Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is stated in the Svetasvatara Upanishad (6.8) "The Supreme Lord has multipotencies, which act so perfectly that all consciousness, strength and activity are being directed solely by His will". The material world, where we are now living, is called bahir-anga-sakti, the external energy of Krishna. Krishna explains in the Bhagavad-Gita (9.10): "Under My superintendence the material energy is working". Apart from the material, external energy, there is another energy - the internal energy. By the internal energy the spiritual world is being manifested. As the material world is manipulated under the external energy, the spiritual world is conducted by the internal potency. That internal potency, called the Hladini Sakti, is Srimati Radharani.

In CC Adi 1.5 it is said "The loving affairs of Sri Radha and Krishna are transcendental manifestations of the Lord's internal pleasure-giving potency. Although Radha and Krishna are one in Their identity, They separated Themselves eternally". Srimati Radharani, as the highest devotee of Sri Krishna, derives the greatest pleasure in serving Him. She is the origin of all the Gopis and of all the Goddesses of Fortune (Lakshmi devi) who are engaged in the service of the Lord. She is the mainstay, the ideal and the ultimate refuge of all devotees embarking on the path of devotional service. Without first getting the mercy of Srimati Radharani it is impossible to even approach Sri Krishna.

The Hare Krishna maha-mantra is in fact a prayer to Srimati Radharani. The word 'Hare' is derived from 'Hara' which denotes the internal energy or Hladini Sakti of Krishna. This is none other that Srimati Radharani. When one is chanting the maha-mantra, one is saying: "O Krishna ! O Radha !! Please engage me in your devotional service". Krishna is difficult to approach directly, but  He is bhakta-vatsala, always eager to please His devotees. Thus the mood of a devotee is to invoke the compassion of Srimati Radharani Who then recommends the devotee to Sri Krishna. Since Krishna is easily pleased by Srimati Radharani, He then readily accepts the devotee in His service.

By His Divine Grace Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Founder-Acharya: International Society for Krishna Consciousness 

In ten short years, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada inundated the world with Krishna consciousness. In the following excerpt from one of his essays, he smashes the sectarian misconception that the Spiritual Master is limited to a particular person, form, or institution, and establishes the universal conception of Guru. This lecture was originally published in The Harmonist in 1936, on the Advent Day of His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur. It was reprinted as the Preface to Srila Sridhar Maharaj's book, Sri Guru and His Grace, in 1983.

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Please chant 
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"हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे || 
हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे ||" 
 
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare !
 
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare !!
 
108 times
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Chant Hare Krishna
And your life will be sublime!

ALWAYS REMEMBER KRISHNA
NEVER FORGET KRISHNA

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu continued, “My dear friend, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna , has a voice as deep as a cloud resounding in the sky. With the tinkling of His ornaments, He attracts the ears of the gopis, and with the sound of His flute He attracts even the goddess of fortune and other beautiful women. That Personality of Godhead, known as Madana-mohana, whose joking words carry many indications and deep meanings, is increasing the lusty desires of My ears.’

“Krishna's deep voice is more resonant than newly arrived clouds, and His sweet song defeats even the sweet voice of the cuckoo. Indeed, His song is so sweet that even one particle of its sound can inundate the entire world. If such a particle enters one’s ear, one is immediately bereft of all other types of hearing.

“My dear friend, please tell me what to do. My ears have been plundered by the qualities of Krishna's sound. Now, however, I cannot hear His transcendental sound, and I am almost dead for want of it.

“The tinkling of Krishna's ankle bells surpasses the songs of even the swan and crane, and the sound of His bangles puts the singing of the caṭaka bird to shame. Having allowed these sounds to enter the ears even once, one cannot tolerate hearing anything else.

“Krishna's speech is far sweeter than nectar. Each of His jubilant words is full of meaning, and when His speech mixes with His smile, which is like camphor, the resultant sound and the deep meaning of Krishna's words create various transcendental mellows.

“One particle of that transcendental, blissful nectar is the life and soul of the ear, which is like a cakora bird that lives in hope of tasting that nectar. Sometimes, by good fortune, the bird can taste it, but at other times he unfortunately cannot and therefore almost dies of thirst.

“The transcendental vibration of Krishna's flute disturbs the hearts of women all over the world, even if they hear it only once. Thus their fastened belts become loose, and these women become the unpaid maidservants of Krishna . Indeed, they run toward Krishna exactly like madwomen.

“When she hears the vibration of Krishna's flute, even the goddess of fortune comes to Him, greatly hoping for His association, but nevertheless she does not get it. When the waves of thirst for His association increase, she performs austerities, but still she cannot meet Him.

“Only the most fortunate can hear these four nectarean sounds-Krishna's words, the tinkling of His ankle bells and bangles, His voice and the vibration of His flute. If one does not hear these sounds, his ears are as useless as small conchshells with holes.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila text 40-48)

Full text and purport

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta 
By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Antya-lila Chapter 17, Text 40-41

nadaj-jalada-nisvanaḥ sravana-karsi-sac-chiñjitaḥ
sanarma-rasa-sucakaksara-padartha-bhangy-uktikaḥ
ramadika-varangana-hrdaya-hari-vaṁsi-kalaḥ
sa me madana-mohanaḥ sakhi tanoti karna-sprham

nadat—resounding; jalada—the cloud; nisvanaḥ—whose voice; sravana—the ears; karsi—attracting; sat-siñjitaḥ—the tinkling of whose ornaments; sa-narma—with deep meaning; rasa-sucaka—joking; aksara—letters; pada-artha—meanings; bhangi—indications; uktikaḥ—whose talk; rama-adika—beginning with the goddess of fortune; vara-angana—of beautiful women; hrdaya-hari—attracting the hearts; vaṁsi-kalaḥ—the sound of whose flute; saḥ—that; me—My; madana-mohanaḥ—Madana-mohana; sakhi—My dear friend; tanoti—expands; karna-sprham—the desire of the ears.

TRANSLATION

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu continued, “My dear friend, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna , has a voice as deep as a cloud resounding in the sky. With the tinkling of His ornaments, He attracts the ears of the gopis, and with the sound of His flute He attracts even the goddess of fortune and other beautiful women. That Personality of Godhead, known as Madana-mohana, whose joking words carry many indications and deep meanings, is increasing the lusty desires of My ears.’

PURPORT

This verse is found in the Govinda-lilamrta (8.5).

“kanṭhera gambhira dhvani, navaghana-dhvani jini’,
yara gune kokila lajaya
tara eka sruti-kane, ḍubaya jagatera kane,
punaḥ kana bahuḍi’ na aya

kanṭhera—of the throat; gambhira—deep; dhvani—sound; nava-ghana—of new clouds; dhvani—the resounding; jini’-conquering; yara—of which; gune—the attributes; kokila—the cuckoo; lajaya—put to shame; tara—of that; eka—one; sruti-kane—particle of sound; ḍubaya—inundates; jagatera—of the whole world; kane—the ear; punaḥ—again; kana—the ear; bahuḍi’-getting out; na aya—cannot come.

TRANSLATION

“Krishna's deep voice is more resonant than newly arrived clouds, and His sweet song defeats even the sweet voice of the cuckoo. Indeed, His song is so sweet that even one particle of its sound can inundate the entire world. If such a particle enters one’s ear, one is immediately bereft of all other types of hearing.

kaha, sakhi, ki kari upaya?
krishnera se sabda-gune, harile amara kane,
ebe na paya, trsnaya mari’ yaya

kaha—please say; sakhi—My dear friend; ki—what; kari—can I do; upaya—means; krsnera—of Krishna ; se—that; sabda—of the sound; gune—the qualities; harile—having attracted; amara—My; kane—ears; ebe—now; na paya—do not get; trsnaya—from thirst; mari’ yaya—I am dying.

TRANSLATION

“My dear friend, please tell me what to do. My ears have been plundered by the qualities of Krishna's sound. Now, however, I cannot hear His transcendental sound, and I am almost dead for want of it.

nupura-kinkini-dhvani, haṁsa-sarasa jini’,
kankana-dhvani caṭake lajaya
eka-bara yei sune, vyapi rahe’ tara kane,
anya sabda se-kane na yaya

nupura—of the ankle bells; kinkini—tinkling; dhvani—the sound; haṁsa—swans; sarasa—cranes; jini’-conquering; kankana-dhvani—the sound of bangles; caṭake—the caṭaka bird; lajaya—puts to shame; eka-bara—once; yei—one who; sune—hears; vyapi—expanding; rahe’-remains; tara kane—in his ear; anya—other; sabda—sound; se-kane—in that ear; na yaya—does not go.

TRANSLATION

“The tinkling of Krishna's ankle bells surpasses the songs of even the swan and crane, and the sound of His bangles puts the singing of the caṭaka bird to shame. Having allowed these sounds to enter the ears even once, one cannot tolerate hearing anything else.

se sri-mukha-bhasita, amrta haite paramrta,
smita-karpura tahate misrita
sabda, artha,–dui-sakti, nana-rasa kare vyakti,
pratyaksara–narma-vibhusita

se—that; Sri—beautiful; mukha—by the mouth; bhasita—spoken; amrta—nectar; haite—than; para-amrta—more nectarean; smita—smiling; karpura—camphor; tahate—in that; misrita—mixed; sabda—sound; artha—meaning; dui-sakti—two energies; nana—various; rasa—mellows; kare vyakti—express; prati-aksara—every word; narma-vibhusita—full of meaning.

TRANSLATION

“Krishna's speech is far sweeter than nectar. Each of His jubilant words is full of meaning, and when His speech mixes with His smile, which is like camphor, the resultant sound and the deep meaning of Krishna's words create various transcendental mellows.

se amrtera eka-kana, karna-cakora-jivana,
karna-cakora jiye sei ase
bhagya-vase kabhu paya, abhagye kabhu na paya,
na paile maraye piyase

se amrtera—of that nectar; eka-kana—one particle; karna-cakora—of the ear, which is like a cakora bird; jivana—the life; karna—the ear; cakora—the cakora bird; jiye—lives; sei ase—with that hope; bhagya-vase—by good fortune; kabhu—sometimes; paya—gets; abhagye—by misfortune; kabhu—sometimes; na paya—does not get; na paile—if does not get; maraye—dies; piyase—from thirst.

TRANSLATION

“One particle of that transcendental, blissful nectar is the life and soul of the ear, which is like a cakora bird that lives in hope of tasting that nectar. Sometimes, by good fortune, the bird can taste it, but at other times he unfortunately cannot and therefore almost dies of thirst.

yeba venu-kala-dhvani, eka-bara taha suni’,
jagan-nari-citta aulaya
nivi-bandha paḍe khasi’, vina-mule haya dasi,
bauli haña Krishna -pase dhaya

yeba—whoever; venu—of the flute; kala-dhvani—the sweet vibration; eka-bara—once; taha—that; suni’-hearing; jagat—of the universe; nari—of the women; citta—hearts; aulaya—become disturbed; nivi-bandha—the fastened belts; paḍe—fall; khasi’-becoming loosened; vina-mule—without a price; haya—they become; dasi—maidservants; bauli—mad; haña—becoming; Krishna -pase—after Krishna ; dhaya—run.

TRANSLATION

“The transcendental vibration of Krishna's flute disturbs the hearts of women all over the world, even if they hear it only once. Thus their fastened belts become loose, and these women become the unpaid maidservants of Krishna . Indeed, they run toward Krishna exactly like madwomen.

yeba laksmi-ṭhakurani, tenho ye kakali suni’,
Krishna -pasa aise pratyasaya
na paya krsnera sanga, baḍe trsna-taranga,
tapa kare, tabu nahi paya

yeba—even; laksmi-ṭhakurani—the goddess of fortune; tenho—she; ye—which; kakali—vibration of the flute; suni’-hearing; Krishna -pasa—to Lord Krishna ; aise—comes; pratyasaya—with great hope; na paya—does not get; krishnera sanga—association with Krishna ; baḍe—increase; trsna—of thirst; taranga—the waves; tapa kare—undergoes austerity; tabu—still; nahi paya—does not get.

