gaudiya touchstone | issue 10

This book was probably the first l iterary work by A.C. Bhativedanta Swami Prabhupada after he accepted sannyasa in 1959. The book deals with the divine conversation between Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Raya Ramananda on the banks of the Godavari River, and is considered by Gaudiya Vaishnavas to be the acme of all theistic conceptions.

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Swami B.G. Narasingha

Swami B.B. VishnuSwami B.V. GiriSwami Srirupa Madhava

Dominique Amendola

Swami B.V. GiriSanatana

Swami B.B. Vishnu

Advaita Acharya

RasikanandaGaura-Gopala

RammohanNila NewsomSwami B.V. Giri

ContentsEditorial

Nitya Dharma SuryodayaBhaktivinoda Thakura

Shyaktavesha-AvataraSwami B.R. Sridhara

Interpretations of Bhagavad-GitaA.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Prabhupada’s Prayers on the JaladutaA.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Sri Krishna TattvaBhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura

Sri Brahma SamhitaA.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

How Great is Srila PrabhupadaSwami B.G. Narasingha

BhaktivedantaSwami B.G. Narasingha

Srila Prabhupada StotramSri Ananta Rama Shastri

Sri Krishna JanmastamiSwami B.G. Narasingha

Temples of KarnatakaRasikananda

Why You are Alive and Can Never DieDr. Robert Lanza M.D.

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Words of Wisdom

Culinary MagicKunjabihari

Editorial

In this issue of Gaudiya Touchstone we are commemorating 50 years of Krishna Consciousness in the western world. On September 17th 1965, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada arrived at Boston Harbor aboard the good ship Jaladuta with a trunk full of Srimad Bhagavatams and little to no personal belongings, but with the message which

was to be the prime benediction for humanity at large. Between 1965 and 1977, Prabhupada circled the globe 12 times distributing the message of Godhead thru his transcendental literature and establishing Krishna consciousness centers of learning on every continent, making ‘Hare Krishna’ a household word.

Th is issue of Gaudiya Touchstone celebrates Prabhupada’s arrival in the west with a presentation of articles from the Gosai Publishers archives: Our fi rst article, Nitya Dharma Suryodaya is by Bhaktivinoda Th akura who foretold in 1885 that foreigners would soon take up the banner of Lord Chaitanya’s sankirtan movement in every town and village. Th e article, Sri Brahma Samhita is based upon Saraswati Th akura’s introduction of the 1936 edition of the Brahma-samhita and was delivered by Prabhupada in New York in 1965. Shaktyavesha Avatara is a compilation from talks by Swami B.R Sridhara Deva Goswami glorifying the achievements of Prabhupada. Sridhara Maharaja concludes in order for Prabhupada to spread Mahaprabhu’s movement throughout the world, he must have been empowered by Lord Nityananda – he must have been a shaktyavesha avatara. Interpretations of Bhagavad Gita is an early essay by Prabhupada from 1948 which was published on the auspicious occasion of Gita-Jayanti.

Srila Prabhupada wrote two Bengali poems en route to America, praying to Krishna for His mercy and guidance to spread the Holy Name and preach the glories of Lord

Chaitanya. These two poems are presented in Prabhupada’s Prayers on the Jaladuta. How Great is Srila Prabhupada? is a lecture wherein the unique position of Prabhupada is discussed at length, and the article Bhaktivedanta gives us the history of Srila Prabhupada’s title, Bhaktivedanta. Srila Prabhupada Stotram is a series of 5 Sanskrit prayers composed during the lifetime of Prabhupada that were very much appreciated by him.

Since Sri Krishna-Janmastami is also celebrated at this time of year, we also have an article by Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura entitled Sri Krishna Tattva which delineates the supreme position of Lord Krishna, and a transcript of a lecture Sri Krishna Janmastami, which explains the appearance of the Lord.

Rasikananda takes us to the temple of Karighatta Srinivasa in Temples of Karnataka, and Dr. Robert Lanza explains Why You’re Alive and Can Never Die. We also have our Words of Wisdom section and to wrap up this issue in Culinary Magic, Kunjabihari reveals how to make the amazing prep, whole milk Kulfi — a Vegan’s worst nightmare!

OM TAT SAT

Swami B.G. Narasingha

(� e following article was written by Bhaktivinoda � akura for Volume 4, Issue 3 of the Sajjana Toshani magazine in 1885)

Lord Chaitanya did not advent Himself to liberate only a few men of India. Rather, His main objective was to emancipate all living entities of all countries throughout the entire universe and preach the eternal religion. Lord Chaitanya says in the Chai-tanya-bhagavata:

prithvite ache yata nagaradi gramasarvatra prachara haibe mora nama

In as many towns and villages as there are on the surface of the earth, My holy name will be preached. (Chaitanya Bhagavata, Antya-khanda 4.126)

� ere is no doubt that this unquestionable order will come to pass. In the world now there are so many religious communities, and in their purest mature form they are the religion of singing the praises of the Lord. At the present time there is a great spiritual quest going on in the world, and it seems that one unalloyed religion which is the essence of all the religions will soon emerge. What is that religion? It is plain to see that in western countries and in Asia, religions are engaged in con� icts. � ere is no doubt that these religions will not be able to endure. � erefore many of the established religions which harbour prejudiced, con� icting beliefs have become fragmented. When all these contradictory dogmas are removed, it is then and there that all religions will be united. Let us consider what speci� cations the Eternal Re-ligion would have:

- Bhaktivinoda Thakura

1. God is one and is the all-knowing source of knowledge. He is devoid of all limitations and is the reservoir of all qualities. 2. All living entities are in� nitesimal parts and parcels of consciousness, and the eternal function of all living entities is to serve the Supreme Lord. 3. To sing the glorious qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and to establish the brotherhood of all men is pure religion.

Gradually the established religions will then be removed of all speci� c contradictions, and the secular or ‘party spirit’ will not re-main. � en all castes, all creeds and men of all countries will be united in coexistent brotherhood under the Supreme Personal-ity of Godhead, united by nama-sankirta-na. “� en and there, personal hereditary status will be considered insigni� cant, and inter-caste hatred will disappear, and the common brotherhood of man will never be forgotten. � en we will carry the vessel of the Nectar of Devotion of Haridasa, we will follow the words of Srivasa and smear our bodies with the dust of � eir Feet. O Lord Chaitanya, Lord Nityananda, the human race will spontaneously dance in ecstasy.

Very soon the unparalleled path of hari-nama-sankirtana will be propagated all over the world. Already we are seeing the symptoms. Already many Chris-tians have tasted the nectar of divine love of the holy name and are dancing with karatalas and mridangas. Educated Christians are ordering these instru-ments and shipping them to England. By the super-excellence of Lord Krishna’s holy name and the grace of pure devotees, our consciousness gets puri� ed. After listening to a lecture on these principles, a great gathering of brahmanas danced with drums and karatalas, singing, “Fill your eyes with the vision of the advent of the Two Holy Brothers (Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda).”

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G a u d i ya To u c h s t o n eG a u d i ya To u c h s t o n e

Even the Salvation Army somehow or other has its form of kirtana. When I see these signs, my hopes of seeing Lord Chaitanya’s aforesaid prophecy being ful-� lled are quickened, and that time has arrived. Although there is still no pure society of Vaishnavas to be had, yet Lord Chaitanya’s prophetic words will in a few days come true, I am sure. Why not? Nothing is absolutely pure in the begin-ning. From imperfection, purity will come about.

Oh, for that day when the fortunate English, French, Russian, German and American people will take up banners, mridangas and karatalas and raise kir-tana through their streets and towns. When will that day come? Oh, for the day when the fair-skinned men from their side will raise up the chanting of “Jaya sachinandana, jaya sachinandana ki jaya!” and join with the Bengali devotees. When will that day be? On such a day they will say, ‘Our dear Brothers, we have taken shelter of the ocean of Lord Chaitanya’s Love; kindly embrace us.’ When will that day come? � at day will witness the holy transcendental ecstasy of the vaishnava-dharma to be the only dharma, and all the sects and religions will � ow like rivers into the ocean of vaishnava-dharma. When will that day come?

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(� e following essay was written by Saraswati � akura in 1928 for � e Gaudiya (Volume 7, issue 28)

Sri Krishna Chaitanya-Deva has given the true path for understanding krishna-tattva. Krishna-tattva manifests all revealed and unrevealed natures, as well as gross and subtle designations.

Krishna is the Supreme Lord (Parameshvara), one whose form is of eternity, bliss and knowledge (sacchidananda-vigraha), primeval (anadi), the oldest among all (sarvadi), one who gives pleasure to the cows and the senses (Govinda) and the cause of all causes (sarva-karana-karana).

Krishna is not an object con� ned to anyone, nor is He under anyone’s control. Material nature (prakriti), time (kala), fruitive activity (karma) and space (vyoma) are all under His control. He is eternally untouched by ignorance (ajnana) and incessantly full of spiritual bliss (ananda). He is neither temporary nor subject to destruction. No nescience can ever touch Him. He is complete in knowledge and untouched by any type of distress. Miseries, sorrows etc, can never come near Him. Krishna is the Supreme Personality (Purushottama). He is not merely some impersonal, neutral material conception. He is not undi� erentiated, rather He has

- Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura Prabhupada

a very exceptional form (vigraha). He is not an element of the gross or subtle realm ruled over by the three modes of goodness, passion and ignorance which are under the purview of the jiva’s knowledge-acquiring senses. He creates the continuous time factor and manifests both the eternal and temporary elements. He is the eternally existing father who existed before the creation and appearance of both the material world and the spiritual world (Para-vyoma). � e endeavour to � nd a root cause within the realm of sense-perception will lead to a series of causal � ndings as we move deeper and deeper. In this way, after one goes on searching repeatedly, one reaches a position where the process of causality comes to an end – that is Sri Krishna. Historians have not been able to categorise Him within the framework of time, place and circumstances. � is is because He is unconquerable (ajita). If He had been some particular element of this world and not completely transcendental (para-tattva), then He would have been considered an inferior object rather than considered to be purely spiritual subject matter (turiya-vastu). He is not the Krishna limited by the description of Bankim Chandra. He is that element addressed by Sri Chaitanya’s concept of the Name and the Named being non-di� erent. Krishna is that Reality whose nature is distinct by His completeness, purity, eternality and liberated state. Krishna is a transcendental touchstone (chintamani) – His name ful� lls all desires. His name, form, quality, uniqueness of His associates, the various bhavas that form the basis of His pastimes and His bhava itself – all these various elements are non-di� erent from Him. For this reason He is the non-dual Absolute (advaya-jnana). He is undefeatable (aja) and eternal (shashvata). His appearance at the end of Dvapara Yuga is merely His visible manifestation in this material world. Even though during that time He displayed suitable feelings for the Transcendental Reality to descend into this world, still, eternally, He does not have to accept birth under the jurisdiction of material nature. His birth and displays of power are all eternally situated in the spiritual realm. � at spiritual realm, or Para-vyoma, is inside as well as outside the gross and subtle con� nes of the material world – both externally and internally it is inseparably connected and fully developed. In its fully developed state it has unlimited variegatedness; when it is in it’s unmanifested state it is extremely subtle. He is very far as well as very near and always situated in an all-pervading sense. When He manifests, He does not remain in a trance, slumber or in a state of anonymity. Whenever He wills it, He manifests Himself to one whom He feels compassion for.

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Krishna’s will-potency (iccha-shakti), creative-potency (kriya-shakti) and knowledge-potency (jnana-shakti) are always present. All these potencies only reach completeness within Him. Even if something else has some completeness, the one who measures that is limited in his conception of completeness, and his knowledge of that particular object is not equal to His all-knowing characteristic, hence He is unparalleled (asamordha). Since He is situated as Purushottama, both eternal spiritual substance and perishable mundane substance are situated at His two sides. He is nowhere situated within the human system of panchanga-nyaya, born out of fallible knowledge and nourished by moralistic religion. Only when one properly establishes Him, one start to realise that His slightest presence gives rise to real logic and reason. Within the entire gamut of divine knowledge possible within the boundary of man’s imagination, He occupies the position of the highest worship. Among the di� erent manifestations of the object of worship, no one considers krishna-tattva to be simply a manifestation. � is is because He is the origin of all manifestations. Srimad Bhagavata says:

ete chamsa-kalah pumsah krishnas tu bhagavan svayam

indrari-vyakulam lokam mridayanti yuge yuge

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� e various avataras are either plenary manifestations or parts of plenary manifestations. But Krishna is the original source of all these avataras. He appears age after age in order to save the world from the demoniac enemies of Indra. (Bhag.1.3.28)

Krishna is Himself the beloved Lover (kanta) and to His most intimate associates He is their beloved. Krishna, in His various stages of boyhood, is known as Bala-Gopala, and amongst all the various groups of mothers and fathers, He is their only worshippable boy. Krishna is the friend of all (jagad-bandhu). If the jiva does not develop friendship with Him, then he falls into an arena full of danger where he accepts an adversary in this land of enemies to be his friend. If an attempt is made to worship objects other than Krishna as God, then after sometime, instead of the practitioner’s fragile serving propensity becoming puri� ed, such a person will become a prisoner to animal, insect and stone-worshipping religions due to the in� uence of gross materialism born out of his unfortunate pride in rendering so-called service. If one tries to obstruct Krishna’s pastimes, instructions or deliberations, one’s endeavor for perfection will always be ten � ngers too short (i.e. incomplete)

Krishna is always full of bliss. From the viewpoint of those a� ected by the illusory potency of Maya and the conviction born from it, He is accepted as innumerable when he is conceptualized as an ordinary jiva.

