Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 21, No. 14
By Krishna Kripa Das
(Week 14: April 2–April 8, 2025)
(Sent from Alachua, Florida, on April 12, 2025)
Where I Went and What I Did
For the fourteenth week of 2025, I remained living at ISKCON Tallahassee. I chanted Hare Krishna every day at Landis Green, behind the main Florida State University library. In Tallahassee I distributed several “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlets and sixty-five little cups of halava to promote our Krishna Lunch at the campus. I chanted with one other devotee at First Friday, and many, many people played the shakers and danced with us.
Sunday we had a Rama Navami program in Tallahassee which was attended by at least twenty people, and which I made a sweet for, rose flavored coconut burfi.
I share quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam and his letters. I share quotes from With Srila Prabhupada in the Early Years and The Delaware Diaries by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami and a quote from Golden Avatar by Yogesvara Prabhu. I share notes on classes by Govinda Kaviraja and Adhokshaj Govind Prabhus, speaking in Tallahassee. I share notes on online Vyasa-puja ceremony for Jayapataka Swami.
Many, many thanks to Satyaraja Govinda Prabhu for his very generous donation on the Vyasa-puja day of his guru, His Holiness Jayapataka Swami.
Itinerary
April 13: Gainesville harinama
April 14–15: USF harinamas in Tampa
April 16–20: Washington, D.C., harinamas with Sankarsana Prabhu
April 21–22: NYC Harinam
April 23: Flight to Brussels
April 24: Layover in Oslo
April 25: Kadamba Kanana Swami Vyasa-puja at Radhadesh
April 26: King’s Day in Amsterdam
April 27: Liege harinama
April 28–May 1: Paris harinamas
May 2: Sarcelles market harinama
May 3–4: Amsterdam Kirtan Mela and Sacinandana Swami seminar
May 5 and 6: harinama in Amsterdam, Antwerp, or Brussels
May 7: Flight from Brussels to New York City
May 8–June 15: NYC Harinam
mid June–mid August: Paris
– June 22: Paris Ratha-yatra
– July 11: Amsterdam harinama
– July 12: Amsterdam Ratha-yatra
– July 13: Netherlands harinama
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee
One student got the lunch the very day I told him about it, and he came back to tell me how much he liked it. When he saw us at First Friday later in the week, he played the shakers along with the kirtan for several mantras.
I met an Indian man who was from Agra and who had a wife from Mathura. He is a visiting scholar in exercise physiology. He was happy to take the halava prasadam and learn that we have ISKCON in Tallahassee.
The response at First Friday was impressive although our harinama party consisted of only Melanie and myself. I brought four shakers for people to play, and I kept them in the upper left pocket of my kurta. At least five different groups of people played the shakers with us as we wandered through Railroad Square, and often all shakers were engaged and those who did not have shakers would dance. Some groups of people would play with us for five or ten minutes and some groups numbered as large as ten people. It was so absorbing I did not even look at my watch till 45 minutes of the harinama had elapsed. One student at the community college must have chanted the mantra with us for five minutes, and we passed out several “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlets to those most enthusiastic. My only lamentation is so few devotees ever join me for the First Friday harinama although it is a wonderful experience of giving many people a little taste of Hare Krishna kirtan.
When Victor Rodriguez of Fort Lauderdale saw me on the campus, he exclaimed, “Jaya Prabhupada!”
He relocated to the USA from Venezuela twenty-five years ago, and he had happy experiences with Hare Krishna devotees in the Miami area. He was pleased to take prasadam and remember Krishna. His son, who has the same name, is an FSU student, so I told him about our Krishna Lunch.
Govinda Kaviraja Prabhu chants “Sita Rama” on Rama Navami in Tallahassee (https://youtu.be/DXXaKphqXa4):
Jahnavi, daughter of Satyaraja Govinda Prabhu, chants Hare Krishna on Rama Navami in Tallahassee (https://youtu.be/6_SgA_BArhU):
Monday was predicted to rain practically the entire day. I hurried to get set up before the rain started. I set up near a building with a large area protected from the rain, so I could relocate when the rain became serious.
Usually I wait until the rain starts before I put the plastic over the books and other items on my table, but this time I had the plastic in position before the rain. It is much better that way as you do not have to dry the books off.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.33.27 text and purport:
“Situated in eternal trance and freed from illusion impelled by the modes of material nature, she forgot her material body, just as one forgets his different bodies in a dream.”