TRANSLATION

“When she hears the vibration of Krishna's flute, even the goddess of fortune comes to Him, greatly hoping for His association, but nevertheless she does not get it. When the waves of thirst for His association increase, she performs austerities, but still she cannot meet Him.

ei sabdamrta cari, yara haya bhagya bhari,
sei karne iha kare pana
iha yei nahi sune, se kana janmila kene,
kanakaḍi-sama sei kana”

ei—these; sabda-amrta—nectarean sound vibrations; cari—four; yara—of whom; haya—there is; bhagya bhari—great fortune; sei—such a person; karne—by the ears; iha—these sounds; kare pana—drinks; iha—these sounds; yei—anyone who; nahi sune—does not hear; se—those; kana—ears; janmila—took birth; kene—why; kanakaḍi—a hole in a small conchshell; sama—just like; sei kana—those ears.

TRANSLATION

“Only the most fortunate can hear these four nectarean sounds-Krishna's words, the tinkling of His ankle bells and bangles, His voice and the vibration of His flute. If one does not hear these sounds, his ears are as useless as small conchshells with holes.”

Courtesy : The Hare Krishna Movement

Surrey Now

Surrey - The last place you’d expect to find a guy nicknamed “The Walking Monk” is in a car heading toward Chicago.

So apparently Bhaktimarga Swami does not walk everywhere, despite the moniker he’s earned for hoofing it across Canada an impressive four times.

The Ontario-born Swami, who finished his last such trek in 2014, is currently halfway through a similar walk across the U.S., in another effort to promote a “more car-free, carefree lifestyle.”

This week, he’ll be in Surrey to attend a pair of events, and the Now caught up with Swami – known as John Peter Vis before he adopted a monastic way of life back in 1973 – via cellphone as he motored down an interstate in Illinois earlier this week.

“Yesterday was a momentous day where I stopped at the midway point in America, in Nebraska, and now I’m making a return journey back to Toronto, ultimately, my home place,” Swami explained in an interview on Monday (Aug. 8).

“It’s a pleasant day and we’ve had a great trip so far doing half of the U.S. The whole idea is to reconvene next spring and do the second half, the western part, heading west.”

Two decades ago, in 1996, Swami set out on his first cross-Canada walk as something of a 100th-birthday tribute to a mentor of his. Putting his “feet and heart together” that year, he started in Victoria and made it all the way to Cape Spear, Newfoundland, with many stories to tell.

“I’d always wanted to see Canada closeup,” he recalled, “because before I was a monk I hitchhiked or flew and took buses, things like that, but I wanted to see it the way it was done by the ancients, you know, the way you should do it, especially because it’s a kind of birthright for a monastic person to do this kind of thing.”

He enjoyed the “CanWalk” experience enough to complete three more cross-country journeys in years since.

Pain, physical,” Swami admitted. “The biggest challenge of all is walking on an angle – it’s like walking on a beach. But nevertheless, everything else compensated for that (pain), including meeting fantastic people, meeting characters, being confronted by black bears, grizzlies, whatnot, and finally I became an addict, I like it, gotta do it again.”

His first coast-to-coast walk was documented in “The Longest Road,” a 2003 National Film Board of Canada movie about the Trans-Canada Highway.

While in the U.S. recently, a spell of hot weather prompted Swami, 64, to experiment with nighttime walking, starting at 9 p.m. and ending at 3:30 a.m.

“It was quite nice (in Omaha and other parts of Nebraska), you know, as long as you had a safe area to walk through, on trails, basically,” he said. “You’re not allowed to walk on the freeways, so the choices in America are a secondary highway or a back road.”

In Surrey this week, Swami will make an appearance at Ram mandir (8473 124th St.) on Friday evening, Aug. 19, and is also scheduled to visit the market at Newton’s Zaklan Heritage Farm on Saturday, Aug. 20, from noon to 2 p.m.

Across Canada these days, he shares his “Tales from the Trails” at community centres, yoga studios, libraries, schools and other places.

CLICK HERE to read “The Walking Monk” blog.

“It’s always an adventure and you don’t know what you’re going to deal with on the day ahead,” Swami related.

“What happens when you’re walking is you start to appreciate the little things around you and everything becomes significant,” he added. “Those of us who are obsessed with the fast pace of life, we just don’t even know what’s in our midst. By walking, you pick up on fantastic details out there.”

In one photo of Swami, the Now noticed he wore a pair of Croc sandals, and asked about a possible endorsement deal from the footwear company.

“There was something happening there with Crocs, yes, on my third walk across Canada,” Swami elaborated. “They sent me a pair, and that was the best I could do,” he added with a laugh. “I found other footwear, though, that was superior, but I do resort to my Crocs once in a while just because they’re pretty lightweight.”

Courtesy : Thewalkingmonk

Brahma-vaivarta Purana

Chapter Two Sridama-Radha-kalaha-varnana

Description of the Quarrel Between Sridama and Radha

1-2 On whose request did Krishna come to the surface of the earth, what the Lord did before He returned to His own abode, how He removed the earth’s burden, and how He killed the demons, of all these I will, carefully thinking of what happened, tell you the story.

3 Listen and I will tell you of Lord Hari’s descent as a cowherd boy. His arrival in Gokula, and Radha’s descent as gopi.

4 Listen and I will tell you in detail what before you heard me tell only briefly in the story of Sankhacuda’s death.

5 Sridama quarrelled with Radha and She cursed him to become the demon Sankhacuda.

6 Then Sridama cursed Radha: Go to a human womb in Vraja! Become a girl of Vraja and walk on the earth’s surface!

7 Afraid of Sridama’s curse, She went to Sri Krishna and said: I will become a gopi! Sridama cursed Me! What will I do to prevent it! O breaker of fears please tell me.

8 How can I live without You? O Lord, without You every moment will become a hundred yugas.

9-10 My heart bursts into flames when the blinking of My eyes separates Us. O Lord glorious as the autumn moon, using the cakora birds of My eyes I drink the nectar of Your face day and night. I declare that You are My heart, My self, My mind and My body.

11 You are My eyes and My power to see. You are My life. You are My treasure. Awake of asleep, I always meditate on Your lotus feet. O Lord, without serving You I cannot live for a moment.

12 Hearing these words, Lord Krishna placed His beautiful beloved on His chest. He reassured Her and removed Her fears. He said:

13-14 O girl with the beautiful face, during the Varaha-kalpa I will go to the earth. You will go with Me and also take birth on the earth. O goddess, I will go to Vraja and enjoy pastimes (with You) in the forest.

15 You are more dear to Me than life. If I am present why should You be afraid? Saying this, Lord Hari, the master of the universes, became silent.

16 For this reason the master of the universes went to Nanda’s Gokula. Why should He be afraid? Of what would He, the killer of fears, be afraid?

17 Pretending to fear the illusory potency, He assumed the appearance of a gopa, approached Radha, and enjoyed pastimes with Her.

18-19 To keep the promise He made when the demigod Brahma prayed to Him, Lord Krishna came to earth with the gopis, removed the earth’s burden and then returned to His own abode.

20 Sri Narada said: Why did Sridama quarrel with Radha? What you briefly told before, now please tell at length.

21 Sri Narayana Rsi said: One time, in a rasa-mandala in a secluded place in a great forest in Goloka, Lord Hari enjoyed pastimes with Sri Radha. Overcome with bliss, Radha could not understand Herself or anything else.

22 Leaving Her unsatisfied in the midst of Their pastimes, He went to enjoy amorous pastimes with Viraja, another gopi.

23 Beautiful Viraja resembled Radha. She has a billion beautiful gopi friends.

24 As she sat on a jewel throne, this gopi, who thought Lord Krishna more dear than life, and who was fortunate and glorious among women, saw Lord Hari approach.

25 Lord Hari looked at her, her face glorious as the autumn moon, and she, ravishingly beautiful, smiled, and with crooked eyes gazed at Him.

26 She was eternally sixteen years old, in the full bloom of youth. She wore exquisite garments and Her beauty was richer with jewel ornaments.

27 Seeing that she was being tortured by Kamadeva’s arrows and the hairs of all her limbs were erect with excitement, Lord Hari at once enjoyed pastimes with her.

28-29 In the great forest, in a secluded place, in a circle of jewels, on a bed made of flowers, as she embraced to her chest the Lord of her life, who is more glorious than millions of Kamadevas, Viraja fainted, overcome with the bliss by enjoying amorous pastimes with Lord Krishna .

30 Seeing Lord Hari embraced by her in the jewel pavilion, Radha’s friends at once told their mistress.

31 Hearing their words, Radha became angry and lay down on Her bed.

32 Her eyes like red lotus flowers, the goddess wept bitterly. The great goddess said to them: “Show Him to Me.”

33 If you speak the truth, then come with Me. I will give Krishna and this gopi the result They deserve.

34 When I punish her who will save her? With her quickly bring Lord Hari’s other lovers also.

35-36 Don’t bring that smiling, crooked-hearted, nectar-mouthed pot of poison to My home. Instead, take the Lord to My beautiful pavilion and keep Him there.

37 Hearing Radha’s words, some gopis became frightened, and they all folded their hands and humbly bowed their heads and necks.

38 Standing before Her, they all said to the Lord’s eternal beloved: “We will show You the Lord with Viraja.”

39 After hearing their words, beautiful Radha, ascended a chariot. She departed with 1 630 000 000 gopis, travelling on a chariot…

40 ..made of may regal jewels, splendid as millions of suns, roofed with thirty million domes made of regal jewels, splendid with a variety of colourful flowers, pulled by colourful horses,…

41 ..with ten thousand wheels, enchanting the heart, travelling as fast as the mind, beautiful with ten million pillars and many different glorious jewels,

42 …with many wonderful and colourful beautiful pictures, with many rubies in the inside rooms, with many jewels decorating the wheels,…

43 …with four hundred thousand splendid and wonderful wheels decorated with wonderful bells and tinkling ornaments,…

44 …with a hundred thousand jewel palaces, with doors made of the best of jewels, with jewel pictures,…

45 …with domes of the best regal jewels, with splendid spires, with delicious foods and exquisite garments,…

46 …beautiful with many jewel beds, jewel cups and cases, and golden platforms,…

47 …with ten million ruby staircases, with very beautiful syamantaka and kaustubha jewels,…

48 …splendidly beautiful with wonderful forests and lakes and hundreds of groves of millions of lotus flowers,…

49 …with splendid jewel domes and spires eighty miles wide and eight hundreds miles high,…

50 …splendid with ten million garlands of parijata, kunda, karavira and yuthika flowers,…

51 …fragrant with many very beautiful campaka, nagesa, mallika, malati, and madhavi flowers,…

52 …decorated with many garlands of kadamba flowers and thousand petal lotuses,…

53 …decorated with wonderful forests, lakes, and colourful flower gardens, fast as the wind, the best of all chariots,…

54 …covered with exquisite fine cloth, decorated with hundreds of jewel mirrors,…

55 …decorated with sapphires and white camaras, fragrant with sandal, aguru, musk and kunkuma,…

56 …splendid with ten million parijata-decorated beds, ten million flags, and ten million bells,…

57 …with ten million jewel beds covered with wonderful and colourful blankets, fragrant with campaka flowers, sandal and kunkuma,…

58 …decorated with flower-pillows, and perfect for amorous pastimes, and also decorated with many beautiful things never seen or heard of before.

59 O sage, quickly descending from the chariot thus described, Lord Hari’s beloved goddess Radha, at once went to Him in the pavilion of jewels.

60 At the entrance She saw a handsome, smiling, lotus-faced guard accompanied by a hundred thousand gopas.

61 To that gopa, who was Sri Krishna ’s dear friend named Sridama, goddess Radha, Her eyes now like red lotuses, angrily said:

62 Go away! O servant of a rake, go away! I will see what kind of beautiful lover Your master has now!

63 Hearing Radha’s words, strong and fearless Sridama, holding a stick in his hand, did not allow Her to enter.

64 Their lips trembling, the other gopis angrily pushed the servant Sridama.

65 Hearing a great commotion from the people of Goloka and understanding that Radha was angry, Lord Hari disappeared.

66 Hearing the word “Radha” and seeing Lord Hari disappear, Viraja became afraid. By practice of mystic yoga she gave up her life.

