How I got my first Bhagavad Gita

It was late spring of 1998 and i was traveling south in the state of Tamilnadu with my parents on a road trip. A road trip inspired by the journey of the four great nayanmars. They were called the 'naalvar' or 'the four'. These great saints lived more than thousand years ago in south India and traveled extensively in Tamilnadu state spreading the glories of Lord Siva. Their songs and poetry are still sung today in devotional forums.

I am writing this as a way to recollect my memory and appreciate the moment I received the sacred book Bhagavad Gita. Unfortunately, I do not remember the details but I will recollect in brief what I remember. My father rented a car and we started our trip south from Chennai. I was having an illness and despite the illness, i have to say looking back, the spiritual journey visiting Lord Siva temples prevented my illness from getting worse. The illness was rather serious and I was hoping it wouldn't get any worse. By Siva's mercy I did not get any more issues than I had.

Our itinerary went something like this, we would drive to a famous temple in a city. Book a hotel room, stay for the night. Wake up in the morning, visit the temples in that city and in the vicinity before noon. Then check out from the hotel and head to the next destination. Like this, we were in one Siva temple called 1000 linga temple (cannot remember where). I entered the temple and the priest welcomed us and performed the pooja. He was very confident in that anyone who sees the 1000 lingas will immediately be cleared of any bad karma of the past. Being the cynic that i was, i internally scoffed the idea. I finished my perfunctory prayers and headed off to the next temple.

There, I took darshan of the Lord and was returning to the car when my father stopped at a rather insignificant shopkeeper who was sitting on the floor with some books from different authors. My father perused the different titles and pointed to a red colored hard bound book entitled "Bhagavad Gita As it is". My first thought was one of curiosity - why is he buying this book? He murmured "for his library". If my memory serves me right, the rather poor shopkeeper had just one Bhagavad Gita. My father handed me the book and off we went to the car.

Sitting in the back seat, I opened the book expecting some "ananda" name to popup because that was my only exposure to spirituality - some chinmayananda or vivekananda type personality. Instead, I stammered through the name "P..r..a...b..h...u...p...a..d..a" and thought his name is so hard to pronounce and that I have never heard of such a spiritual name. Like this I thought who is this man? Thankfully, I did not criticize him. However I was intrigued by the paintings. I turned the pages admiring the different colors and pictures. The book was made of high quality glossy paper as it was the centennial edition. After flipping through few pictures, I closed the book and distinctly remember saying to myself "I will never touch this book again" and put the book in the back of the car.

Of course, Krishna had other plans. On this auspicious day of Gita Jayanti, I want to thank Lord Siva for allowing me to come to His 1000 linga temple and help me remove my previous karmas upon where I got some merit to touch the great and sacred book Bhagavad Gita! I should also thank the shopkeeper for having the book. I want to thank my dad (despite our theological differences) for buying Krishna's book and thus unknowingly becoming an instrument in my journey to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.

My entry into Krishna consciousness in this life began by studying this centennial edition of the Bhagavad Gita few months later, after my father bought the book somewhere in an ancient Siva temple in south Tamilnadu.

Hare Krishna

Srila Prabhupada and Narada Muni

Story 1 
One night an extraordinary thing happened. Prabhupada led the first kirtan and then gave a lecture. I sat on the floor just to his right with the harmonium, and after the lecture, I began leading the second Hare Krishna kirtan. All of a sudden, Srila Prabhupada’s voice cut through the auditorium with the potency of Lord Nrisimha, right in the middle of my chanting. I had never heard Prabhupada do that, nor had I heard the words he chanted. ‘Narada Muni bhajaya vina radhika ramana namne,’ he sang. And then again he repeated it. I looked up, and he looked down at me, signaling me to carry on. So I continued chanting Hare Krishna, and he continued singing his prayer to Narada Muni into his microphone. I closed my eyes and carried on, not knowing what was happening. Then he started leading with me. We could all understand that something inexplicable but amazing was happening. Everyone was literally jumping off the ground, leaping in the air; even little baby Saraswati was two feet off the ground, and the audience was leaping into the air. We jumped off the stage and all of us began running around the perimeter of the auditorium with the audience. It was one of those Krishna magic moments. Just amazing! The next morning I asked what had happened the previous night. “Didn’t you see?” Srila Prabhupada said. “Narada Muni came to our kirtan.” “No, I didn’t see him,” I answered. “Yes, Narada Muni came.” - Yamuna devi dasi – London 1969

Story 2 
During an ecstatic kirtan in Los Angeles temple Srila Prabhupada was laughing. Afterwards a devotee asked why he had been laughing and Prabhupada said, “I was laughing to see Narada Muni.” The devotee said, “Narada Muni?” “Yes, Narada Muni was there.” What was Narada Muni doing?” Prabhupada said, “He was laughing.” The devotee said, “Why was he laughing?” “He was laughing when he saw the mlecchas and chandalas dancing and chanting Hare Krishna.” - Dinadayadri devi dasi

Story 3 
In the Berkeley temple in Prabhupada’s room where he was staying, some reporters came and some important folks and they were asking questions. That was the period of time where the interviewer asked Prabhupada, “What will happen when you leave? When you leave, what will happen to this movement?” And that’s at the time where Prabhupada said that “My books will never die, they will live on for ten thousand years.” But also during that darshan, it was exquisite because there was this practical interchange of how interviews go and all of a sudden Prabhupada looked up over everyone’s head into the corner, the exact corner of the room, and he said, “There’s Narada Muni.” So Prabhupada saw Narada Muni during that time in that room. - Dhanishta devi dasi

Story 4 
In London, at Bury Place, Prabhupada told devotees to put a small asana on the altar for Narada Muni because he was attending the kirtanas.

Story 5 
In America Prabhupada held a sparsely attended program but said that sage Narada was present.

Narada Muni also foretold extraordinary worldwide preaching. In the Padma Purana, Bhagavata Mahatmyam (2.5-7), he says: “O Bhakti Devi, there is no age like Kali because you will be established in every house and in every heart. Hear my vow. If I do not preach your message, subdue all other religions and make devotional festivals predominant, then I shall not be considered the servant of Lord Hari. In Kali-yuga those people who follow you, even if they are sinful, will attain Lord Krishna’s abode without fear."

Unlike anyone else Srila Prabhupada fulfilled Narada Muni’s prediction by following Lord Caitanya’s instruction: prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama, sarvatra pracara haibe more nama: In every town and village of the world. My name will be heard. {Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya 4.126) 

Srila Prabhupada lives forever in his books and worships Lord Caitanya by teaching everyone to always chant “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.”

Hare Krishna

Being negative doesn't help anyone

A snake penetrated into a carpentry workshop.  As it slipped, it passed over a saw and got slightly wounded. Suddenly, it turned and bit the saw, and biting the saw, the snake seriously got wounded in its mouth!

Then not understanding what was happening and thinking that the saw was attacking "him," it decided to roll around the saw to suffocate it with all its body by squeezing it with all its strength, but it ended up being killed by the saw!

Similarly our snake-like mind where has a tendency to find-fault with others and hurt them. But actually, like the snake we get hurt. Sometimes it is better to ignore situations, ignore people, ignore their behavior, and their words. Sometimes it is better not to react so as not to suffer consequences that can sometimes be deadly or harmful.

The food we eat, has to be digested and then thrown out of body in 24 hours, else we will fall ill.

The water we drink, gets in our body and is thrown out in 4 hours, else we will fall ill.

