By Aniruddha Dasa

In a conversation with Acintya Rupa last night I was reminded of an incident that occurred in Mayapur during the GBC meetings and the importance of mass prasadam distribution. I happened to be in earshot of a rather intense conversation between two old friends, Ramabhadra Prabhu and Ramesvara Prabhu. They are currently at loggerheads over the selling of the Brooklyn property. The conversation was intense but, might I add, entirely amicable and respectful. There are ways to disagree as Vaisnavas and still be gentlemen. It is all about respect. More on that later.

In the course of the conversation Ramabhadra Prabhu mentioned the success of their Govinda’s restaurant in the Brooklyn temple and how he was telephoned by an Aussie who looked up Govinda’s and found it on Yelp. He wanted me to know they had travelled half way around the world to seek out Govinda’s. This is not an uncommon occurrence. Praghosa Prabhu, our immediate past GBC Chairman, often tells me stories of Aussies visiting Ireland from the Gold Coast, Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne specifically seeking out the Hare Krsna restaurants they expect to find in every capital city of the world. He oversees the running of several successful restaurants in Ireland and England.

In the video I just viewed it was mentioned we have 110 restaurants around the world. By those calculations that means ten percent of those restaurants are in Australia. That really isn’t good enough, in my humble opinion.

The positive reputation of ISKCON in Australia is built in good part on the good will created by the prasadam distribution of our restaurants and the vegetarian or bhakti yoga clubs in our universities. It is an essential element of connecting with the man on the street, especially in countries with small populations where you can’t sell a book to an individual every day of the week. They will however, be hungry every day, and happy to pay for a good, healthy, scrumptious meal of delicious Krsna prasadam. Sometimes eating more than one meal a day!
We should take advantage of this global opportunity!

Here’s another interesting story. We had one elderly gentleman who used to eat every day at Gopal’s. For an older person that is an effort because those stairs at Gopal’s take quite a bit of effort to climb. I recall he had a turn in the restaurant one day when he was close to his denouement. As it turned out he left ISKCON a substantial amount of funds in his will. He used to visit the temple for the Sunday Feast, religiously, and Gopal’s was his daily lunchtime haunt.

So when Aussies go abroad, they expect to find a Gopal’s or a Govinda’s in every capital city of the world. The tragedy is, we don’t have them. The opportunity still remains. It was recommended by Srila Prabhupada as a preaching strategy, as well as a steady source of income. Not only that, as we have found, it is followed by immense good will and appreciation of Krsna consciousness amongst the rank and file. We don’t have to indoctrinate, we simply have to feed, and everyone appreciates the benefits. That, and chant Hare Krsna, of course.

“Our chanting is medicine and our prasadam is the diet for curing material disease.” SPL to Himavati, 7th June, 1967

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19899

by Srila Bhaktivinod Thakura:

“This account originally appeared in a short work by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura entitled, ‘Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu: His Life and Precepts.'(dated 20th August 1896.)”

This was taken from “Prologue” to “Teachings of Lord Caitanya”(A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. 1974. pages xiii-xxii.)

Who better could we find to include here than the pure unalloyed devotee, and foremost scholar in Vaisnava circles Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura to perform this task.

He starts his essay; “Caitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Mayapur in the town of Nadia just after sunset on the evening of the 23rd Phalguna (1407 Sakadba), answering to the 18th of February 1486 of the Christian Era. The moon was eclipsed at the time of His birth, and the people of Nadia were then engaged, as was usual on such occasions, in bathing in the Bhagirathi with loud cheers of Haribol. His father, Jagannatha Misra, a poor ‘brahmana’ of the Vedic order, and His mother, Saci-devi, a model good woman, both descended from ‘brahmana’ stock originally residing in Sylhet. Mahaprabhu was a beautiful child, and the ladies of the town came to see Him with presents. His mother’s father, Pandita Nilambara Cakravarti, a renowned astrologer, foretold that the child would be a great personage in time; and he, therefore, gave him the name Visvambhara. The ladies of the neighbourhood styled him Gaurahari on account of His golden complexion, and His mother called Him Nimai on account of the ‘nimba’ tree near which He was born. Beautiful as the lad was, everyone heartily loved to see Him every day. As He grew up He became a whimsical and frolicsome lad. After His fifth year, He was admitted into a pathasala where He picked up Bengali in a very short time.

“Most of His contemporary biographers have mentioned certain anecdotes regarding Caitanya which are simple records of His early miracles. It is said that when He was an infant in His mother’s arms He wept continually, and when the neighbouring ladies cried ‘Haribol’ He used to stop. Thus there was a continuation of utterance of ‘Haribol’ in the house, foreshewing the future mission of the hero. It has also been stated that when His mother gave Him sweetmeats to eat, He ate clay instead of the food. His mother, asking for the reason, He stated that as every sweetmeat was nothing but clay transformed, He could eat clay as well. His mother, who was also the consort of a ‘pandita’, explained that every article in a special state was adapted to a special use. Earth, while in the state of a jug, could be used as a water pot, but in the state of a brick such a use was not possible. Clay, therefore in the form of sweetmeats was usable as food, but clay in its other states was not. The lad was convinced and admitted His stupidity in eating clay and agreed to avoid the mistake in the future. Another miraculous act has been related.

It is said that a brahmana on pilgrimage became a guest in His house, cooked food and read grace with meditation upon Krsna. In the meantime the lad came and ate up the cooked rice. The ‘brahmana’, astonished at the lad’s act, cooked again at the request of Jagannatha Misra. The lad again ate up the cooked rice while the ‘brahmana’ was offering the rice to Krsna with meditation. The ‘brahmana’ was persuaded to cook for the third time. This time all the inmates of the house had fallen asleep, and so the lad showed Himself as Krsna to the traveller and blessed him. The ‘brahmana’ was then lost in ecstasy at the appearance of the object of his worship. It has also been stated that two thieves stole away the lad from His father’s door with a view to purloin His jewels and gave Him sweetmeats on the way. The lad exercised His illusory energy and deceived the thieves back towards His own house. The thieves, for fear of detection, left the boy there and fled. Another miraculous act that has been described is the lad’s demanding and getting from Hiranya and Jagadisa all the offerings they had collected for worshiping Krsna on the day of Ekadasi. When only four years of age He sat on rejected cooking pots which were considered unholy by His mother. He explained to His mother that there was no question of holiness and unholiness as regards to earthen pots thrown away after the cooking was over. These anecdotes relate to His tender age up to the fifth year.

“In His eighth year, He was admitted into the tola of Gangadasa Pandita in Ganganagara close by the village of Mayapur. In two years He became well read in Sanskrit grammar and rhetoric. His readings after that were of the nature of self-study in His own house, where He had found all-important books belonging to His father, who was a ‘pandita’ himself. It appears that He read the ‘smrti’ in His own study, and the ‘nyaya’ also, in competition with His friends, who were then studying under the celebrated ‘pandita’ Raghunatha Siromani. “Now, after the tenth year of His age, Caitanya became a passable scholar in grammar, rhetoric, the ‘smrti’ and the ‘nyaya’. It was after this that his elder brother Visvarupa left his house and accepted the ‘ashrama’ (status) of a ‘sannyasi’ (ascetic). Caitanya, though a very young boy, consoled His parents, saying that He would serve them with a view to please God. Just after that, His father left this world. His mother was exceedingly sorry, and Mahaprabhu, with His usual contented appearance, consoled His widowed mother.

