Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 21, No. 37
By Krishna Kripa Das
(Week 37: September 10–16, 2025)
Syracuse, Albany, and Stuyvesant Falls
(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls, New York, on September 20, 2025)
Where I Went and What I Did
The thirty-seventh week of 2025, I spent two days in Syracuse doing harinama at Syracuse University and giving lectures at Mantra Central and five days acting as a pujari for my guru’s deities in Stuyvesant Falls, both venues in Upstate New York. In between I chanted Hare Krishna for about an hour at the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station. There some Indian taxi cab drivers stopped by to talk. One played around with the harmonium. In addition to my pujari duties at Viraha Bhavan, the ashram of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, I would maintain a program of morning and evening kirtans.
My friend, Janmastami Prabhu of Belgium, under the direction of Yadunandana Swami, was visiting for a month, and he joined me for almost every kirtan.
I share quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam, Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, and Teachings of Lord Kapila. I share quotes from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s Journal and Poems, volume 1.
Many, many thanks to Rama Dasa Prabhu of Syracuse for his very generous donation. Thanks to Madhu Sri Prabhu, who regularly attends the ISKCON NYC Sunday feast and gave me a donation this and the previous week. Thanks to Partha Prabhu of Syracuse his donation of leftover euros.
Itinerary
September 12–October ??: serve Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami
– September 21: ISKCON Schenectady Sunday Feast
– September 25–26: Philadelphia harinamas
– September 27: Philadelphia Ratha-yatra and Times Square Kirtan Festival
– September 28: ISKCON Schenectady Sunday Feast?
October ??–December 31: NYC Harinam
Chanting Hare Krishna in Upstate New York
Rama Dasa Prabhu, who is in charge of a small center in Syracuse called Mantra Central, invited me to come there and do harinama and give lectures.
Madhava Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Syracuse University, I play the drum, and Rama Dasa Prabhu distributes books in the background (https://youtu.be/3Xs1ncsaWGk):
Rama Dasa Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at the Mantra Central Wednesday program (https://youtu.be/HglefWqDtNs):
Janmastami Prabhu, who I know from doing harinama in Holland and Belgium, chants Hare Krishna in an evening kirtan at Viraha Bhavan, the ashram of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, in Stuyvesant Falls, New York (https://youtube.com/shorts/4rPPvmL-Q-o?feature=share):
Photos
In 1982, after graduating from Brown University with a degree in computer science, I went to write software for Adikesava Prabhu, who had a company with a office on Route 46 in Fairfield, New Jersey, a place I don’t think I’ve been to since but which I past en route to Syracuse, New York, to do harinama.
Then I would live at the Towaco temple, where the Gaura-Nitai deities I knew from living in our 55th Street temple in 1979 resided, and I would drive to work.
Although not a real pujari, somehow I am engaged in taking care of and even dressing my guru’s deities of Radha-Govinda in Stuyvesant Falls.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.23.7, purport:
“In order to be recognized by Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one should chant the holy name of the Lord continuously, twenty-four hours a day.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.5.14, purport:
“Karmis change their professions at any moment, but a Krishna conscious person does not change his profession, for his only profession is to attract the attention of Krishna by chanting the Hare Krishna mantra and living a very simple life, without following daily changes of fashion.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 2.11, purport:
“A pure devotee knows that when he chants the transcendental name ‘Krishna,’ Sri Krishna is present as transcendental sound. He therefore chants with full respect and veneration.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 8.16, purport:
“One must come to the understanding that the holy name of the Lord and the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself are identical. One cannot reach this conclusion unless one is offenseless in chanting the holy name.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 9.36, purport:
“A person who is actually a follower of Sri Bhaktivinoda Thakura must immediately accept the request of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu by offering respectful obeisances unto His lotus feet and thus beg from Him the Hare Krishna maha-mantra. If one is fortunate enough to beg from the Lord this Hare Krishna maha-mantra, his life is successful.”