PURPORT
“A great Vaishnava said that he who has no remembrance of his body is not bound to material existence. As long as we are conscious of our bodily existence, it is to be understood that we are living conditionally, under the three modes of material nature. When one forgets his bodily existence, his conditional, material life is over. This forgetfulness is actually possible when we engage our senses in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. In the conditional state, one engages his senses as a member of a family or as a member of a society or country. But when one forgets all such membership in material circumstances and realizes that he is an eternal servant of the Supreme Lord, that is actual forgetfulness of material existence.
“This forgetfulness actually occurs when one renders service unto the Lord. A devotee no longer works with the body for sense gratification with family, society, country, humanity and so on. He simply works for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. That is perfect Krishna consciousness.
“A devotee always merges in transcendental happiness, and therefore he has no experience of material distresses. This transcendental happiness is called eternal bliss. According to the opinion of devotees, constant remembrance of the Supreme Lord is called samadhi, or trance. If one is constantly in trance, there is no possibility of his being attacked or even touched by the modes of material nature. As soon as one is freed from the contamination of the three material modes, he no longer has to take birth to transmigrate from one form to another in this material world.”
From a letter to Yadunandana in 1968:
“We do not condemn any religion, because the Bhagavatam says that a religious process is the best if one can attain love of God by practicing it. So we are teaching love of God, not any particular type of religion. Our Krishna Consciousness movement is not a religious movement; it is a movement for purifying the heart. Modern civilization is defying the authority of the Personality of Godhead; the more a man advances in material adventures, the more he becomes covered by the illusory energy.”
From a letter to Satsvarupa in Boston on August 19, 1968:
“We are especially interested in the younger generation because they can accept this philosophy very quickly.
“In the Srimad Bhagavatam it is recommended by Prahlad Maharaj that unmarried boys should accept this Bhagavat dharma, or Krishna Consciousness, for their life’s benefit. We have to convince them about this, that this life is very valuable. Material education had misled them, because it is without Krishna Consciousness. So when Krishna Consciousness is added to material advancement, it becomes aromatic gold. Gold is very beautiful, but if it has some aroma—aromatic gold—if that is available in the market, it will have greater value. So material civilization is very good for the comforts of the body. Now if we do not utilize the strengths and comforts of our body for Krishna Consciousness, our body will be used for sense gratification. And that will degrade our position. So the younger section of this country should take very seriously that they should take to Krishna Consciousness, and the next generation will be a different public. Those in the Western world who are materially and spiritually advanced will be happy in this life as well as in the next.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From With Srila Prabhupada in the Early Years:
“Although a blow to my ego, being exposed or defeated by Prabhupada always seemed to be a gain for me, and I wanted to bring many things before him for his judgment, just to see what he would say about them.”
“I took the book [Srimad-Bhagavatam] with me and read it wherever I went—on the bus, in my Suffolk Street apartment, and even at my office desk. I thought the Srimad-Bhagavatam was the most direct and authentic book about God I had ever read. It was filled with logical arguments to prove God’s existence, and constantly praised His glories. I read quickly, retaining little, but feeling good whenever I read it.”
“I also try to follow Prabhupada’s example with faith, realization, and dedication. For instance, I follow Prabhupada’s daily schedule: rising early to write books, chanting japa, stopping my work before noon to bathe, taking rest after lunch. And most important of all, I try to follow Prabhupada’s example of dedicating himself to the devotees, sacrificing, traveling, and preaching to the non-devotees. We can follow all these things.”
“Prabhupada is writing in reference to our ista-gosthis. Usually ista-gosthis were divided into discussions of business and philosophy. It was usually the kind of meeting guests are excluded from and candid exchanges are allowed.
“Not only would the president present his items, but others were also allowed to speak. Ista-gosthi would be a chance for the cook to remind the devotees not to leave food out to spoil; it would be an opportunity for the pujari to make a Krishna conscious speech about the importance of attending the aratis or how to develop a special relationship with the Deity by doing individual services; it would even be an opportunity for different anarthas or temple politics to be exposed.
“Prabhupada expected we conduct these meetings with a decorum befitting devotees; ista-gosthi is not a name-calling free-for-all. Yet we could treat festering issues openly, and it was the proper place for discussing controversial items, although that would also be done by respecting the jurisdiction of the temple authorities. Ista-gosthi was a competent way to settle many problems that gathered during the week.
“In the philosophy part of the ista-gosthi, I began reading Srila Prabhupada’s letters. I invited devotees to ask philosophical questions about things they didn’t understand. To draw every devotee into the discussion, one devotee would pose as a Mayavadi and challenge the others in the room. If executed in a loving, lively, and parampara fashion, the ista-gosthi, ‘discussing what the spiritual master has said,’ can still be a vital method of maintaining the ésprit de corps of the temple.”
