Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 21, No. 43
By Krishna Kripa Das
(Week 43: October 22–28)
Stuyvesant Falls, Chatham, Schenectady
(Sent from Stuyvesant Falls on November 1, 2025)
Where I Went and What I Did
The forty-third 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, singing for Them, and uploading dictation tapes. I also did some personal service for Guru Maharaja. On Wednesday evening I attended a Govardhan Puja festival in Chatham.
On Saturday evening I attended a program at ISKCON Schenectady on the disappearance day of Srila Prabhupada, where I led the first Hare Krishna kirtan and talked about Srila Prabhupada not being just a guru or even just the founder-acarya of ISKCON, but a divine personality personally empowered by Krishna to spread eternal dharma all over the world, especially by teaching the chanting of the holy name and the study of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam.
I share quotes from the final chapters of Srila Prabhupada’s Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead. I also share quotes from two lectures by Srila Prabhupada on Sri Caitanya-caritamrita given in the fall of 1966 at 26 Second Avenue. I share a lengthy quote from Sri Caitanya-bhagavata by Vrindavana Dasa Thakura showing that some Muslims of His time also accepted Lord Caitanya to be an incarnation of the Supreme Lord Himself.
Many thanks to Shreyakari Devi Dasi and ISKCON Schenectady for their kind donation. Thanks to Kamesi Devi Dasi for the video of the harinama on the porch. Thanks to Krsna dasi for the videos of the Govardhan Hill circumambulation by the kids and by myself at the Chatham Wednesday program Govardhan Puja festival. Thanks to Mathura Mohan Prabhu for the ride to and from Schenectady.
Itinerary
September 12–November ?: serve Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami
November ?–December 31: NYC Harinam
– December 6: Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami Vyasa-puja / Hudson Winter Walk harinama
Chanting Hare Krishna in Upstate New York
Although we had a small team of four cooks, we had a nice Govardhan Hill at Viraha Bhavan, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s ashram in Stuyvesant Falls.
Baladeva made the best preparation, saffron-cardamom sweet rice. He also made the banana halava which was the main constituent of the hill. Krsna dasi made the rice and the dal. Ojasvini Radha Devi Dasi made the pakoras.
Govardhan Puja was on a Wednesday so we observed it at our Chatham Wednesday program. I was happily surprised by both the popularity of our Govardhan Puja festival and the enthusiasm of its participants.
Many attendees brought sweets for the hill. I included my walnut burfi and laddus.
Under the hill were people and cows, a detail I had never seen before.
Krishna Kumari Devi Dasi did a drama about the Govardhan pastime.
She looked striking as Indra, wearing a crown and riding on the elephant carrier, Airavata.
She used cotton attached to a tree branch to serve as Indra’s clouds.
Here Patrick chants Hare Krishna at the Chatham Wednesday Program on Govardhan Puja (https://youtu.be/RuxmvEM3mTo):
While Patrick chanted, Krishna Kumari and the kids circumambulated Govardhan Hill (https://youtube.com/shorts/fvQo-bfs5OA?feature=share):
The kids looked like they were having such a good time walking around Govardhan Hill, I decided to join them (https://youtube.com/shorts/cpFkOUJdr1o?feature=share):
Damodara Priya Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at the Chatham Govardhan Puja program (https://youtu.be/YisirV1wr-A):
Patrick chants Hare Krishna at the end of the Chatham Wednesday program on Govardhan Puja, and many dance (https://youtube.com/shorts/NpiL5uHavFE?feature=share):
Patrick and Amalini Radha Devi Dasi chant Hare Krishna after the Chatham Wednesday Govardhan Puja Festival (https://youtu.be/czx7R6_gx2o):
On Friday I chanted Hare Krishna in Stuyvesant Falls on the porch of Viraha Bhavan with Damodara Priya Devi Dasi, who was gardening, and another devotee who did not want to appear in this video (https://youtube.com/shorts/2zwdbQBKKhU):
Srila Prabhupada:
From Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 89:
“All the sages who assembled on the bank of the river Sarasvati to try to determine who is the supreme predominating deity became freed from all doubts about Vishnu worship. All of them thereafter engaged in devotional service, and thus they achieved the desired result and went back to Godhead.”
“Those who are actually eager to be liberated from material entanglement would do well to accept at once the conclusion given by Sri Sukadeva Gosvami. In the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is spoken by Sukadeva Gosvami, it is said that hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam is extremely conducive to liberation. The same fact is now confirmed by Suta Gosvami: if anyone who is traveling aimlessly within this material world cares to hear the nectarean words spoken by Sukadeva Gosvami, certainly he will come to the right conclusion, which is that simply by discharging devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead one will be able to stop the fatigue of perpetually migrating from one material body to another. In other words, one who becomes fixed in loving devotional service to Vishnu will certainly be able to get relief from this journey of material life, and the process is very simple: one has to give aural reception to the sweet words spoken by Sukadeva Gosvami in the form of Srimad-Bhagavatam.”
“Brahmanas, being engaged in spiritual activities, are not expected to do anything which requires physical endeavor. Therefore, they need to be protected by the ksatriyas so that they will not be disturbed in the execution of their higher occupational duties.”
