Rathayatra de Montrèal Le Festival Hare Krishna 2015 (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: In this age of Kali, if a person does not take advantage of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, which is offered as a great concession to the fallen human beings of this age, it is to be understood that he is very much bewildered by the illusory energy of the Lord. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.24.14 Purport)
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Maha Saturday Harinama at Union Square Park, New York (Album with 40 photos)
Srila Prabhupada: If the surface of the globe is overflooded with the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, the people of the world will be very, very happy. (Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.24.10 Purport)
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By Dvaraka Vasini Devi Dasi
Shriman Mohanbhai Kalyanjibhai Kundaria, the Indian minister for Agriculture who is on a special mission to Kenya, visited ISKCON Nairobi on the 12th July 2015. The minister was received by the temple president H.G Umapati prabhu by garlanding him at the entrance of the temple and marking a vaishnava tilaka on the ministers fore head. Some special mantras were also recited by Bhakta Chandan for invoking auspiciousness and welcoming the minister into the temple.
The Minister was escorted by the Hindu Council Chairman Shriman Nitin Malde, and industrialist Shriman Ashok shah.
After taking darshan of the beautiful deities, the minister proceeded to have Prasadam, which was served by the vaishnavi sanga girls. Mr. Mohanbhai was very happy to honor the Ekadashi Maha Prasadam and said that he was very privileged to be served Krishna Prasadam.
The minister concluded his trip to the temple by sharing a very nice story with the temple congregation which had gathered for the Sunday feast program. The minister talked about a small boy who had unflinching faith in Krishna. Once the boy had to undergo a heart surgery, said the minister. The boy requested the surgeon to be careful during the surgery as he had Krishna in the heart. During the operation, the minister explained, that the surgeon saw the heart was beyond repair, so he just stitched the boy up. When the surgeon was washing his hands, he heard the boy ask if he saw Krishna inside the heart. The minister continued to say that the surgeon was so amazed to see the boy recover fully. The minister concluded his story by blessing the temple congregation that they also have that unflinching faith in Krishna and have the Lord in their hearts always.
The minister was also gifted the Bhagavad Gita As It Is, in Gujarati and English. He was surprised to see that the Bhagavad Gita has been translated into Gujarati as well.
Returning to the spiritual world
(Lectures by HH Kadamba Kanana Swami, 10 July 2013, Serbian Summer Camp, Fruska Gouranga, Seminar Part 2)
When a living being leaves the spiritual world, it is not that you were in the pastimes with Krsna then you went to the material world. Let’s say you were cowherd boy and suddenly there is one cowherd boy less! Then one day, you are back to Godhead and suddenly, there is again another cowherd boy running, “Somebody came back to Godhead!” It is not described like that.
Sanatana Goswami describes that Gopa Kumar comes back to this land and in this land everyone is absent minded. Gopa Kumar asks, “Where am I?” No one answers. Everyone is sort of looking in one direction, even the branches of the trees are pointing in that same direction, the birds are all looking in that same direction. That is the direction in which Krsna left that morning to go to the forest and all those remaining behind are looking in that direction, waiting for the evening, for the sign of that cloud of the dust coming in the sky. Before that cloud of dust, one can already hear the flute but it’s just the wind blowing into the bamboos in the forest that makes the sound of the flute. The dust is just created by some wind. It is not Krsna yet, it’s too early! So, everyone is waiting for the whole day and he sees that. So, finally when Krsna comes back from the forest and sees Gopa Kumar who in his spiritual body is known as Sarupa, he says, “Sarupa!!” Krsna sees him and faints.
And gopas who see this ask, “Who is he? Is he an agent of Kamsa?” And they are ready to get heavy. Balarama says, “No, no, no. He is actually an old friend of Krsna. Krsna is very happy to see him.” Balaram takes Sarupa by the hand and tells him, “Chant into Krsna’s ear.”
Sarupa chants into Krsna’s ear and Krsna comes back to his senses, he embraces Sarup says, “Come! You take prasadam with me!” And they go to take prasadam in the house of Nanda Maharaj who is already waiting. Radharani has cooked all these delicious sweets and actually, it turns out that Sarupa is a family member. He is related to Srimati Radharani, in the family of Sridham. Sarupa is sitting next to Krsna, then some sweets are placed on Krsna’s plate and Krsna tastes them and makes a face; horrible! Everyone is shocked, what is this? Yasoda is looking at Radharani, “What did you do? What did you make here? Are you poisoning my child?”
Krsna says, “These are inedible!” He takes the sweets and throws them on Sarupa’s plate and says, “Here, you taste them since it is your family that has produced them.” And Sarupa tastes the greatest nectar, he has not tasted such nectar ever, amazing!
So in this way he returns back to Godhead; he is not just suddenly back. No, Krsna welcomes him back personally. It is a very personal thing, going back to Godhead. It is also very personal thing when we leave; it hurts Krsna very much. So like this, yes indeed, the relationship is very personal.
Srila Prabhupada’s compassion.
Feelings of pity and sorrow are evoked when we see the sufferings of our fellow man. Our attempts to alleviate that distress by acts of charity are certainly regarded as noble acts of benevolence, and there have been many people who have made selfless sacrifices for the poor, infirm and marginalised. The world would definitely be a better place if more people were benevolent, concerned, kind, and empathetic – qualities collectively appreciated as compassion. Depending on one’s premise however, compassion can be understood in different ways. Srila Prabhupada enlightened us about our real identity – that “I am not this body, but a spirit soul”. On this level of insight, compassion has a much deeper significance. Srila Prabhupada taught and lived by this premise. He stated: Material compassion, lamentation and tears are all signs of ignorance of the real self. Compassion for the eternal soul is self-realisation… No one knows where compassion should be applied. Compassion for the dress of a drowning man is senseless. A man fallen in the ocean of nescience cannot be saved simply by rescuing his outward dress – the gross material body. As an enlightened soul, Srila Prabhupada felt pain at the distress of others and wanted to relieve their suffering. He explained that compassion for the material body alone does not provide a lasting solution. He saw the suffering of the living entity as a symptom of a deeper problem - the misidentification of the real person (the soul) with the temporary material body. As long as the spirit soul identified with this body, it would have to repeatedly endure birth after birth and the concomitant suffering typical of material existence.
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THE FOLLOWING LECTURE GIVEN BY HIS HOLINESS BHAKTI CHARU SWAMI IN ISKCON RADHADESH BELGIUM, 2004, IS THE SEVENTH OUT OF NINE IN A SERIES ON THE HISTORY OF VAISHNAVA HERITAGE.
Transcription : His Grace Krishnarchana Dasa
Editing : Hemavati Radhika Dasi
Audio-reference : click here
Spiritual life begins with submission to the laws given by the Lord, which is known as religion. Religion means the laws given by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We see that initially one abides by the laws of the Lord because he sees that by becoming religious he can have better material facilities. That is karma kanda. Enjoyment in the material nature is not the real object of spiritual life. Even liberation from material bondage is not the goal.
These are just some secondary effects of spiritual life which have been described in the Vedas as dharma, artha, kama and moksha. In dharma, one leads a religious life. As a result of that he gets artha, material benefits. By getting material benefits, he can fulfill his desires, kama. And finally, when he sees that in spite of fulfilling all his desires he is not really getting what he is hankering for, he considers that the goal of life is to get out of the material world because it is filled with miseries. Moksha is the common understanding of spiritual life.
When we approach Srimad Bhagavatam, we get an understanding of what actual spiritual life is. And from Chaitanya Charitamrita, we get an even deeper understanding that material desire, enjoyment in the material nature, and also aspiring for liberation from material bondage are detrimental to spiritual advancement. They are considered like two pots of poison. Material enjoyment as well as liberation are not the goal. The goal is to become elevated to the spiritual sky.
In order to become elevated to the spiritual world, one has to become a devotee of the Lord. Unless and until one becomes a devotee of the Lord, one cannot go back to the spiritual world. That is the preliminary understanding. Then we find that there are different levels of elevation among the devotees, as we saw in the first part of Brhad Bhagavatmrta.
These understandings are very important to become fully aware of our heritage: what we are following, what actually is Krishna consciousness movement? Is this just another religion or another fad? Many people have that misconception. Even I had. When I saw ISKCON devotees from a distance, I used to think they were just a bunch of American boys and girls who found a new fad: shaving their heads and wearing saffron, chanting Hare Krishna. When I joined ISKCON, many people thought the same way that why I am joining ISKCON? There are so many spiritual institutions in India, why I had to join this movement which is apparently an American thing? Those days, there were very few Indians in ISKCON, even in India, it was mostly Americans. That is the basic misconception about this movement.
We should have the proper understanding of what this movement actually stands for. What are we actually pursuing ? Our conclusion should be that unless this is the best, we should not settle for this. Our approach should be that if there is anything better than ISKCON, then we should go there. If we are after some spiritual achievement, then isn’t it natural that we should go for the best ? Sometimes people settle for sentiment, “Oh, my grandfather was initiated by this group, so I should also go in this.” So many missions, so many spiritual organizations are gathering their following just on sentiment. They do not settle for any spiritual understanding; they just go for sentimental reasons. That should not be the case with us. If we are really intelligent, if we are really serious about our spiritual life, then our attitude should be that we go for the best.
If there is anything better than ISKCON, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement, then yes, we should go for that. I can say that yes, I will go there, but in the last twenty-three years I have not found anything better. On the other hand, the more I am probing inside this philosophy and the spiritual understanding, and even our inner feelings and realizations, I am becoming more and more convinced that this is the best. That is why I can announce that if there is anything better, we are ready to accept because we know that there is nothing better than this.
Now here, through this discussion of the history of our Vaishnava heritage, this is what we are trying to establish. What Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave is the highest. It is not a sentimental claim, but the verdict of the scriptures. Also, when we want to analyze it and verify it, then we get to see that this is the highest spiritual achievement. A part of it we discussed yesterday, that who is the greatest devotee, what is the highest form of devotion? Narada Muni is very systematically experiencing that. Sanatana Goswami is describing Narada Muni’s search for the greatest devotee. We are seeing the gradual elevation of one’s devotional profoundity.
Today we will be discussing the second part of Brhad Bhagavatamrta. The second part of Brhad Bhagavatmrita is actually describing a devotee’s journey back to Godhead. The story begins with a cowherd boy named Gopakumara. Gopakumar is born in Govardhana in a family of Vaishyas, a cowherd family. Like other cowherd boys, Gopakumar used to tend the cows in the forest of Vrindavana.
Gopakumar used to see one person who was very strange. He used to behave like a madman. Sometimes they would see him laughing, sometimes crying, sometimes rolling on the ground. In this way, this person was behaving like a mad man, but this person was very affectionate towards these cowherd boys. When he would see them, he would pour out the affection of his heart on them. And the cowherd boys were also very affectionate towards him. They would offer the milk of the cows. In this way, he had a very nice relationship with the cowherd boys.
One day, when Gopakumar was alone, he came across this person on the bank of Yamuna. That person told him to go take a bath in Yamuna and he would give him a mantra. He gave him the ten-syllable Gopal Mantra. He told him that this mantra is very powerful, a very precious spiritual wealth. He asked Gopakumar to cultivate it very carefully and keep it protected with a lot of care and attention. After that he fainted.
Since Gopakumar received this mantra and he was told that this was the most precious mantra, he started to chant the mantra. Gopakumar lost interest in everything else. All he wanted to do was chant. He felt that everything else is just a hindrance. His friends, his family, his duty to tend the cows in the forest, he felt they were all a hindrance to his meditating on the mantra.