67 Her body at once became a river circling Goloka.

68 That river was filled with jewels, very deep, eight hundred million miles wide, and ten times as long.

Chapter Three Sri Radha-Sridama-sapodbhava

The Cursing of Sri Radha and Sridama

•  O sage, when She went to the pavilion of amorous pastimes Radha did not see Lord Hari. Seeing the river that Viraja had become, She went home.
   
•  Seeing that His eternal beloved had become a river, Sri Krishna loudly wept on the beautiful shore of that Viraja River.

•  “O best, best of lovers, come to Me! O beautiful one, beautiful one, how can I live without you? 

•  “By My blessing now become the most beautiful of women, and the empress of rivers. 

•  :Now have a form more beautiful than the beautiful form you had. O chaste one, your previous form has now become a river.” 

•  “Raise from the water and come to Me.” Taking a new form, and beautiful like Radha, she approached Lord Hari. 

•  Wearing yellow garments and her lotus face smiling, with crooked eyes she gazed at the Lord of Her life and He gazed at her. 

•  She was oppressed by the burden of her hips and thighs, and her breasts were swollen and high.

•  She was the most beautiful of beautiful women, and She was fortunate and glorious among women. She was the colour of a beautiful campaka flower and her lips were ripe bimba fruits. 

•  Her beautiful teeth were like ripe pomegranate seeds,, her face was an autumn moon, and her eyes were blossoming dark lotuses. 

•  She was decorated with a dot of musk and many dots of red sindura. She was beautiful with beautiful designs and pictures. Her braided hair was very beautiful. 

•  Jewel earrings resting on her cheeks, She was decorated with a necklace of jewels and glorious with a necklace of pearls. On the tip of her nose was an elephant pearl. 

•  She was splendid with jewel armlets and bracelets and a bracelet of shells. She was opulent with many tinkling ornaments and tinkling jewel anklets.

•  Seeing her so beautiful and so full of love for Him, the Lord of the universes at once embraced her and kissed her again and again. 

•  Going to a secluded place, the all-powerful Lord again and again enjoyed many different kinds of amorous pastimes, beginning with viparita-lila, with His beloved. 

•  Accepting the Lord’s invincible semen, passionate and fortunate Viraja at once became pregnant. 

•  After a hundred celestial years of pregnancy, she gave birth to seven handsome sons from the Lord.

•  In this way the Lord’s eternal beloved became the mother of seven sons. She was very happy with her seven sons. 

•  One day, her heart filled with amorous desires, the saintly girl again enjoyed pastimes with Lord Hari in a secluded place in Vrndavana forest. 

•  Then, frightened by his brothers, her youngest son came there and went to his mother’s lap. 

•  Seeing her son was afraid, she who was an ocean of kindness left Lord Hari and placed the boy on her lap. Then Krishna went to Radha’s home. 

•  When she had comforted the boy she noticed that her beloved was no longer there. Her heart filled with unsatisfied desires, she lamented greatly. 

•  She angrily cursed her son: “You will become an ocean of salt-water. The living entities will never drink your water.” 

•  Then she cursed all the boys: “Those fools will go to the earth! Fools, go to beautiful Jambudvipa on the earth! 

•  “They will not stay together in one place, but will stay each in his own place. They will stay happily around different islands. 

•  “They may enjoy pastimes with the rivers on these islands.” In this way, because of his mother’s curse, the youngest boy became an ocean of salt-water. 

•  The youngest then told the other boys about their mother’s curse. Unhappy, all the boys went to their mother. 

•  After hearing their mother’s words, they offered obeisances to her feet. Then, their necks bowed with devotion, they all went to the surface of the earth.

•  O sage, they became seven oceans around the seven islands. From the youngest to the eldest, each ocean was twice as large as the preceding one. 

•  They became oceans of salt-water, sugarcane juice, wine, clarified butter, yoghurt, milk and sweet water. Their liquid will be used to cultivate grains on the earth. 

•  In this way they became seven oceans around the seven islands of the earth. Unhappy in separation from their mother and brothers, all the boys wept. 

•  Tormented by separation from her sons, chaste Viraja wept again and again. She fainted out of grief she felt for her sons and husband. 

•  Understanding that she was drowning in an ocean of grief, Radha’s master, His lotus face smiling, came to her again.

•  When she saw Lord Hari she stopped weeping and lamenting. Gazing at her beloved, she became plunged in an ocean of bliss. 

•  Overcome with passion, she placed Lord Hari on her lap and enjoyed pastimes with Him. In this way, even though she had abandoned her sons, Lord  Hari became pleased with her. 

•  His eyes and face filled with happiness, He gave her a benediction: “Beloved, I will always come to you. 

•  “Like Radha you will be dear to Me. By the power of My blessing you will always protect your sons.” 

•  Seeing Sri Krishna with Viraja as he spoke these words, Radha’s friends told their mistress. 

•  Hearing this, Radha lay down in the palace of anger and wept. Then Krishna entered that palace and approached Her. 

•  O Narada, accompanied by Sridama, Krishna stood at Radha’s door. When She who is the queen of the rasa dance saw Her beloved Lord Hari, She became angry and said: 

•  O Lord Hari, You have many other lovers in Goloka. Go to them! Why do You need Me? 

•  Even though Your dear lover Viraja, out of fear of Me, left her body and became a river, still You go to her! 

•  Build a palace on her shore and stay with her. Stay with her. Go to her. She became a river. You became a river also. 

•  Because they belong to the same class, it is glorious for one river to associate with another river. As they happily eat together and sleep together they feel great love for each other. 

•  O crest jewel of divine persons, when they hear from Me that You are enjoying pastimes with a river, the great souls will smile.

•  They who say You are the master of the universes do not truly know Your heart. The Personality of Godhead, who is the Supersoul in the hearts of all, now desires to enjoy pastimes with a river! 

•  After speaking these words, angry goddess Radha stopped. Surrounded by a hundred thousand gopis, She would not rise from Her bed. 

•  Some gopis carried camaras in their hands, some carried fine garments, some carried betelnuts in their hands, and some carried flower-garlands in their  hands.

•  Some carried cups of scented water in their hands, some carried lotus flowers in their hands, some carried red sindura in their hands, and some carried flower garlands in their hands. 

•  Some carried jewel ornaments in their hands, some carried black kajjala, some carried flutes and vinas in their hands, and some carried combs in their hands.

•  Some carried aviras in their hands, some carried yantras in their hands, some carried scented oil in their hands, some most beautiful women carried karatalas in their hands, and some carried toy balls. 

•  Some played mrdangas, murajas, flutes and karatalas, some expertly sang, and some expertly danced. 

•  Some carried toys in their hands, some carried cups of honey in their hands, some carried cups of nectar in their hands, and some carried footstools in their hands. 

•  Some carried garments and ornaments in their hands, some served Radha’s feet, some stood before Her with folded hands, and some spoke prayers glorifying Her. 

•  How many stood before Her? O sage, millions and millions stood outside. 

•  As Krishna stood at the door, Radha’s friends, who held sticks, would not allow Him to enter. 

•  As the Lord of Her life stood before Her, Radha spoken to Him words that were inaccurate, not worthy to be spoken, improper, and very harsh.

•  O Krishna , O lover of Viraja, get away from Me! O Lord Hari, o restless debauchee, why do You trouble Me? 

•  Go at once to Padmavati! Go to beautiful Ratnamala or Vanamala whose beauty has no equal!

•  O lover of a river, O master of the demigods, O guru of the demigods’ guru, I know who You are. Auspiciousnss to You! Go! Go from My asrama! 

•  Again and again You act like a human! Rake, enter a human womb! Leave Goloka and go to Bharata-varsa! 

•  O Susila, Sasikala, Padmavati, Madhavi, stop this criminal! What need have we for Him?

•  After hearing Radha’s words, the gopis spoke to Lord Hari words there were beneficial, truthful, gentle, sweet, and appropriate to that circumstance. 

•  Some said: “O Lord Hari, for a moment go to another place. When Radha’s anger subsides we will bring You here.” 

•  Some very affectionately said: “Go home for a moment. You make Radha blissful. Except for You, who can protect Her.

•  O sage, out of love for Radha some gopis said to Lord Hari: “For a moment go to Vrndavana forest until Her anger subsides.”

•  Some joked to the Lord: “O passionate one, by devotedly serving Her You will appease the jealous anger of Your passionate beloved.”

•  Some said the to Lord: “Go to another wife in the meantime, O Lord, we will bring the result You earnestly desire.” 

•  Some stood smiling before Lord Hari and said: “Go to Her and pacify Her jealous anger.” 

•  Some gopis spoke harshly to the Lord of their lives: “Who can see Radha’s lotus face now?” 

•  Some said to the all-powerful Lord: “O Lord Hari, go to another place, and when Her anger is over You may return.” 

•  Some beautiful and arrogant gopis said to Him: “IF You don’t go to another’s home, we will force You to go.” 

•  Some beautiful gopis then surrounded the smiling, peaceful, and cheerful Supreme Lord of all and prevented Him from entering. 

•  Forced by the gopis, Lord Hari, who is the first cause of the world’s causes, left and went to another’s home. Then Sridama became angry. 

•  His lotus eyes now red, Sridama angrily spoke to the supreme goddesss, Sri Radha, whose lotus eyes were also red with anger. 

•  Sridama said: O mother, why do You speak these harsh words to m master? O goddess, You rebuke Him without any consideration and for no reason.

•  You mock the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the master of Brahma, Ananta, Siva and is the master of Sarasvati, Laksmi, Laya, Maya and Prakrti, who is beyond the modes of material nature, who is self-satisfied, and whose desires are all fulfilled. Know that it is only because of Your service to Him and Your worship of His feet that You have become the best of goddesses and the queen of all. O beautiful one, You do not understand Him. How can I have the power to describe Him? 

•  With a playful bend in His eyebrows He can create many millions of millions of goddesses like You. You do not understand Him, the Lord who is beyond the modes of material nature. 

•  In Vaikuntha goddess Laksmi eternally serves Lord Hari with great devotion. She washes His lotus feet and dries them with her own hair.

•  With devotion Sarasvati always praises Him with beautiful prayers that are nectar for the ears. You do not understand Him, the great Supreme Personality of Godhead. 

•  Frightened goddess Maya, who is the material energy and the personified life of all conditioned souls, always praises Him with devotion. O proud one, You do not understand Him. 

•  Although they eternally offer prayers to Him, the Vedas cannot understand even one sixteenth of His glory. O beautiful one, You do not understand Him.

•  O goddess, with his four heads powerful Brahma, the father of the Vedas, glorifies Krishna . Brahma serves His lotus feet. 

•  With this five heads, the guru of the yogis, offers prayers to Lord Krishna . His eyes filled with tears and the hairs of his body erect, he serves Lord Krishna ’s lotus feet.

•  With His thousand heads Ananta Sesa again and again offers prayers to Lord Krishna , the all-pervading Supersoul. He devotedly serves Lord Krishna ’s lotus feet. 

•  Dharma, who is the protector and witness of everyone and the master of the worlds, happily and devotedly serves Lord Krishna ’s feet always. 

•  All-powerful Lord Visnu, who resides in Svetadvipa and is His partial incarnation, meditates on Lord Krishna as the Supreme at every moment. 

•  The demigods, demons, sages, kings, manus, humans and philosophers serve Him though they cannot see His lotus feet even in a dream. 

•  At once abandon Your pride and worship the lotus feet of Lord Hari, who merely by the play of bending His eyebrow destroys the material creation. 

•  Brahma’s lifetime is an eye-blink for Lord Krishna . Twenty-eight Indras live their lives in Brahma’s day. 

•  Brahma lives for 108 years calculated in this way. O Radha, You and the gopis and everyone and everything are under my master’s dominion. 

•  Hearing Sridama’s very harsh and forceful words, She became suddenly angry. She stood up and spoke to him. 

•  Going outside, Her hair loosened, Her lotus eyes reds, and Her lips trembling, She harshly spoke to him. 

•  Sri Radha said: Rogue! Fool! Servant of a rake! Listen. I don’t know your master. You know everything about Him. 

•  O lowest wretch in Vraja, Sri Krishna is your master and not Mine? You praise your father and rebuke your mother.

•  As the demons always insult the demigods, so you always insult Me! Therefore, O fool, become a demon!

