots, the embellishments with many meaningful motifs, the beauty of the three deities (Jagannatha with His brother Baladeva and sister Subhadra), the symphony of musical eulogies by skilled singers, and the worshipers’ heartfelt cries of “Jaya Jagannatha!” – all such potent devotional stimuli at the Rathayatra kindle life-transforming spiritual experiences.

Second, the globalization of Rathayatra expands the grace beyond Jagannatha Puri and even India. In 1967, Srila Prabhupada inspired the first Rathayatra outside India, in San Francisco, which also hosted Jagannatha’s first Western temple (New Jagannatha Puri). Since then, the festival has assumed international proportions. Indeed, Jagannatha has become a charming face of the beauty and mystery of Indian spirituality.
The Ecstatic Agony

Much of the mystery of Jagannatha centers on His face. He is Krishna, yet He doesn’t look like the familiar flute-playing cowherd boy. The difference in their appearances is testimony to the transformational power of love.

The tradition of bhakti, the science of devotion to the Lord, holds that emotions are eternal – and are gateways to the eternal. Approaching the Absolute Truth requires not the eradication of emotions, but their elevation. In fact, life’s crowning emotion, love, is at the heart of eternal life, where relationships between the Lord and the devotee prevail.

Jagannatha is Krishna enraptured by the spell of love – the love of His topmost devotees, the gopis of Vrindavan, who were afflicted with the ecstatic agony of separation from Him.

Ecstatic agony? The mystery deepens and sweetens.

Love is like a fire. If the fire is small, a gust of wind extinguishes it. But if the fire is large, the same wind expands it. Similarly, when devotion is tender, like a small fire, the wind of separation from the Lord extinguishes it. But if the flame of devotion is strong, the wind of separation intensifies it, evoking rapturous longing for the Lord with every heartbeat. Such was the ecstatic agony of the Vraja-gopis when Krishna departed from Vrindavan.

While in Dwarka, Krishna heard about their love-afflicted plight. In amazement, His mouth fell open, His eyes became large, and His limbs became motionless and withdrew into themselves just as His consciousness withdrew from everything else to focus on His devotees. And Krishna became Jagannatha.

The celestial sage Narada blissfully beheld this extraordinary form and begged the Lord to bless everyone with its divine darshana. His desire was fulfilled through a later king, named Indradyumna, whose haste-induced error turned out to be part of a divine plan, as narrated in the Skanda Purana and the Brahma Purana. The king had assigned the task of fashioning the deity of the Lord to an expert sculptor, who was actually the disguised Vishvakarma, architect of the demigods. The sculptor asked for total seclusion for twenty-one days as he went about the task, warning that if he were interrupted he would leave. The king kept his distance for fourteen days, being heartened by the sounds of the artisan at work. But when the sounds stopped with no sign of resuming, the anxious king burst into the workshop. True to his threat, the sculptor had departed, leaving the work half-done. The king was dismayed until he realized that the seemingly incomplete forms were devotionally complete – they perfectly revealed the Lord’s ecstatic feeling of incompleteness in separation from His devotees.
An Invitation Immortalized

Just as the form of Jagannatha has a special story behind it, so does His chariot festival. Many deities go out in processions to bestow grace on onlookers, but Jagannatha goes out on another special mission. After Krishna left Vrindavan, the Vraja-gopis met Him many decades later in Kurukshsetra, where the devout from far and wide had congregated to perform religious ceremonies during a solar eclipse. The gopis’ brief reunion with Krishna inflamed within them a fervent longing for lasting reunion in the pastoral paradise of Vrindavan – the original and inimitable setting for their pastimes with Krishna. They envisioned taking Krishna back to Vrindavan on a chariot – drawn not by horses, but by the love of their hearts and the labor of their hands. Their sacred longing is immortalized in the Rathayatra, wherein the starting point represents Kurukshetra and the ending point represents Vrindavan. When we pull the Lord’s chariot, we assist the gopis in their labor of love. By thus assisting those enriched with bhakti, we feel our own hearts become enriched with bhakti. By our loving pulls, we not only take Jagannatha back to Vrindavan, but also invite Him back into our heart.

The Rathayatra expands divine love from the temple to the rest of the city, and indeed the whole world. And it offers us a chance to elevate our devotional love from separation to union, from disconnection from the Lord to reconnection with Him.

Dear Prabhus/ Maharajs, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. All glories to your devotional services.

Please go through the following apeal letter from Dayaram Prabhu, President of Iskcon Kolkata. This program is the first program of 50 years anniversary of Iskcon. Kolkata is celebrating 50th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada departure from Kolkata. It is most historical and memorable event in the history of Iskocn. With out this most auspicious moment of departure of Srila Prabhupada from Kolkata Iskcon would not come to existence.

This is duty of all Iksocn devotees and leaders to see this program takes place with grand success. If this is done with grand success and good media coverage then it will help temples all over the world to celebrate 50th annivesary of Iksocn in grand way.

I feel this is not only the event for Kolkata dveotees to celebrate . This is an event whole world to celebrate. I request all leaders and temple presidents to kindly and generously donate for this great event.

Please following letter to know more about the event.

Your humble servant

Bhakti Purusottama Swami

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Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

The preparation for commemorating Golden Jubilee of Srila Prabhupad’s voyage to America and kick-start of the Golden Jubilee celebration of ISKCON’S at Kolkata on 13th August 2015 is in it’s final stages.

We have booked the most prestigious Indoor Stadium at Kolkata- Netaji Indoor Stadium which can accommodate over 14,000 people and is fully A/C. The Government concessional charge for hiring this stadium is Rs 16 lacs (which also includes extra two days for making stages etc.) . In addition to this the charges for Decorator who will provide stage, Mike system, carpets, lights, Live telecast etc. is another Rs. 20 lacs.

The Hon”ble Chief Minister of West Bengal ( Ms. Mamata Banerjee) & UP ( Mr. Akhilesh yadav), Governor of West Bengal, Ms. Kiran Bedi , the Secretary General of the United Nations Mr. Ban Ki Moon and host of other VVIP’s will be present for the occasion.

We have ordered to make a sculptor of Srila Prabhupada boarding Jaladuta and alighting from Jaladuta for Kolkata and Boston by famous sculptor from Kiev, Ukrain.

We are expecting that the Mayor of Boston to be present, and Mayor of Kolkata has confirmed his presence at the program.

So the plan is that Mayor of Kiev will hand over the sculpture to Mayor of Boston ( Hopefully he will confirm his participation) and Kolkata respectively. We are also working on to ship the Boston sculpture to be shipped to boston taking same route Srila Prabhupada took 50 years ago.

Recently on 21st June the world celebrated the International Day for Yoga. The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India also performed Yoga in New Delhi. On that day a Gunnies book of record certified as the biggest Yoga performance by people as never before people from over 84 countries participated in yoga event at a time.

We have planned to beat this record by having at least devotees from 100 coutnries to participate in Yoga event organized by ISKCON Kolkata on 13 Aug., 2015 to comemorate golden JUbilee of Sp’s Voyage from Kolkata to Boston as Srila Prabhupada gave us the highest Yoga-Bhakti Yoga.

We have found devotees from 70 Nationalities who are in India and for that we need not spend so much money for travel . But We will have to pay air tickets, accommodation etc. for some devotees coming from remote places just to attend this program so that we can break previous record of Mr. Narendra Modi’s program on Yoga about a month ago.

They will do Bhakti Yoga (chanting of Hare Krishna Mantra) with some Yoga postures. And then we can explain different kind of Yogas and how Bhakti Yoga is the ultimate.

we can raise our hands, take deep breath and chant hare Krishna. The fold hands take deep breath and chant hare Krsna. Like this we will do Bhakti Yoga. We will have to have devotees well informed in advance so that it is done in a precise manner.

We will get tremendous International media coverage. We are in talks with the Guinness book of record people and they will send their official to Judge the event and they will announce on spot that we have created a new record and broke the previous record created in New Delhi on 21st June 2015 in the Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s Yoga Program.

This will give us opportunity to glorify Srila Pranbhupada how he has given the highest thing and what is the real purpose of Yoga. We have already got confirmation of devotees from over 70 different countries. We need to find devotees from other 40 countries.