From Teachings of Lord Kapila, verses 25 and 26:
“The name of Krishna and Krishna are nondifferent, but we cannot realize this intellectually. We have to practice chanting Hare Krishna to realize it. When we actually advance in devotional service and chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra offenselessly, we will realize that Krishna and His name are nondifferent.”
From a letter to Satsvarupa on May 28, 1970:
“As I have already said many times that we have to maintain two lines parallel; namely the path of Srimad-Bhagavatam and the path of Pancaratriki. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the path for Paramahamsas, and Pancaratra path is for the neophytes. So the Temple worship is necessary for the beginners so that by following the regulative principles such devotees become more and more purified and thus gradually come on the platform to understand Srimad-Bhagavatam. So we shall always keep these principles in view and maintain our centers on this standard.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From I Am Never Displeased With Any Member (Letters, Volume 3), March 1970:
“Still, whether we printed it all or not, devotees seemed to love to write poetry in those days. It was understood as early as 1966 and especially by 1967 that Prabhupada liked us to express ourselves in the poetry of our country. The poets flowered in 1967, writing free verse. That output has not been matched since in our movement, and most of the poetry published in BTG today tends to be rhyming poetry. It’s a different mood now. We wrote of our actual experiences of practicing what Prabhupada taught in those days. Prabhupada read those poems and told us that he liked them.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami told me to include some sample poems from that time period.
Here are two from January 20, 1967. This is one of his:
Chanting
When we go chanting
Hare Krishna
outdoors,
under the blue sky,
with drums and cymbals
through the streets,
who can measure
the essence of that?
From a cloud hung a
waterspout, the sun
was going in and out,
buildings, faces, and
cars, people – seemed the same
stopping to look at us
in awe.
“We are unbustable,” said
Achyutananda;
He meant when
we chant
Hare Krishna
We are unbustable and made
100% pure
by virtue of the Holy Name
Of Krishna.
And this is one of Hayagriva Prabhu’s:
Some Questions to Lord Krishna
1.
Is it true
That Thou art blue
And art the Supreme
Godhead too?
I also hear
You like to toy
About Vaikuntha
As Cow Boy.
Swamiji says
You always wear
A peacock feather
In Thy Hair
And that Thy Feet
Are colored red
And leave a lotus
Where’er You tread
And that eternally
You play
Upon Thy flute
The Vedic Way.
And that in battle
You gave the Gita
To Arjuna
That we might read ’er.
But is it true?
May we traverse?
Within Thy Mouth
The universe?
O Lord Divine,
Who dares to doubt it?
Thy cosmos shouts
Thy praise throughout it.
2.
Because, O Lord,
The Milky Way
Is but cow's milk
You drank one day.
And I believe
We really float
Within Thy Belly
Like a boat.
And time will come
When You'll discharge
Our galaxy
Upon Thy yard.
Then we’ll look up
To see Thy Face
And Thy true Form
With all its Grace.
“Welcome,’ You’ll laugh
And give a kick
And like a cow boy
Play a trick.
Lasso devotees,
Corral and tie
All those who to
Vrindavan fly.
And call to us,
“Come on, ladies!
I’ve made rice, dhall,
And chopaties.”
Then I will know
That it is true
That Thou art blue
And Godhead too.
From Journal and Poems, Volume 1:
“When I heard so many birds I thought, ‘the material world is actually the spiritual world.’ The material is spiritual, because it comes from the Supreme. Whatever comes from the Spiritual is also spiritual. There I’ve said it—as theology. But sometimes you feel it, and you realize that everything is wonderful because everything is coming from Krishna.”
“Sit down on this log
for a moment of peace and contemplation.
Put your gloved hands together.
Don’t pay too much attention
to the sky.
Just think: you are a tiny soul
and everything around you
is the energy of Krishna.”
“I am certain of pain,
I am sure devotional service
is the best way to go.”