From The Delaware Diaries, Volume 2 (Tachycardia):
“I pray to You from ground zero. Please pick me up. Show me a glimpse of Your mercy in Your holy names. Let my mind wander under Your auspicious influence to that of Your wondrous pastimes and Your desire to include me.”
“I heartily recommend that all devotees read Srimad-Bhagavatam, Caitanya-caritamrta, and allied Vaishnava literatures to keep in the fire of devotion. Then their minds will be purified of gross matter, and they can taste transcendental happiness.”
“A writer seeks words to break his silence. We are imprisoned by our silence, and writing releases the self.”
“I am feeling tired. We had to go out and look at property. But Krishna is never tired. He is always ready to kill demons and play with His friends. He is ready to trick the gopis. He is ready for me to come to Him.”
“After reciting the Sanskrit prayers, I go over each one in English and briefly linger on its meaning. In gayatri, we have been given a profound meditation in five minutes, and it should be given due attention.”
“Writing is sometimes grinding, sometimes flying. You use it for your self-realization. It is an art. It is an artless journal. Writing is a series of semaphore signals given to guide other ships. It is an old-fashioned, still-used form of communication. Writing will not be replaced. The world’s best and oldest books are preserved in writings. Writing is put down anew and in the latest thoughts. My writing has a place in the canon.”
“Godbrother is coming to see me. At first I thought it would disturb my free write session of speaking to You, Lord Krishna. But helping others is as good as direct utterance and prayer to You. My brother thinks he is being threatened by his past lives, in which he inflicted pain on other living beings. He thinks they have been reborn in this life and are seeking retribution. I will tell him that when we take seriously to devotional service, our karma is broken, and the sinful reactions do not have effect. He should not be frightened. You have pardoned him. But I have spoken to him many times and have not been able to dislodge his hallucination. I will at least sit with him and try to offer friendly consolation. Please help me, Lord, to be useful to a friend and bring him to Your shelter.”
“I confess my sins of commission and my sins of omission.”
“I know You are present for the touching, and I eagerly desire to reach You.”
“Write something nice about the holy names. They flow from your mouth and bring you to Krishna. It is the dharma for the age. There is no other way, there is no other way, there is no other way to reach Krishna in Kali Yuga except by chanting the holy names. I was feeling desirous of chanting in the early morning. I swam into it, like bathing in the Yamuna.”
“Why do you like to chant alone? Because I can chant better without distraction from another person. I like to hear myself chanting clearly.”
“What do you like best about chanting? I like the fact that I am chanting. Prabhupada used to say that chanting leads to more chanting. I like to build up the numerical strength and see it growing and growing. Do you think you can improve your attitude? Certainly. I am bound to get better as I practice at it. I am not disappointed. I like my chanting, although I know it is very poor. I have hopes that Krishna will help me improve my attitude. I feel I am on an uprise.”
“I like the saying that the best gosthyanandi is a bhajananandi who preaches. You have to chant well in order to become a preacher. Chanting well and talking about the chanting is one of the most important forms of preaching.”
“You are present in my fingertips. You are present in my aspirations. And when we bow down to You. You like it when I tell the devotees about You. I can tell them how You lifted Govardhana Hill and how You stole yoghurt from the gopis. I can tell them how, in Your adolescent form, You danced with the young gopis at night. I can tell them how You descend to the material world when there is discrepancy in religion and how You protect the devotees who are anxious to see You in Your Vrindavan form. I can tell them how my heart aches to know You better. I can tell them how I tear words from myself just to reach You.”
“I want to know Your pastimes and exchanges with Your recognized devotees. I want to hear of them repeatedly and rejoice in them. I want to study them as a scholar of rasa and tattva. I want to be a devotee who is possessed by Bhagavan. And I want to go beyond Bhagavan to know You as Mother Yasoda and the gopas and Srimati Radharaṇi know You, as their dearmost, beloved son and friend and lover. You want me to know You in that way, but I have to learn it through the gradual steps of faith, following the guru’s orders, attaining detachment from matter, feeling taste, reaching bhava, the bud of love of God, and finally attaining prema, pure love of God. That is a long road, and it has to be reached in the association of devotees. It has to be reached by chanting of the holy names and by sharing Krishna consciousness with others.”