One day, Gopakumar decided to leave his place in Vrindavana. He just left and started to wander alone. He would find some solitary place and just chant the mantra. He was deriving great joy from doing that. One day, he came to prayag, the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna. We have to understand that Gopakumar was traveling along the Yamuna river and in this way, he came to Prayag.
In Prayag, he saw one Brahmin worshiping the Salagrama Sila. So, Gopakumar became curious and asked the Brahmin what he was doing. The Brahmin told him, “I am worshiping Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Gopakumar was very thrilled to see that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Whose mantra he is chanting, here is that Personality. He became very excited.
The brahmana put the salagrama sila in a small box and closed the box. When he did that, Gopakumar started to cry. He said, “See, he put the Supreme Personality of Godhead in such a small box. What will He do if He feels hungry or wants something? No one will be able to hear Him.”
When the brahmana saw Gopakumar crying like that, he said, “My boy, I am just a poor brahmana, I cannot afford a very gorgeous worship of the Lord. Therefore, this is how I have to worship and carry Him. If you really want to see some grand worship of the Lord, go to such and such place. You will see that the King there is really worshiping the Lord with so much grandeur.”
Gopakumar went there and saw the Lord was really being worshiped in such a gorgeous temple. He was very, very happy to be there. He was happily spending his time living in the temple, associating with the Lord, chanting His name. At night, he would just sleep in one corner of the temple.
One day, the king of that kingdom died and he did not have any successor for the throne. The ministers started to look for a suitable person to ascend to the throne. They found in the person of Gopakumar all the signs of a king. They made him the king. Although Gopakumar became the king, he was not interested in anything but promoting the Lord’s service and worship. All his time was dedicated in serving the Lord.
Still, Gopakumar would feel bad when people would waste the Mahaprasad of the Lord and consider it stale or old and not take the Prasad. When Gopakumar became morose about that attitude of the people there, then Gopakumar got to know that in Nilachala on the bank of the salt water ocean in the East, there is a temple of Lord Niladripati, Lord Jagannatha. There, no one considers the Lord’s Prasadam stale or rotten. They always consider the Prasadam of Lord Jagannatha as spiritual. They would carry the Prasadam to a distant place and honor the Prasadam.
In this way, Gopakumar became interested in Jagannatha Puri. He left his kingdom and went there. Gopakumar started to live very happily in the presence of Lord Jagannatha. He saw that Jagannatha’s Prasadam was considered to be non-different from the Lord Himself. There also, when the king died, the king’s son did not want to assume the responsibility of the king. Therefore, they made Gopakumar the king. Gopakumar started to take care of Lord Jagannatha’s service.
One day, Gopakumar was feeling very bad about Vrindavana. Then, Lord Jagannatha appeared to him in a dream and told him, “This place and Mathura are non-different. The Lord there is also non-different than Me, so why don’t you go back to Vrindavana ?” In Vrindavana, he used to just live in the forest, chanting, and from time to time, he would have the darshan of the Lord. In this way, he was spending his time.
Around that time, he got to know about the grand worship of the Lord as it was performed by Indra. Gopakumar desired to see how Indra worshiped the Lord.
We notice that whatever Gopakumar desired, by the potency of this mantra, he would get that. That mantra, just like a desire tree, fulfills the desire of one who chants. Therefore, one should be very careful what he desires when he chants this mantra because if one has material desires, watch out! Krishna will fulfill those desires. Gopakumar’s desire was always spiritual.
Gopakumar desired to go to the heavenly planets and he was elevated there. There, after a while, Indra ran away from swarga loka because he was afraid of being cursed by a Brahmin. The throne of heaven was empty, so Brhaspati advised that Gopakumar be named the king. So Gopakumar got the position of Indra. Although Gopakumar became the king of heaven, he was not at all interested in any kind of sense gratification. In G’s nature we see that he was not attracted to sense gratification or to women and he was free from all anarthas. That is the sign of a sincere devotee.
Then, one day some very powerful personalities came to the heavenly planets. Gopakumar was very surprised to see them. They seemed to be as brilliant as the sun. Brhaspati told him that they are the sages from Maharloka, the place that is above swarga loka: Bhur, Bhuvas, Svar, and then, Maharloka. Gopakumar then wanted to go to Maharloka. He was elevated to Maharloka. There he was associating with the sages who were performing sacrifices. There, from the sacrificial fire, Lord Yogeshwara appears. In this way, Gopakumar saw the Lord in His Yogeshwara form. He was spending time in the association of very exalted personalities.
Then Gopakumar got to know about Janaloka, where there are some even more powerful sages. He desired to go there, so he was elevated there. Then he was elevated to Tapoloka, then Satyaloka, the place of Lord Brahma. There, Gopakumar was spending his time in the association of exalted personalities.
Once, Lord Brahma left Satyaloka, so Gopakumar was made Brahma. Here also we see that the devotees are given these very exalted positions and devotees do not refuse them, but they accept with a mood of service. They see that by assuming these positions, they can execute more service to the Lord.
There, Gopakumar met his spiritual master. His spiritual master advised him to go back to Vrindavan and chant the Holy Name of the Lord. So Gopakumar came back to Vrindavan. He stayed in Brahma loka for such a long time that you can imagine what happened to the Earth planet in such a time. He saw that the Earth planet had changed so much in that time. It was not at all like what he saw it last time. Although the entire Earth planet had changed, Vrindavan was still the same. This way, we get to know that time doesn’t affect Vrindavan and Mayapur, they are the spiritual abode of the Lord. They always remain the same. May be on the surface there are some cosmetic differences, but the places are the same.
Although Vrindavan was the same, none of his old friends or acquaintances were there. Not that Gopakumar actually cared for that, he was not at all interested, but still, he noticed that none of those people from before were there. There, Gopakumar started to chant the mantra.
One day, he found himself traveling in a very fast moving vehicle, a space ship. It was moving so fast that in a very short time, all the seven planetary systems, including Brahmaloka disappeared from his vision. The whole universe gradually disappeared from his vision. Then he came to the covering of the universe.
The first covering is the covering of earth. This is the causal form of earth. This earth is the effectual earth, which is the causal earth. All that happens on the earth platform has already happened there. There, Mother Earth personified worships Varahadeva. The place was so opulent that it cannot be described. He spent some time there and saw the grand worship of Earth personified, the way she was worshiping Varahadeva. Then, he came to the water layer. There he saw water personified worshiping the Lord in His Mina incarnation. Then he came to the fire layer. There he was the Lord being worshipped as Vaishwanara. Then he went to the air layer, then mind. In the mind layer, Aniruddha was being worshipped. Then, in the false ego layer, Lord Sankarshana was being worshiped. Finally he came to the covering of the material nature herself. There, material nature personified was worshiping the Mohini Murti of the Lord, in the form that He enchanted Lord Shiva.
At that point, material nature personified, Maya herself, was asking him why he was leaving. She was inviting him to stay and enjoy. Gopakumar addressed her as the sister of his worshipable Lord and begged her to help him approach her brother. Mahamaya is also Yogamaya and Yogamaya is Subhadra Devi. He begged her to help him approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
In this way, he came out of the final layer, the covering of the material nature, and for the first time he became bewildered. He came to Brahma Jyoti. There he could not find the Lord. Previously, wherever he went, he could find the Lord being worshiped in some form or another, but here he could not find the Lord. Only there were some flashes of the Supersoul in that brilliant, blinding, glaring light of Brahmajyoti.
He started to pray to Lord Jagannatha. All of a sudden, he heard the sound of Sankirtan. He saw a personality whose complexion was as white as camphor riding on a bull and he was surrounded by his devotees. He was coming down. He wondered who he was. He was told by one of the associates of Lord Shiva that it was Lord Shiva. He invited him to also join the party. But Gopakumar begged his forgiveness and went forward.
Then Gopakumar came to the gate of Vaikuntha. At the gate he saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead with His four arms carrying the disc, lotus, mace and conch shell. When he saw Him, he immediately offered obeisances and started saying, “O my Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead.” But that person, as soon as he heard that, covered his ears and started saying, “I am not the Lord! I am not the Lord!” Saying that, he just covered his ears and ran inside. Then Gopakumar saw another personality in a spaceship and he just landed there.he thought him to be the Lord and started to offer prayers. That person also became very embarrassed and ran inside.
Finally, some person took pity on Gopakumar and took him to see the Lord. But when he saw Narayana, Gopakumar was so overwhelmed with emotion that he fainted. Lakshmi Devi came down from the throne and nursed him like her own child and brought him back to his senses. In this way, Lakshmi Devi and Narayan showered their affection upon Gopakumar.
So Gopakumar was staying in Vaikuntha, but still he was maintaining his cowherd boy identity. Some of the residents once told him, “You are in Vaikuntha. You should assume the Vaikuntha form now, the four armed swarupa of the Lord.” Gopakumar declined that proposal.
Then Gopakumar got to know about Lord Ramachandra in Ayodhya. So Gopakumar went to Ayodhya and received a lot of mercy from Lord Ramachandra and Sita Devi. Then, by the mercy of Lord Ramachandra, he was elevated to Dwaraka. In Dwaraka, he was having the association of the Lord. The Lord was showering all of His affection on him.
One day, Narada Muni detected that Gopakumar was still unhappy. He told him, “Gopakumar, you are in Dvaraka, having the association of the Lord, why is your heart still not fully satisfied?”
Gopakumar told him that he knows that he is extremely fortunate to be having the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and he is receiving so much mercy not only from Him, but also from the queens. But his heart is hankering for a cowherd boy who wears a peacock feather and plays a flute on the bank of a river. His heart is somehow just drawn towards Him. So much so that even despite being in Dwaraka and having the association of the Lord, his heart is still discontent.
Narada Muni then told him, “I can see that your attraction is actually for Krishna in Vrindavana, but to go to Vrindavana, you have to go back to Vrindavana on the Earth planet. There you have to chant the name of the Lord with all of your heart. That is called Sankirtana. You perform Sankirtana in Vrindavana and by doing that only you will have access to Goloka Vrindavana.”
According to Narada Muni’s advice, Gopakumara went back to Vrindavana and there, he started to perform Sankirtana in the forest. He was alone and he used to chant, call out the Lord by His name with all the love of his heart: “He Mukunda, he Gopala, he Nandanandana!” While he would sing, all the trees and birds also would sing with him. That is how it became Sankirtana. The trees would not echo but literally sing. To a mundane ear it may appear that the trees were actually echoing his chanting.
In this way, Gopakumar was spending his time in Vrindavana chanting the names of the Lord with all the love of his heart. Then, one day, he saw Krishna. As soon as he saw Krishna, he just ran to catch Him. He almost caught Him. He caught the end of His cloth, but Krishna moved swiftly from there and the cloth slipped from his hand. From there, Krishna went swiftly behind a bush and Gopakumar could not see Him. His feeling at that time was like a very poor man who all of a sudden received a lot of wealth and just after receiving it, lost that wealth. Gopakumar became so heartbroken that he fainted and his body rolled down into Yamuna.
When Gopakumar came back to his senses, he found himself traveling in a spaceship at an incredible speed. He found himself in Vrindavana. When he arrived in Vrindavana, it was afternoon there. He found some young girls picking flowers and they were all speaking about Krishna, but when Gopakumar asked, “Where is Krishna?”, he did not get any answer.
Then, one elderly person told him that Krishna has gone to the forest to tend the cows. He would be coming back soon. He saw that everyone was eagerly looking towards a certain direction. He looked at that direction and saw that in the horizon, the dust was flying. Then he heard the sound of laughter and the mooing of cows. Then he saw Krishna and Balarama are coming with the cowherd boys along with the cows.
