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Congregational Preachers to be awarded in Sridham Mayapur

This year, for the first time ever, we will be hosting our annual award ceremony during the ISKCON Leadership Sanga in front of all the leaders. We will be awarding those devotees around the world who have done an outstanding service in the area of congregational preaching.

During the 2016 Annual Award Ceremony, the congregational ministry will recognize devotees in a variety of areas. From pioneers and supporters of the preaching mission to those who have had long term achievements with their congregations, or in the area of production of preaching material and even those devotees who may have given substantial financial contributions for the preaching will receive due recognition for their endeavours. Another important award is for those devotees who travel far and wide trying to encourage and train congregational devotees in their spiritual life. Other significant areas are prison preaching, festivals and youth.

In celebration of ISKCON’s 50th year, we are humbly presenting medallions to devotees who have made exceptional progress in their preaching endeavors.

Please help us to honor these devotees by contributing to the medallions. Any amount will make a difference.

http://www.iskconcongregation.com/donate-to-project/

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The number of devotees arriving for the festival is increasing! Panca Tattva hall was packed and everyone were trying to get into the hall to take part of this eternal Sankirtan lila of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates! HH Lokanath Swami gave today’s lecture on the famous verse:

Krishna varnam tvisa krsnam  – where the incarnation of Lord Krishna as Gaura Avatar with the weapon of Sankirtan is predicted. The lecture is available at mayapur.tv archives. Kirtan Mela schedule for the day is as follows:

10:00 HG Vishvambara Das (Mayapuris)

11:00  HH Purushatraya Swami

12:00 HG Naru Gopal Das

1:00 HG Titiksava Karunika Das

1:30 HG Mahaprabhu Caitanya Das

2:00 HG Atmarama Das

2:30 HG Sudama Sakha Das

3:00 HG Girigivardhan Das

3:30 HG Maha Nitai Das

4:00 HG Shyamananda Das

4:30 HG Padmarani Devi Dasi

5:00 Bhajan Kutir

6:00 HG Agnideva Das

7:00 HH Lokanath Swami

8:00 HH Bhaktivaibhava Swami

9:00 HG Amala Harinam Das

Today’s both breakfast and lunch festival prasada is sponsored on behalf of

HH Jayapataka Swami.
Our thanks to Nihal Sing Prabhu from South Africa for his kindness to sponsor Kirtan Mela Prasada for the day.

Devotees raise their hands to loudly chant Hare Krishna Mahamantra, praying to Their Lordships for their spiritual welfare.

Watch today’s featured Festival video: A feel of the festival by a visitor to Mayapur:

https://youtu.be/6G_j4ILlfBM

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Speaker: HH Lokanath Swami
Venue: Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir
Date: 7 March 2016

So thats the verse, Eleventh Canto, Chapter 5, Text 32. Are you familiar, if you have looked at the board? Yeah! Sounds familiar? Not new! But ever ever new also at the same time! Never becomes old!

So here we are in land of Gauranga, Gauranga! (Devotees respond: Gauranga!) Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki (Devotees respond: Jaya!) And also we have gathered here amongst other reasons, gathered here for Kirtan Mela ki (Devotees respond: Jaya!) Yes, you have come here for Kirtan Mela! Some of you have just come for the Kirtan Mela. Don’t show me hands! You have hands, I know! So you are here for the Kirtan Mela, many of you. So I thought of selecting a verse that talks of Caitanya Mahaprabhu as well as of course talks about the kirtana, sankirtana- yajna, that we are engaged in here. So quickly as time is running.

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam
 sangopangastra-parsadam
yajñaih sankirtana-prayair
 yajanti hi su-medhasah ( SB 11.5.32)

Translation and Purport by disciples of His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada ki (Devotees respond: Jaya!)

“In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Krsna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krsna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.”

Purport
“This same verse is quoted by Kṛṣṇadasa Kaviraja in the Caitanya-caritamṛta, Adi-lila, Chapter Three, verse 52….”

Maharaja: And I was reminded that Laghu Bhagavatamrta of Rupa Goswami, he also quotes this verse in the very beginning of Laghu Bhagavatamrta, Rupa Goswami does, its part of his mangalacarana, same verse.

“His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has given the following commentary on this verse. “This text is from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.32). Srila Jiva Gosvami has explained this verse in his commentary on the Bhagavatam known as the Krama-sandarbha, wherein he says that Lord Kṛṣṇa also appears with a golden complexion. That golden Lord Kṛṣṇa is Lord Caitanya,….”

Maharaja: Did you hear that, “That golden Lord Kṛṣṇa is Lord Caitanya.” Very nice the way Prabhupada is commenting based on Krama-sandarbha.

“who is worshiped by intelligent men in this age. That is confirmed in Srimad-Bhagavatam by Garga Muni, who said that although the child Kṛṣṇa was blackish, He also appears in three other colours — red, white and yellow….”

Maharaja: idanim krsnatam gatah (SB 10.8.13), Garga Muni, idanim krsnataam gatah, now He has become Krishna. But previously He was, suklo raktas tatha pita (SB 10.8.13). He has three other colours, sukla-white in Satya Yuga, rakta-red in Treta Yuga and pita….(indistinct) and now He has appeared in Dvapara Yuga as Krishna, so what is the remaining age, Kali Yuga, pita. So four colours mentioned and then he had already mentioned three ages. So fourth age is Kali and pita is remaining colour, so that is Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s colour.

“who said that although the child Kṛṣṇa was blackish, He also appears in three other colors — red, white and yellow. He exhibited His white and red complexions in the Satya and Tretā ages respectively. He did not exhibit the remaining color, yellow-gold, until He appeared as Lord Caitanya, who is known as Gaurahari….”

Maharaja: Hari who is Gaura. Either Gauranga whose complexion is Gaura anga, golden complexion or Hari Hari (aside: What happened? No dont look behind! You! Sleeping so, the one who is sleeping he looks at, not me! This always happens! This is very human! Indians, Africans, whatever! He looks behind! Not me!) So Gaurahari! He is Hari, but what kind of Hari He is? (Devotees respond: Gaurahari) Gaurahari! Don’t just say Hari! Hari! Say Gaurahari!

“Srila Jiva Gosvami explains that kṛṣṇa-varṇam means Sri Kṛṣṇa Caitanya…”

Maharaja: That is he is getting back to the verse, there is kṛṣṇa-varṇam and that refers to Caitanya.

“Kṛṣṇa-varṇam and Kṛṣṇa Caitanya are equivalent. The name Kṛṣṇa appears with both Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Caitanya Kṛṣṇa.”

Maharaja: namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne, that part, I offer my obeisances unto krsnaya, krsnaya because namah is there, I offer my obeisances unto Krishna, you say that in Sanskrit as krsnaya, which kind of Krishna, krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne, Krishna whose name is Krsna Caitanya, unto that Krishna I offer my obeisances. krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne, Krishna whose name is Krsna Caitanya, I offer my obeisances unto Him.

“Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He always engages in describing Kṛṣṇa and thus enjoying transcendental bliss by chanting and remembering His name and form. Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself…”

Maharaja: So that is kṛṣṇa-varṇam, anyway I will go ahead, keep going and then get back.

“Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself appears as Lord Caitanya to preach the highest gospel. Varṇayati means ‘utters’ or ‘describes.’ Lord Caitanya always chants the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and describes it also….”

Maharaja: He chants and He describes. And that is why He is called here as kṛṣṇa-varṇam, the very first word of this verse is what, kṛṣṇa-varṇam, kṛṣṇa-varṇam, varna. So Krishna, these are varna’s. Also varnan, from that comes, varhah, description. So kṛṣṇa-varṇam, who always chants and describes, so thats kṛṣṇa-varṇam.

“and because He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, whoever meets Him will automatically chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and later describe it to others…”

Maharaja: Yes, you are doing that. You chant and then you describe it to others. Thats preaching.

“He injects one with transcendental Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which merges the chanter in transcendental bliss…”

Maharaja: Many fans. I am not fan of a fan! But I know some of you don’t survive without fans.

“In all respects, therefore, He appears before everyone as Kṛṣṇa, either by personality or by sound…”

Maharaja: He appears as personality or sound. Personality is there in the form of vigraha and sound is,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

He appeared you could say. And there is no difference. The form and the description, not different. Or form and the sound no difference, form and the sound.

‘Simply by seeing Lord Caitanya one at once remembers Lord Kṛṣṇa. One may therefore accept Him as viṣṇu-tattva. In other words, Lord Caitanya is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.”

Haribol! (Devotees: Haribol!)

So its a long purport but we don’t have long time for the class here. So I will kind of stop there and well go to the verse and make few comments. Some comments have been made and we’ve already read, we heard. But we could make few more connections.

Earlier in this same chapter question was raised by Nimi, King Nimi and Karabhajana Muni, he is talking to Karabhajana Muni. It is a dialogue between King Nimi and Karabhajana Muni. And the question raised was,

sri-rajovaca
kasmin kale sa bhagavan
 kim varnah kidrso nrbhih
namna va kena vidhina
 pujyate tad ihocyatam (SB 11.5.19)

Please tell me, kasmin kale, or kasmin yuge, in which age, bhagavan kim varnah, Lord appears in which kind of varnah, or complexion, colour. namna, or what name does He become known as in different ages, kena vidhina pujyate and by which process, paddhati, mode of worship He is worshipped in or worshipped by.

So he was interested to know in which age, which Lord, which incarnation, colour, please tell me colour, please tell me the name, please tell me the process He is worshipped. So after Satya, Treta, and Dvapara, he has already given reply to those questions or those ages have been described. Which Lord appears and what colour does He appear and how is He worshipped and what are the names. And now is the turn of the age of Kali and then he talks of this verse.

In the age of Kali, the Lord appears, krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam, so this kind of Krishna, Lord appears in the age of Kali, krsna-varnam, krsna varna, He always chants,

Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna he!

Like that. krsna-varnam, He always chants and always describes Krishna, thats krsna-varnam, krsna varna tvisa akrsna, tvisa refers to the lustre, complexion, ok what kind of complexion, a-krsnam, a means no, krsna means black. He does not appear as a blackish complexion. Opposite of black is what? White, more than white! He appears as golden, which is very close, white plus much more! krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam and that one also, krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah, same tvisa is, you find tvisa here and that pranama mantra of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu there is also tvisa, tvisa, grammar has done something to that tvisa,

So gaura-tvise, I offer my obeisances unto the Lord who is of golden complexion, like that mantra we offer obeisances with.

namo maha-vadanyaya
krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-
namne gaura-tvise namah

Four things quickly, four things are mentioned, Krishna’s, Lord’s name is mentioned, what is His name, krsnaya krsna-caitanya, then His form is mentioned, what kind of form, gaura-tvise, form of the Lord, gaura-tvise is a form. So name, form, and quality, what is the quality of, namo maha-vadanyaya, this is the quality of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, amongst all or many, so many qualities, this is predominating quality of Sri Krishna Caitanya. He is namo maha-vadanyaya, maha, most magnanimous, matchless Lord, no one comes close to Him when we talk of the magnanimity of the Lord. So namo maha-vadanyaya, this is, this is the quality, guna of the Lord and what is remaining, nama, rupa, guna and lila, the pastimes, so what is the pastime of this Lord Gauranga, namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te, krsna-prema-prada, krsna-prema-prada, da the giver of Krishna prema, prada, He gives so much, prakrsta rupena, gives so much. So its not only, like narada, just da there but prada, He gives so much, ocean of prema. So that pranama mantra itself has nama, rupa, guna, lila of Gauranga.

So tvisakrsna, tvisa, refers to complexion of the Lord which is a-krsna, not black. sangopangastra-parsadam, so there are four items here. The letter sa there, sa means with, equipped with, with that, sa anga, anga, upanga, sangopangastra, astra, sangopangastra-parsada, fourth is parsada.

sa anga, sa upanga, sa astra, sa parsada, He appears along with all these items here. So He appears with anga, limbs, they are like a part of Him. So Nityananda, Advaita is anga of the Lord. In the commentaries by acharyas, Jiva Goswami they explain this. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura also quoting other commentators. Srila Prabhupada briefly does mention, we did not reach that part in the purport.

upanga, Srivasa and many many devotees are upanga’s. So anga, upanga, sastra,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

is a sastra, is a weapon, to do what, paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam (Bg 4.8), there are so many duskritina’s, dusta’s the demons, Haribol! I did say Haribol for some other reason but I thought some one was sleeping, so, I dislike the sleepers. They always get my attention, what to do? Its my weakness.

So sastra the holy name, so the sastra’s are used for killing the demons. But the Lord has appeared as the most magnanimous. So this time His weapons are not the normal usual bow and arrow, the axe like a Parasurama is using, Krishna is Sudarshana. In fact when Nityananda Prabhu was attacked, offended Caitanya Mahaprabhu had appeared on the scene with Sudarshana! But then He was reminded, No, No, No, Nityananda Prabhu, not in this age, not this weapon. The weapon is,

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

It is also described that Lord’s beauty is also weapon. The demoniac mentality or demoniac consciousness is killed or defeated just by the beauty of Gauranga. He was so beautiful, just by looking at Him, the arrows are shot at, at the person who is looking at Mahaprabhu and he is killed in no time. His beauty is the weapon, captivating, capturing and then that person surrenders unto Gauranga.