•  Gopa, leave Goloka and go to a demoness’ womb. Fool, now I have cursed you. Who can protect you? 

•  After thus cursing him, the queen of the rasa dance became silent. Then, with jewelled-handled camaras in their hands, Her friends served Her.

•  After hearing Her words, his lips trembling in anger, Sridama cursed Her: Go to the womb of a human woman! 

•  You are angry like a human woman, therefore become a human woman on the earth! Mother, I have cursed You. Of this there is no doubt.

•  You will be eclipsed by a part of Your own shadow. The fools on the earth will say you are the wife of a petty king. 

•  That petty king will be a partial incarnation of Lord Hari. He will be a great yogi born in a human womb because of Radha’s curse on him. 

•  In Gokula You will attain Lord Krishna . You will stay with Him in the forest there and enjoy pastimes with Him. You will be separated from Him for a hundred years and then You will attain Him, Your Lord, again and return with Him to Goloka. 

•  After speaking these words and after bowing down before Radha, Sridama went to Lord Hari. Bowing down before Lord Krishna , Sridama narrated the story of the cursings. 

•  Sridama wept as never before. As weeping Sridama was about to go to the earth, Lord Krishna said to him: 

•  You will become the king of demons. In the three worlds no one will defeat you.

•  After fifty yugas Siva’s spear will make you leave that body and with My blessings you will return to Me. 

•  After hearing Lord Krishna ’s words, grieving Sridama said to Him: You will never transform me into a person that has no devotion for You. 

•  Saying this Sridama left his own asrama. Then, weeping again and again, Radha came there. 

•  Saintly Radha loudly lamented, “Child, where are you going?” Then Sridama became Sankhacuda, the husband of Tulasi. 

•  When Sridama had left, Goddess Radha approached Lord Hari. She told Him everything and He spoke to Her. 

•  Lord Krishna told everything to His grieving beloved. Then, in the course of time, Sridama became Sankhacuda and then returned to the Lord. 

•  In the Varaha-kalpa Radha went with Lord Hari to the earth. O sage, She attained a birth in Gokula in King Vrsabhanu’s home. 

•  In this way I have spoken the transcendental narrations of Lord Krishna , which everyone yearns to hear. What more do you wish to hear?

Chapter Sri Radha-Krishna Samvada

• I will go to the earth. O demigods, first return to your homes, and then, by your amsa expansions, quickly go to the earth.
   
• After speaking to the demigods, Lord Krishna , the master of the universes, called the gopas and gopis and spoke to them words that were sweet, truthful and appropriate.
   
• Sri Krishna said: O gopas and gopis, please listen. All of you please go to Nanda’s land of Vraja. O Radha, please go at once to the home of King Vrsabhanu.
   
• King Vrsabhanu’s dear wife is the saintly gopi named Kalavati. She is Subala-gopa’s daughter. She is a partial incarnation of the goddess of fortune.
   
• She is fortunate and glorious among women. She was the mind-born daughter of the pitas, but by Durvasa’s curse she was born in a house in Vraja.
   
• At once go to Nanda’s Vraja and take birth in her womb. O girl with the lotus face, I will assume the form of a small boy and I will marry You. 
   
• O Radha, to Me You are more dear than life. To You I am more dear than life also. We are not different. We are one body eternally.
   
• Listening, Sri Radha wept, overcome with love. O sage, with Her cakora-bird eyes She drank the moonlight of Lord Krishna ’s face.
   
• Sri Krishna said: O gopas and gopis, please take birth on the earth in the beautiful palaces of the noble gopas. […]

69 In this way the demigods must go, by their partial expansions, to the earth and help to remove its burden. The demigods’ wives must also go, by their partial expansions, to the earth.

70 At that point Lord Krishna stopped speaking. O Narada, Brahma stood there, listening.

71 Sarasvati was at Lord Krishna ’s left and Laksmi at His right. Parvati and all the demigods were before Him.

72 The gopis and gopas were before Him. Sri Radha rested on His chest. At that moment Sri Radha, the queen of Vraja spoke to Lord Krishna .

73 Sri Radha said: O Lord, please hear the words of Your maidservant. My life has become a blazing fire that burns without stop. My mind trembles, swinging to and fro.

74 When I look at You I cannot even blink. O Lord, how can I go to the earth without You?

75 O friend, how much time must pass before I will meet You again in Gokula? O master of My life, please tell the truth.

76 An eyeblink without You will be a hundred yugas for Me. What will I look on? Where will I go? Who will protect Me?

77 O master of My life, how can I for a moment think of mother, father, relatives, friends, brother, sister, or children when You are gone? 

78 O master of illusions, please promise me that when I am on the earth You will not cover Me with illusion and make Me forget Your glories.

79 O Krishna , please turn My mind into a bumblebee always wandering among the nectar lotus-flowers of Your feet.

80 Wherever I may be born, please give Me service to You and remembrance of You.

81 You are Krishna and I am Radha. When I am on the earth may I never forget the glory of Our love. O Lord, please give Me this benediction.

82 As breath always stays with the body and as the body always stays with its shadow, may We two always stay together when We take birth. O Lord please give Me this benediction.

83 When We are on the earth let Us not be separated for even an eyeblink. O Lord, please give Me this benediction.

84 Who was it that used My life-breath to create Your body, feet, and flute?

85 How many glorious kinds of women are there? How many kinds of glorious men praised again and again? No woman is attached to her lover as I am to You.

86 How is it that I was created from half of Your body? There is no difference between Us. That is why My mind always thinks of You.

87 How is it that My mind, heart, and life were placed in Your body. And Your mind, heart and life were placed in Mine?

88 That is why an eyeblink’s separation from You brings a great catastrophe to My mind. That is why, when it hears that We may be separated, My life-force burns in an unending fire.

89 After speaking these words in the assembly of demigods, again and again Sri Radha grasped Lord Krishna ’s lotus feet and loudly wept.

90 Then, placing Her on His lap and with His own garment wiping the tears from Her face, Lord Krishna spoke many true and beneficial words.

91 Sri Krishna said: Goddess, please listen and I will describe to You the yoga of the Supreme, a yoga even the kings of the yogis cannot understand, a yoga that cuts grief into many pieces.

92 O beautiful one, consider this: The entire universe is constructed of two things: resting places and things that rest in them. It is not possible for a resting thing to be separated from its resting place.

93 For the fruit the resting place is the flower. For the flower the resting place is the twig. For the twig the resting place is the branch. For the branch the resting place is the tree itself.

94 For the tree the resting place is the sapling. For the sapling, which is manifest from the seed, the resting place is the seed. For the seed the resting place is the earth.

95 For the earth the resting place is Lord Sesa. For Lord Sesa the resting place is the great tortoise beneath Him. For the tortoise the resting place is the wind. For the wind the resting place is I Myself.

96 For Me the resting place is You. I always rest in You. You have all powers. You are the root from which the material nature has sprung. You are the Supreme Goddess.

97 You are the resting place of all bodies. You are the resting place of the three mode of nature. You are the resting place of Me, for I am Your heart. Without You I cannot act. Only by Your grace have I the power to act.

98 From the man the seed is manifest. From the seed children are manifest. The resting place of both seed and children is the woman, who is manifest from material nature.

99 How can the spirit soul exist without the body? How can the body exist without the spirit soul? They are both the first cause. O goddess, how can the creation be manifest without them both?

100 O Radha, We are not different. We are the seed and the world grown from the seed. I am the soul and You are the body. Where the soul is present, there also is the body. We are not different. Why must You be so humble?

101 As whiteness is present in milk, as heat is present in fire, as fragrance is present in earth, and as coolness is present in fire, so I am always present in You.

102 As milk and its whiteness, fire and its heat, earth and its fragrance, and water and its coolness are one and cannot be separated, We are one also. We cannot be separated.

103 Without Me, You are lifeless. Without You, I am invisible. O beautiful one, without You I cannot exist.

104 Without clay a potter cannot make a pot. Without gold a goldsmith cannot make a gold ornament.

105 As the spirit soul is eternal, Your are also eternal. You are the material nature. You are all powerful. You are the eternal resting place of everything.

106 Laksmi, all-auspicious Sarasvati, Brahma, Siva, Sesa, and Yamaraja are dear as life to Me. But You are more dear than life to Me.

107 If this were not so, then why do the demigods and demigoddesses stay nearby, but You rest on My chest, O Radha?

108 O Radha, give up Your tears. I saintly one, give up this fruitless and mistaken worry and go to King Vrsabhanu’s house.

109 O beautiful one, use Your powers to create an artificial pregnancy in Kalavati. For nine months fill her womb with air.

110 When the tenth month comes leave Your natural form behind, accept the form of an infant girl and go to the earth.

111 At the time of giving birth, place Your form of a naked infant on the ground by Kalavati and cry like a newborn child.

112 O saintly one, in this way, without entering a mother’s womb, You will appear in Gokula. I also will appear without entering a mother’s womb. You and I do not enter a mother’s womb.

113 The moment I come to earth Vasudeva will carry Me to Gokula. Pretending to fear Kamsa, I will go there for Your sake.

114 I will be Nanda’s son in Yasoda’s house. O beautiful one, again and again You will happily see me and tightly embrace Me.

115 O Radha, because of the benediction I give You, You will remember everything. Following My own wish, I will enjoy pastimes with You in Vrndavana forest again and again.

116 Therefore, accompanied by thirty three virtuous friends and twenty one billion gopi-associates, please go to Vraja.

117-18 O Radha, after comforting with eloquent nectar words the numberless gopas and gopis left behind in Goloka, I will go to Vasudeva’s home in Mathura City.

119 The ten million gopas most dear to Me should take birth in the homes of the gopas. To enjoy pastimes with Me they should go to Vraja.

120 O Narada, then Lord Krishna stopped speaking. The demigods, demigoddesses, gopas and gopis were silent.

121 Then Brahma, Siva, Yama, Sesa, Parvati, Laksmi and Sarasvati joyfully offered prayers to Lord Krishna .

122 Overcome with love and burning in the flames of imminent separation, the devoted gopas and gopis offered prayers to Lord Krishna and bowed down before Him.

123 Burning in the flames of imminent separation even though Her desires were all fulfilled, Sri Radha devotedly offered prayers to Her lover Krishna , who is more dear to Her than life.

124 Seeing that Sri Radha was weeping many tears of distress, Lord Krishna spoke to Her truthful words of enlightenment.

125 Sri Krishna said: O goddess more dear than life, please be peaceful. Give up You fears. What You feel I also feel. Why should You be unhappy while I am with You.

126 However, I will tell You something that is not good. You will be separated from Me for a hundred years.

127 O beautiful one, I will go to Mathura and because of Sridama’s curse, We will be separated.

128 In Mathura I will remove the earth’s burden, release My parents from bondage and give liberation to a florist, a tailor and a hunchback girl.

129 Then I will kill Kalayavana, deliver Mucukunda, build the city of Dvaraka, and see a Rajasuya-yajna.

130 Then I will marry 16 100 princesses and defeat many enemies.

131 Then I will help My friends, burn Varanasi, make Siva yawn and cut Banasura’s arms.

132 I will forcibly take the Parijata tree, see many saintly sages when I go on pilgrimage, and perform many other activities.

133 While on pilgrimage I will speak with My friends and relatives, help My father perform a yajna, and, at an auspicious moment, see You again.

134 There I will also see the gopis and again I will teach You the truth of spiritual philosophy.

135 From that time We will never really be separated for even a moment of the day or night. Then, after some time, I will return to Vraja.

136 Beloved, during the hundred years We are separated We will meet in Our dreams again and again.

137 In My Narayana form I will go to Dvaraka for those hundred years. In that way I will enjoy My pastimes there.

138 Then I will return to live with You in the forest. Then I will wipe away all the sufferings of My parents and the gopas and gopis. 

139 When I have removed the earth’s burden I will return to Goloka with the gopas, gopis and You.

140 O Radha, in My form as eternal Lord Narayana I will return to Vaikuntha with Laksmi and Sarasvati.

141 My various incarnations will return to Svetadvipa, the home of religion, and the partial incarnations of the demigods and demigoddesses will all return to their respective abodes.

142 Then You and I will again live in Goloka. Beloved, now I have told You everything both good and bad. Who can stop from happening what I have foretold?

