Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 20, No. 21
By Krishna Kripa Das
(November 2024, part one)
Upstate New York
Where I Went and What I Did
I spent the first half of November in based in Stuyvesant Falls, cooking breakfast and doing pujari work and other services for my guru, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, replacing Mathuraprana Prabhu who had family responsibilities in Queens. I continued observing Karttika by chanting “Damodarastakam” every day, alone or with others, offering a lamp to Damodara, and by listening to the Krishna audiobook. I observed Govardhan Puja midday with my guru and his caretakers with a nice feast and in the evening across the street at Damodara Priya Devi Dasi’s home with over a dozen local devotees by chanting, circumambulating Govardhan Hill, and an another feast. I made coconut burfi for Govardhan Puja and laddus for Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day. I gave the lecture at the ISKCON Schenectady Sunday feast on November 3, and because the previous day was Govardhan Puja, I chose to speak on Bhagavad-gita 7.20, which deprecates demigod worship. In the class I told how in the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which Vyasadeva wrote in his maturity according to the order of his guru, Krishna shows Himself superior all the main demigods people are likely to worship: Brahma, Shiva, Indra, Varuna, and Yamaraja. Although I was not in New York City during the first half of November, I share a video of many New Yorkers offering lamps to Damodara on NYC Harinam in October which I did not have time to edit until November.
I share many 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 share couple of quotes from the Vedic writings of Vyasadeva, a nice quote from the Priti-sandarbha of Jiva Gosvami and another from the Amrita Vani of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. I share many wonderful quotes and stories about death and near death experiences from Devaki Devi Dasi’s upcoming book on the vanaprastha ashram. I also share notes on Back to Godhead magazine articles by Nagaraja, Visakha, Karuna Dharini, Caitanya Carana, Jagannatha Gopala, and Thomas Mallery Prabhus.
Many thanks to Baladeva Vidyabhusana Prabhu for the use of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s car go to a college program in Albany and the Sunday feast in Schenectady.
Itinerary
October 5–January 2025: NYC Harinam
– November 23: Bhagavad-gita class at 26 Second Avenue in New York City
Chanting Hare Krishna in New York
One of the sweetest parts of being on NYC Harinam during Karttika is engaging people of various ages, races, and genders in offering lamps to Damodara, in different parts of the city, above ground and below (https://youtu.be/dYx-_ItcvbQ):
The scriptures say:
“A person who offers a lamp to Lord Krishna during Karttika attains the eternal spiritual world where there is no suffering.”
“Even a person addicted to all sins and averse to all pious deeds who somehow offers a lamp during Karttika becomes purified. Of this there is no doubt.”
Chanting Hare Krishna and Distributing Prasada in Upstate New York
Damodara Priya Devi Dasi, originally of Czech Republic, had a Govardhan Puja festival across the street from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s ashram, Viraha Bhavan, where I was staying.
In addition to the relishable program of kirtan, circumambulation of the Govardhan Hill, and prasadam I connected with different devotees I knew from the past.
Keli-lalita Devi Dasi recalled when I did a program had the home of her and her husband, Saci Suta Prabhu, back in 1996. She recalled when they asked what kind of program I wanted to do, I said, “Half an hour kirtan, half an hour of class, and another half an hour of kirtan.” Later I explained to the people at the festival that at a seminar on the early days of the Hare Krishna movement at 26 Second Avenue, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami had described to us the schedule of activities that Srila Prabhupada did there. Thus I said that whenever people give me the choice, I always say that schedule. I also mentioned that the Govardhan Puja festival, with its singing and dancing around a hill of food followed by distribution of the food to those who come, is one of our festivals that is most accessible to new people, and that I enjoyed inviting people to our Govardhan Puja festival in New York when I was there recently.
During prasadam I talked to Rosie, originally from Brighton, England, who said she met me in Rishikesh in 2012, when she was studying yoga there. She said that year she also met her husband at Rishikesh. Now they have three children, including one girl who had a great time dancing in the kirtan.