So there are the astra’s mentioned, there are several astra’s. Prasadam is also astra. And hence comes the ISKCON bullet, ISKCON bullets are gulab jamuns. And you are finished! So Prabhupada just fed prasada and so many demons, American demons, demoniac nature was killed. There were hippies, there were demons, they chanted Hare krishna, ate gulab jamuns and they were happy. The hippies became happies.

So Prabhupada was senapati bhakta, talking of senapati, sena means army, he is chief in commander and then he made New York his destination. Go to New York. New York the capital of the age of Kali. And upon arrival there he started showering bombs of the holy name and the time bomb his books were also weapons. They would explode but not destroy but construct beautiful heart or consciousness.

So Bhagavatam is a weapon, Bhagavatam is complete, in there is Krishna’s beauty, Krishna’s form, Krishna, Krishna. So sangopangastra-parsadam, His parsada’s are Gadhadhara is His parsada, Govinda was His parsada, Ramananda Raya was His parsada, Rupa Sanatana were His parsada and many others. So all those who were with Him at that time, those who appeared along with Him, they are anga’s limbs or upanga’s secondary limbs, or astra’s the weapons or parsada’s His companions close, they are always around.

yajñaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasah

So first two lines is one part in this verse. Lord is described. It is just Lord’s description. What kind of Lord is described? Like this, krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam, am, am, you see, for some reason it is ‘am’, ‘am’. So they are one family, they are together. They all describe Lord. And here is already established now. He is Sri Krishna Caitanya, because gaura-tvise a-krsna, He is not black, He is golden.

So then the two more parts are there, yajanti hi su-medhasah, su-medhasah yajanti, su-medasah is su means susthu nice wonderful, medhasah intelligent. The most intelligent persons yajanti, they worship, most intelligent persons, what do they do, they worship. Who do they worship? In this verse, they worship krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam, su-medhasah yajanti, intelligent persons worship this Lord, Gauranga.

alpa medhasam, Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, alpa medhasam, those who are less intelligent devan deva-yajo yanti, they worship demigods, less intelligent Lord said. Less intelligent alpa medhasam, here is su-medhasah. Alpa means no or little, and su-medhasah, susthu, so much intelligent, highly intelligent persons, most intelligent persons would go for Gauranga! go for Gauranga! go for Gauranga! go for Gauranga! go for Gauranga!

So yajanti his su-medasah, now they worship this Lord, but how do they worship, what is the mode of worship, what is the process do they adopt, that is the third part. yajñaih sankirtana-prayair su-medhasah yajanti, they worship, how do they worship yajñaih, yajñaih means by performance of yajna and doesn’t stop there, not giving any room for speculation, immediately that yajna’s name is mentioned. Which yajna, sankirtana yajna. There is no yajñaih and then full stop. Period! No! yajñaih sankirtana-prayair yajñaih su-medhasah yajanti, the intelligent persons worship this Lord in the age of Kali by chanting

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

So you must be intelligent that you have assembled here to worship the Lord who appears in the age of Kali. Worship how, by chanting krsna-varnam, as Lord did personally in fact, krsna-varnam, Lord personally did this. apani acari jagate sikhaya, by His own example He taught others, He taught the whole world. So He chanted 500 years ago personally. All that chanting started in Mayapur, Navadvipa and He takes sannyasa, He travels all over India chanting and dancing and the way He has shaken up, shaken, shaken up the whole world, or universe and left the vibrations – Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! So that is what is shaking us up, waking us up, those vibrations are still in the air! Of course He has not stopped chanting, still He is here, Gauranga is here! kona kona bhagyavan dekhi bare pare, those who are fortunate they could even see today, Gauranga Mahaprabhu performing His pastimes and His pastimes here are kirtana lila.

And same lila Prabhupada expanded that. Mahaprabhu chanted just within the boundaries of India and Prabhupada said, ‘Mahaprabhu left this job of spreading, chanting beyond the boundaries of India up to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.’ (Devotees: Haribol!) So he became the founder acharya 50 years ago, ISKCON was founded, and then same sankirtanaih kapitarau, as sankirtana was started by Mahaprabhu here was then inauguration took place and now it has reached far and wide. And what is the indication, how do we know it has reached far and wide? Right here, we see the faces from around the world, we heard day before yesterday devotees from 70 countries are here. (Devotees: Haribol!)

And then I say, I have been saying this, from nama to dhama. Devotees receive nama wherever they are, in their country they receive nama, and that nama the holy name brings them to dhama. (Devotees: Haribol!) So nama to dhama.

So one day will come as predicted by Caitanya Mahaprabhu, this yajnah, sankirtana-yajnah will be performed in every town, every village of this planet. And from every village, from every town devotees will be making plans to come to Mayapur for Kirtan Mela, amongst other festival aspects. And they will coming from every little town, Timbaktu, there is a Timbaktu, Timbaktu, from there also they will come. So this is just the beginning, this is just the beginning, 50 years passed and now another 9000 years to go. You could imagine. This temple which is going to hold 10000 devotees, the TOVP temple in the front is built to accommodate how many devotees,10000 but for sure as soon as temple is opened it will be filled, it will be packed. (Devotees: Haribol!) Then we have to make plans for bigger temple, or stadium, there is some talk up.

Ok Thank you very much!

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19564

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By Madhava Smullen

In July 1966, after braving thirty-five days at sea on a cargo ship, two heart attacks, and months of struggles in New York’s Bowery with little money to his name, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Some of his main purposes for the Society included “to systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large,” and “to bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna.”

Fifty years later, residents of his first rural community, New Vrindaban, are celebrating his Society’s Golden Jubilee with a packed year of events that intend to spread spiritual knowledge and deepen connections with devotees, the general public, and local municipal leaders.

The first event will be a two-day festival on May 20th and 21st celebrating the 30thanniversary of the installation of New Vrindaban’s Nrismha-Prahlad Deities, the only full-sized such Deities in North America.

Sculpted and molded by local devotee artists and installed in 1986, the ferocious half-man half-lion Lord with His deep black skin and golden mane stands seven feet tall.

“We plan to invite devotees from all over North America to come celebrate this unique festival with us,” says ISKCON New Vrindaban president Jaya Krsna Das. “Together, we’ll bathe the full-size Deities of Lord Nrsimhadeva and Sri Prahlad in an abhisekha ceremony. And we will ask senior devotees to come and share their memories of the installation.”

The first stage reading of The Ramayana by Kripamaya Prabhu, June 2015http://www.brijabasispirit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_0360-768x512.jpg 768w, http://www.brijabasispirit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_0360-500x333.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" class="align-center" />

The first stage reading of The Ramayana by Kripamaya Prabhu, June 2015

Next, on June 3rd, 4th and 5th will be the premiere of a two-hour epic Ramayana musical by longtime New Vrindaban resident Kripamaya Das.

Devotees from neighboring cities will join New Vrindaban residents and students in the audience, packing out West Liberty University’s 230-seat Kelley Theater in nearby Wheeling.

“I’ve been working on this off and on my whole life,” says Kripamaya Das, who began his dramatic career with New Vrindaban’s Brijabasi Players in the early 1980s. Currently enrolled in a music and theater program at West Liberty, he is delighted to finally see his dream come to fruition. And on a professional stage, with a cast of some fourteen students and devotees, no less.

“We plan to invite some theater directors and producers to see it, and if they like it, we hope to go on to have it produced in Pittsburgh or enter musical festivals in New York,” he says.

Kulimelahttp://www.brijabasispirit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Kulimela-768x835.jpg 768w, http://www.brijabasispirit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Kulimela-460x500.jpg 460w, http://www.brijabasispirit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Kulimela.jpg 920w" sizes="(max-width: 276px) 100vw, 276px" class="align-center" /> 

From June 15th to 19th, meanwhile, will be one of New Vrindaban’s biggest festivals of the year. The tenth anniversary of the first Kuli Mela will be celebrated back-to back with an event that was born from its bhajan kutir — the 24-Hour Kirtan festival.

Kuli Mela will epitomize New Vrindaban’s aim to build deep relationships during the 50th anniversary year, with ‘celebrating family” and “building community” as its main themes. Around 1,000 people from the first, second, and third generations of ISKCON are expected to attend for three days full of seminars, activities, bhajans, and entertainment.

For the 24-Hour Kirtan festival on the weekend, attendance is expected to remain high, with Kuli chanters like Amala Harinama and the Mayapuris joining senior Srila Prabhupada disciples such as Bhakti Charu Swami, Radhanath Swami, and Agnidev Das.

Of course, for ISKCON’s 50th anniversary, New Vrindaban devotees are also looking to do a large outreach event to connect with the local public. Residents have celebrated their own Rathayatra at New Vrindaban since 1973, but this year will see the first Festival of Chariots in local town Wheeling on Saturday July 16th.

Organizer Vrindavana Das will give interviews about the event with newspapers and TV stations in advance, emphasizing the importance of ISKCON’s 50thanniversary year and highlighting Srila Prabhupada’s achievements. On the day, New Vrindaban’s over five-foot tall Jagannath Deity will parade through Wheeling on his 30-foot high chariot, followed by a stage show on the Ohio River waterfront. The show will include a welcome and lecture, a dance, a drama, and kirtan, followed by prasadam.

“This is about making ourselves visible to the public again,” says Jaya Krsna. “We already have the Festival of Colors on September 17th where they come to us, but with the Rathayatra we’re going to them. It’s our offering to the city and its residents.”

Srila Prabhupada visiting New Vrindaban in early 1970’shttp://www.brijabasispirit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/srila-prabhupada-at-new-vrindaban31-500x377.jpg 500w, http://www.brijabasispirit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/srila-prabhupada-at-new-vrindaban31.jpg 606w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" class="align-center" />

Srila Prabhupada visiting New Vrindaban in early 1970’s

ISKCON’s 50th anniversary is also the perfect time to reintroduce the “Prabhupada Festival” that was celebrated at Prabhupada’s Palace over Labor Day Weekend from 1979 until the mid ‘80s.

Hundreds of previous residents of New Vrindaban from its early days will be invited for the September 30th to October 2nd weekend event, and hosted as honored guests.

“It will be a revival of giving special attention to Srila Prabhupada and to the devotees who helped build his Palace and first developed New Vrindaban,” says Jaya Krsna.

During the festival, devotees will spend a whole day at the original New Vrindaban farm. There are plans over the summer to renovate the farmhouse where Srila Prabhupada stayed for one month in 1969, and to decorate it with photographs of old times. The festivities will take place under a pandal nearby, including devotees telling many stories of their experiences in those pioneering years.

As well as deepening relationships with devotees and the general public, ISKCON New Vrindaban also wants to connect with local municipal leaders and dignitiaries.

Communications director Vrindaban das welcomes the Marshall County Convention Bureau to New Vrindaban September, 2016.http://www.brijabasispirit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Meeting-500x393.jpg 500w, http://www.brijabasispirit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Meeting.jpg 700w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" class="align-center" />

Communications Director Vrindavan das (far left) welcomes the Marshall County Convention Bureau to New Vrindaban in September, 2016.

Many will be invited to a VIP Dinner on October 20th, including the mayors of Wheeling and Moundsville, church, business, and law-enforcement leaders, deans of local universities, and celebrated artists in their fields. The event will include a delicious prasadam meal and a cultural presentation.

“As we work hard to follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions and gradually improve the image of his New Vrindaban village,” says Jaya Krsna, “We want to be good citizens, to connect with our neighbors. And in the process, we want to let them know about ISKCON’s 50th anniversary and Srila Prabhupada’s achievements.”

After ISKCON’s 50th anniversary, more celebrations are to come with the 50thanniversary of New Vrindaban in 2018. Plans include a book and film on the history of New Vrindaban, more efforts at reconnecting with current and previous residents, and a recreation of Srila Prabhupada’s famous Bhagavat-Dharma Discourses from 1972.

“As we celebrate the 50th anniversaries of ISKCON and New Vrindaban, we remember that Srila Prabhupada is our spiritual founder,” says Jaya Krsna. “He established New Vrindaban as a sacred village, he gave us so many grand visions and bold instructions, he visited four times, and it’s clear that this community is important to him. And today, of course, we can feel his presence so strongly in his Palace. Therefore our intention should be that everything we do here, we do it for him.”

Source: http://www.brijabasispirit.com/2016/03/07/deeper-connections-at-forefront-of-new-vrindabans-iskcon-50-celebrations/

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HARE KRISHNA FESTIVALS

& Events for 2016

International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Founder Acarya: His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

info@harekrishnafestivals.com Updated: 07/03/2016

http://www.harekrishnafestivals.com/calendar/

Rathayatras, Carnivals & Harinams, Outdoor Public Festivals,

Indoor Venues / HK Fest, & Devotee Events, TBC = To Be Confirmed

ISKCON festivals UK (HKF) will take part in & support as many events as possible however due to our increasing focus on indoor venues we may not necessarily be available for all events mentioned as this list develops.

