Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 21, No. 8
By Krishna Kripa Das
(Week 8: February 19–25, 2025)
(Sent from Tallahassee, Florida, on March 1, 2025)
Where I Went and What I Did
For the eighth week of 2025, I remained living at ISKCON Tallahassee and chanted three hours each day on Landis Green, behind the main Florida State University library.
On Friday Ananga Mohan Prabhu and a student guitar player joined me for an hour. During the week, I distributed four “On Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlets along with forty-five little cups of halava to promote our Krishna Lunch at the campus.
The rose a student gave me on Valentine’s Day and which I used to decorate Gaura-Nitai’s altar, still looked wonderful after a week.
Even after eleven days, it remained in good condition.
Michelle, a neuroscience major, recommended that I make a sign advertising the free dessert, and I did. The first day I used the sign, I distributed the twelve little cups of halava I brought out in an hour and forty minutes instead of in three hours!
I went to the Sunday feast in Alachua and gave the Bhagavatam class on Monday morning there. You can hear it here. I mentioned how the pregnancy of Diti in the evening could have been avoided if the couple had a nice spiritual program in the evening as Srila Prabhupada recommended, and I discussed transcending lust. I also talked about Isvara Puri as it was his disappearance day.
I share lots of quotes from the books, lectures, conversations, and letters of Srila Prabhupada, many I read in Bhakti Vikasa Swami’s soon-to-be-published book on the mood and mission of Srila Prabhupada. I am trying to read all the Prabhupada biographies, and thus I share quotes from Miracle on Second Avenue by Mukunda Goswami. I share quotes from The Final Frontier, the latest book of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, which is in the production stage. I share quotes from the Golden Avatar by Yogesvara Prabhu, also in production. I share notes on talks by Hridayananda Goswami, Bhaktivedanta Nemi Maharaja, Drutakarma Prabhu, and Murli Gopal Prabhu at the January 2025 human evolution conference of the Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies in Gainesville. I share notes on classes by Nanda Dasi in Alachua and Govinda Kaviraja and Gaurachand Prabhus here in Tallahassee.
Thanks to Sakshi Gopal Prabhu for his kind donation. Thanks to Ananga Mohan Prabhu for giving me a ride to Alachua. Thanks to Pran Govinda Swami for allowing me to stay in his ashram in Alachua and for arranging for me to give Bhagavatam class at the temple there.
Itinerary
January 6–April 11: Tallahassee harinamas and FSU college outreach
– March 9–16: Krishna House Gainesville harinamas and UF college outreach
– March 15: Daytona Beach Ratha-yatra
April 12: St. Augustine Ratha-yatra
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 with a layover in Oslo
April 24–25: Kadamba Kanana Swami Vyasa-puja at Radhadesh
April 26: King’s Day harinama in Amsterdam
April 27: Liege harinama
April 28–May 1: Paris harinamas
May 2: Sarcelles market harinama and Amsterdam harinama
May 3–4: Holland 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 4: Amsterdam harinama
– July 5: Amsterdam Ratha-yatra
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee
Govinda Kaviraja Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at a home program in Tallahassee (https://youtu.be/vf2ijd_ijWw):
Bhakti chants Hare Krishna at a home program in Tallahassee (https://youtu.be/bwmON7B_yhA):
Bhakti chants Hare Krishna during the arati there (https://youtube.com/shorts/IjJSgQMq__Y?feature=share):
Chanting Hare Krishna in Alachua
Godruma Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Alachua during Sunday feast kirtan (https://youtu.be/MFIPvIp5tZM):
Maya Cabrinha chants Hare Krishna in Alachua after the Sunday feast (https://youtube.com/shorts/D_o5Kaqwr6k?feature=share):
Next, one son of Ekadasi Vrata Devi Dasi, Kishor Gopal Prabhu, led the Hare Krishna chant, accompanied by another, Ananta Govinda Prabhu, on the drum (https://youtube.com/shorts/u0R-aoEhNqk):
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.16, purport:
“Expert devotees can also discover novel ways and means to convert the nondevotees in terms of particular time and circumstance.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.28.48, purport:
“The main business of human society is to think of the Supreme Personality of Godhead at all times, to become His devotees, to worship the Supreme Lord, and to bow down before Him. The acarya, the authorized representative of the Supreme Lord, establishes these principles, but when he disappears, things once again become disordered. The perfect disciples of the acarya try to relieve the situation by sincerely following the instructions of the spiritual master.”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 13:
“In the Eleventh Canto, Twentieth Chapter, verse 9, of Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Lord Himself says, ‘One should execute the prescribed duties of varna and asrama as long as he has not developed spontaneous attachment for hearing about My pastimes and activities.’”