Again from the Vaikuntha perspective, His all-pervasive nature is not separate from Him. Unfortunate people become ensnared when they try to measure Him by their narrow human codes of conduct. When they try to measure His pervasiveness through various limitations, they only manage to relocate Him far beyond those boundaries. Since they imagine Krishna as some special object of enjoyment from their experiences of gross worldly pleasure, they establish Him as an object born out of Maya and as a result, their serving propensity becomes sense enjoyment. Considering the all-powerful characteristic of Krishna, depending upon the kind of aversion one harbors, they try to create an ‘idol’ based on their own mental conceptions. Also sometimes, from the factory of human comprehension, they create an ‘idol’ based upon their impersonal notions. Such kinds of imaginative averseness towards service turn into pride, and as a punishment for this, the jiva imagines that the concepts of Brahman and Paramatma are separate from knowledge of Krishna. No one can attain eligibility for cultivating

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service to Krishna (krishnanushilana), until and unless service to karshna or service to the Bhagavata is rendered. � erefore, until one is granted that eligibility, there is no chance of gaining substantial knowledge of Krishna, there is no chance of getting Krishna’s personal association, and there is no chance of gaining the eligibility of actually hearing about the great power and in� uence of Krishna’s potency. � us, those who are unquali� ed, being forced by the reactions of their fruitive activities, embrace the temporary time factor through di� erent material coverings under the designation of various gross and subtle impressions.

� ere is no chance for the entangled conditioned jiva to realise the eternal truth, eternal-constitutional position etc. He is always mentally agitated and wanders the fourteen planetary systems in various species of life. � e enjoying propensity appears and makes him an enjoyer, or the enjoying propensity leaves and makes him a renunciate. By considering what is good and what is bad, he is propelled to move from one position to another. Such changes of position due to inner motivation leads him to auspiciousness. � is realisation of truth leads him to the domain of bhajana. � at is why Gita says:

chatur vidha bhajante mam janah sukritino’rjunaarto jijnasur artharthi jnani cha bharatarsabha

O descendent of Bharata, there are four kinds of persons who are fortunate enough to worship Me – those who are in distress, the inquisitive, those that seek wealth and those that desire self-realisation. (Gita 7.16)

GLOSSARY

Bankim Chandra – Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838 –1894) was a Bengali author and poet who wrote the book Krishna Charitra wherein he portrays Krishna as a mundane historical character, devoid of any transcendental attributes.

Panchanga-nyaya – � e � vefold stages of the Nyaya system of logic. � ey are pratijna (proposition), hetu (reason) udaharana (example), upanaya (application) and nigamana (conclusion)

Karshna – A devotee of Krishna

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(� e following purport by Srila Prabhupada is based upon the introduction of the Brahma-samhita by Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati � akura and was recorded in New York on November 5th 1965)

� e materialistic demeanor cannot possibly stretch to the transcendental autocrat who is ever inviting the fallen conditioned soul to associate with Him through devotion or eternal serving mood. � e phenomenal attractions are often found to tempt sentient being to enjoy the variegated position which is opposed to undi� erenced monism. People are so much apt to indulge in transitory speculation even when they are to educate themselves on the situation beyond their empiric area or experiencing jurisdiction and almost foolishly they dare to declare that God is dead. � e songs of Brahma-samhita as chintamani-prakara-sadmasu, will surely help such souls in their march toward the Personality of Godhead in the spiritual kingdom which is lying beyond their sensuous gaze of inspection.

� e so-called astronomers cannot even de� nitely give us information of the visible sky which is over� ooded with sunlight during daytime and moonlight at night. We can, however, learn about spiritual kingdom from the Bhagavad-gita that it is situated far, far beyond the visible sky and in that sky there is no need of sunlight or moonlight or even electricity. � ere are innumerable spiritual planets in that self-e� ulgent sky and the gross estimate of that sky is given in the Bhagavad-gita that the material world wherein there are innumerable suns and moons is only one-fourth of the whole kingdom of God. � is material world is also part of the kingdom of God, but this kingdom of God is described as made of inferior energy on account of its temporary nature and is compared with a mass of clouds in the sky. When there is a mass of clouds in the sky there is certainly torrents of rain and there is a type of creation of new vegetation on account of such rainfall. But in spite of all such variegatedness, manifestation of greenery seen, of fruits and

� owers, the whole show is only temporary. When the season is over, everything fades away into di� erent situations and the temporary manifestation comes to an end.

� erefore the material world is called three phases of existence, namely creation, sustenance, and dissolution at last. � is creation and dissolution is going on perpetually like seasonal changes and the portion of the vast sky where such temporary variegatedness is taking place and again becoming out of sight, is called the material world. And beyond this material manifestation of variegatedness, there is the world of spiritual sky where everything is eternal, full of life, blissful and knowledge distinct from the non-eternal, miserable existence of ignorance. In the material world everything is struggling hard for existence but the cruel laws of material nature will not allow anybody to exist although everyone of us aspires to exist eternally in full blissful life of perfect knowledge.

� is information is available in the Brahma-samhita that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is Krishna, and His transcendental form is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge. In the spiritual world, not only Krishna has His eternal body full of bliss and knowledge, but also everyone who associates with Krishna

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has the same spiritual nature. In the abode of Krishna which is called chintamani-dhama, the land, the trees, the animals, the residents, everything is of the same spiritual nature as that of Krishna. � is spiritual nature is expansion of interior energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. � erefore the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna is called the cause of all causes.

It is said that Brahma, who wrote Brahma-samhita after his mature knowledge by meditation, it was revealed in him that by the recollection of bhakti-yoga, it appeared to him that he is the eternal maid-servant of Krishna. � ough other mysteries in regard to the condition of the maid-servant of Krishna were not revealed to him, Brahma by dint of his searching self-consciousness became well acquainted with the ocean of truth. All the truths of the Vedas were revealed to him and with the help of those essence of the Vedas, he o� ered this hymn to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. Sriman Mahaprabhu, Lord Caitanya has taught this hymn to His favorite disciples in as much as it fully contains all the transcendental truths regarding Vaishnava philosophy. � e audience, the hearers of this record are requested to study and try to enter into the spirit of this hymn with great care and attention as a regular daily function.

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� e � rst verse is translated: I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, the � rst progenitor, who is tending the cows, ful� lling all desires, in the abodes built with spiritual gems, surrounded by millions of purpose trees, always served with great reverence and a� ection by hundreds of thousands of lakshmis, or gopis. By the word chintamani is meant transcendental gem. Just as maya builds the mundane universe with the � ve material elements, so the spiritual chit potency has built the spiritual world of transcendental gems. � e chintamani which serves as material in the building of the above Supreme Lord’s place, Goloka, is a far rarer and more agreeable entity than the philosopher’s stone. � e purpose tree only, the fruits of piety, wealth, ful� llment of desires and liberation but the purpose trees in the abode of Krishna bestows innumerable fruits yielding the ful� llment of desire or oceans of milk in the shape of the fourteen love-showering transcendental bliss that take away with the hunger and thirst of all pure devotees. � e trees in the abode of Lord Krishna can supply anything desired by the devotees. � e devotees residing in the abode of Krishna have no desire to ful� ll. Still, there are variegated transcendental desires of the devotees to satisfy their eternal Lord in loving service. In the material world a tree can supply only the fruits that it can produce but in the spiritual world any tree can supply any amount of fruits or any variety of fruits to the aspirant devotee.

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� e second verse is translated: “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is adept on playing on His � ute, with blooming eyes like lotus petals, with head bedecked with peacock feather, with the � gure of beauty tinged with the hue of blue clouds, and His unique loveliness charming millions of gopis.” � e matchless beauty of Krishna, the Supreme Lord, or Govinda is being described. Krishna, the all-pervading cognisant has the spiritual form of youth. � e form of Krishna is not a fanciful creation of imagination formed after visualizing the beautiful things of the world like the poet or the artist. When Brahma saw in his ecstasy trance of pure devotion, He is being described. Krishna is engaged in playing upon His � ute, that attracts the hearts of all living beings. Just as a lotus petal produces a pleasant sight, so the two beautiful eyes of Krishna, who causes the manifestation of our spiritual vision, display the unlimited splendor and beauty of His moon-like face. � e loveliness that adorns His head with peacock feather is gorgeous. � e surrounding feature of the spiritual beauty of Krishna, just as a mass of blue clouds o� er a speci� cally soothing pleasant view, the complexion of Krishna is analogously tinged with a spiritual dark blue color. � e beauty and loveliness of Krishna is far more enchanting than that of Cupid multiplied a million-fold.

� e next verse is translated: “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, around whose neck is swinging a garland of � owers beauti� ed with the moon-locket, whose two hands are adorned with � ute and jeweled ornaments, who always revels in pastimes of love, whose graceful threefold-bending form of Shyamasundara is eternally manifested.” In the shloka beginning with chintamani-prakara-sadmasu, the transcendental region and the spiritual names of Govinda in the shloka beginning with govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami, the eternal beautiful form of Govinda, and in this shloka the amorous pastimes of Govinda, pranaya-keli, means the amorous pastimes of Govinda, the embodiment of sixty-four excellences have been described. All the spiritual a� airs have come within this scope of description and the narration of the ecstatic mellow qualities, rasa, are included in the spiritual amorous order of Govinda. Lord Krishna, Govinda is always visible with His eternal consort, Radharani. � is conjugal living pair is called by Narottama Dasa � akura as yugala-piriti. Yugala-piriti means conjugal love. � e conjugal love is existing originally in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, and that is re� ected only in the material world in a perverted form.

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Amongst all our Guru Maharaja’s disciples,

our Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja’s endeavor is in-comparable. For those of us who identify with our Guru Maharaja’s cause, we can-not but be grateful to him for the way he has told the world about this great trea-sure of Mahaprabhu. � is is because the way he has served our Gurudeva is ex-traordinary. Without being empowered by Krishna’s shakti, it is not possible.

Such a tremendous action in the plane of such a high de-gree of theology cannot be expected to happen. Some higher divine power worked in him. � ere is no doubt of this. � is is our � rm belief. I consider him to be shaktyavesha-avatara, and it is con� rmed by his journey on the ship through the Atlantic and how he landed there and the nature of the beginning of his movement. What was his intense degree of dedication to Krishna?

How much he made himself empty to call down Krishna to help him? It is corroborated that Krishna worked on his behalf. He was completely dedicated to that purpose and a divine force came down to help him. Nityananda Prabhu is in charge of preaching Mahaprabhu’s glories, so I took it that Nityananda Prabhu must have some special dedication in him in his last days which helped him to inundate the whole world in such an inconceivable magnitude.

But that does not mean that he was nothing before such delegated power came in him, that he has no value of his own. Does it mean that before the delegation will come, he was some empty thing? Such propaganda will defeat his own objective. � is supposition is mischievous and those that think like will do mischief for their own people by falsely propagating in this way. It is very dif-� cult to arouse faith in men and this sort of state-ment will diminish faith. It will prepare the � eld for the atheist. It is suicidal to propagate that line.

� at delegation may come in a proper place, just as in other shaktyavesha-avataras, the shakti ac-cepts a particular place and that is not anything and everything, an ordinary thing. One must be proper to receive that. Otherwise it is impossible. It is not a thing of the ordinary level that anyone will do. � e highest thing has been taken down to the lowest position so extensively.

muktanam api siddhanam narayana parayanasudurlabhah prasanatma kotishv api maha-mune

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(O great sage, among many millions who are liberated and perfect in knowl-edge of liberation, one may be a devotee of Narayana. Such devotees, who are fully peaceful, are extremely rare – Bhag. 6.14.5)

taspasvibhyo’dhiko yogi jnanibhy’pi mato’dhikahkarmibhyash chadhiko yogi tasmad yogi bhavarjuna

(Such a yogi is superior to the tapasvi (one who performs severe penances) and the jnani (one who tries to achieve the Absolute by intellectual pursuits) and the karmi (one who tries to attain salvation by performing Vedic rituals). � is is My conclusion, O Arjuna – therefore become a yogi! – (Gita 6.46)

yoginam api sarvesham mad gatenantaratmanashraddhavan bhakate yo mam sa me yuktatamo matah

(I consider the best of all yogis to be the bhakti-yogi who abides in Me, who meditates upon Me and who worships Me with � rm faith – Gita 6.47)

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Wealth from the highest plane was taken and distributed by Swami Maharaja so lav-ishly in the world. As Srila Bhaktivinoda � akura told, “In the near future the west-erners will join the Indians here under the common banner of Lord Chaitanya and go on with krishna-kirtana.” After having such a divine vision, Bhaktivinoda � akura predicted that such a thing would soon become a reality. What our Guru Maharaja began and half ful� lled was completed in a great magnitude by Swami Maharaja. Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada gave it a preliminary start and Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja has taken it further ahead. � is is completely unbelievable for us!

We are doing a little service to the society in our own way, but what Swami Maharaja has done is like an ocean and we are like so many ponds.

prithivite ache yata nagaradi grama sarvatra pracar hobe mora nama

(In every town and village of the world, My name and glories will be sung – Chaitanya Bhagavata Antya-khanda 4.126)

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With this fl ag he travelled all across the world. By such an endeavor he has become very adorable to us. What he has done is a supernatural activity of supernatural power. You all represent him, and you are present before me today. I am so happy and I think myself fortunate to be in your midst.

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It has become a luxurious fashion of the day, along with the progress

of material civilization, that everyone can make his interpretation of the great Indian philosophy called the Bhagavad-gita. � is concise form of Vedic knowledge, known as the Gitopanishad, is acknowledged by all sections of transcendental scholars, in India especially, as the cream of all Upanishads and that of Vedanta-sutrasalso. Scholars and acaryas like Sripada Shankaracharya and some of his followers also could not leave out this very important book of knowledge, although such scholars of the Mayavada school did not acknowledge the bona � des of the Puranas. But the interpretation of Sri Shankaracarya di� ers from the interpretations of the Vaishnava acaryas headed by Sri Ramanujacharya and Madhvacharya. � ere are innumerable interpretations of the Bhagavad-gita in the market, and it is certainly a puzzling business to select which of the various interpretations shall be accepted as bona � de and which of them shall be rejected as mala � de.