“‘Even when there is no God’s picture,’
said Prabhupada,
‘one who is God conscious can see
“Oh, how God is artistic,
how He has painted,
how He has made this tree.”
Because without God
there can be nothing.’”
“I’ll talk out loud
the feast
of God’s names.”
“And I who possess a human brain
walk in my boots
chanting God’s names
amid the zillions of grasses.”
“Pines fall
into poems,
but I keep wanting
to put God in.
When will I realize
that He is here?”
“I plan to spend almost thirty days in Ireland with no other duties except to be alone with Lord Krishna and to understand my relationship with Him. My approach should be mainly through the Hare Krishna mantra. I want to be faithful to Prabhupada and the sastras, and this is what they emphatically declare:
“In the age of Kali
there is no other way,
no other way
no other way
to reach God realization
except to chant the holy name
chant the holy name
chant the holy name.
“But mechanical chanting and nama-aparadha cover me. Therefore, it seems advisable that I also think and write about my relationship with the holy name.
Try to think what has happened. What are my problems? What are my doubts? How can I overcome them? I can make a directed study of the holy name: japa reform.”
“There is no easy victory over the anarthas. How many times have I tried to revive my attraction to the holy name, only to find it is just another ‘fad’?”
“Now a note has arrived from an initiated disciple with a gift of gopi-candana for tilaka. She writes, ‘Please bless me that I may chant Hare Krishna from my heart.’ How can I bless her since I myself don’t chant from the heart? So I have written her, ‘Please pray to the Lord that your spiritual master may be able to chant Hare Krishna from the heart, and then he can bless you.’”
“Personal faith in Krishna
is a grace from God.”
“So we’re all meant to think of the Lord and His personal form or name with His personal activities and qualities, but we’re very busy. So Krishna has given us ways to think of Him even while we’re engaged in our activities. ‘Remember Me and fight,’ He tells Arjuna.”
“My life has advantages of being able to have time and place to turn inward more. Now if I can do that as a service to others and assure them that meditation is possible while chanting, and if I can also tell them some of the nectar of Krishna because of my ability to read and absorb myself in it, then that’s a service. But if I myself am not able to do this, then how can I render that service? So I am taking time to do it.”
“My dear Lord Krishna, dear Srila Prabhupada,
“I have abused my relationship with you, doubted it, neglected it and been disobedient in devious ways. Punish me as you see fit and bring me under your control.
“I cannot surrender. But you can cause me to surrender. Please don’t let me perish in my pride and false ego.
“Please protect your helpless, tiny son. Let me do good to others in your name. Give me conviction.”
“As St. Francis of Assisi said on his death bed, ‘I have done what is mine to do: may Christ teach you what is yours to do.’”
“All our devotional and occupational activities may be compared to streams, and japa is the spring from which they flow. . . . It seems especially appropriate for a teacher to work on the basics in order to ‘set the example.’ It is a good example even for those preachers who are more active than I am, because they also must derive their energy from the inexhaustible spring of hari-nama.”
“I’m not justified in disliking anything Prabhupada does or teaches.”
“My spiritual master is giving me a hard time. I want to go my own way, but he knows what is best for me. He is the spiritual father. (And we all have problems with father figures, right?) He is the authority and as Allen Ginsberg said to Prabhupada, ‘We have a problem with authorities in this country.’ He is the representative of God.”
“Everyone more or less knows the philosophy but we want to appreciate it and wake up to it.”
“It’s inner warfare
to transform pain and boredom
into little acts of love.”
“Red splotches of dye on sheep remind you that they’ll soon be bloodied and slaughtered. All living entities are stained by the material nature; we are a herd marked for annihilation. We are like the sheep let loose to wander over large, mountainous areas.”
“Sign: ‘A career woman has to look like a lady, act like a man and work like a dog.’”
“We should stay under the guidance of the spiritual master and pray as we act.”
“In order to preach downtown I had to stay up late and eat an evening feast, but it was worth it.”