“Srila Prabhupada interceded for us. He prayed and worked to convince us to become Your devotees. He sacrificed all his physical and mental comforts to come to America. I am eternally grateful that he turned me into Your worker. Otherwise, I would have died in a miserable condition, without You. When I see him, I am reminded of Krishna, because he is a maha-bhagavata, the highest category of pure devotee. He sees that it is possible for all kinds of people to become Your devotees, regardless of their birth or bad habits. I praise Lord Krishna because Prabhupada has given me the means and realization to do so.”
Yogesvara Prabhu:
From Golden Avatar:
“With regard to efforts to introduce Chaitanya’s movement in Nazi Germany, an article by the German scholar Theodor Steche appeared on January 8, 1936, in the book section of the official newspaper of the Nazi Party in Berlin, the Volkischer Beobachter (“Popular Observer”). Titled “From Asian Cultures,” the article outlined the Nazi reaction to missionary efforts by disciples of Bhaktisiddhanta. The article made clear that, due to the Gaudiya Math’s universalism, which gave equal status to all human beings as sparks of Krishna, Chaitanya’s mission could have no place in Nazi Germany. (Cited in Sardella, 2019.)”
Govinda Kaviraja Prabhu:
After Akrura brought Krishna to Mathura, he invited the Lord to come to his home. Krishna replied that He would come but later. This is an important point. Krishna does answer all His devotees prayers but in His own time.
One Prabhupada disciple really wanted to get initiated in the Ramanuja sampradaya. Their acaryas discouraged him, but he persisted. So they agreed and explained all he had to do. When he got to the last step, getting the mantra from the guru, the secret mantra the guru gave him came from Bhagavad-gita, and the guru said, “Follow Srila Prabhupada, follow Srila Prabhupada, follow Srila Prabhupada.”
If I have faith then I can peacefully talk to you about our philosophy, but people who have no faith become very aggressive in their preaching.
Adhokshaj Govind Prabhu:
From a lecture on Rama Navami in Tallahassee:
How can we increase people’s faith?
Logical arguments based on the scriptures is one way.
Also good association increases faith.
Science does not say what was before the Big Band.
Vaishnava aparadha can cause even people who have faith to fall down.
Sati was telling her husband Lord Shiva, “You are worshiped by so many people as being so great, but who do you worship?”
Lord Shiva said that he worshiped Lord Rama, who had recently appeared in human society. Sati saw Rama lamenting the absence of his wife, and she doubted that such a person could actually be God. Thus she decided to test Rama, so she appeared to Rama in the form of Sita, and Rama greeted her, and asked her where her husband, Lord Shiva, was. She felt very embarrassed about what she did, so she decided to leave, but wherever she looked, she saw Lord Rama, including in her heart.
Indrajit attacked Rama and Laksman with the serpent arrows, but Hanuman rescued them by getting Garuda to cut the serpent arrows. But then Garuda had a doubt, how can Rama and Laksman be God if I have to rescue them?
When Vali was mortally wounded by Rama who shot him from behind a tree, Vali protested that the way he was killed was against dharma. Rama explained that Vali had kidnapped his brother’s wife which was a bigger act of adharma. As a representative of King Bharata, Rama said he had to remove adharmic elements from society as a matter of duty. Vali accepted Rama’s argument and divinity, and asked him to protect his son, Angada.
Rama did not want to disappear in the presence of Hanuman because it would be too painful for him, so he let his ring slip through a crack in the floor and sent Hanuman to find it using the mystic power that Sita had blessed him with. While Hanuman was gone, Lord Rama disappeared.
Comments by me:
When people hear the loud chanting of the holy name, they attain faith.
Kadamda Kanana Swami said that Bhaktivinoda Thakura said that if we have attained the platform of nistha (steadiness), we can give people sraddha (faith).
Comment by Govinda Kaviraja Prabhu:
We can see that people who follow the Vedic knowledge, both now and in the past, have a better life. This increases peoples’ faith in that knowledge.
Sundari Radhika Devi Dasi:
From a Facebook post by Lila Purusottama:
“During my visit to Milan, Italy, I met a bhakta who was previously a Buddhist monk. When I asked him how he became a Vaishnava, he said he once had a teacher who taught shaolin kung fu. He would come to a Buddhist monastery to teach the monks.
“One day when he came, he was singing. He brought a harmonium and sang very beautifully. When I asked him later what he was singing, he said he was singing ‘Damodarastaka.’ I wrote down the name and later searched for it online and found out that it is about Krishna.
“The next time I saw him, I asked, ‘Who is Krishna?’
