Muslim girl in Mumbai wins Bhagavat Gita contest which was held in Jan 2015

Mumbai: Marryam Siddiqui, a Muslim girl, has won first prize in an inter-school Bhagavad Gita competition which was held in Jan 2015 in Mumbai.
The 12-year-old Class VI student of Cosmopolitan High School won the 'Gita Champions League' contest for explaining the teachings of the scripture in the best possible manner. Around 3,000 students participated in the event, which was organised by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) in January 2015.

The 100 mark multiple choice question based test, evaluates children on their knowledge of the Gita. "I have always been inquisitive about religions and I often read up on them during my free time. So when my teacher told me about this contest I thought it would be a good chance to understand what the book is about. My parents too supported my idea of participating in the contest," said Maryam, who received the prize on March 15.

A student of Cosmopolitan High School, Mira Road, Maryam studied material that was provided by Iskcon for almost a month before giving the test in English. "I read through the material and tried to understand what the Gita tries to tell us. The more I read about different religions, the more I have realized that humanity is the most important religion that we must follow," she said.

Maryam has always had conversations about religion with her parents. "Our family believes that one needs to respect and accept all religions. No religion preaches hatred or wrong. However, there are some members who have misguided us. Before these have a bad influence on the children, we need to talk to them and make them understand what is right," said her father, Asif Siddiqui.

While speaking to news agency ANI, Marryam said, "Humanity is the ultimate religion".

The Gita, believed to be the divine advice of Lord Krishna, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is a part of the epic Mahabharata.
Its call for selfless action inspired many leaders of the independence movement, including Mahatma Gandhi who referred to the Gita as his "spiritual dictionary".

Teachers at school are proud of Maryam's achievement. "The contest is open to students from all religions so we asked if anyone from school wanted to participate. Maryam is excellent at school exams and she showed the same excellence at this contest too," said her teacher, Sapna Brahmandkar.

Source 1: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/12yearold-muslim-girl-wins-bhagwad-gita-competition/537736-3-237.html
Source 2: http://zeenews.india.com/news/india/muslim-girl-wins-bhagavad-gita-contest-says-humanity-is-the-ultimate-religion_1572487.html
Source 3: http://indianexpress.com/article/good-news/muslim-girl-beats-4500-students-to-win-bhagwad-gita-contest/
Source 4: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Muslim-girl-in-Mumbai-wins-Gita-contest/articleshow/46789857.cms

Governor Padmanabha Acharya visits the TOVP

By Sadbhuja Das

Padmanabha Balakrsna Acharya is the governor of Assam, Nagalnd and Tripura.
He has come to Mayapur during his visit to West Bengal.

Padmanabha Acharya has been very fortunate to be able to serve Prabhupada by welcoming Him in is his house for 40 days, during the opening of the Iskcon temple in Mumbai.

He is very please with the service put into the Temple of the Vedic planetarium and by seeing Prabhupada’s vision manifesting.

A Special Recipient of Srila Prabhupada’s Mercy

By Giriraj Swami

For Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa-puja this year, I wish to tell you about his dear friend and staunch devotee Mr. P. L. Sethi. Much of what I shall narrate I experienced personally; the rest I heard from Mr. Sethi, except the description of his last days, which I heard from his family. May this story inspire you in Srila Prabhupada’s service—in Krsna consciousness.

When Srila Prabhupada first came to Bombay with his disciples from America, Mr. Sethi read a notice about them in the newspaper, which said that Srila Prabhupada had arrived with sadhus from foreign countries who chanted the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. Mr. Sethi was part of a group that also chanted Hare Krsna, and so he wanted to meet Prabhupada, and he got the address and came to see him.

At their first meeting, Srila Prabhupada asked Mr. Sethi what he did during the day, starting from when he woke up in the morning. Mr. Sethi began, “I get up, brush my teeth, take my bath, have a cup of tea and a piece of toast, read the newspaper, and go to work.” Srila Prabhupada responded, “What is the difference between you and a pig?” Mr. Sethi thought about it and seemed to agree: there was no difference. So he asked Prabhupada, “What should I do?” And Prabhupada replied, “You should invite the devotees to Goregaon [the northern suburb of Bombay where Mr. Sethi lived] early every Sunday morning to do hari-nama-sankirtana, and then you should feed them sumptuous prasada.” And this became a regular practice.

Later, when Srila Prabhupada got the Juhu property, Mr. Sethi bought some land behind it and built a house for his family. In India people often give names to their houses and office buildings, and he named his new home “Vrndavana.”

Srila Prabhupada underwent a great struggle to get the Juhu land and then to get the permissions to build on the land. Mr. Sethi was a building contractor, and Srila Prabhupada engaged him in getting permits and doing some of the early construction. At the back of the land were six two-storey apartment buildings, and before we got permission to build the temple and main project, Mr. Sethi got permission to add one storey on top of each of the buildings at the back. The roofs of those old buildings were flat, with little white ceramic tile chips set in cement, and Srila Prabhupada said that we should keep that flooring and build the walls and roof over it.

When the first additional quarters were ready, Mr. Sethi took Srila Prabhupada on a tour. Srila Prabhupada looked at Mr. Sethi with great affection and said, “Just as you are building these rooms for my disciples here, Krsna is building your rooms for you in Vaikuntha, the spiritual world.”

But we still did not have permission to build the main project. Finally, Mr. Sethi told Prabhupada, “Unless we pay them some money, we can’t get the permission.” He wanted to know if Prabhupada was willing to do that. Srila Prabhupada asked, “How much?” Mr. Sethi said, “Five thousand rupees.” Srila Prabhupada asked, “How do we know that if we pay the money we’ll get the permission?” Mr. Sethi said, “The municipal commissioner is the final authority, and he seems to be a decent man, and this is how it works in Bombay.” Srila Prabhupada said, “Let me think about it; I will tell you tomorrow morning.”

After Mr. Sethi left, Srila Prabhupada discussed the matter with me and maybe one or two other managers of the Juhu project. “So, what should we do?” he asked. And he raised another question: “What if we give the money to Sethi and he doesn’t give it to the commissioner?” He quoted a Bengali saying that a goldsmith, while fashioning some gold his mother gave him to make into a ring, is thinking, “Should I use all the gold for the ring or put some in my pocket?” Prabhupada said that this type of cheating is so much a part of the goldsmith’s business that even if his own mother gives him gold to make an ornament, he will think, “Should I cheat and keep some of the gold for myself?” Prabhupada said that the construction business—paying bribes and getting permits—is such that someone in it will automatically think, “Should I keep some of the money for myself?”—no matter whose money it is.

So there were many factors to consider—whether Mr. Sethi would give the money, or the full amount, to the commissioner, whether the commissioner, having taken the money, would in fact give the permission, or whether he might take the amount and then ask for more and more and more—so many complexities. Finally Srila Prabhupada decided, “We will not do this.”

We were a little apprehensive about how Srila Prabhupada would present his decision to Mr. Sethi and how Mr. Sethi would take it. And the next morning we waited anxiously for Mr. Sethi to arrive. Eventually he came and, as usual, sat on the floor before Srila Prabhupada. “So, what do you think?” Prabhupada asked. “Should we do it?” Mr. Sethi replied, “Yes, because otherwise we are not getting the permission.” Prabhupada immediately said, “All right”—just the opposite of the way the discussion had been going the day before. So Prabhupada arranged the money, and we got the permission.