“Gobhata dasa asked how can we avoid the attitude that we’ve heard about Krishna again and again and that it is simply repetitive? I said that our feelings of dryness and thinking of Krishna consciousness as ‘the same old thing’ are because we are only superficially tasting it, just like the person who licks the outside of a jar of honey. If we could actually taste the honey, we would not become tired of it.”
“Praise His name (even before you taste it). Praise the name, and Srimad-Bhagavatam and Srila Prabhupada; they are your saviors. You would like to taste the nectar. The secret is in trnad api. I daydream of calling out, mad in the holy names, the happy freedom of a humble piece of straw, with nothing to defend and always chanting.”
“May the holy name of Krishna bless the inhabitants of the earth planet! All kindness to the motley crowds who have come to the human form of life. May they hear these Names, even if in passing, let them hear. We chanters only know that we are singing, and it is the highest good. May the Hare Krishna mantra fly out in gentle and swaying melodies, Bengali rhythms heard half a block away, and may the singers, humorous and aware, go on serving their Lord in the shelter of the yuga-dharma. May the holy name fill our lungs as we sing God’s names. Save us from Kali’s band!”
“Successful chanting means the Lord is pleased with you, and He reciprocates.”
“Dear Lord Krishna, dear Srila Prabhupada,
I feel energy for creating literary works; it makes me joyful. I want to use it in your service. As Srila Prabhupada writes, a devotee’s only thought is ‘Where is there an opportunity to preach Krishna consciousness?’ You are granting me the chance to praise you in writing. You allow me to print and distribute books as few authors are allowed. I’m not a qualified craftsman or great thinker or poet—still you allow me. It’s you who are to be praised, since you give all authors intelligence. Besides, what is there to write about but your universe, love and life which comes from you? Ultimately, you are the object of literature. I pray to serve you. You are making me very happy. I want to make others happy in Krishna consciousness. All glories to you.”
“Keep on trying,
chant and pick flowers
for your smiling God.”
“I recently received six tapes by Ravindra-svarupa Prabhu and six by Sadaputa Prabhu. I listened to them during breakfast and lunch and with hot milk at night. They comfort me and guard me and inspire me. Both of these men are brilliant intellectuals, and both have a strong faith (nistha) in Srila Prabhupada’s teachings. It comforts me to have their friendship in this way, and their strong faith guards me. They inspire me because they are presenting the ‘old’ teaching in new ways, help us to see Krishna consciousness, not as sectarian religion, but as all-embracing truth.”
“Books and writing are okay,
and eating and sleeping are okay,
and my attempt
to say my prayers is okay,
and so is the fact that even a little devotional service
will never be lost.
But it would be nice to break through,
and rise to the next higher step.”
“Srila Prabhupada has taught us well,
but a slow student
goes on serving without the higher taste.
I know exactly what is wrong,
but I am helpless to cast off the bonds—
attachment to the senses,
and the tendency to speculate.
I pray
that You please find a way
to transform me;
please make me into a loving soul,
proclaiming Your glories.”
“Kala moves us along, sometimes gently and sometimes with rude force. We’re never in control.”
“Getting ready to travel produces a life-sadness, uneasiness—more aware than usual that my life will eventually end, as it does for everyone.”
“Srila Prabhupada said that Radha is the best devotee of Krishna. She loves Him purely. We should follow Her example of trying to please and satisfy the Supreme Lord by our loving service. That’s the essence of Radha aside from more technical descriptions of the Lord’s internal energies and the mood of conjugal rasa. This simple meaning is perhaps the best way for me to understand Radha.”
-----
I asked Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami if he had any favorite verses, and the first one he mentioned was Bhagavad-gita 6.30:
yo mam pasyati sarvatra
sarvam ca mayi pasyati
tasyaham na pranasyami
sa ca me na pranasyati
“For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.”
When he said that it reminded me of how in his writings there are so many examples of seeing Krishna in nature. Thus it made sense that he would like that verse.
