VERSE 10
yuyam ca pitranvadista deva-devena canaghah praja-sargaya hi katham vrksan nirdagdhum arhatha

TRANSLATION:
O pure-hearted ones, your father, Pracinabarhi, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead have ordered you to generate population. Therefore how can you burn to ashes these trees and herbs, which are needed for the maintenance of your subjects and descendants?

VERSE 11
atisthata satam margam kopam yacchata dipitam pitra pitamahenapi justam vah prapitamahaih

TRANSLATION:
The path of goodness traversed by your father, grandfather and great-grandfathers is that of maintaining the subjects [prajas], including the men, animals and trees. That is the path you should follow. Unnecessary anger is contrary to your duty. Therefore I request you to control your anger.

PURPORT:
Here the words pitra pitamahenapi justam vah prapitamahaih depict an honest royal family, consisting of the kings, their father, their grandfather and their great-grandfathers. Such a royal family has a prestigious position because it maintains the citizens, or prajas. The word praja refers to one who has taken birth within the jurisdiction of the government. The exalted royal families were conscious that all living beings, whether human, animal or lower than animal, should be given protection. The modern democratic system cannot be exalted in this way because the leaders elected strive only for power and have no sense of responsibility. In a monarchy, a king with a prestigious position follows the great deeds of his forefathers. Thus Soma, the king of the moon, here reminds the Pracetas about the glories of their father, grandfather and great-grandfathers.

____________________________________________________________________________

HH Badrinarayan Goswami:(Pranama Mantras)

We're actually going to read the purport to verse eleven. But I want to say something about verse ten.

I was on a morning walk with Srila Prabhupada in Chicago. I forget the year. We were walking in Lakeshore Park, Lake Michigan. Srila Prabhupada swung his cane and said, "What is this, fruit or flower?" Everyone else was silent. I knew a little bit about gardening. I said, "Prabhupada, that's called a Holly bush. It makes a little red berry that the birds can eat." He walked a little bit further, swung his cane, and said, "What is this, fruit or flower?" I said, "Prabhupada, that's a Camellia. It has a nice flower, but no fragrance." Prabhupada said, "A flower with no fragrance is like a handsome man with no good qualities." Prabhupada began walking again, swung his cane and said, "What is this, fruit or flower?" I said, "Srila Prabhupada, it's useless." Srila Prabhupada said, "No, you're useless." Which was true on many levels. Prabhupada said, "The plant has a use. You just don't know it." He said that every plant has a use. Krishna doesn't want to waste. Either it's used for fuel, for food, it is medicinal or it creates a fruit or flower. It has a use. So Srila Prabhupada said, "The plant ;does have a use. You don't know the use so you're the one that's useless."

Now, for text eleven, let's read the purport.

(Read purport above)

So we have a theme today. "We have a choice". We each have a choice. We can choose what kind of world we live in, how we see the world, how we experience the world. We have a choice. As we know, there are different factors in action. There is the sanction of Super Soul, Krishna. We cannot always control the circumstances. Prabhupada says we are being tossed, kicked like in football, soccer. We cannot control, ultimately, the circumstances. We have full control over how we react to circumstances. We have a choice.

We also have a choice about the world we live in, the external world. Picture for a moment, a bucket of water and the water line, halfway up the bucket. If I put my hand in that bucket, what happens to that waterline? The waterline goes up. What happens when you take your hand out? The waterline goes back to the exact same place.

Now should we live in the same way in this world? If we take up some space on planet Earth, we take up some oxygen. Srimad Bhagavatam says that dogs and hogs discharge some semen to maintain and families. When we die, which is inevitable, six months after we die maybe five or six people on the planet remember us if they have a photograph. Is that all that life is about?

We have a choice. We can just be neutral, static, carried like flotsam and jetsam through the world--or we can make a difference. We have a choice.

The verse begins by talking about the path of goodness. But goodness can be defined relative to one's situation. I could be a member of Doctors Without Borders, fighting Ebola in West Africa. I swear to you I got this in the mail as a fundraising appeal. "Save the pregnant penguins." So all of those are relative, different types of goodness.

Krishna describes to Nanda Maharaj for the Govardhana lila that there's a difference between an activity performed in ignorance and an activity performed in knowledge. Srila Prabhupada tells an instructive story. There are two boys in a family, an older boy and a younger boy. The older boy was very sick. Therefore he was on a strict diet of only barley water. You can imagine, anyone who knows young boys, they are always hungry. They want to eat. The older boy got nothing sweet, nothing nice. The younger boy loved his older brother. So the parents went out for a short errand. They asked the younger boy to please keep an eye on his older brother. They'd be back soon. The parents went out and immediately the older boy said, "Get me something sweet to eat!" The younger brother who loved his older brother and wanted to satisfy him immediately got some gulabjamans, rasgula, whatever, and shoveled it into his older brother. The older brother almost died. So motive and intent are not enough. One has to act in knowledge.

In the verse, it's talking about the blinding force of anger. We know from Bhagavad Gita the sequence that from contemplation attachment develops, from attachment comes lust, from frustration of lust comes anger. And of course then comes bewilderment of memory, loss of intelligence, and one falls into the material pool.

I want to talk just for a minute about the setup and sequence from that contemplation and attachment. The underpinnings of that dynamic that leads to anger are that we expect the world to go our way. We think that the default mood of this material nature is that, "I should be enjoying." There are still in this world a few hippies. Vaisesika Prabhu gave us a an example that in San Francisco, hippies exist. They're an endangered species, but they're still there. Who knows? Along with the appeal for pregnant penquins, I may get a fundraising appeal some day to save the hippies.

I was at one of our temples. The archetype hippies showed up with bells and long hair in a pony tail. It was a husband and wife, couple. The wife's name was Wish. His name was Comet. So naturally I asked, "Where did you get those names?" They said that they gave them to themselves. So naturally I asked why. The wife said, "Because I'm always saying that I wish I had this, I wish I was there, I wish, I wish, I wish." So naturally I asked the husband, "Where'd you get the name Comet?" He said, "I'm flying around the world this way and that way, trying to fulfill her wishes." I thought here you go. I'm wishing I had this, I wish I had that. And we're flying like a comet zipping around, I wish, I want, I need, I have to have.

Talking about choice, and different ways to see the world. I was sitting in the room and Srila Prabhupada said, "You have your plan. I have my plan. And Krishna has His plan." Guess who's plan happens? Instead of our trying to push material nature into a form, it's described in the Srimad Bhagavatam that this material world is a river of names, only. As the Buddhist say, "Nothing is certain, but change." So we're wishing, flying around like a comet, trying to push material nature into a permanent form. How many things are wrong in this picture?

Srila Prabhupada talks about the peace formula. bhoktaram yajna-

tapasam sarva-loka-mahesvaram (BG 5.29)
In connection to that verse, Srila Prabhupada was in his car looking out the window and he saw an advertisement for Allstate Insurance. The advertisement has cupped hands with the house, the wife and two kids, and in America, the faithful dog, Fido. Srila Prabhupada said yoga-ksema vahamy aham BG 9.22. Krishna is the master of all mystics. He's the sarva-loka-mahesvaram, suhrdam sarva-bhutanam. Krishna is maintaining all the unverses. He won't maintain us?

Suppose I'm climbing up a steep hill. It's a matter of vantage point. Just picture yourself walking up a hill. There are so many bushes. It's a steep hill. I can only see what's immediately in front of me. There's some bush, there's some rock. Only as I move incrementally do I see little by little what's in front of me. Picture yourself on top of the hill, looking down. One who is looking up can only see the immediate foreground. But if you're at the top and looking down, you can see the whole field, the whole area. Thus, we don't know whether to go left or go right. There is some canyon, there is some crevice, there is some snake, there is some cactus. We don't know. But the one who's looking down can say, "No, no. Go to the left, don't go to the right." They can easily guide you up the hill.

As it says here, he's taking the advice of his forefathers. One professor said to Srila Prabhupada, "As far as I knowi Well, as far as I know." Finally, Srila Prabhupada said, "That's my point. How far do you know?" So how far do we actually know?

Let us think for a moment about our place in the universe. Srila Prabhupada quotes Canakya Pandit. He says that as soon as the child comes out of the womb, the mothers breasts fill with milk. Jesus Christ says, "Behold the lilies of the field. They spin not, nor work." The point is that Krishna is maintaining every living entity perfectly. It should give assurance. It should give us support. It should give us shelter.

Back to the trees and the plants in our previous verse. Just see Krishna's intelligence. He takes sinful, rascal, living entities. Like if you have a miscreant child you say, "Just sit down." So He takes sinful living entities and puts them stationery in plants, bushes, and trees. Even though they are prisoners who are meant to suffer, they are also providing service: roots, flowers. So one purpose is fulfilled and yet they are also serving so many other purposes. We should have faith that Krishna is in charge and that He knows what He is doing. Therefore, being like Wish and Comet, who are flying around trying to find happiness, is simply a waste of time.

Srila Prabhupada was on a morning walk. This was in Detroit. They were under a street light. It was summertime so there were so many bugs at night flying around the light. The bugs had been flying around the light and had died. There was a pile of bugs. Should we live our lives like that? We're active and at the end you get swept up and thrown in a dump.

I was at a funeral with one of our devotee priests. They were having the eulogies where they spoke about the dearly departed. They were kept saying that whenever you needed him, you could reach out and call him. They were saying that you could call him in the middle of the night and he would answer. You could call him from the hospital and he would answer. You could call him from the far corners of the world and he would answer. Just then, in the middle of everyone speaking, there was a phone ringing. Everyone was looking around. Turns out that the ringing was coming the coffin. They had dressed the dead body in his favorite suit and the man's cell phone was in the suite pocket. rom a phone in the dearly departed's. I was thinking, "That's one call he's not getting. He's out of range." We will all come to that stage.