The air we breathe, has to be thrown out in 1 minute, else we will die.

Negative emotions like hatred, anger, jealousy, insecurity, we hold in our body for days, months and years. If these negative emotions are not thrown out regularly it comes out as psycho-somatic diseases.

The best way to remove these negative emotions is to chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra regularly.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare|
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare||

Hare Krishna

The plight of man is a wonder indeed!

Once a man was chased by an elephant in a forest. Seeing no respite, he climbed a tree but he slipped, was about to fall before he could hold on to a branch. He looked up and found that the elephant is waiting to devour him and two rats, one black and one white, were slowly nibbling the branch  he was hanging on to. He understood that very soon  the branch would fall to the ground.

As the man looked down, he discovered that there were many snakes. Suddenly a drop of honey fell on his face. He pulled his tongue out and licked it. There was a honeycomb between the two branches he was holding. Due to disturbance caused by his holding and shaking the branch, bees were out to bite him. But at the same time honey was also oozing from the comb.

Forgetting the obvious (elephant, snakes, rats, and bees), he just adjusted his tongue to get drops of honey straight on his tongue. Now, he was happy indeed forgetting his precarious situation.

This analogy from the Mahabharata perfectly fits a common man. The man represents the common man or ourself. We are stuck in this precarious situation of this material world (samsara). Death (elephant) is chasing us continuously; it will not leave us without devouring. The black and white rats represent night and day respectively. They are slowly reducing our age. The hissing snakes represents the big obstacles in life. Honey-bees represent the day to day problems we face in our life. The sweet honey represents the pleasures’ of this world in its myriad forms.

If only we accept the lending hand of Krishna, we can save ourselves a lot of trouble but we are too attached to the drops of dripping honey.

The plight of man in this world is a wonder indeed!

Hare Krishna

Dhanaraj, Balaraj and Ananda

Once upon a time there lived a king in Benaras with 3 sons named Dhanaraj, Balaraj and Ananda.

Suddenly one day the king left his body and the kingdom was seized by the minister.

The minister took charge of the kingdom and cheated the 3 prince by giving them a small house to live in a village which was located outside the kingdom.

Now these three began to contemplate on the situation.

The eldest one asked, “What is the finest thing in the world?”

The youngest one said,  “I dont know?”

The middle one Balaraj said, “Power is the finest thing, the minister would not have snatched our kingdom without power.”

The elder prince disagreed saying, “The finest thing in the world is money. With money we can have power also. I will go to China and return with lots of money.”

Prince Balaraj said,  “I will go to Turkey and raise a big army.”

The brothers decided to meet at the same place after 10 yrs .

Years passed by and one fine day a huge army came from one side and a huge caravan full of gold and jewels came from the other.

They were led by Dhanaraj and Balaraj, both the brothers embraced each other.

Dhanaraj told Balaraj, “I am the richest man in the world. I can bribe your soldiers.”

Balaraj proudly said “My soldiers can loot your money.”

They looked out for their younger brother Ananda. He came out from the small house with a young woman and 2 children.

Dhanaraj and Balaraj asked “Did you find the finest thing in the world?”

Ananda said, “Yes. I have found that contentment is the finest thing in the world, without it power and wealth are all useless.”

The brothers suddenly realized that its true, still they wanted to fight the Minister.

Ananda laughed and told that the Minister died years ago and people wanted to make him the king. But he was too contented to leave. So, all their efforts had been in vain.

Here we see that the youngest prince Ananda was happy with whatever he had and thus was living peacefully.

Moral of the story.

If you are happy with whatever you have, i.e. you are content with what you have there is no regrets. Then there is no desire and if there is no desire, you will be peaceful.

Here is the verse from the shastras which says:

santosha trishu kartavyah svadhaare bhojane dhane
santosha trishu na kartavyah svaadhyaah japa dhaanayoh

“One should be always satisfied with these three things:
1) their spouse
2) the food
3) the amount of wealth they obtained.

One should never be satisfied with these three things:

1) the amount of scriptural study
2) the amount of chanting
3) amount of charity they perform

We always want to accumulate wealth for future, want to build a house, take up life insurance policies and what not.

Every one tries to possess more and more. How much ever we endeavor we shall get only that which is in our prarabdha.

Lord is taking care of our needs right from the time we are in our mothers womb. As soon as the child comes out mothers body is filled with milk. Still we try to make all arrangements. This is because we don't have faith in him.

Hare Krishna

Who is Srila Prabhupada?

Who is Srila Prabhuada, no one knows? But certainly an empowered and loving spiritual master, father and grand father for his sincere followers. Somehow or the other, i have been lucky to have gotten his mercy. It is up to me to accept it or reject it.

A memory:

I was traveling. I intended to come to Europe to do street clowning with my girlfriend. In New York City, we met a sankirtan devotee who gave us a book and a record, Radha Krishna Album. And when we heard this music, I remember thinking that there is nothing I want to do besides find out what this means and meet the people who are singing this music. So we went to England. That was in March of '77. So it was only four months later that the devotees said Srila Prabhupada is coming, and we all considered it a wonderful miracle that somehow or other we were actually going to be able to meet him. Many of the older devotees were pained to see him in that condition; but to me, it was the first time I saw him and he was so incredibly attractive. He was glowing like the sun, just so beautiful like the ripened fruit of tapasya.

I had never experienced anyone who was exuding so much love. I was astonished. I had an interesting experience that while he was giving this first lecture, I was sitting back in a corner where I could see him but so many devotees around. But I had the strange feeling that while Prabhupada was speaking, he was looking directly at me and speaking to me. It was as if he had sat down in front of me and said, "My dear child, this is why you've been suffering in the material world and now it's time for you to go back home, back to Krishna. Come with me and I'll take you home." I felt pretty silly due to my big false ego thinking that I had received special attention.

So after the lecture when I went out into the hallway, I overheard some devotee speaking that "Oh, I had this strange experience that Prabhupada was looking straight at me and speaking directly to me." And then I heard another group of people speaking, and at least three or four different groups of devotees mentioned like this. I was stunned, "What kind of person is this?" It was also interesting while I was in this lecture, I had a unique feeling that Prabhupada was looking straight into my soul, that he was looking at my essential self and not at the person who I had previously thought I was, but looking through all the layers of my conditioning to see my true self, that I was an eternal spiritual living entity, a servant of Krishna. And that he would hold this realization of me so strongly, it felt as if that could bring me out of all those layers of conditioning to the point where I can also realize who I am. So because I was a latecomer and in one way felt unfortunate that I was only able to see Prabhupada in his very last days, in another way I felt like I received a wonderful benediction.

by Gopimata Devi

Hare Krishna

Pure devotion from Azerbaijan - a true story!

Once upon a time, someone distributed a Bhagavad-Gita by Srila Prabhupada to this woman. She read it and the knowledge struck her so much that she accepted it with all her heart. She found the address of the ISKCON temple in the beginning of the book and came to meet devotees in a luxurious, large hat. A devotee met her and escorted her to a guest room where there were a few other people. The devotee begun telling something to the guests, but he was called out and left them to bring more guests, saying: “just a minute, please wait”. When he came back, the woman was preaching the Bhagavad-Gita to the gathered big time. She had lots of bookmarks in her Bhagavad-Gita, and she was saying: “see, Bhagavan Shri Krishna says…”. The devotee later said he was amazed, it was so interesting that he got engaged and continued listening. She was so sincere in her preaching. This is how she came to the devotees. With utmost bliss, she started coming to the programs at the temple, participated in kirtans and fell in love with the Deities. She felt like there was no point in living alone in her city, her kids were grown up, and had their own families. Now she acquired a new spiritual family.