When Gopakumar saw Krishna, he just ran to meet Krishna. Krishna also saw Gopakumar and He also ran to meet with Gopakumar. when they met, they just embraced each other. Krishna, in a delirious way, started to tell him, “My dear friend, where have you been?” He was expressing how much He missed him. While speaking like that Krishna fainted and Gopakumar also fainted. When the cowherd girls saw Krishna fainting like that, they all started to cry. They felt that this must be one of Kamsa’s demons that Kamsa sent to harm Krishna.
Balarama came running. Seeing Krishna’s condition, he could see what actually happened. So, he brought Gopakumar back to his senses and told Gopakumar to chant Krishna’s name to His ear. When Gopakumar started to chant Krishna’s name to His ear, then Krishna came back to His senses.
Then Krishna invited Gopakumar to come along with Him to His house. So Gopakumar went with Krishna and Balarama. Just when they entered the house from the porch, Krishna bid all His friends good-bye and said, “I will see you all tomorrow morning.” Some of the boys went back to their house. Some of the boys did not even go back to their house, they just laid down under some tree with some animals from the forest like deer and peacocks, just waiting for the next morning when they would get to see Krishna again.
In this way Sanatan Goswami describes how this cowherd boy Gopakumar went back to Goloka Vrindavana.
Q. What is that mantra that can fulfill our desires?
A. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Mahaprabhu said, “prabhu kahe kahilam ei mahamantra yaha saba japo giya koriya nirbandha… iha hoite sarva siddhi hoibe tomar.” So Mahaprabhu said, “I gave you this mantra. Now you chant this mantra with full conviction.”
Q. But wasn’t there a mantra that fulfilled Gopakumar ’s desires?
A: But this is an even better mantra.
Q. But what was that mantra?
A: That mantra is dasakshara gopala mantra. Generally the mantras are not uttered in public. Actually, we have an eighteen-syllable mantra and a twelve-syllable Krishna mantra. The twelve-syllable mantra is called Krishna Gayatri and the eighteen syllable mantra is called Kama Gayatri. Above all the mantras is the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra. Nothing can match or equal the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra.
Q. If the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra is the most powerful, why do we say it out loud and not the Gayatri?
A. Because Mahaprabhu gave us the Maha-mantra and gave us the permission to chant loudly and give it to anybody. Whereas the Gayatri Mantra, by nature, is a secret. That is why it is better not to transgress the scriptural injunctions.
Q. When Gopakumar went to Vrindavana, why wouldn’t anyone tell him where is Krishna?
A. Because they are so absorbed in thoughts of Krishna that they did not have any external consciousness.
Q. Was it because Gopakumar was a special personality that Krishna embraced him? You said yesterday that we should not expect Krishna to embrace us.
A. When the living entity goes back, Krishna may embrace him or her, but that does not become their constant position with Krishna. Say, in the Rasa dance, Krishna does not dance the Rasa dance with everybody, only with the sakhis. The others only assist the sakhis with their dealings with Krishna. They do not aspire to assume their position. They are happy just being their maidservants. Even Nanda Maharaja or Mother Yasoda, it is not that anybody will assume that position, but they will become servants of Nanda Maharaja or Mother Yasoda, subordinate to them. That is how one enters into Vrindavana, by following a resident of Vrindavana. The residents of Vrindavana are those intimate devotees of Krishna. Krishna may give His embrace to a devotee sometimes but that does not give them that exclusive position.
By Sankirtana Das
The cover of the recent Time is intriguing – The Answers Issue – with dozens of little cubes, each asking questions about some of today’s most important concerns, and looking like some information terminal. I thought that this would surely be a breakthrough in journalism. I thought that maybe I could find some answers to our troubled existence and why so many of us feel burdened all the time, or about breakthroughs in curing the common cold and societal ills, especially the perpetual political and economic problems which plague us today.
SPOILER ALERT!!! The magazine contains no real answers. The issue is just mostly filled with data and statistics, as if they could provide any real solutions to problems (or answers to life’s persistent questions – sorry, Guy Noir).
But if you want to know what outer space smells like, or the average distance of a home run, or the best cities for singles, or if you like to dream about what you could buy with $18 trillion (our national debt), The Answers Issue is for you.
If you’re planning a trip to the beach, the mag will let you know the best ones. It will also be comforting to know that hardly anybody dies of shark attacks, but that each year 200,000 deaths are attributed to snails and 755,000 to mosquitoes. So watch out for those snails and mosquitoes.
The Effective Workout page is promising but skimpy. And two whole pages are dedicated to the likely ways we can die at different ages in our lives. I guess that’s good to know since we’re all going to die sooner or later.
The Answers Issue might make you feel guilty if you drive over 13,400 miles a year (the average), since it claims that car emission is the biggest factor to our individual carbon footprints. Eating meat comes in second. Something to consider for those who want to make an impact on their carbon footprint but can’t bring themselves to give up driving. Other lessor categories are our use of air conditioning, air travel and beer drinking, etc. The interesting thing is that the mag is silent on the carbon footprint of our purchases of goods from overseas, since we can hardly buy anything that’s’ manufactured in America anymore.
If you’re a filmmaker or singer, it might be important to know of potential movie remakes people are eager to see, or the makings of a great summer song. You’ll find that in the mag. And for those who are planning to cut school budgets, you can read about how art and theater can change our lives for the better.
And maybe it’s important to know that you can’t buy alcohol in Indiana on Sundays, or that Mississippi gives the biggest tax refunds, or that Texas has the largest bat colony, and that California is the biggest supplier of milk and New Mexico has the most wanted bank robbers – 59 (although the mag neglects to mention how many bank robbers actually work in banks, whether in New Mexico, Wall Street, or elsewhere). But I guess these are all good things to know if you’re planning a move or a career change.
The most fundamental questions asked in The Answers Issue: Is world peace possible? Questions we should be asking? What defines us? In regards to the latter two, the subsequent questions posed for consideration are dismal. It’s seems that journalists nowadays don’t know how, or feel too uncomfortable asking the probing questions that should be asked. Or is it because they don’t understand the nature of the problems to begin with?
As for the first question – Is world peace possible? – rather than look at the sacred literatures of the world, the best they could come up with are a few random quotes from contemporary thinkers. Yoko Ono thinks it’s possible “if all of us think it is possible.” Someone else says it’s ‘theoretically possible.” By far the best was a quote by James Baldwin – “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” OK. The Answers Issue has spoken. Now what?
Unfortunately there was no deeper probing of the core problems to world peace. Our misidentification with the body, our unregulated senses, our personal and corporate greed, the wholesale slaughter of animals, our inability to view the world around us as personal & sentient and that we all spring from a common source and have a common father are all ignored.
Ultimately, The Answers Issue does not provide the reader with any real knowledge. On the other hand, a few simple verses chosen from Sri Isopanisad immediately addresses the question of world peace:
“Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.” Mantra 1
“He who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord, who sees all living entities as His parts and parcels, and who sees the Supreme Lord within everything never hates anything or any being.” Mantra 6
“One who always sees all living entities as spiritual sparks, in quality one with the Lord, becomes a true knower of things. What, then, can be illusion or anxiety for him?” Mantra 7
We all have the same hopes and joys and fears. We all breathe the same air and make use of the earth’s God given resources. We are all truly connected. And indeed, we are all spiritual beings. Such knowledge is liberating. With knowledge, we can become proactive. In contrast to the flimsy, scattered approach of The Answers Issues, the Vedic literatures – the Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Mahabharata, and Sri Isopanisad – understand that our time is precious. Thus, they provide concise knowledge in a tangible, straight forward way for our consideration. It is up to us to simply apply it in our lives.
Sankirtana Das (ACBSP) is an award-winning author ( see www.Mahabharata-Project.com ), a recipient of a WV Artist Fellowship Award and an Ohio River Border Initiative Grant. He and his wife have resided in New Vrindaban for 40 years.
Conversation Between
Krsna-ksetra Dasa (now Swami)
and Mr Vineet Narain (Vineet Narain is Editor of Kalchakra, a video magazine for investigative news.)
New Delhi, 1993
KK: So, Mr Narain, perhaps you could first explain something about how you came in contact with the Krsna Consciousness movement?
VN: Well, on different occasions, devotees of ISKCON sort of accidentally met me with a gap of a few years each time. And this was so limited that I couldn`t really understand what is it all about, except that I could see the Westerner in highly devotional mood and very high order of ritual and arati and chanting. Of the performance in Vrindavana temple, that was all I knew about ISKCON; I didn`t know who Prabhupada was, I didn`t know what ISKCON was all about. Of course, one very damaging film was Hare Rama Hare Krishna, by one of the Indian leading stars, which created a very negative image.
KK. So you have seen that film and you had that negative image?
VN. Sort of, yes. I mean, generally, people felt that all hippies are taking to this, because, you remember early in the seventies, Mahesh yogi and Baliyogeshar and so many people went abroad, so gurus were exporting Indian spiritualism to the West. We thought it was part of that. But a few years ago, when a festival was on in India, many Russian people who came in contact with us demanded Russian Bhagavad-gita and we don`t know where to get a Russian Bhagavad-gita from. I made enquiries and they said, ‘Yes, ISKCON does such crazy things, bring out Bhagavad-gita in different languages,’ so I went to look for the ISKCON temple in Greater Kailash in Delhi and finally I found some copies. We gave them to some very important people who wanted to carry it home, so I thought this must be something serious, I mean, Russians asking for it.
At the end of this year, during the month of April, I decided to do as last year, I did the story on the Rajneesh community in Puna. This time I decided to do a story for my video magazine called Chakra – a story on ISKCON. I told my reporter to go and pretend to be part of them, get as much information as he can. Part of it could be in the favour and if there is anything negative, please bring that because that`s how the news is made!
So he went and brought back a lot of literature to read and he also brought back two video tapes; that is, Your Ever Well-Wisher and World of Hare Krsna. The same night I saw both the video tapes; the film Your Ever Well-Wisher especially influenced me a lot. I saw it two times the same night. I was absolutely touched by Prabhupada`s life. Then for thirty days I spent almost all my time discussing with senior devotees of the ISKCON temple about the sastric philosophy.
You see, in the last thirty years, I`ve tried to read the Bhagavad-gita at least ten or twelve times, but I could never go further than the third or fourth sloka. I`m a Sanskrit scholar, but the Gita never attracted me like that. This time, when I got Prabhupada`s Gita, now I`ve already read it twice, and I`ve started marking up slokas and quoting them in my discussion. I found that Prabhupada`s philosophy, the way he describes the philosophy, his style-presentation, is very lucid, very straightforward, very relevant and very simple to understand, and I feel that that should be encouraged more. I was very influenced, I was very interested.
KK. I see that you are wearing Vaishnava tilaka, so this indicates that now you are committed to the process of Vaishnavism?
VN. It took me quite a while to do these things, even within the temple premises, being a professional journalist and that, too, for political journalism one has to maintain an absolutely objective image. If you get aligned to a group or to an ideology or to a political party or philosophy, it is not considered very good, because then they think that your stories are planted. So in general within this profession that is the feeling. So you have to be careful. A good journalist would never like to align with a certain group. So I tried that and I was very careful and I intentionally resisted showing any external symbols of my devotional interest or inclination. But of late, when I started to enjoy the transcendental bliss of devotional life, I`ve started practising these things within the temple premises or with the devotees, but not in public; I would not go and conduct a political interview with tilaka on.
KK. As I explained, we are trying to develop an understanding amongst the public, especially in the West, a proper understanding, a proper appreciation of Krsna consciousness, and we find that it is not very easy. We find that people have so many preconceived notions, they have the tendency to lump us in with so many of these various groups who are, as you say, exporting the idea of Indian culture. Would you have any advice which you can give to the devotees how to actually do this?