It was at the age of 14 or 15 that Mahaprabhu was married to Laksmidevi, the daughter of Vallabhacarya, also of Nadia. He was at this age considered one of the best scholars of Nadia, then renowned seat of ‘nyaya’ philosophy and Sanskrit learning. Not to speak of the ‘smarta panditas’, the ‘Naiyayikas’ were all afraid of confronting Him in literary discussions. Being a married man, He went to Eastern Bengal on the banks of the Padma for acquirement of wealth. There He displayed His learning and obtained a good sum of money. It was at this time that He preached Vaisnavism at intervals. After teaching him the principles of Vaisnavism, He ordered Tapanamisra to go to and live in Benares. During His residence in East Bengal, His wife Laksmidevi left this world from the effects of snake bite. On returning home, He found His mother in a mourning state. He consoled her with a lecture on the uncertainty of human affairs. It was at His mother’s request that He married Visnupriya, the daughter of Raja Pandita Sanatana Misra. His comrades joined Him on His return from pravasa or sojourn. He was now so renowned that He was considered to be the best pandita in Nadia. Kesava Misra of Kashmir, who had called himself the Great Digvijayi, came to Nadia with a view to discuss with the ‘pandita’ of that place. Afraid of the so-called conquering pandita, the tola professors of Nadia left their town on pretence of invitation. Kesava met Mahaprabhu at the Barokona-ghata in Mayapur, and after a very short discussion with Him he was defeated by the boy, and mortification obliged him to decamp. Nimai Pandita was now the most important ‘pandita’ of His times.

“It was at the age of 16 or 17 that He travelled to Gaya with a host of His students and there took His spiritual initiation from Isvara Puri, a Vaisnava ‘sannyasi’ and a disciple of the renowned Madhavendra Puri. Upon His return to Nadia, Nimai Pandita turned religious preacher, and His religious nature became so strongly represented that Advaita Prabhu, Srivasa and others who had before the birth of Caitanya already accepted the Vaisnava faith were astonished at the change of the young man. He was then no more a contending ‘naiyayika’, a wrangling ‘smarta’ and a criticizing rhetorician. He swooned at the name of Krsna and behaved as an inspired man under the influence of His religious sentiment. It has been described by Murari Gupta, an eye-witness, that He showed His heavenly powers in the house of Srivasa Pandita in the presence of hundreds of His followers, who were mostly well-read scholars. It was at this time that He opened a nocturnal school of ‘kirtana’ in the compound of Srivasa Pandita with His sincere followers. There He preached, there He sang, there He danced, and there He expressed all sorts of religious feelings. Nityananda Prabhu, who was then a preacher of Vaisnavism and who had then completed His travels all over India, joined Him at that time. In fact, a host of ‘pandita’ preachers of Vaisnavism, all sincere at heart, came and joined Him from different parts of Bengal. Nadia now became the regular seat of a host of Vaisnava ‘acaryas’ whose mission it was to spiritualize mankind with the highest influence of the Vaisnava creed.

“The first mandate that He issued to Prabhu Nityananda and Haridasa was this: ‘Go, friends, go through the streets of the town, meet every man at his door and ask him to sing the name of Hari with a holy life, and you then come and report to Me every evening the result of your preaching.’ Thus ordered, the two preachers went on and met Jagai and Madhai, two most abominable characters. They insulted the preachers on hearing Mahaprabhu’s mandate, but were soon converted by the influence of ‘bhakti’ (devotion) inculcated by their Lord. The people of Nadia were now surprised. They said, ‘Nimai Pandita is not only a gigantic genius, but He is certainly a missionary from God Almighty.’ From this time to His twenty-third year, Mahaprabhu preached His principles not only in Nadia but in all important towns and villages around His city. In the houses of His followers He shewed miracles, taught the esoteric principles of ‘bhakti’ and sang His ‘sankirtan’ with other bhaktas. His followers of the town of Nadia commenced to sing the holy name of Hari in the streets and bazaars. This created a sensation and roused different feelings in different quarters. The ‘bhaktas’ were highly pleased.

The ‘smarta brahmanas’ became jealous of Nimai Pandita’s success and complained to Chand Kazi against the character of Caitanya as un-Hindu. The Kazi came to Srivasa Pandita’s house and broke a ‘mrdanga’ (‘khola’ drum) there and declared that unless Nimai Pandit ceased to make noise about His queer religion he would be obliged to enforce Mohammedanism on Him and His followers. This was brought to Mahaprabhu’s notice. He ordered the townspeople to appear in the evening each with a torch in his hand. This they did, and Nimai marched out with His ‘sankirtan’ divided in 14 groups, and on His arrival in the Kazi’s house, He held a long conversation with the Kazi and in the end communicated into his heart His Vaisnava influence by touching his body. The Kazi then wept and admitted that he had felt a keen spiritual influence which had cleared up his doubts and produced in him a religious sentiment which gave him the highest ecstasy. The Kazi then joined the sankirtan party. The world was astonished at the spiritual power of the Great Lord, and hundreds and hundreds of heretics converted and joined the banner of Visvambhara after this affair. “It was after this that some of the jealous and low-minded ‘brahmanas’ of Kulia picked a quarrel with Mahaprabhu and collected a party to oppose Him.

Nimai Pandita was naturally a soft-hearted person, though strong in His principles. He declared that party feelings and sectarianism were the two great enemies of progress and that as long as He should continue to be an inhabitant of Nadia belonging to a certain family, His mission would not meet with complete success. He then resolved to be a citizen of the world by cutting His connection with His particular family, caste and creed, and with this resolution He embraced the position of a ‘sannyasi’ at Katwa, under the guidance of Keshava Bharati of that town, on the 24th year of His age. His mother and wife wept bitterly for His separation, but our hero, though soft in heart, was a strong person in principle. He left His little world in His house for the unlimited spiritual world of Krsna with man in general.

“After His ‘sannyasa’, He was induced to visit the house of Advaita Prabhu in Santipura. Advaita managed to invite all His friends and admirers from Nadia and brought Sacidevi to see her son. Both pleasure and pain invaded her heart when she saw her son in the attire of a ‘sannyasi’. As a ‘sannyasi’, Krsna Caitanya put on nothing but a ‘kaupina’ (two pieces of cloth, a loin cloth) and a ‘bahirvasa’ (outer covering). His head was without hair, and His hands bore a ‘danda’ (stick) and a ‘kamandalu’
(hermit’s water pot). The Holy Son fell at the feet of His beloved mother and said, “Mother! This body is yours, and I must obey your orders. Permit me to go to Vrndavana for My spiritual attainments.” The mother, in consultation with Advaita and others, asked her son to reside in Puri (the town of Jagannatha) so that she might obtain His information now and then. Mahaprabhu agreed to that proposition and in a few days left Santipura for Orissa.

His biographers have described the journey of Krsna Caitanya (that was the name He got after His ‘sannyasa’) from Santipura to Puri in great detail. He travelled along the side of the Bhagirathi as far as Chatrabhoga, situated now in Thana Mathurapura, Diamond Harbour, 24 Parganas. There He took a boat and went as far as Prayaga-ghata in the Midnapura District. Thence He walked through Balasore and Cuttack to Puri, seeing the temple of Bhuvanesvara on His way. Upon His arrival at Puri He saw Jagannatha in the temple and resided with Sarvabhauma at the request of the latter. Sarvabhauma was a gigantic ‘pandita’ of the day.