Srila Prabhupada, as the acarya, was teaching us. He often told us that intelligence means to see the same thing from many points of view and that we should do everything very cautiously and carefully. I do not believe that he actually doubted his dear friend and staunch devotee Mr. Sethi, but he was teaching us to be circumspect and consider every proposal with keen intelligence.

In the course of the struggle, the municipality had demolished the semi-permanent temple we had built for Radha-Rasabihari. At first, we actively campaigned to get permission to rebuild it. But eventually we concluded that we didn’t really need a permit to rebuild it, because we already had permission and the municipality didn’t actually have valid grounds for demolishing it. Still, the landlady, Mrs. Nair, somehow heard about our intention and went to the court to get an injunction to stop us from rebuilding the temple. That was on a Friday, and the judge said he would not give the injunction without hearing us. She said, “Just give a temporary injunction for the weekend and then you can decide on the permanent injunction.” But he said, “No, without hearing the other side I will not pass any judgment.” So we knew we had the weekend to rebuild the temple, because once it was rebuilt, the injunction would be meaningless.

In those days it was difficult to get cement, and a little hard to get bricks. The supply was less than the demand. And the government has imposed “cement control”: to purchase cement legally, one had to procure a government-approved quota. But Mr. Sethi brought cement and bricks from his own construction sites, so we could rebuild the temple over the weekend. While the work was going on, Mr. Mhatre, the local municipal counselor, who was in cahoots with Mrs. Nair, came to the site and demanded, “You stop the construction immediately.” Mr. Sethi replied, “No. Why should we stop?” Mr. Mhatre threatened, “Well, you can build it up, but I will come in the night with fifty gundas [hooligans] and break it down.” And Mr. Sethi turned to his son, who was by his side, and said, “Brij Mohan, bring my revolver and my rifle.” Then Mr. Sethi said to Mhatre, “Don’t bring fifty gundas. Bring a hundred. Bring two hundred. I have two hundred and fifty cartridges.” He was that staunch. Then he and his son—he with rifle in hand, his son with revolver—stayed up all night, in the pouring rain, to complete and protect the project. And no one came to disturb the work.

On Monday morning we appeared in court and told the judge that the temple had already been rebuilt. And the judge said to Mrs. Nair, “What is built is built. No one can destroy the temple.”

Eventually we did get permission to build the main complex. The question then became whether we needed piling. Piles are columns of reinforced concrete driven into the ground to support a building’s foundation. Generally, to determine if you need piles or how strong the piles must be, you hire a soil-testing company to drill into the earth and see how far down you have to go to reach bedrock. And because the Juhu land was near the beach, it was expected that the soil would be sandy, with water underneath, and that we would need piles, which would be quite an expense. Mr. Sethi approached Prabhupada, who replied, “No, we don’t require piles.” Still, Mr. Sethi had some doubt, and he didn’t want to take any chances, so he hired a soil-testing company.

When the specialized machinery was drilling into the earth and had gone only about four feet deep, it hit bedrock. In fact, when it hit the hard rock, the drill broke. Nobody had expected to hit bedrock so soon. This was one of many, many instances that increased Mr. Sethi’s faith in Srila Prabhupada. He felt that Srila Prabhupada knew everything.

Once, Mr. Sethi approached Srila Prabhupada to stage a charity benefit. The idea was that some famous artists—singers, dancers, musicians—would present an Indian cultural show, we would sell tickets, and the proceeds would go to the temple. Srila Prabhupada replied, “Yes, you can do. If you can make money from the performance, it will be most welcome.” Then Mr. Sethi added, “The only thing, Prabhupada, is we will need some devotees to sell tickets.” Srila Prabhupada replied, “Our devotees cannot sell tickets. They are meant for selling books.” He said that if Mr. Sethi and his friends promoted the program and gave the profit to the temple, he would have no objection, but that the devotees could not be directly involved.

Another time, Mr. Sethi had some ideas for other ways the devotees could make money for the project. Srila Prabhupada replied, “Your ideas may be good, but if I tell my disciples, they will think, ‘I have come for bhajana, and now he wants me to do the same business again.’” And Srila Prabhupada told a story. Once, a boy was learning algebra and his mother saw him write A + B = C. Seeing the letters A, B, and C, she exclaimed, “Oh, you have grown so much, and still you are doing the same ABC?” She could not understand there was a gulf of difference between this ABC and that ABC, between a child’s learning to write the alphabet—ABC—and an adult’s doing algebra—ABC. Prabhupada continued, “I can give my disciples so many ideas, but they will think, ‘I have come for bhajana, and again I am doing the same business?’ They cannot understand there is a gulf of difference between this business and that business—between working for Krsna and working for maya.”

Srila Prabhupada knew our consciousness, the defects in our understanding. But he did not disturb us. He encouraged us to continue in devotional service, and he maintained faith that the process of hearing and chanting about Krsna and serving Lord Krsna’s mission would purify us and enlighten us in the proper understanding of Krsna consciousness.

Eventually, we did get the permission and built the temple complex in Juhu, and Saurabha Prabhu arranged beautiful quarters for Srila Prabhupada on the top floor of the western tower, facing the sea. After Srila Prabhupada moved in, he invited Mr. Sethi to see his new accommodations. He told Mr. Sethi, “Just see what beautiful arrangements my disciples have made for me—spacious rooms with beautiful chandeliers and carved-wood furniture and marble floors.” Then Prabhupada said to Mr. Sethi, “I always wanted you to live with us, but you always felt that the conditions would be too austere for you. You weren’t used to living so simply. So you come and live here in my quarters, and I will stay somewhere else.” Mr. Sethi protested, “No, no, your disciples have made this for you.” Prabhupada said, “I am a sannyasi; I can stay anywhere. You stay here.” That was Prabhupada’s generosity of spirit and his graciousness toward Mr. Sethi.

The last incident I shall relate came toward the end, when Srila Prabhupada was really quite ill, in 1977. From before Mr. Sethi met Prabhupada he was associated with a group called the Radha Madhava Prema Sudha Sankirtana Mandala. Their guru was based in Vrndavana, and they chanted the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. In Bombay, they were all householders, and every Sunday they would have a twelve-hour akhanda-hari-nama-sankirtana, unbroken, continuous kirtana, from six in the morning to six in the evening, followed by two hours of Vraja songs.

So, Mr. Sethi had the idea that instead of having the kirtana in one of their devotees’ homes, as they usually did, they could have it at Hare Krishna Land. So we arranged it, before the Deities in the small temple, beside the new complex that was nearing completion, just beneath Srila Prabhupada’s new quarters. Although the construction wasn’t finished and the lift wasn’t working, Srila Prabhupada had insisted on staying there. And ill as he was, he was listening to the kirtana, reclining or lying down. These devotees in the temple really wanted to see him, but they were too many to come up, Prabhupada was not able to come down, and anyway it would have been too taxing for him to meet them all.