VN. As you know, we journalists are very fond of talking, so whoever you meet you talk to, and nowadays I`m trying to follow Mahaprabhu`s order, so I am trying to find out what people are thinking about ISKCON and finding out from the people who matter in this country, the decision-makers, without revealing my interest in the philosophy – ISKCON and Bhagavad-gita and Prabhupada`s philosophy. I was very surprised that the majority of them have no opinion, a negative opinion, or they are indifferent. They have very little understanding of what ISKCON actually is, so it seems that much greater effort is required to concentrate on these decision-makers, how they can be made more aware of the whole thing, and the best thing to do that is the media.
But I can see the difference between print and electronic media because in a third world country like India, reading habits are very poor and eighty per cent of the people are illiterate, so generally there is no reading culture. That`s why cable television and satellite television have picked up so fast. It is much easier for people to look at the television than to read, if some show is on, video-cassettes are available, you can put on cable television or satellite or something like that, mass reach will be there. And what`s interesting in this country, ordinary country politicians and decision-makers get influenced by a group even when it has no credentials, if it is accepted in the society by the masses, because their focus is always the voting pattern. So if they think that the voters are getting interested, they will also pretend to be interested in this. So there are two ways of tackling them: one is that we invade the masses and we have to literally invade them; the other is that we concentrate on educating people more about the philosophy of ISKCON.
What I feel is that the devotees of ISKCON who go out for preaching, we take the other person as if he is a fallen soul and he needs immediate treatment, so we start giving a heavy spiritual dose. And as you know, it is Kali-yuga, so not everybody is inclined to accept this Krsna consciousness. I would accept it if the preacher would not go in the external appearance as a preacher. Devotees who are well placed in society by maintaining their karmi occupation – such devotees should influence people within their peer group.
KK. That`s because people naturally listen to their peers.
VN. That`s right, and if you go to them as devotees you`ll have great resistance. But suppose that somebody has some bad experience in ISKCON guest house or whatever wrong notions they might have, these are carried on. So if an objective person goes to them and talks about it, for example, when I talk to people without mentioning that I am interested in the philosophy, they listen carefully and I bring many people to mangala arati and they enjoy. Mangala arati is one thing you don`t need to preach, you just have to say, ‘Before you go for a picnic, you catch a morning flight at 4.00 a.m. You get ready for a picnic or something like that, why don`t you get ready for this picnic with us? We would like to show you something interesting.’ Don`t tell the details, just bring them to mangala arati. Throw them into the pit and they will realise what it is all about.
KK. Yes, it touches the heart. Do you have any comments for devotees how to develop a better attitude for how to deal with the public, because we tend to want to present ourselves as devotees and as you said, this can be a problem. So devotees have a tendency sometimes to think, ‘Well, anyway, we don`t really care what our image is, our goal is just to satisfy Krishna’.
VN. I didn`t want to say this, but this is what I feel, that if you come out with a very strong stand, the general feeling is that, ‘Well we don`t care because they are the fallen souls, and in any case they will not improve and it`s just their karma anyway.’
KK. That`s a self-defeating attitude.
VN. Well I don`t think that is their spiritual situation, it is only a question of time. People are starving. When I was attached to Ghandian ideology and when I was an activist, I found that anything that you give to the younger generation, anything that you give to these frustrated bureaucrats, anything you give to advise the politicians, they are willing to listen. The only question is how you approach them. So, we are very methodical in approaching these people, and each individual has to be treated differently. There is no universal formula for everybody. So you simply have to understand in journalism when you approach somebody, you don`t go and bang into that person. We do some homework about it, we read about it, we find out about it, we talk to his servant, we talk to his driver, you talk to everybody, and then you find out his mental make-up, his family atmosphere, and you start the conversation by the weakest point he has and he has a natural interest in it.
I have a good example. Suppose somebody`s child is seriously ill, and he has not been cured for six months, so we start to talk about the ayurveda and alleopathy and different medical systems and which is that or that – we don`t just sit down and talk about our business. Then we say, ‘Well we know this person, if you want we can introduce you.’ So the point is, you have to win his confidence.
I can give you an example of a person, . Swami, you must have heard of him, he is a notorious swami, he is very good at winning people, he is a low-class person, he has no spiritual knowledge, not a fine person, he is not very sophisticated in his behaviour, yet at different stages he has cultivated hundreds of influential people in the world. So I asked, ‘What is the secret of your success, how could you cultivate so many?’ Especially as the news about him keeps coming out, he is involved in many international arms deals, but that`s beside the point; the main thing is that he told me, ‘I talk about their personal problems and I start by that, so from that I go to the other side of the fence.’
So we have to approach the people individually, these important people I`m talking about. Again, for ordinary people, if you write an article or you produce a television show, you have to see what is relevant. I give you a very different example; suppose I`m writing about the lay-out of these five thousand year old cities they have excavated, and compare them with Chandigarh or Nysore. They can see how these ancient cities were just as well organised as the modern ones . people can immediately associate. But if we talk about Bhagavad-gita in the Vedic age and it has no relevance to today`s life, then people can be very easily put off.
KK. Prabhupada was very expert at that.
VN. I know, that`s why he convinced me .
KK. You were talking about the present day.
VN. Just this. I found our devotees – I don`t know if I am doing offence by saying this, but our devotees, especially those who are interacting with people, their understanding of contemporary issues is very limited – very, very little. Partly it could be because they have no interest. I can`t blame them because since I have come into this (Krsna consciousness) I also don`t enjoy reading newspapers anymore. I find them very foolish. But if you are up-to-date with what is happening, because that is a breaking point, you see. When you are in a plane, or a train, or a conference room, everybody is talking about that day`s news, so the devotees, those who are going to preach in the field to educated people, should also keep a track of the news.
KK. One idea we have of developing interest amongst the young people of India is having large festivals, where we bring in modern electronic music. We are doing this in Eastern Europe with quite some success, you know modern pop-music style, but chanting the Hare Krsna mantra. Do you think that this would be successful here in India?
VN. Well, this kind of culture is only predominant in metropolitan towns, like Bombay, Delhi, but if you go to Uttar Pradesh or Bihar, they may for some time enjoy but they simply cannot follow the language or music; it won`t be very popular. So, it depends, for different target groups you need a different set of strategy. I feel that the easiest thing today is the cable television, because the reach is tremendous. You produce one programme, I believe that, they recently made a film on gurukula, I`m very keen that that film should be telecast on television or on cable television. The reach is tremendous. I mean you can reach nook and corner with this film; one devotee can visit five people in a day but one video-cassette can be viewed by three hundred families at the same time. So, even in temples in ISKCON, if thirty-five people are responding to your message while by personal preaching only four, personal preaching can be followed up later. I think that top-priority should be given to electronic media and video. I`m not saying it is the only thing, but that is the breaking point, that is where you enter the field. I was influenced by the video tape, I didn`t read the books first. After the tapes I started to read them.
KK. Cable television as opposed to network, is particularly good?
VN. It is cheaper, it is localised, it has local flavour and it is decentralised, it doesn`t need a lot of money. So, we have at least fifty temples or centres in India. Within their area the same programme can be shown, so at least those fifty towns can be one hundred per cent covered.
KK. And it doesn`t have to be broadcast quality?
VN. No, it can be VHS tapes. I can volunteer my expertise in being the carrier of the programme. The programme can be produced by ISKCON devotees and I can make them presentable for the Indian audience.
KK. It sounds very good.
VN. The last thing that I suggest is that we should conduct at least three devotee workshops in which we should call one devotee from each centre, who should be a permanent press-communication-media man, and in this workshop we want to do heavy brainstorming, how to present ISKCON in the press and how to co-ordinate our efforts. If you release one hand-out and local information is added to that and released simultaneously throughout the country, so Gujarati paper, Delhi paper, every paper is carrying the same news. The reader, if he is flying from Delhi to Hyderabad, he reads the same thing in Hyderabad as in Delhi, he will think, ‘My goodness, these people are all over.’ So this workshop is very important. Either we hold that in Mayapur, or we hold that in Delhi. Delhi would be more practical, because then I could invite many senior journalists and have people speak to them, but we need one devotee to be earmarked, set aside for this job, so that they can be oriented to spread Krsna`s message.
KK. Very nice. Thank you very much. Hare Krsna.
Vineet Narain is Editor of Kalchakra, a video magazine for investigative news.
By Madhava Smullen
On Monday June 29th, New Vrindaban children waited excitedly while an inaugural puja was offered to open their brand new fully-equipped playground next to the Palace Lodge, before running into it to play with blissful abandon.
The playground is an endeavor by ISKCON New Vrindaban to serve and accommodate both the children who live in the village and the thousands who visit for festivals throughout the year with their families.
Ananga Manjari Dasi, mother to five-year old Chintamani and a member of the ISKCON New Vrindaban Board since early this year, brought the suggestion to the board when she saw the dilapidated condition of the old playground.
“It had been there for over twenty years, since the early 1990s,” she says. “It was a wooden play set, and carpenter bees had bored into the wood until it looked like Swiss cheese. The metal parts were all rusty. It was rickety and falling apart. And it didn’t have proper drainage, so there would often be standing water and it would get muddy. As a parent, I was concerned for my kids’ safety.”
While participating in the Farmers’ Market in Wheeling, Ananga Manjari would regularly see the stellar children’s facilities at other local churches. And with ISKCON New Vrindaban repairing a lot of its long-neglected infrastructure, she wanted to do something for the children too.
“As a new board member, I want to bring something to the table that shows that we put our kids first,” she says.
The ISKCON New Vrindaban Board agreed unanimously to fund the project. So Ananga Manjari partnered with Malati Dasi, whose previous research on play sets led them to a Mennonite family-run business in the Pennsylvanian countryside.
“My daughter Chintamani played with everything, and we asked her what she liked,” says Ananga. “We also customized our purchase according to our community’s needs. For example, they had play sets with closed-in playhouses and tube slides. But we didn’t get them because we wanted to make sure that parents never lost sight of their kids on the playground. We wanted everything to be visible and open.”
Back at New Vrindaban, facilities manager Gopisa Das oversaw the installation of new French drains at the playground site to eliminate the previous problems with mud and standing water. Over these, gravel was laid, and then several inches of shredded recyclable rubber mulch, which is shock absorbent and doesn’t rot.
Meanwhile the playground itself was installed by the Mennonite family who handmade it. “It felt really good to support not only local business, but also God-loving, gentle people from another religious community,” says Ananga.
The new playground includes a rock climbing wall with a rope, two standard swings, two baby swings, a tire swing, trapeze bars, a slide, and a bridge that connects two towers. It also includes items donated by Malati – a seesaw, and three benches so that parents can sit comfortably right in the playground to watch their children.
“We’re trying to cultivate a culture of parents and caregivers staying with their children at all times,” says Ananga Manjari.
All pieces of the play set are made of wood that is vinyl-coated to keep out carpenter bees and eliminate the possibility of splinters. Safety is also ensured by the railings throughout and the eighteen-inch faux rock wall surrounding the playground. Looking down over the whole scene is a picture of Lord Nrsimhadeva, who fiercely protected His five-year-old devotee Prahlad, and lovingly watches over all His devotees.
Ananga Manjari smiles, remembering how, during her most recent visit to the temple, she saw kids of all ages having a great time on the new playground.
“I see this as an investment in our families,” she says. “And I see it as just the beginning of making New Vrindaban so family-friendly that families will want to come here and stay – not just for one or two years, but for good, because it’s such a great place to raise children.”