His readings knew no bounds. He was the best ‘naiyayika’ of the times and was known as the most erudite scholar in the Vedanta philosophy of the school of Sankaracarya. He was born in Nadia (Vidyanagara) and taught innumerable pupils in the ‘nyaya’ philosophy in his tola there. He had left for Puri some time before the birth of Nimai Pandita. His brother-in-law Gopinatha Misra introduced our new sannyasi to Sarvabhauma, who was astonished at His personal beauty and feared that it would be difficult for the young man to maintain ‘sannyasa-dharma’ during the long run of His life. Gopinatha, who had known Mahaprabhu from Nadia, had a great reverence for Him and declared that the ‘sannyasi’ was not a common human being. On this point Gopinatha and Sarvabhauma had a hot discussion. Sarvabhauma then requested Mahaprabhu to hear his recitation of the Vedanta-sutras, and the latter tacitly submitted. Caitanya heard with silence what the great Sarvabhauma uttered with gravity for seven days, at the end of which the latter said, ‘Krsna-Caitanya! I think You do not understand the Vedanta, for You do not say anything after hearing my recitation and explanations.’ The reply of Caitanya was that He understood the sutras very well, but He could not make out what Sankaracarya meant by his commentaries. Astonished as this, Sarvabhauma said, ‘How is it that you understand the meanings of the ‘sutras’ and do not understand the commentaries which explain the ‘sutras’? All well! If You understand the ‘sutras’, please let me have Your interpretations.’ Mahaprabhu thereon explained all the ‘sutras’ in His own way without touching the pantheistic commentary of Sankara.

The keen understanding of Sarvabhauma saw the truth, beauty and harmony of arguments in the explanations given by Caitanya and obliged Him to utter that it was the first time that he had found one who could explain the Brahma-sutras in such a simple manner. He admitted also that the commentaries of Sankara never gave such natural explanations of the Vedanta-sutras as he had obtained from Mahaprabhu. He then submitted himself as an advocate and follower. In a few days Sarvabhauma turned out to be one of the best Vaisnavas of the time. When reports of this came out, the whole of Orissa sang the praise of Krsna Caitanya, and hundred and hundreds came to Him and became His followers. In the meantime Mahaprabhu thought of visiting Southern India, and He started with one Krsnadasa Brahmana for the journey.

“His biographers have given us a detail of the journey. He went first to Kurmaksetra, where He performed a miracle by curing a leper named Vasudeva. He met Ramananda Raya, the Governor of Vidyanagara, on the banks of the Godavari and had a philosophical conversation with him on the subject of ‘prema-bhakti’. He worked another miracle by touching (making them immediately disappear) the seven ‘tala-trees’ through which Ramacandra, the son of Dasaratha, had shot His arrow and killed the great Bali Raja. He preached Vaisnavism and ‘nama-sankirtana’ throughout the journey. At Rangaksetra He stayed for four months in the house of one Venkata Bhatta in order to spend the rainy season. There He converted the whole family of Venkata from Ramanuja Vaisnavism to Krsna-bhakti, along with the son of Venkata, a boy of ten years named Gopala, who afterwards came to Vrndavana and became one of the six Goswamis or prophets serving under their leader Sri Krsna Caitanya. Trained up in Sanskrit by his uncle Prabodhananda Sarasvati, Gopala wrote several books on Vaisnavism.

“Sri Caitanya visited numerous places in Southern India as far as Cape Comorin and returned to Puri in two years by Pandepura on the Bhima. In this latter place He spiritualized one Tukarama, who became from that time a religious preacher himself. This fact has been admitted in his ‘adhangas’, which have been collected in a volume by Mr. Satyendra Nath Tagore of the Bombay Civil Service. During His journey He had several discussions with the Buddhists, the Jains and the ‘mayavadis’ in several places and converted His opponents to Vaisnavism. “Upon His return to Puri, Raja Prataparudra-deva and several ‘pandita brahmanas’ joined the banner of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He was now twenty-seven years of age. In His twenty-eighth year He went to Bengal as far as Gauda in Mald.

There He picked up two great personages named Rupa and Sanatana. Though descended from the lines of Karnatic brahmanas, these two brothers turned demi-Moslems by their continual contact with Hussain Shah, the then Emperor of Gauda. Their names had been changed by the Emperor into Dabir Khas and Sakara Mallik, and their master loved them heartily since they were both learned in Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit and were loyal servants of the state. The two gentlemen had found no way to come back as regular Hindus and had written to Mahaprabhu for spiritual help while He was at Puri. Mahaprabhu had written in reply that He would come to them and extricate them from their spiritual difficulties. Now that He had come to Gauda, both the brothers appeared before Him with their long-standing prayer. Mahaprabhu ordered them to go to Vrndavana and meet Him there.

“Caitanya returned to Puri through Santipura, where He again met His dear mother. After a short stay at Puri He left for Vrndavana. This time He was accompanied by one Balabhadra Bhattacarya. He visited Vrndavana and came down to Prayag (Allahabad), converting a large number of Mohammedans to Vaisnavism by argument from the Koran. The descendant of those converts are still known as Pathana Vaisnavas. Rupa Goswami met Him in Allahabad. Caitanya trained him up in spirituality in ten days and directed him to go to Vrndavana on missions. His first mission was to write theological works explaining scientifically pure ‘bhakti’ and ‘prema’. The second mission was to revive the places where Krsnacandra had in the end of ‘Dvapara-yuga’ exhibited His spiritual ‘lila’ (pastimes) for the benefit of the religious world. Rupa Goswami left Allahabad for Vrndavana, and Mahaprabhu came down to Benares.

There He resided in the house of Candrasekhara and accepted His daily ‘bhiksa’ (meal) in the house of Tapana Misra. Here it was that Sanatana Goswami joined him and took instruction for two months in spiritual matters. The biographers, especially Krsnadasa Kaviraja, have given us details of Caitanya’s teachings to Rupa and Sanatana. Krsnadasa was not a contemporary writer, but he gathered his information from the Goswamis themselves, the direct disciples of Mahaprabhu. Jiva Goswami, who was the nephew of Sanatana and Rupa and who has left us his invaluable work of Sat-sandarbha, has philosophized on the precept of his great leader. We have gathered and summarised the precepts of Caitanya from the books of those great writers.

“While at Benares, Caitanya had an interview with the learned ‘sannyasis’ of that town in the house of a Maratha ‘brahmana’ who had invited all the ‘sannyasis’ for entertainment. At this interview, Caitanya shewed a miracle which attracted all the ‘sannyasis’ to Him. Then ensued reciprocal conversation. The ‘sannyasis’ were headed by their most learned leader Prakasananda Sarasvati. After a short controversy, they submitted to Mahaprabhu and admitted that they had been misled by the commentaries of Sankaracarya. It was impossible even for learned scholars to oppose Caitanya for a long time, for there was some spell in Him which touched their hearts and made them weep for their spiritual improvement. The ‘sannyasis’ of Benares soon fell at the feet of Caitanya and asked for His grace (‘krpa’). Caitanya then preached pure ‘bhakti’ and instilled into their hearts spiritual love for Krsna which obliged them to give up sectarian feelings. The whole population of Benares, on this wonderful conversion of the ‘sannyasis’, turned Vaisnavas, and they made a master ‘sankirtana’ with their new Lord. After sending Sanatana to Vrndavana, Mahaprabhu went to Puri again through the jungles with His comrade Balabhadra. Balabhadra reported that Mahaprabhu had shown a good many miracles on His way to Puri, such as making tigers and elephants dance on hearing the name of Krsna.

“From this time, that is, from His 31st year, Mahaprabhu continually lived in Puri the house of Kasi Misra until His disappearance in His forty-eighth year at the time of sankirtana in the temple of Tota-gopinatha. During these 18 years, His life was one of settled love and piety. He was surrounded by numerous followers, all of whom were of the highest order of Vaisnavas and who were distinguished from the common people by their purest character and learning, firm religious principles and spiritual love of Radha-Krsna. Svarupa Damodara, who had been known by the name of Purusottamacarya while Mahaprabhu was in Nadia, joined Him from Benares and accepted service as His secretary. No production of any poet or philosopher could be laid before Mahaprabhu unless Svarupa had passed it as pure and useful. Raya Ramananda was His second mate. Both he and Svarupa would sing while Mahaprabhu expressed His sentiments on a certain point of worship.