One day she came to the temple and said that she wanted to sell her apartment and donate the money to the temple. “You can use the money in any way, just provide me with a room, I want to live here, serve, chant, and sing.” she said. The devotees held a discussion about it and finally agreed; they built a little extension to the temple. You can see it by the temple in Baku, right at the entrance, it has large windows. She moved in there and began growing Tulasi. She was so positive and gave love to all bhaktas. I never saw her criticizing anyone, and she never participated in the politics. She also treated the Deities and Krishna with great love. When I first came there, devotees were showing me around and told me about her as a local significance. At that time she had already been initiated by Rohinisutra Prabhu, and her name was Pada-Sevanam.

Devotees told me: here lives one grandma. There are different opinions about her around here. Some say she should be expelled from the temple for Sahajiya, others say she is a saint, but actually, we don’t know. What they meant by Sahajiya was that she was communicating with Krishna, as if she would do with you. She used to come to them sometimes and say: “Krishna told me”. That is how they introduced me to her in absentia. Next morning she came to me to associate and looked at me with a challenge, probing me, what my condition was. I was respectful to her in every way. Suddenly, she takes out an apple, gives it to me and says: “Gopal told me to pass it to you” I say: “thank you, please pass my thanks to Gopal” Gopal was a blue-colored doll, a little child Krishna. I don’t know where she got it from. She took care of Him, she had a cot for Him and toys. Devotees were saying she used to do strange things. Once she bought a radio controlled toy car, put her Krishna into it and started driving him around in the temple’s yard.

Devotees asked her: “Pada Sevanam, what are you doing?” She said: “He is little, it’s interesting for Him. Kids like to play with cars, look, he is so joyful!” I began watching her. Some sentiments were there, for sure, some imagination was also mixed in. But at the same time, she was an interesting type of devotee who had personal relationships with Krishna, she lived for Him. Perhaps, these impurities would go with the time, I thought. However, if people fall into pride, they take a position from above: “Krishna talks to me, I’ll tell you all how to live”. She never had this attitude. Those kind of relationships were very natural for her. She talks to Krishna, why can’t she talk to Him? She always chanted the holy names very seriously.. Whenever she had spare time she would sit down and chant very thoughtfully. She always read books of Srila Prabhupada with great interest, she was always engaged in service and participated in all devotees’ gatherings. Whenever someone would give a lecture, she would attentively and respectfully listen. Those are the signs of a true devotee.

Once I came to the Baku temple again and she came to me to associate and says: “I’d like to get your blessings.” What does she have in mind? I wondered. I watched a movie called “Pilgrimage to Ahovalam”, she said. Ahovalam is a famous temple of Lord Nrsimhadev. If any of you is a disciple of Indradyumna Swami from the 1990s, you would have probably heard a fascinating story how he went to the Ahovalam temple. The temple is situated deep in a jungle. Tigers live around there and one has to be really determined to get there. Indradyumna Maharaja was telling that there are signs that read “Beware of Tigers.” There is a temple of Hiranyakashipu and there are still pieces of the column which Nrsimhadev appeard from. There is also a cave and there is a self-manifested deity of Lord Nrsimhadev inside it.

The video shows Dhruva Maharaja prabhu entering an ancient temple, where the Deity is Vira Nrsimha. Vira means victor, conqueror. The deity is located in a cave at the top of the mountain. Once upon a time, a demonic king conceived a plot in this place. He decided to perform austerities and worship Brahma. When Brahma appears, he thought, I would steal the Vedas from Him and we would construct this civilization in our demonic way. When he actually stole the Vedas from Brahma’s mind, thanks to his demonic mystic powers, Brahma began praying to Nrsimhadev. Nrsimhadev personally appeared before him, tore the demon apart and returned the Vedas. Bhahma was very thankful to Lord Nrsimhadev. He performed a ritual of worship and prayed to Nrsimhadev: “Oh, Lord, please stay in your merciful form of Vira Nrsimha, so that we could always worship you and remember about your heroic deed.” The Lord was pleased with the prayer and appeared in a form of the deity.

The movie shows that Dhruva goes through water up to his chest in the cave, there are bats hanging above his head. He and his companions go further and are full of dread, it becomes dark and it’s unclear what is ahead. All of a sudden, they hear bells ringing and see the light of oil lamps at the end of the cave. There was a priest, who was conducting worship to the deity, and beside him sat an engaged couple, a bride and a groom. He said that this is a very ancient deity, but unfortunately, the worship ceased. Only once a week a priest comes to perform the worship ceremony, because there is jungle around the cave and to live in close proximity is almost impossible. When PadaSevanam heard that, her maternal feeling woke up: “Krishna, my Krishna is suffering!”.

She said that she asked Gopal: “what I should do, how can I help Nrsimhadev?” “Gopal told me that I should go there and serve Nrsimhadev”. Imagine a 74 year old grandma has such an idea! Do you think it sounds a little abnormal? That is what I thought. My eyes widened and I said: “Do you understand what India is? I’m not even talking about the mountain! I take groups there every year. I know what it is. “One can be robbed, there are all sorts of cheaters there, you don’t know the language, anything can happen!” “Besides, you don’t have the money for the tickets and who told you they would let you serve the Lord there?” “In Southern India they are really strict and don’t let women to serve deities, they consider this a violation of tradition, Srila Prabhupada saw devotees differently, not dividing men and women in this sense, that’s why he allowed women to worship on the altar. But there not every man is allowed, not even every Brahman.” She says: “ I know nothing, Gopal told me, I have to go! “My arguments didn’t work, so I tried a different approach and said: “Actually, in our Sampradaya, we worship Radha Krishna or Lord Chaytanya, who is Radha and Krishna as one person, so, if you want to go to India, go to Mayapur or Vrindavan and happily worship Krishna there.” “You don’t need to go to some mountain where there are no devotees, where it’s unclear how to make living, and besides you might not be allowed there.” This argument stumped her. She said:“ Alright, I’ll ask Gopal.” I thought to myself: Gopal, tell her! The next day she comes to me and says: “I asked Gopal and He said that I have to go Nrsimhadev anyway.” I thought to myself: “well, how is she going to go anyway, she doesn’t have the money.”

Two or three years later, I came to Azerbaijan again and devotees asked me: “do you remember Pada-Sevanam? She actually made it to the Nrsimhadev’s temple. Moreover, some say that people received her as a saint and worship to Nrsimhadev resumed”. That took me by surprise. She is a really unusual woman, I thought. Unfortunately, no one knew any more details about her, just this short information. About a half a year ago, before Pandava Ekadashi, a devotee, who was originally from Azerbaijan, wrote to me on skype. Ganeshwara Prabhu was asking if I remembered that grandma; Pada Sevanam. I replied: “yes, of course, I do”. It seems that the time has come, he wrote. Please ask devotees to pray for her. I replied: “sure, I will”, but then I began thinking how I should tell devotees about her. She had done did something extraordinary, what I needed to let them know about. I wrote back to him on skype asking if he knew the details of the story, which was going around about her reaching the Nrsimhadev’s temple and re-establishing the worship. “Yes, I know everything”, he replied. I helped her to get in there. Then he told me the whole story.