Suppose you go out to your mailbox once a month. There's a thousand dollar check in the mailbox. It's coming anonymously. You don't know who it's from. Every month on the first of the month there's a thousand dollars in the mail. Anyone with a brain would think, "Where's it coming from? Is there any obligation? By taking this money, am I somehow becoming indebted to whomever is sending it?"

We can't even make a drop of milk. We can't even make a square inch of fresh air. My father used to joke, but he was serious, "Buy real estate. They're not making any more of it." We are dependent at every moment. Krishna is providing. What is our obligation?

It talks in these two verses about the duty to give protection, the duty to give shelter. People are suffering. There is no question about it.

The devotees in Washington, DC, in the USA, were doing motel Gita. They get sponsors and then they put Gitas in different motels in the US. The devotees went to see one motel owner and he was not interested. He was quite cool and distant. Finally the devotees asked if they could just put a few Bhagavad Gitas on the reception desk. Practically, just to get rid of them, the man agreed.

A few days later, the same motel owner called the devotees. He said, "I want three cases of Bhagavad Gita. Bring them today." The devotees said, "Are you the same man we met a couple of days ago? Do you have a twin brother? What's going on here?" The now very humble and soft spoken hotel owner told them this. Yesterday, a business man checked into my motel. He was distracted and not very friendly. He was absorbed in his own thoughts. He saw the Bhagavad Gita on the counter and asked if he could take it.

The next morning that same man, when he checked out, apologized for being so cold and impersonal. Actually he had checked into the motel to commit suicide. While he was waiting for the room to fill up with gas, carbon monoxide, he started reading the Bhagavad Gita. The man said, "Wait, there's truth, there's meaning, there's beauty. I'm not crazy. The world is crazy." He shut off the gas and kept reading. This kind of life saving event repeats itself again and again around the world.

We're talking about a choice and what we do with our lives. They have a saying that we are just about as happy as we choose to be. When I give class, I am expected to least one joke. Here we go. But my point is: what do we do with our life? "Arthada"--this valuable artha human form of life can give us the greatest benefit.

There was a mean, old man. He kicked dogs and triped old ladies. He stole out of the church box. He was a real skunk. So one day, the man steps across the street, is hit by a bus, and dies. In America, in many places, after they bury the man, the family gathers together and tries to say something nice. Some solace to the wife and family. They say some sweet words. But in this man's case nobody could think of a good thing to say. It was an awkward silence. Everyone was looking around at the guy next to him saying "think of something". The priest said, "Come on now, somebody say something." Still no one could think of a thing. Finally one guy in the back said, "His brother was worse!"

When we die, which is inevitable, they say we are not remembered for what we have. We are remembered for what we gave. Have you seen the trailer for that acharya film by Yadubara and Vishaka? I have a hard heart. But even I almost cried. We have a chance to change the world. Vaisesika Prabhu told me that Bhaktivinode Thakura writes that these people are doing so many sinful things. When you open the door it's, "Oh my God, what are they doing in there?" But in the core of their heart, they are thinking, "What is this empty life?" They are looking out their window and down the street, and they're wondering, "When will Lord Caitanya's devotees come and save me?" We have been given a choice to live a life like Wish and Comet, to take up space on this earth and then be swept up like bugs and thrown in the dust bin. We have a choice.

The sewer line under the brahmacari ashram in San Diego broke. The entire brahmacari ashram underneath was deep in raw sewage. Liquid beauty, fully manifest. We called a plumber. He had to climb under the house to find the leak. So you know devotees were trying to save money. They asked for an estimate first. This man climbed under the house through that raw sewage and I heard swear words that I have never heard in my life. Unique combinations that I'd never heard. It came out like a storm. He managed to extricate himself covered in the stuff and told us "Six thousand dollars, minimum." So the devotees said, "Too much, can't pay."

So we sent a surrendered, humble, saintly named Rupa Goswmi, who is also a plumber, under the house. He also verbally expressed his grief. The difference was that he was calling out "Oh Govinda, Oh Keshava, Oh Shyamasundar." He practically chanted Vishnu sahasranamam. The point is, same circumstance, completely different reaction.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that what is night for the conditioned soul is a time of awakening for the self realized. We can live petty, putrid, pale, pernicious, paltry lives. We can live lives of darkness and despair, or we can live a life of light and happiness and compassion. Srila Prabhupada said his disease is "I cannot think small." This ISKCON is not meant for small things. Our life is not meant for small things. If we take up the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we can and will change the world. In the course of that surrender, instead of spending our time haggling over the petty details of life, if we have confidence that Krishna will maintain me, we will live a life of happiness and light. The choice is ours. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.

[Kindly transcribed by Sarasvati Priya DD]

Download the audio for this lecture here:

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From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir
Date: February 11, 2015
Speaker: HG Vaisesika Das
Verse: SB 6.4.5

drumebhyah krudhyamanas te tapo-dipita-manyavah 
mukhato vayum agnim ca sasrjus tad-didhaksaya

TRANSLATION: Because of having undergone long austerities in the water, the Pracetas were very angry at the trees. Desiring to burn them to ashes, they generated wind and fire from their mouths.

PURPORT: Here the word tapo-dipita-manyavah indicates that persons who have undergone severe austerity (tapasya) are endowed with great mystic power, as evinced by the Pracetas, who created fire and wind from their mouths. Although devotees undergo severe tapasya, however, they are vimanyavah, sadhavah, which means that they are never angry. They are always decorated with good qualities. Bhagavatam (3.25.21) states:

titiksavah karunikah suhrdah sarva-dehinam
ajata-satravah santah sadhavah sadhu-bhusanah

A sadhu, a devotee, is never angry. Actually the real feature of devotees who undergo tapasya, austerity, is forgiveness. Although a Vaisnava has sufficient power in tapasya, he does not become angry when put into difficulty. If one undergoes tapasya but does not become a Vaisnava, however, one does not develop good qualities. For example, Hiranyakasipu and Ravana also performed great austerities, but they did so to demonstrate their demoniac tendencies. Vaisnavas must meet many opponents while preaching the glories of the Lord, but Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu recommends that they not become angry while preaching. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given this formula: trnad api sunicena taror api sahisnuna/ amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih [Cc. adi 17.31]. “One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.” Those engaged in preaching the glories of the Lord should be humbler than grass and more tolerant than a tree; then they can preach the glories of the Lord without difficulty.

HG Vaisesika Das: (Pranama Mantras)

Here the Pracetas have performed severe austerities for thousands of years within the water. After emerging from the water, they became angry at the trees that have taken over the Earth planet. Out of anger, and by the power of their austerities, they began to burn the trees. We find a few verses hence that Soma comes to intervene and stop the Pracetas from burning the trees. He tells them that they should see that they are actually related to the trees and that the trees are also divine beings that come from the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

There is a way in which to perform tapasya in order to control the senses. It is a kind of combat between the practitioner and the desires and emotions within. But after all, we are sentient beings, which means we have emotions and we have desires. Therefore, the abject denial of desires and emotions can make the heart hard. From a hard heart, anger may arise. Therefore, we as Vaisnavas, perform yukta vairagya. That is, we perform austerities by rejecting anything that cannot be used in the service of Krishna.

In the prosecution of the Krishna Consciousness movement, practically everything can be used in the service of Krishna. Srila Prabhupada states in this verse about the kinds of austerities devotees perform. The result of those austerities is that their hearts become more forgiving. There are different qualifications for taking to various paths to enlightenment.

In the eleventh canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam, Krishna tells Uddhava that there are three paths - jnana, karma, and bhakti. He says that those who are nirvinna, who are disgusted with the material world, take to the path of jnana. Those who are anirvinna, which means that they are not disgusted at all with the material world, they take to the path of karma. But those who are yad drcchaya mad-katha jata, they have awakened their faith by hearing about Me, Krishna says. They are neither disgusted with the material world, nor are they attracted to it, and are qualified to take to the path of bhakti.

In the process of bhakti, specifically following in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, our mood is giving. When we give Krishna Consciousness to others, our heart grows larger. In the attempt to give Krishna Consciousness to those who may not be fully interested, we also grow. One’s heart becomes refined. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said that the spiritual body is nourished by spiritual blood. In the process of teaching Krishna Consciousness to others, one will be opposed, misunderstood, and neglected.

When people come up to me now and say, “How are you doing?” I’ll say, “I’m misunderstood, opposed, and neglected. How are you?”

One who desires to fulfill the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to communicate Krishna Consciousness to others, may at first be misunderstood. But with a sincere desire, one refines ones vocabulary and ones message so that it may be understood by those who he or she is speaking to. When one is opposed, one becomes stronger. It is in the tension of opposition that we actually grow.  As we go from one person to the next introducing Krishna Consciousness, we will learn how to present it in the face of opposition.  In my service of book distribution, I often met people who told me something that I didn’t know how to answer. They say, “I’m all right. I’m good.” How does one answer this opposition? So I asked a superior authority, Vijaya Prabhu, the sankirtana minister. I said, “When people say, ‘I’m all right, I’m good.’ what do you say?” He said, “I know you’re good. You can always be better, right?”

When one is neglected, one learns to be vimanyava, without false ego, prestige. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says amanitvam adambhitvam ahimsa ksantir arjavam. He begins enumerating the path of knowledge by saying that one must be without false prestige. In the fifteenth chapter of Bhagavad Gita Krishna says nirmana-moha jita-sanga-dosa. He says one must be without this false prestige.

In America we have a saying, “You’re the man.” Or sometimes when people are very conceded, like great athletes, they’ll say, “I’m the man.” Nirmana means don’t be the man.

I was once distributing books in San Francisco. In a very difficult place along the downtown strip. I approached one man and he walked by me like I didn’t exist. It wasn’t that he said no or was rude to me. He just acted like I didn’t exist. Complete neglect. I actually felt it very deeply. At first my feelings were hurt. Then I looked down to see if I actually existed. In justifying what had happened, I grew stronger thinking that I have no right to be recognized when I approach people. They have every right to have their privacy.