143 After speaking these words, Lord Krishna had Radha rest against His chest. All the demigods and their wives were astonished.

144 Then Lord Krishna said to the demigods and demigoddesses: O demigods, please return to your homes and prepare for your mission.

145 O Parvati, please go to Mount Kailasa with your husband and sons. At the proper time you will execute the mission I have given you.

146 As I have said, you will take birth as a partial incarnation. You will not be accompanied by Ganesa, who is the lord of the great and the small.

147-8 Bowing down before Lord Krishna , the demigods happily returned to their homes. Then, bowing again before Lord Krishna and before Laksmi and Sarasvati, they went, eager to execute their mission, to the earth. Then Lord Krishna described Sri Radha’s mission, a mission beyond what the demigods can attain.

149 Lord Krishna said to Sri Radha: Accompanied by the many gopas and gopis I have already named, please go to King Vrsabhanu’s home.

150 Beloved, first I will go to Vasudeva’s home in Mathura, and then, on the pretext of fearing Kamsa, I will go to Gokula, where You will be.

151 Radha bowed down before Lord Krishna . Tormented with the thought of being separated from Her love, She wept, Her eyes now red lotus flowers, again and again.

152 She began to go and then She returned. Again and again and again and again She left, returned, and gazed and gazed at Lord Krishna ’s face.

153 With the cakora birds of Her unblinking eyes saintly Radha drank the nectar moonlight of Lord Krishna ’s face.

154 Seven times the supreme goddess Radha circumambulated Lord Krishna . Seven times She bowed down and respectfully stood before Him.

155 Then twenty-one billion gopis and ten million gopas came there.

156 O Narada, accompanied by the multitudes of gopas and gopis, Sri Radha bowed down before Lord Krishna and respectfully stood before Him.

157 Accompanied by Her thirty-three close friends and by the many gopas and gopis, beautiful Radha bowed down before Lord Krishna and then went to the earth.

158 Then Radha-gopi went to Vrsabhanu-gopa’s home, the place Lord Krishna arranged for Her in Nanda’s Gokula.

159 When Radha went with the gopas and gopis to the earth, Lord Krishna became eager to go there also.

160 After speaking to the gopas and gopis and giving them their various duties, Lord Krishna , the master of the universes, travelling as fast as the mind, went to Mathura.

161 Before all this Vasudeva and Devaki had six sons and Kamsa killed each one as soon as they were born.

162 By Lord Krishna ’s order, Yogamaya pulled from Devaki’s womb the seventh embryo, who was an incarnation of Lord Sesa, and place it in Rohini’s womb in Gokula.

Courtesy : Dandavats

There are many who openly state that they don't believe in God and don't follow any religious principles or practices. These people are harmless for those who have decided to explore god-centered spiritual alternatives in life. 

There are many others who accept, follow, and even propagate various degrees of religiosity while still denying the eternal existence of the supreme person, God, as the Absolute Truth. They talk about the all pervading impersonal energy, or the ultimate oneness of everything, or void, or the unending cycle of birth and death as the ultimate reality or absolute truth. They say God is merely a concept and that there is no spiritual world where he exists eternally with his innumerable loving associates. Such people are dangerous for the spiritual enquirers. If one forms emotional bonds with such atheists, it's difficult to come out of their influence and take to the path of pure love for God.

Beware of the religious atheists.

Source : http://thebandwagonofmoltengold.blogspot.in/2015/04/beware-of-religious-godless.html

Faith in eternal spiritual truths gets a chance to blossom only when one questions one's piteous reliance on and strangling attachment to the mundane.

Source : http://thebandwagonofmoltengold.blogspot.in/2015/04/let-faith-blossom.html

My friend Padmapani Prabhu has been coming out with so many beautiful posts of late on his page The Prabhupada Connection, the following is one example.

Simple Living and High Thinking
by Padmapani Dasa

Srila Prabhupada stayed in these rooms for six years (1959-1965) while he was preparing for his trip to America. The rooms were simple and austere.

“Yes, we are trying to set a perfect example according to the Bhagavad-gita as it is, how to execute simple living and high thinking. We are not interested in any material comforts of life which are limited and temporary. We are interested in solving the real problems of life, birth, death, old-age, and disease. These problems must be solved, and Krishna gives the formula in the Bhagavad-gita.” (Srila Prabhupada letter, June 10, 1975)

Srila Prabhupada translated and wrote his purports to the first three volumes of the Srimad-Bhagavatam in the Radha-Damodar temple before leaving for America. 

Srila Rupa Goswami’s Samadhi in the courtyard of the Radha-Damodar temple.

Srila Prabhupada left Vrindavan in 1965 to give Vrindavan to the world. Spending a day alone in his rooms was one of the highlights of my life.

“It is said by Sri Rupa Gosvami: ‘When one is actually liberated from material contamination, he can always remember an eternal devotee in Vrindavana in order to love Krishna in the same capacity. And developing such an aptitude, one will always live in Vrindavana, even within his mind.’ The purport is that, if it is possible, one should go and physically be present at Brajabhumi, Vrindavana, and be engaged always in the service of the Lord, following the devotees in Brajadhama, the spiritual realm of Braja. If it is not possible, however, to be physically present at Vrindavana, one can meditate anywhere upon living in that situation. Wherever he may be, one must always think about life in Brajadhama and about following in the footsteps of a particular devotee in the service of the Lord.” (Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 16)

Since Srila Prabhupada eternally resides in his rooms in Vrindavan, I humbly aspire to meditate upon him there and serve his lotus feet forever.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Source : https://theharekrishnamovement.org/2016/09/01/simple-living-and-high-thinking/

From the Rik-parisistha:
“Srimati Radharani is always to be found with Sri Krishna, and Madhava is always to be seen with Radhika. One is never without the other’s company.”
From the Gopalottara-tapani:
“She is the embodiment of maha-bhava, or the highest transcendental ecstasy, and none of the other gopis, or cowherd damsels of Vrindavan, possesses Her excellent qualities. Radharani is therefore known as the most famous Gandharva.”
In the Padma Purana Narada Muni describes Srimati Radharani:
“As much as Srimati Radhika is dear to Lord Krishna, Her pond Radha-kunda is as beloved to Him. Among all the gopis Srimati Radharani is most dear to Krishna.
In his Sri Prarthana-paddhati [Stavamala], Srila Rupa goswami prays:
"O Queen of Vrindavan, O Radharani, Your complexion is like molton gold, Your doe-like eyes are captivatingly restless, a million full and brilliant moons wane before Your lustrous countenance, and a blue sari, having stolen the hue of a fresh rain-laden cloud, has enwrapped Your exquisite form. O Radha, You are the crest-jewel of all the dallying damsels of Vrindavan, fragrant and pristine like a budding jasmine flower. Your sublime form is adorned with priceless jewelry , and you are the best of all the charming and intelligent gopis. You are decorated with all wonderful excellences and surrounded by eight dedicated and beloved cowherd girls known as the asta-sakhis.
"The ambrosia of Your beautiful lips, red as the bimba fruit, is life-giving syrup to Krishna. O Radha, I am rolling on the banks of the Yamuna, my poor heart filled with anticipation, praying to You with all humility. I am guilty of being an offender, a rascal, a useless wretch-yet I beg You to kindly engage me in even the smallest service to Your lotus feet. O most merciful Lady, it will not become You to ignore this most distressed soul, for Your heart is always overflowing with compassion and love.”
Raghunatha dasa Goswami writes in the Vilap-kusum-anjali
“O Supreme Ladyship, Queen of my heart, Radha! Laksmi-devi the goddess of fortune does not possess even a drop of the beauty that exudes from Your exquisite toenails, therefore if You do not grant me the proper vision to perceive Your transcendental pastimes, then what use do I have for this life, which is burning in the fire of excruciating sorrow?
"O merciful Lady! Indeed, lately I am floating in a nectarean ocean of hope, and passing time in hardship and pain, but if You do not shower mercy upon me then this life, living in Vrindavan, and even Lord Krishna are all meaningless to me.”
“The Queen of Vraja is my mistress. O Lady mistress, O Radha, I am Your maidservant, but the flames of intense separation are incinerating my heart and I grow feeble from profuse crying. Finding no other means, I am therefore sitting somewhere in Govardhan and composing these verses in deep lamentation.
"O dallying damsel of Vraja, Sri Radhika, I am sucked into an ocean of grief and my condition is so miserable! Kindly send me Your mercy in the form of an infallible boat and save me from this whirlpool. Please give me sanctuary at Your lotus feet.”
“O Radha-kunda, pond of sublime joy, my mistress Srimati Radhika is always absorbed in divine amorous pastimes with her beloved paramour Sri Krishna on your banks, and you have endeared yourself to this Divine Couple more than anything else They cherish. Please, therefore, be merciful upon me and allow me but a moments vision of the object of my greatest adoration, Srimati Radharani.
From Brahma-Samhita
"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who resides in His own realm, Goloka, with Radha, who resembles His own spiritual figure and who embodies the ecstatic potency [hladini]. Their companions are Her confidantes, who embody extensions of Her bodily form and who are imbued and permeated with ever-blissful spiritual rasa.” B.S. 5.37
Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Adi Lila 1.6
Desiring to understand the glory of Radharani’s love, the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her love, and the happiness She feels when She relishes the sweetness of His love, the Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions, appears from the womb of Srimati Sachi Devi, as the moon appears from the ocean.
The essence of the hladini potency is love of God, the essence of love of God is emotion [bhava], and the ultimate development of emotion is mahabhava. Sri Radha Thakurani is the embodiment of mahabhava. She is the repository of all good qualities and the crest jewel among all the lovely consorts of Lord Krishna.
Of these two gopis [Radharani and Candravali], Srimati Radharani is superior in all respects. She is the embodiment of mahabhava, and She surpasses all in good qualities. (Ujjvala-nilamani 2)
Her mind, senses and body are steeped in love for Krishna. She is Krishna’s own energy, and She helps Him in His pastimes.[Adi 4.68-71]
O Partha, in all the three planetary systems, this earth is especially fortunate, for on earth is the town of Vrindavan. And there the gopis are especially glorious because among them is My Srimati Radharani. (Adi Purana-Krishna to Arjuna)
Lord Caitanya appeared with the sentiment of Sri Radha. He preached the dharma of this age-the chanting of the holy name and pure love of God. In the mood of Srimati Radharani, He also fulfilled His own desires. This is the principal reason for His appearance. 
C.C. Adi 4.238-272

To Watch Video Click here

Source : http://m.dandavats.com/?p=23901

Burning material desires may manifest in various ways. One way is that we think of sense objects. Another way may be that we do not think of sense objects – as devotees, we can come to a stage where we do not allow our mind to think of sense objects, so we do not think of sense objects – but then, the blazing fire of material desire manifests in dissatisfaction. And for a long time, we are dissatisfied. When a devotee is not happy it is dangerous because we need happiness. A devotee MUST be happy! This is very important.

We should not just ignore that, su-sukhaḿ kartum avyayam (Bhagavad-gita 9.2). Spiritual life must be joyfully performed; you must have some fun. It is important that everyone, not only the mahabhagavats – the topmost vaishnavas are having all the fun – and for everyone else, it is just duty, duty, heavy duty spiritual life; that cannot not last, for how long can one do so!? Then one will surely embrace the material energy so we must also cultivate some fun.

Source : https://www.kksblog.com/2016/09/we-must-have-some-fun/

Radha Damodar Das has been following in Srila Prabhupada's footsteps since almost 40 years, and his path has not been an easy one. He first heard the Maha-mantra in 1979 and began chanting right away. He soon became one of the leaders of the ISKCON movement, which was then illegal in the Soviet Union. In May 1983, he was arrested and imprisoned for his faith. While in prison, he had to work in dangerous conditions, which included using a poisonous glue. He also suffered from malnutrition. Nevertheless, Radha Damodar continued to follow the principles of Krishna Consciousness and to preach. His health suffered, especially his lungs. Today, it is the lungs that have been affected by a dangerous disease. 