In order to make a distinction between these two classes of bona � de and mala � de interpretations, we have to make an impartial study of the book, and such unbiased study only will make us able to discern the bona � de from the mala � de.

In this connection, we may � rst of all try to � nd out the origin of the Bhagavad-gita. It is wrong to understand that � e Bhagavad-gita was � rst spoken in the battle� eld of Kurukshetra as it is a part of the great history of India, namely, the Mahabharata. We can understand from the talks of Sri Krishna and Arjuna, as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, that long, long before the battle of Kurukshetra, this philosophy was once spoken by Sri Krishna to Vivasvan (the Sun), and from Vivasvan the knowledge was transferred to Manu, and from Manu it was transferred to King Ikshvaku. And, in that way of disciplic succession, the knowledge has come down to generations after generations, but in course of time, such disciplic succession broke, and therefore, Sri Krishna again repeated the same yoga or transcendental knowledge to Arjuna. In the beginning of the 4th Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, this fact is stated as follows:

sri-bhagavan uvaca –imam vivasvate yogam proktavan aham avyayamvivasvan manave praha manur ikshvakave ‘bravit

evam parampara-praptam imam rajarshayo viduhsa kaleneha mahata yogo nashtah parantapa

sa evayam maya te ‘dya yogah proktah puratanahbhakto ‘si me sakha ceti rahasyam hy etad uttamam

� e Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikshvaku. � is supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost. � at very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science. (Gita. 4.1-3)

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Rishis and kings or the kings who were as good as the rishis is the meaning of the word rajarshaya, and, as such, every one, whether he was a householder or mendicant, knew Bhagavad-gita before the battle of Kurukshetra, or before the period of Mahabharata, which is calculated to be at least � ve thousand years before, and as such, how it is hinted that the same knowledge was lost. � at transcendental knowledge was lost because there must have been some mala � de interpretations of the knowledge, and such knowledge would do more harm than good to the people. It had to be repeated again by Sri Krishna before a bona � de king, and for this, Arjuna was selected at a critical moment because Sri Krishna acknowledged him to be not only a con� dential friend, but also a bona � de devotee at the same time. We have to mark the words especially bhakto ‘si etc.

bhakto ‘si me sakha ceti rahasyam hy etad uttamam

Because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science. (Gita. 4.3)

Sri Krishna had many friends and relatives at that time who might have been great scholars also, but He selected Arjuna as the bona � de person to grasp the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita only because Arjuna was a great devotee of the Lord. It may be concluded therefore that the principle of Bhagavad-gita can be understood only by personalities like Arjuna, who was a completely surrendered soul to Sri Krishna, and this knowledge (yoga) can be explained only by personalities like Sri Krishna (i.e. His bona � de devotees) or for the matter of that by the Personality of Godhead only.

Under such circumstances, the bona � de interpretations can be given only by those who follow the footprints of Arjuna, or, in other words, one who happens to come in the line of disciplic succession from Sri Arjuna as it was formerly delivered from Vivasvan to Manu (and Ikshvaku). � at is the � rst condition of understanding Bhagavad-gita. And, violations of this condition means breaking of the link of disciplic succession and thereby losing the real purpose of the great philosophy. Beside, Bhagavad-gita is not a new thesis of speculative philosophy, but it is as old as the Sun is. Nobody can say what is the age of the Sun, neither can anybody calculate the age of Manu. According to authentic shastras, the age of a Manu is 72 x 4,200,000 years. It is also

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understood that at the present moment, the Manu who has been referred to in the Bhagavad-gita has been passing his age on the point of the 28th period, out of the above mentioned 72 periods of 4,200,000 years each, and because Manu was told by Vivasvan, it may be safely calculated that Bhagavad-gita was spoken once before the battle of Kurukshetra at least 197,600,000 one hundred ninety-seven million sixty hundreds of thousand years before.

A transcendental source of knowledge which was coming down in a chain of disciplic succession for millions of years before the battle of Kurukshetra must have been studied by various scholars of the period, but still, we don’t � nd more than one edition or interpretation of the Bhagavad-gita as represented by Sri Arjuna; but during the last two hundred years, we have so many interpretations of Bhagavad-gita by di� erent speculators. � is advancement of speculative activities by di� erent mundaners without any reference to the chain of disciplic succession, are all mala � de interpretations, and spread of such mala � de knowledge on the so-called basis of the Great Book of Knowledge, will do more harm than good to the people.

We � nd also in the last chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, that the Personality of Godhead has persistently advised that the essence of Bhagavad-gita must not be disclosed to a person at any time who has not undergone any disciplinary method of austerity and penances, who is not a devotee of Sri Krishna, who is unwilling to accept the teachings of Bhagavad-gita and, lastly, one who actually envies Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead. � e shloka which instructs the above procedure runs as follows:

idam te natapaskaya nabhaktaya kadacanana cashushrushave vacyam na ca mam yo ‘bhyasuyati

� is con� dential knowledge may never be explained to those who are not austere, or devoted, or engaged in devotional service, nor to one who is envious of Me. (Gita. 18.67)

So, according to Bhagavad-gita, the following four classes of readers are incompetent to understand the principle of Bhagavad-gita, and therefore they are not able to make any bona � de interpretations whatsoever. � ey are:

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1. Ordinary men who have no training in austerity or penance. 2. � ose who are not devotees of Godhead but are either mundane workers, mundane philosophers or mundane mystics. 3. � ose who do not come in the line of disciplic succession like Vivasvan, Manu, Ikshvaku, Arjuna, etc. 4. � ose who disbelieve Sri Krishna as the Absolute Personality of Godhead. And, these unlucky four classes of men are described in the Bhagavad-gita as (a) Naradhamah the lowest class of men, (b) mudhah non-intelligent men of society, (c) mayayapahrita-jnana persons who have su� cient mundane education, but they are robbed of essential knowledge by the illusory energy or maya, and (d) the asuras who disbelieve in the very existence of Godhead. � e shloka which describes the above fact runs as follows:

na mam dushkritino mudhah prapadyante naradhamahmayayapahrita-jnana asuram bhavam ashritah

� ose miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me. (Gita. 7.15)

� ese four mala � de classes of men have done tremendous harm to the society by making mala � de interpretations of the Bhagavad-gita according to their limited sensual perceptions, and the result is that the whole atmosphere has been surcharged with mala � de poisons, which are eating the vital necessities of life. We can very well imagine how this process can do harm if we compare it partially with adulterated foodstu� or adulterated medicines. Foodstu� and medicines are concerned with the material body only, but the knowledge which is administered in the Bhagavad-gita is concerned with spirit soul. In the very beginning of Bhagavad-gita, the identity of the material body and the spirit soul has been elaborately explained, and the speci� c instruction of Bhagavad-gita has always been stressed for the bene� t of the spirit soul. � e subject matter of the material body and mind has not been neglected in Bhagavad-gita, but on the contrary, it has been nicely coordinated with the necessities of the spirit soul;

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but more importance and attention has been drawn on the subject matter of the spirit soul. � erefore, if we protest so much against spread of adulterated foodstu� and medicines which are concerned with the temporary material body only, we have to protest more vigorously against the spread of adulterated interpretations of Bhagavad-gita because that concerns to the eternal vital power of the spirit soul.

avinashi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idam tatam

� at which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. (Gita. 2.17)

For ordinary class of men, the Bhagavad-gitahas enjoined “shastra-vidhi”, i. e. such men have been advised to follow the instructions as have been enjoined in the authentic scriptures. Because the outlaws who are reluctant to follow the instructions of the scriptures cannot ever be successful in all their attempts, and as such they cannot have any peace and prosperity or be elevated to the spiritual or transcendental plane. It is stated in the Bhagavad-gita as follows:

yah shastra-vidhim utsrijya vartate kama-karatahna sa siddhim avapnoti na sukham na param gatim

He who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination. (Gita. 16.23)

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Such ordinary men, when they manufacture spiritual procedure of austerity or penances for any such pseudo-spiritualistic method, do so according to the mundane quality they might have acquired in the course of their mundane activities. � e mundane qualities being divided into three categories, such pseudo-spiritualistic methods are also divided into three categories, namely sattvic (mode of goodness), rajasic (mode of passion) and tamasic mode of ignorance). � is is described as follows in the Bhagavad-gita, namely, (Ch. 17.1-10):

arjuna uvaca –ye shastra-vidhim utsrijya yajante shraddhayanvitah

tesham nishtha tu ka krishna sattvam aho rajas tamah

sri-bhagavan uvaca –tri-vidha bhavati shraddha dehinam sa svabhava-ja

sattviki rajasi caiva tamasi ceti tam Srinu

sattvanurupa sarvasya shraddha bhavati bharatashraddha-mayo ‘yam purusho yo yac-chraddhah sa eva sah

yajante sattvika devan yaksha-rakshamsi rajasahpretan bhuta-ganamsh canye yajante tamasa janah

ashastra-vihitam ghoram tapyante ye tapo janahdambhahankara-samyuktah kama-raga-balanvitah

karshayantah sharira-stham bhuta-gramam acetasahmam caivantah sharira-stham tan viddhy asura-nishcayan

aharas tv api sarvasya tri-vidho bhavati priyahyajnas tapas tatha danam tesham bhedam imam shrinu

ayuh-sattva-balarogya- sukha-priti-vivardhanahrasyah snigdhah sthira hridya aharah sattvika-priyah

katv-amla-lavanaty-ushna tikshna-ruksha-vidahinahahara rajasasyeshta duhkha-shokamaya-pradah

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yata-yamam gata-rasam puti paryushitam ca yatucchishtam api camedhyam bhojanam tamasa-priyam

Arjuna inquired: O Krishna, what is the situation of those who do not follow the principles of scripture but worship according to their own imagination? Are they in goodness, in passion or in ignorance?

� e Supreme Personality of Godhead said: According to the modes of nature acquired by the embodied soul, one’s faith can be of three kinds—in goodness, in passion or in ignorance. Now hear about this. O son of Bharata, according to one’s existence under the various modes of nature, one evolves a particular kind of faith. � e living being is said to be of a particular faith according to the modes he has acquired. Men in the mode of goodness worship the demigods; those in the mode of passion worship the demons; and those in the mode of ignorance worship ghosts and spirits. � ose who undergo severe austerities and penances not recommended in the scriptures, performing them out of pride and egoism, who are impelled by lust and attachment, who are foolish and who torture the material elements of the body as well as the Supersoul dwelling within, are to be known as demons. Even the food each person prefers is of three kinds, according to the three modes of material nature. � e same is true of sacri� ces, austerities and charity. Now hear of the distinctions between them. Foods dear to those in the mode of goodness increase the duration of life, purify one’s existence and give strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Such foods are juicy, fatty, wholesome, and pleasing to the heart. Foods that are too bitter, too sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry and burning are dear to those in the mode of passion. Such foods cause distress, misery and disease. Food prepared more than three hours before being eaten, food that is tasteless, decomposed and putrid, and food consisting of remnants and untouchable things is dear to those in the mode of darkness. (Gita. 17.1-10)

So, these ordinary men who are in� uenced by the three modes of Nature can work out a plan of their sensual pleasure, but it is not possible for them to give authentic interpretations of Bhagavad-gita as it was spoken by the Personality of Godhead to

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Vivasvan or Arjuna. � e whole thing is received in transcendental submissiveness by aural reception, which is not accepted by the mundane wranglers deliberately refusing to approach the bona � de spiritual master who has got the keynote of Bhagavad-gita. It is therefore stated in the Bhagavad-gita that one who actually wants to have an access to the essence of Bhagavad-gita must himself engage in the service of a bona � de spiritual master by full surrender. In that position only, one can make bona � de enquiries regarding the Bhagavad-gita, and in that posture only, the self-realized spiritual masters impregnate the submissive disciple with the knowledge of Gita, because they have already seen the Truth of it.

tad viddhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevayaupadekshyanti te jnanam jnaninas tattva-darshinah

Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. � e self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth. (Gita. 4.34)

Mental speculationists can manufacture wonderful interpretations of Bhagavad-gita by an intellectual activity, but such interpretation cannot be accepted as bona � de because that is not transcendental to the mundane senses, neither to the material mind in subtle state. As it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, such interpretations depending on the mind and senses are sure to be doomed like a boat on the troubled sea. It is said there:

indriyanam hi caratam yan mano ‘nuvidhiyatetad asya harati prajnam vayur navam ivambhasi

tasmad yasya maha-baho nigrihitani sarvashahindriyanindriyarthebhyas tasya prajna pratishthita

ya nisha sarva-bhutanam tasyam jagarti samyamiyasyam jagrati bhutani sa nisha pashyato muneh

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apuryamanam acala-pratishtham samudram apah pravishanti yadvattadvat kama yam pravishanti sarve sa shantim apnoti na kama-kami

vihaya kaman yah sarvan pumamsh carati nihsprihahnirmamo nirahankarah sa shantim adhigacchati

esha brahmi sthitih partha nainam prapya vimuhyatisthitvasyam anta-kale ‘pi brahma-nirvanam ricchati

As a boat on the water is swept away by a strong wind, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man’s intelligence. � erefore, O mighty-armed, one whose senses are restrained from their objects is certainly of steady intelligence. What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage. A person who is not disturbed by the incessant � ow of desires—that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being � lled but is always still—can alone achieve peace, and not the

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man who strives to satisfy such desires. A person who has given up all desires for sense grati� cation, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego—he alone can attain real peace. � at is the way of the spiritual and godly life, after attaining which a man is not bewildered. If one is thus situated, even at the hour of death, one can enter into the kingdom of God. (Gita. 2.67-72)