“‘He replied, “Oh, that's a very good question.” Then he gave me the Bhagavad-gita.
“‘I took it home and couldn’t leave it. As I read it, I realized that I have found the Absolute Truth. I was so happy I cried. As a monk, I was calm, but not happy; something was missing. I missed you, Krishna. While reading the Gita, I prayed to Krishna for forgiveness for my insults. After all, Buddhism is voidism – very insulting! ”
“When I asked a bhakta if there was any place I could learn more, he said there was a temple I could visit or even live in as a monk. So I came here, in Villagio Hare Krishna, not far from Milan. I’ve been here since July, and by Krishna’s grace, I don’t want to leave.”
“He added that the Buddhist path prepared him for Krishna consciousness. In the Buddhism he practiced, everyone followed four regulatory principles. He would only sleep about three or four hours a night – very strictly. Now he is called Giriraja dasa.”
Jayapataka Swami Vyasa-puja Notes
Pritirupa Vasudha Devi Dasi:
The followers of Jayapataka Swami have developed a “My Sadhna App” to help people increase their commitment to sadhana. It will even send their sadhana reports to Jayapataka Swami.
Krishna Gaurakisora Prabhu:
Jayapataka Swami gave a four-hour lecture in Madurai recently telling the qualifications of the guru and encouraging more people to become gurus. His point is that we want many people to become devotees and for this we need many gurus. He stressed the main qualification is that the guru just presents what Krishna has said and no concotions of his own.
Susevini Guru Gauranga Devi Dasi:
There was once a GBC meeting on a very important topic. Jayapataka Swami said he wanted to ask Srila Prabhupada before making a decision. He prayed to Srila Prabhupada, and when he got a response, he made his decision. Some GBC men did not believe that Jayapataka Swami could ask Srila Prabhupada. For years Jayapataka Swami on important decisions always asks Srila Prabhupada and waits for his response to give his decision.
Krishna Kripa Das:
I came from the era of the eleven gurus, and I thank Jayapataka Swami for being the most reliable one of them.
I lived in Alachua, and he regularly visited there. During one visit he would give a japa class during japa period and later the Bhagavatam class. Then he would discuss the Mayapur temple exhibits with Sadaputa Prabhu, who I was working with at the time. Then he would do a home program in the evening. That continued for several days. When he left, I took a two-hour nap after breakfast to recover, but I knew he would just go to another place and continue with the same amazing schedule of service.
Once I saw him in Atlanta in June at the New Panihati festival. I then saw him on Indradyumna Swami’s Polish tour in July. On my return to America, I saw him give class at Soho Street temple in London in August. After class, I said to him, “Wherever I go I see you!”
He replied, “I was thinking the same thing about you!”
At the beginning of one of his visits to Alachua, Pancatattva Prabhu had a home program to receive him. Maharaja is always concerned to help the devotees, and he sincerely asked, “Krishna Kripa, is there anything I can do for you?” I do not like to take service from devotees, especially senior devotees, so I just said, “No, Maharaja, everything is alright.” Later in the evening he asked again, and I again said, “No, everything is OK.” Later on he asked for a third time, and my mind flipped out. I just reacted saying, “Yes. There is something you can do for me.” Then I had to think of something. I do not know practically how advanced these gurus are and what they could actually do for me, but I know Jayapataka Swami has a lot of devotion for Lord Caitanya, so I said, “Could you bless me that I might have as much devotion for Lord Caitanya as you do?”
Then he did a mudra of benediction with his hands. I have not yet attained that level of devotion to Lord Caitanya, but I have no doubt I will. At least I have enough devotion to Lord Caitanya to do three hours of harinama every day.
Thank you for allowing me to tell some stories about Jayapataka Maharaja.
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Because we are chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, composed of the divine names, Hare, Krishna, and Rama, sometimes people ask us what the names mean. My favorite definition of the name Rama is given by Srila Prabhupada in the purport to his Bhagavad-gita As It Is, verse 5.22, where he quotes this beautiful verse from the Padma Purana. I shared it with my Facebook friends last Sunday on Rama Navami:
ramante yogino ’nante
iti rama-padenasau
param brahmabhidhiyate
“The mystics derive unlimited transcendental pleasures from the Absolute Truth, and therefore the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, is also known as Rama.”
Let us follow the mystics who obtain unlimited transcendental pleasures from the Absolute Truth, who is known as Rama, instead of following the materialists who achieve insignificant material pleasure from sensual enjoyment and miss the special opportunity that human life affords them!