Paramananda Puri was His minister in matters of religion. There are hundreds of anecdotes described by His biographers which we do not think it meet here to reproduce. Mahaprabhu slept short. His sentiments carried Him far and wide in the firmament of spirituality every day and night, and all His admirers and followers watched Him throughout. He worshipped, communicated with His missionaries at Vrndavana, and conversed with those religious men who newly came to visit Him. He sang and danced, took no care of Himself and of-times lost Himself in religious beatitude. All who came to Him believed in Him as the all-beautiful God appearing in the nether world for the benefit of mankind. He loved His mother all along and sent her ‘mahaprasada’ now and then with those who went to Nadia. He was most amiable in nature. Humility was personified in Him. His sweet appearance gave cheer to all who came in contact with Him. He appointed Prabhu Nityananda as the missionary in charge of Bengal. He dispatched six disciples (Goswamis) to Vrndavana to preach love in the upcountry. This he markedly did in the case of Junior Haridasa. He never lacked in giving proper instructions in life to those who solicited them. This will be seen in His teachings to Raghunatha dasa Goswami. His treatment to Haridasa (senior) will show how He loved spiritual men and how He defied caste distinction in spiritual brotherhood.”(Thakura Bhaktivinoda.
20th August 1896.)

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Sri Siksastakam

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the most recent incarnation of Krsna. He appeared
500 years ago in Bengal and in the form of Krsna’s devotee in the mood of Srimati Radharani. He left only 8 slokas (verses) of his instructions in writing, and they describe the glories of the Holy Names of the Lord and the mood one must have to chant and to be a devotee.

cheto-darpana-marjanam bhava-maha–davagni-nirvapanam shreyah-kairava-chandrika-vitaranam vidya-vadhu-jivanam anandambudhi-vardhanam prati-padam purnamritaswadanam sarvatma-snapanam param vijayate sri-krishna-sankirtanam

Glory to the Sri-Krsna-Sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.

namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-shaktis tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah etadrishi tava kripa bhagavan mamapi durdaivam idrisham ihajani nanuragaha

O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names, like Krsna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.

trinad api sunichena taror api sahishnuna amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagad-isha kamaye mama janmani janmanishvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki twayi

O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service, birth after birth.

ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram patitam mam vishame bhavambudhau kripaya tava pada-pankaja- sthita-dhuli-sadrisham vichintaya

O son of Maharaja Nanda (Krsna), I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.

nayanam galad-ashru-dharaya vadanam gadgada-ruddhaya gira pulakair nichitam vapuh kada tava nama-grahane bhavishyati

O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your holy name? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of Your name?

yugayitam nimeshena chakshusha pravrishayitam shunyayitam jagat sarvam govinda-virahena me

O Govinda! Feeling Your separations I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.

ashlishya va pada-ratam pinashtu mam adarshanan marma-hatam karotu va yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparah

I know no one but Krsna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally.

All Glories to Sri Caitanya

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19901

SOUL QUEST

In the tests and trials of life we sometimes forget that we are also been given certain abilities by the lord to help us discover our area of sacrifice and service which we can offer him. Kaliyuga the age of quarrel, chaos and confusion, not only deters us from the right path but also stagnates or delays the whole process.

Here Jyotishshastra or samudrik shastra can help you know yourself better by revealing your personality, your abilities, the favourable career, things to avoid, health, wealth, family, relationships, dealings, challenges, Your weakness and needful things to do which can improve the quality of life. So it brings clarity and vision to your efforts. You can concentrate on your best feature and succeed. It’s like aiming the eye of the bird and one point attention than exhausting your energies in to varied things. Know yourself, get resolved and reach your full potential.

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Dear Devotees and Friends,

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

Greetings from Sridham Mayapur, and blessings from Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Panchatattva and Nrsimhadeva.

On this most auspicious occasion, 530 years ago, Lord Krsna Himself descended here as the Golden Avatar to deliver a spiritual treasure to each and every one of us. Even as the branches of the sankirtan movement continuously spread from Mayapur all over the globe, every Gaura Purnima thousands of joyful devotees return to where it all began to celebrate, worship, and pay homage to our Lord. Together, through our collective prayers and determined efforts, Lord Caitanya’s new temple is being raised by your generous contributions.

From the Lotus feet of Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu, we at the TOVP wish you a most enlivening and Krsna conscious Gaura Purnima festival. May you always receive the unlimited mercy that Lord Gauranga is distributing!

“Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, He appeared in this land of Mayapur; therefore He is said here as “the moon.” He is to distribute the moonshine all over the world. This is the idea, moonshine. Sreyah-kairava candrika-vitaranam. Caitanya Mahaprabhu personally said. Don’t keep Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu compact in your room and take some monetary profit. This is not required. You must allow Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu to rise more and more so that this moonshine may be distributed all over the world. That is wanted. Therefore this temple is situated. Of course, we shall try to construct a very nice temple for Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. This morning we were thinking of this. So from this place, this moon, Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, will distribute.”

(Lecture on Sri CC Adi 1.6 — March 30, 1975, Mayapur)

The second phase of our construction is going on full-swing, which means we are putting marble in the interior, erecting beautiful pillars, and installing cast-iron grills. For the exterior we have two up-to-date aerial videos, showing the completed superstructures of the three domes with the first of the blue tiles (TOVP Update Jan 26th), and the first segment of the west wing Kalash being installed (Kalash installation).

We currently need $500,000 every month to keep the work going, so please continue to help in whatever way you can. Every donation you make helps to ensure that both this Vedic Planetarium Temple and the sankirtan movement will prosper and flourish. We are extremely grateful and inspired by your commitment and spirit of giving. We can’t tell you enough how much we appreciate all of your support, and be assured that Prabhupada and Krsna are never ungrateful. As Srila Prabhupada told George Harrison after he had sponsored the Krsna Book,

“I am so much obliged to you for your valued cooperation in spreading my movement of Krsna Consciousness throughout the whole world… Please note that every farthing of this money will be employed in the service of the Lord, and the Lord is so kind and grateful that He will bestow upon you benediction at least ten times more than that you have done for Him… The Lord is full in Himself; He does not require our service, but if we render service unto Him in love and devotion, such action enriches our very existence.”

(Letter to George Harrison, 16 February, 1970)

Yours in the Service of Sridham Mayapur

Vraja Vilasa das
Director of Development TOVP

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19840

Initiation ceremony (Album with photos)
Congratulations Mukunda Rico! He was just initiated by H.H. Jayapataka Swami, and his new name is Mukundanghri Govinda dasa.
Srila Prabhupada: If you are steady either in success or failure, that is called yoga. Don’t mind for the success or failure. Do act on behalf of the Supreme Lord. And if you are steady in that position, then your working in spiritual platform is successful. New York, April 1, 1966.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/obu6g8

Purushottam Nitai Das: He was so insignificant materially that no one cared about him. He was an unknown person living a life of penury. So, during the mahaprakash pastimes, when Lord Chaitanya told the devotees to bring Sridhar to him then all were amazed.

“Why is the Supreme Lord so concerned about him? And most importantly where could we find him?” The devotees were wondering.

“Go out and you will hear someone loudly chanting the holy names of the Lord. Follow the sound and you will come to the beautiful house of Sridhar.” Lord Chaitanya said.

Devotees immediately left and soon could hear the loud chanting of the Lord’s name. They followed the holy sound which took them to the house of Sridhar. It was a straw hut with so many holes in the roof, the floor was of mud. There was nothing worthy in the house except a rusted broken iron pot which contained little water.

When Sridhar saw the devotees he was overjoyed and when he heard that Lord Chaitanya wanted to see him he was overwhelmed with emotions.