One also sees miracles when one approaches people to give them Krishna Consciousness. These miracles sustain the heart of the bhakta. Every living entity in this world is a miracle. Ashcharya vat pashyati kaschit enam. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says that the soul is amazing. And throughout his writings, Srila Prabhupada commonly uses the word tabernacle when he describes the body of the living entity. This word tabernacle is a biblical word. Originally it comes from Latin. It means tent, a temporary dwelling.

However, in the religious sense it’s meant to house the holiest of all holy documents and articles. Tablets that contain the teachings of Moses, for instance. Mormons, Catholics, Jews, they all have tabernacles, movable shrines. Now think of the point of view of Srila Prabhupada when he translates the word dehe, meaning the physical body, into the word tabernacle. It means that he’s seeing everybody as a shrine which is holding the holiest of all holy within. Therefore, one who participates in the austerity of spreading Krishna Consciousness, comes in contact regularly with the divine within everyone, and sees that although they may be overcome by the spell of the modes of material nature, by the sound of the mahamantra, or by reading the literary kirtan in books, they may be awakened. Sometimes even immediately. It is in using everything to connect these living entities with Krishna, that we perform our greatest tapasya.

Once in Tokyo, I was participating in a nagar harinam sankirtan party. We distributed books and sang the holy name in public. I noticed that we had stopped right next to a butcher shop. As we chanted outside, I saw that someone came to the window and looked outside. A couple of minutes later someone came out and stood right in front of the harinam sankirtan. I thought that maybe he wants us to stop. But he asked if we had any literature. I gave him an “Easy Journey to Other Planets.” He went back in the butcher shop. I wondered what he was doing in there. I went in and looked and he was sitting behind the counter reading this “Easy Journey to Other Planets.” I was amazed. That from any environment, a soul can become attracted to Krishna.

In this purport Srila Prabhupada says that our austerity must make our heart soft. We must become more forgiving. What does it mean to be forgiving? There are three ways of seeing people. One way is according to their past. This is the most conservative. Such and such has sinned in the past therefore they are not qualified. Someone more liberal might look at someone only in the present. They may say to forget the past. What is he doing now? But the most liberal person sees the future potential of the living entity. Those who know the miracle of distributing the holy name and the literary kirtan of the holy name written down on pages to people all over the world believe in the power of this literature and the names of God. Therefore they become forgiving of what has been done in the past or even what they are doing right now.

Sukadeva Goswami says kirata, to believe it that anyone from any section of society, even the most degraded, can come to the topmost position because of the power of Lord Vishnu that comes through his devotees.

Now we will take reflections. Reflections mean one thing that you heard that stuck in your mind. One thing that if you walk out of this building and someone grabs you by the arm and asks, “What was that guy talking about in there?” One thing. Dravida Prabhu. Now we need someone very expert at running the microphone because we’re running out of time and the mobile microphone which is somewhere in this building, must manifest now. Please. And until it does and a fast runner passes it around, I’ll repeat. Please go ahead.

Dravida Das: What stuck out in my mind was your reaction when someone neglected you; how for a moment you felt that you had to check with yourself to see if you really existed. But that you got through that and you tolerated it and when on distributing. I got from that that they didn’t say no. They weren’t rude. They didn’t even recognize your existence. I inferred from that that the other reactions would be easier to tolerate. But being totally neglected is the most difficult. Then I thought that Srila Prabhupada had to go through so much of that also. But he persevered. I see you carrying on that position to continue even though you were being neglected.

Vaisesika Das: Thank you Dravida Prabhu. Just one follow up comment. We are experimenting with our consciousness as we go through this life, under the guidance of Bhagavad Gita and the great acharyas. What other lesson is there in neglect? What is it that I’m neglecting Krishna? That inattention actually hurts when you’re speaking with someone else you divert your attention even for half a second. It makes a difference and it hurts the exchange.

Following the theme I brought up about cid-rakta, cit-sarira that is that you get spiritual blood for your spiritual body by being opposed, neglected, and misunderstood. In Bhagavad Gita Krishna says

atmaupamyena sarvatra samam pasyati yo 'rjuna
sukham va yadi va duhkham sa yogi paramo matah

The supreme yogi, the highest yogi, is one who has empathy for others happiness and distress. They feel for others. They actually hurt when others hurt.

One of the great lessons of the material world is sensitivity training. The question is always, “Well, how do you like it?” The devotee has a mantra. I learned this mantra recently and I’m going to pass it on to you. It will change your life forever if you use this mantra. Should I say what it is? “I live to be corrected.” Everyone please repeat. Now the next time you have an argument with your spouse or significant other, try this mantra and see how it works. The point is that being misunderstood, opposed, and neglected sensitizes us to how it feels when we do to others. It makes us more refined in our practice of devotional service.

Prahladananda Swami: I was reflecting on how you said that after your reflection when he neglected you, you thought how he has his right to privacy. The very fact that Krishna gives everyone free will is very significant. Mostly we think that we are the doer and that everyone should respond as we demand or as we desire. But Krishna is actually the doer. He’s manifesting the whole creation. Although we have a desire, and it may be a sincere desire, to help the person, even to give them the highest benediction, we have to appreciate that Krishna gives everyone free will. We should also allow others free will and not become overly involved in the creation to the point that we think everything should go on to make us happy rather than simply do our service to Guru and Gauranga. It was beautiful. Thank you very much.

Vaisesika Das: In that regard, I’d like to enter the following passage into evidence. From the Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi Lila, Chapter 7, text 99. Sri Caitanya has met the Mayavadi Sannyasis at Benares. In doing so, he took a very humble role sitting in the lowest place possible amidst all the other sannyasis.He was very unaggressive in his approach. In that regard, Srila Prabhupada writes the following:

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, however, as a preacher, turned the minds of the Mayavadi sannyasis. They were melted by the sweet words of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and thus became friendly and spoke to Him also in sweet words. Similarly, all preachers will have to meet opponents, but they should not make them more inimical. They are already enemies, and if we talk with them harshly or impolitely their enmity will merely increase.  CC, Adi Lila, 7.99

Devotee: Hare Krishna. Thank you, Prabhu. There were many things that you spoke about that inspired me and that I’ll take away, including the ones that you were just discussing about neglect and treating people with indifference. What I’ll take away in particular is that when you how every time you approach a person to deliver Krishna Consciousness, a miracle happens.

Vaisesika Das: Thank you very much.

Badrinarayana Swami: Actually, I appreciate many things. I appreciated the mantra you gave us. Now I was using a different mantra and getting a different response, so I’m glad you cleared it up for me. Would you like to know the mantra that I’ve been using, unsuccessfully? “I live to correct others!” It’s been a real disaster.

Naveen: Hare Krishna. You spoke about forgiveness. On sankirtan we are fortunate because we are forced to accommodate people. In our own sanga, personally speaking, I am less accommodating than when I’m on the street. The expectations are more. Especially towards seniors, one has very high expectations. What is the cause of this and how can I overcome this?

Vaisesika Das: Sankirtan is holistic. It’s not meant only for when we go out. Our mood of accommodation, communication, and giving must start within our own circle.

Therefore, Srila Prabhupada says that our organization spreads by giving. Giving grows. It’s the best occupation that you can get. Don’t try and see what you can get or give from the world or others, but see what you can give them. Changing that one perspective changes the world immediately. If we have that wherever we live, then we can export it externally. Otherwise it becomes artificial. We can utilize everything in the service of spreading Krishna Consciousness and tax our brains to see how to engage as many people as possible is the best tapasya.

I will end with a story that touched me, personally. In San Francisco, I went with a group of devotees to chant Hare Krishna and distribute books and prasadam downtown. It was the most busy day of the year, called Black Friday. If anyone’s heard of Black Friday, please say Haribol.

In a crowd of people coming down the street who were watching the Harinam Sankirtan, I saw a couple, a young man and a young woman together. They were dressed like the hippies of old. As soon as they saw the Sankirtan party they stopped, as if mesmerized. They just stared and did not move.

I went over and introduced them to the Bhagavad Gita. They were so interested that they sat down right on the sidewalk in the middle of the whole crowd. They began to go through the Bhagavad Gita. I suggested at one point that they keep the book and asked if they could give a donation. When someone gives some hard earned money in return for a book, it qualifies them to read the book.

They searched up and down the many pockets that they had in their clothes. They couldn’t find any money at all. The man pulled out a blue cigarette lighter and he looked at me and said, “You don’t want this.” I said, “Yes I do, give it to me.” It turned out that it was their most valuable possession. They needed it to.

I realized how important it was about a half an hour later when some of their friends came up to me. They said, “My friends are over there but they sent us over here because we need a light.” But it made me realize that they had given up something very important to them.

So I took that blue lighter home. And I cleaned it more than I’ve ever cleaned any item before. I keep it with my puja paraphernalia. Every day when I light a ghee wick or an incense to offer to the Saligram or to Giriraja, I think of that couple. I pray that their service will be accepted.

So all over the world we have opportunity to see how we can engage everyone, including ourselves first, in this process of Krishna Consciousness. If we keep this mantra on our lips, we will be open to every circumstance. Every opportunity. I live to be corrected.

Gaura Premanande Haribol!

Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 04 Chapter 12 Text 15 Awakening from our Dreams by HH Niranjana Swami on 12 Jan 2015 at Kharkov

(His Holiness Niranjana Swami was born on December 10, 1952, in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. In 1972, his spiritual search took a turning point when he saw a Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, on the counter of a bookshop in Washington, DC.)

To Listen and Download - click here

Lecture on Fight Kali with the Holy Name by HG Ananda Krishna Prabhu on 22 Jan 2015

(HG Ananda Krishna Das was born in 1980 in Austria and joined 2002 in Vienna. He is initiated by HH Bhakti Bushana Swami Maharaja. He lived as a brahmacari in Vienna (Austria), Portland (USA), Berlin (Germany) and Simhachalam (Germany).)

