Where I Went and What I Did
The thirty-fifth week of 2025, from Wednesday to Saturday I participated in NYC Harinam for four hours in the afternoon and evening, as I usually do when I am in New York. Sunday was Radhastami, and we did a walking harinama around Brooklyn with about seven devotees for about two hours. Monday and Tuesday I was engaged in cooking the evening offering, so I could only come out and sing for the first half hour of NYC Harinam. I chanted alone at different subway stations for two and a half hours to complete the three hours of harinama per day which I try to maintain.
I share quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s The Nectar of Devotion and Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, as well as quotes from one of his classes. I share notes on classes by Pancharatna, Hansarupa, Arcita, Rama Raya, Radhe Shyam, Mathuranath, and Narada Muni Prabhus.
Itinerary
August 26– September 9: NYC Harinam
September 10–11: Syracuse harinama and Wednesday program
September 12–October ??: serve Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami
– September 25–26: Philadelphia harinama?
– September 27: Philadelphia Ratha-yatra?
October ??–December 31: NYC Harinam
Chanting Hare Krishna in New York
Here I chant Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle, our Wednesday venue (https://youtube.com/shorts/wnoOYT0DI8A?feature=share):
In addition to chanting I would try to interest people in coming to our programs, accepting an “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlet, or if they were serious readers, to check out our book table.
Bhakta Michael chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle, and passersby dance (https://youtu.be/d-mc5OsWsZQ):
Bhakta Michael chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle, and an Iranian yoga teacher plays shakers (https://youtu.be/XJnarYol2Y0):
Radha chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/XYMRCRzrJcQ):
Vraja Mohan Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/Xbi-M7_QhSE):
Ananta Govinda Prabhu and friends chant Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle (https://youtu.be/BMW2aKuD2lo.):
Ananta Govinda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Columbus Circle, and kids play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/VSFo1xHJXEc):
We had a large number of enthusiastic chanters at Union Square the next day, and it was especially ecstatic.
Sevika Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtu.be/vwnLq5yg8go):
Jagaddhatri Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtu.be/bHMzO6OEJng):
I also chanted Hare Krishna in Union Square with that very lively group of devotees that day (https://youtube.com/shorts/BzTFb98gYqw?feature=share):
Braja Sakhi Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtu.be/BwOUVwgDcpw):
Hadai Prana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtu.be/Y_iWb9Muu3U):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square (https://youtu.be/-xW9dYH2HQE):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a father and son play shakers (https://youtu.be/gecD8JodHek):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and many play shakers, clap, and dance (https://youtu.be/Wxtr9ixYoq8):
Narada Muni Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Battery Park (https://youtu.be/tYItaCNxmCU):
Syama Manohara Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Battery Park (https://youtu.be/fohaAjziLd8):
A group of children played the shakers and danced, and one woman danced as well, as Rama Raya Prabhu chanted the final Hare Krishna kirtan of the day there at Battery Park (https://youtu.be/PfRh1z0yn4o):
Syama Manohara Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Washington Square Park, and two women play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/29-EQxPPUhA):
This mom told me that she and her daughter would regularly see the devotees back when Union Square was the only place we sang. She remembered Rama Raya Prabhu and hoped to see him, but she was a bit too early.
This young woman appeared attracted by the kirtan, so I offered her some shakers to play. She saw the devotees dancing, and she said that she did a traditional West African dance. She pulled the red skirt she used for that dance out of her bag and put it over her pants. She then amazed me by dancing with the devotees for an hour and a half and playing the shakers much of the time. Hrith sold her a Chant and Be Happy, and I gave her some maha-prasadam from Paris which I had in my bag. She said she had to work Sunday but would try to come to our Tuesday program.