From Science of Self-Realization, Chapter 3:
“One has to learn by the result (phalena pariciyate). Our students are ordered to act like this, and they are not falling down. That they are remaining on the platform of pure spiritual life without hankering to culture the principles of avidya, or sense gratification, is the test of their proper understanding of the Vedas. They do not come back to the material platform, because they are relishing the nectarian fruit of love of God.”
From Dharma: The Way of Transcendence, Chapter 3:
“We are trying to render our humble service to human society by teaching, ‘You are attempting to become happy in so many ways, but instead of becoming happy you are becoming frustrated. So please take this Krishna consciousness and you will actually become happy.’ Imparting this knowledge is our mission.
From a conversation in Indore on December 5, 1970:
“So our mission is very grave and it should be act[ed] sincerely and then we get power from Krishna. If we act sincerely as representative[s] of Krishna then we will feel His power.”
From a letter to students [in San Francisco] on August 2, 1967:
“Never think that I am absent from you. Physical presence is not essential; presence by message (or hearing) is real touch. Lord Krishna is present by His message which was delivered 5,000 years ago. We feel always the presence of our past Acaryas simply by their immutable instructions.”
From a letter to Tamala Krishna Goswami on September 19, 1969:
“My desire is an open secret. I simply want all over the Western countries people may take this simple formula of chanting, dancing and eating Krishna Prasadam, and being happy. I am simply surprised that they should not accept this simple formula and be happy themselves. My only desire is that all people become happy and prosperous in Krishna Consciousness.”
From a letter to Jadurani from Srila Prabhupada’s servant, Paramahansa Swami, on January 3, 1975:
“Because I instruct one person one way, does that mean it is for everybody?”
From a letter to the devotees in New York on January 19, 1967:
“I understand that you are feeling my absence. Krishna will give you strength. Physical presence is immaterial; presence of the transcendental sound received from the spiritual master should be the guidance of life. That will make our spiritual life successful.”
From a letter to Govinda Dasi on August 17, 1969:
“You write that you have a desire to avail of my association again, but why do you forget that you are always in association with me? When you are helping my missionary activities, I am always thinking of you and you are always thinking of me. That is real association.”
From a remembrance of Tamal Krishna Goswami quoted by Madri Devi Dasi:
“My books are better than me, because the best of me is in the books. I sit there, and every word that comes out is the very best of me.”
From a letter to Brahmananda on September 28, 1969:
“I shall request you not to circulate all my letters that I address to you. Letters are sometimes personal and confidential, and if all letters are circulated, it may react reversely. I have already got some hints like that with letters I sent to you regarding Kirtanananda and Hayagriva. So in the future please do not circulate my letters to you. All my letters to you should be considered as confidential, and if you want at all to circulate, you just ask me before doing so.”
From a letter to Hansadutta on October 1, 1974:
“Your statement expressing your surrender to your spiritual master is proper. If this principle is followed you will remain pure and always protected by Krishna. Always follow my instructions and my example. This should be your life and soul.”
Mukunda Goswami:
From Miracle on Second Avenue:
“‘How are you feeling, Swami?’ I asked.
“He continued to chant softly, gazing at the somewhat primitive painting of Radha and Krishna on the wall to his right painted by a devotee artist. I thought maybe he hadn’t heard me, but after a few minutes he put down his beads and stood up.