In 1987, the repressions against the devotees have ended, and since then, Radha Damodar das has become the leader of the Movement in the USSR and later in Russia. For many years, he has also been the leader of ISKCON Communications in Russia. Many important contacts have been established and many wonderful projects were carried out under his guidance. His latest project is a book, which is dedicated to ISKCON 50.  All those who know him are impressed with his stability, goodwill and his never-changing good mood. He has helped many, and today he is in need the devotees’ prayers.

Radha Damodara Das back in the 80s.

On August 20th, Bhakti Vijnana Goswami published an appeal to the Russian Vaishnavas with a request to pray for Radha Damodara Das's health.

On August 27th, the Fund for Moscow Vaisnavas Support published an update on Radha Damodara's health. It said that Radha Damodar das is receiving medical treatment in Moscow and that there is a team of devotees that takes care of his needs and diet. Radha Damodar continues to associate with devotees and chants japa. He is optimistic, follows all the instructions of the doctor and is ready to fight the disease and come back to his service, which is of no surprise to those who know him as a very determined devotee.

On September 1st, there will be a yajna in the Sri Sri Dayal Nitai Sacisuta temple in Moscow for Radha Damodara Das’s recovery.

Russian devotees are asking the international devotee community for their kind blessings and prayers.

Anuttama Dasa, ISKCON Minister of Communications adds:

“Radha Damodar prabhu has been a steady, mature leader of the Russian yatra and of the Communications Department in Russia for many years. He is a thoughtful person, a kind person, and a true Vaishnava gentleman. I request the devotees around the world to please say a prayer to Lord Krishna on behalf of Radha Damodar prabhu and his family, so that Radha Damodar may recover from this health challenge and continue his excellent service to the Lord and the Russian yatra.”

Source : http://iskconnews.org/radha-damodar-das-one-of-the-first-devotees-in-the-soviet-union-is-gravely-ill,5778/

Central to the concept of avatar is the idea of crossing over from one realm to another. In its original Sanskrit philosophical context, avatar refers to the Absolute Truth descending from the spiritual world to the material world. The divine’s existence beyond this world is called transcendence, whereas his existence in this world is called immanence. The question of how the transcendent can become immanent has intrigued many thinkers throughout history. To get a sense of the question’s profundity, let’s look at the digital, Christian, monistic and bhakti conceptions of avatar.

Digital avatar

The Sanskrit word avatar has become mainstream in English due to both a Hollywood blockbuster and computer role-playing games. In contemporary usage, avatar refers to an icon representing a person in digital arenas such as video games and Internet forums. In such usage, the crossing over implicit in avatar is from the physical world to the digital world. Our digital avatar is a step-down from the reality of who we are. Even if our video game avatar is expert at doing many things, still it has no consciousness. Its apparent consciousness results from the projection of our consciousness into it through the game’s interfacing mechanism. So, when we refer to something unconscious as our avatar, we conceive ourselves in reduced terms.

Such a reduction is revealing, for it points to two distinct thought-trains: A mechanistic conception of the self which makes us think that we can be represented by a digital profile that is as unconscious as the electrons that comprise the digital world. A longing for crossing over to some reality other than our present mundane reality with all its inanity.

Though the word avatar traditionally refers to the Absolute Truth’s descent to this world, the word’s contemporary usage refers to the self, not the Absolute. Still, the problems of crossing over associated with the notion of avatar surface when applied to the self too.

 Christian incarnation

Avatar is frequently translated in English as incarnation. This English word is intricately associated with Abrahamic conceptions about how the divine manifests in this world. In Christianity, the word “incarnation” refers usually to Jesus, who is conceived of as God descended in flesh as a human being. Jesus was born in a Jewish tradition that was heavily messianic, driven by the longing for a future messiah who would deliver people from their various problems.

Based on Jesus’s teachings and miracles, his followers thought of him as the messiah. This notion was falsified for some by his crucifixion, but it was reinforced for others by his claimed resurrection. For nearly four centuries thereafter, the identity of Jesus was a matter of vigorous, even acrimonious, debate in the Christian community. Eventually, the Nicene Creed elevated Jesus from messiah to Incarnation.

The Creed resolved that the divinity of Christ had manifested in the humanity of Jesus, who was therefore both fully human and fully divine. But the ascription of full divinity to him was problematic, given the relatively recent and undeniable historical memory of Jesus’ life as a human. The Bible itself compounded the problem through statements such as “My Father is greater than I.” (John 14:2) While some quotes support the oneness of the Father and the Son, the Bible also indicates implies that his “oneness” with God is not exclusive to him – it can be achieved by others too: “As You and I are one, let them also be one in Us.” (John 17:21)

This blurring of the human-divine boundaries in conceiving the identity of Jesus reflects a larger blurring of the material-spiritual boundaries in Christian philosophy. The Bible refers to the soul, but doesn’t clearly describe it or categorically differentiate it from the body – it is frequently used as a metaphorical reference to our non-material essence. With such ontological ambiguity about the soul, the notion emerged that all faithful believers would receive bodily resurrection, as had Jesus. Here again we see how conceptions of the divine are intertwined with conceptions of the self.  

Monistic avatar

Monists hold that reality comprises ultimately only one substance. Technically, materialists who hold that matter is all that exists are also monists – they are materialist monists. But conventionally, monist refers to spiritualists who hold that one spiritual substance is all that exists. For such monists, the material world with all its variety is ultimately an illusion. They also hold that our self-conception as individual beings is also an illusion. They believe that liberation means merging into the non-differentiated oneness of the Absolute.

For monists, matter is just an illusion; spirit is all that exists, and it is a non-differentiated oneness. So, in the monistic worldview, there exists no material world to cross over to and no supreme spiritual being to cross over. Monists try to resolve such problems in their philosophy by granting provisional reality to matter – matter is seen as real as long as people are in material consciousness or, in other words, in illusion.

They hold that avatar too is such a provisional reality – the impersonal absolute temporarily becomes personal during the period of descent. Avatar is thus treated as a helpful illusion that can aid us in resisting the harmful illusions of material existence: the many sense objects that allure us towards worldly pleasures. When we focus our consciousness on the avatar, we can become detached from sense objects and situated in the relatively elevated mode of goodness. Still, no matter how helpful, avatar is deemed ultimately an illusion – an illusion that needs to be transcended for attaining liberation. Thus, monism treats avatar not as a spiritual truth, but as a convenient fiction useful for spiritual growth.  

Bhakti avatar

Whereas Christianity holds that the incarnation is somehow both material and spiritual, and monism holds that the avatar is material, bhakti explains that the avatar remains spiritual even while being in the material world. To grasp how this is possible, we need to first understand how bhakti envisions the relationship between matter and spirit. The Bhagavad-gita in its second chapter outlines a radical matter-spirit duality. Spirit is said to have none of the attributes of matter – the soul is neither born nor dies (02.20) and is immutable, being beyond fragmentation, incineration, dissolution and desiccation (02.24-25).

Yet the Gita balances this radical duality with an organic unity in its seventh chapter, where it declares that both matter and spirit are energies of the same one Absolute Truth (07.04-05). That spirit is the energy of the Absolute implies that the Absolute is situated not just on the spiritual side of the material-spiritual divide, but is situated at the summit of spiritual reality. The Gita (10.12) reveals this Absolute Truth to be Krishna, declaring that he is not just brahma (spirit) but param brahma (supreme spirit). Srimad-Bhagavatam (8.3.4), another prominent bhakti text, reiterates this position of the Absolute by declaring him as parat parah, which the pre-eminent modern bhakti teacher, Srila Prabhupada glosses as “he is transcendental to transcendental, or above all transcendence.”

With this metaphysical background, we are better prepared to understand how the avatar remains spiritual even in the material world. To illustrate, Srila Prabhupada would sometimes give the example of electricity: it is one energy that can manifest through a room heater as heat and through an air conditioner as cold.

Consider a device that can, by the flip of a switch, heat and, by another flip, cool. The controller of that device can, at will, get the same electrical energy to heat or cool. If all of existence is like a device, Krishna is like its controller. By operating the switch of his omnipotence, he can prevent the material energy from acting materially on him even when he manifests in the material world.

Though the Bhagavad-gita doesn’t use the specific word avatar, it talks about the descent of the divine in its fourth chapter (04.06-10). The Gita begins this discussion (04.06) by asserting that Krishna remains the imperishable Lord of all living beings even when he enters into his material nature. This declaration implies that he doesn’t come under the control of material nature, which sentences all embodied beings through time’s inexorable flow to bodily deterioration and destruction. The eternal transcendence of avatar underscores a subtle difference between avatar and its common English translation incarnation.

Etymologically, “incarnation” means “to come in flesh”; the root “carna” is seen in words such as carnivorous animals (flesh-eating animals) and carnal desires (desires to enjoy the flesh). Krishna, however, doesn’t descend in a form of flesh; he remains transcendental. Nonetheless, bhakti teachers frequently introduce contemporary audiences to the concept of avatara with the English rendition “incarnation”. In so doing, they avoid burdening us with a double unfamiliarity: both an unfamiliar term and an unfamiliar concept. Terms are verbal handles for mental concepts.

By first giving us a familiar handle to grasp an unfamiliar concept and then explaining the concept’s unfamiliar dimensions, they help us move towards comprehension, one step at a time. When Krishna descends and performs his pastimes in this world, he transforms this world from a stage for the display of illusion to a stage for the display of the highest spiritual reality: the loving pastimes between him and his devotees.

The Gita (04.09) states that those who become attracted to Krishna’s appearance and activities, understanding his transcendental position, don’t take rebirth – they attain his eternal abode.   Trailer and trail The pastimes that the avatar performs serve an extraordinary double role: as a trailer and a trail. Trailer: Love is our deepest aspiration; we all desire to love and be loved. However, due to the temporary nature of things in this world, our longing for love is frustrated – inevitably and repeatedly. Krishna’s pastimes are enactments of the love that is never frustrated – pure spiritual love between the all-attractive Supreme and his devotees that goes on eternally in the spiritual world.

When Krishna descends to this world, he performs some of those pastimes here, giving us tantalizing glimpses of an arena where our longing for love can be eternally and perfectly fulfilled. Thus, his pastimes serve as trailers meant to attract us to his abode. Trail: Those with superficial understanding of Krishna’s pastimes think of them as stories meant for entertainment. But those who understand these pastimes in truth know that they are not meant to entertain; they are meant to be entered into – they occur in that eternal spiritual reality to which we as souls, parts of Krishna, belong. To enter that reality, we need to redirect our heart from the world to Krishna. For this redirection, his pastimes provide charming and purifying subject matter that we can contemplate, churn, recollect and relish.

The more we thus think about Krishna, the more our heart becomes attracted to him and the more we progress on the path towards him. By providing us substance for turning our heart to him, Krishna’s pastimes comprise the trail that leads to him. Overall, avatar demonstrates the centrality of love in spiritual growth. It is Krishna’s love for us that inspires the transcendent to become immanent, and it is our love for him that enables us to cross over from matter to spirit, to realize our trans-material identity and become situated in spiritual reality. 

Source : http://iskconnews.org/avatar-digital-christian-monistic-and-bhakti-conceptions,5780/

Hunger in our mouths
Comes from emptiness in our stomachs.

Hunger in our senses
Comes from emptiness in our hearts.

The mouth can fill a stomach’s emptiness
But can the heart’s emptiness be filled through the senses?

The heart’s emptiness
Is best filled by her close friends: the mind and words.

If you hear the right words
And think about them deeply, feelingly.
You will never again go hungry.

Hear about All-Attractive, All-Delighting Krishna-Rāma.
And contemplate what you hear, deeply… feelingly.

Source : https://vicd108.wordpress.com/2016/09/02/the-emptiness-in-you/

Einstein, Emerson, Thoreau, Huxley, Hesse… I was amazed that this list an intellectual who’s who from recent world history was actually a list of thinkers who had appreciated the Gita.

As I had been born and brought up in India, the place where the Gita was spoken millennia ago, I was familiar with it as an ancient Hindu text. I had even memorized some of it for verse recitation contests. But I had no idea that its contents were of interest to the modern mind, much less praised by some of the greatest modern minds.