FEB

Sat 27: Harinam, Swindon (Nathan)

MARCH

Wed 2: Brimsham Green School, Yate (Nathan)

Sat 5: Harinam, Swindon (Nathan)

Thu 10: Broadgreen Community Centre, Swindon (Nathan)

Sun 13: St Patrick’s Day Ratha Yatra, London (Parasuram)

Sat 19: Harinam, Colchester (Nathan)

Wed 23: Gaura Purnima Rathayatra, London (Parasuram)

Sat 26: Harinam, Colchester (Ananta Purusottama)

Thu 31: Colchester Institute, Colchester (Nathan)

APRIL

Sat 2: Harinam, York (Nathan)

Thu 14: Friends Meeting House, York (Nathan)

Sat 16: Harinam / Demo, Hyde Park, London (Parasuram)

Sat 23: Bath Spa University, Bath (Nathan)

Wed 27: King’s Day Harinam, Amsterdam (Parasuram)

Sat 30: Harinam, Loughborough (Nathan)

Sat 30 – Sun 1 May: Birmingham 24 hour Kirtan, (Mayapur Madhava)

MAY

Sat 7: Harinam, Loughborough (Rita)

Sat 7: Harinam, Basingstoke (Nathan)

Fri 13: Emmanuel Church, Loughborough (Nathan)

Sat 14: Harinam, Basingstoke (Ananta Purusottama)

Fri 20: Nrsimhadev app day Harinam, London(Parasuram)

Fri 20: Carnival Hall, Basingstoke (Nathan)

Sun 22: Sheffield Rathayatra, Sheffield (Kaye)

Thu 26: Bhaktivedanta Manor, Aldenham (Radha Govinda)

Sat 28: Bath Rathayatra, (Parasuram)

JUNE

AnchorSat 11: West Bletchley Ratha Yatra / Carnival (Parasuram)

Sat 18: Borehamwood Ratha Yatra / Carnival (Parasuram)

Sat 18 – Sun 19: Unearthed in a Field Festival, Haverfordwest, (Minaketanarama)

Sun 19: Manchester day parade / Harinam (Parasuram)

Mon 20 / Tue 21: Stonehenge Summer Solstice, (Rathayatra), (Parasuram)

Wed 22 – Sun 26: Glastonbury Music Festival, (HKF) Pilton, (Mo)

Sun 26: Paris Rathayatra (Titiksu)

Wed 29 – Tue 12 July: Scandanavian Rathayatra tour (Parasuram)

JULY

Fri 1: Roskilde Music Festival Rathayatra, Denmark (Parasuram) (TBC)

Sat 2: Budapest Rathayatra, (Titiksu)

Sat 2: Copenhagen Rathayatra, Denmark (Parasuram)

Sun 3: Malmo Rathayatra, Sweden (Parasuram)

Mon 4: Gothenburg Rathayatra, Sweden (Parasuram)

Wed 6: Oslo Harinam, Norway (Parasuram)

Thur 7: Oslo Rathayatra, Norway (Parasuram)

Sat 9: Stockholm Rathayatra, Sweden (Parasuram)

Sat 9: Aberystwyth Rathayatra, (Minaketanarama)

Sun 10: Aalborg Rathayatra, Denmark (Parasuram)

Sun 10: Prague Rathayatra, (Titiksu)

Sun 17: London Rathayatra (Titiksu)

Sun 24: Birmingham Rathayatra (Nitai Charan)

Thu 28: Augustine United Church, Edinburgh (Nathan)

Sat 30: Reading Rathayatra (Amala Manjari)

AUGUST

Thu 4 – Sun 7: Green Gathering, Chepstow, (Minaketanarama)

Sat 6: Cardiff Rathayatra (Titiksu)

Sun 7: Leicester Rathayatra (Pradyumna)

Sat 13: Newbury Rathayatra (Amala Manjari) (TBC)

Sun 14: Dublin Rathayatra (Titiksu)

Thu 25 (& Sun 28): Janmasthmi, (HKF) Festival at Manor (Mo)

Fri 26: Srila Prabhupada App day, Festival at Manor

Mon 29: Pershore Plum Rathayatra (Parasuram)

SEPTEMBER

Sat 3 – Sun 4: Hare Krishna Days at Croome (HKF) Worcestershire (Sripati)

Sat 24: Plymouth Rathayatra, (Minaketanarama)

Sun 25: Glastonbury Rathayatra (Minaketanarama)

OCTOBER

Thu 20: The Club House, Carmarthen Quins RFC, Wales (Nathan)

NOVEMBER

Sat 26: Tribhuvanatha prabhu Appearance day Harinam, Soho St, London

Sun 27: Tribhuvanatha prabhu Appearance day Festival, Venue TBC

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19582

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Speaker: HH Bhakti Caru Swami
Venue: Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir
Date: 08 March 2016
Occasion: The prize distribution ceremony of Mayapur Sankirtana

Hare Krishna!

Today we are going to celebrate the prize distribution ceremony of Mayapur Sankirtana. This year Mayapur is holding the first place in the world (Devotees: Haribol!) in Srila Prabhupada’s book distribution campaign. And we are very sorry to defeat HH Gopala Krishna Maharaja. (laughter) Yeah no one can defeat Gopala Krishna Maharaja. He won the Marathon. But thats the credit of Mayapur. Mayapur distributes books throughout the year and that is the real book distribution program. Isn’t it Vijay Prabhu? Yeah, The sankirtana minister, book distribution minister Vijay Prabhu is agreeing with me.

Anyway in Krishna consciousness its always win-win. Even when we lose, its win. In Krishna consciousness there is no loss. And the thing is we are very happy to announce that the Mayapur devotees……how many devotees go out in book distribution? 100 devotees, we have 10 buses, sankirtana buses and each bus takes 10 devotees. So 100 devotees are continuously distributing books throughout the year all over India. May be soon we should start our international book distribution sankirtana party. (Devotees: Haribol!) Ok, Gopala Krishna Maharaja supported that its already doing, happening because Nepal….(audio break)

Book distribution is our most important business. HG Vaisesika Prabhu our very dear God brother who is very very committed to distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books, wrote a book recently, Our Family Business. Our Family Business. Srila Prabhupada wanted that book distribution, Srila Prabhupada mentioned that distributing his books is our main business and Srila Prabhupada also emphatically told us that if you distribute books everything will be taken care of. If you distribute books preaching will continue, if you distribute books devotees will be made, if you distribute books lakshmi will come in, and Srila Prabhupada showed that what one can do by distributing books. Srila Prabhupada arranged this book distribution campaign all over the world and the books, from the book distribution so much lakshmi was coming that half, although half of it was going to Srila Prabhupada’s BBT fund, with the remaining half of the profit they were actually able to maintain the temple. And Srila Prabhupada built Vrindavana temple, Bombay temple and part of Mayapur simply through book distribution.

So its very nice of Vaisesika Prabhu that he reminded us so nicely that that is our real business, that is our family business and this business will go on generation after generation all over the world. And what do we need? What do we actually need? We need to spread the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And what can be a better means of spreading the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu than Srila Prabhupada’s books. And as the books go out, devotees will be made.

How many of you became a devotee reading Srila Prabhupada’s books? Please raise your hands. See! You read Prabhupada’s books and we became convinced that this is the goal of life. The purpose of human form of life is to become a devotee of Krishna. That is the ultimate purpose of life. And where do we get that message? We get this message in Srila Prabhupada’s books. And just by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books our life’s mission is fulfilled.

So please take it up very very sincerely, this mission of distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books. And recently we started another, one campaign, thats 50-50 campaign. This is the 50th year and we want everyone to pledge that once a week or every week, one will distribute at least 1 book. And as a result of that we will distribute at least 50 books a year. Is it a very difficult thing to accomplish? 1 book a week! How many weeks are there in one year? 54 weeks. Now when you have other things to do, 4 weeks we are just giving as grace, a vacation. But 50 weeks, 50 books. And we have today 1 million members all over the world. And now if each member of ISKCON distributes 50 books a year, in one year how many books will we distribute? 50 million books! Now just see how easily we can achieve this target! Just 1 book a week which actually will amount to 50 books in a year. If you can’t go out every week, then at least make it a point to distribute 50 books in one year. How many of you would like to do that? And how many of you would like to inspire other devotees to do that? So please make it a point to do that.

So this is the most important business. We want the whole world to be inundated with Krishna consciousness. And this is Srila Prabhupada’s arrangement. Srila Prabhupada wants us to distribute his books and as a result of that our family business will continue and as a result of that our mission will be accomplished.

Thank you all very much! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Gaura premanande Hari Haribol!

vañcha-kalpatarubhyas ca
krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19578

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Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 8, Chapter 7 (texts 36-42) describes the benevolent activities of Lord Siva when the living entities were threatened by the deadliest poison (halahala).

“Srila Sukadeva Gosvami said: ‘Lord Siva is always benevolent toward all living entities. When he saw that the living entities were very much disturbed by the poison, which was spreading everywhere, he was very compassionate. Thus he spoke to his eternal consort, Sati, as follows.

“ ‘Lord Siva said: “My dear Bhavani, just see how all these living entities have been placed in danger because of the poison produced from the churning of the ocean of milk. It is my duty to give protection and safety to all living entities struggling for existence. Certainly it is the duty of the master to protect his suffering dependents. People in general, being bewildered by the illusory energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are always engaged in animosity toward one another. But devotees, even at the risk of their own temporary lives, try to save them. My dear gentle wife Bhavani, when one performs benevolent activities for others, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, is very pleased. And when the Lord is pleased, I am also pleased, along with all other living creatures. Therefore, let me drink this poison, for all the living entities may thus become happy because of me.” ’

“Srila Sukadeva Gosvami continued: ‘After informing Bhavani in this way, Lord Siva began to drink the poison, and Bhavani, who knew perfectly well the capabilities of Lord Siva, gave him her permission to do so. Thereafter, Lord Siva, who is dedicated to auspicious, benevolent work for humanity, compassionately took the whole quantity of poison in his palm and drank it.’  ”

At the chapter’s end, Srila Sukadeva Gosvami concluded,

tapyante loka-tapenaSrila Prabhupada on Juhu Terrace
sadhavah prayaso janah
paramaradhanam
purusasyakhilatmanah

“It is said that great personalities almost always accept voluntary suffering because of the suffering of people in general. This is considered the highest method of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is present in everyone’s heart.” (SB 8.7.44)

And Srila Prabhupada elaborates, “Here is an explanation of how those engaged in activities for the welfare of others are very quickly recognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita(18.68-69), ya idam paramam guhyam mad-bhaktesv abhidhasyati . . . na ca tasman manusyesu kascin me priya-krttamah: ‘One who preaches the message of Bhagavad-gita to My devotees is most dear to Me. No one can excel him in satisfying Me by worship.’ There are different kinds of welfare activities in this material world, but the supreme welfare activity is the spreading of Krsna consciousness. Other welfare activities cannot be effective, for the laws of nature and the results of karma cannot be checked. . . .

“If one tries to spread Krsna consciousness all over the world, he should be understood to be performing the best welfare activity. The Lord is automatically very pleased with him. If the Lord is pleased with him, what is left for him to achieve? If one has been recognized by the Lord, even if he does not ask the Lord for anything, the Lord, who is within everyone, supplies him whatever he wants. This is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gita(tesam nityabhiyuktanam yoga-ksemam vahamy aham [Bg 9.22]). Again, as stated here, tapyante loka-tapena sadhavah prayaso janah. The best welfare activity is raising people to the platform of Krsna consciousness, since the conditioned souls are suffering only for want of Krsna consciousness. The Lord Himself also comes to mitigate the suffering of humanity.

yada yada hi dharmasy
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham

paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge

‘Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself. To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.’ (Bg 4.7-8) All thesastras conclude, therefore, that spreading the Krsna consciousness movement is the best welfare activity in the world. Because of the ultimate benefit this bestows upon people in general, the Lord very quickly recognizes such service performed by a devotee.”

Reflecting on this last verse and purport, I considered how Srila Prabhupada exemplified the statement that “great personalities almost always accept voluntary suffering because of the suffering of people in general.” He certainly did that to establish Hare Krishna Land in Juhu, Bombay—and to establish so many other vehicles for Krishna consciousness in so many other places throughout the world.

I pray that we can continue in the same spirit.

Hare Krishna.

Yours in service,
Giriraj Swami

Source: http://www.girirajswami.com/?p=10701

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The ISKCON 50/50 Campaign

Dear Prabhu(s) / Mataji(s),

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

The ISKCON 50/50 Campaign (poster attached) is an initiative to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of ISKCON throughout 2016.

Everyone is invited to join and distribute 50 BBT books in 2016. That’s an average of just one a week.

How to make it work - individually and collectively. The following tips may assist you in fulfilling your goal of distributing 50
transcendental books during ISKCON's 50th anniversary year, 2016.
1. Associate with devotees. Sadhu-sanga is the birthplace of our spiritual desires. Faith and inspiration increase by discussing Krishna, chanting His holy names congregationally, and exchanges of love with one another.

2. Get books. You can distribute books only when you actually have them. Ask your local temple for books or directly contact a devotee who can supply the books.

3. Strong sadhana. Strictly follow the four regulative principles and chant a minimum of 16 attentive rounds of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra daily. Be regulated in your activities and don't waste time. In this way, the mind and senses are controlled and you may more easily act from the level of the soul. Be a sincere representative of our disciplic succession. People will
be attracted by your purity.

4. Read Srila Prabhupada's books daily. Regular study of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam will nourish your spiritual life and strengthen your intelligence. Faith increases and your discrimination between what is enduring and what is temporary becomes sharp. Studying the Bhaktivedanta purports with an open heart will generate genuine compassion for the present
state of our misdirected civilization.