From Krishna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Chapter 90:
“Some devotees of the Lord who want to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the mellow of conjugal love are elevated to the position of becoming wives of Krishna, and Krishna keeps them always attached to Him by His kind behavior. Krishna’s behavior with His wives – His movements, His talking with them, His smiling, His embracing and similar other activities, which are just like those of a loving husband – kept them always very much attached to Him. That is the highest perfection of life. If someone remains always attached to Krishna, it is to be understood that he is liberated, and his life is successful. With any devotee who loves Krishna with his heart and soul, Krishna reciprocates in such a way that the devotee cannot but remain attached to Him. The reciprocal dealings of Krishna and His devotees are so attractive that a devotee cannot think of any subject matter other than Krishna.”
“Lord Krishna is especially glorified for giving pleasure to the gopis and the queens of Dvaraka. Sukadeva Gosvami glorifies Lord Krishna for His enchanting smile, by which He enchanted not only the gopis of Vrindavan but also the queens of Dvaraka. The exact words used in this connection are vardhayan kama-devam. In Vrindavan, as the boyfriend of many gopis, and in Dvaraka, as the husband of many queens, Krishna increased their lusty desires to enjoy with Him. For God realization or self-realization, one generally has to undergo severe austerities and penances for many, many thousands of years, and then it may be possible to realize God. But the gopis and the queens of Dvaraka, simply by enhancing their lusty desires to enjoy Krishna as their boyfriend or husband, received the highest type of salvation.
“This behavior of Lord Krishna with the gopis and queens is unique in the history of self-realization. Usually people understand that for self-realization one has to go to the forest or mountains and undergo severe austerities and penances. But the gopis and the queens, simply by being attached to Krishna in conjugal love and enjoying His company in a so-called sensuous life full of luxury and opulence, achieved the highest salvation, which is impossible to achieve even for great sages and saintly persons. Similarly, demons such as Kamsa, Dantavakra and Sisupala, who all treated Krishna as an enemy, also got the highest benefit of being transferred to the spiritual world.”
From a lecture on Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 20.100–108 in New York on Nov. 29, 1966:
“Nirbandhini matih means he has already determined that ‘In this life I shall make my life perfect.’ Then, for him, perfection is guaranteed. If he thinks, ‘Oh, let me try. Let me test also this department of Krishna consciousness, at the same time test other department. Let us go this way...’ No. One should be very much serious to make complete perfection in this life.
“So a man should be serious like Sanatana Gosvami. And for that purpose he sacrificed everything, he became a beggar. So we should be prepared to sacrifice anything for perfection of this human form of life. Then perfection is guaranteed. Simply we should be very serious, that’s all.”
From a lecture on Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 20.124–125 in New York on December 4, 1966:
“Bhakti, devotional service, means to undergo a, a disciplinary system of our life so that automatically we can revive our lost relationship with Lord, God, and we become happy. This is called bhakti.”
Vrindavana Dasa Thakura:
From Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya 4.18–19:
“Lord Gauranga manifested such ecstasy that what to speak of others, even the Yavanas [such as the Muslims] chanted the name of Hari. Even the Yavanas offered obeisances from a distance. Such is the merciful incarnation of Lord Gauracandra!”
From Sri Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya 4.48–68:
“The king then summoned Kesava Khan and inquired from him in great wonder, ‘Tell me, Kesava Khan, what is your opinion about the person named Sri Krishna Caitanya? Tell me, what does He preach, what kind of person is He, and what kind of sannyasi is He? Also tell me clearly why people come from the four directions to see Him.’
“When the most pious Kesava Khan heard these questions, he became worried and spoke in a way to suppress the truth.
“Who says He is a Gosañi? He is just a mendicant sannyasi. He is a poor fellow from another country who lives under trees.”
“The king said, ‘Don’t ever call Him poor, for it is a great offense to hear such a description. Know for certain that He is the same personality whom the Hindus address as Krishna and the Yavanas address as Khoda. My order is carried out only in my kingdom, but His order is respectfully carried out in all places. Even some persons in my own kingdom have begun conspiring to harm me. But the people of all places respect Him with their body, mind, and speech. Why would they worship Him if He were not God? If I do not provide salaries to my servants for six months, they will conspire against me in various ways. Yet these people maintain themselves and still desire to serve Him, even though they do not get a proper opportunity. Therefore know for certain that He is the Supreme Lord. Do not call Him “poor.”’
“The king then said, ‘I order that no one should disturb Him in any way. Let Him stay wherever He desires, and let Him preach the teachings of His scriptures in whatever way He wants. Let Him peacefully perform kirtana with His followers, and let Him stay in a solitary place or anywhere else He likes. If anyone attempts to oppose Him, I will take his life, whether he is a Kazi or a constable.’
“After the King issued this order, he went inside his palace. Such are the pastimes of Sri Gaurasundara. This same Hussain Shah broke deities and temples throughout Orissa. Even such a Yavana respected Gauracandra, yet nowadays many blind persons do not.”
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This verse, which Puskara Prabhu, the artist, taught me when I lived in Alachua, explains why chanting the glories of the Lord is superior to processes of atonement. Not only does it free one from the reactions of materialistic activities, it engages one in the superior process of devotional service and thus liberates one from material entanglement altogether.
na niskrtair uditair brahma-vadibhis
yatha harer nama-padair udahrtais
tad uttamasloka-gunopalambhakam
“By following the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies or undergoing atonement, sinful men do not become as purified as by chanting once the holy name of Lord Hari. Although ritualistic atonement may free one from sinful reactions, it does not awaken devotional service, unlike the chanting of the Lord’s names, which reminds one of the Lord’s fame, qualities, attributes, pastimes and paraphernalia.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.2.11)