At one stage they were so eager that they came out of the temple and were doing kirtana beneath Srila Prabhupada’s balcony. Eventually Mr. Sethi helped Prabhupada walk to the balcony. Prabhupada glanced down upon them. They were in ecstasy. He stayed for a little while and then went back in. One highlight came at the end when a lady devotee sang, “Jaya radhe jaya radhe radhe, jaya radhe jaya sri radhe. Jaya krsna . . .” Later, Mr. Sethi told us that when Prabhupada was listening to that song, tears were streaming down his cheeks.

Soon thereafter, Srila Prabhupada left this world, but Mr. Sethi continued his service. He arranged and paid for a beautiful, ornate pure silver arati set for offering guru-puja to Srila Prabhupada. And every year on Prabhupada’s appearance and disappearance days he would sponsor a grand, opulent feast for everyone who came to the temple. Later, he created sizable fixed deposits in the bank, the interest from which would pay for opulent feasts on Prabhupada’s appearance and disappearance days in perpetuity. And he contributed for the construction of two guest rooms, the rent from which would sponsor Srila Prabhupada’s annual appearance and disappearance festivals.

Then, last year, Mr. Sethi became ill. He was eighty-eight, but he had no fear of death. He was completely detached from the body. Devotees constantly surrounded him with kirtana. His spiritual and biological families—everyone—was so attached to him. It is really powerful when the head of a family is such a staunch devotee. Sethiji’s wife is also a very good devotee. His sons and daughters and then grandchildren—the whole, large family—is Krsna conscious. Their affection for him was exceptionally strong, with a familial relationship based on his being husband, father, and grandfather, and a spiritual relationship based on his bringing them to Srila Prabhupada and inspiring them in Krsna consciousness.

Then, on February 12, he began to say, “Prabhupada is calling me. He is preparing a room for me, and when it is ready he will take me. I am going from where I came, back to my guruji.” On February 13, he insisted on going to the temple. And three days later, at 11 p.m., surrounded by devotees lovingly chanting the holy names of Krsna in kirtana, he left his body to rejoin Srila Prabhupada. He was so fixed in service and devotion to Srila Prabhupada that at the very end his mind was fixed on Srila Prabhupada.

Once, Mr. Sethi told Srila Prabhupada that sometimes devotees would ask him why he didn’t get initiated. Prabhupada replied, “You are better than initiated. An initiated disciple can serve Krsna, worship the Deity, but you are serving the servants of Krsna, and that is higher.” And he quoted the verse,

aradhananam sarvesam
visnor aradhanam param
tasmat parataram devi
tadiyanam samarcanam

“Of all kinds of worship, the worship of Lord Visnu, or Krsna, is the topmost. But above even the worship of Lord Visnu is the rendering of service to Vaisnavas, who are related to Visnu.” (Padma Purana)

And Prabhupada added, “Beside, I have much work for you. There may be things I want you to do that would be awkward for an initiated disciple, but as you are now, you can do them conveniently.”

Srila Prabhupada was very liberal. He knew the heart—the devotion, the service—of the person, and he accepted Mr. Sethi as more than an initiated disciple. And there is no doubt that Mr. Sethi’s attachment to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada’s service and his fixed consciousness on Srila Prabhupada at the end have carried him to Srila Prabhupada again.

This is the story of one sincere, humble devotee’s service to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada’s immense mercy and blessings upon him. And somehow or other, that same, immense mercy from Srila Prabhupada is available to all of us who are serving him and his mission even now.

Hare Krsna.

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Mr. Sethi ki jaya!

Hon. Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga visits ISKCON, Sri Lanka for Sri Ramanavami Festival

By Mahakarta Das

Sri Ramanavami festival was celebrated at Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple on the 28th of March 2015.
Chief Minister for Western Province of Sri Lanka Hon. Prasanna Ranatunga participated in this festival and received the blessings from Sri Sri Radha Rajagopal. His presence on that day made the event even more remarkable.
The Hon. Minister also visited and inspected the new Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple construction site and was happy that a temple for Lord Vishnu is being constructed. He also told that he will give the necessary assistance from his office towards the new temple construction project.
There were special bhajans and special Aratis on this occasion for Lord Sri Ramachandra.

Mahakarata Das
Temple President

A visit to Gokul Dhama, Belgaum

By Sri Chaitanya Chandra Das

I visited Belgaum recently for Ratha Yatra. Belgaum is a town situated on the border of Maharashtra and Karnataka. After Ratha Yatra I had the good fortune of visiting Gokul Dhama, a 415 acre farm community situated 30 KM from Belgaum conducted under HH Bhakti Rasamrita Maharaj. Late afternoon, after an hour ride we reached there by car. I was visiting the farm first time hence there was lot of anticipation. One of my friend Vrajeshvar Prabhu resides there. We both joined Pune temple together. Later he shifted to Gokul Dhama. When I called and informed him about my visit he was pleasantly surprised. Although the farm is famous for unexpected guests my visit was exception as Vrajeshavar Prabhu & me share close friendship.

I reached there by 6 PM. Around 12 devotees reside there. After some chatting, chanting and Prasadam we all slept early. I had lost the habit of sleeping so early hence thoughts gushed through my mind. In metropolises due to mercy of electricity people do not sleep (or cannot sleep) early but here electricity is conspicuous by its absence so you have to sleep early (and get up early also!). Lying in the bed I was thinking of my cumulative fascination for staying close to nature. I could realize that the roots of this attraction lie in my childhood when I used to visit our native village during school vacations where my grandparents resided. There we stayed quiet close to nature and natural people. We had a vast place in the outskirts of village with natural surroundings. Almost 40 relatives used to congregate in Diwali and summer vacations to relax. Sadhus used to visit the house daily, there were Katha & kirtans in the evenings. Life was centered around God. People were God fearing in the village. We as mischievous children used follow the daily chore of swimming in the river, tending the cows in the forest, smearing floor with cow dung, milking the cows, playing with other village children, visiting temple, fetching water from river, etc. But due to influence of urbanization everything gradually vanished behind the curtain of time. Only memories precipitated. The Village is no longer a village now. But it deeply sowed the seed of simple living in my heart which was later nourished by philosophy of ISKCON. Before in the village life I was following “Simple living but hardly thinking”. Later in the city I was following “Simply living and hardly thinking”. By grace of Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON now trying to follow “Simple living and high thinking”. It’s gradual progression. So now here I am in the middle of a reserved forest in Karnataka sleeping under a grass roof and surrounded by mud walls in dead of the night! Although the thought was scary but simultaneously soothing. So many years in the city has abridged my dependence on nature & God. Thinking thus I dozed off…

We all got up early at 3 AM. After our morning duties we gathered for morning program at 4 AM. The weather was chilling outside but inside the mud house it was warm & cozy. This is the blessing of mud house. In winter it keeps you warm and in summer it will keeps you cool. What an amazing technology! And so cheap! In city you will need AC in summer and room heater in winter with innumerable side effects at colossal cost. Then we had a candlelight Mangal Arati, Narsimha Arati and Tulasi Arati. It was an experience in itself. Gaur Nitai deities were shinning and smiling in the dim lamp light. We chanted together in the morning fresh air. We could see the beautiful sunrise on the horizon. It reminded me of the sun of Krishna prema rising in one’s heart when one chants with love.