But for all this we need lot of money since we need to pay for the air tickets and accommodation of these devotees from about 40 countries who do not have financial capability to pay for their tickets and accommodation. Apart from this Kolkata Rathayatra organized by ISKCON is a very big 9 days festival where we spend almost Rs 2 croers. And since Rathayatra is just 2 weeks before the Golden Jubilee celebrations on 13th August, ISKCON Kolkata is facing huge financial shortage for the Golden Jubilee. So unless we get help from Juhu Temple we will not be able to do it.

The break-up of our budget is as follows:

Stadium Hire: Rs 15 Lacs
Decorator: 20 Lacs
Gunnies Book of Record Director accommodation, travel and fees: Rs 15 Lacs
Travel and accommodation for devotees from 40 countries (including their
airfares): 40 lacs
Special Sculpture from Ukraine : Rs 15 lacs (Including air fare of the
famous sculpture and Mayor of Kiev)
Breakfasts, Lunch and Dinner for 12,000 guest for 13th August: Rs 25 lacs
Accommodation for Sannyasis, devotees from foreign countries and different
temples and Prasadam for 4 days (from 11th August to 16th August 2015): 35
lacs
Advertisement for the event: Rs 20 Lacs.
Program at Gurusaday road ( as Netaji Indoor stadium is too expensive for
all the programs) from 14th to 16th August : 20 Lacs
Transportation of delegates: Rs 5 lacs
Anup Jalota ( famous Bhajan Singer) : 5 lacs
Other Artists fees: 5 Lacs
—————————————————————
Total: Rs 2.15 croers or US $ 3,25,000 approx.
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Out of this ISKCON Kolkata has collected around Rs 65 lacs . So we have a shortfall of Rs. 1.5 croers ( US $ 2,25,000) .

Kindly help us. If some one sponsors the Program he can get huge publicity for his company or product. So that is also possible

Hare Krsna. Your servant, Dayaram dasa

By Satyaraja Dasa

How a leader in Indian shipping helped deliver the message of Lord Chaitanya to the western world.

In 1965 the Scindia Steam Navigation Company was one of the oldest, largest, and most respected shipping establishments in India. Its cargo consisted generally of food, clothing, farming equipment, and medical and educational supplies, which were packaged in boxes, cases, pallets, and barrels. In August of that same year, however, one of its cargo ships carried a passenger onboard, and he carried spiritual cargo that would change the world.

ISKCON devotees know the story well: During that fateful voyage from Calcutta to New York, the sole passenger cabin of the Jaladuta (“sea messenger”) was occupied by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. At the time, he was a relatively unknown Vaishnava sannyasi. At age sixty-nine, he boarded the ship, tightly clasping his complimentary ticket.

Prabhupada’s followers know the story of how he procured that ticket, but details of the story have remained obscure. And for many devotees, the special soul who helped Prabhupada journey West is merely a name: Sumati Morarjee. In this article I’ll explore the details of the story and further acquaint the Vaishnava world with the woman who played so vital a role in bringing Krishna consciousness to Western shores. While I’ve relied on Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, for much of what follows, I’ve also referred to additional material in a publication called Sumati Morarjee Felicitation Volume (Service to India Shipping), edited by N. G. Jog and published by Scindia House in 1970, which I discovered on a recent trip to India.

Sumati Morarjee

Born into the wealthy family of Mathuradas Gokuldas and his wife, Premabai, in Bombay on March 13, 1909, Sumati was named Jamuna, after the sacred river associated with Krishna in Vrindavan. As it turns out, her destiny would involve other large bodies of water as well, since she would be the first woman in the world to manage a vast shipping concern. Although she had six highly qualified brothers, none of them would know the success that would fall upon their distinguished sister.

As was the custom in India, while still a young girl she was betrothed to Shanti Kumar, the only son of Narottam Morarjee. Narottam had made a name for himself in the textile industry in Bombay and Sholapur, garnering untold riches for his offspring. Thus, Jamuna went from wealthy to wealthier.

Since these were two of the most affluent and well-known families of the region, the marriage was among the biggest social events in Bombay. The festivities lasted more than a week, with newspapers covering its major processions, fireworks, and banquets for months to follow.

Observing his daughter-in-law’s keen wisdom and ingenuity, Narottam renamed her Sumati (“she of superior intellect”). She spoke Hindi, Marathi, and English and showed ability and interest in all facets of her father-in-law’s business. When Narottam’s wife died early on, Sumati became the lady of the extended household, gradually developing expertise in both domestic and business affairs.

Sumati was deeply religious. Born into the Vallabha sampradaya (lineage) of Vaishnavism, she was a dedicated devotee of Sri Nathaji, a deity of Krishna popular in that line. She was also highly dedicated to the veneration of Tulasi, the plant incarnation of the gopi Vrinda Devi, who is among the greatest of Lord Krishna’s eternal devotees. Later in life, even when she traveled abroad she would worship Tulasi daily, if only offering incense to a photograph. She was known among her peers as a balanced person who harmonized her deep spirituality with family and business.

It was no surprise, therefore, when Narottam put her in charge of his fledgling shipping concern, inherited from his great-grandfather Jeevanji. An enterprising young man, Narottam eventually parlayed a few vessels into the Scindia Steam Navigation Company, which became the model for modern Indian shipping. Sumati built the company from humble beginnings and eventually even received praise from Mahatma Gandhi for it. Her relationship with the Mahatma, in fact, developed over the years, and she enjoyed a regular correspondence with him. Their exchange was documented in newspaper reports. He counted her among his closest friends.

Scindia Steam Navigation Company

Established in 1919, Narottam’s business was the first large-scale Indian-owned shipping company that catered to an exchange of goods between India and Europe. By the time the company sold off its fleet and ceased trading in the 1980s, it had ships sailing to the U.S.A., the U.K., Singapore, East Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the Persian Gulf.

In 1946, just prior to Scindia’s relationship with the United States, Sumati took full charge of the company, managing over six thousand people. She was already on the board of directors, and her rise to prominence had been just a matter of time. All involved knew her passion for the sea and her expertise in the shipping trade, developed over many years.

In 1956 Sumati enjoyed the distinction of being elected president of the prestigious Indian National Steamship Owners’ Association, an honor repeated during the next two years and again in 1965, just prior to Prabhupada’s request that she send him to New York. These awards earned her independence as the sole decision maker over her ships.

The Meeting

Sumati Morarjee first saw Srila Prabhupada in the 1950s at Kurukshetra, where Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita. She later told an audience of his followers that he was sitting under a tree, chanting on beads. Sensing that he was a distinguished sadhu, she approached him, hoping to receive his blessings. At the time he hadn’t yet taken sannyasa, the renounced order of life, and was thus still a married man. Nonetheless, she was impressed with his humility and devotion, and she mentioned this to him when they met again in Bombay. By that time Prabhupada was a swami asking her for help in getting to America.

He had met a gentleman named Mr. Agarwal, a Mathura businessman, and had mentioned that he wanted to go to the West to fulfill the order of his spiritual master to preach the message of Lord Chaitanya in English. This meeting led to a sponsorship in America through Agarwal’s son Gopal, an engineer in Pennsylvania. Soon Prabhupada received permission from the Ministry of External Affairs to travel to the U.S. Gopal Agarwal had solemnly declared that he would bear any and all expenses during Prabhupada’s initial stay in the United States.

Prabhupada then traveled to Bombay with a plan: He would seek assistance in getting to America by approaching Sumati Morarjee, who he had learned was head of the Scindia Steamship Line. After all, he had met her at Kurukshetra, and she had subsequently donated a considerable amount of money for printing Volume Two of his life’s work, his translation, with commentary, of the Srimad-Bhagavatam.

Concerned for his health and welfare, Sumati Morarjee declined to give him assistance. She feared that the lengthy journey by sea would kill him, since he was elderly and had never been outside India.

Not one to be deterred from his goals, Prabhupada persuaded her secretary, Mr. Choksi, to speak up on his behalf, coaching him in exactly what to say: “I find this gentleman very inspired to go to the U.S.A. and preach Lord Krishna’s message to the people there.” But again she said no, determined in her decision to protect him in spite of himself.

Prabhupada persistently demanded a personal interview, but it was not to be. Time passed. She ignored him, for his own good, she believed. Eventually, due to his tenacity, she acquiesced.

When he entered her room, he simply said, “Please give me one ticket!”