5. Always carry books and show them. Remember, you can only distribute books that you have. Don't miss spontaneous opportunities to give a book to a friend, colleague, stranger, or whomever. Get in contact with people while waiting for the bus, sitting in the train, going to appointments or just while shopping or visiting the post office or the doctor. Simply connect
your daily activities with book distribution.

6. Distribute one book at a time. If 50 books seems still too far away, then just focus on one book. As soon as the first book is distributed it's much easier to distribute the second (what to speak of the third, fourth, and so on). And if you can give two or more books to one person, than don't be shy to do so.

7. Inspire others to join in. Extend the flow of mercy! By inspiring others and assisting them in their service you might be even more satisfied than just focusing on your own activities. Krishna is very much pleased to see His devotees cooperating, and He reciprocates accordingly.

8. Pray, pray, pray. Change your position from an independent achiever to a helpless receiver of God's grace. What counts is our steady endeavor. The results are ultimately up to Krishna. Pray for inspiration, strength, enthusiasm, insight, tolerance, patience and humility.

9. Offer results to Krishna. Act for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord. Every little result becomes important when offered with devotion to your worshipable Deity. Never be attached to the results, which may be good or bad. Every moment is a new opportunity!

10. Be a happy Hare Krishna devotee. Book distribution is easy and fun. Connect with the Lord's pleasure potency and act as an instrument in awakening love of Godhead in the hearts of the conditioned souls (which might include you, too). Real happiness comes from selfless service.

. . . and if your first set of 50 books is distributed, just go on with another 50. Bhakti has no limits!

Thanking You.

Your Servants at,
RGM Secretariat

--------------------------------
Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir,
7 K.M. Munshi Marg,
Chowpatty, Mumbai - 400 007

Direct : 022 - 23665667
Board : 022 - 23665500/580
Fax     : 022 - 23665555

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So thats the verse, Eleventh Canto, Chapter 5, Text 32. Are you familiar, if you have looked at the board? Yeah! Sounds familiar? Not new! But ever ever new also at the same time! Never becomes old!

So here we are in land of Gauranga, Gauranga! (Devotees respond: Gauranga!) Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki (Devotees respond: Jaya!) And also we have gathered here amongst other reasons, gathered here for Kirtan Mela ki (Devotees respond: Jaya!) Yes, you have come here for Kirtan Mela! Some of you have just come for the Kirtan Mela. Don't show me hands! You have hands, I know! So you are here for the Kirtan Mela, many of you. So I thought of selecting a verse that talks of Caitanya Mahaprabhu as well as of course talks about the kirtana, sankirtana- yajna, that we are engaged in here. So quickly as time is running. 

krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam  sangopangastra-parsadam yajñaih sankirtana-prayair  yajanti hi su-medhasah ( SB 11.5.32)

Translation and Purport by disciples of His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada ki (Devotees respond: Jaya!)

“In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Krsna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krsna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.” 

Purport “This same verse is quoted by Kṛṣṇadasa Kaviraja in the Caitanya-caritamṛta, Adi-lila, Chapter Three, verse 52….” 

Maharaja: And I was reminded that Laghu Bhagavatamrta of Rupa Goswami, he also quotes this verse in the very beginning of Laghu Bhagavatamrta, Rupa Goswami does, its part of his mangalacarana, same verse. 

“His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has given the following commentary on this verse. “This text is from Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.5.32). Srila Jiva Gosvami has explained this verse in his commentary on the Bhagavatam known as the Krama-sandarbha, wherein he says that Lord Kṛṣṇa also appears with a golden complexion. That golden Lord Kṛṣṇa is Lord Caitanya,….” Maharaja: Did you hear that, “That golden Lord Kṛṣṇa is Lord Caitanya.” Very nice the way Prabhupada is commenting based on Krama-sandarbha. “who is worshiped by intelligent men in this age. That is confirmed in Srimad- Bhagavatam by Garga Muni, who said that although the child Kṛṣṇa was blackish, He also appears in three other colours — red, white and yellow….” Maharaja: idanim krsnatam gatah (SB 10.8.13), Garga Muni, idanim krsnataam gatah, now He has become Krishna. But previously He was, suklo raktas tatha pita (SB 10.8.13). He has three other colours, sukla-white in Satya Yuga, rakta-red in Treta Yuga and pita….(indistinct) and now He has appeared in Dvapara Yuga as Krishna, so what is the remaining age, Kali Yuga, pita. So four colours mentioned and then he had already mentioned three ages. So fourth age is Kali and pita is remaining colour, so that is Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s colour. “who said that although the child Kṛṣṇa was blackish, He also appears in three other colors — red, white and yellow. He exhibited His white and red complexions in the Satya and Tretā ages respectively. 

He did not exhibit the remaining color, yellow-gold, until He appeared as Lord Caitanya, who is known as Gaurahari….” Maharaja: Hari who is Gaura. Either Gauranga whose complexion is Gaura anga, golden complexion or Hari Hari (aside: What happened? No dont look behind! You! Sleeping so, the one who is sleeping he looks at, not me! This always happens! This is very human! Indians, Africans, whatever! He looks behind! Not me!) So Gaurahari! He is Hari, but what kind of Hari He is? (Devotees respond: Gaurahari) Gaurahari! Don’t just say Hari! Hari! Say Gaurahari! “Srila Jiva Gosvami explains that kṛṣṇa-varṇam means Sri Kṛṣṇa Caitanya…” Maharaja: That is he is getting back to the verse, there is kṛṣṇa-varṇam and that refers to Caitanya. 

“Kṛṣṇa-varṇam and Kṛṣṇa Caitanya are equivalent. The name Kṛṣṇa appears with both Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Caitanya Kṛṣṇa.” Maharaja: namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te krsnaya krsna- caitanya-namne, that part, I offer my obeisances unto krsnaya, krsnaya because namah is there, I offer my obeisances unto Krishna, you say that in Sanskrit as krsnaya, which kind of Krishna, krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne, Krishna whose name is Krsna Caitanya, unto that Krishna I offer my obeisances. krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne, Krishna whose name is Krsna Caitanya, I offer my obeisances unto Him. “Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but He always engages in describing Kṛṣṇa and thus enjoying transcendental bliss by chanting and remembering His name and form. Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself…” Maharaja: So that is kṛṣṇa-varṇam, anyway I will go ahead, keep going and then get back. “Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself appears as Lord Caitanya to preach the highest gospel. 

Varṇayati means ‘utters’ or ‘describes.’ Lord Caitanya always chants the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and describes it also….” Maharaja: He chants and He describes. And that is why He is called here as kṛṣṇa-varṇam, the very first word of this verse is what, kṛṣṇa-varṇam, kṛṣṇa-varṇam, varna. So Krishna, these are varna’s. Also varnan, from that comes, varhah, description. So kṛṣṇa-varṇam, who always chants and describes, so thats kṛṣṇa-varṇam. “and because He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, whoever meets Him will automatically chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and later describe it to others…” Maharaja: Yes, you are doing that. You chant and then you describe it to others. Thats preaching. “He injects one with transcendental Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which merges the chanter in transcendental bliss…” Maharaja: Many fans.

I am not fan of a fan! But I know some of you don’t survive without fans. “In all respects, therefore, He appears before everyone as Kṛṣṇa, either by personality or by sound…” Maharaja: He appears as personality or sound. Personality is there in the form of vigraha and sound is, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare He appeared you could say. And there is no difference. The form and the description, not different. Or form and the sound no difference, form and the sound. ‘Simply by seeing Lord Caitanya one at once remembers Lord Kṛṣṇa. One may therefore accept Him as viṣṇu-tattva. In other words, Lord Caitanya is Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.” Haribol! (Devotees: Haribol!) So its a long purport but we don’t have long time for the class here. So I will kind of stop there and well go to the verse and make few comments. Some comments have been made and we’ve already read, we heard. But we could make few more connections. 

Earlier in this same chapter question was raised by Nimi, King Nimi and Karabhajana Muni, he is talking to Karabhajana Muni. It is a dialogue between King Nimi and Karabhajana Muni. And the question raised was, sri-rajovaca kasmin kale sa bhagavan  kim varnah kidrso nrbhih namna va kena vidhina  pujyate tad ihocyatam (SB 11.5.19) Please tell me, kasmin kale, or kasmin yuge, in which age, bhagavan kim varnah, Lord appears in which kind of varnah, or complexion, colour. namna, or what name does He become known as in different ages, kena vidhina pujyate and by which process, paddhati, mode of worship He is worshipped in or worshipped by. So he was interested to know in which age, which Lord, which incarnation, colour, please tell me colour, please tell me the name, please tell me the process He is worshipped. So after Satya, Treta, and Dvapara, he has already given reply to those questions or those ages have been described. Which Lord appears and what colour does He appear and how is He worshipped and what are the names. And now is the turn of the age of Kali and then he talks of this verse. 

In the age of Kali, the Lord appears, krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam, so this kind of Krishna, Lord appears in the age of Kali, krsna-varnam, krsna varna, He always chants, Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna Krsna he! Like that. krsna-varnam, He always chants and always describes Krishna, thats krsna-varnam, krsna varna tvisa akrsna, tvisa refers to the lustre, complexion, ok what kind of complexion, a-krsnam, a means no, krsna means black. He does not appear as a blackish complexion. Opposite of black is what? White, more than white! He appears as golden, which is very close, white plus much more! krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam and that one also, krsnaya krsna-caitanya-namne gaura-tvise namah, same tvisa is, you find tvisa here and that pranama mantra of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu there is also tvisa, tvisa, grammar has done something to that tvisa, So gaura-tvise, I offer my obeisances unto the Lord who is of golden complexion, like that mantra we offer obeisances with. namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema-pradaya te krsnaya krsna-caitanya- namne gaura-tvise namah Four things quickly, four things are mentioned, Krishna’s, Lord’s name is mentioned, what is His name, krsnaya krsna-caitanya, then His form is mentioned, what kind of form, gaura-tvise, form of the Lord, gaura-tvise is a form. So name, form, and quality, what is the quality of, namo maha- vadanyaya, this is the quality of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, amongst all or many, so many qualities, this is predominating quality of Sri Krishna Caitanya. He is namo maha-vadanyaya, maha, most magnanimous, matchless Lord, no one comes close to Him when we talk of the magnanimity of the Lord. 

So namo maha-vadanyaya, this is, this is the quality, guna of the Lord and what is remaining, nama, rupa, guna and lila, the pastimes, so what is the pastime of this Lord Gauranga, namo maha-vadanyaya krsna-prema- pradaya te, krsna-prema-prada, krsna-prema-prada, da the giver of Krishna prema, prada, He gives so much, prakrsta rupena, gives so much. So its not only, like narada, just da there but prada, He gives so much, ocean of prema. So that pranama mantra itself has nama, rupa, guna, lila of Gauranga. So tvisakrsna, tvisa, refers to complexion of the Lord which is a-krsna, not black. sangopangastra-parsadam, so there are four items here. The letter sa there, sa means with, equipped with, with that, sa anga, anga, upanga, sangopangastra, astra, sangopangastra-parsada, fourth is parsada. sa anga, sa upanga, sa astra, sa parsada, He appears along with all these items here. So He appears with anga, limbs, they are like a part of Him. 

So Nityananda, Advaita is anga of the Lord. In the commentaries by acharyas, Jiva Goswami they explain this. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura also quoting other commentators. Srila Prabhupada briefly does mention, we did not reach that part in the purport. upanga, Srivasa and many many devotees are upanga’s. So anga, upanga, sastra, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare is a sastra, is a weapon, to do what, paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam (Bg 4.8), there are so many duskritina’s, dusta’s the demons, Haribol! I did say Haribol for some other reason but I thought some one was sleeping, so, I dislike the sleepers. They always get my attention, what to do? Its my weakness. 

So sastra the holy name, so the sastra’s are used for killing the demons. But the Lord has appeared as the most magnanimous. So this time His weapons are not the normal usual bow and arrow, the axe like a Parasurama is using, Krishna is Sudarshana. In fact when Nityananda Prabhu was attacked, offended Caitanya Mahaprabhu had appeared on the scene with Sudarshana! But then He was reminded, No, No, No, Nityananda Prabhu, not in this age, not this weapon. The weapon is, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare It is also described that Lord’s beauty is also weapon. The demoniac mentality or demoniac consciousness is killed or defeated just by the beauty of Gauranga. He was so beautiful, just by looking at Him, the arrows are shot at, at the person who is looking at Mahaprabhu and he is killed in no time. His beauty is the weapon, captivating, capturing and then that person surrenders unto Gauranga. So there are the astra’s mentioned, there are several astra’s. Prasadam is also astra. And hence comes the ISKCON bullet, ISKCON bullets are gulab jamuns. And you are finished! 

So Prabhupada just fed prasada and so many demons, American demons, demoniac nature was killed. There were hippies, there were demons, they chanted Hare krishna, ate gulab jamuns and they were happy. The hippies became happies. So Prabhupada was senapati bhakta, talking of senapati, sena means army, he is chief in commander and then he made New York his destination. Go to New York. New York the capital of the age of Kali. And upon arrival there he started showering bombs of the holy name and the time bomb his books were also weapons. They would explode but not destroy but construct beautiful heart or consciousness. So Bhagavatam is a weapon, Bhagavatam is complete, in there is Krishna’s beauty, Krishna’s form, Krishna, Krishna. So sangopangastra-parsadam, His parsada’s are Gadhadhara is His parsada, Govinda was His parsada, Ramananda Raya was His parsada, Rupa Sanatana were His parsada and many others. 