“‘What is this body?’ he said, making a gesture with his palms open and his arms outstretched. He looked almost disgusted to inhabit an ephemeral body and incredulous that I would be concerned to inquire about the state of something so fleeting. I realized that although I had read about the temporary nature of the body and the eternality of the spirit soul, he was actually living that philosophy.
“For him the material world was not as important as the spiritual world, and he didn’t really care about his body coming to an end.”
“The parade moved forward once again with the generator roaring away on the floor of the truck. I climbed on the flatbed again and began to lead the chanting. The truck drove slowly down the street and the devotees walked beside it, chanting and smiling and waving to onlookers. Two barefoot young women I’d never seen before danced along the street in front of the truck, twirling and clapping with their eyes closed. The sound of my voice wafted over the buildings, ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.’”
“‘Everyone was chanting and dancing in front of the truck,’ Malati said. ‘We walked all the way to the beach, and then everyone went back to the temple for a big feast!’
“‘At one point we thought the truck was going to roll backwards over the crowd,’ Gurudas said. ‘The engine stalled.’
“The Swami opened his eyes wide. ‘Yes, this is also happening in Puri,’ he said. ‘Lord Jagannatha’s cart sometimes stops and even rolls backwards! So this stoppage was the Lord’s mercy. This first American Rathayatra was real Rathayatra, just as in Puri.’”
“Shyamasundar came forward to tell him the news he and Malati had received the day before. ‘Swami, we won’t see you for a while now, maybe not even when you come back to America,’ he said.
“‘Oh? Why is that?’ the Swami asked. ‘Me and Malati, we have to go to jail.’
“The Swami looked a little surprised, but he gave a small smile. ‘That’s all right,’ he said. ‘Krishna was born in jail! His uncle Kamsa imprisoned his mother and father.’ He paused. ‘Why?’ he asked. ‘What did you do?’
“‘Well, it was before we were devotees,’ Shyamasundar said. ‘We were selling some drugs and we got caught. Drug dealing.’
“‘Never mind, I was also drug dealer,’ the Swami said. He chuckled softly.
“‘Yes, but these drugs weren’t legal pharmaceuticals like yours,’ Malati said, laughing in spite of herself.
“‘You must chant Hare Krishna as much as possible while you are there,’ he instructed.
They nodded. ‘We will.’”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From The Final Frontier:
“I am getting up extra-early
just so I can write about Krishna
while I still have my wits.
Krishna is the be-all and see-all.
He is my favorite person.
He is worth getting up early for.”
“I get up early at any cost
just to be with Him.
Early in the morning,
with my dearmost one.
Get up early in the morning
just to be with Him.
He is worth rising early for.
He is my dearmost one.
I wish I could speak to Him
in sweetest tones.
I wish I could.
Krishna is the summum bonum.
“Krishna is worth getting up early just to be with Him,
just to share His sweetness
at the earliest possible hour.
Krishna is worth rising at the earliest hour
and making the sacrifice of being with Him.
Krishna is worth playing with and begging for.
He is the greatest treasure,
and rising early to meet with Him
is worth the highest price.
I speak my humble words
just to be with Lord Krishna.
“Krishna loves it when I rise for Him
and show my devotion.
My words to Him
come from my heart
and He is grateful to me.
“Yes, Krishna is happy that His cela rises early
and sings a hymn
that he pays for with all his devotion.
Krishna appreciates that a devotee
speaks from his heart.
Krishna appreciates that His cela
may not be so smart.
But the Lord reciprocates
with the sincere words
that come from the heart.
“I speak sincerely, and my words
and the Lord takes it sincerely—
after all, they are true
and coming from His tiny part and parcel.”
Hridayananda Goswami:
From a BIHS conference on evolution in January 2025:
Scientists, who do not know philosophy, often make metaphysical claims, for making atheistic or theistic pronouncements in the name of science is metaphysical.