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Lecture on Real Importance of Mahabharata is Krishna Katha by HH Bhakti Charu Swami on 26 Aug 2008 at Ujjain

(Bhakti Charu Swami is from a Bengali family and spent most of his early childhood in urban Kolkata. He met with Srila Prabhupada at the end of 1976 after a long and intense search for a spiritual teacher. This initial meeting resulted in Bhakti Charu Swami being assigned to translate the books of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust into the Bengali language.)

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Lecture on Acorns In the Field Pumpkins In The Trees by Indradyumna Swami at Auckland on 10 April 1992
(Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 04, Chapter 30, Text 42)

(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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From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir
Speaker: HG Hari Vilas dasa
Date: 9 February 2015
Subject: Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Appearance day

So I am very humbled to be here in front of so many exalted Vaisnavas, my Godbrothers and Godsisters, and of course Srila Prabhupada, especially today, on the appearance day of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada.

Today I am going to talk about of course Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and his glorious disciple Srila Prabhupada and read some things that Srila Prabhupada has written about his wonderful Gurudeva. Srila Prabhupada has quoted part of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura's pranama mantra:

rupanuga-viruddhapasiddhanta-dhvanta-harine

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was strict follower, integral follower of Srila Rupa Gosvami.  He wouldn't tolerate anything that deviated from his instructions.  And Prabhupada says that he strictly followed the rupanuga principle.  That principle Prabhupada says, Srila Rupa Goswami write in the Bhakti Rasamrtasindhu - you somehow engage people in Krishna consciousness. yena kena prakarena manah krsna nivesayet

So he (Srila Prabhupada) says that, "Some of our friends criticize that I have done this or I have done that.  Swami Maharaja, he is doing like this he is doing like that."

Prabhupada says, "Yes, we are doing everything but our main business is just to inspire people to take to Krishna consciousness. That is the secret you have to inspire people. Then even if there is some discrepancy in the rules and regulations it does not matter.  Rupa Gowami has said,

sarva vidhi nisedha syur etayor eva kinkarah

So he means that somehow or other you bring people to Krishna consciousness. Some things can be changed Prabhupada says according to desa, kala, patra- the place, the time, the circumstances.  But the principle is phalena pariciyate, we must judge from the result whether one has become Krishna conscious or not.  Then we say that is what we want, this is the rule.  Once you become Krishna conscious then we can say -this is the rule, so you do things like this, you don't do things like that.

Prabhupada has said that in the beginning one must be very tolerant, but as people begin to understand Krishna consciousness you tighten the screws.

dharmah svanusthitah pumsam visvaksena-kathasu yah notpadayed yadi ratimsrama eva hi kevalam (SB 1.2.8)

That is that even if you follow all the rules and regulations at the end you don't become Krishna conscious it is useless.

When Prabhupada came to the United States in the beginning nobody knew what a pure devotee is, no one knew how to treat a genuine guru.  But he established his authority not by dictate.  He didn't come with a paper and say, "I am guru.  You have to listen to what I say."

He established his authority by affection and love:

dadati pratigrhnati guhyam akhyati prcchati ( Nectar of Instruction Verse 4)

He exchanged things with his devotees, giving and receiving prasadam, giving and receiving gifts and sharing endearing thoughts about Krishna.

Prabhupada says in the beginning there are many difficulties because we go to places where people's behavior, people's culture, is completely opposite to Krishna consciousness.  But we have to find a means, a strategy to bring them to Krishna.  Prabhupada says that is my first business.  That is the secret.

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura also followed strictly Rupa Goswami. He introduced that a sanyasi can go begging in a motorcar.  He introduced that sanyasi can even live in a palatial building.  But Rupa Goswami lived under a tree!  But we cannot imitate that.  Therefore here in Mayapur there are palatial buildings and devotees are going around in buses and nice cars and preaching Krishna consciousness.  In Vrindavana there are many babaji's they just have a little loin cloth on, but many of them are doing nonsense.

Prabhupada said imitation is not required.  The real thing is required.  So he says, what is the purpose of a goswami?  Somehow or other engage people in Krishna consciousness.  Prabhupada said, "That is my Guru Maharajaa. That is my Guru Maharaja's gift.  He first of all stated that there is no need to go to Vrindavana and imitate the Goswamis.  You can live in big cities, you can live in palatial houses, but preach Krishna consciousness. So therefore give the people a chance to understand Krishna.  He opened many centers in big cities."  (He is speaking about his Guru Maharaja). He says, "We are also doing that because we are strictly following the principles of Rupa Goswami."

Prabhupada said, "Somehow or other everything is coming out successfully. Krishna consciousness should be pushed forward according to this principle or rupanuga principle."

On Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's Thakura's appearance day in 1975 Prabhupada said:

"In front of Lord Caitanya and by the grace of Lord Krishna and in the presence of my Guru Maharaja you are chanting Hare Krishna.  You are chanting Hare Krishna maha mantra very seriously.  So my Guru Maharaja will be very very pleased upon you.  He will bless you with all benefits.  He wanted this.  It is not that he is dead and gone.  That is not spiritual understanding.  Even an ordinary being doesn't die.  Na hanyate hanyamane sarire.  What to speak of such an exalted authorized personality like Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhuapda.  He is seeing you."

Prabhupada now says, "I never felt that I am alone. When I came to United States like a pauper, like a poor man, no friends, no money but I was full of faith that my Guru Maharajaa is with me.  I never lost this faith."

I have an experience of this.  In France we were very poor also. So Prabhupada wanted us to open a temple.  So somehow or other by a miracle we opened a temple.  And we invited him to come.  So first he went to Moscow from India and then from Moscow he came to Paris.  The day before he came I was in deep, deep anxiety.  We didn't have any money, we couldn't buy flowers, we couldn't buy bhoga, we didn't have a car, we couldn't even renta taxi.  That night I could hardly sleep.  I woke up very early in the morning, went down to the temple room, I started chanting.  I was thinking what are we going to do?  We are going to hitchhike to the airport, but we can't hitchhike back with Prabhupada!  Now this is a true story.  I am not making anything up, I am not elaborating it or. . . .

While chanting I noticed there was a brown bag in the temple room.  It was a brown paper bag.  So I picked it up, I looked inside it was full of money. More money than I had ever seen in my life!  So immediately I put it under my arm and covered it with a chadar. (claps) and I started to sweat thinking what will I do if someone comes looking for the bag? (laughter)  So I just started chanting, we had mangala arati.  It wasn't really a temple room, it was a room with a very small little altar, with small picture of Panca tattva and few pictures of the parampara.  By 11 o'clock in the morning no one had asked me for the bag.  We had to pick up Prabhupada at 1 o'clock in the afternoon.

So I accepted this as Krishna's mercy.  I gave people money to buy flowers, to buy bhoga, we got a taxi, and we went to the airport.

vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana (BG 2.41)

One must have resolute unflinching faith in the spiritual master and in Krishna.  Somehow or other by the goodwill of Krishna everything will work out.

Srila Prabhupada has written a letter to a bhakta.  He said:

"The spiritual master is present wherever his sincere devotees are trying to serve his instructions.  This is possible by the mercy of Krishna.  In your attempt to serve me with your sincere devotional sentiments I am with you just as my Guru Maharajaa is with me.  Always remember this."

So in this way we have to have faith

Guru mukha padma vakya cittete kariya aikya

My only desire is to have my consciousness purified by the words emanating from the lotus mouth of my guru.

'sraddha'-sabde - visvasa kahe sudrdha niscaya krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya (CC Madhya 22.62)

You must have faith but faith means you believe in something sublime, you may not see it but you know it is there. Prabhupada said, "My Guru Maharajaa is with me.  I never lost that faith."

There is vani, the words of the guru, and there is vapu the physical presence, Srila Prabhupada said the physical presence will disappear but the vani will stay.  If we keep the vani the words of the guru and spiritual master then we remain fixed up.  Just like the Bhagavad Gita was spoken five thousand years ago but if you keep the words of Krishna then it is always fresh.  It will guide you.  Then you should know that Krishna is present with you.  That means spiritual realization.  It's not a mundane history.

So in 1996 for Prabhupada's centennial I organized a program in San Jose, California.  The guest speaker was Govinda Maharaja, the disciple of Sridhar Maharaja.  And he said, "Today my dear friends I have come to make a confession.  I think in your religion you make confession, is it not?"  He said, "My Guru Maharajaa and I were sitting in Navdvipa.  And we were getting news that your Gurudeva, your Swami Maharajaa, was succeeding in the United States in spreading Krishna consciousness.  We could not believe it!"

Now the question is why did they not believe it?

Because in 1933 Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura sent his best man, the most eloquent, the most refined, the most intelligent member of the Gaudiya Math to preach in England and the Gaudiya Math sent him every month 700 Rs, which might be like I don't know, 7000 dollars or something today.  After four years he called him back to Calcutta.  He wasn't able to make one devotee and when he met him, the ultimate insult was, he said to Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, "Your process doesn't work!"

That was an insult!

Two weeks before Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura disappeared Prabhupada sent him a letter and he said - "Gurudeva, is there any service I can do for you?" r And Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura immediately replied, "Yes it will be very nice for you, you try to preach this gospel amongst the persons who speak English."

So Prabhupada said, "Sometimes I was dreaming that my Guru Maharaja was coming to me and calling and saying that I must leave my home and follow him, leave my children, leave everything and follow him.  My Guru Maharaja wants me to give up my home, give up my family and take sannyasa.  So I was thinking, Oh, this is horrible!  How can I leave my home!  That is maya!"

Guru Maharaja, Prabhupada said, made me or obliged me to give up my home life.  But his order and plan I gave up everything. I gave up a few children but now Krishna has given me thousands of children."

And he came to the West and proved that his Guru Maharaja's process works because he had absolute faith in the words of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.