By Madhavananda das
The following verse is composed in the style known as citra-kavya, which literally means, “picture-poem”. In this gender of Sanskrit poetry, which goes back at least 2,000 years, the verses are designed to be read in the form of a picture. When the reader lays out the syllables or sometimes words, in the shape of the given picture, hidden meanings are found. Those who have some expertise in Sanskrit may find some surprises in the below contemporary verse, not all of which are to be found in the translation. Perhaps the most famous example of this style of poetry is Srila Rupa Goswamis Citra-kavitvani from his book Stava-mala. However there are examples of this style to be found in the literary traditions of Odisha, South India, and other places on the Indian subcontinent. The following verse is in a sub-style of citra-kavya, known as a cakra- bandha, or shape of a wheel.
bhavyarh hanta ca krsna-ydna-suyutam cedam supdrsad sadd kratvd ristayutandaddti suvaram nah ca pramode ‘ksaye
viprah pdrsvam uminjayanti sudiyac cakrarh sumdnanty uta tac cakrarh bhava-cakram dsu viramed dmuktaye me ‘cyuta
Synonyms: bhavyam — full of grandeur; hanta — how wonderful!; ca — and; krsna-ydna-suyutam — situated so beautifully in Krishna’s cart; cedam — and it is; supdrsad — loyal associate; sadd —eternally ; kratvd — by its activity of moving around; rista-yutam — which is auspicious; daddti — it bestows; suvaram — benedictions; nah — for our; ca — and; pramode — joy; aksaye — unlimited; viprah — devotee Brahmins; pdrsvam — around it; u-minjayanti — sing its glories; sudi — on the occasion of the ratha-ydtrd festival in the bright fortnight of the Asddha month; yat cakram — to the cart-wheel; sumdnanty uta — or pay their respects; tat cakram — may that cart-wheel; bhava-cakram — cycle of birth and death; dsu viramed — stop quickly; dmuktaye — for the purpose of bestowing liberation; me — my; acyuta — 0 Achyuta Qagannath]!;
Sanskrit Explanation: hanteti harse. cakramidam bhavyam tathd cedam cakram ‘krsna-ydna-suyutam 1 arthaj jagannatha- devasya rathe susthu sthitam. tathd cedam cakram jaganndtha- devasya u supdrsad-sada 7 arthdn nitya-pdrsad-rupena sthitam. tathedam cakram ‘kratvd” arthdd bhramana-karmand. kratvd karmand iti rg-veda-bhdsye sdyandcdryah. bhramana-karmand cedam cakram rista-yutam mahgala-yutam su-varam susthu varam nah daddti. kena hetund daddti? asmdkam “aksaye pramode” arthdd aksaya-pramoddya eva daddti. nimittdt karma- yoge saptamlti vdrttikena. ‘sudi” arthdd dsddha-sukla-pakse ratha- ydtrd-mahotsave yaccakrasya pdrsvam samipe viprah arthdd vaisnava-brdhmandh uminjayanti stuvanti. u iti pdda-purana- nipdtah. uta athavd te viprdhyaccakram sumdnanti susthu rupena namanti taccakram me bhava-cakram dsu viramed “d”samyak muktaye he acyuta! saddra-cakre ddsdbhdsena hari-pdrsada- ddsena u haripdrsadena krtamidam cakram” iti sva-hastaksararh sannivesitam. tac ca rekhd-citre drastavyah.
Translation: How wonderful! This wheel situated so beautifully in Krishna’s cart appears full of grandeur. It is his eternal, loyal associate. By its activity of moving around, it bestows auspicious benedictions for enhancing our unlimited joy. On the occasion of the ratha-ydtrd festival in the bright fortnight of the Asadha month, Brahmins and devotees around this wheel sing its glories or pay respects to it. 0 Lord Achyuta! May that cart wheel (cakra) stop the wheel of my birth and death (bhava- cakra) and bestow liberation. — HPD
—————
NBS#16 Sri Gundicha Marjana
Dear Devotees,
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga!
This issue can also be viewed through these links:
By Dr Kim Knott
An examination of scholarly work by non-devotees on the Hare Krsna Movement reveals a tendency to engage in sociological and historical analysis rather than a discussion of the philosophy and theology of Krsna Consciousness (for example, Brooks, Bromley and Shinn, Shinn, Rochford, Knott). One explanation for this might be that devotees themselves, particularly the founder, Bhaktivedanta Swami, have provided their own theological accounts. In addition, non-devotee scholars, such as A. L. Basham, John Stratton Hawley and David Kinsley, in recorded conversations with members, have commented on their understanding of the Movement’s philosophy and its location in the Indian Vaishnava tradition (Gelberg, Rosen). These various types of writing constitute the body of scholarship on the Hare Krsna Movement (ISKCON). There is an absence of reflection by outsiders on its current theological interpretations. [1]
In this article I will examine one aspect of the Movement’s theology, the understanding of its relationship to other religions and ideologies, and, in particular, the work of one devotee-theologian, Ravindra Svarupa Dasa. The opportunity for investigating this came about as a result of my obtaining the taped recordings of a European communications seminar held within the Movement early in 1992 in Germany. The seminar, like others held before and since, was arranged to facilitate discussion on the opportunities and issues concerning the relations of devotees with those outside the Movement, particularly those in other religions (through interfaith dialogue) and those involved in the study of religions. The objective here was not to prepare devotees to convert others to the Movement, but to enable them to build successful and productive relationships with others which would benefit both parties. [2] This objective, it was hoped, would have the effect of helping ‘to combat mayavadiphilosophy’ (impersonalist, monistic philosophy) and to raise people’s awareness of loving devotion to God or bhakti. [3]
There was a recognition by those organising and contributing as speakers to the seminar that an understanding of two issues was required to bring about their stated objective. The more obvious was the discussion of strategies for the actual meeting of devotees and appropriate others in interfaith dialogue and scholarship. The second was the need for members to understand ISKCON’s location vis-a-vis both other religions and the arena of modern religious studies scholarship. Without such an evaluation, devotees would be in danger of failing to engage with the agenda and worldviews of those others with whom they wished to develop relationships.
These subjects were opened up for consideration by devotees by means of lectures, discussions and plenary sessions. Devotees are accustomed to the former because their regular theological training consists of daily classes using this format (as well as a more intensive period of study when they first join the Movement). Organised discussions are becoming a more common forum for ongoing training in public relations, management and preaching.
In the seminar, sessions were held on Religion and Religions (parts one and two), Modern Historical Consciousness, Academic Preaching in Europe, The Anti-Cult Movement, The Position of Women in ISKCON Today, and ISKCON: The Enemies Within. The main speaker was the Movement’s principal theological scholar, Ravindra Svarupa Dasa.
In the course of giving the three lectures I wish to focus on here, Ravindra Svarupa Dasa gave a brief autobiographical account as a means of examining various stages in the spiritual life and their interrelationship. These ideas are critical in his account of ISKCON’s location vis-a-vis other religions, and I will return to them later. First, it is useful to know a little about the theologian himself.
Before joining the Hare Krsna Movement in 1971, William H. Deadwyler was in graduate school engaged in doctoral studies of religions. He was ‘a committed mayavadi‘, driven to explore those aspects of religions and philosophies which reflected his interest in and inclination towards monistic mysticism. Buddhism, and the work of both Wittgenstein and the Hindu philosopher Sankara attracted him. [4] After several years of philosophical investigation and personal experimentation in various religious paths, he met with devotees of Krsna and, through them, the philosophy of Krsna Consciousness. By this process his own ideas about the nature of reality, of God and the spiritual life, began to change. With his wife, he moved into a temple in Philadelphia, and, at his initiation into the Movement, received the name Ravindra Svarupa Dasa. Some years after this, in 1980, he completed his doctoral dissertation (on Hartshorn) and graduated with a Ph.D in the Philosophy of Religion. Since his early days in the Movement, in addition to temple management, he has been active in studying, writing and lecturing on Caitanya’s Vaishnava bhakti. It will become clear later that this has involved him not only in teaching within the Movement but in academic outreach, through conferences, guest lectures and joint publications.
The audience for Ravindra Svarupa Dasa’s lectures on ‘Modern historical consciousness’ and ‘Religion and religions’ (part one and part two) were familiar with the second half of this story. Their lecturer, however, used the first half, the account of his early studies in impersonalist philosophy, to establish two ideas. One of these was the existence and character of the discipline known as the history of religions of which he had had personal experience and could thus explain to the ‘uninitiated’. The other was the notion of the spiritual progress of the individual. Both of these were important ideas to convey, the first because Ravindra Svarupa Dasa, in the course of his lectures, intended to describe religious studies’ scholars and their work as part of modernity and its ‘historical consciousness’ (and also because he wished to help devotees to understand the interests and views of one of the groups of people they were being encouraged to meet). The second was important because the principal theological question he was to address in his attempt to explore the interrelationship between Krsna Consciousness and other religions and ideologies, was the extent to which a Vaishnava typology of spiritual stages might have application cross-culturally.
Both of these subjects will be given further attention shortly. The remainder of this article will be organised as follows. In the next section I will describe briefly Ravindra Svarupa Dasa’s understanding of the development of Western ideas about material and spiritual existence. I will then try to show how he characterises modernity, secularism and contemporary Western religiosity. His juxtapositioning of Krsna Consciousness and modern historical consciousness will then be examined. Following that, in the next section, I will show how, from within his particular form of Vaishnavism, he derives a typology of spiritual stages (which he sees as being dialectically related to one another). In the final section, I will describe what he sees as being the value of such an analysis for relations with those engaged in academic scholarship and those of other faiths.
In the lecture entitled Modern Historical Consciousness, Ravindra Svarupa Dasa sought briefly to explain the Western pre-Enlightenment worldview and the transition from this to the modern conception of evolution. In order to do this, he drew particularly on the 1933 William James Lectures of Arthur Lovejoy on ‘the great chain of being’. He explained Plato’s ideas of ‘the good’, and the multiplicity of beings organised into classes. He then showed how these ideas were elaborated by philosophers such as Plotinus and Augustine and became established in Christian thought in a holy hierarchy of being. (In doing this, he drew frequent analogies with the Vedic worldview). He then returned to Lovejoy, to his understanding of the eighteenth century as a period which experienced a ‘temporalisation of the chain of being’. This represented a revolution during which the great chain -in which all coexistent beings were hierarchically ordered with God, perfection, at the top and the devil beneath – effectively collapsed to be superseded by linear ideas of progress and of perfection to be achieved in time. This change from a synchronic to a diachronic conception of being provided a fertile breeding ground for notions of evolution, which we associate primarily with Darwin, for species-evolution, and Hegel, for his work on the evolution of the spirit.
The modern world was described by Ravindra Svarupa Dasa as founded on a principal of historical consciousness in which beings are thought to have evolved through history with the fittest surviving, in which ideas, societies, religions and culture are described as developing from the simple to the complex, and in which consciousness itself is assumed to be gradually evolving. As he pointed out, and as the audience of devotees would have known, nothing could be more contrary to the Krsna Conscious worldview. This, he said, had more in common with ‘the great chain of being’ than with modern ideas of progress and evolution. The devotional worldview was synchronic, with all classes of being existing eternally, and hierarchical, with Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and beings ordered by the principle of karma.
While God was at the heart of Krsna Consciousness, said Ravindra Svarupa Dasa, modern historical consciousness was secular in orientation. Scientific knowledge, for example, was characterised by a need to explain things without recourse to God. Phenomena and events were seen as subject to rational control. Modern Western religiosity had adapted itself to this worldview and had undergone a process of secularisation. In this process, traditional religious views about the authority of scripture and the role of scripture in providing knowledge of the truth had been marginalised and upstaged by the authority of the scientific enterprise as a means of extending knowledge of reality. Academic disciplines such as philology and religious studies, with an interest in Vedic language and literature, Vaishnavism and the modern Hare Krsna Movement, were part of the latter. Philology, he explained, was wedded to an evolutionary view of the history of language development.