After morning program Vrajeshvar Prabhu took me on the tour of the farm. This 14 acre farm is a part of another 400 acre land which is a bit inside the forest. This 14 acre land is surrounded by two feet high stone wall and a two feet trench. Stone wall is for protection from bears and the trench is for protection from elephants. Elephant is a huge and powerful animal but the poor creature cannot get up by himself once he falls down in trench. Hence he always thinks thrice before crossing a pit or a trench even though it may be quiet small. I was apprehensive to hear about wild animals but Vrajeshvar Prabhu consoled till date there is no incidence of any animal attacking the devotees here. Animals are also afraid of humans (sophisticated animals, probably more dangerous also!). I could feel the acute silence in the place which I was unaccustomed to.

For bathing they use natural alternative for soap i.e. Shikakai. And for clothes they use Ritha which cleanses the clothes thoroughly. He showed me different kinds of herbs used for treating various diseases like kidney stone, severe bleeding, diabetes, weakness,etc. They have a unique system of filtering the bore well water. The water is passed through layers of sand, limestone and charcoal and at the end water becomes as or more pure than the RO water people drink in cities. Some of the houses are built with the laterite stone and a special filler (mixture of lime, jaggery and Harda). The amazing quality of this mixture is that it gains strength as time passes! (I thought time weakens everything but this mixture is exception) So for decades and centuries these walls will not fall. The forts and old structures during bygone ages were built with this special mixture hence they are still standing unlike cement houses which needs to be renovated every 60 years. Devotees there are cultivating some part of the land for leafy vegetables, tomatoes, papaya, etc. The taste of the natural produce is completely different. Also nice goshala is there with 15 cows and some bulls. This place is so much remote that even the mobile range doesn’t reach here hence many varieties of birds are found in abundance. Most of the food is locally grown and naturally prepared on hearth. In rainy season they do roof water harvesting i.e. the water from the rains on the roof is drained and collected in drums. This water initially may be muddy but after some time pure rain water flows and is used for various purposes including drinking. I remembered the chataka bird who drinks direct rain water only. (Devotees here have almost achieved the standard close to that of Chataka bird of drinking pure rain water!). 4 months during rainy season there is heavy rain. This place stands for 2nd highest rainfall in India with 10,000 mm rains after Cherapunji in Assam with 14,000 mm rains.

While Vrajeshvar Prabhu was cooking on the hearth with cow dung cakes as fuel I could see through my spects thick smoke bellowing out. Tears welled in my eyes not due to love for Lord but due to the smoke. Vrajeshvar Prabhu told me,“This smoke has the potency to eliminate your spects completely.” My situation was like a person who is drinking hot sugarcane juice. He neither can drink easily nor give it up completely. Krishna Consciousness also appears like hot sugarcane juice for a neophyte.

I told Vrajeshvar Prabhu ,“You are great renunciate that you left the comforts of city and came here. He replied wittingly that “You are greater renunciate as you left comforts of natural living for living in the city.”

It made me ponder deeply over my predicament. Here mind is so peaceful. The natural environment imbues within the mode of goodness which is very conducive for devotional service.

Growth of technology is like growth of cancer cells. These cells destroy the body on which they themselves are feeding, leading to their own destruction ultimately. Technology is growing, trying to exploit and destroy mother earth but that would ultimately lead to destruction of the technology users themselves. Technology can be utilized but as moderately as possible. Prabhupada says that just like the human body temperature is 98 degree Fahrenheit normally. If it shoots too high or too low it may be fatal. It should be maintained moderately.

HH Bhakti Rasamrita Maharaj’s vision is “Just stay close to nature and chant Hare Krishna. It is greatest preaching. We can show to the world that we can live completely dependent on nature. The only reason most of us are staying in cities is for preaching. Otherwise we have no business in cities.”

Currently the project may not be completely self-sufficient but it is heading towards complete self-sufficiency trying to fulfill the dream of Srila Prabhupada.

“Your only business is to find out Brahman. That is your business. Nature has given you sufficient means to live very comfortably everywhere. If you get a piece of land and one cow, your whole economic question is solved. You haven’t got to go fifty miles for working. There is no necessity. Wherever you are living, take little land and keep one cow. Your economic question is solved. So nature has given you all facilities. Hence chant Hare Krishna and be happy.”

Prabhupada lecture on NOV 9 1968, Los Angeles

Narada - The Transcendental Spaceman by HH Indradyumna Swami on 09 Jan 1994 at ISKCON New Zealand

(Indradyumna Swami is a disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a Sannyasi traveling preacher, and a guru or spiritual teacher in the Chaitanya Vaishnava tradition. Each year Indradyumna Swami circles the globe teaching the message of the Bhagavad Gita and introducing people to kirtan chanting of the Hare Krishna maha mantra.)

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Lecture on Mundane Desire and Gopi Prema by HH Bhakti Vikas Swami on 15 Jan 2015 at ISKCON Salem

(His Holiness Bhakti Vikasa Swami appeared in this world in 1957 in England. He joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in London in 1975 and was initiated in that year with the name Ilapati dasa by ISKCON’s founder-acarya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.)

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Lecture on The more we become detached the more we master the body by HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu

(His Grace Caitanya Charan Prabhu is a monk and spiritual teacher in the time honored tradition of bhakti yoga. He is a editor of Back to Godhead, which is the official international magazine of the Hare Krishna movement.)

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Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 09 Chapter 11 Text 18-19 by HG Kripamoya Prabhu on 13 Feb 2015 at Radhadesh

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http://audio.iskcondesiretree.com/03_-_ISKCON_Prabhujis/ISKCON_Prabhujis_-_K_to_R/His_Grace_Kripamoya_Prabhu/Srimad_Bhagavatam/Canto-09/Kripamoya_Pr_SB_09-11-18-19_-_2015-02-13_Bhaktivedanta_Manor.mp3

Mayapur Retirement Village as an International GBC Project

This the 312 resolution from the Minutes Of The GBC Annual General Meeting at Sri Mayapur Dham

Whereas the desire of the international GBC is that a retirement village be created in Sridham Mayapur that would operate under the direction of the international GBC

Resolved:

That the Retirement Village/Elders’ Enclave is under the exclusive direction of the international GBC Body. There is no direction or control from any other ISKCON entity.

A committee will be formed to oversee the operation of the Retirement Village once the construction phase has been completed. Badrinarayan Swami will work with the Mayapur GBCom to select that committee and to establish the guidelines under which the management committee and the Retirement Village project will operate.

Badrinarayan Swami is appointed as the GBC Body’s agent for this project. Badrinarayan Swami will report to the Mayapur GBC committee as needed and will seek their prior approval for major decisions.

FINAL REMINDER

Dear follower of Srila Prabhupada,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Kindly submit your homage to Srila Prabhupada for his Vyasa-puja book by April 15.

In addition, if you're a direct disciple of Srila Prabhupada, please check out www.sptributes.com to learn about a Vyasa-puja book open to all his disciples. The deadline for submission to this book is also April 15.