So all those who were with Him at that time, those who appeared along with Him, they are anga’s limbs or upanga’s secondary limbs, or astra’s the weapons or parsada’s His companions close, they are always around. yajñaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi su-medhasah So first two lines is one part in this verse. Lord is described. It is just Lord’s description. What kind of Lord is described? Like this, krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam, am, am, you see, for some reason it is ‘am’, ‘am’. So they are one family, they are together. They all describe Lord. And here is already established now. He is Sri Krishna Caitanya, because gaura-tvise a-krsna, He is not black, He is golden. So then the two more parts are there, yajanti hi su-medhasah, su-medhasah yajanti, su-medasah is su means susthu nice wonderful, medhasah intelligent. The most intelligent persons yajanti, they worship, most intelligent persons, what do they do, they worship. 

Who do they worship? In this verse, they worship krsna-varnam tvisakrsnam sangopangastra-parsadam, su- medhasah yajanti, intelligent persons worship this Lord, Gauranga. alpa medhasam, Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita, alpa medhasam, those who are less intelligent devan deva-yajo yanti, they worship demigods, less intelligent Lord said. Less intelligent alpa medhasam, here is su-medhasah. Alpa means no or little, and su-medhasah, susthu, so much intelligent, highly intelligent persons, most intelligent persons would go for Gauranga! go for Gauranga! go for Gauranga! go for Gauranga! go for Gauranga! So yajanti his su-medasah, now they worship this Lord, but how do they worship, what is the mode of worship, 

what is the process do they adopt, that is the third part. yajñaih sankirtana-prayair su-medhasah yajanti, they worship, how do they worship yajñaih, yajñaih means by performance of yajna and doesn't stop there, not giving any room for speculation, immediately that yajna’s name is mentioned. Which yajna, sankirtana yajna. There is no yajñaih and then full stop. Period! No! yajñaih sankirtana-prayair yajñaih su-medhasah yajanti, the intelligent persons worship this Lord in the age of Kali by chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare So you must be intelligent that you have assembled here to worship the Lord who appears in the age of Kali. Worship how, by chanting krsna-varnam, as Lord did personally in fact, krsna-varnam, Lord personally did this. apani acari jagate sikhaya, by His own example He taught others, He taught the whole world. So He chanted 500 years ago personally.

All that chanting started in Mayapur, Navadvipa and He takes sannyasa, He travels all over India chanting and dancing and the way He has shaken up, shaken, shaken up the whole world, or universe and left the vibrations - Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna! So that is what is shaking us up, waking us up, those vibrations are still in the air! Of course He has not stopped chanting, still He is here, Gauranga is here! kona kona bhagyavan dekhi bare pare, those who are fortunate they could even see today, Gauranga Mahaprabhu performing His pastimes and His pastimes here are kirtana lila. And same lila Prabhupada expanded that. Mahaprabhu chanted just within the boundaries of India and Prabhupada said, ‘Mahaprabhu left this job of spreading, chanting beyond the boundaries of India up to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.’ (Devotees: Haribol!) So he became the founder acharya 50 years ago, ISKCON was founded, and then same sankirtanaih kapitarau, as sankirtana was started by Mahaprabhu here was then inauguration took place and now it has reached far and wide. And what is the indication, how do we know it has reached far and wide? Right here, we see the faces from around the world, we heard day before yesterday devotees from 70 countries are here. (Devotees: Haribol!) And then I say, I have been saying this, from nama to dhama. 

Devotees receive nama wherever they are, in their country they receive nama, and that nama the holy name brings them to dhama. (Devotees: Haribol!) So nama to dhama. So one day will come as predicted by Caitanya Mahaprabhu, this yajnah, sankirtana-yajnah will be performed in every town, every village of this planet. And from every village, from every town devotees will be making plans to come to Mayapur for Kirtan Mela, amongst other festival aspects. And they will coming from every little town, Timbaktu, there is a Timbaktu, Timbaktu, from there also they will come. So this is just the beginning, this is just the beginning, 50 years passed and now another 9000 years to go. You could imagine. This temple which is going to hold 10000 devotees, the TOVP temple in the front is built to accommodate how many devotees,10000 but for sure as soon as temple is opened it will be filled, it will be packed. (Devotees: Haribol!) Then we have to make plans for bigger temple, or stadium, there is some talk up. Ok Thank you very much!

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  • Today we are going to celebrate the prize distribution ceremony of Mayapur Sankirtana. This year Mayapur is holding the first place in the world (Devotees: Haribol!) in Srila Prabhupada’s book distribution campaign. And we are very sorry to defeat HH Gopala Krishna Maharaja. (laughter) Yeah no one can defeat Gopala Krishna Maharaja. He won the Marathon. But thats the credit of Mayapur. Mayapur distributes books throughout the year and that is the real book distribution program. Isn't it Vijay Prabhu? Yeah, The sankirtana minister, book distribution minister Vijay Prabhu is agreeing with me. 

    Anyway in Krishna consciousness its always win-win. Even when we lose, its win. In Krishna consciousness there is no loss. And the thing is we are very happy to announce that the Mayapur devotees……how many devotees go out in book distribution? 100 devotees, we have 10 buses, sankirtana buses and each bus takes 10 devotees. So 100 devotees are continuously distributing books throughout the year all over India. May be soon we should start our international book distribution sankirtana party. (Devotees: Haribol!) Ok, Gopala Krishna Maharaja supported that its already doing, happening because Nepal….(audio break) 

    Book distribution is our most important business. HG Vaisesika Prabhu our very dear God brother who is very very committed to distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books, wrote a book recently, Our Family Business. Our Family Business. Srila Prabhupada wanted that book distribution, Srila Prabhupada mentioned that distributing his books is our main business and Srila Prabhupada also emphatically told us that if you distribute books everything will be taken care of. If you distribute books preaching will continue, if you distribute books devotees will be made, if you distribute books lakshmi will come in, and Srila Prabhupada showed that what one can do by distributing books. Srila Prabhupada arranged this book distribution campaign all over the world and the books, from the book distribution so much lakshmi was coming that half, although half of it was going to Srila Prabhupada’s BBT fund, with the remaining half of the profit they were actually able to maintain the temple. And Srila Prabhupada built Vrindavana temple, Bombay temple and part of Mayapur simply through book distribution. 

    So its very nice of Vaisesika Prabhu that he reminded us so nicely that that is our real business, that is our family business and this business will go on generation after generation all over the world. And what do we need? What do we actually need? We need to spread the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And what can be a better means of spreading the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu than Srila Prabhupada’s books. And as the books go out, devotees will be made. 

    How many of you became a devotee reading Srila Prabhupada’s books? Please raise your hands. See! You read Prabhupada’s books and we became convinced that this is the goal of life. The purpose of human form of life is to become a devotee of Krishna. That is the ultimate purpose of life. And where do we get that message? We get this message in Srila Prabhupada’s books. And just by reading Srila Prabhupada’s books our life’s mission is fulfilled. 

    So please take it up very very sincerely, this mission of distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books. And recently we started another, one campaign, thats 50-50 campaign. This is the 50th year and we want everyone to pledge that once a week or every week, one will distribute at least 1 book. And as a result of that we will distribute at least 50 books a year. Is it a very difficult thing to accomplish? 1 book a week! How many weeks are there in one year? 54 weeks. Now when you have other things to do, 4 weeks we are just giving as grace, a vacation. But 50 weeks, 50 books. And we have today 1 million members all over the world. And now if each member of ISKCON distributes 50 books a year, in one year how many books will we distribute? 50 million books! Now just see how easily we can achieve this target! Just 1 book a week which actually will amount to 50 books in a year. If you can’t go out every week, then at least make it a point to distribute 50 books in one year. How many of you would like to do that? And how many of you would like to inspire other devotees to do that? So please make it a point to do that. 

    So this is the most important business. We want the whole world to be inundated with Krishna consciousness. And this is Srila Prabhupada’s arrangement. Srila Prabhupada wants us to distribute his books and as a result of that our family business will continue and as a result of that our mission will be accomplished. 

    Thank you all very much! All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Gaura premanande Hari Haribol! 

    vañcha-kalpatarubhyas ca 
    krpa-sindhubhya eva ca 
    patitanam pavanebhyo 
    vaisnavebhyo namo namah

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NALGONDA: As John Milton famously quoted “The childhood shows the man, as morning shows the day,” students sent a strong message to adults in a subtle yet powerful way that religion need not come in the way of promoting human values in life.

They were participating in a written test on “Bhagavad Gita” at a town hall in Nalgonda on Sunday, organised by the International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

Sowmya, student of class VII in Little Flower School bagged the first prize in juniors category.

Another student from the same school, and belonging to the  Muslim community, Hursa Iram (Class IX) stood second in seniors category.

Sarayu, a Christian, studying class V at the same school stood third among juniors.

Over 7000 schoolchildren across 60 schools, from class VI to class X participated in the junior and senior categories of the competition.

The organisers expressed pleasure on the response.

Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/telangana/Students-Set-Example-of-Religious-Harmony/2016/03/07/article3314342.ece

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Bangladesh Arrests Three Men in Priest’s Beheading – New York Times

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Three men were arrested on Monday in connection with the beheading of the highest-ranking priest of a Hindu temple in northern Bangladesh, officials said. Mohammad Babul Aker, an officer in charge of the Debiganj police station in …Daily Timesswissinfo.chThe Guardian Bangladesh Arrests Three Men in Priest’s Beheading – New York Times

The Early Edition: February 23, 2016 – Just Security

The beheading of a Hindu priest in Bangladesh. Three men have been arrested in connection with the killing on Sunday. Two are involved with a banned militant group, Jama’atul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, and the third with the student wing of Bangladesh’s …The Early Edition: February 23, 2016 – Just Security

Hindu priest beheaded in Bangladesh, Islamic State claims responsibility – Windsor Star

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Three men were arrested Monday in connection with the beheading of the highest-ranking priest of a Hindu temple in northern Bangladesh, officials said. Mohammad Babul Aker, an officer in charge of the Debiganj police station in the … Hindu priest beheaded in Bangladesh, Islamic State claims responsibility – Windsor Star

Source: http://mayapurvoice.com/svagatam/bangladesh-arrests-three-men-in-priest-beheading-case/

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A heart on fire!

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 21 February 2016, Durban, South Africa, Nityananda’s Appearance Day)

Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master glorified him greatly for writing a poem in his Vyasa-puja offering and in that poem, one sentence was highlighted by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur. It was, ‘Absolute is sentient thou hast proved, impersonal calamity thou hast removed.’  

The English is a little bit classic and archaic but basically we can simplify it and it means that ‘the Lord has a heart’ and this is at the very core of our movement, that the Lord has a heart! It is said that the devotee is always in the heart of the Lord and the Lord is always in the heart of his devotee, there is a loving exchange.

So the compassion of Lord Nityananda is not an impersonal compassion – some sort of warm, wet blanket of loving feeling for every living species. No, it is very personal. Lord Nityananda gives causeless mercy to those who do not deserve it and even then, if they do not respond still he is loving. But when they start to respond, his heart goes on fire! ‘Absolute is sentient thou hast proved, impersonal calamity thou hast removed.’  Lord Nityananda has a heart and his heart is very deep and the love in his heart is very deep as he reciprocates with his devotees.

His mercy is causeless so it reaches out to whoever is in his reach, but whoever responds is showered with unlimited greater mercy and Lord Nityananda develops attachment to such a devotee. When the Lord has attachment to us, then you know how it is – when you are attached, your vision becomes covered by emotion, you begin to see things through those feelings, and you cannot see things neutrally any longer. So Lord Nityananda is not neutral! Lord Nityananda is overwhelmed by attachment to his devotees!

I am thinking for a moment of His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Maharaj who in his final days was embodying that quality of attachment to the devotees. I thought about it – he was entering into such deep loving exchanges and crying in his final days. One might say, ‘Isn’t that attachment?’ Yes, but it was to the devotees – devotees who have somehow or other done service and who are trying so hard, who are such nice people, who are just wonderful people! Lord Nityananda sees in that way, experiences in that way. Therefore we are living in an intimate relationship with Lord Nityananda when we are engaged in devotional service.

Source: https://www.kksblog.com/2016/02/heart-on-fire

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The Adventurous Govardhan Parikrama.

The Adventurous Govardhan Parikrama.