She was asking devotees around how to get to the temple of Nrsimhadev and someone suggested to asking Ganeshwara Prabhu. She contacted him with the help of devotees and asked to watch the movie and find out where the temple was. She said: “Gopal told me that I have to serve Nrsimhadev there.” He and his wife respected Pada Sevanam a lot. They thought, perhaps it’s really something extraordinary what Krishna is doing through them, through their service. They watched the movie, but it was unclear where the temple was. That day or shortly after, Ganeshwara went to have Deities darshan at Krishna Balaram mandir as usual and accidentally saw that devotee Dhruva Maharaja, who made the movie. He invited Dhruva to his house and she showed him the episode, asking “where is this temple?” Dhruva told him that one needs to fly to Hyderabad, then by taxi, for a few hours, go to a village called Vedagiri. There, lives the main priest. The mountain is located in five kilometers from the village. One needs to know the pathways in the jungle. The priest goes there only once a week. If one wants to have a darshan, they have to come on the eve of the day and go with him there. Ganeshwara did exactly that. He took two devotees and went to the village. They found the priest and went with him to the mountain. They saw the jungle, herds of wild monkeys, and snakes. In the cave they saw bats hanging above their heads, walked in the water up to a human chest, and finally got the darshan. They realized that it is unrealistic to live there and it is simply dangerous.

Ganeshwara went back to Vrindavan, then he called Pada Sevanam and said: “I went there. It’s impossible to live there, just stay with the devotees and live normal life. Krishna has a different plan”. “Gopal told me to go and I will, anyway. I bought tickets and I am arriving in two weeks. Please meet me.” What should I do? Ganeshwara thought. Imagine, taking 74 years old woman to the jungle and leaving her there. Imagine a man who gets snowed under with such a sudden mission. It’s like Lakshman would take Sita to the forest and leave. How can I leave a devotee of her age in the jungle where there is no water, no electricity, no food, absolutely nothing, only wild animals nearby? Alright, he planned: will bring her to Vrindavan. She would see the Deities of Radha and Krishna, sink in that nectar atmosphere and then we will make the right decision; that she should better stay in Vrindavan. Her heart will open and God’s plans will change. That was the plan.

He meets her at the airport. She comes with all her tens of deities, what devotees were bringing to her – several pairs of Radha Krishna, a number of Gopals, Govardhana Shilas, Shaligram Shilas, different pictures, etc. That all she brought with her in her suitcases. I met her and said: “a taxi is waiting. We will go to Vrindavan first and then decide what to do in a few days.” She got really tensed. “ I need to go to Nrsimhadev immediately, He is suffering because no one serves Him! How can I go to Vrindavan and enjoy myself there?” “But Pada Sevanam, you have never been to Vrindavan”, said Ganeshwara. “It’s only a few kilometers away, we need to go there. When would you go there otherwise?” She said: “If you don’t want to go there with me, just tell me where to go, I’ll get a ticket and go by myself!” Ganeshwara thought: I can’t leave her. Then, he buys tickets, they fly to Hyderabad, taxi brings them to Vedagiri, Ganeshwara takes her to the priest, hoping that he would open her eyes to see the reality. They go to the priest. He is around 70 years old himself, his son is 30.

Ganeshwara explains through his son (he translates) that this woman is from a different country, she is from Azerbaijan, and she got a revelation that your Nrsimhadev calls her and that she needs to come and serve Him here. She packed her things and came. When the priest hears that his eyes doubles in size. He says: “What Nrsimha? Do you understand what you are saying? Live here? We, adult men can’t live there. It’s dangerous there, there are no facilities – no water, no food, no electricity. You don’t know what you are talking about! I cannot provide protection for you, so as the main priest I can’t let you worship there!” Pada Sevanam becomes very serious, looks at the priest with a trying look and says: “If Krishna wants to kill someone, would you be able to protect that person, regardless of the place in this universe, even in your house? If Krishna wants to protect someone, who can kill that person?”She said that with such faith and determination that the priest just broke into tears and said: “I don’t know who this woman is, but I have no arguments to convince her in this case. Go ahead, live! I will try to give you maximum protection.” Now Ganeshwara is put in front of the fact that he has to carry all Pada-Sevanam’s luggage through the jungle. They left in the morning and carried the luggage to the mountain. Ganeshwara has the last hope that she would see everything herself and change her mind. They reached the top and Pada Sevanam, is lost in admiration. “Here is also a room for my deities!” (There was some little rickety building made of stones, with a time-skewed door, in front of the entrance to the temple). “I will install my deities here, set up a tent and begin living. “Excellent facilities! Everything is beautiful, go home, I will stay and worship Nrsimhadev”. Ganeshwara and the priest were totally shocked and speechless, but left her there. The priest was so amazed that he began telling everyone in the village about it, word about this grandma spread around instantly.

The next day swarms of people begun climbing to the mountain to see that woman, a saint from Azerbaijan. They brought whatever they could – water, some kind of clothes, etc. Men looked at the tent she was in and said: “we must protect her and build a hut for her.”.Women joined and began cleaning, bringing water, doing other things. All villagers received her as a saint and began worshiping. She didn’t have even a tiny amount of pride about herself and was easily accepting it. People paying obeisances as she blesses them, as if she has always been doing that. People were inviting her to bless weddings, new houses, and to bless a newborn or a dying person. All were running around her – the priests, the Brahmans, everyone.

When she was coming to Shiva’s temple, they would bring her the Pushpa and she would offer. She would do Abhisheka as the great Sadhu do. People fell in love with her for her simple and cordial love to Krishna. Although she didn’t know the local language, nor did she know English, she was preaching! She only knew “Bhagavan Shri Krishna”, in Sanskrit. She would preach half in Azerbaijanian, half in Russian, but people were able to understand because she was speaking from her heart. The news and the story were spreading and more people were coming to see her and have Nrsimhadev darshan. The priest had to start coming every day and open the temple. That’s how the worshipping of Nrsimhadev resumed on a daily basis. Finally, the news reached journalists of a newspaper of that region. They came and wrote an article about it, which blew the media. The article was being reprinted all around India. It was published in Azerbaijan and Turkey as well. People began coming from everywhere, just to see this woman and the Deity. Mayor of the state of Andra-pradesh read the article and was amazed: “This happens in my state? “ “We have to see that woman!” he told his wife.

They came with an escort and winking lights and climbed up the mountain to see Pada-Sevanam. Everything was happening around her, all people were doing something and she was in ecstasy worshiping the deities. Imagine, in the beginning, to get water she had to climb down several kilometers, take bath and bring drinking water. That’s how she lived before people started helping. When the Mayor saw that, he said: “we call ourselves devotees of Krishna, but who we are, actually? Look what is a condition of our temple and compare it to our houses! We made facilities for ourselves, but not for Krishna! We left Him here and worshiped Him once a week! This is all to begin with me”. This is how he addressed the people. “I take responsibility”, he said, “to collect enough money to make facilities, build a road, bring electricity, water, ensure access to the temple and dignify the temple in order to ensure proper worship of our Nrsimhadev.” He started a foundation and built a road to the mountain, parking with marble steps to the temple for tourist groups. They also built Hanuman temple and refined everything.