The standards for submitting an offering to the traditional Vyasa-puja book (the one published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust) are as follows:

———— *Absolutely no offerings will be accepted after April 15, 2015.*

Offerings must be in English.

Please restrict the length to a maximum of 3,000 words.

Please omit all diacritics on words that can be found in the VedaBase. It’s easier for us to put them in. If you quote a verse from outside the VedaBase or compose original Sanskrit, please include diacritics.

Do not "recycle" an offering — no offerings from previous years will be accepted.

The Vyasa-puja book is meant for glorifying Srila Prabhupada, not venting grievances. The BBTreserves the right to reject an offering it deems inappropriate or to ask for a rewrite.

When writing an offering on behalf of a temple or other unit, please try to write in such a way that the other devotees in your unit can also identify with the offering.

Who may write an offering?

1) Governing Body Commissioners
2) Sannyasis
3) Authorized representatives of ISKCON temples, preaching centers, farms, gurukulas, BBToffices, and "others," such as BTG magazine and ISCOWP (this is not a complete list). If there is some doubt, we will request you to send written authorization from your GBCrepresentative.
4) No multiple offerings. For example, a temple should not enlist all its bhaktas to write offerings under the temple heading. Joint authorship (2-4 devotees) of a single offering is fine.
5) Please make sure you tell us where the offering originates. For example: New Vamsi-vata (the Madagascarfarm community), NOT just New Vamsi-vata. If we don’t know where the offering comes from, we will not print it.
6) Always leave a double space between paragraphs. If you want some special formatting, submit your offering as an attached file in Microsoft Word or RTF format.
7) Submit your offering by emailing it to Dravida Dasa at dravida108@gmail.com <mailto:dravida108@gmail.com>.

<mailto:dravida108@gmail.com>Offerings may be submitted any time from now until April 15, 2015. We will confirm receipt of your offering by e-mail. If you do not receive a confirmation, resend it.

<mailto:dravida108@gmail.com> The BBTis not responsible for lost offerings. ------------
 

Veganism, Vegetarianism and Prasadarianism

By Dusyanta dasa

In this article that is dealing with the differences between Veganism, Vegetarianism and Prasadarianism there is a necessity to provide quotes from scripture, from Sri Guroh and from Sadhu. As Vaisnava devotees of Lord Krishna we always use these three principles to authenticate our actions, our ways, and our decisions. Any quotes provided will only be from Srila Prabhupada’s books.

But firstly to fully understand what we are dealing with we need to understand the holistic integrated process that eating entails.

Eating is the last process in an Agricultural act.

Unless we understand and accept that eating is intrinsically linked to agriculture then our understanding will always be flawed and incomplete. What we put into our mouths is based on a huge agricultural system that began months before we even bought or grew the food. The way our food is farmed bears down exactly on whether there is violence in our food, whether the environment has been exploited and damaged, whether animals have been slaughtered, whether artificial pharmaceutical fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides have been utilised and whether we have assisted in a holistic process or not. Just by what we put into our mouths.

As devotees we have a lot of issues to consider before we eat. Firstly we offer our food for Krishna’s pleasure, Bhagavad-gita As It Is 3.13. Then we have the huge issue of whether or not the food we eat is violent. On this issue there are many quotes from Scripture for us to consider. One of the main principles that Veganism was originally conceived in 1948 was this whole point. Their point was that to avoid violence, then all animal interaction needed to be by-passed as they perceived the connection to animals in farming was the source of all violence. However as will be revealed by scriptural reference this is just a materially superficial understanding and explains comprehensively why Veganism is a relative modern movement based on no Vedic theistic foundations.

Violence as a principle is an inherent natural law of the material world and is unavoidable in all circumstances of Agriculture as explained in the Srimad Bhagavatam. In the third canto of Srimad Bhagavatam the principles of Devotional Service are explained in detail and one point being Ahimsa, or non-violence. But in the further explanations of devotional service in 3.29.15 the final conclusion on violence related to agricultural products is explained in detail so there is no misunderstanding..

Canto 3. Chapter 29. Text 15.

“A devotee must execute his prescribed duties, which are glorious, without material profit. Without excessive violence, one should regularly perform one’s devotional service.”

So the principle of violence is delineated here for the devotee to fully comprehend by the text using the word, “Natihimsrena” – excessive violence, and in the context of the verse it is used as “without excessive violence.” The inference being that there will be some violence in the execution of devotional service, as in the case of Arjuna and his devotional service.
The word “Ahimsa” –with no violence, is not used in the context of executing devotional service and this is further elaborated in the explanation in Srila Prabhupada’s purport that is related exactly to food, eating and agriculture. A few significant points are made here. Firstly that eating vegetables is Violence.

“The answer is that eating vegetables is violence, and vegetarians (and in this case Vegans as well) are also committing violence.” And then a bit later in His purport Srila Prabhupada writes; “We have to commit violence; that is a natural law. We should not, however, commit violence extravagantly, but only as much as ordered by the Lord.”

# My added words in brackets to include Vegans, who also eat Vegetables.)#

Eating means we have to pursue agriculture because eating is an integrated component of agriculture, it is the last action in agriculture. And in agriculture there is only violence to commit by eating vegetables, by ploughing the land, by weeding the land, by harvesting crops, and a whole host of other agricultural activities. Once we put food into our mouths we are already implicated fully into the violence of producing that food, there is no material way out of that.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
We are negative of vegetarian and non-vegetarian. We are not vegetarian, neither non-vegetarian. We eat Kṛṣṇa prasāda. Rather, “prasādarian.” We are neither vegetarian, nor non-vegetarian. Because we don’t eat which is not offered to Kṛṣṇa. Things are prepared according to the order of Kṛṣṇa, and when Kṛṣṇa eats, we take the remnants of foodstuff. Therefore we do not fall in the group of vegetarian or non-vegetarian. We are transcendental.
Room Conversation with Reverend Gordon Powell, Head of Scots Church — June 28, 1974, Melbourne:
Prabhupāda: These flowers are very nice. They are called?
Devotee: Daffodil?
Prabhupāda: Daffodils. Oh.
Reverend Powell: No, jonquils, aren’t they?
Devotee: Jonquils.
Prabhupāda: Very… Just see how God’s artistic brain.
Reverend Powell: Hmm. Yeah.
Prabhupāda: You can see God in everywhere. But one must be Kṛṣṇa conscious, God conscious. Then he’ll see every moment, everywhere God, nothing but God.
Reverend Powell: Is this part of the God consciousness, that in everything is the God?
Prabhupāda: Yes. Everything is made out of energy of God.
Satsvarūpa: Here are some sweetballs made out of milk and butter.
Prabhupāda: You can, you can pick up.
Reverend Powell: Made out of what?
Satsvarūpa: Mostly out of milk and butter.
Prabhupāda: Milk preparation.
Reverend Powell: Thank you. And, um,…
Prabhupāda: Yes, you can eat.
Reverend Powell: Now?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Reverend Powell: Thank you. (eats)
Satsvarūpa: Very juicy.
Reverend Powell: Hm. Very juicy. Hm.(laughs)
Prabhupāda: All of them, give, each, one. We can prepare hundreds of nice preparations from milk. Therefore cow protection is required. Do you like?
Guest: Very sweet, Prabhupāda. (laughter)
Reverend Powell: Something quite different. Hmm.
Devotee: Here, perhaps you can use this.
Reverend Powell: Thank you. Yes, I think I need it. You, you, you’re completely vegetarian, and not have meat of any kind and not eggs at all?
Prabhupāda: No.
Reverend Powell: Why not eggs? Because…
Prabhupāda: We are not even vegetarian.
Reverend Powell: You’re not.
Prabhupāda: No. We are negative of vegetarian and non-vegetarian. We are not vegetarian, neither non-vegetarian. We eat Kṛṣṇa prasāda.Rather, “prasādarian.” We are neither vegetarian, nor non-vegetarian. Because we don’t eat which is not offered to Kṛṣṇa. Things are prepared according to the order of Kṛṣṇa, and when Kṛṣṇa eats, we take the remnants of foodstuff. Therefore we do not fall in the group of vegetarian or non-vegetarian. We are transcendental.
Reverend Powell: Yes.
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Reverend Powell: Well, thank you, Your Grace. If you’ll excuse me, I have another appointment.
Prabhupāda: Thank you. That’s… Hare Kṛṣṇa.