By these presents it is not however meant that we shall have to accept somebody who is a professional spiritual master or a social spiritual master. � e transcendentalist is one who has known Sri Krishna as He is. Sri Krishna is never the person Who can be conceived by mental or physical adjustment. He can only be known by those who have full surrender unto Him. He cannot be understood by sense perception because He is behind a curtain spread by yogamaya. Unless that curtain is removed by the process of transcendental loving co-operation with Him, one cannot know Sri Krishna as He is.

naham prakashah sarvasya yoga-maya-samavritah

I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My internal potency. (Gita. 7.25)

manushyanam sahasreshu kashcid yatati siddhayeyatatam api siddhanam kashcin mam vetti tattvatah

Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth. (Gita. 7.3)

avajananti mam mudha manushim tanum ashritamparam bhavam ajananto mama bhuta-maheshvaram

Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. � ey do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be. (Gita. 9.11)

� is param bhavam or transcendental nature of Sri Krishna, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, is unknowable to the unlucky four classes of men as aforesaid. Some of

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them who are in� uenced by asurabhava or demoniac nature especially consider that Sri Krishna is no better than an ordinary man and the extraordinary qualities that He possessed can be acquired by any ordinary man, or in other words, any one and every one can become a Sri Krishna or more than Him. But the mahatmas who are graced by Sri Krishna know Him otherwise. Such mahatmas know Sri Krishna as the Supreme Personality bhuta-maheshvaram, while the asuras or rakshasas (like Ravana and Hiranyakashipu) who defy Sri Krishna as the Supreme Being above everthing and thereby are ba� ed in their speculative work, frustrated in their hopes, befooled in their search of knowledge thus remain entrapped by the illusory laws of material nature which they are unable to conquer by any amount of speculative method. � ese asuras and mahatmas are de� nitely distinguished in the Bhagavad-gita in so many words, as in Chapter 9, Texts 12-14:

moghasha mogha-karmano mogha-jnana vicetasahrakshasim asurim caiva prakritim mohinim shritah

mahatmanas tu mam partha daivim prakritim ashritahbhajanty ananya-manaso jnatva bhutadim avyayam

satatam kirtayanto mam yatantash ca dridha-vratahnamasyantash ca mam bhaktya nitya-yukta upasate

� ose who are thus bewildered are attracted by demonic and atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their fruitive activities, and their culture of knowledge are all defeated. O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. � ey are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible. Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion. (Gita. 9.12-14)

� e whole purpose of Bhagavad-gita is to reveal Sri Krishna the Personality of Godhead as He is. � e whole theme of Bhagavad-gita is to preach the surrendering process of all

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living beings unto the Lotus feet of Sri Krishna, because all living beings are His parts and parcels, and without this surrendering process, nobody can conquer the inde� able laws of Nature. Material existence of all living beings means a perpetual struggle for existence and a continued � ght with prakriti without any success. [margin note (as done by induction)] Advancement of material science has undoubtedly discovered many weapons by the asuras to � ght with the laws of Nature, but without full surrender unto the Lord Krishna, nobody can get relief from such perpetual struggle for existence. � e � ttest person who shall survive this struggle is one who has completely surrendered unto the Will of Sri Krishna the Personality of Godhead. � is fact is stated in the Bhagavad-gita in the following words:

daivi hy esha guna-mayi mama maya duratyayamam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te

� is divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is di� cult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it. (Gita. 7.14)

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskurumam evaishyasi satyam te pratijane priyo ‘si me

sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam sharanam vrajaaham tvam sarva-papebhyo mokshayishyami ma shucah

Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and o� er your homage unto Me. � us you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend. Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear. (Gita. 18.65-66)

aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartateiti matva bhajante mam budha bhava-samanvitah

mac-citta mad-gata-prana bodhayantah parasparamkathayantash ca mam nityam tushyanti ca ramanti ca

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tesham satata-yuktanam bhajatam priti-purvakamdadami buddhi-yogam tam yena mam upayanti te

tesham evanukampartham aham ajnana-jam tamah nashayamy atma-bhava-stho jnana-dipena bhasvata

I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. � e wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts. � e thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me. To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me. To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance. (Gita. 10.8-11)

� ere are certain extraordinarily learned prospective mahatmas who try to understand Sri Krishna by the ascending process of acquiring knowledge, but such process is not only defective, but also troublesome. Such learned scholars attain the Lotus feet of Sri Krishna after many, many births and deaths. Such would-be mahatmas are stated in the Bhagavad-gita as follows:

bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyatevasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma su-durlabhah

After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare. (Gita. 7.19)

avyaktam vyaktim apannam manyante mam abuddhayahparam bhavam ajananto mamavyayam anuttamam

Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, was impersonal before and have now

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assumed this personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme. (Gita. 7.24)

avyakto ‘kshara ity uktas tam ahuh paramam gatimyam prapya na nivartante tad dhama paramam mama

purushah sa parah partha bhaktya labhyas tv ananyayayasyantah-sthani bhutani yena sarvam idam tatam

� at which the Vedantists describe as unmanifest and infallible, that which is known as the supreme destination, that place from which, having attained it, one never returns—that is My supreme abode. � e Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is greater than all, is attainable by unalloyed devotion. Although He is present in His abode, He is all-pervading, and everything is situated within Him. (Gita. 8.21-22)

jnana-yajnena capy anye yajanto mam upasateekatvena prithaktvena bahudha vishvato-mukham

Others, who engage in sacri� ce by the cultivation of knowledge, worship the Supreme Lord as the one without a second, as diverse in many, and in the universal form. (Gita. 9.15)

klesho ‘dhikataras tesham avyaktasakta-cetasamavyakta hi gatir duhkham dehavadbhir avapyate

ye tu sarvani karmani mayi sannyasya mat-parahananyenaiva yogena mam dhyayanta upasate

tesham aham samuddharta mrityu-samsara-sagarat

bhavami na cirat partha mayy aveshita-cetasam

For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress in that

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discipline is always di� cult for those who are embodied. But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having � xed their minds upon Me, O son of Pritha—for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death. (Gita. 12.5-7)

Preaching of Bhagavad-gita is not, therefore, a proposition of mental speculation and putting in di� erent mental interpretations of speculative empiric philosophers. It is one without a second concrete fact for the amelioration of the su� erings of humanity especially and animality generally. It must be presented in the bona � de method of spreading the knowledge, strictly in the line of transcendental chain of disciplic succession. Om Tat Sat.

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Prabhupada’s Prayers on the Jaladuta

(Refrain) krishna tava punya habe bhai

e-punya koribe jabe radharani sukhi habe dhruva ati boli toma tai

O Krishna, O brother, you may become fortunate in this way – if you make Radharani happy, all virtue will be bestowed upon You. This I surely declare unto You.

(1) sri-siddhanta saraswati shachi-suta priya ati

krishna-sevaya yara tula nai sei se mahanta-guru jagater madhe uru

krishna-bhakti deya thai thai

Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, who is very dear to Lord Gauranga, the son of Mother Shachi, is unparalleled in his service to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. He is that great saintly spiritual master, most magnanimous within this universe, who bestows devotion to Krishna in various places throughout the world.

(2) tara iccha balavan pashchatyete than than

hoy jate gauranger nama prithivite nagaradi asamudra nada nadi

sakalei bole krishna rama

The following Bengali poems were written by Srila Prabhupada aboard the Jaladuta on his way to the United States on September 13th and September 18th 1965:

Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Sri Krishna

His desire is very powerful, and thus he is causing the Holy Name of Lord Gauranga to spread throughout all the countries of the Western World. In all the cities, towns, and villages on the earth, extending to all the oceans, rivers, and streams, everyone may chant the names of Krishna and Rama.

(3)tahale ananda hoy tabe hoy digvijaya

chaitanyer kripa atishaymaya dushta jata dukhi jagate sabai sukhi

vaishnaver iccha purna hoy

Th us all directions will be conquered by a fl ood of transcendental ecstasy fl owing with the excessive mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. When all the miserable living entities that have been corrupted by maya become happy, then the Vaishnava’s desire is fulfi lled.

(4)se karya je koribare ajna yadi dilo more

yogya nahi ati dina hinatai se tomara kripa magitechi anurupa

aji tumi sabar pravina

Although my Guru Maharaja ordered me to accomplish this mission, I am unworthy to do it, being very fallen and incompetent. Th at being the case, O Lord Krishna, Your mercy is today arising in a befi tting manner to make me become worthy, for You are the wisest of all.

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(5)tomara se shakti pele guru-sevaya vastu mile

jivana sarthak yadi hoysei se seva paile tahale sukhi hale

taba sanga bhagyate miloy

If You bestow Your divine power, then one attains the factual substance which is service to the spiritual master - and life becomes successful. If that service is obtained, then one becomes truly satisfi ed, and ultimately received Your association due to good fortune.

(6)evam janam nipatitam prabhavahikupe

kamabhikamam anu ya prapatan prasangatkritvatmasat surarshina bhagavan grihitah

so ‘ham katham nu visrije tava bhritya-sevam

(As stated by Prahlada Maharaja to Lord Nrsimhadeva in the Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.9.28:) “Th us, by associating with material desires one after another, I was following the general populace by falling into a blind well full of snakes. My dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead! Th en the great sage Narada Muni kindly accepted me as his disciple, and instructed me how to achieve the transcendental position similar to his own. How could I ever leave the service of your servant?”

(7)tumi mora chira sathi bhuliya mayara lathi

khaiyachi janma-janmantareaji punah e suyoga jadi hoy jogayoga

tabe pari tunhe milibare

O Lord Krishna, You are my eternal companion. Forgetting You, I have suff ered the kicking of maya birth after birth. If today the chance to meet You occurs again, then surely I will be able to rejoin You.

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(8)tomara milane bhai abar se sukha pai

gocarane ghuri din bhorkata bane chutachuti bane khai lutaluti

sei din kabe habe mor

O my dear brother! In Your company I will experience great joy once again. Wandering about the pastures and fi elds, I will pass the entire day with You in tending the cows. Joking with You and frolicking throughout so many forests of Vraja, I will enjoy pastimes of stealing and eating one another’s lunch. When, oh when will that day be mine?

(9)aji se suvidha hala tomara smarana bhela

baro asha �akilam taiami tomara nitya-dasa tai kori eta asha

tumi bina anya gati naiToday that remembrance of being with You came to me in a very nice way. Feeling great longing I called out for You, O Lord Krishna! Only because I am Your eternal servant do I desire Your association so much. Except for You, I have no other refuge.

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(1)boro-kripa kaile krishna adhamera prati

ki lagiyanile hetha koro ebe gati

My dear Lord Krishna, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not know why You have brought me here. Now You can do whatever You like with me.

(2)ache kichu karya tava ei anumanenahe keno anibena ei ugra-sthane

But I guess You have some business here, otherwise why would You bring me to this terrible place?

(3)rajas tamo gune era sabai acchanna

vasudeva-katha ruchi nahe se prasanna

Most of the population here is covered by the material modes of ignorance and passion. Absorbed in material life, they think themselves very happy and satisfi ed, and therefore they have no taste for the transcendental message of Vasudeva. I do not know how they will be able to understand it.

Markine Bhagavata Dharma

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(4)tabe yadi tava kripa hoy ahaituki

sakal-i sambhava hoy tumi se kautuki

But I know Your causeless mercy can make everything possible because You are the most expert mystic.

(5)ki bhave bujhale tara bujhe sei rasa

eta kripa koro prabhu kori nija-vasha

How will they understand the mellows of devotional service? O Lord, I am simply praying for Your mercy so that I will be able to convince them about Your message.

(6)tomara icchaya saba hoy maya-bashatomara icchaya nasha mayara parasha

All living entities have become under the control of the illusory energy by Your will, and therefore, if You like, by Your will they can also be released from the clutches of illusion.

(7)tava iccha hoy yadi tadera uddhara

bujhibe nishcai tabe katha se tomara

I wish that You may deliver them. Th erefore if You so desire their deliverance, then only will they be able to understand Your message.

(8)bhagavatera katha se tava avatara

dhira haiya shune yadi kane bara bara

Th e words of Srimad Bhagavatam are Your incarnation, and if a sober person repeatedly receives it with submissive aural reception, then he will be able to understand Your message. It is said in the Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.17-21):

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shrinvatam sva-kathah krishnah punya-shravana-kirtanahhridy antah-stho hy abhadrani vidhunoti suhrit satam

nashta-prayeshv abhadreshu nityam bhagavata-sevayabhagavaty uttama-shloke bhaktir bhavati naishthiki

tada rajas-tamo-bhavah kama-lobhadayash cha yecheta etair anaviddham sthitam sattve prasidati

evamm prasanna-manaso bhagavad-bhakti-yogatahbhagavat-tattva-vijnanam mukta-sangasya jayate

bhidyate hridaya-granthish chidyante sarva-samshayahkshiyante chasya karmani drishta evatmanishvare


Sri Krishna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma (Supersoul) in everyone’s heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted. By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact. As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the eff ects of nature’s modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Th en the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy. Th us established in the mode of unalloyed goodness, the man whose mind has been enlivened by contact with devotional service to the Lord gains positive scientifi c knowledge of the Personality of Godhead in the stage of liberation from all material association. Th us the knot in the heart is pierced, and all misgivings are cut to pieces. Th e chain of fruitive actions is terminated when one sees the self as master.

(9)rajas tamo hate tabe paibe nistara

hridayera abhadra sate ghucibe tahara

He will become liberated from the infl uence of the modes of ignorance and passion and thus all inauspicious things accumulated in the core of the heart will disappear.