For Pada-Sevanam they built a brick house. When I heard about this all I was really impressed. The main point is – we don’t know anything about this woman, who is leaving now. I had to let devotees know right away. Perhaps, some of you received my message about this MataJi, it went to Facebook. I sent it on Ekadashi day and by the end of the day replies from devotees started coming. They were thanking me, gratifying Pada- Sevanam, some broke into tears. One said: :”my husband had a breakdown, he has not chanted the Holy Names for two years and after reading this article he cried and began chanting again.” In the morning, I woke up and saw Ganeshwara’s message on skype. He wrote that the main priest called him and said she left the body last night. The circumstances of her departure were remarkable though. He sent me some pictures. On that morning of Dvadashi first devotees came in and as always, they would first come to Pada-Sevanam for darshan, to get the blessings. Then they would go into the temple to see the Deities. Pada-Sevanam used a plastic chair, an Asana for Krishna. She would take Krishna from the altar, put Him on the chair and feed. When devotees came in, they saw her on her knees embracing Krishna’s feet. Under her arm, she was holding the Bhagavad-Gita. Devotees thought she was sleeping. The priest knocked on the table: “Mata?” She didn’t’t respond. He asked women to check up on her and help her up. They touched her and realized that she had left the body. Pada-Sevanam means “the one who worships the feet”. She left this world embracing Krishna’s feet and holding Bhagavad-Gita, which brought her to the perfection of her life. This is a remarkable example that we have.

There are two little additional stories about Pada-Sevanam. The main priest told one of them. Once upon a time, I closed the temple at night and began going down the mountain when I heard screaming and the sound of banging dishes. I thought: “maybe a monkey attacked.” The next morning I came up and everything was as usual, Pada-Sevanam was worshiping. I asked her: “What happened yesterday?” She said: “Nothing, it’s all good.” “I heard the banging of dishes and your scream.” “Oh, that’s just Nrsimhadev, he didn’t want to eat I was swearing.” The priest said to me: “I don’t understand what kind of woman she is.” She also said to him at some point that Nrsimhadev told her that she would incarnate in this place for 10 000 years and then He would take her to Goloka.

Ganeshwara told the other story, he asked her once: “At the beginning everything was somewhat rough, were there any dangers, perhaps wild animals, any problems? I just wanted to know how she lived. She said: “no, no problems overall, just a cobra bit me once in a leg. That’s it.” “Wow! That’s it?” “I just went to Nrsimhadev and said: “I want to serve you, but a cobra bit me. If you want to take me, so be it. But if you want me to serve you, tell me what to do. He told me to wash the wound with Charitamrita. I did and everything was fine.”

- From a lecture by A.C. Bhagavatamrita Keshava Swami. Barnaul, Russia December 18, 2016, Translated by Ramananda das (Roman Zilber), Edited by Radha-Vilasa (Ranetta Zilber), (Apologies for any mistakes and incorrect use of grammar).

You come down and write these books

Srila Prabhupada said, "This world is a horrible place, but Lord Krishna said to me, 'You come down and write those books.' And I said, 'Oh, I do not want to go there. It is a horrible place.' And Lord Krishna said, 'No, no, you come down and write those books. I will take care of everything.' And I said, 'No, no, I do not want to go there,' but He insisted, 'You come down and write those books. I will take care of everything.'" So he said, "You just see how Krishna has taken care of everything for me." And he said, "You know, the Goswamis slept under a different tree every night. So they had their tree, I have my temples. I can stay in a different temple every night. They had their light, I have my light. They were translating their books, I'm translating my books." That was a great revelation, an extraordinary thing that Prabhupada was saying. And I looked at Upendra and he looked at me and it was just electric, the atmosphere.

- Memories of Srila Prabhupada by Bhavananda das

Srila Prabhupada airport arrival

The first time I saw Srila Prabhupada was in the L.A. airport. I think it must have been about 200 devotees went to greet him. We were a huge crowd and the loud kirtan and everyone was pushing forward, and there was a space above the partition where the passengers were coming out and you were able to see if it was a tall person. I remember a Stetson hat came by and something else came by, and then we could understand.."Is that.. ? No, that's not Prabhupada." We kept pushing forward more and more and the kirtan was bigger and bigger; and then I felt someone pushing behind me and I thought that's odd because I'm at the back of the crowd, I was a very new devotee.

So then I turned to look and there were two businessmen behind me, mid-20's, suits and briefcases and everything else, but they were looking and looking to see who we were waiting for. Then suddenly we saw a danda raised above the partition and we knew, "Oh, Prabhupada must be coming." So then Prabhupada came out and we all paid our obeisances and there was the most amazing feeling like a tidal wave rushing through me from the very depths of my being and pouring out, and I cried and cried and cried. Then finally when I stood up to go and follow the devotees who were following Srila Prabhupada, I turned and these two businessmen were standing there with tears pouring down their faces. That was such an amazing experience to see how they were touched just by a moment's association with Srila Prabhupada.

- Racitambara dasi

Srila Prabhupada's mercy

We were on an airplane from Mexico City to Caracas and Prabhupada started taking his puffed rice, puffed rice and peanuts. He ate for about 10 minutes or so, and then he just looked and said, "OK." So I moved the puffed rice over and I gave half to Paramahamsa, the other half I had in front of me. After a few minutes, there was this stewardess, she was walking down the aisle and she stops right in front of us and she reached over, put her hand in my plate and grabbed a handful of puffed rice and threw it in her mouth. She says, "Oh, this is wonderful. What is it?" I said, "Puffed rice." She said, "Why are you eating this?" I said, "We have our own diet and we're vegetarian." She said, "Oh, is there anything else I can get you?" I looked at Prabhupada and he looked at me, he said, "Hot milk." She said, "Fine." So after about 10 minutes she comes back with three plates. She left and I turned to Prabhupada, I said, "Prabhupada, that's amazing, isn't it?" Prabhupada said, "No, women, they have a natural propensity to serve." Of course, I was thinking it was amazing that she took Prabhupada's mahaprasadam right off of my plate. Somehow or other, she got what all of us were mad after was Prabhupada's remnants. So when I travel, it's always one of my favorite stories.

One day I was giving class and I told this story, and after class a devotee boy came up to me and he said, "That's an amazing story. Can I tell you a sankirtan story?" I said, "Yes." He said, "We would go out to the villages far from all the cities in Brazil in different places. You have to go by four-wheel drive. One day we were in the rain forest really far away from everywhere, and we found this village and we did our Harinam. Then we began going door to door to distribute books. Then I went to this one house and I knocked on the door and a woman answered and tried to distribute books. As soon as she saw me, I was in dhoti and kurta, and she invited me in. I went in, and I started seeing that there were pictures of Krishna on the wall and she had an altar, she had Deities," and he was so surprised. Then he said, "You're a devotee," and she said, "Yes, yes. It's so wonderful to see a devotee here." And he said, "How did you become a devotee?" She said, "Well, the first time I met devotees was I met Prabhupada on an airplane. I was a stewardess." So this was the woman, it was 10 years later from that time after she took the mahaprasadam. Then she met devotees again and got a book and that was it. That was the beginning of her spiritual life. Just seeing what Prabhupada has done, it's mind-boggling to understand how Prabhupada has made devotees, and it just goes on and on.

 -Srutakirti das (Srila Prabhupada secretary)
-From "Following Srila Prabhupada - Rememberances" ISKCON Cinema

He went for the jugular

This woman here is the official reception director for VIP's coming to Paris. In fact, she was the woman who arranged for Srila Prabhupada's reception at the Paris City Hall. The protocol was made very clear to us - that when we go into the reception room, everyone should stand and the mayor will give his opening remarks and then Srila Prabhupada can reply. The way it worked out was somewhat different.