Damodara Priya, whose home the program was at, said she met me at the Trutnov festival in Czech Republic, organized her godbrother, Punya Palaka Prabhu, sometime around 2009. Coincidentially this year, the first time since the COVID, I attended that Trutnov festival again, and I also spent Janmastami and Vyasa-puja in Czech Republic.
It was amazing to me in this little town of Stuyvesant Falls that I connected with people I met all over the world!
Here Seth chants “Jaya Radhe, Jaya Shyam, Jaya Sri Vrindavan Dham” at the Govardhan Puja festival at home of Damodara Priya Devi Dasi in Stuyvesant Falls, New York (https://youtu.be/ZvQe-rthZbY):
Damodara Priya Devi Dasi herself chants Hare Krishna at the Govardhan Puja festival at her home (https://youtu.be/zk08qmQZxLU):
Patrick leads a Hare Krishna chant at the end of that Govardhan Puja festival (https://youtu.be/8lgJfmTAwDk):
The day after Govardhan Puja my sister and her partner stopped by Viraha Bhavan on their way home from nearby Chatham.
We offered them four kinds of homemade pasta, by the mercy of Manohara Prabhu, our Italian chef.
Because Govardhan Puja was the previous day, we could offer them seven of the ten desserts we had available. They both were very satisfied. All glories to prasada distribution!
The next Saturday the Schenectady devotees told me about a Govardhan Puja / Diwali program that Vicaru Prabhu and other devotees were doing at the State University of New York at Albany.
I got there after the main kirtan, but we chanted a few mantras after the two talks, one by Chandravamsi Prabhu on Govardhan Puja and the other by Vicaru Prabhu on Lord Rama. Six students came, five from India, and one from a Nigerian background. The Nigerian student helped the devotees find the location of the room for the program and ended up staying for the whole thing. She got Science of Self-Realization and “On Chanting Hare Krishna.” I brought laddus which I had made for Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance day, and every one, including the Nigerian girl took seconds on the laddus.
Ekendra and Tulasi-Priya Prabhus, who I have known for decades and who I’ve done kirtan with in Florida, were spending a week or so in Stuyvesant Falls after moving out of Syracuse and before moving to Alachua.
They are very good devotional musicians, and we chanted “Damodarastakam” together four evenings, with Ekendra Prabhu playing the banjo. The second day we made video for YouTube (https://youtu.be/ig0xlMDNnLU):
The third day we made a Facebook Live video (https://youtu.be/wMxFBFiikrQ):
I put the Hare Krishna part of that Facebook Live video on Instagram (https://youtu.be/oKSwvJTwWXg):
Photos
Manohar Prabhu from Italy is Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s main cook for lunches. He makes amazing preparations.
Here is an Ekadasi lunch with zucchini parmigiana, as well as other items:
His sandesh was perfect, but as I find sandesh less exciting than burfi or pera, I mixed it with the mango from breakfast, and it was amazing.
One day, with the assistance of Baladeva Prabhu, he made wonderful sandwiches with a avocado mayonnaise:
Baladeva Prabhu told me to include the 7up on the evening offering.
I asked who I should offer it to, and he replied, “Srila Prabhupada.” It made sense to me. We know Srila Prabhupada liked 7up!
If you think your Vita Coco coconut water is too cold and you put it in the microwave, even for a few seconds, to warm it up, you’ll see sparks flying, so I do not recommend it. They say the problem is the package is made with metal foil.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.4.1, purport:
“The whole Vedic adventure is to draw one’s attention entirely unto the lotus feet of Lord Krishna without any diversion.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.20.9:
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Vishnu, continued: My dear King Prithu, when one situated in his occupational duty engages in My loving service without motive for material gain, he gradually becomes very satisfied within.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.5.48:
“Activities dedicated to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even if performed in small measure, never go in vain. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, being the supreme father, is naturally very dear and always ready to act for the good of the living entities.”
Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.1.17, purport:
“The real business of a chief executive is to see to the happiness of the mass of people by training them in Krishna consciousness in different divisions of life. . . . A leader should train the people as brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras and engage them in various occupational duties, thus helping them progress toward Krishna consciousness. Instead, however, rogues and thieves in the guise of protectors arrange for a voting system, and in the name of democracy they come to power by hook or crook and exploit the citizens. Even long, long ago, asuras, persons devoid of God consciousness, became the heads of state, and now this is happening again. The various states of the world are preoccupied with arranging for military strength. Sometimes they spend sixty-five percent of the government’s revenue for this purpose. But why should people’s hard-earned money be spent in this way? Because of the present world situation, Krishna has descended in the form of the Krishna consciousness movement. This is quite natural, for without the Krishna consciousness movement the world cannot be peaceful and happy.”
From Krishna, Chapter 83:
[King Yudhisthira said to Lord Krishna:] “Since we are fully surrendered unto You and have no other shelter than Your lotus feet, we are always confident of our good fortune. My dear Lord, You are the ocean of unlimited knowledge and transcendental bliss. The reactions of mental concoctions in the three phases of material life – wakefulness, sleep and deep sleep – cannot exist in Krishna consciousness. All such reactions are invalidated by the practice of Krishna consciousness. You are the ultimate destination of all liberated persons. Out of Your independent will only, You have descended to this earth by the use of Your own internal potency, yogamaya, and to reestablish the Vedic principles of life You have appeared just like an ordinary human being. Since You are the Supreme Person, there cannot be any ill luck for one who has fully surrendered unto You.”
From Krishna, Chapter 87 (“Prayers of the Personified Vedas”):
“The living entities are therefore called jivatma, and the Supreme Lord is called Paramatma. Both the Paramatma and the jivatma are within this material world, and therefore this material world has a purpose other than sense gratification. The conception of a life of sense gratification is illusion, but the conception of service by the jivatma to the Paramatma, even in this material world, is not at all illusory. A Krishna conscious person is fully aware of this fact, and thus he does not take this material world to be false but acts in the reality of transcendental service. The devotee therefore sees everything in this material world as an opportunity to serve the Lord. He does not reject anything as material but dovetails everything in the service of the Lord. Thus a devotee is always in the transcendental position, and everything he uses becomes spiritually purified by being used in the Lord’s service.”
“Not only does a pure devotee purify his own personal existence, but whoever becomes his disciple also becomes purified and is ultimately able to enter the kingdom of God without difficulty. In other words, not only can a pure devotee easily surpass death, but by his grace his followers can also do so without difficulty. The power of devotional service is so great that a pure devotee can electrify another person by his transcendental instruction on crossing over the ocean of nescience.”
“Lord Krishna advised Arjuna, one has to go beyond the jurisdiction of the duties prescribed in the Vedas and take to Krishna consciousness, devotional service. The Lord says in the Bhagavad-gita, nistrai-gunyo bhavarjuna: ‘My dear Arjuna, just try to become transcendental to the Vedic rituals.’ This transcendental position beyond the Vedic ritualistic performances is devotional service. In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord clearly says that persons who are engaged in His devotional service without adulteration are situated in Brahman. Actual Brahman realization means Krishna consciousness and engagement in devotional service. The devotees are therefore real brahmacaris because their activities are always in Krishna consciousness, devotional service.”
“No one can accuse the Supreme Lord of partiality in giving one type of body to a certain type of living entity and another type of body to another living entity. All the bodies of the 8,400,000 species are created according to the mental condition of the individual living entities. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Purusottama, only gives them a chance to act according to their desires. Therefore, the living entities act by taking advantage of the facility given by the Lord.”
“In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord says, ‘I am the seed-giving father of all living entities.’ It is very simple to understand that the father gives birth to the children but the children act according to their own desires. Therefore the father is never responsible for the different futures of his children. Each child can take advantage of the father’s property and instruction, but even though the inheritance and instruction may be the same for all the children, out of their different desires each child creates a different life and thereby suffers or enjoys.”