It’s plain to see from this conversation that we are neither Vegan, nor Vegetarians nor non-Vegetarians; devotees are transcendental to these material conceptions. We are Prasadarians. And to put this in context with the agricultural model that is used for us to put food into our mouths we need look no further than Bhagavad-gita As It Is by Srila Prabhupada. In the chapter entitled “The Perfection of Renunciation”, chapter 18, text 44 Lord Krishna explains the concept of krsi-go-raksya or “cow protection agriculture”.
Cow protection agriculture is a holistic integrated system of producing food for devotees where there is the minimum of violence and a self-sustaining complete dynamic. No externals are needed because cow protection provides all the necessary tools and facilities to farm in a self-sufficient way. The concept explained here is cow protection and agriculture together. Cow protection does not exist on its own without land to farm. And farming does not exist on its own without cow protection. The relationship between farming and cow protection is based on mode of goodness symbiosis, otherwise from both perspectives intervention on an industrial scale are needed. Farming without draught power from animal’s means mechanistic intervention with tractors and heavy machinery. And fertilizing the soils without organic naturally occurring manures from cow protection means using pharmaceutical artificial prilled fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. For devotees the guiding quality to farm is through the mode of goodness only, which governs how farming is managed. And within the cow protection agricultural model the mode of goodness sits perfectly well.

The main problem with a Vegan type agricultural model is that it does not illustrate an alternative way of producing food that bypasses modern methods. Because in Veganism animals are by-passed completely then Vegans are forced to use industrial mechanistic methods of cultivating the land, harvesting crops and so forth. Without tractors and animals Vegans have no alternative method of torque or draught power for ploughing 1000’s of acres of land to feed the world. Alternatively in Cow protection the Bull and Horse both provide torque and draught power to farm without the need for modern methods of mechanistic agriculture.

That’s the first huge problem with Veganism, they have no methodology of cultivating other than using industrial type tractors to feed the world. The next obstacle for Vegans is how to out source their fertilisers for growing food to feed the world. Without using industrial violent pharmaceutical fertilisers or animal manures there is not much left to them apart from green fertilisers and composting plants. Without the use of animal fertilisers, and animals in any form, Vegans’ hands are tied; they only have composting of green crops as a credible way to replenish the soils. The question then arises; would there be enough green cropping in the world to fertilise the soils to feed the world? The answer is absolutely no chance whatsoever. Of course they could always use the artificial fertiliser route without the use of animal biomass but then we would soon be facing widespread soil erosion globally. As it happens Vegans, without their knowledge, depend on animals to provide vast amounts of biomass as fertilisers to grow their food. If Vegans are “organic” and only eat organically grown food then they are 100% dependent on animals for providing the Hooves, Horns, Blood, Bones, fish, feathers etc that make up the bulk of commercial organic fertiliser around the world. Either way we look at it, Veganism is not an alternative to illustrate how to feed the world without using industrial modern methods, in fact the point is Veganism does not exist purely in any shape or form that can show the model to feed the world successfully, in a sustainable model.

How ever because the authentic Cow protection agricultural model is based on the three principles of Vaisnavism; Guru, Sadhu and Scripture then it can be a successful model. But the problem with Cow protection is what form of model should that take. One of the main reasons that Veganism has popped up in Iskcon is because the Cow protection projects have not serviced the devotees, as they should have done. So to understand fully what the criteria are for a successful cow protection project and therefore a successful agricultural model we have to dive deeply and transparently into finding all the relevant statements on this subject because to date it does not work how it is meant to work.

Actually it is very simple to understand how cow protection works but what has been the problem is executing it in that way. The very first principle in a cow protection project is using the mode of goodness to manage it. Mostly in Iskcon this has been overlooked time and time again. How to execute cow protection in the mode of goodness? Then, what principles of existence does a cow protection project need to be surrounded by? Then, the holistic integrated model of the three models of Iskcon need to be symbiotically linked together.

What makes cow protection agriculture work, is the principle of community and cow protection harmonising with each other symbiotically in the mode of goodness. Cow protection and related agriculture can only work in the mode of goodness. This means that the lifestyle adopted by the humans managing cow protection compulsorily have to live according to the mode of goodness. If they don’t then cow protection will not solve all the economic problems that cow protection is meant to.

That’s why Veganism stands absolutely no chance of succeeding, because it is not in the mode of goodness on any level practically. The Vegan model of agriculture is based on the mode of passion and mode of ignorance because of those two principles outlined earlier, viz a viz, draught power to cultivate land, and alternative fertilisers. It’s these two principles that Cow protection are outstanding in, in fact cow protection produces all dairy products from the cows, all grain products from the bulls and then all torque and drought power. Then the next added bonus is the manures from all animals. This can be anaerobic-ally digested to produce methane gas and then what is left over is the best fertilizer in the world because the ammonias have been converted to ammonium bicarbonate, which is the ideal food for plants.

It is worth noting at this point in the history of Cow protection within Iskcon exactly where and why the project encountered severe problems. In 1985 at Gita-nagari a revolutionary visionary program was introduced called “adopt a cow”. This in effect meant that cow protection not only became a business and a capitalistic project in the mode of passion but also meant that a symbiotic mode of goodness relationship was not required to sustain the project. Thus the nature of cow protection was totally compromised. Although it seemed as if this were the answer to the prayers of cow protectors universally, the concept eventually fell on its head. The reason was because there was no substance in this mode of passion concept. The devotees collected millions of dollars for the cow protection project and it meant living in style. But it was short lived because the mode of goodness was prevented from entering into the frame. Because Cows are in the mode of goodness and Vaisnavism is Pantheistic money plays no role in environmental husbandry and ecological theology. The main component of cow protection agriculture is the mode of goodness management, the symbiotic relationship and community lifestyle, not monetary dependency.