The mayor waited and Prabhupada sat, and the mayor started getting nervous and Prabhupada sat. Then everyone was looking at Srila Prabhupada and I leaned over and said, "Srila Prabhupada, they're waiting for you to stand." Srila Prabhupada looked at me and said, "I'm supposed to stand for who?" and refused to stand. So the mayor started his remarks and gave his greeting to Srila Prabhupada seated, probably the first time in the history of the country that anyone had been received in City Hall without standing up. Then when the mayor was finished saying how Paris has always been such a spiritual city, Srila Prabhupada stood at that moment and said, "Mr. Mayor, you have spoken very nicely about how France is such a spiritual country, etc.

Let us examine what is spiritual," and went right for the jugular, that there is a soul within the body and any government that is unaware of the difference between the soul and the body is a demonic government. "Just like your Napoleon Bonaparte," (he pronounced the name "Napoleon Bona-partee"), "he said, 'I am France.' France is there. Where is Napoleon? The soul is gone. Where has it gone? This is the importance of proper spiritual training is to understand the difference between the body and the soul

- Following Srila Prabhupada - Rememberances by Yogeswara das

Srila Prabhupada ki jay!
Hare Krishna

All right take it!

It is said that a pure devotee of Lord Sri Krishna is more powerful than God Himself in the sense that God is subserviant to that devotee. Therefore it is essential to seek the mercy of such a pure devotee of the Lord. Whatever the pure devotee desires, Krishna will fulfill without fail. Below is a nice story illustrating the compassion, and mercy of Srila Prabhupada and how Krishna was willing to fulfill Prabhupada's desire.

The scene is set in Mayapur where in Guru das prabhu is wanting Prabhupada's darshan late at night. The sky is overcast but no rain. Somehow, Guru das prabhu attracted the attention of Prabhupada. Below are the words of Guru das prabhu himself.

"Srila Prabhupada walked up and down on the balcony with me, then turned towards the fields and walked to the balcony railing. He looked out and said 'The farmers beg Krishna for rainwater.' He paused briefly. 'All right, take it!'. As Prabhupada swept his hand down as if dispensing rain, a lightening bolt crashed; suddenly the sky opened and rain came down furiously. ' Take it,' he said quietly, and walked into his room."

Srila Prabhupada ki jay!

Hare Krishna

Srila Jagannatha Das Babaji Maharaj

An original photo of Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji, the spiritual master of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur, recently discovered by the Bhaktivedanta Research Centre in Kolkata. The photo was found inserted between the pages of an old book previously owned by a disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. 

Srila Jagannatha Das Babaji Maharaj was the sovereign emperor of the Gaudiya Vaishnava world. No human talent can ever describe his fathomless love for Lord Goursundar (Gauranga). He spent many years in the adoration of Sri Radha-Govinda in Sri Vrindavan. He was a highly revered personality. Everywhere he was renowned as "Siddha Baba" (a great devotee who has reached the Goal or attained Ultimate Success).

Generally devotees talk about the contribution of Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji in confirming the birth place of Lord Caitanya. However, there is also one more very important contribution, which probably is even more important than confirming the birth place of Lord Caitanya, which is never or rarely discussed. This is that, Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji is the first person in our guru parampara who chanted the Pancha tattva maha mantra as with "Jaya Sri Krishna Caitanya...".Before the time of Srila Jagannatha dasa Babaji, the Panhca Tattva maha mantra was chanted as " Jaya Sri Gauranga Prabhu Nityananda....". Devotees following the guru parampara from Srila Jaganatha dasa Babaji then followed the same.. "Jaya Sri Krishna Caitanya.."

Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur beheld his lotus-feet for the first time in Vrindavan in 1880 and received many precious pieces of advice about Haribhajan from him. Srila Babaji Maharaj said 'there is the danger of committing ten offences while chanting Hare Krishna mahamantra. But there is no consideration of offence in uttering Pancha Tattwa –"Sri Krishna-Chaitanya Prabhu Nityananda, Sri Adwaita Gadadhar Srvasadi Gour-bhakta-vrinda."

Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur met Srila Babaji Maharaj for the second time at Amlajora village in the district of Burdwan in the month of Falgun 1298 Bangabda (Year of the Bengali era). Srila Babaji Maharaj observed the holy fast enjoined on the eleventh day of a lunar fortnight (Ekadashi) at Amlajora village and discoursed on God day and night. Though he was very old, he was fond of devotional dance and congregational singing of the Holy Name. Next day Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur established 'Sri Prapannashram' at Amlajora village. Srila Babaji Maharaj was very happy to see the ceaseless loving efforts of Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur in preaching and propagating the gospels of Lord Gouranga.

While staying in Navadwip, Srila Babaji Maharaj would remain absorbed in his Nam-Bhajan (the adoration of the Holy Name) on the bank of the Ganges at Kuliya. (His Bhajan-cottage and his Samadhi-temple still exist there) Srila Babaji Maharaj asked Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur to construct a shed in front of his cottage for the devotees. Srila Thakur gladly carried out his order.

In 1893 Srila Babaji Maharaj came from Kuliya, Navadwip to Sri Godrum Suravi Kunja and made Thakur Bhaktivinode and other devotees extremely happy. Srila Jagannatha Das Babaji Maharaj paid a kind visit to Sri Mayapur. It was with the divine inspiration of Srila Babaji Maharaj that Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode discovered the Birth-site of Mahaprabhu. Srila Babaji Maharaj ascertained that the discovery was true. He pronounced it to the entire world and danced in ecstatic joy in the holy Birth-place of the Lord. Devotees marveled at his wild dance at such a ripe old age. Dancing impetuously with loud roars, he swept the devotees away on the wave of transcendental enthusiasm. The sound of Sankirtan filled the three worlds and maddened the Vaishnavas present there.

Srila Babaji Maharaj had a great affection for Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur whom he asked to prepare a Vaishnava Almanac. From Srila Babaji Maharaj, the world has learnt that the fifth day of the bright fortnight in the month of Magha is the day of Sri Vishnupriya Devi's appearance. 

Srila Babaji Maharaj disappeared from this world in Navadwip in 1895 at the age of about 147. Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur described him as "the Old Commander of the army of devotees".

Some of his immortal messages to this world are;

• Those who make money by interpreting the Bhagavatam are offenders at the feet of the Holy Name. The transcendental words of Krishna never appear on their lips. Their attitude is more abominable than that of prostitutes. Those who listen to the talks of such speakers will be ruined.
• If you want final success in your Bhajan, you must maintain strict regularity in chanting the Name. Don't go to bed before completing the fixed number of chanting everyday. Stick to your vow even at the cost of your life. If you adore the Holy Name with such sincerity, you are sure to attain perfection or final success. At first you will have to toil hard. But ultimately you will get eternal rest at the blissful feet of Lord Gouranga.

Hare Krishna

A dream about Srila Prabhupada

Today is the disappearance day of His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. It is on this day 15 years ago I first entered into an ISKCON Temple so this day has a sentimental value for me. Unfortunately, I am so dull I forgot that today is the disappearance day and hence did not fast half day. I will fast (half-day) tomorrow.

It is said that the appearance and disappearance of a divine person such as Srila Prabhupada should be considered the same unlike where the birth and death of a mundane person is seen as sources of joy and sorrow respectively. It is treated the same because souls such as Srila Prabhupada are completely spiritual devoid of any material contamination. They come into this world and leave this world as they please and they are not controlled or forced by the laws of karma unlike mundane people. So on this day we should pray to such great personalities for their mercy and blessings. We should pray that we clean our hearts of material desires and pray we remain humble servants of the servants of the servants of Krishna. In all circumstances we pray to fix our consciousness at the Lotus Feet of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. This sort of prayer only can benefit us, everything else not this is a burden.