Here Keshava Madhava Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Washington Square Park, and that woman plays shakers and dances (https://youtu.be/Xgy83z5Vxek):
Keshava Madhava Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Washington Square Park, and many play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/GtdPlBlbTpE):
Srikar chants Hare Krishna in Washington Square Park, and passersby play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/ocFZHlVfF5k):
Ananta Govinda Prabhu and friends chant Hare Krishna at Washington Square Park, and passersby dance with devotees (https://youtu.be/GyPwAuxByag):
Ananta Govinda Prabhu and friends chant Hare Krishna at Washington Square Park, and two women play shakers (https://youtu.be/MxEXrSCSqOk):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Washington Square Park (https://youtu.be/zjsrqGWeHm0):
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Washington Square Park, and two women play shakers and dance (https://youtu.be/llvHP8a7KRc):
Mathuranath Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Brooklyn on Radhastami (https://youtu.be/uk9kXwxXeCM):
Hadai Prana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in three subway stations and on two subway trains in Brooklyn on Radhastami (https://youtu.be/sbV2RUg0x4s):
Keshava Madhava and Ananta Govinda Prabhus chant Hare Krishna at ISKCON NYC in the Radhastami evening kirtan (https://youtube.com/shorts/2MMGRtpiZ4A?feature=share):
Because I was cooking the Monday evening offering, I could only come out for half an hour on our Yuga Dharma Ashram harinama. Thus I decided to chant by myself for two and a half hours at the Fulton Street subway station in Manhattan. I also chanted all the way from the temple to that station both coming and going, on the street, in the stations, and on the trains. I was sitting at that Fulton Street station itself for 1:50 hours, and people gave me $5.40 and took three small books and one “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlet.
Although I spent less time supporting Rama Raya Prabhu’s Yuga Dharma Ashram NYC Harinam that day, more people heard the holy name, more books were distributed, and more money was collected because of my additional harinama, and the same was true with the next day as well.
Here I chant Hare Krishna in Battery Park on Monday (https://youtube.com/shorts/jSsBlGcCBLo?feature=share):
Because I was cooking the Tuesday evening offering, I could only come out for half an hour on our Yuga Dharma Ashram harinama that day also. Thus I decided to chant by myself for two and a half hours at the Atlantic Avenue / Barclays Center subway station in Brooklyn. I also chanted all the way from the temple to that station both coming and going, on the street, in the stations, and on the trains. I was sitting at that Brooklyn station itself for two hours, and people gave me $19 and took two small books and four “On Chanting Hare Krishna.”
Here I chant Hare Krishna in Union Square on Tuesday (https://youtube.com/shorts/N-MYhKGmy1o?feature=share):
Ashram life!
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 1:
“Krishna is all-attractive, but pure devotional service attracts even Him. This means that pure devotional service is even transcendentally stronger than Krishna Himself, because it is Krishna’s internal potency.”
“To perform devotional service means to follow in the footsteps of Radharani, and devotees in Vrindavan put themselves under the care of Radharani in order to achieve perfection in their devotional service. In other words, devotional service is not an activity of the material world; it is directly under the control of Radharani.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 15.106, purport:
“Any devotee who believes that the holy name of the Lord is identical with the Lord is a pure devotee, even though he may be in the neophyte stage. By his association, others may also become Vaishnavas.”
From a class on Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 20.97–99, in New York on November 28, 1966:
“If somebody falsely calls me that ‘Your Majesty,’ so it is an insult. It is not honoring him. I am an ordinary man. If somebody calls me ‘Your Majesty’ so a man who has no qualification, if he is eulogized in that way, that is an insult. But we are so much fool that if somebody calls me ‘Your Majesty,’ I shall feel, ‘Oh, I am Majesty. Yes. I am His Majesty.’ That is our nature. If some false qualifications is awarded to me, I shall be very glad to accept it. I shall think, ‘Yes, I am so…’”
Pancharatna Prabhu:
Nowadays if a leader is found to have saintly qualities, that is unusual.
Even in the corporate world, it is known that the best leaders lead by example.
If the leader does not listen to the people he leads, his followers will also not listen to others.
Lord Caitanya’s preaching did focus on the leaders of the society. When he came to Puri, the first person he preached to was the guru of the king, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, a famous scholar. Then he preached to the Mayavadi sannyasis of Varanasi.
Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya left Navadvipa before Lord Caitanya appeared.
We had a conference in Delhi about using social media to promote higher values.
Raghunath was on a show with a famous social media person and practically the next day the views of his podcast increased ten times.
Srila Prabhupada communicated his values through his actions.
People ask, “How can I preach Krishna consciousness at my work place?” The answer is by your behavior, by living the values of a devotee.
The qualities of a devotee will appear in our lives faster if we value them.
Srila Prabhupada would be lenient with rules and regulations for two reasons:
(1) for spreading the movement.
(2) for encouraging a devotee
ISKCON expanded because of inspiration from Srila Prabhupada. He saw the value in us that others could not see.
In 1960s the hippies were influenced by the rock stars, but the original idealism faded as their musical heroes became degraded by drugs.
Though coming from a background of violence, King Asoka of India applied Buddhist ideals in his life and transformed his kingdom according to them.
I see in India now there are leaders who favor the traditional values of the Vedic culture, and therefore, there is hope.
Comment by me: A certain prominent American leader has an alarming number of the demoniac qualities that Krishna lists in Bhagavad-gita: “Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance—these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature, O son of Prtha.” (Bg. 16.4)
Arcita Prabhu:
From a class on Radhastami:
The answer to the question “Who is that girl with Krishna?” is “Radharani, Krishna’s eternal consort.”
Radharani has two main potencies:
1. She gives unlimited pleasure to Krishna.
2. She maintains the devotees and the realm of bhakti.
In the spiritual world there are no objects. Everything is a person.
In India some people try for wealth and attain it. They try to separate themselves from others by living in gated communities. Sometimes, however, they have to come out, and their Mercedes is stuck in the Mumbai traffic and can only move at 5 mph like anybody else. Thus they are frustrated and try to escape by moving to the west. But however we try to adjust things, we cannot find the happiness we are looking for in this material world.
The holy name is the sweetest of all sweet things, the most auspicious of auspicious things, and the most purifying of all purifying things. We want sweetness, auspiciousness, and purity, and we can find all these in the holy name.
Radharani’s mood is to bring souls to Krishna for His pleasure. We can please Her by adopting Her mood.
If the master is friendly the servants have to be friendly too. Because we are trying to be servants of Radharani so we have to try to be friendly.
We are not here to compete with each other but to use our God-given talents in His service.
Preaching is very easy. Whatever you like about Krishna consciousness you share with others. If you just like the food, invite people to Govinda’s or the Kadamba Cafe.
Hansarupa Prabhu:
In the early days, the devotees opened a temple in Santa Fe because it was a hub of the counterculture.
Sometimes we get into studying Vaishnavism academically and get involved in trying to taste honey from outside the bottle.
If you study the stages through which bhakti progresses, you can appreciate where you are at any moment.
In China they have a whole prison of Falun Gong followers. They do not prosecute us to the extent they do the Falun Gong movement because we are small.
To think that we have extra time and we need a hobby is maya because there are so many services that Srila Prabhupada wants us to do.
Even though there were many carpenters and people with other skills, everyone spent most of their time distributing books.
Occasionally during a Srimad-Bhagavatam class Srila Prabhupada would give a ego-crushing class pointing out all our faults.
We should aspire to become so purified that there is no austerity that we are unwilling to do for Krishna.
We are preparing for a test to come that we will either pass or fail.
Srila Prabhupada was asked how to make certain advancement. He replied: By following all the little rules and regulations.
We have a day please Radharani tomorrow.
You convert knowledge to wisdom through application.
We want to give the next generation pure devotional service.
“That was then and this is now” is a false premise that goes completely against Srila Prabhupada’s teachings.
I see people going to the gym to work out. What is this? There is plenty of physical labor in the temple, and they are going to the gym.
Srila Prabhupada would not let some situation of neglect get past him. He would see that it was corrected. We should follow that example.
