Where I Went and What I Did
The forty-first week of 2025, I lived at Viraha Bhavan, the ashram of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, my Guru Maharaja, in Stuyvesant Falls, New York. I helped his caretakers with different services like cleaning the kitchen, waking up the deities and uploading dictation tapes. I also did some personal service for Guru Maharaja. On Wednesday evening I attended a Gita class and kirtan program in Chatham. On Saturday evening I attended a kirtan program at Raghunath Prabhu’s Supersoul Farm.
On Sunday afternoon I attended the feast program at ISKCON Schenectady, where I gave a lecture on Bhagavad-gita 4.9, and talked about evidence that Krishna’s body is transcendental and not material.
I share quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam and Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead. I share quotes from Caitanya-bhagavata by Vrindavana Dasa Thakura and from its commentary by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. I share a quote from Mukunda Maharaja’s Miracle on Second Avenue.
Many thanks to Bhakta Henry of DC for his very generous donation. Thank again to Shreyakari Devi Dasi and ISKCON Schenectady for their kind donation and for the video of me chanting at their program and the photo of me speaking.
Itinerary
September 12–October 31: serve Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami
October 31–January 3, 2026: NYC Harinam
January 4, 2026: Miami Ratha-yatra?
Chanting Hare Krishna in Upstate New York
Patrick and Katie chant Hare Krishna at Chatham Wednesday program, and people dance (https://youtu.be/0rHjGI4oNQA):
Patrick chants Hare Krishna at Chatham Wednesday program, and women and kids dance in a circle (https://youtu.be/a6o5cb5Dsu8):
Damodara Priya Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at the Chatham Wednesday program (https://youtube.com/shorts/SKW3SGUmtSY):
Patrick chants Hare Krishna in the final kirtan at the Chatham Wednesday program (https://youtu.be/Bg0hK18Rf-s):
Raghunath Prabhu chants Hare Krishna to the “Damodarastaka” melody at his Supersoul Farm (https://youtu.be/VnV6gvLAapk):
Maya chants Hare Krishna at Supersoul Farm (https://youtu.be/bNM46Jde5IY):
Cody chants "Govinda Jaya Jaya" at Supersoul Farm (https://youtu.be/oS7Kkm2du_Y):
Cody chants Hare Krishna at Supersoul Farm (https://youtu.be/ZZ8eDRGKxvQ):
Seth and friends chant Hare Krishna at Supersoul Farm (https://youtu.be/MZs7QJrSv3U):
By the end of Seth’s kirtan, almost everyone was dancing (https://youtu.be/CVf88ByKR8Y):
I led the kirtan at the beginning of the Sunday feast program at ISKCON Schenectady (https://youtube.com/shorts/t615ngQz86U?feature=share):
Photos
The morning of October 10 was very cold, and when I went outside to pick a flower for the arati around 8:30 a.m. there was still frost on the marigolds, something I do not ever remember seeing before.
I love smoothies, but I am too cheap to buy them, or even to buy the ingredients. Even if I have the ingredients, I am too lazy to make them. At my guru’s ashram, however, I make them every day. After serving him and his deities breakfast, I just blend up the maha milk and the maha fruit, and in thirty seconds I have a smoothie!
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.2, purport:
“In the material world there is keen competition between animal and animal, man and man, community and community, nation and nation. But the devotees of the Lord rise above such competitions. They do not compete with the materialist because they are on the path back to Godhead, where life is eternal and blissful. Such transcendentalists are nonenvious and pure in heart. In the material world, everyone is envious of everyone else, and therefore there is competition. But the transcendental devotees of the Lord are not only free from material envy, but are well-wishers to everyone, and they strive to establish a competitionless society with God in the center.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.3, purport:
“Every living entity, beginning from Brahma, the first-born living being within the material world, down to the insignificant ant, desires to relish some sort of taste derived from sense perceptions. These sensual pleasures are technically called rasas. Such rasas are of different varieties. In the revealed scriptures the following twelve varieties of rasas are enumerated: (1) raudra (anger), (2) adbhuta (wonder), (3) srngara (conjugal love), (4) hasya (comedy), (5) vira (chivalry), (6) daya (mercy), (7) dasya (servitorship), (8) sakhya (fraternity), (9) bhayanaka (horror), (10) bibhatsa (shock), (11) santa (neutrality), (12) vatsalya (parenthood).”