(10)ki ko’re bujhabo katha baro sei chahi

kshudra ami dina hina kono shakti nahi

How will I make them understand this message of Krishna consciousness? I am very unfortunate, unqualifi ed and the most fallen. Th erefore I am seeking Your benediction so that I can convince them, for I am powerless to do so on my own.

(11)athacha enecho prabhu katha bolibareye tomara iccha prabhu koro ei bare

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Somehow or other, O Lord, You have brought me here to speak about You. Now, my Lord, it is up to You to make me a success or failure as You like.

(12)akhila jagat-guru! vachana se amaraalankrita koribara kshamata tomara

O spiritual master of all the worlds! I can simply repeat Your message, so if You like You can make my power of speaking suitable for their understanding.

(13)tava kripa ha’le mor katha shuddha habeshuniya sabara shoka duhkha ye ghuchibe

Only by Your causeless mercy will my words become pure. I am sure that when this transcendental message penetrates their hearts they will certainly feel engladdened and thus become liberated from all unhappy conditions of life.

(14)aniyacho yadi prabhu amare nachatenachao nachao prabhu nahao se-matekashthera puttali yatha nacao se-mate

O Lord, I am just like a puppet in Your hands. So if You have brought me here to dance, then make me dance, make me dance, O Lord, make me dance as You like.

(15)bhakti nai veda nai name khub daro

‘bhaktivedanta’ nama ebe sarthaka koroI have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krsna. I have been designated as Bhaktivedanta, and now, if You like, You can fulfi ll the real purport of Bhaktivedanta.

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(Adopted from a talk given at Govindaji Gardens for the Vyasa Puja celebration of Srila Prabhupada. September 1, 2002)

If we enter the ocean by boat we can navigate our direction to a destination based on the stars. � e stars are compared to so much knowledge found in the Vedas. One of those stars in the sky is called Dhruva-loka. In modern science Dhruva-loka is called the Pole Star or North Star. When we are in the ocean if we lose sight of that star, if we cannot see that star then we cannot bene� t from all the other stars. We will be lost in the ocean. � e Pole Star doesn’t move. It is � xed in one place. As long as we can see the Pole Star, which never moves, than we can determine so many things by the other stars which are moving. But if we do not have a � xed bearing with the Pole Star then we are lost.

Sri Guru may be compared to the Pole Star because with the help of the guru we can derive great bene� t from the Vedic knowledge. But without the help of the guru we will be bewildered in our attempt to understand the Vedic knowledge. � e Vedic knowledge is sometimes compared to a ‘jungle of knowledge’. Not just an ordinary jungle but a very dense jungle. In this material world we are already in the jungle of material misconceptions. If

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we want to search for God then we must come out of misconception. To ful� ll our search we may enter into the study of the Vedas. But if we study the Vedas without the help of the guru we may eventually come to conclude that there is no God. Or we may conclude that there are many Gods. Or worst of worst we may conclude that, “I am God. We are all God”. In this way, without the help of the guru, we may become bewildered and meet with ultimate ruin.

In the Vedic literature there are various opinions. In the Vishnu Purana it says that Vishnu is Supreme. In the Shiva Purana it says Shiva is the Supreme. In the Markandeya Purana it says that Durga is Supreme. And in the Upanishads it is mentioned ‘aham brahmasmi’ - ‘I am Brahman’. So one may think that there are many Gods, or that there are so many Gods that there is no God at all. We may think that what the Vedas say cannot be true because there are too many apparent contradictions. Or we may take ‘aham brahmasmi’ as the ultimate conclusion and then conclude that we are all God. � is is what happens to persons who study the Vedas without the help of the bona-� de guru. Srila Vyasadeva compiled the Vedas in four divisions, Atharva Veda, Sama Veda, Rig Veda, Yajur Veda. � en he compiled the Puranas and other literatures. Lastly he wrote Vedanta-sutra. Vedanta means the end of knowledge. After revealing so much knowledge Vyasadeva tried to bring his writing to an end, to the conclusion of knowledge. After he completed Vedanta-sutra however Vyasa still did not feel satis� ed. He was not satis� ed within himself. His mind was troubled. He crossed the ocean of knowledge but still he was not satis� ed.

� en the guru of Vyasadeva, Narada Muni, came and Vyasadeva inquired from his guru why he did not feel satis� ed. Vyasadeva asked his guru why even after completing all the departments of knowledge he was not satis� ed? � en Narada Muni said, “Actually you are a cheater. You have cheated the people of the world and you have done a very wrong thing. You have only indirectly described the truth in so many divisions and so many facets and even when bringing it to an end you are simply misleading the people.”

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� en Narada instructed Vyasa, “Without directly coming to describe the lila of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead you have not done justice to truth. Now you have to give the meaning of all these things in one book.” � en Vyasadeva wrote the Bhagavata Purana, Srimad Bhagavatam.

Bhagavatam is the natural commentary on Vedanta-sutra. � e message of the Bhagavatam is summarized in the beginning, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam. So that is the meaning. Of all the Devas, of all the incarnations of the Supreme Lord, Krishna is the Supreme and original. Vyasadeva revealed in Bhagavatam that Krishna is the ashraya-tattva. In other Vedic literatures Vyasadeva only revealed the asraya-tattva in part, not in full. If you are a ghost then Shiva, who is known as Bhutanatha, is your ashraya (shelter). Shiva stays in the cremation grounds and he gives shelter to so many ghosts. In Kailasha also many ghosts are given shelter. If you are a materialist then Durga is your ashraya. If we are a materialist then we get everything from this material nature by the grace of Durga. But when we are ready for the perfection of life, Vyasadeva revealed, “Narayana is the ashraya-tattva, because Narayana resides in Vaikuntha, which is above this material world”.

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But in Srimad Bhagavatam Vyasa revealed that the highest plane is called Goloka. Because Vaikuntha is above all the material world everything is under the shelter of Vaikuntha. Because Narayana is the Supreme Lord in Vaikuntha everything is under His shelter. � en Vyasa revealed, “If we journey to the highest place in Vaikuntha and look towards the spiritual sky, from there we will see a land known as Goloka Vrindavana.” Goloka Vrindavana is above Vaikuntha and in that place Krishna is the Supreme, Sri Sri Radha-Krishna are Supreme (Krishna is the vishaya [ enjoyer] and Radha is the ashraya (shelter). Above Vaikuntha is Goloka Vrindavana and Krishna resides eternally in Goloka Vrindavana, giving shelter to all His devotees. Vyasadeva therefore described that the lotus feet of Krishna are the Supreme shelter of all living beings. Krishna con� rmed this also - jiva bhuta sanatana. Krishna said in Bhagavad-gita that all these jiva’s have come from Him. All living beings are His parts and parcels. He is their ultimate shelter. So the dearmost representative of Krishna comes to the world to represent this message of Vyasadeva -Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. � ere have been many gurus in the world since the time of Vyasadeva, but all of them did not represent the ultimate conclusion of Vyasadeva. Someone may ask, “Is there any thing special about your Prabhupada, your Guru?” Naturally we will say, “Oh of course, about my guru there are many special things”. Even if our guru never left the village in which he was born, still we will think that our guru has many special qualities. And if we are asked we will say, “My guru saved me from the ocean of ignorance. � at is the special quality that makes our guru di� erent from all others and especially dear to us.”

om ajnana-trimirandhasyajnananjana-shalakaya

cakshur unmilitam yenatasmai sri-gurave namah

Without guru our eyes are sealed in darkness. We are born into darkness, into ignorance, but our guru opens our eyes with the torch light of knowledge. � is common point we will � nd between all bona � de gurus and bona � de disciples.

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But about our Guru Maharaja, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, we must say that there is a special characteristic found in him that is very rare and to this day we have not seen that it has been duplicated. And what is that? It is that previously what was only known in India and only in the most cultured spiritual sections of society -that thing which was only known there, he took that out of India to every town and village in the whole world.

prithivite ache yata nagaradi gramasarvatra prachara haibe mora nama

� is is the prediction of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, that the Holy Name of Krishna will be spread in every town and village of the world. By the mercy and instruction of Srila Prabhupada, the Holy Name of Krishna was spread all over the world. From far away places in the North such as Siberia and deep into the Southern reaches of Africa and Australia, to China in the Far East and throughout the Western world -the Holy

Without guru our eyes are sealed in darkness. We are born into darkness, into ignorance, but our guru opens our eyes with the torch light of knowledge. This common point we will find between all bona fide gurus and bona fide disciples.

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Name of Krishna and the worship of Sri Sri Radha-Krishna was carried everywhere under the guidance of Srila Prabhupada.

A guru or a great acharya may spread Krishna Consciousness in a village or even in a state or a country but to spread Krishna consciousness throughout the whole world, that indeed is very rare. For example, Ramanujacharya, a very great Vaishnava saint, spread vishnu-bhakti in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra. When Ramanuja went to Kerala he tried to start there but they told him to leave. Ramanuja is considered to be the shakti of Ananta, still when he preached in Kerala they did not accept, they told him to go. Who can speak better than Ananta, who has a thousand mouths, and knows all the Vedas? But still Ramanuja was not successful in Kerala.

� ere is a place called Tananur in Karnataka where Ramanuja debated with sixty thousand Jain philosophers and defeated them. At that time Ananta personally manifested through Ramanuja and defeated and converted the Jains. If we visit the Yoga Nrisimha temple in Tananur we will see one Deity of Ramanuja and behind him is Ananta. � e Sthala-purana there says that on that day Lord Ananta Himself came there and with many mouths he was arguing many points with the Jain scholars and He defeated them all. So Ramanuja was indeed a very great personality, yet he could only spread his mission successfully in three states, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra.

Another very great saint in India was Madhvacharya. He is considered to have been an incarnation of Bhima and Vayu. He was a very great philosopher, very learned and highly elevated spiritually. But Madhvacarya was only able to spread his mission successfully in Karnataka. Practically speaking, outside of Karnataka nobody has heard of Madhvacharya. Of course, on occasion he preached in Varanasi, but the people of Varanasi never became the followers of Madhvacharya. Varanasi remained what it had always been, a place of Mayavadi philosophers.

Both Ramanuja and Madhvacharya were indeed very great personalities, but their spiritual in� uence was more or less regional. However, in the time of Srila Prabhupada he not only had an in� uence in a few states in India but he traveled around the world twelve times and successfully spread his mission very widely. Because of his

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preaching work the name of Krishna and Vaishnavism is known in almost every country in the world. With this consideration we may ask, “How great is Srila Prabhupada?”

When the mission of Ramanuja, who held the shakti of Ananta, was successful in only three states and the mission of Madhvacarya, who is Bhima and Vayu combined, was successful in only one state then what is the power and greatness of that person who spread Krishna Consciousness throughout the whole world? How great is Srila Prabhupada?

When Ramanuja and Madhvacharya toured India for spreading their missions they had to contend with the opposing elements of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, the materialists, and the Mayavadi’s. But when Srila Prabhupada went out into the world to spread Krishna consciousness he had to contend with all of the above and more. Especially the scientists, who hold a grip on the whole world, were a formidable opposition to Krishna consciousness, but Srila Prabhupada defeated them and many of them surrendered and became his disciples.

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Srila Prabhupada had to � ght with many opposing elements and in countries where the culture was not at all favorable for spiritual advancement in Krishna consciousness. Yet he established over one hundred temples, ashramas, and Krishna conscious communities throughout the world.

With our mind we might try to imagine who he was, what power stood behind him, what is his eternal spiritual identity. Some of the greatest thinking Vaishnavas I have ever had the good fortune to meet considered that Srila Prabhupada was the shakti of Nityananda, of Baladeva.

Ramanuja held the shakti of Ananta, but Ananta is an amsha of Baladeva. Amsha means a part - Baladeva is the source of Ananta. Baladeva means the spiritual potency of Godhead, the full spiritual potency and energy of Godhead. In gaura-lila, Nityananda Prabhu and Baladeva are considered non-di� erent. Many great transcendentalists in our times, who witnessed what our Guru Maharaja achieved, have concluded that he was the shakti of Nityananda Prabhu, a shaktyavesha-avatara. � at means that he was empowered with the shakti of Sri Nityananda Prabhu to spread Krishna consciousness throughout the world.

Nowadays we may meet a big swami or a guru (especially in India) who has many disciples and when asked, “Who are you?” he will say, “I am Bhagavan, I am God!” or he may say “I am the jagat-guru (the spiritual master of the universe).” But when our Guru Maharaja, Srila Prabhupada was asked “Who are you?” he would say, “I am the humble servant of my gurudeva. My only credit is that I am the obedient servant to the order of my guru. All the success that I have is due to the grace of my guru.” Although it is the opinion of many great devotees that our Guru Maharaja was amsha of Nityananda Prabhu, still by his own words he considered himself to be the humble servant of his guru. Our Guru Maharaja had such a vision that he could see that the whole world could become God conscious, Krishna conscious, but still he considered himself the humble servant of his guru.

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If we have love for someone then we may naturally exaggerate their qualities, because that is the natural way of love. But even without any exaggeration due to our love for our Guru Maharaja if we say that Srila Prabhupada was one of the greatest saints to have ever come to this Earth, it cannot be taken as an exaggeration - his life and achievements stand as evidence for his greatness.


Question: We have heard it said that Srila Prabhupada (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja) received the name “Bhaktivedanta” from his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati � akura. Others have said that he received the name “Bhaktivedanta” from Srila Sridhara Maharaja and yet others are saying that he received the name “Bhaktivedanta” from Srila Keshava Maharaja. Can you please say something to clarify this issue?

Answer: When our Guru Maharaja (Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) was initiated in 1933 he received both hari-nama and mantra-diksha at the same time. At his initiation Srila Bhaktisiddhanta named our Guru Maharaja, Abhaya Charanaravinda Dasa, meaning one who is fearless, having taken shelter at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta did not confer any other names or titles upon our Guru Maharaja during his lifetime.