She could see the total commitment and longing in his eyes, his determination to please his spiritual master and to fulfill the desire of Lord Krishna. It was simply not possible to deny him, and so she scheduled a place for him on the ship Jaladuta, which was sailing from Calcutta on August 13, 1965. With deep concern in her heart, she saw to all his needs, making sure he would travel on a ship whose captain understood the needs of a Vaishnava vegetarian. Captain Arun Pandia made it a point to carry extra vegetables and fruits for the Swami onboard.

A couple of days before setting sail, Prabhupada arrived in Calcutta, just to go to Mayapur and visit the samadhi (tomb) of his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. He wanted to pray and to ask for his guru’s blessings.

Prabhupada was accompanied by several trunks, two hundred three-volume sets of his Srimad-Bhagavatam, First Canto, his personal baggage of a small suitcase, an umbrella, and a supply of dry cereal, in case he couldn’t find suitable food in a land so far from home. Almost seventy years old, he would now embark on a journey and a mission that would be daunting for a man half his age.

The Journey

After ten days of travel, the ship approached the Red Sea, where Prabhupada encountered great difficulty. He noted in his diary: “Rain, seasickness, dizziness, headache, no appetite, vomiting.” The symptoms persisted, but it was more than seasickness. The pains in his chest made him think he would die at any moment. In two days he suffered two heart attacks. But he tolerated the difficulty, meditating on the purpose of his mission.

One night Prabhupada had a dream. Lord Krishna and His incarnations were rowing a boat, and Krishna told Prabhupada that he should not fear, but should come along. Prabhupada felt assured of Lord Krishna’s protection, and the violent attacks did not recur.

By September 10 Prabhupada was becoming accustomed to life at sea. He wrote in his diary: “The ship is plying very smoothly. I feel today better. But I am feeling separation from Sri Vrindaban and my Lords Sri Govinda, Gopinath, Radha Damodar [deities of Lord Krishna]. The only solace is Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita in which I am tasting the nectarine of Lord Chaitanya’s lila [pastimes]. I have left Bharatabhumi [India] just to execute the order of Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati in pursuance of Lord Chaitanya’s order. I have no qualification, but have taken up the risk just to carry out the order of His Divine Grace. I depend fully on Their mercy, so far away from Vrindaban.”

The ocean voyage was the calmest the captain had ever seen. Prabhupada said that the calmness was Lord Krishna’s mercy. He wrote in his diary, “If the Atlantic would have shown its usual face, perhaps I would have died. But Lord Krishna has taken charge of the ship.”

After a thirty-five-day journey from Calcutta, the Jaladuta reached Boston’s Commonwealth Pier at 5:30 A.M. on September 17, 1965. The ship stopped briefly in Boston and proceeded to New York City. After spending less than two months in Pennsylvania, Prabhupada arrived in New York’s Lower East Side, where he launched his worldwide movement.

India’s Best Export

Over the years, Prabhupada stayed in touch with Sumati Morarjee, mainly through letters, keeping her informed about himself and the progress of his movement. She would sometimes offer advice, and Prabhupada enjoyed corresponding with her, acknowledging her contribution in sending him West. They wrote to each other until Prabhupada’s passing in November 1977.

Her own death occurred twenty-one years later. Newspapers throughout India reported her passing:

This first lady of Indian, nay world, shipping passed away on June 28, 1998, largely unwept, unhonoured and unsung. When shall we see such another like her?

She was the first woman of Indian shipping and a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, dying in Bombay on Sunday following a cardiac arrest. She was 91. Daughter-in-law of the founder of Scindia Steam Navigation, Narottam Morarjee, Sumati Morarjee held important responsibilities in the Indian and world shipping scene, which has been traditionally a male bastion.

Sumati Morarjee once wrote, “It is not purely for business motives that we today concentrate on shipping. We want our people to travel abroad and the foreigners to see our ancient land. It has been the Indian tradition to export the best to foreign countries. We did business in merchandise for centuries, but our most precious cargo has been ideas of universal brotherhood and deep spirituality. . . . Our tradition of such transcendent goodwill to all has continued throughout.”

This was never truer than when she helped Prabhupada travel to Western shores, thus exporting to foreign countries the best India has to offer.

By Padmapani das

For many of us who came of age in the Sixties and Seventies, the counterculture and its promise of an alternative society based on love and peace was an important part of our lives. Art, music, poetry, philosophy, ecology and human rights were just a few of the buzzwords floating around the collective psyche of the Sixties generation. Revolution was in the air. “The establishment” was doomed and soon to be replaced with a kinder, gentler society. Peace would reign supreme and all peoples of the world would unite and be free from the chains of oppression. Or so we thought.

At the time, it appeared that massive cultural changes were about to sweep away the capitalist system (or the “military-industrial-complex” as we used to call it). Every day there was a new victory for change. Underground newspapers proliferated, broadcasting the latest progress reports: the sit-ins, the love-ins, the be-ins, the antiwar and civil rights demonstrations, the Democratic National Convention of 1968, the Chicago Seven Trial, Woodstock, etc. Something was happening here, and it was big.

At first, it was the Beats in the Fifties — Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and their loose collection of friends and hangers-on who sparked the idea for a new and liberated generation. Then, the black-and-white Fifties quickly gave way to the colorful and swinging Sixties. Led by the Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones (among others), the youth of the day were set afire with the desire for widespread social transformation. The old guard was no longer relevant. The baby boomers wanted everything, and they wanted it now.

For a few years, it seemed that it might actually happen. Communes were springing up across the land as hundreds of thousands of young people hit the road in search of the new world. Migrating like geese flying south for the winter, legions of youth landed in the Lower East Side of New York and the Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, trying to make the cosmic connection that would answer all questions and solve all problems. The great search was on. India became a Mecca for spiritual seekers and the stage was set.

Amidst the chaos and turmoil of the Sixties here in the West, Srila Prabhupada quietly set sail for New York (from Calcutta) in 1965. Without money or support, he depended solely on the mercy of Lord Krishna to bring the message of Godhead to the bewildered and suffering peoples of the world. From his first official temples in the middle of the new “hip” communities in New York and San Francisco, Prabhupada ignited a spiritual revolution that swept across the globe at lightning speed.

Meanwhile, despite the original sense of hope kindled by the emerging groupthink of the day, the idealism once prevalent among the youth began to fade as drugs and negativity took over the scene. Soon the love-ins were marred with overdoses and violence, and the flower power generation mutated into a myriad of troubled offshoots and subcultures. The dream was over, or at least it was dying fast.

By the grace of the Lord, Srila Prabhupada arrived to perfectly fulfill the lofty aspirations of the love and peace movement. Prabhupada brought the authorized spiritual solution — “The Yoga of Love” and “The Peace Formula” — direct from India. Now this was truly hip: a real live swami wearing robes and chanting a holy mantra for peace! Not only that, but Prabhupada was right there in the Lower East Side of New York in 1966 and in Golden Gate Park during the “Summer of Love” in 1967. In San Francisco, he even attended a Mantra Rock Dance at the famous Avalon Ballroom with the musical and cultural heroes of the day — the Grateful Dead, Moby Grape, Janis Joplin and Big Brother, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, Owsley Stanley, the Hell’s Angels, etc. Later in England, John Lennon hosted Srila Prabhupada and some of his disciples at his home in Tittenhurst Park, and George Harrison helped to produce the hit single “The Hare Krishna Mantra.” As the counterculture crumbled, Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual revolution blossomed.

From humble beginnings, Prabhupada offered the world a flower of hope amidst the loud and tumultuous cries for peace and harmony that dominated the cultural landscape of the time. The material solutions fell short, and one by one, the hippies and yippies disappeared into the gargantuan beast (“the system”) from which they had emerged. The yippies became yuppies, but those who were fortunate embraced the higher spiritual vision offered by Srila Prabhupada and the growing Hare Krishna movement. All disparate elements and clashing ideologies were pacified in the presence of Srila Prabhupada. Reflecting on Prabhupada’s uncanny ability and potency to unite opposing views and personalities, Allen Ginsberg (perhaps unwittingly) revealed the secret to the original success of Srila Prabhupada’s mission:

“The main thing, above and beyond all our differences, was an aroma of sweetness that he had, a personal selfless sweetness like total devotion. And that was what always conquered me, whatever intellectual questions or doubts I had, or even cynical views of ego. In his presence there was a kind of personal charm, coming from dedication, that conquered all our conflicts.”