So when I was young devotee, I think it was 1973, I came for the first time to India and it was the time of Janmastami and then Guru [Vyasa] Puja.  And on the occasion of Guru Puja the guest speaker, the honoured guest was the same person who had gone to England and failed.  At that time the temple was not built yet.  It was a construction site.  I was sitting on a sand pile. There was no running water yet. You had to draw water from a well.  But we were happy because we were with Prabhupada.

On that day Prabhupada was sitting on his vyasasana and we were trying to glorify him and four sanyasis came from Mayapur.  And one of them got up to speak, Gargamuni, and he said, "Prabhupada is the only disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura who had so much faith in his guru that he was willing to risk everything, his life, his health, everything to please his guru.  Not one of his Godbrothers was able to do this."

I was a little embarrassed when he said it, I was looking at the honored guest.  I was thinking why is he speaking so strong like this, it's embarrassing.  But the honored guest did not bat an eyelash. But when I looked at Prabhupada he was smiling, he was very happy. (laughter)

Gargamuni said, "Prabhupada did what his Guru and all the  parampara of the Gaudiya Vaisnavas wanted:

prthivite ache yata nagaradi-grama?sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama

Again I looked at the guest, again he was stoic, he didn't bat an eyelash, I looked at Prabhupada, he was beaming.  Then I thought in my heart one day I want to speak like that to glorify Prabhupada.

And then the guest was given a chance to speak and he said, "We cannot but accept the fact that your Swami Maharaja has done great service."

Now we know how much Prabhupada loved Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said, "Even at the expense of all the properties of the Gaudiya Math, all the temples, all the mathas, all that I have, if I could convert even one person into a pure devotee, my mission would be fulfilled."

Prabhupada is that one devotee, the absolute pure devotee who fulfilled the prophecy of Lord Caitanya.  He fulfilled the prophecy of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, that one day the white brothers from the West will come to Sridhama Mayapur and dance with their Indian brown brothers in harinama sankirtana. These two prophecies plus the fact that the message of Lord Caitanya is spread all over the world.

So we cannot imagine how much Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura is smiling right now.  When Bhaktivinoda Thakura disappeared he went to see his mother and he was late so his father had already been cremated.  His mother said, "Before your father departed he offered you many blessings. Bhaktivinoda Thakura repeatedly mentioned that your firm faith in suddha bhakti is fixed. And he instructed that you should serve Sridhama Mayapur and propagate the message of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu."

A few weeks before Bhaktivinoda Thakura had disappeared he expressed his mano abhista, his heart felt understanding that he wanted to convey to his son Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.  He said number one, establish daiva varnasrama, preach suddha bhakti, develop Sridhama Mayapur and publish Vaisnava writings.  He said most people commit many offenses against pure Vaisnava's due to their false pride.  He said the means to rectify this is to institute daiva varnasrma.

In 1956 Srila Prabhupada wrote an essay called 'Gita Nagari Village'.  And he outlined a four point process to spiritualize the whole world.  The first point was harinama sankirtana.  The second point was deity worship and establishing temples.  He called these points movements.  He said the third point was initiating devotees and training them to be pure Vaisnavas.  And the fourth point was establishing daiva varnasrama so that there will be a classless society.

How it can be classless when you have varnas and asramas?  Because if it is done correctly all the varnas and asramas will cooperate with each other and will become a classless society.  No one will be in a ? situation.  Everyone will attain the perfection of life by cooperating with each other.

In the beginning of time Krishna sent forth generations of men and demigods and gave them sacrifice for Lord Visnu.  And he said by performance of these sacrifices you will receive all desirable things to live peacefully happily and prosperously.  And at the end of life you will all go back to Godhead. This is the program for the Krishna consciousness movement.  It was the point one of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, his mano abhistam, his heart felt realizations that he wanted to communicate to his son Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.

Second point was due to the the lack of preaching what pure bhakti is, all types of bad theories and instructions are being called devotion by false sampradayas like the sahajiyas.  He said crush these anti-devotional conceptions by preaching what pure bhakti is.  And always manifest the highest standard of Vaisnava sadacara by your behavior.

And he said begin the parikrama of Sridhama Mayapur as soon as possible then everyone in the universe will receive Krishna bhakti.

Then he said, diligently endeavor that service to Sridhama Mayapur becomes permanently established and more resplendent everyday.

So actually in the Padma Purana it says:

naham tisthami vaikunthe yoginam hrdayesu va
yatra gayanti mad-bhaktah tatra tisthami narada

"Narada, I am not in Vaikuntha, (Lord Visnu is speaking to Narada) I am not in the heart of the meditating yogis, and but whenever My devotees are chanting My glories, speaking about My katha, describing My form, My pastimes, that's where I am."

This is what Mayapur is all about.  In Mayapur you will see the best and the worst because everything is amplified here.  But our motto should be "Take the best and leave the rest!"

This is not a place for nonsense.  This is a place where you can actually become a pure devotee.

tasmat sarvesu kalesu mam anusmara yudhya ca
mayy arpita-mano-buddhir mam evaisyasy asamsayah (BG 8.7)

"At all times Arujna think of Me and do your duty with your mind and intelligence fixed on Me I guarantee you, you will come back to Me."

So why are we here?  We are here because thousands and thousands of people are coming here almost every day and it will be millions when this temple is built. This is perhaps the greatest place in the world to preach.  This is where Lord Caitanya preached, this is where Lord Nityananda preached, Srivas Thakura, all of the greatest devotees in the history of the world, they were preaching here.  This is not a place for visayis, for sense gratifiers. This is a place where you can actually attain Krishna prema and share it with hundreds and thousands and millions of people.  When we actually take that seriously Srila Prabhupada becomes very pleased. That's why he went through so much trouble to build this place.

So I will finish with one letter that Srila Prabhupada wrote.  He wrote this to his devotees in 1967.  He says:

"I always think of you because you are my heart and soul.  I am so pleased in your association.  I am always thankful to my spiritual master Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, for his favor by sending you to me, such sincere representatives of him to help me in my missionary activities in this part of the world.  I consider you all as representatives of my Guru Maharaja to help me in my helpless condition.  My Godbrothers did not help me but my spiritual master helped me.  So I do not think that I can ever forget you even for a moment.  I pray to Krishna for your more and more advancement in Krishna consciousness.  Be happy and execute more and more service for Krishna and Krishna will accept you in His association."

Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada ki jaya!
Sridhama Mayapur ki jaya!
Gaurpremanande Hari Haribol!

Devotee: Could you please give the fifth point from this book "Gita Nagari
Village". You mentioned four.

HG Hari Vilas Prabhu:  There are four points.  Fifth point is everyone will become happy and go back to Godhead.

Ekalavya Das:  Hare Krishna Prabhu.  Thank you for a wonderful class. Prabhu you quoted one sloka from Padma Purana which states that "I am not in the heart of the yogis but I am where My devotees are chanting My glories."So Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto (BG 15.15), that "I am in everyone's heart."  So what is it meant by this Padma Purana verse.

HG Hari Vilas Prabhu:

namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-saktis
atrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah
etadrsi tava krpa bhagavan mamapi
durdaivam idrsam ihajani nanuragah (Siksatakam )

That Krishna has so many names Krishna, Govinda.  He is present in His names. All His potencies are in His names.  And there are no hard and fast rules for chanting that.  We have to understand what Lord Caitanya did.  He did something unbelievable.  Hinduism was ensconced in a lie.  catur varnyam maya srstam guna karma vibhagasah, this is what Krishna says.  But the Hindu Brahmans were saying catur varnyam maya srstam janma karma vibhagasah. So they created this false caste system.  And it caused havoc.

So Lord Caitanya He did not come to be a politician that creates friends and enemies.  He came and in a very wonderful way elevated everyone regardless of their caste, regardless of their birth, they could be Muslims, they could be Jain, they could be Buddhist, they could be atheists, doesn't matter. They can all join the sankirtana movement and become purified.

And there are three methods to this yoga system: chanting, dancing and feasting.  You don't have to be a rocket engineer to do it.  A child can do it and a person on a death bed can do it.

Now the 50th anniversary of ISKCON is coming up.  We should cause a tsunami of the holy name.  We want minimum one million people in Calcutta on harinama sankirtana for the 50th anniversary, we want minimum half a million people in Delhi, half a million people in Bombay and in Washington DC we want at least a hundred thousand people.

Let's do this!  Let's glorify Lord Caitanya!  Let's glorify Prabhupada! Let's have Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura smiling.  The entire sampradaya and gurus should be smiling.  You can do this!  Let's work together!

Hare Krishna!
Thank you very much!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Lecture on Glories of Maharaj Ambarish by HG Nitai Sevini Mataji at ISKCON Vizag

(H.G.Nitaisevini Devi Dasi was born in Mumbai in a Gujarati Business family, conventional followers of the Pushtimarg. Later she with her family shifted to Hyderabad in 1984, since then she was closely connected to ISKCON Secunderbad.)

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Lecture on Journey of Self Discovery Day 01  by HG Kamallochan Prabhu on 22 Sep 2014

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Lecture on BG 05.09 Contact of senses-Sense objects is not the problem infatuation with the contact is  by HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu on Jan 2015

(HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu is a celibate spiritual teacher (brahmachari) at ISKCON, Pune. He has done his Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering from the Govt College of Engg, Pune. He is a member of ISKCON's topmost intellectual body, the Shastric Advisory Council, which offers scriptural advise to the GBC)

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Lecture on Honesty is the Best Policy by Indradyumna Swami at Perth on 17 Feb 1992
(Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 04, Chapter 30, Text 42)

(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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 Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, the guru of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, appeared in Sri Ksetra Dhama.(Jagannatha Puri) on 6 February 1874 as the son of Srila Sacidananda Bhaktivinoda Thakura. In his childhood he quickly mastered the Vedas, memorized the Bhdgavad-gita, and relished his father's philosophical works. He became known as "The Living Encyclopedia" for his vast knowledge.