Reading such appreciations of the Gita motivated me to study the text seriously. After reading several Gita commentaries, by well-known spiritual teachers, I came across the rendition of the Gita that I found most relevant: the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, by Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acarya of ISKCON. Studying that text in the association of Krishna devotees initiated for me an intellectual adventure that continues till this day. That adventure has involved studying the commentaries of many illustrious saintly teachers from the past, discussing the Gita with contemporary devotee-scholars, memorizing and relishing its verses, and choosing to dedicate my life to sharing Gita wisdom. All this intellectual engagement with the Gita has helped me understand it better. It has also helped me better understand just how much there is still to understand in it.

Now, with the holistic understanding of the Gita that the bhakti tradition provides, when I look back at those appreciations of scholars and intellectuals, I can see how they help elucidate the glory of Gita wisdom.

Insights on Essential Questions

“When I read the Bhagavad-gita and reflect about how God created this universe, everything else seems so superfluous.” – Albert Einstein, Noble Laureate German Scientist

We live amidst a degree of information overload that makes us susceptible to a particular sort of intellectual malfunction an inability to contemplate life’s essential questions. Through newspapers, TV, and the Internet, data on hundreds of subjects from hundreds of sources swamps us daily. Much of this information is irrelevant to our core concerns; knowledge about the favorite food of a popular actor, and similar information, makes no difference to our lives in any practical sense.

The Bhagavad-gita (13.12) leaves just this sort of intellectual superficiality far behind by explicitly declaring that spiritual knowledge is the most important among all branches of knowledge. Significantly, it doesn’t let spiritual knowledge remain in the realm of remote abstraction. It brings that knowledge to bear on issues that lie at the heart of our existential dilemma: who we are, what our role in the world is, and how we can find real happiness. Gita wisdom underscores the fact that we are not just physical bodies but spiritual beings. Our purpose is to harmonize ourselves with the underlying order that pervades the universe, which can be achieved by learning to love the Supreme Being, Krishna, who can grant us supreme fulfillment.

The Gita’s sophisticated theistic framework, as evident, for example, in its delineation (Gita 9.510) of Krishna’s relationship with the world, provides us with the exciting possibility to reconcile age-old conflicts between science and religion. The mainstream scientific worldview implies that the cosmos functions as an impersonal mechanism, governed by universal and immutable laws. Conventional religion implies that such laws can be superseded by a personal God who bestows grace and intervenes in the lives of His worshipers for their greater benefit.

In this conflict, those who side with science usually have to settle for some kind of deism. But this reduces God to a mere first cause, a passive observer unable to intervene in the world He set in motion, on behalf of His devotees or a otherwise a notion unacceptable to the religious mind nourished by God’s independent desire to be merciful. Those who side with religion frequently have to settle for a God who arbitrarily works miracles a notion unpalatable to the scientific mind that thrives on the sort of orderliness that characterizes the universe.

How does the Gita help resolve this conflict?

By outlining a profound theistic framework wherein God, Krishna, plays a fascinating double-role. It presents a multi-level conception of God as both a neutral overseer (Paramatma) and a reciprocal giver and receiver of love (Bhagavan). The understanding of God as a neutral overseer provides room for the universe to function as a mechanism governed by natural laws. The simultaneous parallel understanding of God as a reciprocal giver and receiver of love provides room for divine intervention.

No doubt, the conflict is philosophically complex and the two level conception of God is theologically intricate. So, this article won’t give a comprehensive presentation of either; it intends rather to serve as an introduction to the impressive scope and depth of Gita wisdom. This same principle applies to the other complex issues addressed in the remaining sections.

Systematic Guidance for Spiritual Evolution

“The Bhagavad-gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution of endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear and comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity.” Aldous Huxley, English writer

Perennial philosophy centers on two vital principles: understanding philo the perennial, the function of the head; and loving the perennial, the function of the heart. Gita wisdom boosts both the head and the heart in their voyage towards the eternal.

For the head, the Gita explains that reality comprises three levels: the arena of material forms, which is temporary; the arena of formlessness that lies at the threshold of eternity; and the arena of spiritual forms that lies at the heart of life in eternal reality. We can visualize these three levels in a graphical representation of reality as a continuum along the y-axis. The lower, negative side of the axis represents material reality. The upper, positive side refers to spiritual reality. And the zero point refers to the transition where matter ends and spirit begins. These three levels can also be alternatively referred to as material personal, impersonal, and spiritual personal or trans-personal.

Thus the Gita provides an inclusive framework for contextualizing and integrating notions of reality that have emerged in various traditions throughout the world. Its nonsectarian understanding of the Absolute Truth is evident in its declaration that Krishna is the father of not just all human beings but of all living beings. (14.4) The same universal spirit is manifest in the Gita’s declaration (10.8) that Krishna is the source of everything.

For the heart, the Gita offers a positive role for emotions: they can be reinvented as roads to spiritual perception instead of being rejected as roadblocks in spiritual life. It first underscores that material emotions act as roadblocks because they distort our vision, making worldly things seem desirable when they are in fact the source of suffering. So it repeatedly (Gita 2.38, 9.28, 12.19, for example) urges us to evolve spiritually and grow beyond the grip of our emotions.

But the Gita wisdom refuses to let the material realm have a monopoly on emotions. It indicates that spiritual emotions emotions of the soul for Krishna, and of the soul through Krishna for other souls are our original, natural emotions of which material emotions are pale shadows. The Gita (15.19) declares that the ultimate spiritual reality is personal and lovable, and can be approached with devotional affection. (10.10 bhajatam pritipurvakam) Thus it celebrates spiritual emotions as roads to reality. In fact, it deems love for Krishna to be the pinnacle of reality, life’s crowning achievement. (4.10)

Overall, the Gita presents spiritual perfection not as oneness or as an emotionally barren void, but as an emotionally fertile arena of endless love shared between Krishna and all living beings.

East-West Theistic Synthesis

“The Bhagavad-gita is an empire of thought and in its philosophical teachings Krishna has all the attributes of the fullfledged monotheistic deity and at the same time the attributes of the Upanisadic absolute.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, American philosopher

The Western conception of a personal God is emotionally appealing but intellectually unappealing. The Eastern conception of an impersonal absolute is just the opposite intellectually appealing but emotionally unappealing. The Gita’s revelation of God as Krishna is both intellectually and emotionally appealing. Here’s why.

Emotionally, the idea of a personal God who protects and guides us appeals to our innate need for relationships and reciprocation. Without them, existence becomes an emotional wasteland. Yet most notions of a personal God in the Western theistic traditions can’t survive serious intellectual scrutiny.

Intellectuals like to go beyond appearance to substance, to the first principle, to the root cause of all things. So they often consider anything that has form and personality to be superficial and external. They feel impelled to go beyond to some deeper underlying universal truth. Thus, for example, the notion of God as an old man with a long beard who sends thunderbolts to cast the sinful into the fires of hell for eternal damnation strikes rational people as primitive and parochial.

To those who wish to go beyond appearance to substance, the Gita offers an arena of non-differentiated oneness known as Brahman, the impersonal conception of the Absolute. But it also urges such intellectually minded seekers to probe deeper and recognize transcendental individuality and variety within spiritual homogeneity. The Gita indicates that the transcendental person, Krishna, resides in His full glory beyond the Brahman effulgence (Gita 4.27). He is the support of Brahman and is the ultimate spiritual reality. In the supreme spiritual arena, He eternally reciprocates love with all those who choose to love Him. This vision of the supreme spiritual arena as a world of endless love is eminently emotionally fulfilling.

Thus by revealing a personal absolute who exists beyond all the sectarian categories that characterize the world of matter categories that intellectuals wish to transcend the Gita offers an understanding of God that is a synthesis of East and West and that appeals both emotionally and intellectually.

The Blossoming of Philosophy into Religion

“The marvel of the Bhagavad-gita is its truly beautiful revelation of life’s wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion.” The bane of most modern philosophy is its divorce from any transformational methodology for experiential verification. Most modern philosophers, no matter how brilliant, reign largely in the arena of armchair speculation. Philosophy divorced from transformational methodology loses its social relevance and becomes the shrunken domain of ivory tower intellectuals who agonize over semantics. In popular culture, philosophy is superseded by pop psychology, wherein self-help platitudes gain center-stage and wisdom is recast in soothing sound bites. People futilely turn to self-help without looking for the self.

Gita wisdom shows us the way out of this plight. It couples philosophy and religion into an integrated whole that serves as a potent tool for self-transformation and God realization. The Bhagavad-gita (9.2) indicates that it offers the king of all knowledge (raja-vidya) that can be verified by direct personal experience (pratyaksavagamam). Thus the Gita’s approach to exploring reality is bold, inviting, and scientific. It presents theoretical propositions about the nature of reality we are souls who have an eternal loving relationship with the all-attractive Supreme, Krishna. And for personal verification of its theory it presents the experimental methodology centered on the yoga of love, bhakti-yoga.

The Gita’s philosophy, far from being a matter of armchair speculation, focuses on the issue closest to our hearts love. Gita wisdom explains how life’s driving force is existence’s crowning reality the love that activates us in our daily life when purified and re-directed towards Krishna becomes the supreme reality, to which even the Supreme submits in His world of endless love.

And the Gita’s religion is far removed from conventional religions that ask followers to pray, pay, and obey. It invites devotee-seekers to analyze, utilize, and actualize its wisdom through personal practice practice that Krishna rewards proportionally with divine revelation, as indicated in the Gita (4.11) Thus, the philosophy of love blossoms into a religion of love, wherein all our daily activities, whether religious or secular, become integrated into a magnificent master plan. This plan aims for our purification and restoration in the eternal world of love to which we actually belong and for which we subconsciously long.

Comprehension through Spiritual Tuning

“In order to approach a creation as sublime as the Bhagavad-gita with full understanding it is necessary to attune our soul to it.” Rudolph Steiner, Austrian social reformer

The Bhagavad-gita indicates that its mystery is revealed to those who have tuned their hearts with the Absolute through devotion. (4.3) What the Gita offers is not just a different worldview for intellectual titillation but a different world to view for emotional transformation. A blind person can speculate endlessly about the nature of an elephant, but such speculation can never provide the understanding available through surgical restoration of vision. Analogously, the Gita indicates that those who are stuck at the material level due to their attachments are blind to spiritual reality. (Gita 5.1011) Those who break free from the fetter of matter by diligent practice of yoga and raise their consciousness to the spiritual level become healed of this blindness; they perceive spiritual truth with the eyes of knowledge (jnanacaksu). The most complete spiritual cognition comes, as the Gita (11.5354) indicates, to those who cultivate a heart of devotion.

This devotional tuning characterized the words, the actions, indeed the life of Srila Prabhupada. When George Harrison asked him how one could recognize an authentic teacher of the Gita, Srila Prabhupada replied in essence that the Gita was a call to love Krishna, so an authentic proponent of the Gita had to be a lover of Krishna.

Through his personal example and his philosophical exposition, Srila Prabhupada unleashed the supremely transformational power of divine love. He thus opened for millions worldwide the door to not just intellectual comprehension of Gita wisdom but also to devotional realization of Krishna’s love. By this appealing spiritual egalitarianism, he “transformed hippies into happies,” changing aimless people with self defeating habits into purposeful and joyful devotees of Krishna dedicated to the service of humanity.

Hope amidst Hopelessness

“When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day.” Mahatma Gandhi

Life is a battle, filled with regular obstacles and occasional reversals. Maintaining our morale amidst these stresses and distresses is often difficult, sometimes impossible. When we become demoralized, we lose the battle before we begin to fight, for we lose the will to fight at all.

We can best preserve the will to fight by linking ourselves with a transcendent reality that is forever secure, far beyond the threats and tribulations of material existence. Gita wisdom reveals that world to be Krishna’s world of love. The link to that world is loving remembrance of Krishna, remembrance especially of how He tirelessly prepares the way for us to reach that world, no matter what may be the hazards along the way.

Gita wisdom solaced and strengthened Arjuna in his worst crisis, when in the face of the most important battle of his life, his emotions went on over-drive and dragged him into an abyss of confusion and dejection. Meditation on the Gita’s verses has the power to heal and thrill, as testified by one of its first conveyors, Sanjaya. (18.7677)

The Gita’s potential to empower beckons each one of us. By contemplating its wisdom, we can guide our thoughts beyond the immediate to the ultimate, beyond the circumstantial to the eternal, beyond matter to Krishna. Thus, we can find the supreme shelter, the supreme strength, the supreme satisfaction. That is the Gita’s greatest gift and life’s ultimate achievement.