Srila Prabhupada demonstrated that eternal knowledge is relevant and applicable to any time, place or circumstance. By his pure devotion and desire, Prabhupada was — and still is — fully empowered to help us overcome our differences and unite us all. This, in a nutshell, is the real spiritual solution not only for the problems of the world — but for the Hare Krishna movement itself.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

A volunteer painting a mural on the ceiling of the temple.

A volunteer dusting one of the small teak altars that was custom-made in Bali, Indonesia. Photos: ASRI ABDUL GHAN

By derrick vinesh

WHEN His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada visited Malaysia in 1971, he had a vision for a Krishna temple to be built in Penang.

The founder of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) had then drawn a rough sketch of the temple and left instructions for the devotees here to follow.

It was quite a tall order but the devotees will soon see the fruits of their labour when the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple of Devotion and Understanding in Bandar Seberang Jaya officially opens on Aug 29.

The grand three-storey octagonal-shaped temple will be the first Hindu temple in the country to have 16 chatris (ornate dome-shaped pavilions), two octagon skylight domes and three main shikara domes.

ISKCON national general secretary Simheswara Dasa said although the devotees here were 44 years late, they were happy to finally fulfil the wishes of the late Swami Prabhupada who died in 1977.

“The main temple building is now 95% complete, leaving only work on the installation of sound systems, air-conditioning units, lightings, fittings, paintwork, landscaping and roadwork yet to be done,” he added.

Brief caption…Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple Of Devotion And Understanding interview. Star pic by Asri Abdul Ghani/July 23, 2015
A volunteer dusting one of the small teak altars that was custom-made in Bali, Indonesia. Photos: ASRI ABDUL GHANI

He said the RM7mil temple, which saw its groundbreaking in 2009, was designed after India’s Jegannath temple in Puri and Krishna Balaram temple in Vrindavan.

“The 100ft-tall temple’s sculpture and ornamental decorations by 14 artisans from India is one of its kind in the world with 12 lions sitting on top of the shikara domes rising up to 80ft,” he said in an interview.

Simheswara, who is also the building committee chairman, said the vedic-friendly temple’s main prayer hall on the first floor would have deities Lord Krishna and Radha placed on a grand Balinese teakwood altar and placed under the main domes.

He said the prayer hall could accommodate up to 1,000 devotees at any one time, adding that 10 statues depicting the incarnations of Lord Krishna would also be placed within the temple.

He said there would be a separate kitchen to cook food offerings for the deities as well as a room to keep a wardrobe of attires for the deities.

The statues of deities Jegannath, Baladeva and Subadhra would be put up in the prayer hall later on.

“The temple’s mezzanine floor would feature a Srila Prabhupada Gallery while the ground floor would have an auditorium to run audio visual presentations and an exhibition of Lord Krishna’s incarnations,” Simheswara said.

He said the committee had so far raised RM5mil for the temple construction and hoped to raise the remaining RM2mil through various fundraising events and sponsorship.

Building project vice-chairman Kalesha Dasa said a RM3mil multipurpose hall was being jointly developed with the main temple building while a RM1.5mil education and cultural centre was completed in 2004.

He said the four-storey multipurpose hall would have an open dining hall to run the movement’s food-for-life free vegetarian food programme, 10 guest rooms, a viewing gallery and a performance stage.

The three-storey cultural centre will house a restaurant, gift and bookshop, childcare centre, meeting rooms and education centre.

“We are expecting over 10,000 people during the temple’s opening-cum-installation of deities ceremony at 10am on Aug 29.

“They include devotees from India, China, US, Australia, England, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Africa.

“The temple’s opening will also coincide with the 50th anniversary of ISKCON’s founding in the US,” Kalesha said, adding that 20 priests from the International School of Vedic in Mayapur, India, would lead the ceremonies.

For details, call Simheswara (012-3798743), the temple office (04-3808897) or visit the movement’s website at www.iskconmalaysia.com or e-mail srktdu@gmailcom.

Source: http://goo.gl/5UCLuK

By Nitya Krishna Das

Detroit ISKCON celebrated its 30th Annual Rathyatra on Sunday July 19th with its largest attendance ever – an estimated 10,000 visitors! There were many highlights of the day, including grand Opening Ceremonies, amazing kirtan by Gaura Mani, Gopal and others, five hours of captivating stage entertainment, jammed packed Kidz Zone featuring Vedic crafts, live cooking demos and so much more. One of the most exciting features was a grand golden palanquin procession carrying Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva and Mother Subhadra to their beautifully decorated Deity Tent. Nearby over 200 guests chanted one round of japa right next to the Deities, most of who were newcomers to this most sublime process of cleansing the heart. The newly expanded book tent was jam packed all day serving guests with Srila Prabhupada’s greatest gift to all of us – his transcendental books, resulting in 15% increase in sales!! Continuous kirtan live on the site filled the entire atmosphere with blissful transcendental sound vibrations. Finally, all families received an impressive full color free souvenir book containing a beautiful description of Srila Prabhupada’s 12 Year Miracle, Temple activities, Vaishnava songs and more.

Perhaps one of the greatest surprises of the day was when US Congressman David Trott joined the Opening Ceremonies as Honory Chief Guest. He joined already impressive group of Honorary Chief Guests for the Opening Ceremonies, including the Mayor, entire City Council, City Manager and several key city officials. Just before Mayor Gatt and Congressman Trott addressed the large crowds, they both were presented with a copy of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita As it Is. Mayor Gatt was so touched by the gift that he announced in front of all: “wow, I’m honored. I will begin reading it today!” Congressman Trott pledged his support for the festival and requested us all to reach out to him whenever needed.

We are so grateful to Srila Prabhupada for giving us all the opportunity to participate in this most glorious festival and encouraging all of us in the distribution of his books. The intense heat and humidity could not stop all from having an amazing time throughout the day. Over 150 dedicated volunteers put on an amazing showcase highlighting how Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON can save us all!

And now volunteers have already begun planning for next year’s amazing Rathyatra.

Pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.927844970605867.1073741864.160209324036106&type=3

By Yamuna Devi

Please do not leave. We have the best philosophy. You won’t find any other kind of nourishment like this Krishna Consciousness.

One of the difficulties facing Yamuna in going to India was her reluctance to leave her sister, Janaki. In the absence of Yamuna and Guru das, Srila Prabhupada wanted Mukunda and Janaki to take charge of the London temple, and the thought of Janaki in that position was dismaying to Yamuna. Janaki, always a sensitive and fragile soul, had become more intransigent and increasingly disengaged from Krishna Consciousness over the sister in the months prior to her departure for India, and she feared that management responsibilities would be too much for Janaki to endure.

When Janaki had last seen Srila Prabhupada at his Baker Street apartment, to Yamuna’s and everyone else’s surprise, she had appeared before him in non-devotee attire. At that time, she frankly expressed her desire to leave. Yamuna never forgot the overwhelming love and compassion Srila Prabhupada demonstrated to Janaki on that day.

Yamuna: So my sister bluntly expressed to Srila Prabhupada that she wanted to leave. She told him that “When you are here, everything is fine; but when you leave, everything becomes harder to deal with, especially the men, and I don’t want to do it.” I looked at Srila Prabhupada, whose eyes glistened with tears of love. I was also crying—we all were.

With a combination of deep love and gravity, he said: Please do not leave. We have the best philosophy. You will not find a better philosophy in this world. There is nothing like the knowledge that we have in Krishna Consciousness. We have the best scriptures, like Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, The Nectar of Devotion and Caitanya-caritamrta.

And there is nothing like our food—prasadam. Not only does it taste wonderful, but just by eating it, you become spiritually advanced. You won’t find any other kind of nourishment like this Krishna Consciousness. And best of all, we have the Holy Names—the mahamantra which is the perfect and most blissful way to reach the highest goal. And we have the best association. Please don’t go.

And all this time tears were pouring from his eyes. Yamuna told this story to a group of young students at the Govardhan Academy in Saranagati in 2010. She used the example of Srila Prabhupada’s mercy toward her sister to show how false ego can make us lose our ability to appreciate even something as powerful as the Guru’s compassion and love for us.

Yamuna: When the false ego comes in, we can quickly become covered over by not following the process. Forgetting Krishna can happen really quickly—we know it in a day. And if you look at yourself in a twenty-four-hour day, where your mind goes—it’s amazing; it can go all kinds of places. Can’t it? In twenty-four hours. What to speak of twenty-four hours; in five minutes it can go all kinds of places! So when we don’t follow the process of Krishna Consciousness that Prabhupada gave us, then we become a little dull, and our ideas become very prominent, and our personal opinions become very prominent; and we become a little weak, and then we forget Krishna.