These are all metaphysical claims:
If there were a God, he would not use such a violent process as natural selection.
So many species failed. If there is a God, why would He do that?
Scientists discount God because there is no empirical evidence for Him, but because God is metaphysical, you could never prove Him by physical evidence.
If the scientists do not know philosophy they can make philosophical statements thinking they are doing science.
Bhaktivedanta Nemi Maharaja (formerly Jnana Das):
From a BIHS conference on evolution in January 2025:
[Regarding Srila Prabhupada] What thinker in human society has ever thought of his teaching extending for 10,000 years?
Although the scientists speak against consciousness, they are doing it with the consciousness they deny. This contradiction is childish.
Drutakarma Prabhu:
From a BIHS conference on evolution in January 2025:
In archeology there is a jawbone that is reported as belonging to several different hominids.
Nanda Dasi:
From a class on Bhagavad-gita 2.48 in Alachua on February 23, 2025:
The theme of remaining steady in one’s service in either success or failure is described throughout Bhagavad-gita in 2.48, 4.22, 13.8–12, etc.
“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” – Nelson Mandela.
It looked that Manigriva and Nalakuvara failed because they were cursed, and because they had to stand as trees for so many years that seemed like another failure. Then after they got Krishna’s darsana in Gokula Vrindavan, they decided to return to their heavenly planet. That seems like a failure that they left the abode of the Lord to go to heaven. But in Gopala Campu, we learn that they took birth in Vrindavan and became bards who narrated Krishna’s pastimes.
Our conception is that failure is bad, but that is not Krishna’s conception.
Edison tried a thousand times to make a light bulb and failed. He was not discouraged, and said, “I didn’t fail. I learned a thousand ways not to make a light bulb.”
If failure makes you determined to try harder, that is a success. And if success makes you proud, then that pride can become a cause of failure.
Krishna makes the point that there is no failure in Bg. 2.40 and related verses.
Our tendency is to see externally, but we have to learn to see internally, how our soul is benefiting from the experience.
Our endeavor, our intention, and our actions, we have to offer to the Lord. The result is up to Krishna.
The Pandavas’ lives were filled with problems, and not just small problems, but big problems. Still Kunti was happy because the problems made her think of Krishna and that was a blessing.
Do not judge an event at that moment. Wait for some time. Get good association. Be patient.
Krishna gives devotees custom karma.
Pariksit was unrighteously cursed, but as a result the Bhagavatam was spoken.
Comments by me:
Krishna advises Arjuna how to act for him: “Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to proprietorship, and free from lethargy, fight.” (Bhagavad-gita 3.30)
“‘What if people don’t want to hear our message?’ Pradyumna asked.
“‘The people might not understand our message, but Krishna will be pleased,’ Prabhupada replied. ‘And that is our mission. . . . We must not be disappointed that no one is hearing Krishna consciousness. We will say it to the moon and stars and all directions. We will cry in the wilderness, because Krishna is everywhere. We want to get a certificate from Krishna that, “This man has done something for Me.” Not popularity. If a pack of asses says you are good, what is that? We have to please Krishna’s senses with purified senses.’” (Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, Volume 7 (Srila Prabhupada-lila), Chapter 3)
Comment by Pran Govinda Swami:
Failure is not final. See it like a bump, and keep going.
Comment by someone else:
If Krishna is our best friend, then everything is happening for our benefit. We can cultivate this consciousness.
Yogesvara Prabhu:
From Golden Avatar, his biography on Lord Caitanya presently in production:
“Scholarship may have been in his future, but for his first few years Nimai majored in mischief.”
“He particularly enjoyed stories about naughty child Krishna, which likely inspired him. They were both in the habit of stealing food.”
“Initiation, diksha, was no small matter. It was the formal link between the disciple and a lineage of teachers that extended back to Vishnu at the dawn of the universe, to the moment when beings estranged from God left the eternal realm. The material universe was their playground, a gift from the creator, a theater where they could act out their fantasies, until contact with a qualified teacher set them on course back to their sacred selves.