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From : Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir
Date: February 5, 2015
Speaker : HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami
Subject : SB 6.3.31

tasmat sankirtanam visnor  jagan-mangalam amhasam
mahatam api kauravya  viddhy aikantika-niskrtam

"Sukadeva Gosvami continued: My dear King, the chanting of the holy name of the Lord is able to uproot even the reactions of the greatest sins. Therefore the chanting of the sankirtana movement is the most auspicious activity in the entire universe. Please try to understand this so that others will take it seriously."

PURPORT: We should note that although Ajamila chanted the name of Narayana imperfectly, he was delivered from all sinful reactions. The chanting of the holy name is so auspicious that it can free everyone from the reactions of sinful activities. One should not conclude that one may continue to sin with the intention of chanting Hare Krsna to neutralize the reactions. Rather, one should be very careful to be free from all sins and never think of counteracting sinful activities by chanting the Hare Krsna mantra, for this is another offense. If by chance a devotee accidentally performs some sinful activity, the Lord will excuse him, but one should not intentionally perform sinful acts.

HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami: Hare Krishna!

Before I begin I seek the blessings of all the assembled devotees and especially of my exalted seniors many of whom are present here and in front of whom I am required to speak today.  I pray that my words may be meaningful, faithful to the teachings of the parampara and also give some pleasure to the Vaisnavas.

The topic for today is also a cause of great pleasure and the topic is sankirtana.  Sukadeva Goswami mentions here that the congregational chanting of the holy name can uproot even the greatest of sins.  And this theme recurs many times in the Bhagavatam and also in the other Vedic scriptures. For example, the very last verse of the Srimad Bhagavatam indicates the samething.

nama-sankirtanam yasya  sarva-papa pranasanam
pranamo duhkha-samanas  tam namami harim param

which means I offer my humble obeisances to that Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari by chanting whose names all sinful reactions are completely destroyed.

The word is sarva-papa pranasanam - pranasanam indicates not just nasanam or destruction but pranasanam which means complete destruction, thorough destruction.

pranamo dukha samanas - by offering obeisances to that Supreme Lord Hari all one's miseries are also destroyed.

And of course this is one of the features of devotional service that it completely uproots sinful reactions so that they never again recur. It is the ultimate atonement.  viddhy aikantika-niskrtam, the word niskrtam is translated by Srila Prabhupada here as atonement.

In the Sixth Canto Srila Sukadeva Goswami says

kecit kevalaya bhaktya  vasudeva-parayanah
agham dhunvanti kartsnyena  niharam iva bhaskarah (SB 6.1.15)

Meaning, that with the very glimpse, just as with a very first few rays of the rising sun the fog and the darkness of the night is dissipated. Similarly with the barely a glimpse of the chanting, of the onset of pure devotion to the Lord all sinful reactions are completely eradicated.

So in this way there are numerous references about how devotional service and the chanting of the holy names in particular destroys sinful reactions but that is not the ultimate goal of chanting the holy name as the scriptures also describe at other places.

For example in the Caitanya Caritamrta Srila Haridas Thakura clearly explains that the true result of chanting the holy names of the Lord is not destruction of sinful reactions and liberation or moksa. The real purpose of chanting the holy name and the ultimate fruit is the development of ecstatic love for the lotus feet of Lord Krishna.

So this is what the sankirtana movement is all about.  It is meant to give to the whole world ecstatic love for the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. Therefore it will be very helpful for us to understand deeper the purport of the word sankirtana which appears in this verse and after which our whole movement is named.

There are two parts to this word, the first one is sam and the second part is kirtana.  So let's talk about these two parts beginning with kirtana.

Kirtana comes from the word kirti which means glory among other meanings. So to glorify someone or something is kirtana.  Srila Prabhupada explains that the word kirtana from a grammatical point of view can mean glorification or description of anything.  However the true purport from a Krishna conscious point of view is that kirtana is  glorification of the Supreme Lord.  So Prabhupada says,

"There is nothing like Kali kirtana, for example.  Kirtana means Krishna kirtana."

However because the word kirtana can be grammatically understood in different ways many people interpret the word differently and give different purports to it which are not in keeping with true understanding of Bhagavata dharma.

In 1970 the devotees approached the authorities of the University of California at Berkeley to be allowed to give some classes on Krishna consciousness to the students.  The faculty members considered the proposal and rejected it.  There was a newspaper article sometime later in the Los Angeles Times.  And one of the professors named Professor Staal was quoted as saying, that "the Hare Krishnai..or the devotees spend too much time chanting to be able to develop a philosophy." (laughter) What he implied was that it is just sentimental, they don't have philosophy,  they just chant and dance.

Does it sound familiar? Remember somebody called Prakasananda Sarasvati in Varanasi?  (laughs)  So he considered Caitanya Mahaprabhu as sentimentalist who was simply chanting and dancing with the common population on the streets.

And Professor Staal was quoted to say many other things which were not very favorable to the Hare Krishna movement and naturally Srila Prabhupada took strong exception to it.  And he shot off a letter to the Los Angeles Times explaining the whole purpose of the Hare Krishna movement. And Professor Staal he wrote privately to Prabhupada saying he didn't want to continue talking in the press but they'd rather talk privately.   So Srila Prabhupada in that article had quoted Bhagavad Gita, so Professor Staal said that Bhagavad Gita doesn't say that you have to constantly do kirtana and chant the names of Krishna.

The exchange of letters is long but I am only giving you the essence.  Srila Prabhupada wrote back to Professor Staal saying,

"But indeed the Bhagavad Gita does emphasize that we have to do constant kirtana", and he quoted the fourteenth verse of the ninth chapter of Bhagavad Gita:

satatam kirtayanto mam  yatantas ca drdha-vrtah
namasyantas ca mam bhaktya  nitya-yukta upasate

which means that the great souls constantly do kirtana, they chant the holy names My holy name, Krishna says.  They endeavor with great determination, they are always offering obeisances to Me and they always engage in worshipping Me.

And then Professor Staal wrote back to Prabhupada and said,

"I'm not convinced that all the scriptures that you cite ask us to only chant the names of Krishna."

For example, he said,

"You have quoted the satatam kirtayanto mam verse from the Bhagavad Gita. But the word kirtayantah can be understood differently from  how you have explained it .  kirtayantah can mean simply describing, glorifying, reciting, repeating, etc.  and it refers to songs, hyms, descriptions, conversations and so on.   This is how many commentators have presented it.

Sankaracarya has merely repeated the word kirtanam and not explained it but Ananda Giri who is a mayavada sanyasi, who is a follower of Sankaracarya he has explained kirtayantah as follows, and he says, 'kirtayantah implies vedanta sravanam pranava japas ca, which means that kirtayantah means that one should hear the Vedanta Sutra and one should mutter Om!" ..like that.

And another commentator Hanuman he said,  has translated kirtayantah as bhasya manah simply taking about.

So here it doesn't imply that you have to keep talking about Krishna. "

And he pointed out furthermore,

"This verse, the fourteenth verse you have quoted doesn't indicate that everyone must chant always. It only says that, some great souls do it. (laughs)  You see, the Bhagavad Gita is very broad minded in its approach," Professor continued.  So he said, there are so many options given in the Bhagavad Gita and one can follow any of these options, of different paths that are delineated therein."

So you see how different people will interpret the verses of the Gita which are fairly straightforward and present things which are completely different.

I want to share a personal experience in brief with a certain mayavadi sannyasi.  When I was a brahmacari and I was walking down the street one time in South Bombay, I saw a pandal and it advertised a speech on the Bhagavad Gita by a very famous sannyasi, who is a mayavadi sannyasi.  And he has his whole mission named after him.  So I knew that Prabhupada said that we should not hear from mayavadi's.  But curiosity got the better of me. Let's hear what he says, why is it, what is it that these people are all about!

As I entered the pandal, everybody was sitting, I was the only person moving as I came in from the back.  And as Providence would have it, he was discussing this satatam kirtayanto mam verse.  (laughter)  And he saw me, because I was with a Vaisnava tilaka, he must have immediately understood that I am Hare Krishna.  And he immediately changed track (laughter) and then he performed a mock imitation of a Hare Krishna devotee in a rather crude way which I cannot repeat here sitting on the vyasasana.

And then he launched into a long winded speculative explanation of what the word kirtyanto mam meant.  Of course I didn't stay for it.  I left after a few moments.  He was saying satatam kirtayanto mam doesn't mean we simply have to chant Hare Krishna Hare Rama all the time.

So anyway we see from these examples that the word kirtana can have so many meanings and from depending on what philosophical point of view we have.

So Srila Prabhupada replied to Professor Staal and said,

"Well I can only cite you references on the authority of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who said kirtaniya sada harih - Always chant the name of Hari. And as far as Ananda  Giri's explanation on kirtayantah being chanting, glorifying, describing,iyes of course I agree.  But glorifying whom?  So Krishna says in this verse satatam kirtayanto mamimam means Me, so we have to..means Krishna, so we have to constantly chant about Krishna.

Moreover in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says, veda-vit, vedanta-krt, that He is the knower of the Vedas and He is the complier of the Vedanta.  So what better opportunity for hearing Vedanta, of Vedanta sravana than to hear it from the compiler of the Vedanta Himself."

So the exchange of letters went on like that for some time.  So even though as devotees of Krishna for us the word kirtana means Krishna kirtana but not everybody sees it like that.  Therefore it helps to qualify the word kirtana.  And the word that qualifies the word kirtana here is the prefix sam.

Srila Prabhupada explained that sankirtana, the word sam indicates samyak, which means perfect and complete.  And he gives a very interesting explanation of why this sam kirtana is complete kirtana.  First and foremost it is Complete. Sam kirtana is complete kirtana because it exclusively refers to complete kirtana of the complete Supreme Lord.  So it cant refer to anybody else, so it sets to rest any doubts, and doesn't leave any scope for any ambiguity.