So Srila Prabhupada gave us this process, and he said, “It is glorious. Please take it. Make it your life.” This life goes by so quickly. I know if you are teenagers, it seems like forever between one year and the next. But those who are in your mid-thirties now; you see how fast the years go by. They really do. I am almost seventy years old. And all I can say is that this life went so fast. It seems like just a few days ago I was twenty-five. It just shoots by. But we want to commit. We want to get to the big “commit” word. How do we get to the big “commit” word?

Try to associate with people who are more advanced than you are. Put time into the process of self-realization. Look at how you are doing. Look at where you can improve—where you can be better. What do you need to make yourselves stronger? And you know if you do this, then just baby step by baby step you start to crawl, and then you walk, and then you run. It will happen, and you will feel the magic—the Krishna Magic. It is the peace formula. It is the path of freedom. We are all looking for freedom, aren’t we?

In the material world, they have a song that says, “Let freedom ring.” So we want that freedom, but actually we are bound up, almost in shackles—almost as if we are shackled down by material consciousness. There is no freedom better than the freedom of Krishna Consciousness. And sometimes when a devotee so-called leaves, or they get weak, they are almost always looking for some kind of freedom separate from Krishna. But this is a very wonderful process.

We have the most wonderful guides; we have support systems everywhere, if we just know where to look for them. And Krishna, our Gurus and the Vaishnavas are holding the rope out to us. We just need to grab onto it—and that means to commit.

Yamuna Devi: A Life of Unalloyed Devotion: Part 1: Preparing an Offering of Love.

By Chaitanya Charana Dasa

Why the Krishna consciousness movement offers a better solution to social problems than ordinary welfare programs.

Does spirituality benefit society in any practical way, as social service does? I will address this question by analyzing a widespread social problem, starvation, and then generalize the principles understood by that analysis.

The Causes of Starvation

On seeing a beggar starving, a sensitive person will want to give some food. This will offer immediate relief, but a thoughtful person may ponder: “A few hours from now he will be hungry again. What causes have brought this beggar to starvation? And how can we remove those causes?”

Following are some causes of starvation.

(1) Wanton living and self-destructive behavior among the poor. Many people who earn enough to make ends meet squander their earnings on alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. Families often lose everything because the head of the family drinks too much. It is common to see beggars refuse food because they only want money—to buy, say, cigarettes.

Natural disasters like earthquakes are big business opportunities for alcohol peddlers because many of the disaster-afflicted people tend to use the relief money to forget their suffering by intoxication. Is providing material relief to addicted people not like pouring water into a leaky bucket? No matter how much they are helped materially, their situation will not truly improve till they rectify their habits. Neither governmental nor non-governmental organizations have succeeded much in helping people avert the tragedy of self-destruction caused by bad habits.

(2) Greed and exploitation. Mismanagement of resources is a greater cause of starvation than a shortage of them. Mahatma Gandhi put it well, “There is enough in this world for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed.” In the well-researched book Food First, Francis Moore Lappe points out that much of the world’s best land is being misused for production of cash export crops. Therefore it is greed among the affluent that’s at the root of the resulting starvation.

Starvation does indeed result from factors beyond human control, such as drought, but even then, the human response to the natural calamity often compounds its impact. Food First reports a study of famines in Africa showing that during every drought the affected nation had within its own boundaries the food resources to feed its starving citizens, but relief was withheld because of economic or political motives. The merchants wanted to hoard the grains, cause artificial inflation, and earn more profit. Or the politicians wanted to deprive regions supporting the opposing politicians and thus settle old scores or gain the upper hand. Sometimes the food-grains rotted in the storehouses while people all around starved. Or worse still, crops were burned or grains sunk into the ocean. The same sad story of Africa often repeats itself in various parts of the world wherever natural calamities strike.

Thus greed is an invisible cause of starvation. Can material welfare work counter greed? A social worker may get charity from a wealthy person and use it for offering some relief. But as long as greed impels the haves to exploit the have-nots, the relief that social welfare offers will not be much more than a drop of water in a desert.

Vedic Insights

The Vedic texts of ancient India offer a holistic welfare program based on a profound philosophical understanding of life. To appreciate how these books would tackle the problem of starvation, let’s have a quick overview of the basic Vedic philosophy.

The Vedic teachings assert that we are eternal souls covered by temporary material bodies. (Bhagavad-gita 2.13) We belong to an immortal realm where we enjoy everlasting happiness in a loving relationship with the Supreme Person, God, most fully identified by the name Krishna (meaning “all-attractive”). To enable us to wholly experience the joy of love in the spiritual world, Krishna gives us the free will to choose to love and serve Him. When we misuse our free will and desire enjoyment separate from Him, we are placed in the material world. Here we forget our spiritual identity and misidentify with our material body, which offers us the sensory apparatus to interact with the foreign material environment.

Within the framework of bodily misidentification, we seek material relationships, experiences, possessions, and positions according to our dreams and schemes. But our desires for enjoyment are unlimited, whereas the resources of this world are limited. Consequently, the pursuit of enjoyment leads to an intense struggle.

Worse still, being spiritual by constitution, we can never become happy by gratifying our body, just as a driver can never be nourished by fueling his car. So, whether or not we succeed in our plans for material enjoyment, we remain mostly dissatisfied. And ultimately all our dreams turn into nightmares as our bodies—the very basis of all our enjoyment—are battered by disease, wrecked by old age, and destroyed by death. After each death in a human body, our desires and activities earn us another body, human or subhuman, and our struggle continues.

Only the souls in the human form have sufficiently evolved consciousness and intelligence to understand and remedy their terrible predicament in material existence. Therefore, the Vedic texts urge all humans to dedicate themselves to promoting spiritual well-being, a cause more complete and effective than promoting material well-being.

Ending Starvation the Spiritual Way

Let’s now return to the problem of starvation and see how promoting spiritual well-being can help tackle it.

(1) Self-restraint. Surveys show that the religiously committed are less likely to succumb to bad habits. Dr. Patrick Glynn writes in his book God: The Evidence, “It is difficult to find a more consistent correlative of mental health, or a better insurance against self-destructive behaviors, than a strong religious faith.” Spiritual practices can help cure the addictions that lead to starvation.

(2) Compassion. A spiritual vision of life increases compassion and decreases greed. When a reporter asked Mother Teresa about the secret of her compassion, she pointed to her rosary beads. Devotion to God naturally arouses compassion for all His children, our brothers and sisters, and inspires us to selflessly work for their holistic uplift.

When wealthy people are God conscious, their compassion is not restricted to an occasional act of charity; rather their whole life becomes dedicated to helping the deprived in every possible way, materially and spiritually. When the heads of state are spiritually enlightened, they care for all the citizens like their own children—not for political expediency, but out of spiritual love. They create socio-economic structures to provide employment for all in normal situations and adequate relief during emergencies.

Thus godliness automatically engenders goodness; a godly person naturally develops good qualities like self-restraint and compassion, which are essential to the effectiveness of any social welfare program.

(3) Natural prosperity. The Vedic texts explain that harmonizing with God leads to well-being not just in the next world, but also in this world. Our very existence depends on God’s grace. Despite our scientific progress, we still need God for our heat, light, air, water, and food. Despite our hard work in sophisticated factories, our food is still made in God’s factory, nature.

When we disobey the Lord’s injunctions, through material nature He withholds life’s necessities. When we live in harmony with God, He instructs Mother Nature to profusely supply all the necessities of life to His obedient children.

Material prosperity through divine harmony is not a fantasy; the God-centered society of Vedic India offers a historical demonstration. The amazing prosperity of traditional India is well documented in the Vedic texts themselves, by traveling medieval historians like Fa Hein and Hseun Tsang, and even by modern Indologists like A. L. Basham. In fact, the wealthiest country in the world today, America, was discovered by Europeans searching for a new ocean route to the wealth of India.

Are Good Intentions Good Enough?

Srila Prabhupada illustrates the pitfalls of well-intentioned but ill-informed welfare work through an incident in his life: Once while in Calcutta, he saw a neighboring woman scolding her youngest son. The woman’s slightly older son had typhoid, and the doctor had strictly forbidden him to eat solid food. While the mother had been away shopping, her sick son had begged his younger brother to give him some parathas (a fried food), which he did. When the mother returned to find that her son’s sickness had worsened, she scolded her younger son for his harmful “kindness.”