Source : http://www.iskcondelhi.com/the-glory-of-gita-wisdom/

One time a saint observed a candala walking along the road was sprinkling water on the path to purify before his every step. This was kinda strange and so the saint approached him and asked the reason. The Candala told its sinful to walk along the path where an ungrateful person has walked over. Even a candala feels he gets sin to touch the earth that was walked over by an ungrateful person. 

The following is quite impersonal but is ultimately about connecting to the nature and the creator indirectly. 

"From The Secret Daily Teachings Mobile App 

Begin your day by feeling grateful. Be grateful for the bed you just slept in, the roof over your head, the carpet or floor under your feet, the running water, the soap, your shower, your toothbrush, your clothes, your shoes, the refrigerator that keeps your food cold, the car that you drive, your job, your friends. Be grateful for the stores that make it so easy to buy the things you need, the restaurants, the utilities, services, and electrical appliances that make your life effortless. Be grateful for the magazines and the books that you read. Be grateful for the chair that you sit on, and the pavement that you walk on. Be grateful for the weather, the sun, the sky, the birds, the trees, the grass, the rain, and the flowers. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

May the joy be with you, 
Rhonda Byrne" 

Source : http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.in/2015/04/the-ungrateful-heart-is-not-so-great.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/krsna+(Krishna-Bhakti+Yoga)

Extracted from an article "With Krsna in the Peaceable Kıngdom"

By Ravindra Svarupa Das

The material body of every living being is animated by a spiritual soul, who is the eternal offspring of Krsna. Each souls individual history of good or bad deeds causes him to become fastened into a higher or lower body, yet all souls remain in essence equal as children of God. God never forgets them, and a godly person, Krsna tells us, sees all animate beings as spritually equal sparks of the divine (Bg.5.18).

But if we forgt God and consequently develop eclipsed material vision, the transcen- dental unity of the eludes us. Once we have become estranged from Krsna, we become estranged from all other living beings-even those of our own kind. thesymptom of our divorce from God is our inability to sustain peaceful, harmonious, loving realtions with others. We incessantly make war upon our fellow humans, and we wantonly prey upon innocent animals, needlessly slaughtering them for food. At the same time we feel a need to rectify all our reationships—within our own families and communities, among races and nations, and between humans and subhumans.

Yet the disorder that has invaded all our relations is a symptom of one central enduring dislocation—our severance from God. Only when that is repaired will the disruption between ourselves and all other beings be healed.

Source : http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.in/2015/04/disorder-has-invaded-all-our-relations.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/krsna+(Krishna-Bhakti+Yoga)

Reversals teach you lessons!

Source : http://dinesh-krsna.blogspot.in/2015/05/reversals-teach-you-lessons.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/krsna+(Krishna-Bhakti+Yoga)

Nourishment is what the soul seeks
A moment of attention to grasp the music 
A moment of concentration to sink into the holy name
A moment that unknowingly becomes minutes
Minutes if not hours of being engulfed
Love? Peace? Contentment?
Pale in comparison to - bliss
Bliss of Hari-nama 

So dear mind! Why?
Why the mindless clapping with a vacant expression?
Why the trek through mountains of thought?
Allow that music to float across your ears
Once the boat of music enters the shores of your ears
The passenger - the holy name enters the mind
Enters the intelligence
Enters my whole being

All it takes is a moment of attention
Dear dear Gaura, bless my mind
Steady attention is all I ask....

"So this concentration of mind isvery difficult in this age because mind is so agitated. Therefore force them to hear Hare Krishna . Even they have no mind to hear, you chant loudly Hare Krishna . They will hear. Their mind will be dragged. It is so nice thing. He hasn't got to (chuckling) concentrate. I'll force him. You see? So as soon as he hears "Krishna," oh, he advances immediately one step." - Lecture on BG 3.18-30 -- Los Angeles, December 30, 1968

Source : http://walksatdawn.blogspot.in/2015/05/attention.html

The process of Krishna consciousness brings about a very dynamic and ongoing transformation – a transformation of our life and ourselves. Spiritual life is ever increasing – there are always new insights to gain and new discoveries to make.

Lord Chaitanya compares a devotee to an expert gardener, who cultivates the Bhakti Lata with care and attention throughout his entire life to one day harvest the fruit of pure love to Krishna. For our Bhakti Lata to grow healthy and strong it is of the greatest importance to regularly turn towards sources of nourishment and fresh inspiration in order to deepen our faith in the process of devotional service. It is like the fertilizer, which the expert gardener regularly adds to the soil.

And a source of such nourishment and inspiration is provided by the Bhakti Sangam Festival, where devotees come together and develop relationships on the basis of hearing Krishna Katha from advanced Sadhus, and chant the Holy Name together.

In CC, Madhya 3, 203 Srila Prabhupada is giving us the direct instruction to conduct such festivals:

“If one has the proper means and wealth, he should occasionally invite the devotees of Lord Caitanya who are engaged in preaching all over the world and hold a festival at home simply by distributing prasadam and talking about Krishna during the day and holding congregational chanting for at least three hours in the evening. This procedure must be adopted in all centers of the Krishna consciousness movement.”

The annual Bhakti Sangam Festival is surely the most amazing event on this planet, with so many Maharajas and preachers sharing their realizations in seminars, and the evenings are spent in most sublime kirtans. Each seminar block has six presentations running parallel in various venues. Since there is such a huge crowd of devotees many topics can be offered by a variety of speakers to suit everyone’s needs and attractions.

For Photo Gallery Click here

Source : http://www.dandavats.com/?p=30995

Extinguishing the blazing fire of material existence

‘World Holy Name Week’ is a festival held by devotees worldwide to commemorate Srila Prabhupada’s arrival in the West.  Devotees celebrate it by chanting and distributing the holy names to everyone. It helps us remember that it is by the causeless mercy of Srila Prabhupada that we have received the holy names and what was once a one day celebration, became a weeklong celebration, then a 10 day celebration and this year a two week celebration starting on July 28th and ending on August 14th.

Sankirtana is the heart of padayatra. Wherever we walk, whenever we enter a village or conduct house programs we chant the holy names with every soul in attendance dancing along with us. It’s not a surprise to us since we are traveling with sankirtana eka pitaro, the father ofsankirtana Himself, Lord Caitanya. Lokanath Swami said, “Celebrating the ‘World Holy Name’ festival is like celebrating the victory of the holy names all over the world param vijayate sri- krishna sankirtanam. The world is on fire, let us chant more and extinguish the fire of this material existence. So, propagate the holy names.” We took these words to heart and held different programs during these two weeks  of ‘World Holy Name’ celebrations.

We were in Kurur on July 28th the first day of this celebration, which also coincided with the day of the incorporation of ISKCON in New York. During the

three days we stayed there we distributed about 250 maha big books. We held kirtana in the streets and had many house programs all over the city. Thereafter we travelled to the village of Manlamedu where we experienced the miracle of a cowslaughterer becoming a cow worshipper.  (This amazing story has already been posted on the padayatra website)

Risking our lives to give the holy names in a riotous city

On August 6th we travelled to the city of Dindugal. We noticed that there were many churches and masjids (mosques) and very few hindu temples. Our party forged ahead but before we could enter the city we were stopped by some policemen. We tried to explain to them our purpose –to spread the holy names- but they wouldn’t listen and refused us entry.  At this point we were at a loss as to where we were going to spend the night, so the police told us to camp at the outskirts of the city 2 kilometers away. The police officials were kind enough to send two police constables to remain with us while we were there, They were concerned for our safety, since there had been some conflicts in the community.

The next day we continued with our regular morning program of mangala arati, chanting,Bhagavatam class on the theme of the glories of the holy names and prasadam. We were happy to see that the police constables also got up and attended the morning program. They even asked us, “Can we also chant ?”, and requested  japa beads. We told them, “Yes of courseharinama is for everyone” and gave them beads to chant on. While getting ready to go onsankirtana we noticed a few Muslims gathering nearby checking out our padayatra cart. It appeared to us that they thought we were some ‘anti-social’ group, so we went up to them and spoke to them about our aim- to propagate the holy names. After explaining and assuring them that we had no other objectives they realized we were harmless;  yet still we were not allowed to enter the city.

Sometime later a police official in charge of the city approached us. We pleaded with him to allow us into the city but he explained that the rules here are different and therefore, he could not do so. He may not have been able to let us into the city at this point but he was certainly interested in padayatra –he stayed with us for two hours, first taking darsana of the Lord and then having prasadam with us. The whole time we were still trying to convince him to let us into the city, even saying that we would enter at our own risk. We explained our mission again, ‘We want to spread the holy names wherever we go. The holy names are not just for Hindus whoever hears the holy names gets spiritual benefit. We are chanting for love and peace dina hina yata chilo hariname udharilo (the holy names delivers all those souls who are lowly and wretched).’ Finally after all this persuasion he agreed on the condition that while in the city we would be under constant police protection. He told us that there were riots in the city between Muslims and Hindus during ganpati utsava.  The people celebrating were drinking alcohol and playing loud music and because of the disturbance there were some conflicts in the city. We said to him, “Don’t worry, ours is spiritual kirtana which the Lord Himself has sent to Earth and which is soothing for every soul.”

As we entered the city 4 police vans travelled in front of our party and 4 more travelled behind us. We held a grand kirtana with some of the people joining us and many more coming to honorcarnamrta which we had begun distributing. We were very surprised indeed. Our party moved through the city without hindrance despite there being traffic –the police officials co-operated with us and we moved ahead. ‘Who could stop the Lord if He wants to go to His children and give them darsana?,’ I thought. This was how all the Hindus, Muslims and Christians were blessed by seeing the Lord and hearing the holy names.

The police officials were astounded; they couldn’t believe that there were no divergences or violence while we were in the city. In fact they told us “Sri Sri Nitai Gaurasundar are very merciful, but you, Their followers, are even more merciful. You risked your lives to give the holy names to each and every person in this city. All glories to you!” I replied, “The Lord is the doer and protector and we are just instruments in His hands.” The police constables who were accompanying us were so inspired that they asked the official in charge whether they could continue staying on duty with us, ‘sadhus’, explaining that they wanted to be with us. They enjoyed being in the association of devotees – such is the power of the holy names -and as a result the police officials protected us right up until we left the Dindugal district.

Param vijayatre sri krishna sankirtanam

On August 12th we travelled to the village of Vaiyampatti which has a namahatta centre. The devotees there, hearing of our arrival, happily welcomed us and organized a pandal program and nice prasadam.  We were pleased to see many local residents attending the program. I took the opportunity to speak to the crowd about the vital importance of chanting the holy names in kaliyuga, and quoted Srila Prabhupada, “Sankirtan is the only cure.” We stayed here for two days doing sankirtana with the namahatta devotees in the main squares of the village.

Our next stop was on August 14th in the village of Malayandipatti. We held sankirtana with many of the locals joining us while relishing the holy names. That day marked the 50thanniversary of the first public harinam sankirtan in the western world and also the last day of ‘World Holy Name Week’, but for us it seemed like just the beginning since whatever we did these days inspired us more and more.

It was thus, by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and our beloved Padayatra Ministry leader, Lokanath Swami, that we were able to celebrate ‘World Holy Name Week’.

ISKCON Golden jubilee ki! Jai!

World Holy Name Festival ki! Jai!

Quotes about the holy names to inspire you too:

The holy name is the most precious jewel in the Lord’s treasure house

(Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura –Sri Hrinam Cintamani)

The Lord’s holy name is compared to medicine it’s the only cure for the material disease

(A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, ISKON’s founder acarya)

Golokera prema-dhana

Harinam sankirtan

Translation : The Hare Krishna mahamantra has descended from Goloka Vrindavan

(Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura –Hari Hari Biphale)

1 Sri Siksastakam – Eight Instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

2 A center in every Muslim community where members of the Islamic faith gather to pray.

3 Hari Hari Biphale (Prayer to One’s Beloved Lord) by Narottama Dasa Thakur

4 A festival held in honor of Lord Ganesh

Source : http://www.dandavats.com/?p=31006