So sam purna sam indicates completeness like we have in the word sampurna which means completely complete.  When we take Jagannath mahaprasadam in Jagannath Puri, its an etiquette that if you are being served prasadam, mahaprasadam you never say no!  Even if you have eaten a lot you shouldn't say no, you should say sampurna.  (laughs)  I am full, purna means full and sampurna means completely full.

So samyak kirtana, complete kirtana, because it is glorification of the Supreme Lord and Srila Prabhuapda give another connotation or meaning to this.  He says that kirtana becomes complete not only when it is chanted but also when it is heard.  Only then it is complete.  In other words sravanam plus kirtanam equals sankirtanam.  Someone chants and someone hears Prabhupada said.  One may also hear the chanting oneself.

Then Prabhupada goes on to explain at another place about the significance of the sam in sankirtana.  And Prabhupada quotes this in numerous lectures right from 1966 onwards bahubhir militva kirtayati iti sankirtanam. He quotes this very often, which means that kirtanam which is performed bahubhir- by many people, militva- coming together is called sankirtanam. And that is even better than kirtana which is done by one person.

And there are numerous references in other scriptures.  I will just quote one and we will conclude because we are running out of time.  It says camatkara visesa posat, the qualities which distinguish sankirtana from kirtana is that sankirtana is exceptionally wonderful, camtkara visesa.  And posat means it is very nourishing.  And the same thing, the phrase is repeated there as well, bahubhir militva kirtanam sankirtanam. So in this way, of course the word sam has many other meanings and one could look into that and all of them ultimately refer to how sankirtana is a complete and perfect process of kirtanam.

OK, we will stop here.  Thank you very much.

Question:  One mayavadi we were arguing with him  and we gave him this explanation some of these points, not all of them that you made today.  But then in desperation he made one argument that in Bhagavad Gita there are 700 verses and you only have one verse.  So it must not be very important  this satatam kirtayanto.

Maharaj: Well but this similar theme is repeated many many times in many places.  And you have man-mana bhava mad-bhakto verse for example.  So we have to see the also other verses also in Srimad Bhagavatam and we have to see the different sections of the Bhagavad Gita in the proper context.

So of course some times it is futile to get into too many discussions with them.  So one should know when to say Hare Krishna, just give a little prasadam and come away. I devotee I know has a policy when he gets into an argument with some non devotee he just gives him prasad, so he doesn't let him speak. (laughter).

Yes, Maharaja, one last question.

Mahavisnu Swami: Prabhupada also told us that small kirtana and big mrdanga. Big mrdanga is the printing press. That's even bigger kirtana.

Maharaj: So HH Mahavisnu Maharaj is mentioning that Srila Prabhupada explained that there is small kirtana with the mridangas and there is big kirtana with brhad mrdanga, printing press. So the book distribution is also sankirtana. Yes.

Maharaja: OK, thank you very much. Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Gaurpremanande
Hari Hari bol!

ISKCON DAIVA VARNASRAMA MINISTRY (IDVM) Promoting Rural Development in India

IDVM Secretariat: Room 137, Cakra Bldg, Sri Mayapur, W. Bengal, India

My Dear Prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances,
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Global Varnsrama Seminars 2015

The IDVM and SVC of the GBCSPN is pleased to announce the latest annual Global Varnasram seminar, to be held during the Gaura Purnima festival, at ISKCON Mayapur.

The theme for this year’s seminar taking place over four consecutive full days is, Land, Cows, Self-Sustainability and of course Krsna. Understanding the need for discourse on such subject matter and Sharing their experiences and realizations are among others guest speakers Minister for IDVM India His Holiness Bhakti Raghava Swami Maharaj, His Holiness Bhakti Dheera Damodara Swami Maharaj Co-GBC  member for Africa His Grace Srivas Prabhu Samba Prabhu Mayapur KalaKanta Prabhu Brazil (South America) We are blessed to have many other speakers as well, representing farming projects in various continents and countries from around the world. The aim of the seminar is to provide an opportunity for all devotees to hear precise and professional talks on the matter of land, cow care and self-sustainability in keeping with the teachings of His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivadanta Swami Srila Prabhuhada.

The seminar will be both informative and inspiring, hoping to even surpass
the success of previous seminars and urge all devotees to attend.

Schedule--- Feb 11th to 14th

Venue ---- Chaitanya Bhavan

Time --- 10 am on wards

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From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir
Date: February 4, 2015 Speaker: HH Romapada Swami
Subject: SB 6.3.30

tat knamyataa sa bhagavan purunau puraeo
narayaeau sva-purunair yad asat kataa nau
svanam aho na vidunaa racitaïjalenaa
knantir gareyasi namau purunaya bhumne

TRANSLATION:
Then Yamaraja, considering himself and his servants to be offenders, spoke as follows, begging pardon from the Lord. “O my Lord, my servants have surely committed a great offense by arresting a Vaiṣṇava such as Ajamila. O Narayaṇa, O supreme and oldest person, please forgive us. Because of our ignorance, we failed to recognize Ajamila as a servant of Your Lordship, and thus we have certainly committed a great offense. Therefore with folded hands we beg Your pardon. My Lord, since You are supremely merciful and are always full of good qualities, please pardon us. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.”

PURPORT:
Lord Yamaraja took upon himself the responsibility for the offense committed by his servants. If the servant of an establishment makes a mistake, the establishment takes responsibility for it. Although Yamaraja is above offenses, his servants, practically with his permission, went to arrest Ajamila, which was a great offense. The nyaya-śastra confirms, bhṛtyaparadhe svamino daṇḍaḥ: if a servant makes a mistake, the master is punishable because he is responsible for the offense. Taking this seriously, Yamaraja, along with his servants, prayed with folded hands to be excused by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayaṇa.

HH Romapada Swami:
(Pranama mantra)

Due to time constraints regarding when the class must end, I have to speak very concisely. Three points. In the purport of this verse, Srila Prabhupada is not only speaking of mistakes or offenses one makes which may reflect badly upon the acharya; he specifies that the establishment which a servant is part of receives the reactions of its members. To illustrate this, I am going to narrate an anecdote. In 1970, Srila Prabhupada was visiting Radha Govinda Mandir in Brooklyn. As was his practice after taking his morning walk, he directly came to the Temple room. At seven o’clock he stood before the altar to greet the Deities. Many sannyasis were standing right next to him holding their dandas, appearing very formidable. The mood of their good fortune and importance was evident: “We’re next to Prabhupada!” Srila Prabhupada heard the Govindam Prayers and then paid his obeisances. Then he went to take carnamrita. Someone had put salt in the charnamrita bowl instead of sugar!

As you know, Prabhupada’s physical stature was quite short compared to his American sannyasis, whose height was much greater than his. Right in the middle of the Temple room floor he looked in all directions at these towering sannyasis, all holding their dandas. His voice was loud enough that although I was way in the back of the temple room by the vyasasana, I could clearly hear his voice. It was loud! He demanded “Who is responsible for this?!”

Now, when Prabhupada exhibited the mood of anger, everyone stepped back. They gave the wrong answer. They looked at each other and said, “Well, the head pujari must know who made the charnamrita. We will ask the head pujari, Srila Prabhupada, who made the charnamrita.” And again I was way on the other side of the Temple room and I heard what Prabhupada said to that message. He said “No. When you delegate some responsibility, you hold the responsibility for those who you delegate authority to. This should not happen again.” Everyone got ruffled and became absolutely silent. Then Prabhupada sternly walked to the vyasasana as we offered Guru Puja and he gave class.

It happened again the next morning! I’ll leave it to your imagination what that scene was like. The heat and fire and flames that came from Prabhupada’s mood!

I’ve heard from a couple of devotees who have served Prabhupada, particularly Hari Sauri, that when mistakes were made in serving Prabhupada, he was lenient in forgiving a mistake when made the first time, accompanied by an explanation of what should be done. His expectation was that the mistake wouldn't happen again. If it happened again, the person who made the mistake the second time was sorry...far more sorry than the first time!

Through this carnamrita example Srila Prabhupada wanted to teach his disciples a lesson. Whenever you act on behalf of a superior, then in turn you delegate part of that authority to someone else, you are responsible for the actions of those to whom you delegate that service or authority. The exact same message is directly what is being said in this verse.

Direct scriptural reference regarding this principle found within the purport is Nyaya Sastra, but Prabhupada cites it, as does Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura in his commentary.  bhṛtyaparadhe svamino daṇḍaḥ. Bhrtya means the servant, and aparadha means offense.  bhṛtyaparadhe means “when the servant makes an aparadha.” Bhṛtyaparadhe svamino daṇḍaḥ means that “the master of the servant who makes an offense is to be punished.”

Then there’s the flip side to this point. When we’re acting on behalf of someone, our bad conduct, mistake, or offense may go to the person we are representing. Very significant consideration isn’t it! Now, of course, we can use the excuse, or the rubber crutch, that we are neophyte, or not mature yet, so we are bound to make mistakes. Nonetheless we must remember that our Founder-acharya is being evaluated by the public, what to speak of other kinds of evaluations, for mistakes that we make! The opposite is also true: whatever successes we may achieve, our Founder-acarya is naturally honored. No matter what is our level of advancement, these two things are always present.

Those who we delegate responsibility and authority to, even if they are mixing sugar into the charnamrita bowl, or whatever the service is that we delegate to others, we bear the responsibility of their actions. Conversely, we are all doing service on behalf of someone. However we conduct that service immediately bears credit or discredit to the person who we’re serving.

It’s something like what Krishna says to Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita. “Arjuna, you’re an Aryan! You are one who understands the value and higher purpose of life. You have great ancestors. The lineage from which you come is very exalted. So there’s weight upon you, Arjuna, to act as an Aryan will act. Otherwise it will reflect badly upon your ancestors, upon your exalted predecessors.” The same applies to each of us. A principle to live by is to feel the obligation of properly representing our exalted, flawless acaryas. Through the process of diksa, predecessor acaryas have effectively accepted us their representative. Especially for initiated devotees, our character and actions are reflecting in a good way or a bad way upon them.