Imagine an alcoholic who routinely squanders all his earnings and abuses his family members in his drunken stupor. When he falls sick, he receives free medical care, which cures his illness but not his addiction. He resumes his habitual intoxication and abuse. The intentions behind the free medical care are good in that they relieve him of his illness, but they are not good enough to offer a solution to the deeper problem. Srila Prabhupada would often compare social welfare efforts devoid of spirituality to blowing on a painful boil. The good intention fails as a lasting solution.

The Vedic texts say that suffering is an impetus to raise our consciousness to the spiritual plane, where we automatically reclaim our right to eternal happiness. Srila Prabhupada writes, “The miseries of material existence serve to indirectly remind us of our incompatibility with matter.” To understand this better, we need to swallow a bitter pill: acceptance of the fact that this world is like a prison and everyone here is like a criminal, imprisoned for rebellion against God. Hardship in this world is meant to rectify us.

Consider a welfare worker who zealously works for the transfer of a criminal from a low-class prison cell to a high-class cell. If the welfare worker doesn’t help the inmate reform, the inmate will not gain release, which should be the reformer’s goal. His actions are shortsighted and incomplete. Ultimately they serve neither the purpose of the prison (reformation of the prisoners) nor the long-term interests of the prisoner (freedom from captivity). The Vedic texts prompt us to ponder whether providing material improvement without spiritual enlightenment is much different. The gift is at best incomplete. In the ultimate analysis, it serves neither the purpose of the material world (rectification of the rebellious mentality of the souls) nor the souls’ ultimate interests (freedom from the inevitable sufferings of material existence, including repeated birth and death).

The foregoing discussion is not meant to suggest we turn a blind eye and develop a cold heart toward the sufferings of our fellow human beings. Compassion is undoubtedly a noble quality, and the Vedic texts urge us to use it to its maximum effectiveness by becoming instruments of God’s compassion.

The Complete Welfare Program

God being the most loving father feels pain to see His children in pain, no matter what their transgressions. He creates a cosmic justice system to bring about their gradual reform. But being much more than just a neutral judge, He also creates a mercy system to offer quick relief to sincerely repentant souls. Through His representatives, the saintly devotees, He disseminates genuine spiritual knowledge. By learning the cause of suffering, intelligent human beings can voluntarily reform themselves and learn to live in loving harmony with God. Then God, out of love for them, waives their karmic punishment partly or fully, according to the degree of their repentance. And ultimately God helps them return to their eternal home to live happily with Him forever. (Bhagavad-gita 10.10–11) Therefore Vedic scriptures call upon all intelligent social workers to become agents of the Lord’s compassion and do the highest good to everyone.

Suppose you are the friend of a millionaire. One day you see your friend’s estranged son wandering on the streets, drunk, disheveled, diseased, distressed, and starving. When someone offers him food, he gulps it down and continues his aimless wandering. Then someone else comes and gives him a new set of clothes. He happily wears the clothes, but still remains lost and forsaken. Someone else gives him free medicine, which provides him some relief but no permanent solace.

Then you seat him in your car, take him home, bathe and feed him, and treat his ailments. When he has sobered, you talk with him lovingly, explaining his father’s great affection for him. You clarify and remove the misunderstanding that strained their relationship. And when he is ready, you take him back to his father’s mansion, where he is fed the best food, given an entire wardrobe of clothes, and attended to by a team of expert doctors. His reunion with his father has solved so many problems. Material welfare workers are like the people who offered food, clothing, and medicine to the lost son, whereas the devotee is like the father’s friend, who took the son back to his father.

We are beloved children of the Supreme Lord, the master of the goddess of fortune. Therefore we are all like princes in the kingdom of God. But our causeless misuse of our free will drives us from the shelter of our all-loving father and forces us to struggle for paltry pleasure in the material world, like the lost son of the millionaire.

ISKCON’s Service to Society

Most people are so spiritually uninformed they don’t even know they are the beloved spiritual children of the supreme father and that an eternal, joyful life is their birthright. In a world bedeviled by such spiritual bankruptcy, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness:

•Provides systematic spiritual education free to everyone, irrespective of caste, race, gender, religion, nationality, and so on.

•Offers an attractive alternative culture that enables people to practice spirituality in a practical yet potent way and thus lead deeply meaningful and fulfilling lives.

•Propagates the nonsectarian, universal, time-tested chanting of the holy names of God, especially the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. Chanting enables millions of people to easily harmonize themselves with God, thus paving the way for them to return to His kingdom.

•Helps millions of people break free from the self-destructive drives of meat-eating, illicit sex, intoxication, and gambling by offering them a higher happiness and thus saving from immense karmic suffering in this and future lives.

•Runs the world’s largest vegetarian food-relief program, Food for Life, and offers free nutritious sanctified food (prasadam), which nourishes the body and awakens the soul. Prasadam reaches millions of people all over the world, including war-torn areas.

ISKCON works tirelessly at the grassroots level to help people return to harmony with their own true nature as beloved children of God. Thus harmonized, they can find and distribute the treasure of love, peace, and happiness that lies hidden in their own hearts. Henry David Thoreau pointed out, “For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at its root.” Among the various welfare measures offered by different organizations, ISKCON’s propagation of pure spiritual education and culture strikes at the root of suffering and helps people become truly happy forever.

The nine day long annual Ratha Yatra celebrations in Mayapur ended on 26th July. Although the festival began on 18th, the festival preparations started much earlier. Special wooden carts were designed for Their Lordships Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra devi this year. People from different parts of the world visited Mayapur for the Ratha Yatra. Many people came from nearby areas. All of them and also the local devotees participated in the festival with great enthusiasm.

The Ratha Yatra took place on 18th July. Dignitaries such as the Vice Chancellor of the Kalyani University and Pundarikaksha Saha were present on this occasion. In the early afternoon, there were classical dance and music events at Rajapur Temple. The Ratha yatra started around 3 pm after the Pandu Vijay. Heavy rain couldn’t deter the enthusiastic devotees who walked all the way with Their Lordships from Rajapur Temple to ISKCON Mayapur.

During the next seven days, Their Lordships Jagannath Baladev and Subhadra devi were offered aratis and 56 bhoga. Devotees and visitors could honor every afternoon wonderful feasts of 56 prasadam offered to Lord. Every evening, there was lamp offering and arati for the Lord along with singing of Jagannathastakam. Later there was distribution of prasadam to all visitors.

On 26th afternoon, Their Lordships returned in Ratha procession to Rajapur Temple. Please view the pictures of this year’s Ratha Yatra at: www.mayapur.com/2015/ratha-yatra-2015-gallery

By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhuapada
Lecture given in Vrindavan, India, November 14, 1976

Chanting Hare Krishna can deliver us from material entanglement at once, provided the chanting is pure.

mano-vacho-drik-karanehitasya
sakshat-kritam me paribarhanam hi
vina puman yena maha-vimohat
kritanta-pashan na vimoktum ishet

[Lord Rshabhadeva said:] “The true activity of the sense organs—mind, sight, words, and all the knowledge-gathering and working senses—is to engage fully in My service. Unless his senses are thus engaged, a living entity cannot think of getting out of the great entanglement of material existence, which is exactly like Yamaraja’s stringent rope.”—Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.27

Entanglement in material nature is caused by the senses. Bhaktivinoda Thakura has sung sharira avidya-jal: “The body is a covering of ignorance.” Everyone has a material body, and everything is going on according to the body. This is maha-vimoha, “the great illusion.” There are 8,400,000 forms of body according to mano, vacha, drik, karana: “mind, words, sight, senses,” and so on. The body is the entanglement, the senses are the instruments, and we are acting with the senses to create another type of body for our next life.

Therefore the first business of life is to purify the senses. Bhakti, devotional service, means purifying the senses. In the Bhagavad-gita (3.42) it is said,

indriyani parany ahur
indriyebhyah param manah
manasas tu para buddhir
yo buddheh paratas tu sah

“The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he [the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.” And the soul is a very minute part of the Supersoul. That is also mentioned:

keshagra-shata-bhagasya
shatamsha-sadrishatmakah
jivah sukshma-svarupo ’yam
sankhyatito hi chit-kanah

“If we divide the tip of a hair into a hundred parts and then take one of these parts and divide it again into a hundred parts, that very fine division is the size of but one of the numberless living entities.” (Quoted in Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila 19.140) From this verse you can get an idea of the size of the soul. Living entities are all chit-kana, particles of spirit, not matter.