He had a long association with the Supreme Lord. As a young boy the Lord would daily come to him to purchase banana products from him. Sridhar sold kola (banana) leaves, plants, stalks and plates and so was called Kolavecha Sridhar. The Lord used to have sweet loving exchange with his dear devotees. Sridhar was such a kind hearted person that he charged a very fair price for his products and whatever he earned fifty percent of it he used to spend in worshipping mother Ganges. But when Nimai Pandita would come to buy products from him then he would accuse Sridhar of charging exorbitant price. The argument about the price would go on for hours and finally the Lord would say I will not pay anything for the products and would just take it away or pay a very meagre amount much less than what Sridhar asked for. And the materially impoverished but spiritually nourished Sridhar could not say anything because he used to get captivated by the beauty of young Nimai.

During Krishna lila when a fruit selling lady saw Krishna then she offered the entire basket of fruits to Krishna without expecting any payment in return. She then immediately ran back home to bring more fruits for beautiful Krishna.

Nimai would often tell to Sridhar, “You just pretend to be poor, you have lots of wealth which you have hidden from all and a day will come when I will show your hidden treasure to the whole world.”

And today Lord Chaitanya had called him to show the world that how Sridhar’s opulence had no parallels in the whole world. As soon as Sridhar entered the house of Srivas Pandita where Lord Chaitanya was waiting for him, he became unconscious out of deep love.

Lord Chaitanya was very pleased to see his dear friend and he eagerly wanted to satisfy Sridhar’s all wishes today. And so he asked, “Tell me, what you want?” Sridhar remained quiet. Lord Chaitanya said, “If you want, I will give you the eight mystic powers or make you the king of an empire.” Sridhar did not say anything. He was too satisfied by being in the company of the beautiful Lord. But the Supreme Lord wasn’t satisfied; he thought he is not being able to satisfy Sridhar. It seemed that the Supreme Lord was ready to give anything to Sridhar today – even the throne of Indra or Brahma.

Unable to satisfy Sridhar, the Lord finally asked him what he wants. And Sridhar who was overjoyed with deep love said to the Lord, “I do not want anything from you. I just want YOU.” All the assembled devotees were struck with wonder seeing the extraordinary devotional qualities of Sridhar. Sridhar was echoing the mood which the Supreme Lord wants all his devotees to have:

“O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service birth after birth.” Siksastakam 4

Extremely pleased, the Supreme Lord granted pure devotional service to Sridhar which is very rarely achieved. Sridhar had no material wealth but had unparalleled spiritual wealth. Wealth of this ephemeral world does not accompany us when we leave this world. But if we have wealth of Krishna’s love in our heart then it remains with us for eternity bringing deep satisfaction and unlimited joy. Sridhar’s exemplary life shows what pure devotion is.In our spiritual journey we should look within and check if we are following the footsteps of Sridhar or not. If not then we should immediately go for course correction if we sincerely want love of Krishna.

(Purushottam Nitai Das is a member of congregation at Iskcon Kolkata. He blogs athttp://krishnamagic.blogspot.co.uk/)

Sridham Mayapur is actually the centre of the universe you can say Kurushetra you can say other places but Sridham Mayapur is the real centre of the universe. Reading from 7th canto chapter 2 text 16 TEXT 16 evaṁ viprakṛte loke daityendrānucarair muhuḥ divaṁ devāḥ parityajya bhuvi cerur alakṣitāḥ TRANSLATION Thus disturbed again and again by the unnatural occurrences caused by the followers of Hiraṇyakaśipu, all the people had to cease the activities of Vedic culture. Not receiving the results of yajña, the demigods also became disturbed. They left their residential quarters in the heavenly planets and, unobserved by the demons, began wandering on the planet earth to see the disasters. 

PURPORT As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, the performance of yajña brings reciprocal good fortune for both the human beings and the demigods. When the performances of yajña were stopped by the disturbances of the demons, the demigods were naturally bereft of the results of yajña and hampered in executing their respective duties. Therefore they came down to the planet earth to see how people had become disturbed and to consider what to do.

LECTURE This is very amazing because this here Bhagavad is describing what happened it thretha yuga, things were very nice in thretha yuga when comparison to now with kaliyuga. McDonalds, KFC, terrorism, rape and all these things, if you ask people, I do surveys I ask young people how do you like how the society today, fine. Really? So, you are ok with rape crime murder, abortion, terrorism, drought and tsunamis and the list gets longer and longer are you ok with this? Then they stop and think Oh!, umm may be you have a point. It may be its not paradise after all, you know in this kaliyuga. This is the age of darkness, the point is actually what this verse describing today not just thretha Yuga, disturbed again again by natural occurrences cause by the followers of Hiranyakashipu. Alright, so we don’t have a maha Hiranyakashipu fortunately, but we have thousands and thousands of mini Hiranyakashipus on the planet quite capable and empowered by Kali to wreak havoc isn’t it? We are experiencing so much crooked politicians all over the world not just India. 

I mean bribery is very easy in India its little more sophisticated in United States, you know, give campaign contributions in United States. Corruption is going on all over the world. Prabhupada was Simha guru on this subject matter, pick on the head, because you know he was a not going spare corruption and deviation from pure dharma. That is where we are today also not receiving the results of the yajña the demigods are also being disturbed. So the demons are cause of disturbance and what’s going on in the planet today actually is a demoniac. A few million Hindus doing Kali puja, Shiva puja Ganesh puja that’s not enough to counteract the disaster of this age. Because this age only the holy name, Yuga dharma can do it. So everyone, (Maharaj makes everyone chant 3 times as follows) harinama harinama harinama eva kevalam kalau nastyeva nastyeva nastyeva gatir anyatha In Vedic culture if you want to emphasis something, you say it 3 times so Mahaprabhu said, “nastyeva nastyeva nastyeva”, there is no other way, no other way, no other way. Other efforts will be half baked or partial or drop in the bucket can’t do very much. Only the Yuga dharma can save this situation. So the demigods are disturbed, but it is this Krishna Consciousness movement introduced by Srila Prabhupada is saving the planet. HariBol!! Prabhupada has written in, I believe in “Chaitanya Charitamrita” this Krishna Consciousness movement will go down in history for saving the world from our abductors.” Anybody thinks that this world is not in the hands of abductors now please have your head examined. We are already in the hour of darkness, at moment wars breaking out all over the world, so much homelessness. It’s like people think United States is a paradise. There are at least more than 1 million homeless people in United States, in India they can’t imagine such a thing because United States is such a heavily planet, if we take out visa application to go to States, Indian and foreigners to go submit visa application to go to United states. Visa application says, right at the top of visa application says in bold lettering, “We presume that you are going to try to stay,” this is the fact. That is what it visa application says. Once you go to heavenly planet called United States they don’t know how much homelessness is there, people in United Sates that go to sleep without eating and so forth. These things are going on. So actually, I asked Srila Prabhupada personally, Srila Prabhupada, I said, United States is like a heavenly planet you know you, if you go to super market then everything is there. In US you could buy imported jams and jellies real fruits you know & packets good, packet, cereals, canned goods and very fresh produce from various place around the world. It’s like a paradise except the meat department. So I asked Prabhpada, it’s so much like a heavenly planet and so much opulence and all that but no yajña to support it. Of course I was thinking of the BG “yajno vai visnuh”, that you know, “annad bhavanti bhutani”, I was thinking of that sloka I dint spell it out to Srila Prabhupada, I didn’t have to say the verse he knew what l was talking about. There is always prosperity, but there is nothing to sustain it because this prosperity is sustained by yajña and there is no yajña. He said very ominously, it will not last very soon it will be finished. So, what we see today in the modern world is the dying throes of modern civilisation, like if you kill an animal it shakes for a while before it finally dies, you know rather gruesome that’s where we are so called civilisation. 