In later years, after the disappearance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, our Guru Maharaja was engaged in writing articles for a Bengali journal published by his godbrother, Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaja -- Goswami Maharaja and other leading Vaishnavas of the time were so impressed with the writing and preaching capabilities of our Guru Maharaja that Goswami Maharaja conferred upon our Guru Maharaja the name/title

“Bhaktisiddhanta.”* � is was indeed the most honori� c title a disciple could ever expect to receive -- the very title of his guru.

According to the practice of name giving and awarding titles to deserving disciples, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta had never given the name of his gurus, Srila Gaura Kishora Dasa Babaji Maharaja or Srila Bhaktivinoda � akura to anyone. Accordingly, some of the senior disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta thought that the name/title “Bhaktisiddhanta” should not be given to any disciple, however deserving. � is matter was discussed among the senior Vaishnavas with whom our Guru Maharaja was regularly associating and in a mood of deep respect and harmony it was decided that our Guru Maharaja would be given the name/title ‘Bhaktivedanta.’

During those discussions it was recognized by all present that our Guru Maharaja was a � xed up preacher in the line of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and that the inspiration of Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami Maharaja to bestow an honori� c name/title upon our Guru Maharaja was directly inspired by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta.

In the days of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, certain senior disciples were often called upon when some particular point or issue was in need of clari� cation -- Srila Sridhara Maharaja was among those select few disciples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta who were able to clarify even the most di� cult points of spiritual understanding.

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Accordingly, in the discussion where the honori� c name/title for our Guru Maharaja was being discussed, Srila Sridhara Maharaja suggested that our Guru Maharaja be given the name/title ‘Bhaktivedanta.’ � e name ‘Bhakti-siddhanta’ and ‘Bhakti-vedanta’ are synonymous in meaning. � us the adjustment was made in keeping with the original inspiration felt by Srila Bhakti Saranga Goswami.

And thus it was and from that time on our Guru Maharaja became known amongst his godbrothers as ‘Bhaktivedanta.’ � is occurred in Calcutta in 1939.

Some persons may look upon this event in our contemporary Vaishnava history as being of little signi� cance -- the simple act of bestowing an honori� c title upon a Vaishnava. But apparently not so for everyone -- the event was so moving spiritually that Srila Bhakti Prajnana Keshava Maharaja decided for the future to name all his sannyasi disciples “Bhaktivedanta” -- a title synonymous with ‘Bhaktisiddhanta.’ � is standard is still carried out among the disciples of Srila Keshava Maharaja even to this day more than half a century later. So, in contemporary times, our Guru Maharaja was the � rst person in the line of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta to receive the name/title ‘Bhaktivedanta’ (1939).

In 1959 when our Guru Maharaja accepted sannyasa, Srila Keshava Maharaja retained our Guru Maharaja’s title ‘Bhaktivedanta’ given by Srila Sridhara Maharaja and then gave our Guru Maharaja the sannyasa name ‘Swami,’ which was chosen from the list of 108 names of sannyasis authorized by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta in Gaudiya Kanthahara. � us, our Guru Maharaja then became know as A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaja or simply ‘Swami Maharaja’ amongst his Godbrothers.

Our Guru Maharaja retained the initials ‘A.C.’ for ‘Abhaya Charanaravinda’ from his � rst initiation, but o� cially his sannyasa title and name was ‘Bhaktivedanta Swami.’

In the Gaudiya tradition a sannyasi is called ‘Swami’ and this is added as a pre� x to the sannyasa title like ‘Bhaktivedanta’ and the name of the particular sannyasi follows such as ‘Swami’ in the case of our Guru Maharaja. However, if our Guru Maharaja had strictly kept this tradition then his name would have been written thus: ‘Swami A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.’ In a letter to his disciple Rayarama Dasa, our Guru Maharaja explained something of the complexities of his name as follows:

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So far the title ‘Swami’ is concerned, although this word is used generally for sannyasins, this ‘Swami’ is my particular name as a sannyasi. � erefore, it must be su� xed at the end of my real name, A.C. Bhaktivedanta. So far the pre� x ‘Swami’ is concerned, every sannyasi has got to do that, but two ways ‘Swami’ (Swami A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami) is not good looking. � e end ‘Swami’ is necessary because it is my sannyasa name. � e � rst ‘Swami’ may be transformed into ‘Goswami’, which is on the same order of ‘Swami.’ � erefore, I use the pre� x ‘Tridandi Goswami’ and su� x ‘Swami’, as I have printed on my card enclosed herewith. � at will be nice. In small lettering, it can be written above my name ‘Tridandi Goswami.’ Vaisnava sannyasins are known as ‘Tridandi Goswamis,’ and Mayavadi sannyasins are know as only ‘Swami.’

After the establishment of our Guru Maharaja’s mission, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in the western world, our Guru Maharaja stated in a letter to a senior disciple that he wanted all his quali� ed disciples to continue the title ‘Bhaktivedanta.’ However, this has only been done by one of our Guru Maharaja’s senior disciples and that is Sripada Bhaktivedanta Tripurari Maharaja.

Due to the successful preaching campaign of our Guru Maharaja, the name/title ‘Bhaktivedanta’ has now become famous all over the world with special reference to the ‘Bhaktivedanta Purports’ of Srimad Bhagavatam.

� ere are now many ‘Bhaktivedantas’ in di� erent parts of our sampradaya, but as for ful� lling the purport of ‘Bhaktivedanta’ our Guru Maharaja has set the standard in all respects and it behooves other Vaishnavas with this honori� c title to strive to live up to the standards that our Guru Maharaja has set as a world-class preacher. Certainly one should beware of being a ‘Bhaktivedanta’ in name only.

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� e following Sanskrit prayers to Srila Prabhupada were composed by Sri Ananta Rama Shastri, a Indian Sanskrit scholar who was engaged in working on the Srimad Bhagavatam by Srila Prabhupada in 1976. Srila Prabhupada appreciated these verses so much that he requested the devotees to learn them.

krishnaika-ceta mada-moha-vinasha-karinmad-drishti-gocara prabho prabhupada-svamin

doshabhivritti-paradushita-manda-buddhehsanchintanyami caranau tava bhakti-hetoh

O lord, O Prabhupada, may you always be the object of my vision. Only the name of Krishna can destroy my pride and illusion. Although my mid an intelligence are contaminated by wicked inclinations, I meditate upon your lotus feet in causeless devotion.

Srila Prabhupada Stotram

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vrindavane ramane-reti-prasiddha-bhumautatrapi krishna-balarama-supada-mule

jnanam param parama-krishna-sudharmity-uktamdantas tu deva prabhupada namo namas te

In the most holy land of Vrindavana, in Ramana Reti, at the lotus feet of Sri Krishna-Balarama, you are preaching the topmost knowledge of the Supreme Personality, Lord Krishna, who is the fountainhead of religion. O master of the senses, O my lord, Srila Prabhupada, let me o� er my obeisances unto you.

namaste namaste kripa-purna-drishtinamaste namas te mahananda-dhatri

namamo namamah punar raksha rakshaprasiddha-prabho pahi mam daksha daksha

I o� er my obeisances unto him, whose glances are full of mercy and who is the bestower of transcendental bliss. O renowned lord, protect me and kindly shower your compassion again and again.

bhaktisiddhanta-shishyayabhaktivedanta-namineprasannaya prashantayatasmai sri-gurave namah

Let me o� er my obeisances unto my Guru Maharaja, who is a disciple of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, who is always calm and joyful, and who bears the name of Bhaktivedanta.

sri-vanga-bhumi-jana-bhushana gaura-lilagauranga-bhava parisarana-matra-shila

radha-mukunda-pada-padma-mano-vilasinananda-rashi prabhupada namo namas te

� e land of Bengal is worshipable by the whole world because Sri Caitanya performed His pastimes there. I o� er my obeisances unto Srila Prabhupada, who is full of bliss. He is always in the ecstasy of Lord Gauranga and is therefore immersed in the lotus feet of Radha-Mukunda.

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Sri Krishna Janmastami- Swami B.G. Narasingha

Sri Krishna Janmastami

(� e following transcript is from a lecture given by Srila Narasingha Maharaja on Sri Krishna Janmastami on the 4th September 2007 at Govindaji Gardens)

Janmastami, the appearance day of Lord Krishna, is the eighth lunar day after the full moon. When Krishna manifests in this world, the moon takes on a dark color during that phase. In regards to His appearance and activities, Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita:

yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata

abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srijamy aham

O descendent of Bharata, whenever there is a decline in religious principles and a rise of irreligion, at that time I personally appear. (Gita 4.7)

Krishna says that whenever there is a rise of irreligion or a decline of religion, He appears in this world. � roughout the Vedas, the Highest Entity of truth is known as Bhagavan. In Bhagavad-gita we � nd the words, sri bhagavan uvacha. � is means that the

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Highest Entity is speaking the Bhagavad-gita. Also, in the Srimad Bhagavatam we � nd the words, krishnas tu bhagavan svayam (Krishna Himself is the Supreme). Krishna is the avatari – the source of all avataras. In this world, there are di� erent ages – Satya-yuga, Treta-yuga, Dvarpara-yuga and Kali-yuga – and during these yugas there are scheduled descents of Bhagavan. Whenever Bhagavan comes into this world, He has a purpose that will bene� t all species of life.

Unfortunately, we live at a time when anyone with a little money can print a poster exclaiming, “I am Bhagavan!” But such ‘Bhagavans’ cannot give any real bene� t to the people. Of course, many of these ‘Bhagavans’ perform some social work by opening hospitals etc. Opening hospitals is good, but the government has been opening hospitals for a long time. Mother � eresa opened many hospitals and Fidel Castro of Cuba has also opened many hospitals around the world – yet we would not call Mother � eresa or Castro Bhagavan! Opening hospitals is a very good thing, but it is also a very ordinary thing. Opening a hospital is nothing new or extraordinary. However, whenever Bhagavan appears, He does wonderful, extraordinary activities that human beings cannot imitate.

In the scriptures we � nd that Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill. At present, Govardhana Hill is seven kilometers long, but in the time of Krishna it was � ve kilometers in height. In the evening when the sun would set in the west, the shadow of Govardhana Hill would fall upon Mathura – that is almost forty kilometers away. � erefore Govardhana is called Giriraja, the king of the mountains. Today people consider Nanga-parvata as the biggest mountain in India or Everest as the biggest mountain in the Himalayas, but originally Govardhana was bigger than both of these mountains. However, if you visit Govardhana today it is nearly seven kilometers long but hardly forty meters high at its highest point. Govardhana is slowly disappearing from our sight. Still, there are stones on Govardhana as big as houses. Where is the ‘bhagavan’ who can lift even one of these stones from Govardhana? Krishna lifted the entire Govardhana Hill, but these ‘bhagavans’ cannot imitate this.

If you want to buy a silk sari, you have to be careful. You can go from shop to shop and � nd nylon, Dacron, jute, but not silk. If you want pure silk you have to go to a reputable place that is approved by the government, or a family shop that has been in

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business for over a hundred years. Otherwise you will be cheated. Similarly, why would there be nothing to guide you when you are looking for God? � ink about it. � ere will be a parampara, an authorized agent, and authorized books. � ere will be standards.

Most people are too simple! Somebody may have some terrible disease and they are told, “Take your medicine, but at the same time pray to our Swami.” � ey continue to take their medicine, pray to the Swami and ultimately they live. � en they announce, “I prayed to the Swami and I lived!” � en this news spreads and the Swami becomes famous. But there is another fellow who prayed to Swami, but he died! He doesn’t come back and tell you – he can’t, because he’s dead! � at is what is known in English as a ‘loaded deck.’ � ere are also atheists who don’t pray to God at all – but they take their medicine and also recover. � ere are people that never pray to God but make millions and become extremely rich. Don’t think that the proof of God is that you will get money, or that your health will improve when you pray to Him. � e transient nature of sickness and wealth are simply features of this world.

Whether in illness or health, a devotee will always pray to Krishna, “My success or failure is up to You.” If he doesn’t get rich, or he doesn’t recover from an illness, he doesn’t blame Krishna. Somebody might say, “Just see, you prayed to Krishna and nothing happened – you didn’t get any money, your health did not improve – there is no Krishna!” But the devotee will simply laugh and say, “No, you don’t understand. Krishna had more important things to do.” � e devotee says that, “I have my karma and I don’t expect Krishna to solve all my problems. He is not my servant, I am His servant.” � ere is a di� erence. Many people in the world have a hard time understanding su� ering, and when they pray to God they expect that su� ering, pain, disease and poverty will disappear. When that doesn’t happen they � nally say, “� ere is no God!”

Recently I had a discussion with one Christian gentleman who proposed that Jesus was greater than Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He said, “Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was absorbed in His own love for Krishna, and in that love for Krishna He left this world. But Jesus was much more merciful and sel� ess – he accepted cruci� xion for everyone’s bene� t.”

I told him, “Yes, this is the di� erence between Vaisnavism and Christianity. We want to see our God enjoy – and you want to see your God murdered.” Later I wondered, “Why do they think like that?” I realized that su� ering is a di� cult thing to explain. If you don’t understand the concept of karma, you won’t understand su� ering and � nally you will want God to su� er also.

We Want to See Our God Enjoy

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business for over a hundred years. Otherwise you will be cheated. Similarly, why would there be nothing to guide you when you are looking for God? � ink about it. � ere will be a parampara, an authorized agent, and authorized books. � ere will be standards.