Contemporary historical consciousness and Krsna Consciousness represented different paradigms, founded on different premises, he said. From the standpoint of Krsna Consciousness, modern historical consciousness represented a shift to the ‘mode of passion’ from the worldview which preceded it which, like Krsna Consciousness, was located in the ‘mode of goodness’. [5]
Ravindra Svarupa Dasa was quite blunt about the consequences of the radical difference between the two forms of ‘consciousness: ‘Krsna Consciousness is so incompatible with the modern temperament that, if we don’t destroy it, it will destroy us.’ As he saw it, Krsna Consciousness, despite itself being ‘pre-modern’, represented a potential cure for modern historical consciousness, an opportunity for all to become purified through love of God and thus to become the bearers of a different kind of knowledge to that which prevails in the modern age. This revealed knowledge, available through the traditional lineage or parampara, would then ensure the reinstatement of goodness over passion and the return to a God-centred worldview.
As is clear from this summary, the speaker was quite open about the situation in which Krsna Consciousness in the West now finds itself. It is in a hostile environment alongside other religious groups, some of which have adapted themselves wholeheartedly to modernity and some of which continue to hold out against it. Set against the dominant ideology of modernism, Krsna Consciousness looks like madness and certainly like fundamentalism. The obvious question this raises is ‘how is it to proceed ?’ How are devotees to further the spiritual path begun by Caitanya which they believe can transform the world in this age? [6]
Devotees, of course, believe there are many vital ways to effect this change. One of these is dialogue with those in other religions and those for whom religion is of academic interest, and it was on this subject that Ravindra Svarupa Dasa addressed two lectures to his audience of European devotees.
One feature of the modern age, reported Ravindra Svarupa Dasa, was religious plurality. As a result of migration and conversion, religions were now living alongside one another. Increased religious contact had brought about a growth in religious conflict, but also a growth in the attempt by religious people to sit down and talk to one another. This interfaith dialogue, he explained, was undertaken by sincere people, often advanced in the spiritual life and eager to learn about the beliefs of others. The principle was openness: ‘You can’t assume that you have the truth and no one else does.’ Conversion to one’s point of view was not the aim, he explained. [7] Confronting the need for dialogue was essential for the Hare Krsna Movement, he believed.
But what had devotees to contribute to interfaith dialogue? ‘I think that we can make the claim that theBhagavad-gita actually deals very much with the issue of religious pluralism, although it sticks within the Vedic context .Still there is so much diversity going on within Vedic tradition -Hinduism, or whatever you want to call it – that, in fact, the Bhagavad-gita has to deal with this . Hinduism is a collection of faiths.’ In describing this, the Bhagavad–gita, he said, referred to the Vedas as kalpataru, a desire tree from which a seeker can pick any fruit they wish. The Bhagavad-gita then systematically surveys the fruits on offer, such as yoga, yajna, the worship of devatas, jnana etc. He pointed out that these disciplines or dharmas all came from Krsna and all ultimately lead to him. He then went on to ask why Krsna favoured one, the devotional route to God, and thus contradicted, to a greater or lesser extent, the others? [8] The answer, he suggested, was that Krsna was trying to encourage people to move from one path to another, to ‘a higher platform’ of spiritual advancement.
At this point, in the first of his lectures on Religion and Religions, Ravindra Svarupa illustrated diagrammatically the relation between the principal spiritual paths discussed in the Bhagavad-gita. (I was not there to see this, and am reporting what I understand to be his depiction.) In three columns, from left to right, he placed karma, jnana and bhakti and with them the words ‘good’, ‘better’ and ‘best’. He described karma as ‘pious sense-gratification’, practising religion for material development. Jnanahe referred to as knowledge of the impersonal Brahman, ‘the conception of the absolute truth formed by negation‘. Bhakti, the highest path, was that of surrender to Lord Krsna, the way of pure devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (The ‘bad’, the way of ‘impious sense gratification’ preceded karma and was off the map).
Using this typology, he then explained how the various stages could be seen either positively or negatively depending on one’s level of advancement. The chief aim, however, was to help people to move on to higher positions. This resulted in the apparently contradictory situation of a stage, karmafor example, being understood as a positive achievement in some instances and a redundant path in others. To one who is trying to take the preliminary steps in spiritual advancement, the way of karmais praiseworthy; to one who has achieved a consciousness of Brahman, the impersonal absolute, karmais an inferior spiritual path to be avoided at all cost. The other paths culminate in the best, in bhakti.
Ravindra Svarupa Dasa then offered these as generic stages in the development of the individual human spirit. The Bhagavad-gita presented this analysis in the context of Vedic culture, but the stages were there, he said, in all religions. What is more, ‘I don’t say in principle that we are the only ones to preach pure devotional service’, he added.
In the second of his lectures on ‘Religion and religions’, he went on to describe each of the three stages in greater detail in their original context and in other religions before moving on to his own intellectual contribution to the analysis of this typology. [9] These stages, he pointed out, bore a dialectical relationship to one another with karma as thesis, jnana, antithesis, and bhakti, synthesis. Karma was action in a world to be enjoyed. An individual moved from the path of karma to that of jnana when he or she became disgusted and wished to turn away from the world and all it represented. Jnana was the antithesis of karma: it taught inaction. Quoting from the Bhagavad-gita, Ravindra Svarupa Dasa reminded his audience that the wise person was the one who could see both action in inaction and inaction in action. Bhakti recommended karmaless action, action dedicated to Krsna. Karma and jnanatogether stood in contradistinction to bhakti. Both were ‘rooted in the material world’, karma in enjoyment of it and jnana in its need to negate it. Bhakti, however, was different in representing an alternative reality, a transcendental world of name and form.
Ravindra Svarupa Dasa was then able to show by example how devotees might use this analysis of spiritual development in their meetings with scholars of religion and those of other faiths. Previously he had presented the typology in three separate contexts, at a conference for scholars of religion in India on deity worship, a conference on science and religion, and a meeting of scholars from different religious traditions. [10] He described these meetings in brief. In examining his account, I have drawn on the papers he gave as well as what he said about them in his lecture.
In the first, he used the typology and its inherent dialectical nature to help his academic audience to take seriously the difference between material name and form and transcendental name and form as found in Krsna and his arca-murti (the deity in the temple). He distinguished between karma, jnana andbhakti, showing how the first focused on material form, the second stressed its negation and the third achieved a higher synthesis, ‘there is form, but no (material) form’ (1984[b], p.79). The form is transcendental.
In the second of the two presentations, Ravindra Svarupa Dasa used the typology to show the similarity between the Vedic and modern periods in order to make a case for the culture of bhakti. He examined the scientific mentality of karma-mimamsa and its negation in the heterodoxies of Buddhism and Jainism. He then moved on to illustrate a similar transition in the development of a Western post-Enlightenment counterculture focusing on mysticism, pantheism and holism which grew up in opposition to the Enlightenment stress on rational control: again, a jnana response to a culture of karma. He then pointed out that late-modern developments indicated a similar process. What was required, he explained, was a way out of this recurrent battle between the two approaches. A radically different culture needed to enter from outside which could transcend the conditions inherent in the cultures opposing one another. This third was bhakti.
In these two papers, Ravindra Svarupa Dasa’s audience was composed of scholars. He took the opportunity, with them, of using the typology of spiritual stages to show several things. One was the difference between Vaishnava bhakti (particularly Krsna Consciousness) and other branches of ‘Hinduism’ (particularly advaita vedanta, the jnana tendency, the most challenging to the bhaktischools). Until the last fifteen years or so, there had been a lack of scholarship in the West on Vaishnavism, and this was seen by Hare Krsna devotees as a situation which must be changed. Attempting to show the character, value and superiority of Vaishnavism was a related objective. A further message for scholars, again revealed by the use of this typology, was the nature of modernism itself and its intellectual, ‘scientific’ disciplines. Getting scholars to think, not just about Indian spiritual paths, but about their own epistemological position vis-a-vis Krsna Consciousness, was an objective in itself.
What was Ravindra Svarupa’s approach in the third conference where he met with religious people, like him engaged in scholarship, to discuss the relationship between religions? There, his objective was to encourage others to look at their own traditions from the perspective of the typology of spiritual stages with the aim of presenting bhakti as the highest. In showing bhakti to run counter to the other spiritual paths (as well as cleverly synthesising their approaches), he referred to the work of Rupa Goswami who said that ‘pure devotion means service rendered to Krsna in a favourable way that is free from all extraneous desires and from all taint of karma, acts done with a view toward enjoying the results, andjnana, philosophical speculation leading toward monistic self-deification (Ravindra Svarupa’s paraphrase, (ND, p.5).
His major claim in this context was that ISKCON’s aim was to encourage the development of purebhakti of this kind in all religious traditions. It was taught in many, though without the systematic analysis found in Caitanyite Vaishnavism. ‘My own conviction,’ he said, ‘is that many Christians, for example, could benefit from this analysis, but they would not have to cease being Christians to do so. Rather they could mine the resources of their own tradition to pursue pure bhakti, thereby becoming more devoted and spiritually advanced Christians’ (ND, p.7).
But was not this approach of encouraging bhakti itself injurious to interfaith dialogue? Ravindra Svarupa Dasa then attempted to show how, as a result of embracing a personalistic theology which accepts individuality, bhakti ‘recognises positive spiritual value in religious diversity’. He ended thus: ‘Certainly, ISKCON’s ecumenical theology of bhakti does not end all disagreements. But at the least it achieves this: it recognises no real difference between intra and interreligious discussion, debate, or dialogue. We may disagree and argue, but, still, it is in the family’ (ND, p.10).
The suggestion here was that the desire to encourage pure bhakti enabled devotees to cross all boundaries: debate may be less fruitful with a member of another Hindu sect than with a Christian or Muslim. The typology provided an unusual way of looking at spirituality, dividing the spiritual family not by religions but by stages or approaches.
With those of other faiths, as with scientists and scholars of religion, Ravindra Svarupa Dasa aimed to spread an awareness of bhakti and to combat the powerful and widespread impersonalist philosophies found in jnana, Buddhism, the via negativa of Christianity, and in many late-modern, ‘Aquarian’ or New Age Movements. In doing this, and in using the typology of karma, jnana and bhakti, he was continuing the work of those before him in the tradition of Krsna Consciousness by reiterating a systematic theological teaching on the stages of spiritual development (adapted to time and place). By placing it before other devotees in ISKCON in this way, he was introducing this analysis as a strategic device for the development of relationships with particular groups which share with them a serious interest in religion. Placing bhakti on the agenda of such groups in a spirit of dialogue and openness was Ravindra Svarupa’s principal aim, the typology of spiritual stages, his principal instrument.
[2] In the case of devotee/scholar relationships, the devotee would be benefited by having spread information about the Movement which might be passed on to new generations of students; the scholar would be benefited by gaining access to a living example of a branch of contemporary ‘Hinduism’, a real practitioner rather than the pale reflection obtained in books.
[3] This was an aim of the Movement’s founder and is carried on by his followers (Ravindra Svarupa Dasa, 1992[b]). It is seen as important because of the widespread belief that the principal philosophical orientation in ‘Hinduism’ is advaita vedanta as taught first by Sankara and later by Vivekananda, among others. Devotees perceive a need to draw attention to the widely-held ‘personalist’ philosophy, the various forms of which are prevalent in India’s Vaishnava Movements.