The workings of cow protection illustrate how it is an authentic system for providing an agricultural model especially for living in the mode of goodness. Within this dynamic of cow protection providing many of the economic solutions of life, is the next step. This is the next model of the totality of Iskcon. There are three Iskcon models that exist in a symbiotic relationship that make up the totality of Iskcon. The first model is the “Temple” model, the second model is the “Community” model and the third step is the “Cow protection agricultural” model. When these three exist in harmony, simultaneously with each other in the symbiotic mode of goodness relationship then the members of Iskcon benefit from this immeasurably.

The second model of Iskcon is the “Community” model. The community model provides the actual pivot to success. Community in Iskcon means creating the whole social body of life and this social body of devotees depends naturally and symbiotically on the mode of goodness cow protection agricultural model, the third model of the totality of Iskcon existence. The social body fills in all the parts of Iskcon that to date are missing. All our social needs are fully covered in the Community model of Iskcon. The Temple model of Iskcon does not cover the social needs of devotees and the Temple model is essentially a preaching tool. Once we move over from trying to make the Temple model our social model by establishing the real social community model of Iskcon so many solutions are solved automatically.

All the food for devotees is produced by the devotees for the devotees on the farm; food is grown for the Temple and for the community simultaneously. Therefore Lord Krishna receives the topmost food produced on the planet with minimum violence and vegetarian fertilisers from cow protection. The farm situation is where the community devotees live and run the farm and all the ancillary village, artisan and cottage industries related to village life in the mode of goodness. These three main models make up the totality of Iskcon and in this structure of Iskcon it becomes a self-sustaining model that needs no outside inputs. The village is supported by craftsmen of all types to construct beautifully designed cottages from natural materials, agricultural labourers, dairy processing devotees, and all types to contribute to the Vedic Village lifestyle. But essentially in this model the Cows are the centre of village life because without the Cows we would have to revert to modern industrial methods of farming and thereby lower the material modes of nature to Capitalism, the mode of passion and ignorance.

Our total successful model of Iskcon is based on these three models working together for the mutual benefit of all members of Iskcon. Not one section of Iskcon is favoured. Our political model of governance for farming and community are based on the four political models of social life.

1. Anarchism- Brahmanism.
2. Monarchy-Ksatriyas.
3. Capitalism-Vaisyas.
4. Communism-Sudras,

And in this way there is not the western one-way approach to government where they hope one glove fits all. There has to be different types of governing to suit all types and qualities of people.

Thus we dispatch to history the concepts of materialism related to our diet. We are Iskcon, a community independent of outside help. We are minimum violent farmers. We are prasadarians that eat only food offered to Lord Krishna. Where is the conflict of interests, in Iskcon the totality abolishes false concepts because the totality of Iskcon is made up from all the answers not all the problems. We are the totality of Iskcon, we have all the solutions.

Real Knowledge Changed My Life

By Vishakha Devi Dasi

Despite years of academic study, I didn’t know anything until I met Srila Prabhupada.

“In this material world there are different types of achievement, but of all of them the achievement of knowledge is considered to be the highest because one can cross the ocean of nescience only on the boat of knowledge. Otherwise the ocean is impassable.”—Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.24.75

“Wales: Its People, Climate and History” was a myopic 61-page report of facts and maps by a proud ninth-grader (me) who thought, on completing the most extensive research paper she’d ever done, that she knew something about Wales.

Looking back, what I knew about Wales after completing that report was theoretical at best, but in broad terms all that my fellow students and I got from the entire scope of our education wasn’t actually knowledge, at least in Krishna’s terminology.

According to Krishna, actual knowledge is extraordinary and concerns more than the material sphere of science, politics, history, geography, sociology, and so on.

It was at a tent program in the center of Mumbai during a warm March evening in 1971 that I first encountered actual knowledge. Srila Prabhupada was speaking, and although I missed much of what he said because of his accent, I sensed that I was hearing something worlds apart from all that I’d ever heard before. The experience was scary but exhilarating, and something in me that had been sleeping began to stir.

Because Prabhupada was noble, learned, and gentlemanly, despite myself (I was an atheist at the time) I respected and had some faith in him and wanted to understand what he was saying. So I listened to him and his followers.

They explained that real knowledge includes giving up the sense of proprietorship. Prabhupada has written, “One has to get out of this false notion that human society is the proprietor of this world.” (Bhagavad-gita 15.5, Purport) The creator and proprietor of this world is God. All things and all beings come from Him and are His. Real knowledge also includes recognizing that the soul—the life in the body—is different from the body and is an integral part of God. A person in complete knowledge knows God, the soul, material nature, and their interactions.

All this shattered my formerly held understandings. Yet it explained why, despite good friends, good health, and success in my desired profession of photography, I was deeply dissatisfied and confused. Without knowledge of my source and purpose, my life was in disarray.

Prabhupada’s followers told me I didn’t have to give up photography but instead of photographing for money, prestige, and the thrill of creativity, I could photograph as a service to God and His servants. This was devotional service, and it would free me from attachment to the results of my work and the continual ups and downs of my mind and profession. Instead of trying to please myself, I was to try to please God and His devotees. In this way, they said, I could become detached from mundane life and advance spiritually.

In other words, the knowledge Srila Prabhupada proffered did not result in passivity. It was not simply theoretical, but practical: I was to perform acts in the status of soul. Such acts—bhakti-yoga, or devotional service—would strengthen my advancement in actual knowledge. And this knowledge would in turn strengthen my budding enthusiasm for bhakti-yoga.

I learned that lust, greed, and envy cover and destroy knowledge and would block my spiritual advancement by distracting me, thus keeping me materially attached. In other words, sense control—following rules and regulations—was necessary to acquire actual knowledge. But the idea of following rules and regulations wasn’t attractive. What to do? I realized that even the glimpses of spiritual possibility I had by being with Srila Prabhupada and his followers made my old life and the future it offered look bleak. If I became a famous, popular, and wealthy photographer but was empty inside, what was the use? Better to accept the austerity of rules and regulations (which, as it turned out, were healthy for the body and mind) than to live a wasted life.

Besides, if I’m a soul—and given the arguments and evidence I’d heard, it seemed likely I was a soul—why not act like a soul? Why act according to the dictates of my mind and body, which aren’t me? If I could transfer myself to a platform of real knowledge and its corresponding activities, then surely I would benefit and be inwardly satisfied. So, tentatively, my then boyfriend (and later husband) John (now Yaduvara Dasa) and I tried doing what devotees do, namely hearing and chanting about Krishna and His devotees, serving them, and living simply. Gradually our doubts decreased and our hopes increased.