Death rose and things are getting worse and worse, the economy collapses, the Euro was getting almost collapsed they put it together with cello tape. You know why, Do you know why the Goddess of Fortune allows the world economy to keep limping around, do you know why? Because of the sankritan movement, this Krishna Consciousness movement, this book distribution should go on, if we have no vehicles and no money, it will hamper our preaching it won’t go on. We are not so expert to go out barefoot on the street with what’s left of the books so on. And we want to print more and more books, we want to distribute, we want to do peaching. Television media, see how ISKCON is using the media? So the Goddess of Fortune says these people are too simple I want to collapse the economy, yes, yes I know but just keep it going little longer, because, look see my devotee, see all the wonderful things they are doing like the 50th anniversary in Calcutta, historical event you know and whole of India watch on the television the world taking note of these things. So Krishna keeps it together with cello tape, its Krishna, who restored the Euros and not the bankers. 

Not a blade of grass moves without the sanction of Supreme Lord, if He wanted it to collapse it will collapse overnight, but no they managed to run here and there do some fancy dancing and pasted back together so the Euro is still going on in spite of so many bankrupt nations. How do you call this progress, so many nations in Europe, United States are also bankrupt, but it is you know blind faith in people still have faith in US dollars. Wherever I go travelling, they want dollars if they can get it you know it’s a mythology. They worship the dollar. But anyways the point is, it’s going to come to end. What Srila Prbhupada said to me was, very soon it will come to an end. But I was so shaken up his statement I didn’t have the presence of mind to ask Srila Prabhupada what is very soon means. I asked the question 35 years ago, we see the symptoms of the world today of deterioration and collapse. The symptoms are there. Sixteenth chapter of BG makes this very clear just like Hiranyakashipu and his men were doing here, the demons are engaged in horrible unbeneficial works meant to destroy the world they get the sense gratification out of it, then they destroy the world in order to bring that above. So they won’t stop at anything, murder, drug dealing in other words, there was one big big international banker was financing drug smuggling he got caught but didn’t he get punished? No, put to jail? No But if somebody smoked one reefer, then they get 20 year in jail. There is a story about a veteran you know war veteran he got 10 years of jail for smoking reefer or something. This is Kali Yuga, justice will be determined on how much money you have. You see, this is proven time and again, so this disturbance is going on. This Krishna Conscious movement is the only hope, there is no other hope everything is going down. Now the challenge we face is, clean our own house, because we are chanting Hare Krishna, because we stick our hand in bead bag, sincere devotees change 16 rounds, because we are trying to follow Prabhupada, those that are sincere, yet at the same time Krishna Conscious is not automatic it’s not mechanical. It is what you do in the name of Krishna, it is what you do in the name of Srila Prabhupada, that’s what counts. Not what is on paper? So there is two things Jñāna and Vijñāna. Generally we have more emphasis is on Jñāna than Vijñāna. Vijñāna. is the practical application, we have to execute the practical application of Srila Prabhupada teachings, the teachings of the Shastra, we have to live by it. We have breathe, we have to walk it, they say talk is cheap so talking is not enough, its breathing it, living by it, how we behave with others, how are we treating others as especially other devotees. It does not matter how many years you have been in this movement that is not how you measure advancement of Krishna Consciousness. supposing you have been a devotee for 30 years, Jai. You have got some Nistha, some steadiness but if your heart is hard then it’s a low grade Nishtha right? Yes no? May be nistha of the lowest quality if the heart, Srila Rupa Goswami says, steel framed. We see many 30 years of devotees have still steel framed heart, lacking compassion, lacking mercy lacking, lacking tolerance after practically 30 years of Krishna Consciousness. Lack of humility, puffed up, Doctor Frog, this is going on, Impersonalism, I don’t know what is like in lady sector but amongst men I find ice-cold impersonalism even amongst senior devotees. You know, I joined the movement in 1967 took imitation in 1968,

now I’m a Sanyasi of course these things are external, that’s right. But when I walk around many of my God brothers that I have known for decades, don’t even say Haribol. Don’t even do like this (folding hands) a mini pranam, ice cold where is the advancement? The real advancement in Krishna Consciousness means to become soft hearted. Isn’t it? Yes, no? If you are heard hearted, if you can’t even go like this, (pranam) when you see a Sanyasi the shastra says, you bow down and offer obeisance when you see an Sanyasi ,if you don’t you have to fast. I’m not making it up that’s what the shastra says. But if the sanyasi is going to walk around expecting that everyone is going to fall at neck and pay Dandavat pranams. It is not self- aggrandizement of the sanyasi, it is not the false-ego of the sanyasi, it is the culture it is genuine real civilization. We have to do a reality check, what do you want to be in thirty years from now in your Krishna Consciousness? Do you want to be hard hearted? you want to be externally successful, you want to claim the corporate ladder and get a pat on the head with big big men is that what u want? Or do you actually want to go to Braj? If if you want to just claim the cooperate ladder you can do that, you can distinguish yourself with your service, you can work v hard , Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur said work now, Samadhi Later. That statement from Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur of course it’s very important that’s because he didn’t want his men to be lazy sit back and eat lots of prasadam, he didn’t like it when his sanyasis are overweight, No, he didn’t want his men to be lazy, just eat lots of prasadam, do little bhajans and say some sloka, eat some more prasadam take a nap etc. . He didn’t want that. So he said “Work now Samadhi later to prevent laziness” But is that all in all? It is been misinterpreted that famous statement by Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur has been misinterpreted. So the result is if you misinterpret that statement by Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur then you neglect inner development. Something that Aindra Prabhu constantly said, non-stop, stressed inner development in Krishna Consciousness. If you don’t develop the inner nature, if you don’t become soft hearted you missed the whole point. We see devotees are sometimes cruel, See a dog kick it, and is that Krishna Consciousness? Is that what you know? Gaura Kishora Das babaji once he was taking Prasad and then there was a female dog moved in somewhere near his hut. So the 5 puppies came to his hut, they were to eat Prasad off his plate. So his servant was freaked out (enacting to shoo the dog), you know. He was freaking out. So Gaura Kishora Das babaji said, “Don’t do that they are dham vasis”, if you do that I will fast. Oh .also should we take example fro materialist, prakratha bhakta? You can’t be thirty years devotee and still be a materialist if your heart is not soft, if you can pass another senior Vaishnava and you can’t even say Haribol, then your granthi is very strong. Granthi means the knot in the heart is very strong. Impersonalism, in so many ways, our movement was infected by impersonalism not exactly mayavadi philosophy but just coldness in dealings between certain levels of devotees, you know. This must be measured against what Shastra says. We are supposed to follow what the shastra says we are supposed to follow. If you study, I guess all of you to study the instructions of Vaishnava acharyas, Narottam Das Thakur, Srinivas Acharya. Their biographies are available, I have them I have a set of Biographies available in my computer drive, I can give it to you, Biographies of Vaishnava saints and study their dealings , not only our Prabhupada but previous acharyas sat goswamis. What is Vaishnava behaviour? 

We are supposed to know, we have to know the Vijñān, we have to know the practical applications for these teachings, how to apply this teachings otherwise what will happen is, I was watching at the ILS, ISKCON leadership Sanga, they were showing a film, the devotees going on in the streets and introducing people to Mahamantra for the first time, as a part of the 50th anniversary celebration. So they were getting people just to chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, happy, peace. People were laughing and smiling and ecstatic Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna ecstatic happy, you know they are chanting, they are brand new to Krishna Consciousness but they are chanting and they are very happy. You get it?, they are brand new to Krishna Consciousness. But sometimes, what is it, after 30 years you are not happy. (Enacting how they act)Urr urr, Chant to be happy prabhu, you know is it like that? Is that advancement in Krishna Consciousness? You will get what you want because Krishna Consciousness movement, the Shastra is teaching us. Srila Prabhupada says the shastra is the desire tree. You will get what you want out of it. If you want to become a big man or big woman you can do that well what’s going on internally? Did we neglect their internal development then we will be going mechanically. I may have big big positon but what is the merit, if I’m hard hearted, I miss the point. We have to take example from the acharyas read it please if you want to give me your pen drive, I have right here in my computer, life’s of Vaishnava acharyas. What are their sweet loving relationship always placing the topmost values on the other devotees without consideration, you understand? Yes? Without consideration of their position is he a big devotee oh!