Rama Raya Prabhu:
She is the via-medium for all living entities to serve Krishna.
Radharani is devotional service personified.
Srila Prabhupada at the time of his departure in 1977 expressed a special attraction for Radha-Londonisvara.
If you take shelter of Radharani all problems of life can be solved. Remember that if you get into trouble.
Srila Prabhupada wrote five days before landing in Boston, “I emphatically say to you, O brothers, you will obtain your good fortune from the Supreme Lord Krishna only when Śrimati Radharani becomes pleased with you.”
Gopal Krishna Goswami was the first Indian devotee initiated in ISKCON.
Srila Prabhupada explains that Radha and Krishna can only be understood by liberated souls, and thus we have to patiently wait until we attain liberation to understand Them.
Radhe Shyam Prabhu:
Mitra is a friend, bandhu is a blood relative, and suhrt is a heart-to-heart friend who is always a well-wisher.
Not only is Krishna calling the gopis with His flute, He is inviting everyone to come back to the spiritual world to enjoy pastimes with Him.
In the beginning, you may come to the temple for the Sunday feast. Then you may come every morning. Then you may come morning and evening. When you come and never leave, you are ready to go back to Godhead.
Srila Prabhupada kept his followers engaged in different services to keep them in devotional service to the Lord.
The mind and senses of the pure devotees are thrilled doing service for the Lord.
By giving you get more than by stocking.
Love and lust are diametrically opposite.
There is not a tinge of envy between the pure devotees in the spiritual world. Sometimes it looks like there is some envy between Satyabhauma and Rukmini, but the purpose of that is to give pleasure to Krishna.
Try to serve guru and Krishna without reservation, and your bliss will increase and material desires will decrease.
Radharani’s devotion is like an ocean, and ours is like a drop.
We lose our initial attraction for the devotees because of taking the relationship in a material way.
We should always be in the mood of facilitating the devotees. If you facilitate the service of ourselves.
Radhanath Swami says we should always ask the question, “How can I best serve?”
As soon as we see some relationship is becoming strained, increase your respect.
If we are having a difficulty appreciating a devotee, consider his personal qualities, his contribution to the mission, and how he has benefited our spiritual life.
From a brahmacari class:
Do sadhana from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. and service from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
If you are very service oriented you will be protected from maya.
When brahmacaris are given privacy, they get into trouble.
If a brahmacari keeps their life like an open book, he will be safe.
Krishna learned 64 arts in 64 days, and He practiced for the 64 nights.
Krishna adjusted His form to accommodate each of the 16,000 queens.
Srila Prabhupada says Krishna smiles dancing on the hoods of Kaliya.
Krishna takes a personal interest in His devotee’s problems.
We need emotional satisfying relationships with the other ashram brahmacaris.
Hear, absorb, and apply.
No one is so big that they cannot fall down.
Jayadvaita Swami said, “People greater than you and I have fallen down.”
Mathuranath Prabhu:
One acarya said that to praise the devotee is the most blissful activity in the universe.
If we got what we wanted always, we would forget Krishna much more.
The designs on the sidewalk outside the temple attract the attention of so many people walking by. When a glimmer of Vedic culture shines through it attracts attention.
Festivals are a way of giving our time to Krishna.
Comments by me:
When Lord Caitanya glorified Haridasa Thakura it was as if he had five mouths.
Ask about: One acarya said that to praise the devotee is the most blissful activity in the universe.
I have a sense that Krishna is maintaining me because I have gone to Europe every year since 2001, but I never had to endeavor to collect the money. In recent years, I have also gone to New York in the fall and Florida in the winter, but no one in particular pays for my tickets.
Narada Muni Prabhu:
It is most amazing that after Dhruva Maharaja got the audience of the Supreme Lord, he realized his material desires were completely useless.
-----
Ever wonder about the qualifications to attain enlightenment? This verse gives insight:
yasya deve para bhaktir
tasyaite kathita hy arthah
prakasante mahatmanah
“Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.” (Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.23)