On this auspicious day, I would like for the readers to read a pastime of Prabhupada that happened after his departure from this world. It happened as a dream to one of his disciples. The above picture is a painting she envisioned in her dream.

Some time after Srila Prabhupada left this world, I had a very powerful  dream….In that visionary dream, I saw Srila Prabhupada sitting on a huge lion-flanked and jewel-bedecked Vyasasana.   His Vyasasana rested  on  the brightly shimmering globe of Mother Earth, and was positioned just  above the  sacred land of India. Behind him, the vast curvature of the  earth planet was  visible. A silvery bluish-white light emanated from the center of the vision, forming a giant oval, in which Srila Prabhupada  sat.

Below him were many crowds of people–all races, nationalities, and all ages–all  the people of the world, reaching out from darkness.  They were  pointing  toward Srila Prabhupada, in awe and wonder, exclaiming, reaching out, praising,  and acknowledging him according to their various abilities.  Many were in  darkness, in worldly life, yet they were all reaching out  toward Srila Prabhupada, seeking his mercy.

Above Srila Prabhupada, in the shimmering silver-blue sky, many swan-shaped  airplanes circled. In these airplanes, devas were singing praises and showering  flowers.  Cascades of colorful blossoms tumbled down from their swan  planes, as they glorified Srila Prabhupada. With sweet sounding instruments, and  heavenly chorus, they sang “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare  Hare.  Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare…” Their joyful mood  spread throughout the universe. 

They were celebrating Lord Chaitanya’s  mission on Earth, and showering blessings upon His Senapati Bhakta, His  Commander-in-Chief, Srila Prabhupada. 

Srila Prabhupada sat regally upon the huge Vyasasana, like a lion king sits  atop a mountain.  From there he could see all the world and its  inhabitants, their sufferings, and their great need for Krishna  Consciousness.  In his mood of compassionate contemplation, he saw each  person’s needs and desires, past and present karmas, and he devised ways to  bring their hearts back to home, to love of God.

 His Vyasasana shone brightly, like a brilliant golden chariot, bedecked with  shimmering jewels.  Golden lions flanked each side of his seat, each with  piercing ruby eyes.  The Vyasasana was SO dazzling, with sparkling jewels 

of every color, that at first I could not see that something was written  there.  Then, like a camera’s zoom lens, the base of the Vyasasana came  into full focus.  As the focal point moved in onto the base, I saw, just  beneath Srila Prabhupada’s Lotus Feet, written in glittering jewels, was the  word, “ISKCON.”

As the dream faded, I was told to take color notes, and  was instructed  to paint a picture of this vision.  And the realization was transmitted to  me, that “ISKCON” is Srila Prabhupada’s Vahana, his sitting place, his carrier,  just as Lord Shiva has a bull carrier, and Ganesh a rat, and Lord Vishnu, the  glorious Eagle Garuda. 

- by H.G.Govinda Dasi (For more on the dream - please click link)

On this auspicious day, I beg Srila Prabhupada's mercy and blessings and unto all assembled Vaishnavas to bless me on my journey towards Krishna.

Hare Krishna

I am Living Proof

Upendra Prabhu and I had just observed Nirjala Ekadasi in Sri Vrndavan Dham.It was June of 1977. The temperature was over 100*. Even though we were young we became very weak and I could hardly stand up by the end of the day.Upendra would cook Srila Prabhupada's lunch every day spending hours every morning toiling away in the kitchen. Srila Prabhupada had been sick and he actually came to Vrndavan specifically to 'leave his body'. Even though Upendra worked so hard to prepare the foods the way Srila Prabhupada liked it; Srila Prabhupada had been refusing to eat.

For the previous few weeks when the Plate was brought to Srila Prabhupada he waved it off saying, "Distribute!". Well after fasting the day before and becoming so weak Upendra got frustrated when Srila Prabhupada again refused to eat. Upendra asked Srila Prabhupada how it was that we young boys could barely survive one day of fasting in the Vrndavan heat and he had been fasting for weeks now. Upendra asked Srila Prabhupada, "How do you do it?"

Srila Prabhupada responded, "I am living proof that the soul is not dependant on the body for subsistance; but rather the body is dependant on the soul"! Although I was a neopyhte I could see that Srila Prabhupada was totally Krishna conscious and above the bodily concept of life. He was/is a total inspiration to me. Those were the best days of my life. To serve Srila Prabhupada in Sri Vrndavan Dham was a dream come true. I counted my blessings as I gazed out my window at night and could see Srila Prabhupada translating his books all night long on his rooftop.I could hardly sleep at times anxious for the next morning when I could resume my daily services for Srila Prabhupada. All glories to our transcendental spiritual master; the acharya, our living proof!

"He lives forever by his divine instructions and the followers live with him"

By Gauridasa Pandita Dasa

I Appeared For Two Reasons

I was fanning Srila Prabhupada in his garden. Swarupa Damodar Swami had just come and began to tell Srila Prabhupada about the scientific conference they had just held in Bombay. Even though this was the time when Srila Prabhupada was sick; he became very enlivened by hearing of the preaching program. Srila Prabhupada sat up straight and pointing his finger to the sky, he declared, "Actually I appeared in this world for two reasons: to establish Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and to defeat the rascal scientists!" He told Swarupa Damodara that he was very pleased that he was preaching in the scientific community like that. Srila Prabhupada wasn't against all scientists; just the ones who tried to 'replace' God and promote their atheistic theories such as the 'big bang' and the like. Some of the devotees today are doing a good job preaching in the scientific community. I'm sure this is very pleasing to Srila Prabhupada.

There is a big debate, in India and around the world, over who is the Supreme Godhead. Srila Prabhupada cleared up the issue and established that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He did this using guru(teacher); sastra (scriptures) and sadhus(saints) to support the facts and his own realization. Srila Prabhupada didn't water-down the philosophy just to attract some easy followers. He presented the highest truth. Because of Srila Prabhupada, people in every town and village around the world are now chanting the Holy Names of the Lord and perfecting their lives. All glories to the greatest guru of our times; who worked so hard day and night, to translate the Vedic literatures that benefit us now and for thousands of years to come. Srila Prabhupada gave us the highest treasure; the 'matchless gift'. Let's take advantage of the gift and go back home, Back To Godhead!

Vrndavan, India June 1977

By Gauridasa Pandita Dasa

I want that stick

"I want that stick." (twigs of eucalyptus trees to use as toothbrushes).It was a very small one. Hrdayananda Maharaja heard Prabhupada. He said, "Prabhupada wants that. Come on, bring it down, bring it down." He wanted to give it to Prabhupada. So we made a pyramid of men, with three men on the bottom then two men on top of them, and one skinny devotee climbed on top. When the devotee stood and reached up, he was still about fifty centimeters short. But when he made an effort to reach it, the whole pyramid fell to the ground. Prabhupada was watching them, smiling and laughing. Again they made the pyramid bigger, and the devotee tried to reach it again, but again they fell down. Then more devotees tried. They became wet because of the grass, and Hrdayananda Maharaja was very excited, saying, "Come on, Prabhupada wants that. Prabhupada wants that. Keep moving." Prabhupada was smiling at the fun, sometimes watching the twig and sometimes watching the devotees. A third time they tried the pyramid, and it fell down. But the fourth time it worked, and the devotee stood up and broke the twig from the tree, He gave it to Hrdayananda Maharaja, who gave it to Prabhupada, Prabhupada held it in his hand, inspected it for a minute, and then threw it away.