Sutapa das: Yesterday I went on Parikrama, which literally means to “walk around.” Circumambulation of holy places has a symbolic meaning – to always keep our spiritual aspirations central and close, regardless of where we are in life (whatever point on the circle, one is never further away from the centre). There is also a transcendental benefit: anyone who sincerely circles these holy places accrues the conviction and devotion to escape the cosmic cycle of birth and death. Bare footed, and carrying the bare necessities, I set off, trying to keep a spiritual meditation in mind.
An hour into my journey, a local resident whizzed past me. Half my size and double my age, but somehow walking at twice my speed! How was it possible? Not to be defeated (as if it was a race anyway), I upped my tempo. At this point I was practically running, but he was effortlessly pulling away. As he floated ahead into the morning mist, I wanted a glance of his face. I was waiting, praying for him to look back – who was this man? He eventually disappeared out of sight, and never looked back even once. He was totally focused on the path ahead.
Residents of these holy places, we are told, are not ordinary souls. They travel light, with few attachments, speeding towards spiritual perfection. They’ve closed all their chapters, tied up their worldly concerns, and now invest everything in their cherished spiritual aspirations. They don’t look back. Yes, I thought, maybe I’m not moving as fast as I’d like because I’m still looking back. Looking back to see if I’m missing out on something. Looking back and regretting actions and decisions of the past. Looking back to see what people think of me, preoccupied with public opinion, image, name and fame. Looking back to see how everyone else is doing, continually comparing my progress to others and competing with the world. In this way we continually look back, and unknowingly slow down our progressive march forward.
I resolved to not look back for the rest of my walk. It helped, and I prayed that ‘not looking back’ will become a deeper meditation in my life. Oh, and I did indeed meet that mystical man again. A half hour down the road he was sitting on a wooden bench sipping coconut water. He had finished his circuit, while I still had a good few hours left. He smiled, and I smiled back, folding my hands in respect. Gracefully and humbly, he returned the gesture. It was touching. I walked off and wondered who he was… a small man, but likely a spiritual giant.
Read more: https://sutapamonk.wordpress.com/

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A devotee cooks prasadam to be served by Food For All

Around fifteen ISKCON devotees brought the sound of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra and the taste of sanctified vegetarian food to a huge anti-nuclear march in London on February 27th.

It was Britain’s biggest anti-nuclear march in a generation. Thousands of campaigners gathered from all over the world to protest the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons program, estimated to cost £41 billion. The money, they said, should be spent on education and the National Health Service instead.

“Books not Bombs,” read some placards, a sentiment ISKCON devotees could certainly get behind.

The march made its way from Marble Arch in Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square, where protestors including Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke.

Volunteers from devotee-run charity Food For All kept marchers going by distributing 1,000 plates of a full prasadam feast, including rice, subji, pakoras, cake, and a drink. With Food-For-All’s trademark creativity, the sanctified vegetarian hot meals were served from rickshaws at the beginning, middle, and end of the march.

“People loved it!” enthuses Food For All director Parasurama Das in his lilting Irish accent. “The moment we set up, there was a long queue. Imagine, you’re on a long protest march, and there’s nothing to eat or drink. Everyone really appreciated it.”

Devotees also provided the soundtrack, elevating walkers’ spirits with kirtan. Brahmachari Dayal Mora Das, in his saffron robes, sang out a beautiful Hare Krishna tune in a clear voice. A Bhaktivedanta Manor farm volunteer played a full drum set from a wheeled float. Parasurama and Food For All volunteer Grant accompanied on ukulele and electric guitar. And a protestor joined in on his trumpet.

Parasurama stirs up a storm in 'the biggest pot in the Western world'

The whole combo, meanwhile, was broadcast over a powerful sound system. 

“We were the only people that put a full band together like that, and everyone was saying, ‘Gosh, you guys are really organized!’” says Parasurama. “They were just walking, but when we kicked off, people were joining in, and dancing. It was really cool!”

The devotees were featured chanting in the Channel 4 TV coverage of the event, and serving prasadam in the BBC coverage. 

At the end of the rally, they presented a letter to Jeremy Corbyn, the politician speaking out against the nuclear program. 

“We invited him to visit Food For All’s center Matchless Gifts, because he’s vegetarian, he knows about our efforts, and we are based in Islington, the part of London where he works,” says Parasurama.

IFrame

A video of the event

A lot of people, in fact, know about Food For All’s efforts these days, and the charity is planning to reach out to even more soon. 

Parasurama and his crew currently feed around 1,000 homeless people and students in London every day, and will soon increase that number to 5,000 a day. They plan to ask London Mayor Boris Johnson to suppor the project, called “Feed the 5,000.”

Parasurama says he can cook all 5,000 meals at once in what he dubs “the biggest pot in the Western world,” a giant vessel that truly has to be seen to be believed.

But what’s most interesting about Food For All is that all of the fruit and veg it uses would otherwise be thrown away by supermarkets for being aesthetically unappealing, despite being perfectly good. 

This has put a prasadam charity run by devotees at the forefront of a new movement to stop waste. The cover story of March 2016’s National Geographic magazine, entitled “How ‘Ugly’ Fruits and Vegetables Can Help Solve World Hunger,” says that a third of the planet’s food goes to waste, often because of its looks – enough to feed two billion people.

And who is one of the people it cites as working to solve this problem? “Peter O’Grady, a Hare Krishna who runs a charity kitchen in London.”

Food For All is also becoming a favorite of activists, who often call asking for prasadam to be distributed at their demonstrations – the anti-trident rally was not the first, and won’t be the last.

On Saturday March 5th, for instance, the charity will cater A Million Women Rising, a march from Oxford Street to Trafalgar Square protesting domestic abuse, sexual assault and other violence against women. Parasurama will cook for the event, while all female devotees will serve the prasadam. 

“The people at these marches are conscientious, good, caring, thoughtful people, who are trying to make the world a better place,” says Parasurama. “We’re also trying to make the world a better place, through chanting and serving prasadam. So they’re great people to connect with. And they love Hare Krishnas!” 

Source: http://iskconnews.org/devotees-chant-serve-prasad-at-uk-anti-nuclear-rally,5437/?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=twitterfeed

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Speaker: HH Devamrita Swami
Venue: Mayapur Candradoya Mandir
Date: 03 March 2016

tasmin kute ’hite naste
 krtta-mule vanas-patau
vitapa iva susyanti
 visnu-prana divaukasah (SB 7.1.9)

Translation:
“When the root of a tree is cut and the tree falls down, its branches and twigs automatically dry up. Similarly, when I have killed this diplomatic Visnu, the demigods, for whom Lord Visnu is the life and soul, will lose the source of their life and wither away.”

tavad yata bhuvam yuyam
 brahma-ksatra-samedhitam
sudayadhvam tapo-yajña-
 svadhyaya-vrata-daninah (SB 7.1.10)

Translation
“While I am engaged in the business of killing Lord Visnu, go down to the planet earth, which is flourishing due to brahminical culture and a ksatriya government. These people engage in austerity, sacrifice, Vedic study, regulative vows, and charity. Destroy all the people thus engaged!”

Life is all about making plans. The demons have their plans, the devotees have their plans. At the end of Bhagavad Gita Krishna famously asks,

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (Bg 18.66)

Abandoning all varieties of dhama can also be paraphrased as abandoning all plan making and accept Krishna’s plan. Material existence is all about an idea, a plan that conditioned souls have in their mind. They see opportunity, they see possibilities and therefore they make plans. When Krishna says, abandon all varieties of religion, this includes a request for us to shut down our plan making factory. (laughs) And that feels tough to us often. Shut down our plan making factory and accept Krishna’s plan.

Hiranyakasipu is setting a plan into action. His demoniac associates will humbly take Hiranyakasipu’s order of devastation upon their heads and proceed to execute it. What is the root of this plan? Yudhisthira Maharaja enquired from Narada Muni, ‘Why such enmity between Hiranyakasipu and his own son Prahlada? Whats the cause of this?’ Narada Muni is explaining that because Visnu killed Hiranyakasipu’s brother Hiranyaksa, therefore by Prahlada’s siding with Visnu, he became such an enemy to his own father, that his father wanted to kill him.

So at the root of this situation we have extreme envy and this envy will be more developed in the present chapter the verses. Hiranyakasipu had a vision for peace for himself. He is enraged that Visnu has killed his brother. He is vowing that I will personally kill Visnu and destroy the spiritual world. He is staring up into the sky as if he can see Vaikuntha. He is vowing I am going to finish off Vaikuntha. What is his peace formula? When I cut off the head of Visnu, and the blood of Visnu starts to run, this will please my brother and I shall also be pleased, I will be pacified.

Our dilemma in material existence is that we always think that by our fulfilling material desires we will be pacified. We have this notion in our mind and it seems quite clear at times. All I have to do is seek my own happiness, seek my own pleasure and then I will be peaceful. Those who don’t get in the way of my seeking my own happiness, they are friends, even lovers. Those who interfere or impede my quest for happiness, they are known as enemies. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura says that actually love in the material world means, look you don’t interfere with my sense gratification, I love you! (laughs) You are a supporter of my sense gratification, I love you. This is Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura’s statement. (laughs)

Hiranyakasipu not only had a plan for his achieving peace but he also had a plan how to destroy the earth. This is his version of watering the tree at the root and all the branches blossom. You know that verse in the Fourth Canto, we often quote, by giving the food to the stomach the whole body becomes energised. By watering the tree at the root all the branches blossom. Similarly by serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead everything is taken care of.

Hiranyakasipu had his own version of that. Uproot, pull out the root and then the tree is finished. His main focus, his main strategy was on killing Visnu. At the same time however he had a secondary strategy and he is employing his demoniac associates to do the secondary strategy, which is go to earth and destroy all principles of spiritually progressive civilisation, especially brahminical culture and genuine ksatriya government. He particularly fingered those two components.

What Hiranyakasipu is trying to do is destroy the traditional basis of human happiness. His strategy will go even to the extent of environmental terrorism. His associates are going to burn cities, farms, kill brahmanas, kill cows. The devastation was so great that even the demigods came to earth invisibly to see what is this calamity and what are we gong to do! We spoke about how Hiranyakasipu’s main plan is he himself would kill Visnu but he also as we said had a secondary plan. By destroying brahminical culture he felt the demigods would be weakened. And by the demigods being weakened automatically there will be a domino effect and that would also get back at Visnu. So he had a main plan and he had a secondary plan.

Amidst all this mayhem and we shouldn’t take this mayhem as something outlandish that well at least human beings today aren’t this bad! Just consider, there is one particular nation in this world, I wont mention its name, although I happen to have taken birth there (laughs), it has proposed that for the upliftment of peace and the stability of the world, over the course of the next thirty years, 1 trillion dollars should be spent upgrading the nuclear arsenal, 1 trillion dollars! All for the sake of peace! Srila Prabhupada explains in Bhagavad Gita that this is demoniac. He declares straightforwardly these weapons are not for peace. We have to think twice about that because perhaps we have been brainwashed, the nuclear weapons are there to maintain world peace. Therefore the governments have to spend on this. Srila Prabhupada assures us they are not meant for peace! They are actually the result of envy against living entities. I live you die! and there is some strange perverse envious satisfaction in having the ability to annihilate other creatures. Envy has a different meaning in the sastra besides just one on one enviousness which is bad enough – You are rising up! I cant tolerate that! Your rise, whether its material or spiritual, we’ve got to do something to cut you down!

Yes that is envy but there’s also the envy manifesting on a broad scale. So Srila Prabhupada instructs us in Srimad Bhagavatam that the demoniac governments actually are waging envy on a mass scale by making life practically impossible for spiritual development. In Bhagavad Gita Krishna speaks about those envious of the Supersoul within so much so they torture their own bodies. You have to really think about this to catch the perversion.

We can perhaps see this more clearly in Kamsa’s response, once he took shelter of his demoniac advisers. You know that after Kamsa in the prison cell saw Durgadevi, he begged forgiveness so pathetically from Vasudeva and Devaki -Look destiny! I am not actually the killer! Its destiny that brings everyone their fate! And Vasudeva and Devaki they actually forgave him for killing so many of their babies! Sincerely they forgave him! At the same time we must remember they are ksatriya’s. So they are thinking, – Yes we wholeheartedly forgive you but guess what! The eighth child, its already been born! (laughs) You are dead man! We forgive you! At the same time they genuinely 100% forgave him. Its hard for us to understand how both these streaks can be accommodated.

So Kamsa left them and reported to his advisers. We heard yesterday in the class by HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami, how Ravana had his advisers and he could give advise, about taking advise. So Kamsa also had his advisers and he presented the whole situation to them, what happened the day before. His advisers knew exactly what to do. It is plan making time. It is time for strategic planning – All right Kamsa, here is what we see as the situation. The demigods are always afraid of you, we all know that. You’ve smashed the demigods before and indeed in other sastra’s you have accounts of Kamsa defeating, at least temporarily, the demigods. The demigods, if they just hear you pull your bow string, they are afraid. They cant face you in battle, they run away. Even though they are defeated, by cowardice you dont attack them. You are so righteous! You follow the principles of battle – when the foe is afraid, when the foe has dropped the weapon, you are not supposed to attack such an incompetent foe – and you follow those guidelines, Kamsa! (laughs) But now is not the time for dharma! Now is not the time for religious principles! In fact Kamsa, because you’ve followed religious principles and not killing the demigods when they were afraid, therefore we have the situation we have today, in which the demigods have increased in their strength.

Therefore the conclusion, the siddhanta is obvious. This is not the time for dharma. Now is the time to just unleash massive destruction. How does this destruction begin? First we obviously have to kill all children born around the ten past days. But that strategy is not completely effective. Why? Because you are dealing with Visnu. What is Visnu’s situation! He is hidden in everyone’s heart. You know the famous analysis. We don’t have to worry about Shiva, he is out in the forest. We don’t have to worry about Brahma, he is performing severe austerities and penances. We actually don’t have to worry ordinarily about Visnu because He is buried in the hearts of everyone and cant get out. But we do want to kill Him! The problem in killing Visnu is, His hiding in the heart. So therefore we have to adopt another tactic.