“The sum total of all these rasas is called affection or love.”
“The rasas were originally exchanged between the spiritual living being and the spiritual whole, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The spiritual exchange or rasa is fully exhibited in spiritual existence between living beings and the Supreme Lord.
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead is therefore described in the sruti-mantras, Vedic hymns, as ‘the fountainhead of all rasas.’ When one associates with the Supreme Lord and exchanges one’s constitutional rasa with the Lord, then the living being is actually happy.
“These sruti-mantras indicate that every living being has his constitutional position, which is endowed with a particular type of rasa to be exchanged with the Personality of Godhead. In the liberated condition only, this primary rasa is experienced in full. In the material existence, the rasa is experienced in the perverted form, which is temporary. And thus the rasas of the material world are exhibited in the material form of raudra (anger) and so on.
“Therefore, one who attains full knowledge of these different rasas, which are the basic principles of activities, can understand the false representations of the original rasas which are reflected in the material world. The learned scholar seeks to relish the real rasa in the spiritual form. In the beginning he desires to become one with the Supreme. Thus, less intelligent transcendentalists cannot go beyond this conception of becoming one with the spirit whole, without knowing of the different rasas.”
“By submissively hearing this transcendental literature [Srimad-Bhagavatam], one can attain the full pleasure of his heart’s desire.”
From Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 25:
“As usual, the gopis began to chant the glorious pastimes of Lord Krishna with great feeling, for they were chanting from the heart.”
From Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 27:
“The surabhi cows and all the demigods and their mothers joined the heavenly king, Indra, in worshiping Lord Krishna by bathing Him with Ganges water and the milk of the surabhis. Thus Govinda, Lord Krishna, was pleased with all of them. The residents of all higher planetary systems, such as Gandharvaloka, Vidyadharaloka, Siddhaloka and Caranaloka, all combined and glorified the Lord by chanting His holy name as their wives and damsels danced with great joy. They very much satisfied the Lord by incessantly pouring flowers from the sky. When everything was very nicely and joyfully settled, the cows overflooded the surface of the earth with their milk. The water of the rivers began to flow with various tasty liquids and give nourishment to the trees, producing fruits and flowers of different colors and tastes. The trees began to pour drops of honey. The hills and mountains began to produce potent medicinal plants and valuable stones. Because of Krishna’s presence, all these things happened very nicely, and the lower animals, who were generally envious of one another, were envious no longer. . . . This great incident is a powerful example of how Krishna consciousness can benefit the world. Even the lower animals forget their envious nature and become elevated to the qualities of the demigods.”
From Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 33:
“Krishna, the Supersoul of everyone, is already within the body of everyone; therefore if He sees someone or embraces someone there is no question of impropriety.”
“Sukadeva Gosvami concludes this episode of the rasa-lila by pointing out that if a person hears from the right source about the pastimes of Krishna, who is Vishnu Himself, and the gopis, who are expansions of His energy, then he will be relieved of the most dangerous type of disease, namely lust. In other words, one who actually hears the rasa-lila will become completely freed from the lusty desire of sex life and elevated to the highest level of spiritual understanding.”
From Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 56:
“Although a scientist may be a creator of many wonderful things, Krishna is the creator of the scientist. He is the creator of not only one scientist but of millions and trillions, all over the universe. . . . Scientists utilize the physical elements or laws of material nature to do something wonderful, but actually such laws and elements are also the creation of Krishna. This is actual scientific understanding. Less intelligent men do not try to understand who created the brain of the scientist; they are satisfied simply to see the wonderful creation or invention of the scientist.”
From Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 58:
“The Lord can be pleased only by a humble attitude in the service spirit. The more we render service unto the Lord under the direction of the spiritual master, the more we make advancement on the path approaching the Lord. We cannot demand any grace or mercy from the Lord because of our service rendered to Him. He may accept or not accept our service, but the only means to satisfy the Lord is through the service attitude, and nothing else.”
From Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 60:
[Queen Rukmini said to her husband, Lord Krishna:] “In the society of the servitors and served in Krishna consciousness, one is not subjected to the pains and pleasures of material society, which functions according to sex attraction. Therefore everyone, whether man or woman, should seek to be an associate in Your society of servitors and served. You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead; no one can excel You, nor can anyone come up to an equal level with You. The perfect social system is that in which You remain in the center, being served as the Supreme, and all others engage as Your servitors. In such a perfectly constructed society, everyone can remain eternally happy and blissful.”