[4] A fascinating account of William Deadwyler’s spiritual journey is provided in Encounter with the Lord of the Universe ( Ravindra Svarupa Dasa, 1984[a]). There he writes of his attempt to ‘merge into the tin-can factory’ (p. 23) where he was working one summer. He goes on to show the influence of Buddhism upon him by writing, ‘I wanted to extirpate all material cravings and attachments, yet I couldn’t even quit smoking cigarettes’ (p. 25). He then describes his meetings with Hare Krsna devotees, owning that he had assumed they ‘were impersonalists, like me’ until he heard one explaining the supremacy of the transcendental form of Krsna: ‘Instantly, all the different pieces of the Krsna Conscious philosophy I had heard came together coherently. And in my mind the conceptual edifice of impersonal philosophy came crashing down as if someone had put a bomb under it’ (p. 28).
[5] Ravindra Svarupa Dasa is referring here to rajas and sattva, two of the three attributes (guna), with tamas, described in samkhya philosophy and in the Bhagavad-gita.
[6] The Hare Krsna Movement has a millenarian view, seeing itself as the successor in a lineage from Caitanya who, as yuga-avatara, incarnation for the age, introduced the final chapter of a vast, sacred history. Ravindra Svarupa Dasa describes ISKCON’s view in detail in his 1989 article.
[7] The nature of the dialogical process was discussed further by Ravindra Svarupa Dasa and another devotee, Saunaka Rsi Dasa , in a seminar session on ‘Academic preaching in Europe’.
[8] The Krsna Conscious interpretation of the Bhagavad-gita is presented in Bhaktivedanta Swami’s translation and commentary, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, and it is this work which Ravindra Svarupa Dasa is drawing on here. There have been many other commentaries on this text written from different philosophical perspectives. There is little agreement between them on the principal spiritual path articulated in the Bhagavad-gita (Sharma). Several works which investigate these various interpretations are those by Minor, Sharma, and Sharpe.
[9] This is referred to also in 1984(b), p. 79. Ravindra Svarupa Dasa makes a special point of referring to his own contribution in this analysis for a good reason. Up until this point, he has been drawing on the views of his guru, Bhaktivedanta Swami (known to him as ‘Srila Prabhupada’). His text has been the Bhagavad-gita and its interpretation that of his guru and, to a great extent, those before him in the spiritual lineage or parampara. (ISKCON is a branch of the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya.) By their nature, the vedanta sampradayas are conservative. Teachings are passed on in succession without change. ‘Every act of transmission is a virtual re-instantiation of the original revelation’ (Ravindra Svarupa Dasa, 1989, p. 60). Devotees are expected to receive and then pass on the teachings without ‘mental speculation’. Such speculation cannot take a devotee into the realm of transcendental name and form (it is, as such, part of the lesser spiritual path of jnana-yoga).The important difference in the case of Ravindra Svarupa’s contribution is that this represents what, in another context, he refers to as legitimate ‘innovation’ (1989), quoting Bhaktivedanta Swami to explain the position: ‘All the great acaryas or religious preachers or reformers of the world executed their mission by adjustment of religious principles in terms of time and place’ (Bhaktivedanta Swami in Ravindra Svarupa Dasa, 1989, p. 73). Ravindra Svarupa Dasa sees himself as using a modern intellectual tool, in this case Hegel’s idea of dialectical progress, in order to assist in clarifying the teachings which have come down to him through the guru-parampara.
[10] Two of his conference contributions were later published (Ravindra Svarupa Dasa, 1984[b], 1987). I do not have final details about the last of the three (Ravindra Svarupa Dasa NOD.).
By Bhakti Caru Swami
In distributing love of Godhead, Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates did not consider who was a fit candidate and who was not, nor where such distribution should or should not take place. They made no conditions. CC. Adi-lila 7.23
1. In essence, duality means that we forget that we are part and parcel of Krsna. We want to enjoy separately from Him, we want to play the controller. This controlling tendency culminates in sex desire.
2. Man/woman concept is synonymous with material consciousness.
3. Becoming Krsna conscious means rising above duality. We have to become fixed in the consciousness that all are part and parcel of Krsna and for His pleasure-not ours.
4. A devotee’s foremost duty is to transcend sex desire.
5. This takes philosophical awareness, constant practice and perseverance. (Aversion is not the solution. Attachment/aversion are two sides of the same coin.)
6. Srila Prabhupada in the compassionate mood of the Panca-tattva has opened the treasure house of bhakti to all classes of men-and women.
7. This offers us intense and unlimited opportunity to transcend material attachment and aversion and develop transcendental realization in Krsna.
8. The word “mother” generates a mood of respect and sobriety.
9. When we advise that women should be seen as mothers, we mean that our dealings with women should be reserved and respectful.
10. Such conduct will minimize offensive mentality and dealings with other living entities.
11. Women should behave as mothers.
12. In the practice of Krsna consciousness segregation of the sexes is essential.
Quotes from Srila Prabhupada
Regarding the disturbance made by the women devotees, they are also living entities. They also came to Krishna. So consciously I cannot deny them. If our male members, the brahmacharies and sannyasis, if they become steady in Krishna consciousness, there is no problem. It is the duty of the male members to be very steady and cautious. This can be done by regular chanting like Haridas Thakur did.
SP letter to Gargamuni (September 29, 1975)
Protect the women (Don’t Exploit Them)
Please guide our innocent Godsisters who have come to our shelter. Girls are more susceptible to the finer attachments of Maya. Boys are a little stronger. Mrinalini, Jadurani and all other girls who are so qualified, good-looking, intelligent, educated, and seriously engaged in Krsna consciousness should always be given protection from the attachments of Maya.
SP letter to Rayarama (October 4, 1967)
Maya’s most attractive feature is women and money. We Krishna Conscious men have to deal with women and money in course of preaching work, and the only prophylactic measure to save us is not to accept them for our sense gratification. Then we shall remain strong enough. Materialistic people take everything for sense gratification and Krishna Conscious people take everything for Krishna’s satisfaction. There is no fault in the thing as it is; namely women and money, but it becomes faulty by improper use. The improper use is to accept them for sense gratification.
SP letter to Gargamuni (October 18, 1969)
Who has introduced these things, that women cannot have chanting japa in the temple, they cannot perform the arotik and so many things? If they become agitated, then let the brahmacharies go to the forest. I have never introduced these things. The brahmacharies cannot remain in the presence of women in the temple, then they may go to the forest, not remaining in NYC, because in NY there are so many women, so how they can avoid seeing? BEST THING IS TO GO TO THE FOREST for not seeing any women, IF THEY BECOME SO EASILY AGITATED, but then no one will either see them and HOW OUR PREACHING WORK WILL GO ON?”
SP letter to Ekayani (December 3, 1972)
By Romapada Das
ISKCON Baroda has formed a 50th Anniversary Committee made up of congregation leaders and temple devotees to steer the planning and execution of the 50th Anniversary celebrations locally.
Speaking after a meeting of the Committee on 21st June, Chairman, Pushta Krishna Das said, “The 50thAnniversary is an important milestone to celebrate our achievements. As the leaders of the temple are busy organising regular preaching programmes, the congregation devotees have stepped forward to form a Committee that can plan the celebrations through the year. We will involve local devotees to organise a series of exceptional offerings for Srila Prabhupada so that people in Baroda can be educated about what ISKCON has achieved in the last 50 years.”
Plans revealed by the Baroda Committee include a mega-harinama procession to mark the 50thanniversary of Prabhupada’s departure on the Jaladuta, a series of events in schools across Baroda, a Janmashtami event with a 50th Anniversary theme and a VIP event to mark the Incorporation Day in July 2016.
“The Maha-Harinama procession in August will mark the official start of the 50th anniversary celebrations in Baroda with several VIPs in attendance, ” informed Lalit Govind Das, a member of the Committee. “Devotees will carry colourful flags, banners, wear special 50th anniversary caps, and hand out 10,000 leaflets about ISKCON during the public procession . We will also have a float that will have a model of the Jaladuta with a ladder on which Srila Prabhupada will be shown moving up to start his epic journey. Other colourful components of the procession include bullock carts, kirtan parties, and large cut-outs of Srila Prabhupada.”
Special events will be conducted in 20 schools in Baroda where devotees will show a 30 minute film and slide-show, have an interactive discussion and distribute leaflets and prasadam.
Basughosh Das, President of the Baroda temple said, “We want to encourage the congregation to take an increasing part in the 50th Anniversary celebrations. While the temple management is very involved in guiding and providing support to the Committee, it is the congregation that will actually own the different events and organise them in such a way that we can reach out to a wider audience. The enthusiasm of the team is very infectious and I am sure more and more devotees from the city will become involved as we move forward.”
Romapada Das, International Coordinator for the 50th Anniversary celebrations visited Baroda twice in June to encourage the local devotees to set up a committee that would own the celebrations and execute the plans.
“We appeal to every temple around the world to follow the Baroda model,” he said. “Please call a meeting of your temple management along with leaders of your congregation. Download the ISKCON 50 presentation slides from our website, and present them at the meeting. You can also read our International Briefing Pack available from our website to get an idea of the type of events that can be organised and have a brainstorming session with your team. Once you pick a list of events that you think you can organise, please allow the Committee to go ahead with your plans.”
For more information, contact:
ISKCON 50 Global Office: info@iskcon50.org
International Coordinator: romapada@iskcon50.org
Website: www.iskcon50.org
I'd shown the Bhagavatam to a colleague during one of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur's anniversaries in 2014.
She appreciated it very much, and after looking at the volumes, she said she'd get back to me. But somehow I never asked her again.
Recently, we were discussing one of our company's clients, CERN, a European organization where the www (world wide web) was invented. CERN does research to find out how the universe was created and how creation began. They have the world's largest, most powerful particle accelerator, which collides protons at close to the speed of light. The discussion was very interesting, and engineers were excited about their visit to CERN labs. Everyone was in awe of CERN's research and achievements, and I acknowledged this as well.
After the discussion, I could not stop myself mentioning to my colleague that the Bhagavatam explains how creation takes place and why it takes place; it discusses the nature of atoms, layers of the universe and their thickness. The scientists might be able to find out to some extent, but why not hear the complete story from the creator Himself? Srila Vyasadeva is an expansion of the Lord, hence SB has knowledge that is authentic and complete.
My colleague said, "I have been thinking about your Bhagavatam, and I want to take it soon."
It was BVT's disappearance day last week, and it was Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur's mercy that she felt inspired to take the SB. The set was delivered to her soon after that.
Param Vijayate Sri Krishna Sankirtanam!
Thank you so much.
Your servant,
Kamesvari-devi Dasi
ISV (ISKCON of Silicon VAlley)
By Ratna bhusana dasa
Isan prabhu has just written the amazing history of the development of the Balaram Mrdanga and I would like to add to that, having been a part in the project for over 35 years.
In March of 1977 my brother, Manu priya dasa, was helping to build the first Ratha yatra carts in Los Angeles, working under Lalitanatha dasa who was taking direction from Jayananda prabhu. Manu wrote to me and said “you are a carpenter why don’t you come help us build these carts”. He included some photos of the beginning stages of the cart construction. So I packed up my things and drove from North Dakota to LA to help build the carts.
After that first Ratha yatra Karandhara asked Manu priya, who was an accomplished airbrush artist, to work with Isan on the mridangas. His job was to be making custom airbrushed drums. That part didn’t work out that well, people wanted too many individual versions, not just a few standard styles. So Manu priya stayed on at the drum shop anyway and just assisted Isan in making drums. They made a special drum for Srila Prabhupada, with a mural painted on it by Ramadasa Abhiram dasa. That drum is still in Srila Prabhupada’s room in Vrndavan.
I would visit the shop often and enjoyed the association of Isan who was older and wise and stood up for me sometimes when it was hard being a new devotee in a large temple like LA..