Most people are too simple! Somebody may have some terrible disease and they are told, “Take your medicine, but at the same time pray to our Swami.” � ey continue to take their medicine, pray to the Swami and ultimately they live. � en they announce, “I prayed to the Swami and I lived!” � en this news spreads and the Swami becomes famous. But there is another fellow who prayed to Swami, but he died! He doesn’t come back and tell you – he can’t, because he’s dead! � at is what is known in English as a ‘loaded deck.’ � ere are also atheists who don’t pray to God at all – but they take their medicine and also recover. � ere are people that never pray to God but make millions and become extremely rich. Don’t think that the proof of God is that you will get money, or that your health will improve when you pray to Him. � e transient nature of sickness and wealth are simply features of this world.

Whether in illness or health, a devotee will always pray to Krishna, “My success or failure is up to You.” If he doesn’t get rich, or he doesn’t recover from an illness, he doesn’t blame Krishna. Somebody might say, “Just see, you prayed to Krishna and nothing happened – you didn’t get any money, your health did not improve – there is no Krishna!” But the devotee will simply laugh and say, “No, you don’t understand. Krishna had more important things to do.” � e devotee says that, “I have my karma and I don’t expect Krishna to solve all my problems. He is not my servant, I am His servant.” � ere is a di� erence. Many people in the world have a hard time understanding su� ering, and when they pray to God they expect that su� ering, pain, disease and poverty will disappear. When that doesn’t happen they � nally say, “� ere is no God!”

Recently I had a discussion with one Christian gentleman who proposed that Jesus was greater than Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He said, “Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was absorbed in His own love for Krishna, and in that love for Krishna He left this world. But Jesus was much more merciful and sel� ess – he accepted cruci� xion for everyone’s bene� t.”

I told him, “Yes, this is the di� erence between Vaisnavism and Christianity. We want to see our God enjoy – and you want to see your God murdered.” Later I wondered, “Why do they think like that?” I realized that su� ering is a di� cult thing to explain. If you don’t understand the concept of karma, you won’t understand su� ering and � nally you will want God to su� er also.

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� ere are � ve main subjects that Krishna explains in Bhagavad-gita, and one of these subjects is karma – what is action and what is reaction. Without this knowledge you cannot understand why there is su� ering in this world and you will subscribe to the idea that God is very cruel. “He makes me su� er, so He should su� er Himself.” � is type of thinking has evolved in some religions. God must come and su� er. He must die. An ultimately what happens is that, rather than becoming religions of peace and love, they become religions of violence and intolerance. Under these types of religions, many people are put to death. � ese are not real religions. � ey are not based on real knowledge. � ey are based on false or misinterpreted knowledge. Real religion is based on knowledge and there is no superior book of knowledge than Bhagavad-gita. � is was Krishna’s gift for the whole of humanity, for all time.

Bhagavad-gita is famous throughout the world and the knowledge found in Bhagavad-gita, to this date, is unsurpassed. It has such a depth of knowledge that even if a scholar of Bhagavad-gita reads it again tomorrow, he will � nd new wisdom in it. � at is because Krishna is in� nite and the words spoken by Him are also in� nite. Any other body of knowledge has some limitation.

Everyone is fascinated by the knowledge of computers now, but can a computer tell us how many particles of sand there are in Mumbai? Can a computer tell us how to make a grain of

The Mother of Civilization

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rice? No! A computer is only as intelligent as the person that programs it. One day, the wonders of the computer and the wonders of the cell phone will be of no more importance than the wonders of a Tata truck. What is a Tata truck? Nowadays such trucks are commonplace, but when the Tata truck was � rst introduced on the road, people lined up for kilometers to see it. Now we think, “I need the latest type of cell phone, I need the biggest and fastest computer.” � is is called maya-sukhaya. Today, if I purchase the best radio available, would everyone be happy to sit around and listen to it for hours? Of course not! Nobody cares for the radio anymore. But when the radio was � rst introduced, whole villages would sit in front of it and listen. Nowadays a radio is nothing. We became tired of the radio and it was replaced by something else that caught our attention.

But Bhagavad-gita has held the attention of the intelligent people of this world for over � ve thousand years. Some people claim that the Bible is older than the Gita, but historically speaking that is not true. Millions of people were reading Bhagavad-gita before the Bible was even invented – and it was invented! It has not come from God. dharmam tu sakshad bhagavat-pranitam

Real religious principles are established by the Supreme. (Bhag. 6.3.19) Some say that the Bible came to India a thousand years ago and that the Bible inspired the Indians to write the Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Puranas. � en where did Ayurveda come from? � at is also a part of the Vedas. Did that come from the Bible also, wherein it says that one shouldn’t take medicine? How did a book that says that you shouldn’t take medicine suddenly become the source of the Vedic texts on medicine? � e Ayurveda has extensive knowledge regarding the science of medicine and surgery. � ousands of years before the people of Europe had even learned what medicine was, surgery was going on in India, metallurgical science was there, theories of atomic energy etc. � e idea that the Vedic literature was inspired by the Bible was simply propaganda, created to establish Europe as being the original center of civilization. In order to do that, Asia was put down.

During the nineteenth century, there was much talk amongst European scholars about the origins of civilization. Upon discovering India, some scholars became quite

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perplexed and their main task was to keep the origins of civilization in Europe. � is is called the ‘eurocentric worldview’. � ey said that the Aryans came from Europe to India and made India civilized. However, one di� cult point to explain for them concerns the food found in both cultures, In Europe a thousand years ago there was basically only bread and something that you shot in the forest. � at was it! And the only spice they had was salt. How did non-vegetarians with such a limited cuisine of bread, meat and salt come to India and create a whole thali? Not only a thali – a Gujarati thali, a North Indian thali, a Punjabi thali, a South Indian thali, and so many other varieties of food! Even today in Italy they have the most complete cooking culture in all of Europe. But still, there is not much variety. If you go to Germany, you may get � ve or six di� erent preparations. If you go to Norway and other such places, there is mostly � sh. � ere is not much variety. And then there is also music. More or less, the only instrument that truly came from Europe was the guitar. How did the guitar come to India and transform into the sitar, the vina, or the tampura? � ere is so much detailed knowledge of music in India. � erefore how can India not be the mother of civilization?

For many years, so-called scholars said that the Vedas were simply mythology. Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas were basically just tales for children. But let us ask one question – how many years does it take to fully study Sanskrit grammar? How long does it take to study and compose Sanskrit poetry? It takes twenty to twenty-� ve years for someone to become a kavi (poet). After becoming such great poets, why did the ancient rishis decide to write fairy tales for children? � at would be like attending a classical music academy for many years and after � nishing your studies, going to Mumbai simply to compose jingles for Coca-cola commercials on TV! It is more likely that after learning the highest standard of music, you would go on to perform and present classical music. It is foolish to say that the Vedas, which are written in the most advanced language, are simply mythological stories and histories that never really happened.

In India, it is well known that the oldest God on this planet is Vishnu, Krishna, or Rama and everybody knows that civilization began in India. � e kshatriyas left India

Monkey Caste

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after Parashurama destroyed their dynasties. � ey settled in the west during the Pre-Egyptian era and started civilizations all over the world. After these civilizations grew, people began to wonder where the � rst civilization originally came from. At one time, people said that civilization began in Baghdad, between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. Here in India we have the Ganges and Yamuna – the Sumerians had the Tigris and the Euphrates. But in modern times, that idea has basically been rejected. � e knowledge is there that India is the mother of civilization, but that knowledge is being kept hidden. If somebody wants to update the history textbooks, someone will object, “No, no, no – why do you want to update our textbooks?” Darwin’s theory has been disproven a hundred times all over the world, but still, when new textbooks are printed in India, they propagate Darwin’s � eory of Evolution. � en one may argue, “If Darwin’s theory is correct, why worry about caste at the time of marriage? We all come from monkeys anyway.” � at is Darwinism. In India everyone is concerned with class and caste. � at is natural. But in the textbooks that your children study, it says that we all evolved from apes. One day your son will tell you, “Father, why does it matter who I marry? It is written that we all come from monkeys anyway.” Monkey caste! Of course, I may be joking about it, but society considers caste and community to be very important. Yet the educational system says that we all come from monkeys. � at is the so-called knowledge our schools and universities teach.

Real knowledge can be found in every word of Bhagavad-gita. In the purport to this verse, yada yada hi dharmasya, Srila Prabhupada has placed emphasis on one particular word srijami. Srijami means that Krishna was not created here – Krishna came here as He is. Krishna exists beyond the universe and the knowledge of this is in this one word – srijami. Srijami means that Krishna is not born according to the laws of karma. We are born from a womb, but Krishna is not born from a womb. � e Bhagavatam explains that when Devaki and Vasudeva were in Kamsa’s prison, all the demigods came to o� er prayers and then Vishnu appeared. Everything was basically human-like up to that point, but then He made His grand appearance. First He appeared to Devaki and Vasudeva as Vishnu. He was fully decorated and holding a conch-shell, disc-weapon, club and lotus. Vasudeva and Devaki prayed to Vishnu, “Please become

The Spectrum of Krishna’s Lila

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our son.” � en He manifested as baby Krishna. Krishna was not born in a maternity ward, or with the aid of a midwife, nor from the womb.

� e story goes on to tell how Vasudeva and Devaki became fearful of Kamsa discovering Krishna, how Vasudeva swaddled Him, how the gates mysteriously opened and how Vasudeva escaped undetected from the dungeon while the guards slept. � at is the wonderful appearance of Krishna.

We have all seen pictures of ourselves when we were small children. Can you imagine being able to live at any stage of your life at any time, all at once with no confusion? � at is Krishna. Krishna can live as a baby, a child, a youth, a young man. He can live in all stages of life simultaneously. He is not born, enduring a period of growth from childhood to manhood and old age. He is eternally a child, eternally a youth and eternally an adult all at once. Is this impossible? Yes, it is impossible! It does not � t into the spectrum of the possibility of this world. He is beyond this world. � e scriptures say that Krishna walks and He does not walk, He talks and he doesn’t talk.

tadejati tan naijati tad dure tadvantiketad antarasya sarvasya tad u sarvasyasya bayatah

� e Lord is moving very swiftly and at the same time he is very still. He is very near to us and at the same time he is very far from us. He is within everything and he is outside of everything. (Ishopanisad 5)

You and I were born and we grow old. We cannot show ourselves as we were two years back. � at is impossible. We continue to age and there is no going back. Krishna is not like that – He is living every stage of His life simultaneously. Our experiences in life are actually very small. But Krishna lives a life beyond our experience. He is nava-yauvana, ever youthful. He is always a young boy. He is all of these things simultaneously and everybody that is eternally with Him is also like that.

When you calculate the timeframe of the Mahabharata, Krishna was around 125 years old when He spoke Bhagavad-gita. But according to those who saw Him, He looked as though He was only sixteen or seventeen years of age. If any of us reached 125 years of age, our skin would become wrinkled and our hair would fall out from our heads.

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We never hear that Rama or Krishna became old. We become old men and women, our teeth fall out, our hair falls out, we become deaf, but we don’t hear that Rama or Krishna ever became old. Old age is something that only happens in this material world to people who are born according to karma. Old age is under the law of karma, and Krishna and Rama are above karma.

In this world we can only be at one place at a time. � e key word is ‘time’ – remove time, and then see what happens. But you cannot remove the time factor in this world. � is is known in Sanskrit as the kala-chakra, the wheel of time. It is � xed and it pervades everything and everywhere – up, down, inside and outside. Time in� uences everything, right down to the atoms and in between the atoms. If we could remove time we could be at two places at the same ‘time.’

Some people de� ne eternity as, ‘a long ‘time’. But, no! Remove time and what remains is eternity. Eternity means no past, no present, and no future. � e element of time

The Lord is moving very swiftly and at the same time he is very still. He is very near to us and at the same time he is very far from us. He is within everything and he is outside of everything. (Ishopanisad 5)

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is a dominant energy in this world and it is understood in terms of past, present and future. But in the world of Krishna, there is no concept of time. Time is absent – there is no past, no present or future. � at is called adhokshaja, – beyond. We must always keep this in mind when thinking about the pastimes of Krishna and Rama.

When we think about the pastimes of Rama, it is quite straightforward. Lord Rama stands morally upright in society. He performs great sacri� ces and goes to the forest when He is sent into exile. His life is very harsh, He has to � ght to retrieve Sita etc. Rama’s pastimes are much simpler as compared to Krishna’s. Rama’s pastimes as a child are not given much emphasis. When we think of Rama, we generally think about His

The Challenging Nature of Krishna’s Pastimes

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activities as a man when He is sent to the forest, loses Sita, � ghts with Ravana and becomes the king of Ayodhya. His childhood pastimes are not an important part of His lila.

When thinking about Krishna’s pastimes however, it is somewhat challenging. Krishna is so mischievous because He is displaying His pastimes as a boy. But when thinking about Krishna we have to remember that He is not subject to the laws of material nature. He is not within the jurisdiction of karma. When the ordinary people think of Krishna, they consider, “Oh, He steals butter and gives it to the monkeys, He steals the girls clothes etc.” If a small boy of six years old goes and steals the ladies’ clothes, what is that? It is mischief. We would consider such a child naughty and innocent. � at is Krishna. But some people think of Krishna as if He were some lusty old man stealing the clothes of the ladies – if you think like that then you are mixing in nastiness and wickedness. Krishna is a mere boy. He sees the clothes, laughs and steals them. He steals the butter and gives it to the monkeys. Such activities are charming. Ultimately, Krishna does not steal anything, because everything already belongs to Him. He doesn’t steal anybody’s wife, because all wives already belong to him. One must be philosophically minded when thinking of Krishna.