Intelligence is working, then the mind is producing the senses, and the senses are transforming into a gross body. This is material existence. How finely organized it is! Where is the science to understand this? The rascals do not know anything except the body.

In our country Carvaka Muni has advised, bhasmi-bhutasya dehasya kutah punar-agamano bhavet: “Why are you thinking of your next birth? Another birth is not possible. We see that the gross body is burnt into ashes. And where is the soul? Who is coming back again? Don’t care for all these things.” Yavaj jivet sukham jivet: “Live happily. Eat, drink, be merry, and enjoy.”

This philosophy is going on. “There is no mind, there is no intelligence, there is no soul, only this gross body, and as long as we possess this gross body, let us enjoy the senses.” This is called maha-vimoha, the greatest bewilderment. People have no education about how we are existing in the material world, how nature is working. They are thinking there is no life after this one, but that is not the fact. They are living in a very great entanglement.

The spirit soul is a person, as Krishna is a person. Because the father is a person, the child is also a person. It cannot be otherwise. Or if the child is a person, the father must be a person. Krishna says, aham bija-pradah pita: “I am the father of all living entities.” (Bhagavad-gita 14.4). We experience that all living entities are persons. Even a small insect, a small ant, is a person. If an ant is going in a certain direction and you stop it, it will struggle—”Why you are stopping me?” That shows that it is a person. It will try its best to go this way and that way to avoid your checking it. You can see this by practical experience. Even a small ant has all the propensities of a person. Ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithuna. These propensities—eating, sleeping, sex, and fearing—you will find everywhere. Vishaya, material enjoyment, is not only for the rich man. Vishaya means enjoyment of the senses. And that is available to all living entities.

Locana Dasa Thakura has sung, vishaya chariya, se rase majiya, mukhe bolo hari hari. We can have success in chanting when we give up sense enjoyment. This is the instruction. We must chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, the holy name of the Lord, purely, without offense. If we can chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra purely even once, then immediately we become liberated.

Pure Chanting

The Lord’s holy name is so powerful that chanting it even once immediately vanquishes the accumulated sinful reactions of millions of lives. Even a person who was sinful will fail to sin again.

But the difficulty is that we cannot come to the pure stage of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. Due to our past habits our mind is disturbed. We cannot concentrate. Therefore I have fixed a minimum requirement for my disciples: They must chant at least sixteen rounds on their beads every day. We cannot imitate Haridasa Thakura, who was chanting day and night—300,000 holy names daily. That is not possible. Some people make a show of imitating Haridasa Thakura, but we see that they are chanting Hare Krishna but also smoking. We can understand their position. That kind of offensive chanting is going on.

We should try to avoid the ten offenses. [See the sidebar “The Ten Offenses in Chanting” at the end of the article.] Of course, in the beginning the offenses will continue. But by chanting repeatedly, the core of our heart will be cleansed.

People do not know what position they are in. They have dismissed everything—all the instructions of the scriptures, all the instructions of Krishna, all the instruction of the guru. “Oh, these are all mythology. There is no life after death.” This is going on.

We should understand our position. But people have become dull, just like a stone or a tree. If you cut a stone, it does not respond; it does nothing. But if there is life, there is a response. If I pinch you, you will ask, “Why are you pinching me?” That is the difference between life and a dead body. As long as one is not conscious, he’s as good as stone or wood. People have created such a strong heart in material existence that it does not respond even after suffering so much. This is the position.

The Krishna consciousness movement is meant to bring people to the right consciousness. When consciousness is covered, dull, it cannot respond. But it can be brought into the proper existence, and the process for that is to hear spiritual sound repeatedly. Krishna has given us one chance: our ear. We must properly use it.

Aural Reception

Vedic knowledge is meant to be heard. It is therefore called shruti, that which is heard. The Vedic instruction must be gotten from the right person through aural reception.

shrinvatam sva-kathah krishnah
punya-shravana-kirtanah
hridy antah stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrit satam

“Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.17) We should engage our ears to receive Vedic knowledge very attentively. We have to approach the proper person to inquire and hear from, and we must serve that person. Then our knowledge will develop. That is the process.

As today’s verse says, we can worship the Lord by the mind, by words, by seeing, and by all the senses. The mind is one of the senses. With the mind and the senses, we are trying to be happy in the material world, but there is no happiness, simply struggling. We have been put into the material nature. The jiva, the living entity, although part of Krishna, wanted to enjoy life separately or independently, without Krishna. The material world is where, without Krishna, we struggle for existence. Therefore if we want to stop the struggle for existence with the mind and senses, then we must come to Krishna. That is the natural position.

But people are not taught about Krishna. They are already in ignorance, and they are kept in ignorance. Rascals do not know that their real self-interest is to approach Vishnu or Krishna. Krishna comes personally to show His causeless mercy upon them, to exhibit Himself and show how He can be the friend of everyone. Krishna is not only the friend of Arjuna. Arjuna is the symbolic friend. In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna instructs Arjuna, His friend, but He is the friend of everyone. Suhridam sarva-bhutanam: “I am the friend of all living entities.” (Bhagavad-gita 5.29)

We must take advantage of the instructions of Bhagavad-gita. They are not meant for Arjuna. Arjuna is already liberated, but he is placing himself as one of us just to take the lessons of Krishna for the benefit of the whole world. Arjuna is always with Krishna. He cannot be in ignorance. As one who is constantly living with Krishna, Arjuna has no ignorance, but he’s putting himself forward as ignorant.

We also have the example of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He was inquiring from Ramananda Raya, His disciple. Does that mean that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did not know the answers? No. He was showing how we can get knowledge by hearing from the authorities. Similarly, Arjuna’s ignorance was like that of an actor. Actually he is liberated.

When Arjuna was advised to practice hatha-yoga, he said, “Krishna, it is not possible for me.”

chanchalam hi manah krishna
pramathi balavad dridham
tasyaham nigraham manye
vayor iva sudushkaram

“For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krishna, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind.” (Bhagavad-gita 6.34)

“I cannot do this.”

He was frank enough. Or on behalf of us he said frankly, “It is impossible.”

At least in the current age, Kali-yuga, to control the mind by meditation is not possible. Even five thousand years ago, during a more suitable age, Arjuna was unwilling to accept this yogic process.

“It is not possible. I am a politician. I am a military man. I have to fight. I have to see so many things. How can I control my mind? It is not possible.”

That is the fact. Controlling the mind by the yogic process, by meditation, is impossible.

Chanting Is the Essence

To make spiritual advancement, however, we must control the mind. In this age we can control the mind and attain all spiritual success by chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. That is the essential teaching of the shastras, or scriptures. Everyone is in ignorance—fools and rascals. And it is the duty of the spiritual master to present the essence of the shastra to everyone.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “My guru found Me to be a great rascal.”

He was not a rascal, but He presented Himself as a rascal because we are rascals. The people of this age are all rascals.

Therefore Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “My guru saw Me to be a great rascal; therefore he forbid me to read the Vedanta.”

Even for learned persons, the Vedanta, which contains the essence of Vedic philosophy in concise verses, is very difficult to understand. What will the rascals of this age understand about Vedanta? They will simply misrepresent it. They will simply mislead people. You see so many big, big politicians and scholars simply misleading people by quoting Bhagavad-gita. Bhagavad-gita is spoken on the battlefield, and they want to prove that it is about nonviolence. In this way people are being misled.

Therefore avoid this rascal process of reading something and misinterpreting it. We should not try to become very learned scholars by misreading the Vedic literature. Take the instruction of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:

harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha

“In this age of Kali there is no other means, no other means, no other means for self-realization than chanting the holy name, chanting, the holy name, chanting the holy name of Lord Hari [Krishna].”

Lord Chaitanya has quoted this verse from the Brihan-naradiya Purana (3.8.126). The sadhu, the saintly person, will not speak anything that is not in the shastra. That is the qualification of the sadhu. The sadhu cannot manufacture anything.

So follow Lord Chaitanya’s instruction: Chant Hare Krishna as many times as possible and be liberated.

Thank you very much.