“Initiation into that distinguished lineage was the most precious of all gifts, and it was cemented with solemn vows. The disciples promised to strictly follow the guru’s instructions, no matter how difficult, and the guru promised to liberate his disciples from future births and restore them to their place in eternity.”
“The qualification of a saragrahi guru such as Ishwara Puri was an ability to breathe life into the words of scripture. The mysteries of bhakti were not mysteries because they were unknown or withheld. They were mysteries because few people understood their meaning as deeply as he did.”
“The singers never felt self-conscious or ashamed, since sankirtan took them to a place beyond appearances and judgment. Excited by Nimai’s example of unrestrained physical expression, dancers shed their inhibitions, grabbed hands and twirled, all smiles and laughter.”
Govinda Kaviraja Prabhu:
From Bhagavatam classes in Tallahassee:
As a child is looking here and there, not knowing what he really wants, the soul in the heart of the body, is desiring something, but he is not sure what will satisfy him.
Murli Gopal Prabhu:
From a BIHS conference on evolution in January 2025:
Although foot size varies continuously, we buy shoes of a discrete size. Similarly, although our desires vary, we take a body of a certain species.
Gaurachand Prabhu:
If you chant one attentive prayerful round of japa before you read, you’ll find it is easier to understand and appreciate what you read.
In a lecture Srila Prabhupada said that 90% of our progress is made by chanting.
Gates to Successful Japa Practice
Fundamentals
sit properly
rise early
pronounce clearly
find a quiet place
Mind and intellectual
mind is best friend and worst enemy
use intelligence to guide the mind by remembering the philosophy
Opening our feelings
holy name is heart deep not lip deep
Vrindavana Dasa Thakura says in Chaitanya-bhagavata that bhakti is crying while chanting the holy name.
Cry for the right reason.
If you cannot, find any genuine emotion for Krishna.
Mercy
Beg for mercy of the Lord and the Vaishnavas.
At least for one round focus on pronunciation.
Just try to add one good habit at a time. Until you master it, do not add another.
If you have no faith, go to Vrindavan, Mayapur, or Puri, and you will see people really attached to Radha-Krishna, and that will increase your faith.
Comments by me, some made verbally:
In Folio Srila Prabhupada quotes the phrase ceto darpana over 700 times, so the understanding that nama-sankirtana cleanses the mind was very important to him.
If we understand that only krishna-prema will completely satisfy the soul, and that we must chant attentively to attain that stage, then we will do whatever is required to chant attentively. Just like we know to go to India, we need a passport, we need money, and we need an airline ticket. Because we really want to go there, somehow or other we will acquire those things.
If you think that if you chant your japa in the morning, that by Krishna’s grace, you will have a more successful day, however you define successful, it is easier to become enthusiastic to do it.
You have to set an alarm to remind yourself to go to sleep.
Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu says that we all want attention, and Krishna is so reciprocal that if we pay attention to Him, He will pay attention to us.
Sacinandana Swami says we should chant japa with the desire to connect with Krishna.
Standing I find better than walking because if you walk you have to pay attention to where you are walking.
I found that when I tried to chant with one-pointed attention, I ended up chanting a lot quicker.
Comment by Govinda Kaviraja: I did not push my son to do japa. The only thing I required is our thirty-minute Bhagavatam class reading and discussion. Later he added japa and other devotional practices because he acquired the intelligence to understand their value from our Bhagavatam discussion.
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Krishna says in both Bhagavad-gita 8.22 and 11.54 that he is attained by bhakti (bhaktya) [devotional service] that is unalloyed or undivided (ananyaya). Queen Kunti, the mother of the devotee hero, Arjuna, prays for this with a beautiful simile:
tvayi me ’nanya-visaya
ratim udvahatad addha
gangevaugham udanvati
“O Lord of Madhu, as the Ganges forever flows to the sea without hindrance, let my attraction be constantly drawn unto You without being diverted to anyone else.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.8.42)