What is another tactic! We kill the children, then we kill all the cows because the cows provide ghee for yajna and yajna’s are what brahmanas do. So we lill the cows, and we also then persecute saintly persons, persecute the brahmanas. Because they are responsible for the progressive elements of a spiritually focussed civilisation. By getting rid of the cows, the brahmanas and all that brahmanas stand for, Vedic knowledge, austerity, penances, by getting rid of all that, then you’ve got Visnu. Because Visnu is all bound up with all this good stuff! (laughs)

So their strategy was a bit different from Hiranyakasipu’s. Remember Hiranyakasipu’s strategy was I am going to kill Visnu directly. Meanwhile demons you go destroy brahmana, ksatriya culture on the earth. And thats kind of a secondary strategy. But Kamsa’s advisers, their strategy was – You cant get your hands on Visnu, He is too slippery, He is hidden in the hearts! We have got to have a policy of attacking Him from another direction. When we finish off brahmana culture, the demigods are finished! And because all these are components of Visnu’s body, then Visnu will be dead! (laughs)

Now we are thinking, these guys are quite extreme. Fortunately in the world today we have moderation, we have balance, we have equipoise. Actually there hasn’t been wholesale slaughter for what 70 years now. Therefore certainly humanity has become progressive. 70 years ago also 50 million people died in a war. It hasn’t happened yet. How great we are!

But just consider this. There are 16000 nuclear weapons in the world. 94% of them are in the hands of the Americans and Russians, all governments of course that we can trust! (laughs) 100 and growing are in Pakistan and about a 100 are in India. In 10 years the number three nuclear power in the world will be a very trusted government – it will be Pakistan! So you might say, alright, if there is a nuclear exchange between Pakistan and India, it wont affect the rest of the world. Its just a local regional affair! No! Scientists have pointed out that if there are just 100 nuclear missiles launched, India launches 50, Pakistan launches 50, that is enough to bring about a climate change that recorded history has never seen. Whats a hundred when there are 16000 of such weapons. Yet somehow or other the human beings they have a sense of peace, advancement, modernity. Then when we hear about Kamsa and Hiranyakasipu, we say. ‘Oh! How extreme! How grotesque!’

Such maha demons have their plans. Actually everyone has a plan, how to enjoy, how to exploit the material world. The latest conception for materially progressive human beings is something called ‘sustainable happiness’ That means instead of the kind of endeavours of happiness that cause such obvious destruction, instead of that, you try for happiness that doesn’t negatively affect other people, the environment or the coming generations. Young persons today, their future is going to be in a world that hasn’t been recorded in the annals of history – rising sea levels, disappearing species, fresh water supplies becoming scarce.

The material conception of sustainable happiness is that its not enough just to be materially happy in your own way, take into account other people, take into the environment, take into account even other species of life, understand interdependence. But that interdependence never goes as far as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In fact often it doesn’t go to even other species. Yet this is considered progressive. Whenever you make an endeavour for happiness, think how is this affecting other people, how is this affecting the environment, its a step in the right direction but the point of Srimad Bhagavatam is that as long as the Supreme Personality of Godhead is not in the equation your efforts are futile.

This may seem a bit severe. Whats wrong with acting for progress even though such endeavours are disconnected. Can it be that such endeavours are illustrious and dignified on their own even though we admit they have no connection to the Supreme Personality of Godhead?

Lets go at this issue from another angle, atma-tattva because later in this chapter Hiranyakasipu is going to give his lamenting associates, they are lamenting over the death of Hiranyaksa, he is going to give them profound knowledge of atma-tattva, we are not the body, we are spirit soul but he leaves it right there. He doesn’t go any further. This presentation can be compared to mayavada philosophy which proclaims we all are spirit soul but thats it, it doesn’t go any further. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura explains that the soul has no other propensity except to connect to the Supreme Soul. Once you talk about the soul, you must talk about the Supreme Soul. Material life means that that only propensity of the soul becomes dormant. Dormant and the energy of the soul comes out in a perverted way although the soul itself if never contaminated.

Disconnection from Krishna is the problem. We cant just erase that, or push it to the side. How can there be sustainable happiness, how can there be genuine human progress when there is total disconnection from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We have our plans and Krishna has His plans. Everyone is making plans. There are demoniac plans, there are lila plans. Sometimes in Krishna’s pastimes the lila sakti, His pastime energy arranges things to such an extent that even Krishna is wondering – Whats going on! (laughs)

We are not against plans. But as bhakti yogis we always want to be aligned with Krishna’s plan. Thats Krishna’s message to Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita -You shut down your plan making factory. You take My master plan! Dont worry about any reactions! I will take care of all that!

One morning, actually the day before, Krishna decided no breakfast at home, lets have a picnic in the forest! The acharyas point out He made that plan the day before and the next morning He activated it by blowing on His bugle in such an inconceivably beautiful way. Hearing the sound of Krishna’s bugle countless cowherd boys amassed with countless calves. And they all headed to the forest. This was Krishna’s plan. Balarama wanted to come but Rohini actually forcibly kept Him at home for purificatory rituals.

Sporting in the forest they came upon what would turn out to be Aghasura. The cowherd boys discussed amongst themselves, they consulted with each other, they took the advise of senior cowherd boys – What is this here? This looks like a natural scenic spot in Vrindavana meant for our pleasure. Others said – No! No! Some tried to run – This is a fierce snake with the bottom of his mouth on the ground, the top of his mouth high in the sky! They had a discussion. They assured the cowherd boys who were trying to run away – No! No! No! Lets come back and discuss! What was the conclusion? Actually it is a big snake and he wants to swallow us! What fun! (laughs) They looked over and they saw Krishna! They saw Krishna’s beautiful face and they knew exactly what to do! March right into the mouth of Aghasura because Krishna is here! How can any harm come to us! Krishna has already killed so many demons! Krishna will take care of us!

And this is a way to have a pleasure pastime. Another pastime, if there is danger Krishna will save us! So lets enjoy with Krishna! They marched into Aghasura’s mouth clapping their hands, cheering loudly, showing we are courageous! (laughs) We have no fear! They even brought their calves along with them. By clapping hands the calves were moved along even though the calves were frightened! But still the boys were so enthusiastic, lets go! lets go! into the mouth! come on! (laughs)

So Krishna is watching all this. He wants to stop it. Thats His plan! He knows whats going on! But He is momentarily stunned! What to do here? The boys are inside, the calves are inside the mouth of Aghasura. How do I kill Aghasura and at the same time protect the boys and calves? This is Krishna’s ecstasy in problem solving. If He is om purnam, perfect and complete, He also has to relish the joy of solving problems. So His pastime energy arranges that – Krishna, here is a problem and for your enjoyment don’t come up with a solution right away! (laughs) This is the Supreme Enjoyer! This is perfect and complete enjoyment!

So momentarily Krishna is stymied what to do. Can you say that Krishna, His will was thwarted, satya sankalpa sakti, whatever He wants He gets, but He couldn’t stop the cowherd boys. Whats going on here? Krishna was trumped, His will was superseded by the cowherd boys desire to have pastimes because Krishna is conquered by His devotees. So Krishna’s plan was superseded by His foremost plan that He is always coming under the control of the pure love of His devotees.

Everyone makes plans. We need to look at what our plan is, how does it harmonise, our personal life’s plan, how does it harmonise with Krishna’s pleasure.

The non devotees have their plan. They meet, they strategise. I have heard, I have explained before maybe some years ago here in Mayapur, I have heard from world planners both in the academic world, part of think tanks managing the future of the world, I have heard it from political leaders who will admit, yes there is world syndicate for trying to push things a certain way. They had even told me, if you are smart enough to figure this out, become one of us. (laughs) Otherwise just enjoy your television, enjoy your sports and dont worry about it! (laughs) Many of them have explained to me, these are academics from Harvard and Yale that look, we used to be idealistic, we used to think that such syndicates were very unhealthy, unwholesome for the future of the world. But this is the way it works! What can we do! And again, if you are actually smart enough to figure out whats going on, then just become one of the controllers because someone has to be in control.

So everyone is making their plans. The demons are making their plans, the devotees are making their plans. Caitanya Mahaprabhu told Nityananda, ‘Sripada, holy man, I have got a plan for You! Dont come to Jagannath Puri every year. I need someone to spread Krishna bhakti in Bengal. Except for You there is no one else who can do this task! You can do something even I cant do! You’ve already demonstrated that by not only saving the lives of Jagai and Madhai but You initiated their spiritual advancement! You, Nityananda Prabhu, can spread Krishna bhakti far and wide to everyone!’

And what was Nityananda’s response to this plan? ‘I am the body, You are the life! Both the body and the life are important. But of the two the life is most important! I will do whatever Your inconceivable sakti arranges for Me to do! I’ll follow Your plan!’

Similarly at the end of Bhagavad Gita Arjuna says to Krishna, I’ll follow Your plan. My illusion is gone, nasto mohah smrtir labdha, karisye vacanam tava (Bg 18.73). I’ll accept Your plan.

The ultimate solution to a devotees dilemma of what, how to best please Krishna, what is the best way to serve Krishna, the ultimate solution is the guidance of the Lord in the heart. Hiranyakasipu was enraged that Visnu had given up His role of equanimity as Paramatma. He accepted that there is Paramatma, he accepted that Visnu is equal to all living entities including the demons but something happened. So remember Kamsa’s advisers problem was, as they saw it, the Lord is hidden in the heart. Hiranyakasipu’s problem, as he saw it, was that the Lord in the heart has become greedy for puja and therefore He has become inequitable, He has become unbalanced.

And what is the proof of His lack of justice, even though generally He is equal? The proof is what you see right before you, He has become affected by the demigods just because they offer puja and then what do you see? He took the form of animal, need I say anything more! He is obviously under the influence of the material energy. Not only did He take the form of an animal but He took the form of a boar, the most lowest of creatures! It is obvious He is no longer fit to be Paramatma! (laughs)

Plan making is the essence of human life. What are the plans for? If we do not have a plan how to go deeper in our spiritual life, which is ongoing process of our life time career, to increase our bhakti, if we dont have such a plan, we can be sure that the material energy, those who are under its influence, their plans will be wearing us down. There is no plateau in this world. This world is dynamic! The spiritual energy can uplift us and material energy can bring us down. Therefore as individuals, individual devotees, if we are going to be able to survive the ravages of demoniac plan making, if we are going to avoid feeling secure, peaceful, and stable in such a world, our only protection is to take shelter of Krishna’s plan and in our individual life try to continuously increase our spiritual potency.

Our goal is that we can hear from Krishna what to do next, how to serve Him best. Srila Prabhupada would plainly declare when asked, how do you make decisions? He would say, Krishna tells me! Krishna tell me directly!

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ (Bg 10.10)

Once we capture Krishna’s attention due to our service, Krishna promises, I will give you customised instructions! This is the solution to our dilemma of how to be spiritual in the material world, how to decide what gives Krishna the most pleasure, what gives Krishna the less pleasure.

We must make plans but our plan is to surrender to Krishna’s plan. We want to shut down our plan making factory and we are begging Krishna – We want to accept Your plan!

Thank you very much! Hare Krishna!

Devotee: (audio inaudible)

Maharaja: We don’t want to engage Krishna in our service therefore we take all necessary precautions as far as possible. Only then we are entitled to depend on Krishna. But we have to use whatever intelligence we have, how to respond to situations in such a way that Krishna’s purposes can be achieved.

The cowherd boys, they are another level! (laughs) They know what they are doing! They are giving Krishna pleasure! There is no trace of selfishness when the cowherds they say – We’re just going to march into that mouth! We are going to have a good time! They are thinking Krishna is going to enjoy this! If we one day can approach that standard of purity how wonderful our life will be!

Thank you very much! Hare Krishna!

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19483

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Spiritual United Nations festival in Mayapur.
Great preaching opportunity for international devotee visitors & residents has come up on the occasion of 50th anniversary of ISKCON. We gladly invite international devotees to take part in preaching to Mayapur visitors during Gaura Purnima festival in Spiritual Nations Festival Arena. • Festival is organized by ISKCON Mayapur. Each country will have its own booth where the representative devotees will be presenting preaching activities in their home country through the medium of photos, videos, fliers, books, question & answer sessions and possible home-country particulars (ideas welcome). • United Spiritual Nations festival will be held 18 – 24 March in festival arena behind the temple 10am – 9pm each day. • Devotees, or their spokesman, who will represent their country in Spiritual United Nations festival are required to contact Kasya Das (kasyadas@gmail.com, Ph: 9609122104) in nearest possible time.

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19481

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Hari Sauri Das speaks at Moscow's 'Our Prabhupada' Festival

Devotees in Moscow are focusing on staying connected to Srila Prabhupada and his vision as they celebrate ISKCON’s 50th and look toward the next 50 years.

They began their 2016 as they mean to go on, with the second annual “Our Prabhupada” festival. The first, in December 2014, saw Suresvara Das speaking about Srila Prabhupada as ISKCON’s Founder-Acharya.

At this year’s festival from January 15th to 20th at the ISKCON Moscow temple, hundreds of devotees learned about Srila Prabhupada as a person from Hari Sauri Das, who personally served him for sixteen months.

Hari Sauri gave his famous Living Bhagavatam seminar, discussing Prabhupada’s approach to different aspects of devotional service and life such as chanting, prasadam, cleanliness, health, and management. He showed how Srila Prabhupada applied the philosophy of Krishna consciousness in myriad practical ways, within a modern context.

“Hari Sauri Prabhu endeared us to Srila Prabhupada, presenting him as a loving, caring father to us all,” says Moscow ISKCON 50 coordinator Vrajarenu Das, who acted as translator for part of the seminar.