For a cultured person, that’s a very powerful sobering notion to carry. Uncultured persons don’t care. For cultured persons, it keeps us in the middle of the road. It keeps us on track. A cultured person accepts that I am representing others, and acts out of love and respect for their good name.

Second point. Forgiveness. In Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura’s commentary on this verse, he raises a question, a doubt, and then responds. The doubt runs like this. “Only persons who are innocent, who are found to be not guilty, they are to be pardoned or forgiven. But those who are guilty are not to be forgiven, they are to be punished.” To that doubt, he answers “The quality of the Supreme Lord is that He extends His forgiveness.” Just as a Vaisnava is to give forgiveness to others, where does that quality come from? It comes from the Supreme Lord!

There is the classic example of the offense made against Maharaj Ambarisa by Durvasa Muni. Durvasa Muni offended Maharaj Ambarisa big time. The Supreme Lord Narayana declared “I am powerless to do anything about removing my sudarshan chakra from approaching you, unless you receive the forgiveness of Maharaj Ambarisa. I cannot act independently of My devotee. If you receive his forgiveness, automatically you receive My forgiveness because My forgiveness follows his forgiveness.”

We must always remember that we are representatives of someone who we are serving. Ultimately that someone who we are serving is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Uniquely, in this case, where the offense was made against Ajamila by the Yamadutas, nonetheless the prayer of Yamaraja is going directly to the Supreme Lord.

In Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura’s commentary, he is very clear about the nature of the Supreme Lord. When one is sincerely repentant for some mistake or for some aparadha, as is the word here, His nature is that He is forgiving. Yamaraj is appealing to that quality of forgiveness in the Supreme Lord Narayana.

There’s a very nice expression of this quality of the Lord to grant forgiveness and to give shelter to the surrendered souls in Ramayana. One of the places I visited about two weeks ago in South India is called Thirupullani, which is called Saranagati Kshetram by the local people. It’s the place where Vibhishana surrendered to Lord Ramachandra. Two spies of Ravana, Suka and Sharana, surrendered to Lord Ramachandra. And Samudra or Varuna surrendered to Lord Ramachandra. Each one of them had made mistakes. The Lord not only forgave their mistakes, but He gave them shelter. In this place a very beautiful and very famous statement from Ramayana is made by Lord Rama. When Vibhishana tried his very best multiple times to persuade Ravana to stop his vicious activity and to return Sita to Rama, in this way the whole danger of being destroyed by the forces of Ramacandra and the vanaras would be over, Ravana became so angry that he tossed him out of the assembly. He said “If you weren’t my brother I would kill you.”

Vibhishana had mystic power. He rose in the air in the midst of the assembly, abandoned Ravana, and went to take shelter of Lord Ramacandra.  In less than an hour he went all the way from Lanka to the place where Ramachandra and all the Vanaras were. Following him were four ministers. Vibhishana and the four ministers remained hovering in the air -- like this verse here, with palms folded -- offering prayers to Ramachandra. In this case they approached through Sugriva, an intermediary, or as Madhusevita Prabhu uses the word interlocutor. The question for Lord Ramachandra was “Will you give me shelter?” Sugriva didn't trust him at all.

Rama turned to His ministers and said “A qualified leader will always consult with his ministers. You have heard Vibhishana’s request. What do you all think? What would be your advice for me?” He is the Supreme Lord, what does He need advice for! However, He’s showing by example what leaders are to do.

After Angada and Jambavan and others gave their different opinions, Lord Ramachandra called upon Hanuman for his advice. Hanuman first of all said “You don’t need my advice. But You’re asking, so in service to You I’ll suggest.” One by one, he repeated the advice offered by others and refuted their viewpoint. Then he stated his own opinion. He said “Just by seeing his face, because the face is the index to the mind, and by hearing the sound of his voice, I say you should accept him. In his heart there may be some selfish motive”…because that’s what Jambavan had said. [Jambavan said: ‘I think he wants to be King of Lanka and he knows Ravana will be destroyed so he’s next in line. He wants to become King. That’s why he has come. ‘I’ll become your devotee so you’ll give me the kingdom.” He clearly has a motive.”] Hanuman continued “But even if he has a motive, he wants to take shelter of Rama. That desire to take shelter of Rama will carry him beyond whatever selfish interest that may be in his heart.”

Rama smiled. He liked what Hanuman had said. And then He spoke this very memorable passage from Ramayana. “My dear devotees, please listen carefully. I take a solemn vow. For one who even once surrenders unto Me, saying ‘From this day forward I am Yours’, I will give that person protection for the rest of their life, and I will free them from the condition of fear. They will become fearless.”

Then He said to Sugriva, “Your concern is due to your love for Me. You do not want any harm to come to Me by Vibhishana having a double purpose, being a double agent. But please understand, I am the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Who can harm me? I could destroy the entire Lanka and the entire universe with a blink of My eye! Please understand that just as I need no assistance to destroy Ravana, likewise no one can harm Me. I don’t need all of your service, but I’m engaging you all in service. You are saying because Vibhisana gave up the association of his brother and is now coming to take shelter of me, he can turn against me just as he gave up the association of his brother. I request you, please ask yourself about your own brother Vali. Did you not call upon me to help destroy your brother? Nonetheless, I’m accepting you because you are my devotee. I know your heart. You also wanted something. And he may want something. Nonetheless I’m accepting you, and similarly I accept him. Even if Ravana came just now, despite all the bad things he has done, stealing Sita and tormenting so many people, if he came and surrendered I would accept him also. Listen carefully. I’ve already accepted Vibhisana as my devotee. And you’re keeping him waiting. Don’t make him wait any longer. You’ll aggravate your offense against someone who is already My devotee. Go and bring him here to Me at once.”

Beautiful passage! Filled with nice instruction for us and our devotional service!

And the third thing that I wanted to speak about, I don’t have time for.

Here it is in brief. From the side of a devotee that makes a mistake, the devotee doesn’t think “Well, I made a mistake. But Krishna is very kind, or Ramacandra is very kind, the Lord is very kind. He’ll forgive my mistake. And whatever I haven’t been able to accomplish He’ll take care of because He’s very powerful.” That’s not how the devotee thinks. When Hanuman was sent by Ramacandra to bring the Siva lingam to Ramesvara to worship, Hanuman was very happy to have some service. He just wants service, any service! As soon as Lord Ramacandra requested this service, there went Hanuman to Mount Kailash. But Lord Siva was in meditation. Hanuman couldn’t disturb Lord Siva’s meditation, but he was to get a Siva lingam personally from Lord Siva. And it took too long. The auspicious time to worship Lord Siva was about to pass. So Sita with Her own hands fashioned a Siva lingam from sand which was then consecrated and then worshipped by Lord Rama within the proper auspicious time. Just when the worship was completed, Hanuman showed up with the Siva lingam that was given by Lord Siva. And what did he feel? “I failed to carry out the service given to me!” He wasn’t saying “Well, I’ve done volumes and volumes of service. What is one half of one percent incomplete service measured against 99.5%, or all the volumes of my wonderful accomplishments?” A devotee does not think like that.

Although the Lord is very forgiving, the devotee is wishing to fully utilize whatever strength or ability and whatever is given to that devotee, to carry out his service favorably. If the devotee fails to complete some assigned service, he feels deeply repentant. Rupa Goswami felt the same way when he was unable to find the Govindaji deity; I have no time to cover all the details of that lila.

That’s the consciousness of the devotee. Side by side, there is the loving shelter and forgiveness of the Supreme Lord.

So we’re learning some nice lessons from Srimad Bhagavatam and Ramayana, the pastimes of the Supreme Lord. How does one who’s representing others feel and conduct their life? Similarly, when we receive some service, what a great responsibility we have to carry out that service very very carefully!

Hare Krishna
Srila Prabhupada ki jaya

GBC Strategic Planning Network (SPN) Mayapur 2015: Part 4 of 5

Romapada Swami, GBC member of over twenty-two years leading ISKCON in New York, New Jersey and the Midwest of the USA, and also a member of the SPN's Organizational Development Committee, speaks on how strategic planning has helped him in his GBC service and how it can better assist ISKCON's leadership to respond to what is required of it - to bring the message of Lord Caitanya to the world while ensuring that the devotees' lives continue to be enriched and invigorated.

http://gbc.iskcon.org/2015/02/03/inspired-leadership/

Gauranga Prabhu, an experienced trainer and preacher from ISKCON Chowpatty also serves on a number of SPN committees - Devotee Care, Temple Development/Systems Administration (TDSA), and Organizational Development. Here he speaks on the work being done by the TDSA meant to assist any ISKCON project practically. Gauranga Prabhu explains how Lord Caitanya and Srila Prabhupada went to great lengths to ensure that the Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy was properly documented, how proper documentation is the basis of standardization, and that standardization is one way we can improve the quality of ISKCON projects worldwide. The TDSA offers to ISKCON temples and projects worldwide a systems template by which they can document their project's activities. To facilitate this, the TDSA created a department called the Systems Assistance Body for Devotee Care and Administration (SABDA). Gauranga Prabhu provides information on how to get your project connected to SABDA and take advantage of the support the SABDA team can offer.

http://gbc.iskcon.org/2015/02/03/systems-assistance-body-for-devotee-care-and-administration/

Bhaktivijnana Swami, a GBC leader and preacher in Russia and Israel, also serves on the SPN's Succession Committee. Maharaja expresses his appreciation of the strategic planning process, personally witnessing how the culture of strategic planning has dramatically changed the work of the GBC, allowing it to put energy into addressing important issues relevant for the whole Society and its direction for the future, particularly in the area of succession.

http://gbc.iskcon.org/2015/02/03/systematically-changing-iskcons-future/