Manu priya was helping to work out some of the bugs of first mrdangas, one of the main problems was putting the rubber gab on the mylar, non stick drum head. The were pouring the rubber directly on the heads and it didn’t adhere well so there was a ring of epoxy put around the outer edge to help it stay on. I found out only a year ago, when I went home for a visit, that Manu had consulted an old friend of ours, Joe Kramer, who was a drummer, about how to get the rubber to stick better. I mentioned making drums and Joe said ” oh , you are still making those drums” and he told me that Manu had called him and asked about it. He told him that he would try roughing the heads some first and use some kind of rubber or plastic adhesive.That is what they did and it greatly improved how the rubber would stay on the heads, eliminating the epoxy ring.
Isan had been wearing saffron for the time that I knew him and was living as a vanaprasta. I didn’t even know that he had a wife who was a devotee and a young daughter. But, one day she came to Los Angeles and requested that he come back to the family and help raise their daughter. I believe that was the main of multiple reasons he decided to leave LA and thus the Balaram mrdanga making was put totally in the hands of Manu priya. Manu then trained a few devotees in different aspects of making the drums, mixing and pouring rubber in the molds for the bumpers, drilling and installing threaded inserts etc. I helped when I could as did Mahamantra dasa, Krishna Kata, Janananda and later Sura dasa, when he was running the BBT mail order dept.
Going back a little, I have had conversations with some of the devotees involved before my time. John Matlick was working at Spiritual Sky incense, he was an engineer and designer. He told me that Rsabdeva, who was in charge of Spiritual Sky asked him to help Isan. At first the plan was to make the drums with leather heads but that wasn’t working out so they made some drawings and went to Remo Drum co to get some sample synthetic heads. John Matlick said they held a contest in the temple to see the best sounding drum and used those dimensions for the Balaram drum. Karandhar told me that he was financing the project with ISKCON property division funds. He said that Isan was not fully satisfied with the drum but on Karandhars insistance they started to sell them. It is not clear to me at what point it happened but according to Ranadhir who worked at the BBT , the project was not moving at Spiritual Sky so the BBT mail order dept took over and financed the rest of the project and they set up a shop in the back of Randadhir’s apartment building at 9715 Venice blvd, around the corner from the LA temple. Ranadhir said that is how the BBT came to be the sole distributor for the Balaram Mrdangas. Indrapramad dasa, who did layout and design for the BBT designed the logo for Balaram mrdangas and Duryadona guru dasa wrote an instruction manual on how to play the drums.
So now around 1979 sometime, the whole project was in Manu priya’s hands. His health was bad, he had diabetes from the age of 4 and his kidneys failed after joining the temple. But he was in no way and invalid. He produced large amounts of drums that were shipped all over the world. He was always looking for ways to improve the drums. He got many samples of different brands of rubber and tested them, he got heavier hardware for holding the straps. The logo stickers they had printed were expensive and not durable so we made silk screens and printed them ourselves on metallic gold vinyl. The bumper molds were rubber and didn’t come out very nice so Manu made drawings and had a machine shop make two
piece polished aluminum molds, which I still use today. They cost $1000 back in 1979.
Manu took one of the regular size drums and cut a section out of the center and put the halves back together to make a child’s size drum.
There were always problems with suppliers changing or going out of business, so he had to often look for new products and test them to keep things going. At one point Remo Drum Company, who made the blank heads said they moved some of their operations to Taiwan and could no longer make the small heads. Jananandan and Manu priya went to meet with the Remo co and the president and founder of the co, who was the first one to make synthetic drum heads, personally met with them and said he like the drum and they would figure out a way to still make the small heads here. I also met Remo D Belli once in Laguna Beach, CA. We had set up festival on the beach there and I saw an old man, dressed in a white suit like he just got off a yacht, playing with a mrdanga on the side of the stage. I went over to talk to him and he said “my company makes the heads for these drums”. He seemed delighted with the drum and gave me his card.
Manu priya continued to produce the Balaram mrdanga’s until March 1, 1992. On that day he finished making eight large and four small mrdangas. I was cooking the Sunday feast for the LA temple that day, I still do. After cooking I would usually bring some prasadam over to Manu’s apartment and take with a couple devotee friends and my wife Isanah dd. This time Manu was not there, I asked our friend and neighbor Jiva Carana dasa if he knew where Manu was, he said that Manu asked him to go to the store with him but Jiva was busy so he didn’t go. I came back an hour later and Manu was still not there. I went to look for him in case his car broke down or something. I went to the closest grocery store and saw his car parked by the door. As I was walking to the door of the store I saw his crutches in the passenger seat. I went over to the car and Manu priya was slumped over and his body cold, He was gone. He had made drums for the world wide devotee community until his last breath. He always strove to keep the best quality and improve when he could.
He made over thirty six hundred drums in thirteen years. I have one of the drums he made that last day.
After that, Sura dasa requested that I take over making the drums and I accepted. In the last 23 years I have made around
twenty five hundred drums, ten today. I try to keep up same standard of quality and keep up with orders. Mostly things
don’t change, except occasionally when a supplier will go out of business or change their product and we have to adapt.
Ys
Ratna bhusana dasa, ISKCON Los Angeles
After four months of fund raising for TOVP in America, HG Jananivasa prabhu returned home to Mayapur with the padukas of Lord Nityananda on 12th July. Hundreds of jubilant devotees flocked at Temple’s main gate for receiving them.
It was truly a grand reception with multifarious items like garlands, rangolis, flowers and many ghee lamp plates accompanied by kirtana. First all the assembled devotees visited Srila Prabhupada’s Samadhi. At the Samadhi gate, they received a second welcome with flowers, ghee lamp plates and rangolis. HG Jananivasa prabhu placed Lord Nityananda’s padukas on Srila Prabhupada’s head. He also garlanded Srila Prabhupada and offered Him a ghee lamp.
After exiting from Samadhi, there was an arati of Lord’s padukas. They then proceeded to the Temple stopping briefly at the TOVP seva office where HG Jananivasa prabhu rang the large bell. He was again garlanded there by many enthusiastic devotees.
There was loud (imagine nearly 10 mrdngas played simultaneously!!) yet melodious kirtana performed by Gurukulis as they entered the Temple Hall. Then there was a rare to see Abhishek and Arati of Lord Nityananda’s padukas in the Panca Tattva hall. The assembled devotees then received the fortune of having Lord Nityananda’s padukas touch their head. On this occasion, HG Jananivasa prabhu distributed some sponsored Srimad Bhagwatam sets to Temple brahmacaris.
HG Braj Vilasa prabhu who had accompanied HG Jananivasa prabhu then spoke about their trip. He especially thanked Hg Ambarisha prabhu and his wife for their support. After him, HG Jananivasa prabhu spoke briefly. Finally, there was distribution of ekadasi prasadam (coconut laddus) to all assembled devotees.
Kumbh Mela 2015 Nasik
By Basu Ghosh Das
Gudur is a town in the Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh, located around 140 kilometers North of one of India’s largest cities, Chennai, on National Highway 5. It is well known for large natural deposits of the mineral “mica” in and around the town.
The town is also important due to the Railway station, a very large junction station connecting Chennai to Vijayawada, and from there to North, West, and Eastern India.
Nellore district is also famous for the local varieties of rice that have been grown there for millenia. Gudur is just 40 kilometers South of Nellore, the district headquarters, where ISKCON sannyasi Sukhadev Swami has established a temple of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladev and Subhadradevi, as well as a large ashram.
Sukhadev Swami, originally from Andhra Pradesh, was a practicing medical doctor in the United States. He became frustrated with his material circumstances, returned to India and joined ISKCON at Bombay back during 1983-84.
For many years he preached and ran a small preaching center at the holy place of Kurukshetra, where the Bhagavad-gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield, in the famous war described in the Mahabharata, or great history of India.
Later on, Sukhadev Swami decided he would be of better service to ISKCON by preaching in his native Telugu language, and he established and developed the ISKCON center at Nellore.
ISKCON Founder Acharya, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada gave a series of public lectures at a program organized by prominent citizens of Nellore from January 3-7, 1976.
For the past three years, Sukhadev Swami and his followers at Nellore have been organizing the Jagannath Rathayatra festival at Gudur. This year it was observed on Saturday, July 11, 2015.
On a stage erected at the inaugural point of the Jagannath Rathayatra procession – opposite the DNR Hall and grounds, prominent local civil leaders spoke felicitating the Rathayatra program in an inaugural function.
Sri Devasena, Gudur Municipal Chairman, Sri Ravindra, Gudur Municipal Administrative Officer, and local MLA (member of the Andhra Pradesh State Legislative Assembly) Sri Pasam Suneel Kumar where among the dignitaries who were present and glorified the Rathayatra festival in brief speeches.
The Rathayatra procession started from the DNR Community hall thereafter at around 4 PM, and proceeded through the main streets of the town, from Sangam Theater, Bazar Street, passing in front of the Gandhi Statue, then Bankim Saipet, then passed the Gudur Railway Station, Clock Tower, Raja Street, Kumari Street, and back to the DNR Community hall.
The procssion went on for about five hours! Thousands of residents of Gudur saw the procession, and there was profuse distribution of “bundi” prasad, packed in tiny paper pouches with markings, that were both thrown to the public from the Rath cart, as well as distributed hand to hand by devotees accompanying the Ratha.
At various places along the procession route, decorative “rangoli” (multicolored designs made with colored powders on the road itself) were spontaneously made by congregational devotees.
Local devotees from ISKCON Nellore, ISKCON Tirupati, and congregational devotees from Nellore, Gudur, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam, and Chennai performed harinam Sankirtan throughout the procession.
Akhiladhar Das, a senior ISKCON devotee, as well as twenty five devotees of the all India ISKCON padayatra also participated in the Rathayatra.
Basu Ghosh Das, President of ISKCON Baroda, Atul Krishna Das, General Manager of the Karwar (Karnataka) ISKCON extension center, Gadadhar Das from Poland, and a group of Russian devotees also participated in the festival.
ISKCON devotees Lila Parayan Das, Balabhadra Madhav Das, Nityamukta Das, and Uttamananda Das of ISKCON Tirupati partcipated in the festival. Hari Kirtan Das, who is running an ISKCON preaching center in the Chirala town of Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh was also present. Purushottam Das from Vijayawada was also present. Sarvatma Das from Pondicherry, and
Uddhava Das from Vishakhapatnam, and Guru Das and Ameenaiah Valluru from Hyderabad also attended the Rathayatra.
Two kirtan parties from Chennai, headed by Hari Gopal Das and Rangaram Das, also participated in the festival. Shyamrupa Das and his son Vijay Mukunda Das also from Chennai participated. Many other devotees, who’s name I do not know, also participated.
After the procession Sukhadev Swami and Basu Ghosh Das spoke in the DNR Hall auditorium.
The DNR hall and the ground are located near Market road at Gudur. On the ground a small temple for Lord Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhdradevi was erected for the occasion. Also 108 steps were provided to encourage the public to chant Hare Krishna mahamantra japa on japa malas. Cards with the mahamantra in Telugu were distributed to the public at the festival site.
Prasad – including vegetable pulao, curd (yoghurt) rice, sambhar rice, bundi (sweet) was distributed to around three thousand people. Kirtan in front of Lord Jagannath continued into the night while the public viewed theistic exhibitions and took prasad on the grounds.
After the lectures, several supporters of the program where feliciated, and books were signed by Sukhadev Swami and Basu Ghosh Das on the auditorium stage.
All in all, it was a very successful event! Because of the positive response to ISKCON from the local public at Gudur, an extension center of ISKCON Nellore will open at Gudur in the very near future.
Pictures uploaded to the internet (can be viewed even if one does NOT have a Facebook account):
http://tinyurl.com/oy2hrh9