If he is famous or not famous, the real vaishanvas not make those considerations. Why shall we make those considerations? Those considerations are Prakrta-Bhakta, I don’t care if you have been chanting for 30 years, Prakrita-Bhakta, Kanishta adikari. Actually what we have in our movement is generally mixture between Kanishta and Madhyama. Kanishta can do what’s done in this movement. we have many mixture between kanishta and Madhyama who are preaching and doing all kinds of things. But the mixture between, not 100% madhyama. If they are preaching they must be madhyama, yes, but are they 100% Madhyama? I came across a very shocking statement by Srila Prabhupada, it shake me up. Srila Prabhupada said anyone who is attached to honour is Kanishta Adikari, I said oh my God!! I’ve been always thinking myself as Madhyama adikari, some sort, but not very high madhyama, and I can preach, and I can increase the faith in the hearts of devotees in one hour. I can do many things by mercy by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, what can I say that I’m free from desire, No? Yes ir no? So then I myself holding up the mirror because in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says “the introspective sage”, so we have to hold up the mirror and look within ourselves where am I spiritually? Now we live in a world of demons and same things are still going in kaliyuga and getting worse and worse how come we reform the world unless we have compassion, tolerance and love? What will happen to thousands of innocent people we bring them to Krishna Consciousness? 

Chant and be happy they become ecstatic, they love chanting Hare Krishna, they get into the movement and then find out that some leaders are hard hearted. What is it going to do their faith, to find out some leaders are intolerant? What’s that going to do to their faith? Because everyone in this movement whether they are so called big devotee or whether they are officially Acharya or whether they are just passing out books, in any case, every single devotee must be “mini archarya”, why? Because we are representing Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. People cannot see Krishna, He is God, and He is unapproachable. His toenails cannot even be approached by yogis but Prabhupada is making available so, representing Krishna. All that they know about Krishna, is through devotee. That’s all I know whatever opinion they develop about Krishna is dependent on the quality of presentation made by the first devotee that they talked to. Isn’t it? 

Everyone has this experience, if you enliven them, inspire them, and get them going in chanting and get them going in reading & Srila Prabhupada books then that is called real preaching. They get favourably experience in Krishna Consciousness they will carry on, want more association like that you know? So our duty is non-stop, always representing Krishna, many acharyas. Never mind position if you sit on vyasasan, you are Acharya, not like that. You know some of you have a special position, that is very good but everyone must be mini Acharya, small Acharya by example. We have to teach Krishna Consciousness by our example. Then there will be ultimate Hare Krishna explosion when we are the movement is exploding, expanding but we want quality as well as quantity, Isn’t it? Yes? So we have to be very careful about institutional racism because you know there’s prathista. Prathista means positon, attachment, and that can that can strength the grumpier knot in the heart, you know, that can cause one to chant with the 10th offense. If you are attached to position, order and power and whatever then that 10th offense certainly is there, then they will be trouble. 

Then we see many of my God brothers, very very dedicated, but because of the 10th office hati-mata, the mad elephant offense against Vaishnavas they fell down. Some of the my greatest God brothers have most impressive results externally, a millions of books distributed thousands of devotees made, open so many temples built those that fell down why? Was Krishna unappreciative? Should we conclude Krishan didn’t appreciate their hard work and glorious accomplishment? No, hati-mata. Engage in every case, hati-mata, Vaishnava aparadha, puffed up, proud, prathista, it is a killer. So, we have to be careful, we have to think about the sloka in Bhagavad Gita, about introspective sage. We have to hold up the mirror and look inside, we have to give ourselves honest report card just like that. I conclude by reading this one of my favourite verse in Srimad Bhagavatam, [SB 1.2.17] srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah punya-sravana-kirtanah hrdy antah stho hy abhadrani vidhunoti suhrt satam Sir Krishna who is Supreme Personality of Godhead is the paramatma who is in everyone’s heart and is benefactor of the truthful devotee. We may think, well, I don’t tell lies, no but it’s deeper than that. But we don’t have time to discuss. The truthful devotee cleanses the desire for natural material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages that means a little bit of Ruchi at least, which are themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. So we have to truthful we have to hold up our mirror, what is my progress we have to give ourselves our own progress report, you see. Just not waiting until somebody else or a superior corrects us, we ourselves have to do constant self-evaluation then we can progress in the movement. Thank you very much.

Dear Maharajas and Prabhus,

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

Srila Prabhupada has set a vision for devotees to “hunt for the rhinoceros” and to “think big”. His Divine Grace personally believed in engaging the leaders of society in Krishna Consciousness in order to set an example to the common populace. In pursuance of this vision, by the blessings of Sri Sri Radha Parthasarathi and Srila Prabhupada, we received the rare opportunity of visiting the Honorable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi at his residence in New Delhi and gifting him a copy of the Special Edition Bhagavad Gita, printed in Italy. The Prime Minister liked this Special Gita and assured that he will keep it with him all his life.

HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja apprised the Prime Minister about the global preaching efforts of ISKCON, particularly the propagation of the priceless message of the Bhagavad Gita in most of the significant languages of the world. The Prime Minister was pleased to hear that the Bhagavad Gita is available in 81 languages of the world.

The Prime Minister was also presented with a copy of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is in Russian, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi and English. Maharaja also offered to have a copy of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is in all languages, kept in the Prime Minister’s Library; something which Srila Prabhupada would have been pleased to hear.

He also told him that ISKCON has over 650 temples across the world and more than 60 Goshalas. The Prime Minister mentioned twice or thrice during the meeting that ISKCON is doing good work.

Maharaja presented him with a photo of his visit to Moscow in October, 2001.He was pleased to see this photo, recollecting his Russia visit and the trip to the ISKCON Temple in Moscow.

The ISKCON team also utilized the opportunity to invite the Prime Minister as the Chief Guest for the major function we are planning for the ISKCON 50 celebrations -centered on the Joy of Devotion- in November. The Prime Minister mentioned that he needed some time for confirmation and did not commit, but was favorable to the idea. We are hoping for Krishna’s mercy that this possibility materializes.

It was particularly heartening to see the joyful and respectful manner in which the Prime Minister received the ISKCON team and spent nearly 15 minutes with us.

As soon as the meeting was over, Doordarshan, the National Television Channel of India started flashing the video coverage of the meeting. By afternoon, Twitter with several million followers of the Prime Minister, his YouTube Channel and the Prime Minister’s website Narendramodi.in- all flashed the following personal message: ” Touched to receive a copy of the Gita from Shri. Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja.”

This was the first ever time that a meeting with the Prime Minister of India has been featured so prominently and positively across media, particularly the wide reaching social media.Please find attached, the official photographs of this meeting.Many thanks.

Your servant

Vrajendranandan Das Director-ISKCON National Communications, New Delhi

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19857

 Sri Laghu-Bhagavatamrta is a magnum opus by Srila Rupa Gosvami further embellished with the intricate and vivid commentary by Gopiparanadhana Dasa. This theological milieu by the ace hermeneutic Srila Rupa Gosvami establishes Lord Sri Krsna as the Avatari, or the Source of all incarnations, upholding His pre-eminence as the superlative original Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Rupa Gosvami’s elder brother Sanatana Gosvami composed Sri Brhat Bhagavatamrta wherein the highest of all devotees, was intricately and sequentially established. Sri Rupa Gosvami felt the need of establishing the epicentre of this devotion of the devotees, i.e. the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna Himself with all His potencies and opulence, clearly outlining the relationship between Sri Krishna and His emanations. Hence as a subsequent edition to Sanatana Gosvami’s Brhat (greater) Bhagavatamrta, Rupa Gosvami composed the Laghu (concise or lesser) Bhagavatamrta as an offering to his brother. He presented Sri Laghu Bhagavatamrta in the typically concise style of philosophical thesis: short definitions and statements of fact with the support of quotations from authoritative scriptures, which are then often followed by the author’s own explanatory verses.