Next, from January 22nd to 24th, 400 devotees attended an ecstatic Kirtan Mela at ISKCON Moscow with B.B. Govinda Swami, Niranjana Swami, and local kirtaniyas like Saci-Suta Das, Abhay Chaitanya Das and Haridas Thakur Das.

Moscow devotees also plan to reach out to newcomers with Kirtan during ISKCON 50. Three hundred members of the public are expected for a Mantra Yoga event on April 23rd, where they’ll chant different mantras such as Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. They’ll then hear a talk on the effects of mantra meditation, followed by a long session of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra.

Moscow ISKCON 50 Coordinator Vrajarenu Das speaks

Previous Mantra Yoga events have featured speakers like Bhakti Vijnana Goswami, Bhaki Vaibhava Swami, and Russian ISKCON guru Chaitanya Charan Das; so while this April’s speakers haven’t been confirmed yet, they’re bound to be illustrious.

Two “Kirtan Moscow” events on April 30th and May 9th will follow at the temple, and is expected to draw relative newcomers who are taking the next step, and are specifically interested in chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. The May event is also expected to draw 300 people.

ISKCON Moscow’s main ISKCON 50 festival will be held from June 18th to 26th, and will be an umbrella for several different events. It will kick off with a Vaishnavi Festival on the 18th and 19th, which will likely be attended by 200 to 250 local Moscow devotee women.

The special guest speaker will be Mondakini Dasi, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada from France. Mondakini was one of the earliest pioneers of Krishna consciousness in Russia, and was married to Russia’s first devotee Ananta Shanti Das. She remains strongly connected with the Russian ISKCON Community.

“We expect that she will invite two more female disciples of Srila Prabhupada to join her for the festival,” says organizer Ekanga Dasi. “They’ll talk about Prabhupada, and help audience members develop their personal relationships with him. There will also be classes on Prabhupada’s books, Deity worship, and cooking. The main purpose of the festival is Vaishnavi association, and I hope it will leave participants with a taste of communication and cooperation.”

The ISKCON 50festival will also include celebrations of the 45th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s visit to Moscow and the 24th anniversary of the installation of Sri Sri Dayal Nitai Saci Suta, the presiding Deities of ISKCON Moscow. Key Srila Prabhupada disciples will attend and tell stories of the early days.

“One major goal of the festival is to lay a proper foundation for succession,” says Vrajarenu. “We can see that Srila Prabhupada’s disciples are leaving us, and so we have to ensure that the new generations know what Prabhupada was like as a person, as a leader, as a loving father.”

As well as the festivals and events, there will be special seminars and publications for ISKCON’s 50th.

Already on Sunday February 28th, Vatsala Das, a brahmachari and well-known preacher in Moscow, gave a seminar on Prabhupada’s Seven Purposes of ISKCON, and how we can apply them today.

Niranjana Swami chants at the recent Moscow Kirtan Mela

The GBC foundational document “Srila Prabhupada: The Founder-Acarya of ISKCON” was also just printed in Russian.

The next issue of “Vaishnavism: Open Forum,” a journal for devotees who specialize in outreach to academics, sociologists, authorities and the media, will be dedicated to ISKCON 50.

Bhakti Vijnana Goswami is currently writing commentaries on a previously published document called “The Constitution of ISKCON,” which describes fourteen aims of ISKCON.

“Maharaja’s version will be published as a brochure for ISKCON devotees and newcomers,” says ISKCON Russia Communications Director Radha Damodara Das “And it will allow for a better understanding of Srila Prabhupada’s vision and ISKCON’s mission.”

Finally, a book entitled “Vaisnavas in the Socio-Cultural Context of Modern Russia,” intended for authorities and academics, will communicate to them ISKCON’s place in the world and in Russia today, and explain Srila Prabhupada’s mission, especially its social and moral aspects.

“We are planning on a number of conferences, round table discussions, and meetings on the subject,” says Radha Damodara.

Summing up the aims of Russia’s ISKCON 50 celebrations, Vrajarenu says, “Our society, ISKCON, is growing and changing, with new generations coming in. And it’s very important nowadays to help them understand Srila Prabhupada’s vision and keep that connection.”

If they do, ISKCON Russia has a bright future. Sixty million Bhagavad-gitas have been distributed in Russia over the years; today, there are tens of thousands of mostly native congregational devotees in Moscow alone; and with the work of innovative preachers, more and more intelligent youth are reading Prabhupada’s books and chanting the Holy Name. 

“I believe that Russia has a very huge potential for Krishna consciousness,” says Vrajarenu. “And ISKCON’s 50thanniversary is a great opportunity to meditate on the possibilities.”

“The next milestone is the 50th anniversary of ISKCON in Russia in five years,” he concludes. “And that, too, will be a very important date for our society here.”

Source: http://iskconnews.org/russian-iskcon-50-focuses-on-prabhupada-connection,5436/

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By Anantaram das

Devotees often find themselves immersed in conflict with other devotees and thus see their development come to a halt. This has certainly happened to me. By the mercy of Hari-Guru-Vaisnava, this is changing and I am slowly progressing in my spiritual life. I simply try to focus on chanting the holy name and on not committing offenses against any living entities, especially against devotees. I will share with you some excerpts from three books that have profoundly changed my life. I take the opportunity to beg for forgiveness from those Vaisnavas that I have offended by thought, word or deed. I have done this privately with several devotees, but in case I forgot about past disagreements and offenses, please also kindly forgive me.

Toward the end of the discussion of the first offense against the chanting of the holy name, Bhaktivinoda Thakur writes in Harinama Cintamani:

“The neophyte devotee (kanistha-adhikari Vaisnava) displays a faith that is formal, even wordly. He worships the Deity but has not developed an interest in serving a Vaisnava sadhu. He is almost a Vaisnava, but is not a real Vaisnava yet, hence he is not able to take full spiritual advantage of sadhu-sanga. A neophyte will have to receive a pure Vaisnava’s blessings to advance spiritually.

“If a madhyama Vaisnava (intermediate devotee) develops loving affection for Lord Krsna, friendship with Lord Krsna’s devotee’s, compassion for the innocent, and evades the company of atheists, he quickly becomes a pure devotee. He alone becomes eligible to chant the pure name.

“A pure devotee of the highest level sees Lord Krsna manifest everywhere and knows that everything rests in Him. Indeed, he sees that Lord Krsna is his life and soul. He is unconcerned with distinctions of who is a Vaisnava or who is not; his whole life revolves around the holy name. To him, the holy name is the essence of everything.

“A madhyama Vaisnava is always engaged in serving sadhus. The madhyama Vaisnava stage marks the beginning of pure Vaisnavism. He is required to distinguish the Vaisnava from the non-Vaisnava; serving the pure Vaisnava is his necessity. If he neglects to differentiate among the grades of Vaisnavas, then he stands to commit Vaisnava-aparadha. He has to continuously evaluate the Vaisnavas and serve the pure Vaisnava. The uttama-Vaisnava does not see any distinction whatsoever between a Vaisnava and a non-Vaisnava, or between enemy and friend; how will he then serve a Vaisnava? How will he distinguish a Vaisnava from the non-Vaisnava?

“The scriptures declare that a neophyte Vaisnava (one who is almost a Vaisnava) can chant in the stage of namabhasa, the clearing stage. A madhyama Vaisnava is worthy of chanting the pure name: therefore, he must always carefully avoid the offenses or namaparadha. The uttama Vaisnava can never commit any offense, because he perceives Lord Krsna everywhere.

“Now, every sadhaka must consider these points calmly and reflect upon his real position. First, he must stop sadhuninda. Then he should chant with firm faith, according to his status as a Vaisnava. It is therefore essential that he recognize his own position. The devotee’s activities should center around association with sadhus, service to sadhus, the chanting of the holy name, and a constant attitude of compassion for all living entities.

“If anyone offends a sadhu in a moment of delusion and madness, he must fall at the sadhu’s feet and repent bitterly; weeping and full of contrition, he must beg forgiveness. He should declare himself a fallen wretch in need of a Vaisnava’s grace. A sadhu is very merciful; his heart will soften and he will embrace the offender, thus exonerating him from his offenses.” (Harinama Cintamani, Chapter 4, translated by Sarvabhavana dasa)

If one must identify his own status as a Vaisnava, how will one do that? Honesty is the sole requirement. Bhaktivinoda Thakura further explains in Sri Caitanya Siksamrita the nine stages in the development of prema (sraddha, sadhu-sanga, bhajana kriya, anartha-nivritti, nistha, ruci, asakti, bhava, and prema). [Note that the first three correspond to the level of kanistha-adhikari, the next three to that of madhyama-adhikari, and the last three to the level of uttama-adhikari. Honestly determine your own position.]

“Upon studying the lives of devotees, it will be found that some have developed faith by studying the scriptures impartially. Many have developed faith by association with devotees and hearing their teachings. Others have developed faith in bhakti after performing duties according to varnasrama and developing repulsion for taking material results from such activities. Others have developed faith through disgust for speculative knowledge. Others have developed faith suddenly. There is no specific rule for the development of faith, for faith, the seed of the creeper of bhakti, is above the rules. Therefore, it may be said that faith develops only within the consciousness of a fortunate soul. The end of executing karma according to one’s varnasrama duties and the appearance of faith are simultaneous. When faith arises, the devotees become filled with hopeful anxiety. This sraddha (faith) is the first stage in the development of prema.

“By previous material habits, the aspiring devotees are still controlled by sinful tendencies, but thinking of how to dissipate this evil, they take shelter at the feet of pure devotees. The aspirants begin to search out pure devotees free from material desires, and by Krsna’s mercy, they attain such association. This sadhu-sanga (association with devotees) is the second sign in the development of prema.

“In that pure association, the devotees begin to carry out devotional activities, such as hearing and singing the glories of the Lord and remembering the form, qualities and pastimes of the Lord. With this practice of bhakti, according to the five divisions mentioned previously (body, mind, soul, matter and society), material sense pleasure and desire, which are the root of the material evils, become submissive to bhakti. Although the tendency to sinful activity remains within the body, the desire to sin is now given up. This is the third stage in attaining prema, known as bhajana-kriya (devotional action).

“By cultivating devotion, attachment to material pleasure, sinful conduct, violence, greed and other material habits gradually decreases, and the devotee becomes progressively free of material desire. This is anartha-nivrtti (clearing of sin), the fourth stage.

“As material desire dissipates, attachment to things other than the Lord also disappears. Faith becomes nistha (steadiness) in devotion to the Lord. As long as the anarthas remain, faith cannot be steadily applied to the Lord, so to the extent that the anarthas are extinguished, faith turns into nistha. This attainment of nistha is the fifth stage in attaining prema.

“Attaining steadiness, devotees perform their devotional activities and take association with more care. By this, the anarthas are further reduced and steadiness turns to joy in the Lord’s service. This is called ruci (taste). This is the sixth step. With ruci for Krsna well established, everything else material becomes tasteless.

“When ruci becomes more intense, along with greater destruction of sin, asakti (attachment) appears. Asakti is still within the purview of sadhana-bhakti. However, sadhana has now become perfect, devotional attachment has reached fullness, and the devotee feel successful. This asakti is the seventh stage.

“When asakti becomes completely full and deep, it is called bhava or rati (the seedling of prema). At the stage of asakti, there is no manifestation of suddha-sattva-svarupa. This is attained at the stage of bhava, and so the heart melts, becoming soft and smooth. This bhava is the eighth stage.

“When bhava attains exclusive possessiveness of Krsna, it is called prema, which is the state of permanent spiritual emotion suitable for rasa. This is the ninth stage in devotional development.

“The devotees performing sadhana-bhakti should always be attentive to the condition of their devotion, perceiving the condition yesterday and the improvement made today. If they perceive that after some time no progress has been made according to the stages given above, they must understand that some offense must have been committed. Having diagnosed that offense, they should give it up and by association with devotees correct the harm done. Continuously cultivating bhakti and praying to Krsna, they should be careful that the offense does not occur again. Those who do not care to examine their progress will advance very slowly because of the unseen obstacles they have created. Devotees, please take special precaution in this matter!” (Sri Caitanya Siksamrta, sixth Rainfall, second Shower, translated by Bhanu Swami)

In explaining the obstacles devotees face, and their relation to krsna-lila, Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains in Sri Krsna Samhita,

“The eleventh obstacle of the Vaisnavas is sectarianism, which takes the shape of the forest fire. Due to sectarianism, a person cannot accept anyone outside his own group as a Vaisnava, and as a result, he faces many obstacles in finding a guru and associating with devotees. Therefore, extinguishing the forest fire is most important.” (Sri Krsna Samhita, 8.22, translated by Bhumipati dasa)

“These sectarian symptoms are seen in all countries since time immemorial. This is prominent among neophytes and found to some extent amongst madhyama-adhikaris. Amongst uttama-adhikaris, however, there is no trace of sectarianism.” (Sri Krsna Samhita, Introduction, translated by Bhumipati dasa)

Let us abandon the sectarian spirit that keeps the forest fire arresting our development. Also, let us pray that we receive the mercy of Hari-Guru-Vaisnava to attain krsna-prema. As Srila Prabhupada said, “Purity is the force.”

At the servive of Hari-Guru-Vaisnava,
Anantaram das

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Source: http://m.dandavats.com/?p=19475

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