Vrindavana Dasa Thakura:
From Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 20.39:
“I openly reveal to you that I am eternal, My servants are eternal, and the servants of My servants are eternal.”
From Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 20.42–44:
“Shiva leaves aside his clothes while relishing My glories. Lord Ananta, the sustainer of the universe, personally sings My glories. Personalities like Sukadeva and Narada become intoxicated by hearing My glories. The greatness of My glories is described by the four Vedas. O Murari, anyone who disregards such auspicious glories can never understand My incarnation.”
From Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 20.45:
“By teaching Murari, the Supreme Lord taught everyone, “My form, servants, pastimes, and abodes are all eternal.”
From Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 20.75:
“Whoever the servants and maidservants of the Vaishnavas may be, the Vedas declare, ‘They are the best of all.’”
From Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 20.105–127:
“One day the most pure Murari thought about the position of the Lord’s incarnations. ‘While the Lord and His associates are still present in this world, I should think of my own welfare. I cannot understand the pastimes of Krishna or how He acts at a particular time. Sometimes He creates, and then He annihilates. Although He destroyed Ravana and his dynasty to bring back Sita, why did He then abandon her? Therefore I should give up my body while He is still present in this world. The proper time to give up my body is while that great personality is still present in this world.’
After contemplating in this way, Murari Gupta secretly brought one sharp chopper. As he brought that chopper and hid it inside the house, he thought, ‘Tonight I will happily give up my body.’
Lord Visvambhara resides in the heart of all living entities. He therefore understood Murari’s resolution. The Lord quickly came to Murari’s house, and Murari offered his respectful obeisances at the Lord’s feet. Feeling great compassion for Murari, the Lord sat on an asana and began to narrate topics of Krishna. The Lord then said, ‘O Murari, will you do what I say?’
Murari replied, ‘O Lord, this body belongs to You.’
The Lord asked, ‘Is that a fact?’
Murari replied, ‘Yes.’
The Lord then whispered in his ear, ‘Then give Me that chopper. You have kept a chopper inside the house with which you plan to kill yourself. Give it to Me.’
In great lamentation, Murari exclaimed, ‘Alas! Alas! Someone has told You a lie.’
The Lord said, ‘Murari, you are certainly naive. Are you saying that I will know something only if someone else tells Me? I know who made that chopper and where you have hidden it.’
The Lord is the omniscient Supersoul in the hearts of all, so He knows everything. He went inside the house and brought out the chopper.
The Lord said, ‘O Murari, this is how you behave! For what fault of Mine do you want to leave Me? If you leave, with whom will I enjoy pastimes? Who has given you such ideas? O Murari, give Me your word that you will never think of such things again.’ Lord Visvambhara then embraced Murari and placed His hand on Murari's head.”
From Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 20.136:
“If even a bird chants Lord Caitanya’s name, it will certainly attain Lord Caitanya’s abode.”
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:
From his commentary on Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 20.137:
“Those sannyasis who blaspheme Gaura are more abominable than thieves and plunderers.”
From his commentary on Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 20.140:
“In the Naradiya Purana it is stated:
prakatam patitahsreyan ya eko yaty adhah svayam
baka-vrttih svayam papah patayaty aparan api
‘A fallen person is superior to a sinful hypocrite because he goes to hell alone, whereas the hypocrite takes others to hell with him.’”
From his commentary on Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 20.145:
“Thieves suffer for only one lifetime, but blasphemers suffer continuously life after life.”
From his commentary on Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 20.148:
“One who renounces the blasphemy of saintly persons and then chants the name of Krishna even once can easily attain the mercy of the Lord.”
Mukunda Goswami:
From Miracle on Second Avenue, Chapter 26:
“Soon forty revelers skipped and jumped to the pulse of the mrdanga, and the Swami’s words reverberated in my head: ‘Rhythm is the universal language.’”
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Sometimes our speaking gets us into trouble. If we follow Krishna’s guidelines for speech, we will get a better result.
anudvega-karam vakyam
satyam priya-hitam ca yat
svadhyayabhyasanam caiva
van-mayam tapa ucyate
“Austerity of speech consists in speaking words that are truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and not agitating to others, and also in regularly reciting Vedic literature.” (Bhagavad-gita 17.15)