——

Ten Offenses in Chanting

(1) To blaspheme the devotees who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy name of the Lord.
(2) To consider the names of demigods like Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma to be equal to or independent of the holy name of Lord Vishnu.
(3) To disobey the orders of the spiritual master.
(4) The blaspheme the Vedic literature or literature in pursuance of the Vedic version.
(5) To consider the glories of chanting Hare Krishna imagination.
(6) To give some interpretation on the holy name of the Lord.
(7) To commit sinful activities on the strength of chanting the holy name of the Lord.
(8) To consider the chanting of Hare Krishna one of the auspicious ritualistic activities offered in the Vedas as fruitive activities (karma-kanda).
(9) To instruct a faithless person about the glories of the holy name.
(10) To not have complete faith in the chanting of the holy names and to maintain some material attachment, even after understanding so many instructions on this matter. It is also an offense to be inattentive while chanting.

By Nandini Radha devi dasi

HH Radhanath Swami was invited to a special home program on June 30, 2015 in Camarillo, California. This city houses California State University, Channel Islands, one of the 23 campuses in the CSU system, the biggest public university structure in California, where Nandini Radha devi dasi (aka Dr. Nitika Parmar), a disciple of Radhanath Swami works as a Biology professor.

In January of 2014 and 2015, Dr. Parmar took a group of 14 students from the university for a trip to India, to explore various facets of biotechnology. This trip served as the culmination activity of a study abroad course that she teaches. The core textbook for this course was “The Journey Home” and students were required to write a summary on this book and were also given quiz assignments on the same. As a result of reading the book beforehand, the students were very eager to meet with the author, which they did in India.

A visit to the Govardhan Ecovillage in Maharashtra was built into the itinerary as the environmental biotechnology component. The students had the most amazing time at GEV and got to meet with Radhanath Swami both at the Ecovillage as well as ISKCON Chowpatty, where the spiritual leader spent several hours conversing with them. Upon returning back to USA all students expressed an interest in meeting with Radhanath Swami again when they were told about his summer tour to USA. This led to the June 30 gathering at Dr. Parmar’s home.

Overall, the audience of almost 45 guests made for a packed gathering at the venue. Radhanath Swami arrived promptly on time and was greeted loudly by the students with the chant “Haribol!” which they learnt at GEV. An introductory video of the Journey Home was played in the first few minutes while the speaker was being introduced.

After a seven minute introduction, Radhanath Swami gave a discourse on “The Ecology of the Heart” a subject which focused on the development of human values in conjunction with concern for the environment. The speaker spoke about the need to connect with the Divine and our dependence on the higher powers at every stage in life. He also spoke briefly about his quest to know the truth and how this curiosity led him to travel to the other side of the globe while he was a teenager.

One main area that was discussed was the need to better ourselves in three “S” areas- sanga (association), sadhana (devotional practice) and sadachara (character). The speaker quoted- “If one loses money, nothing is lost. If one loses health, something is lost but if one loses character, everything is lost.”

The topic of hatred and religious intolerance rampant in the world today was also touched upon and the speaker enunciated beautifully how greed is leading to proprietorship of things that don’t belong to us in the first place. He specifically talked about the ‘simple living, high thinking’ model which is much needed in today’s society. Focusing on students, he encouraged them to think deeper since they would be the leaders of the future and to follow a path based on compassion and care was of prime necessity.

The audience listened attentively, digesting each word. Following the discourse there was a question and answer session and several questions were fielded. This Q and A could have lasted longer but since it was getting late and the guests were looking forward to dinner, a sumptuous vegetarian feast was served. The Journey Home book was also available for purchase and several books were bought by the guests. Radhanath Swami signed the books and spoke with the guests personally, tending to them with his characteristic care and attention. This program was very well received as evidenced from the feedback received (feedback forms were provided to the guests). Some of the feedback received was:

I have been reflecting a lot about the message the Swami shared. My apologies to referring to him simply as the Swami. I can’t recall his name. His message really speaks to me in where I am at in my life in discovering my spiritual path and seeking enlightenment. I am very interested in learning more. It was a great event.
Admittedly I thought your guest was going to be someone in the science field but I was pleasantly surprised! He was very insightful and his words resonated in me. Thank you so much!
Radhanath Swami was a very inspiring and interesting speaker I feel privileged and lucky to have had the opportunity to hear him speak in such an intimate setting. I will definitely be reading his book in the near future. I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the speaker.
Thank you for a wonderful evening last night. We really enjoyed the talk. I purchased his book. I am looking forward to reading it.
Thank you again for having us over to your home for dinner with the swami. Both my friend Cecily and I really enjoyed the talk and found it invigorating and enlightening.
Thank you for such a very lovely dinner and what a surprise, to meet the most fascinating person I have ever met! I purchased his book and am enjoying it so much. I remember when the HARE KRISHNA movement was starting here in L.A. when I first became aware of it. I attended the temple in Malibu for a wedding sometime in the 70’s, it was very beautiful and here some 40yrs later to meet such an important man, to say I was very impressed does not even come close to how I felt.
I really enjoyed Swami and his message. It would be great to go to another event in the future.

The program ended with the students eager to visit GEV again in the future and several mentioned how they would make changes in their own lives which will make them more conscious of values which are meaningful rather than pursue hollow dreams.

You cannot follow nicely unless you hear nicely, and you cannot lead nicely unless you have learned to follow nicely.

Yamuna: From the very beginning of our programs in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada became known as one “who is startling India with kirtan.” Our kirtans were full of so much excitement—they were so thrilling—that we were like one throbbing heartbeat, the heartbeat of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mission of Krishna Consciousness.

It is difficult to describe how much potency we felt in the kirtans—not just in the chanting itself, but how the chanting was being received by others. It was amazing how clearly we could see the chanting changing the hearts and psyches of so many people, and this simply spurred us on even more.

Like a holistic circle—the dynamic circle of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Sankirtan Movement—we took the process our Guru Maharaja gave us to heart, practiced it, gave it to others through harinam sankirtan, and then saw it act on their hearts. It was truly a magical, wonderful thing, and I felt so privileged to be part of it.

Srila Prabhupada’s interplay with us at this time was truly wondrous. I can only describe him as being like a conductor with many devotee “instruments,” watching each of us carefully and directing the rhythms and tenors of our individual services.

He knew our strengths and weaknesses, tried to bring out the best in each of us, and protected us. We felt that we couldn’t have figured out anything regarding the day-to-day adjustments to being in India without his constant guidance. He set the example of how to live, how to behave, and he allowed us access to him nearly twenty-four hours a day.

Srila Prabhupada’s energy level at this time was also beyond description. Here he was in his seventies, while we were all in our twenties or less, and yet he worked circles around us. He was present, alert, and up each night until after midnight translating.

Then he had a full-on day of activities, including instructions to us, letters to write and send around the world, meetings with important men and aspiring devotees, preaching programs, and of course, his daily personal sadhana . It was simply inconceivable, and yet he did this every day, regardless of where he was.

Srila Prabhupada’s Western disciples quickly became the “talk” of Bombay, and, with the help of Kailash Seksaria, we were introduced to many of Bombay’s elite at his functions. He would arrange very grand and elegant programs in the evenings on the rooftop of his house on Marine Drive and invite prominent members of society. Srila Prabhupada would speak at these programs, and then we would have wonderful kirtans.

He would simply direct us to begin kirtan by picking up a pair of kartals and playing them—ching, ching, sizzle. He would play very definitively, with straight back, eyes closed, head raised, and side-to-side movement, his garland gently swaying as he played.

Then, with a sober face and half-closed eyes, he would often direct me to lead, and I would pick up the microphone and begin chanting. Srila Prabhupada had taught us a new melody for chanting the Gurvastakam, and I would generally start with this. There is an interesting instruction in his teaching of this prayer.

One morning, soon after our arrival at Kailash Seksaria’s home, Srila Prabhupada called on a male devotee to chant the new melody of Gurvastakam. After two lines of the prayer, he asked him to stop and then requested another devotee to continue. The same thing happened, and he asked another devotee to chant, with the same result. Then he asked me to lead the prayer, and he did not stop me.

So later, I asked him why he had done that, and he replied: Learn to listen. You cannot follow nicely unless you hear nicely, and you cannot lead nicely unless you have learned to follow nicely.
–Yamuna’s Journal

Yamuna Devi: A Life of Unalloyed Devotion: Part 1: Preparing an Offering of Love.