- From "Prabhupada-lila" by HH Satsvarupa dasa Goswami

Hare Krishna

21st century Gajendra

Keshavan, a legendary elephant at Guruvayoor, served the Lord for over seventy years. He was very keen on being the only elephant to carry the Lord during the night shivelli, the procession of the Lord. He would roar in disapproval if he was not given the service. Even when he was sick, he would report for service and lovingly carry the Lord. Keshavan would get temperamental and angry when denied the service. However he was sensitive and never harmed either the mahouts or other human beings during his entire life time.

Once as he angrily ran, and all passers-by and shopkeepers became afraid, one leper unable to run panicked as Keshavan charged in his direction. All the town residents who were watching this incident from a safe distance were astounded to see Keshavan come in front of this man, lift him on his tusks, and safely place him on the side of the road, before continuing to run in anger at not getting service for Krishna.

On December 2, 1976, the day of Mokshada ekdashi, the most auspicious day according to the local Guruvayoor tradition, Keshavan circumambulated the Lord’s temple and after offering obeisances to Lord Krishna, left his body. Everyone who already knew about his deep devotion to the Lord now witnessed an extraordinary event; Keshavan had left his mortal body in the most glorious way, one that is desired by great devotees of Krishna. To leave one’s body on such a day, in the temple complex, offering obeisances to the Lord is considered most rare and only the most blessed could leave their bodies in this fashion.

The Lord showed to all that Keshavan was indeed the chosen one; he had pleased the Lord immensely by his sincere services and proved to all by his devotion that one’s external circumstances do not matter while rendering devotional service. One could even be in an animal’s body, and yet be most dear to Krishna

source

Hare Krishna

Heart of a devotee

On 14th May a plane crashed in Jomsom, Nepal, and among those killed were eight Krishna devotees from Mumbai. Radhanath Swami’s reaction to the disaster revealed the heart of a transcendentalist on the Bhakti path. A Bhakti Yogi realizes that the soul is eternal, beyond death—and that understanding keeps the yogi equipoised in the face of the death of a dear one. Yet, the yogi feels separation, for now the medium of exchange of spiritual love, which was the material body, is no longer functional. Radhanath Swami said in the memorial ceremony, “When I learned about it the shock was so immense that it was difficult to try to philosophically reason. Sometimes things that affect the heart so deeply, we simply have to take shelter of the Lord. What is beyond our intelligence, what is beyond our ability to deal with is a time when we can helplessly cry out for Krishna.”

Radhanath Swami cut short his tour of the United States to return to Mumbai and help the near and dear ones of the departed take shelter of Krishna.

Few of us went to the airport to receive Radhanath Swami. As we drove back to the ashram, Radhanath Swami spoke of the eternality of the soul. He explained how the eternal souls of the devotees killed were under the loving care of Krishna. As a discussion ensued, a fellow monk chimed in, “I flew to Jomsom the day after the crash to collect the bodies of these devotees.” To the surprise of everyone around, Radhanath Swami responded appallingly, “Why did you go there?” Silent moments passed. Radhanath Swami was disturbed that another dear devotee had risked going to the same place. But this trip made by the monk was necessary, or else how could the dead bodies be procured for the last rites?

“I went to collect the bodies,” reiterated the monk.

Again silence.

“But…..but……. why did you go there?” Radhanath Swami sighed.

I thought. This sweetness of spiritual love amid a balanced philosophical approach to life is what makes Bhakti Yoga beautiful.

source

Hare Krishna

Once there was a pigeon…

Once there was a pigeon who lived in the forest along with his wife. He had built a nest within a tree and lived there for several years in her company. The two pigeons were very much devoted to their household duties. Their hearts being tied together by sentimental affection, they were each attracted by the other's glances, bodily features and states of mind. Thus, they completely bound each other in affection. Naively trusting in the future, they carried out their acts of resting, sitting, walking, standing, conversing, playing, eating and so forth as a loving couple among the trees of the forest. Whenever she desired anything, O King, the she-pigeon would flatteringly cajole her husband, and he in turn would gratify her by faithfully doing whatever she wanted, even with great personal difficulty. Thus, he could not control his senses in her association.

Then the female pigeon experienced her first pregnancy. When the time arrived, the chaste lady delivered a number of eggs within the nest in the presence of her husband. When the time was ripe, baby pigeons, with tender limbs and feathers created by the inconceivable potencies of the Lord, were born from those eggs. The two pigeons became most affectionate to their children and took great pleasure in listening to their awkward chirping, which sounded very sweet to the parents. Thus with love they began to raise the little birds who were born of them. The parent birds became very joyful by observing the soft wings of their children, their chirping, their lovely innocent movements around the nest and their attempts to jump up and fly. Seeing their children happy, the parents were also happy. Their hearts bound to each other by affection, the foolish birds, completely bewildered by the illusory energy of Lord Viṣṇu, continued to take care of the young offspring who had been born to them.

One day the two heads of the family went out to find food for the children. Being very anxious to feed their offspring properly, they wandered all over the forest for a long time. At that time a certain hunter who happened to be wandering through the forest saw the young pigeons moving about near their nest. Spreading out his net he captured them all. The pigeon and his wife were always anxious for the maintenance of their children, and they were wandering in the forest for that purpose. Having obtained proper food, they now returned to their nest. When the lady pigeon caught sight of her own children trapped within the hunter's net, she was overwhelmed with anguish, and crying out, she rushed toward them as they cried out to her in return. The lady pigeon had always allowed herself to be bound by the ropes of intense material affection, and thus her mind was overwhelmed by anguish. Being in the grip of the illusory energy of the Lord, she completely forgot herself, and rushing forward to her helpless children, she was immediately bound in the hunter's net. Seeing his own children, who were more dear to him than life itself, fatally bound in the hunter's net along with his dearmost wife, whom he considered equal in every way to himself, the poor male pigeon began to lament wretchedly.

The male pigeon said: Alas, just see how I am now destroyed! I am obviously a great fool, for I did not properly execute pious activities. I could not satisfy myself, nor could I fulfill the purpose of life. My dear family, which was the basis of my religiosity, economic development and sense gratification, is now hopelessly ruined. My wife and I were an ideal match. She always faithfully obeyed me and in fact accepted me as her worshipable deity. But now, seeing her children lost and her home empty, she has left me behind and gone to heaven with our saintly children. Now I am a wretched person living in an empty home. My wife is dead; my children are dead. Why should I possibly want to live? My heart is so pained by separation from my family that life itself has become simply suffering.

As the father pigeon wretchedly stared at his poor children trapped in the net and on the verge of death, pathetically struggling to free themselves, his mind went blank, and thus he himself fell into the hunter's net. The cruel hunter, having fulfilled his desire by capturing the head pigeon, his wife and all of their children, set off for his own home.

In this way, one who is too attached to family life becomes disturbed at heart. Like the pigeon, he tries to find pleasure in mundane sex attraction. Busily engaged in maintaining his own family, the miserly person is fated to suffer greatly, along with all his family members.

Moral: The doors of liberation are opened wide to one who has achieved human life. But if a human being simply devotes himself to family life like the foolish bird in this story, then he is to be considered as one who has climbed to a high place only to trip and fall down.

Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11 Chapter 7 Texts 53-74 

Hare Krishna