The Effects of Real Knowledge

Prabhupada says, “The purpose of knowledge is to understand distinctly that the living entity has by chance fallen into this material existence. By his personal endeavor in association with authorities, saintly persons, and a spiritual master, he has to understand his position and then revert to spiritual consciousness or Krishna consciousness. . . . Then it is certain that he will never come again into this material existence; he will be transferred into the spiritual world for a blissful eternal life of knowledge.” (Bhagavad-gita 13.24, Purport) And Krishna says, “Even if you are considered to be the most sinful of all sinners, when you are situated in the boat of transcendental knowledge you will be able to cross over the ocean of miseries.” (Bhagavad-gita 4.36)

Why does transcendental knowledge have this amazing effect? There are at least four reasons: One is that the source of transcendental knowledge is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna. Worldly “knowledge” is the product of people’s limited and faulty worldly minds. Second, through knowledge Krishna extends His mercy to us for our material and spiritual benefit. Worldly knowledge is for mundane aggrandizement, entertainment, titillation, and distraction, which do not ultimately benefit us. Third, actual knowledge discerns reality from illusion and makes us attached to reality and detached from illusion. Worldly knowledge delves only into illusion and increases our attachment to it. And fourth, the result of actual knowledge is pure devotional service, which frees the practitioners from material miseries and enables them to attain the highest love, love of God and His creation. Worldly knowledge cannot counteract the miseries of this world, which include birth, disease, old age, and death, and worldly knowledge cannot evoke real love.

The result of transcendental knowledge defies the imagination. The Bhagavad-gita explains that the fire of this knowledge burns up the reactions of our work and enables it to merge into transcendence (4.19, 23), it ends illusion (4.35), it is the most sublime and pure fruit of mysticism and the cause of liberation (4.38), one who achieves it achieves supreme spiritual peace (4.39), it’s like a weapon that slashes the doubts that arise from ignorance (4.42), and due to a lack of it, we suffer in a material body (5.14, Purport).

Changed by Knowledge

As we became more intrigued by Krishna consciousness, transcendental knowledge changed John and me. Without thinking about it, we began to give up old ideas and habits, even though giving up those things separated us from family, friends, and coworkers who put importance solely on material endeavors. On seeing our change, some of those people ridiculed or ostracized us as if we’d become errant weeds or sycophants. Yet, however hurtful their reactions were, the knowledge Srila Prabhupada presented, which had transported us outside societal walls of conformity, was stronger than social pressure.

The most dramatic change we experienced from accepting actual knowledge was not that our material joys, sorrows, and fears ended (although they were tempered, perhaps), but that our lives were reoriented. Krishna, karma, reincarnation, demigods and their higher planets, hells and the suffering and reformation they entail—knowledge of these became integral to our new worldview.

Prabhupada explains, “If one accepts a spiritual master, one can learn to distinguish between matter and spirit, and that becomes the steppingstone for further spiritual realization. A spiritual master, by various instructions, teaches his students to get free from the material concept of life.” (Bhagavad-gita 13.35, Purport)

Now John and I photographed with knowledge of our relationship with Krishna, knowing Him as the supreme governing principle, as the one who knows everything, who is the oldest, the all-pervading origin of everything, and the ultimate controller and maintainer. He is knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the goal of knowledge.

As for my old report on Wales, well, “The purpose of education is to understand Krishna and His devotional service. If one does not do so, then education is false.” (Chaitanya-bhagavata, Antya 3.44, quoted in Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.29.50, Purport)

Or in Krishna’s words in the Bhagavad-gita (9.2), spiritual knowledge is “the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.”

Bhaktin Sakshi Donates Scholarship for TOVP Construction

Bhaktin Sakshi from Delhi, India decides that the scholarship money she received from her college would best be spent on “higher education” by helping to build the TOVP to fulfill Srila Prabhupada’s desire to bring millions of people to Mayapur, and ultimately back to Godhead. This is truly the best use of intelligence in the Lord’s service and a wonderful example of sacrifice

His Grace Sesa Das, ISKCON GBC and Minister of Education, Speak About the TOVP

Sesa prabhu expalins that, as the Minister of Education in ISKCON he sees the TOVP as an educational project and an integral part of our missionary work to educate the general public about Vedic knowledge. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity we are part of and he encourgaes us to give our “might” to help in it’s completion.

The Indian government has finally agreed to restore the Yamuna’s ecological flow through several steps demanded by protestors, beginning with bringing the sacred river under the Environment Protection Act within two to three months.

The move is a huge victory for the Free Yamuna Campaign of Braj (the land of Lord Krishna’s pastimes), which has been fighting for years now to restore the beleaguered river.

It is also a direct response to the Campaign’s third protest march since 2011, which was organized by sadhu and environmentalist Ramesh Babaji and his Maan Mandir organization; the Bharatiya Kisan Farmers’ Union; and the Pusti Marg sect of Vallabhacharya, whose main Deity is Yamuna Devi.

Over 20,000 people participated throughout the week-long Yamuna Muktikaran Padayatra (The “Free Yamuna” Foot March), which left Kosi in Braj on March 15th.

As well as members of the organizing sects, they included thousands of enthusiastic Brajbasis from Braj’s 1,200 villages, many revered saints of Vrindavan and Mathura, and members of several social, legal and commercial groups.

Residents of towns and villages along the way also participated as the Padayatra passed through with its horses and bullock carts displaying various tableaus of Braj Culture. Meanwhile several folk kirtan groups chanted the Lord’s names throughout.

Despite ill health, Sri Ramesh Babaji came and walked in the Padayatra, and elated all the participants with his uplifting spiritual discourse. Marchers braved heavy rains with single-minded determination, singing kirtan and honoring sumptuous prasadam to keep their spirits up.

Early Sunday morning, March 15th, the TOVP Team consisting of Jananivas prabhu, Radha Jivan prabhu, Vraja Vilas prabhu and Sunanda prabhu flew to the Lone Star State, Dallas, Texas.

Arriving at Sri Sri Radha Kalachandji Dhama, the Lord’s Padukas and Sitari were greeted by a large kirtan and gave darshan to all the devotees. In the evening the TOVP program began with arati to Sri Sri Radha Kalachandji followed by more krtan. The temple room was at maximum capacity of 300+ devotees by the time the program began. Nityananda das, the temple president, introduced the TOVP Team consisting again of Ambarisa and Svaha prabhus, Jananivas prabhu, Radha Jivan prabhu, Vraja Vilas prabhu and Sunanda prabhu, and turned over the program to Radha Jivan. Once again, he introduced the speakers, making heart-stirring appeals in-between each speaker asking devotees to make a sacrifice for the TOVP and pledge accordingly. Pledge cards again started pouring in and to everyone’s total amazement by the end of the program $1 million was pledged, far surpassing anyone’s expectations. The Lord was certainly inspiring devotees from within their hearts. Ambarisa handed out Silver Gratitude Coins to donors, giving them big hugs and blessings. The program concluded with prasadam. Afterwards, Nityananda das was so pleased and inspired with the program that he pledged another $1 million from the Dallas temple.

On Monday, March 16th, while still in Dallas, Texas, the TOVP Team visited Mr. Vora’s home at his invitation, bringing the Lord’s Padukas and Sitari.

The previous evening at the temple during the TOVP presentation Mr. Vora had pledged a Silver Gratitude Coin and he wanted to encourage some of his friends to do the same. A few of his friends came on short notice and one Gold Gratitude Coin was pledged for $250,000.

While traveling with us, Jananivas prabhu is giving Deity Seva Seminars and other talks at the temples in-between traveling.

On the evening of Tuesday, March 17th he gave his first Deity Seminar at the Dallas temple to another packed temple room of devotees eager to learn from him.