In the sixteenth century, Srila Rupa Gosvami had authored Sri Laghu Bhagavatamrta, an era where there was dire need to prove Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Most Vaisnavas then accepted Lord Visnu as the original form of the Supreme Lord, considering Krishna merely one of His incarnations-albeit the most beloved of the Lord’s many forms. Much has changed since this marvel was penned down, however the need to demonstrate that Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead predominantly exists till date. In a modern world permeated by varieties of atheism, voidism and impersonalism, this masterpiece has great relevance for the spiritual lives of all sincere seekers, especially devotees of Krishna.  

 Rupa Gosvami articulately, with sheer erudition establishes Lord Krishna to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which is the foundational axiom of Gaudiya Vaisnava belief and principle. Laghu Bhagavatamrta pushes Gaudiya Vaisnavism to a realm far beyond the poetic sentiment or personal opinion, using some serious philosophical exegesis. This crème de la crème of Vedic knowledge is divided into two parts:

 Part 1 introduces the readers to the anatomy of Bhagavan along with His emanations and incarnations, while Part 2 classifies His devotees according to the depth of their devotion.

Gopiparanandhana Dasa, with utmost brilliance in Sanskrit language and profound knowledge, following the footsteps of the stalwarts of Gaudiya Vaisnava society and Srila Prabhupada, corroborates the sublime assertion of every scripture by translating the original text as authored by Rupa Gosvami. The book’s numerous appendices were completed by Giriraja Publishing’s researchers after Gopiparanandhana’s untimely departure. The impeccable foreword to the book was written by Professor Dr. Edwin Bryant and the eloquent preface by Mukunda Datta Dasa of Vrindavan.

This edition is among the last literary works of late Gopiparanadhana Dasa, Srila Prabhupada’s faithful disciple who dedicated his life to the BBT. His efforts serve the fervent desire of Srila Prabhupada to enlighten sincere souls with a solid, authoritative understanding of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna and the nature of the pure devotees eternally associated with Him. His work thus speaks with transparent authority. Present and future generations of Gaudiya Vaisnavas owe a significant debt to the late Gopiparanadhana Dasa, for producing Sri Laghu Bhagavatamrta which is a true learned labour of love.

Dear devotees, this morning with a heavy heart we left the temple of Madana Gopal in Belpukur.

The beautiful Madan Gopal was worshipped by Sachimata’s father. The worship has been going on for about 1.700 years. From there we entered Simantadvipa which corresponds to the process of hearing sravanam. Soon enough the first katha of the day was held under a huge banyan tree. It wasn’t just tall in size but it vigorously spread in all directions with branches which were almost as thick as the main trunk. It can only be compared to the tree Krishna describes in the Bhagavad Gita, chapter 15. That place is called Panca Vaktra, a name of Siva who possesses 5 mouths. In this connection Maha visnu swami led us in a truly ecstatic kirtan where he sang the following lines:

Brahma bole cathur mukhe Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Mahadeva panca mukhe Rama Rama Hare Hare

Next we had Guru Puja at the temple of Simantini Devi who is Paravati Devi after she placed the dust from Gauranga’s lotus feet upon the middle part of her head. That is called ‘simanta’. Because of this pastime this island is known as Simantadvipa.

Simantini devi and Lord Shiva ( a skit at Simantadvipa)

From there the Parikrama arrived at Chand Kazi’s Samadhi where the kirtan went on a different dimension, reminding one and all of the historical kirtan procession Lord Caitanya held from Srivasa Angan to the dwelling of the Kazi. This pastime was enacted in a drama directed by HG Pancaratna Prabhu assisted by the talented Delhi devotees. Soon we arrived at our campsite at Rajapur, Jagannatha Mandir which is non-different from Jagannatha Puri.

Hilarious skit at Cand Kazi’s samadhi, directed by HG Pancharatna prabhu

HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaj, Parikrama Chairman

Finally in the evening to complete our Parikrama experience we had a realization session where many devotees spoke up.  They shared with the group how they have been transformed from day 1, how they loved the prasadam and how fortunate they felt to perform devotional service in the holy dhama in the company of so many wonderful vaishnavas.

To bless the occasion HH Jayapataka Swami arrived. After listening to most of the realizations, he addressed all the members with compassion, encouragement and gratitude.

On the 8th day (18th of March), we are going to see the sacred places in Antardvipa, the island of full surrender. It is interesting that a big part of ISKCON Mayapur complex is situated in Antardvipa. We are just 1km from Yoga Pitha. Those who come to Mayapur or live here are invited to practice the process of surrender; these are the blessings of this island. We are scheduled to reach ISKCON Mayapur campus tomorrow 9:00am where a Maha Milan (great meeting) will take place with all the parties meeting at the same time, which demands a lot of communication and organization from the leaders, securities, Parade commanders and Coordinators.

Lecture on How difficult is it to remember Krsna at the time of death by Sivarama Swami on 18 Feb 2016

(Sivarama Swami was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1949. In 1956, during the failed Hungarian revolution, he emigrated with his family to Canada.)

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Realizations from a pilgrimage in Mayapur.
Aniruddha Dasa: Flew into Melbourne this morning after an odd night on the flight from Singapore to Melbourne. I don’t think it possible to be comfortable in an airplane even if you are in First Class. We were in Business. We used up frequent flyer points, just for the record.
Here’s the rub. The material world is meant for suffering. First class, second class and third class passengers are all suffering in the material world. Whichever class you are in you can’t avoid the jet lag of material life.
Otherwise we had a very productive and enthusing time in the holy dhāmas. By Kṛṣṇa and the devotees’ grace I managed to participate in full morning programs and focused japa sessions, especially in Mayapur. What a wonderful place to chant. It is immensely powerful. Now the challenge is to duplicate the same here at home. Visiting the dhāma and taking advantage of the valuable association there is meant to enthuse us to do the same, wherever we are. That way all the temples of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness are places of pilgrimage where one can associate with and learn from those who know the science of Kṛṣṇa. Those sincere persons looking for spiritual life will naturally be attracted, like iron filings to a magnet. The atmosphere should be so surcharged with knowledge and renunciation; focused on service to the Lord, that it is irresistible. And it is!
That comes from chanting good rounds, hearing attentively, remembering who we are and why we are here, serving with the goal of pleasing Kṛṣṇa whether it be the upkeep of His temple, or the distribution of Prabhupāda’s books, distributing prasādam, or whatever.
If we, all of us, keep Kṛṣṇa in the centre then we will be happy and so will those who associate with us.
The picture is from the ISKCON Disciple Course I taught on the weekend in ISKCON Dwarka (Delhi).

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19808

Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 02, Chapter 09, Text 36 by HG Chaitanya Charan Prabhu at ISKCON Melbourne

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

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Lecture on Distinctive Features of Lord Gaurangas Sampradaya by HH Sachinandana Swami on 26 Feb 2016

(Born in 1954 in Hamburg, Germany, At a young age, he began searching for answers anywhere they could be found—from the esoteric teachings of the old world spiritual traditions to the modern theories of psychology and parapsychology.)

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Hare Krishna Kirtan by HH Kadamba Kanana Swami on 31 Jan 2016 at Radhadesh

(HH Kadamba Kanana Swami coordinated the construction of Srila Prabhupada’s samadhi in Mayapur. He took sannyasa in 1997 and is now an initiating guru.)

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