Krishna is made of sat (eternity), He is made of cit (knowledge), and the most important element found in Krishna is called ananda (bliss). Factually speaking, we don’t know what eternity is, we don’t know what knowledge is and we don’t know what bliss is. We think these are abstract things of which we may have some experience. What is knowledge? Is knowledge something that we study in school for passing exams and getting on with life? Is knowledge something we simply � nd in a book? No. What is bliss? Does bliss simply mean happiness or laughter? Is Krishna simply made of laughter? Krishna is sacchidananda-vigraha – He is the pure form of all those things. Krishna is not an atma inside a body. Krishna is His body. You, on the other hand, are an atma within a body. Daily, so many bodily changes appear, but inside you are same. Externally your voice changes and even your mind changes – but you, the atma, remains the same. � e atma never changes. � e atma is also sat-chid-ananda, and the atma has a form also. We are of the same quality as Krishna.

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� is world is a foreign land. We don’t come from this place. We cannot permanently stay in this place, and we are destined to move on. It is just a question of where and when we going to move. You can move laterally across this world, you can even travel down to Patalaloka, the lowest planetary system in this universe. You can go up to the celestial regions of Svargaloka for some time, but like a politician’s term in o� ce you will go up and then you will eventually come down. You cannot stay there. But when you reach Vaikuntha, the spiritual realm, there is no coming down. Vaikuntha is a complete world, with complete universes and complete planetary systems. Everything there is sat-chid-ananda. � ere is no janma, mrityu, jara, vyadhi, (birth, death, old age, and disease). It doesn’t exist. � ere is no time there, no lust, no hate, and no greed. If you removed lust and greed from this world, all the major cities would disappear. � ey are all driven by lust and greed. � is is the material world. If you removed lust and greed there would be no wars. Greed is the most horrible thing there is. � at mentality of “I want, I want” is what causes us to su� er. It is what causes the world to su� er.

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Krishna’s birth may seem like a common birth in the sense that He looks like a baby, but higher knowledge informs us that He existed before He entered this universe. Before He came onto the stage, He existed. � e stage I refer to is His lila. We have seen actors that can play any role – an actor ages in a movie and gradually becomes an old man, one actor may play di� erent roles in the same movie. � ere are even actors that can play male and female roles in the same � lm. Sometimes we don’t even recognize them if they are really good, and can’t accept that it’s the same person because the makeup artist has done such a good job. Krishna also has a makeup artist. � at makeup artist is called Yogamaya. She makes up all the things for presenting the lila of Krishna, just as in a drama. � ere are certain examples in this world that help us to understand the higher world to some extent, but ultimately it depends upon realization. Realization means we have to transcend the limitations of this world and understand what is real. � e process for self-realization and realization of Krishna in this age is the chanting of His Names:

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare harehare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

� is is the mantra, the meditation, and the process to awaken our eternal consciousness of Krishna.


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At 2697 feet above sea level, in the historical place of Srirangapatna, lies an ancient temple of Srinivasa on the hill of Karighatta.

Karighatta literally means ‘black hill’ in Kannada language. � e temple of Srinivasa is located on this hill. Sometimes the Deity of the Lord is also referred to as Karigirvasa (resident of the Black Hill) or Vairagi Venkataramana. � is is because when the Deity is decorated with � owers, He looks like a mendicant, or vairagi.

Architecture� e entrance of the temple has huge wooden doors leading to the main shrine which is quadrangular in shape. � e Deity of Srinivasa is six feet tall and is made of black stone. Within the main shrine, there are two separate smaller shrines. One is dedicated to Yoga Srinivasa and another dedicated to Goddess Padmavati. In front, facing Srinivasa is a Garuda-stambha under which lies the deity of Garuda.

Within the premises of the temple there are also two other shrines – one dedicated to Rama, Laksmana and Sita, and another dedicated to Hanuman.

� e temple also has a kalyana mantapa (marriage hall). � e temple can be reached either by a road winding up the hill or by steps (approximately about 450). � ere are also some great viewpoints at the top of the hill.

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History of the TempleIn the Varaha Purana, Karighatta is referred to as Nilachala or the Blue Mountain. Itis said that when Sri Maha-Vishnu took the form of a boar during His Varaha lila, He shook o� some of His hair. � e kusha grass that has grown around the temple is now considered to be that hair.

� ere are two histories that are associated with this temple. One says that an elephant called Kari killed four maidens who were bathing in a lake here. A sage by the name of Kustamuni who was there at that time undertook a penance to bring the girls back to life. It is said that Srinivasa granted this wish to the sage.

Another legend says the Sugriva, who was the commander of the army of monkeys in the Ramayana, brought a hill named Nilachala from Tirumala which is situated in Andhra Pradesh in South India. On the way, the Vishnu-bhaktas (devotees of Vishnu) of this region pleaded to him to leave the hill there. Accepting their request, Sugriva placed the hill there. � is is now called Karighatta.

Many festivals and fairs happen in this temple. It is considered auspicious to get married in this temple or to engage in any kind of religious ceremonies. Devotees from all around the town come and pay their respects reguarly.

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Is it just a one-in-gazillion chance that you happen to be alive, now, on top of all time? Or is there a more rational scientific reason? Grade-school math tells us the probability of being on top of infinity is zero. If space and time are tools of the mind, then how can there be a time without consciousness?

The question “Does time exist?” makes people wonder about engaging in such idle speculation. A typical response might be, “The clock ticks. We age and die. Time is the only thing we can be certain of.” Equally inconsonant is whether space exists. “Obviously space exists,” one might answer, “because we live in it. We move through it, drive through it. Miles, kilometers are all units we use to measure it.” Time and space in the concrete sense are easy to think about. Find yourself short of either — late for work, standing in a stalled subway car — and the constraints of time and space are apparent: “It’s crowded and I’m going to miss my meeting.”

Why You’re Alive And Can Never Die- Dr. Robert Lanza M.D.

Time and space are integral to every moment of our existence. But the idea of them being tools of our mind — our source of comprehension — is an abstraction. To place yourself as the creator of time and space, as biocentrism asks you to do, rather than the subject of it, goes against every bit of common sense. It takes a radical shift of perspective to realize they’re life-created, because the implications are so startling.

If time is an illusion, can consciousness ever truly be extinguished? The fear of death is a universal concern, yet once we abandon the random, physical-centered cosmos and start to see things biocentrically, the verisimilitude of a finite life loosens its grip. The contemplation of time and the discoveries of modern science suggest that the mind is the ultimate reality, paramount and limitless.

“The influences of the senses,” said Emerson, “has in most men overpowered the mind to the degree that the walls of space and time have come to look solid, real and insurmountable; and to speak with levity of these limits in the world is the sign of insanity.”

I remember the day I first realized this. From around the corner came the trolley car, scattering sparks above it. There was a grind of metal wheels, the tinkle

of a few coins. With a jolt, the gigantic electric machine was on its way to my past, back, block by block through the decades, through the metropolitan limits of Boston, till it came to Roxbury. Here, at the foot of the hill, for me the universe began. I hoped I might find a set of initials scratched into a tree, or perhaps an old, half-rusted toy, which I might put away in a shoe box as evidence of my own immortality.

But when I reached that place I found that the tractors had been there and left. The city, it seemed, had reclaimed some acres of slum; the old house I lived in, and the houses next door where my friends played, and all the yards and trees of the years I grew up in — all those things were gone. And though they had been swept from the world, in my mind they still stood, vivid and heliographing in the sun, superimposed on the current setting. I picked my way through the litter and the remains of some unidentifiable structure.

That spring day — which some of my colleagues spent in the laboratory, and others in contemplation of black holes and equations — I sat in a vacant city lot agonizing over the perverse nature of time. Not that I had never seen the fall of a leaf, nor a kind face grow old; but here, perchance, I might come across some hidden passageway that would take me

beyond the nature I knew, to some eternal reality behind the fl ux of things.

Th e extent of the dilemma was realized both by Albert Einstein in the “Annalen de Physik” and by Ray Bradbury in his masterwork, “Dandelion Wine.”

“Yes,” said Mrs. Bentley. “Once I was a pretty little girl just like you, Jane, and you, Alice…”

“You’re joking with us,” giggled Jane. “You weren’t really ten ever, were you, Mrs. Bentley?”

“You run on home!” the woman cried suddenly, for she could not stand their eyes. “I won’t have you laughing.

“And your name’s not really Helen?”

“Of course it’s Helen!”

“Good-by,” said the two girls, giggling away across the lawn under the seas of shade. “Th anks for the ice cream!”

“Once I played hopscotch!” Mrs. Bentley cried after them, but they were gone.

Standing in the rubble of my past, it seemed extraordinary that I, like Mrs. Bentley, was in the present, that my consciousness, like the breeze meandering across the lot, blowing leaves before it, was moving on the edge of time. “My dear,” said Mr. Bentley, “you never will understand time, will you? When you’re nine, you think you’ve always been nine years old, and always will be. When you’re 30, it seems you’ve always been balanced there on that bright rim of middle life. And then when you turn 70, you are always and forever 70. You’re in the present, you’re trapped in the young now and an old now, but there’s no other now to be seen.”

Mrs. Bentley’s observation isn’t trivial. What sort of time is that which separates us from our past, and yet gives continuity to the thread of consciousness? Even a cat, when mortally ill, keeps its eyes focused on the ever-changing kaleidoscope of the here-and-now. Th ere’s no thought of death. However, we humans believe in death because we’re told we’ll die. Also because we strictly associate ourselves with the body, and we know bodies die. End of story.

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Physics tells us that energy is never lost, and that our brains — and hence the feeling of life — operates by electrical energy, and this energy simply can’t vanish. Th e biocentric view of the timeless, spaceless world allows for no true death in any real sense. Immortality resides outside of time altogether. Eastern religions have argued for millennia that birth and death are equally illusory. Since consciousness transcends the body — “external” is a distinction of language alone — we’re left with consciousness as the bedrock of existence. Death has always meant only one thing: an end with no reprieve. If we’re just our body, then we must die. But if we’re our consciousness, the sense of experience, then we can’t die for the simple reason that consciousness is expressed in manifold fashion and is ultimately unconfi ned.

As I sat in the vacant lot that spring afternoon, I found myself thinking there’s a better way to understand nature than science has so far. We need to pay closer attention to the processes of knowledge and perception. Scientists propound with much ado the connection of appearances in experience, but don’t see the connection of things in themselves, how they stand in community with others. Th ey think they can say where individuality begins and ends, whether the mind is absolutely destroyed with the body. Yet, when death approaches, even they try to look beyond it.

Mrs. Bentley was right: we’re trapped in the “now.” We think 70 is the last “now,” but who knows that space and time aren’t forms of intuition, and that there are other “nows” if we but knew our mind?

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Flying Puffed Rice - Govindaya Namah

Harakanta Chakravarti was famous in his village for being a great Vaishnava. � e people in the village would say, “Chakravarti Mahashaya never touches anything without � rst o� ering it to Bhagavan!”

(A story by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura)

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On the day of Pausha-sankranti, Chakravarti Mahashaya went to the bazaar and bought some khoi (pu� ed rice) for his wife’s meal. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew the khoi out of his paper bag. At that time Chakravarti Mahashaya saw that some of his acquaintances were nearby and so he shouted “Govindaya namah”, and o� ered the � ying khoi to Govinda!Meanwhile, seeing that her husband was late, Chakravarti Mahashaya’s wife sent her son to � nd him. Seeing his father standing near a group of people, the innocent boy told him, “Baba, Mother has been waiting to eat khoi. Where is the khoi?”

� us, the child totally exposed Chakravarti Mahashaya who was completely embarrassed.

COMMENTARY

� ose who are busy trying to enjoy, but at the same time wish to be known as religious by the people of this world, simply make a pretense of being saintly or religious.� e khoi was obtained for self-enjoyment, but when by chance it was understood that it could not be enjoyed, a show was made of o� ering it to the Lord. � is was not real devotional service. When a materialist loses all his wealth, servants etc, despite all his best endeavours to protect them, he prays, “O Lord, everything is Yours! Whatever You wish to maintain, You will maintain. Whatever You wish to destroy, You will destroy! –such statements by materialists cannot be accepted as the words of true surrender. � e mentality behind the exclamation, “Udo khoi govindaya namah” (� is � ying khoi I o� er to Govinda!) is simply deceitful. When one is � xed in such deception, one can never render service unto the Lord.

Gaudiya TouchstoneGaudiya Touchstone

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Kulfi

Culinary Magic

In this issue of Gaudiya Touchstone, Kunjabihari shows us how to make Kul� , a traditional Indian ice cream made with full whole milk.

Kulfi In this issue of Gaudiya Touchstone, Kunjabihari shows us how to make Kul� , a traditional Indian ice cream made with full whole milk.

Ingredients

1. 1.25 liters of full whole milk

2. 1.3 cups of powdered sugar

3. 4 Cardamom seeds (powdered)

4. 8 chopped pistachio nuts (optional)

5. A few strands of saffron soaked in about a tbsp of warm milk for 10 minutes

Method

1. Heat the milk in a wide-bottomed pan and boil. Let the milk simmer on a medium

flame until it reaches half its original quantity. Keep stirring the milk in-between.

2. Add the powdered sugar, cardamom powder and chopped pistachios. Mix them and

keep simmering on a medium flame while stirring until it reduces to almost one

third of its original quantity. The milk should have a slightly thick consistency.

3. Take off the stove and allow to cool for a few minutes.

4. Once the milk is cool, place it in the fridge for a few hours.

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5. Pour the chilled mixture into moulds.

6. Place the moulds in a freezer and allow it to set overnight or at least 7-8 hours.

7. Once the kulfi has set, place the mold in lukewarm water for a few seconds so that

the frozen kulfi loosens from the mould.

8. Serve in a dish. If desired, you can sprinkle more nuts on top.

Tips

1. Full whole milk is essential for the authentic flavor of kulfi.

2. If you don’t have kulfi moulds, you can use stainless steel glasses or small bowls.

3. Do not fill to the brim because Kulfi expands upon freezing.

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gaudiya touchstone | issue 10

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