“One who has attained the perfect brahminical stage naturally becomes renounced; he does not strive for material gain because by spiritual knowledge he has come to the conclusion that in this world there is no insufficiency. Everything is sufficiently provided by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A real brahmana, therefore, does not endeavor for material perfection; rather, he approaches a bona fide spiritual master to accept orders from him.”
“The result of fruitive activities can elevate one to the higher planetary system, but as it is said in the Bhagavad-gita, foolish persons, after exhausting the results of their pious activities in the heavenly kingdom, come back again to this lower planetary system and then again try to go to the higher planetary system. Their only profit is to take the trouble of going and coming back, just as at present many material scientists are spoiling their time by trying to go to the moon planet and again coming back.”
“Devotional service means that one does not do anything independently of the sanction of the acaryas. The actions of the Krishna consciousness movement are directed by the previous acaryas, headed by Srila Rupa Gosvami; in the association of devotees following these principles, a devotee is able to perfectly maintain his transcendental position.”
From Krishna, 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.”
“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.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya-lila 20.142:
“The goal of love of Godhead is not to become materially rich or free from material bondage. The real goal is to be situated in devotional service to the Lord and to enjoy transcendental bliss.”
From “The Price for Krishna Consciousness” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 59, No. 2 (March/April 2025):
[An edited transcript of a lecture by Srila Prabhupada on Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Ādi-lila 7.91–92 in Vrindavan, India, on March 13, 1974.]
“I’ll give you a practical example. My Guru Maharaja was very great scholar, and his Guru Maharaja, Gaura-kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, from the literary point of view could not even sign his name. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhakura asked Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Ṭhakura to accept Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja as his spiritual master. ‘Go and take your initiation from Gaura-kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja.’ So my Guru Maharaja thought, ‘I am a great scholar, and I am the son of a magistrate, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhakura, and a great Vaishnava. He’ll be very much pleased to accept me.’
“Of course, Gaura-kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja was very much pleased, but in the beginning he refused. Of course, that is only a show. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was not proud; he is just teaching us. He explained, ‘I was a little proud, so I was thrice refused by Guru Maharaja.’ Eventually he became Gaura-kisora dasa Babaji Maharaja’s only disciple.”
“Bhakti does not depend on any kind of material qualification. You simply have to become very sincere and serious. That is the only price.”
“Rupa Gosvami also recommended like that: . . . ‘Pure devotional service in Krishna consciousness cannot be had even by pious activity in hundreds and thousands of lives. It can be attained only by paying one price – that is, intense greed to obtain it. If it is available somewhere, one must purchase it without delay.’ (Padyavali 14)”
“Laulyam means eagerness. That is that price. That is the only qualification. You must be very, very eager to see the lotus feet of Krishna in this very life. You must be very eager to talk with Krishna in this very life. But not to become like the sahajiyas, who take Krishna consciousness as some cheap thing that is easily gotten. You must show your eagerness by service.”
“Krishna talks only with persons who are always engaged in His service. He has no other business. Satata means twenty-four hours a day. He has no other business. Bhajatam means in service. You must always find out some opportunity to render service to Krishna. That is the qualification. It doesn’t matter what you are. You may be this or that. It doesn’t matter. But this eagerness for service can be acquired by anyone, simply by sincerity. That is the price.”
“But if we offenselessly perform nama-sankirtana, chanting Krishna’s holy names, everything is accomplished.”
“When a disciple becomes perfect in spiritual advancement, the spiritual master feels very, very happy. ‘I am a nonsense, but this boy has followed my instruction and has achieved success. That is my success.’ This is the spiritual master’s ambition. Just like a father. This is the relationship. Nobody wants to see anybody more advanced than himself. That is the nature of things. If anybody becomes advanced in any subject, then I become envious of him. But the spiritual master or the father does not become envious. He feels himself very, very happy. ‘This boy has advanced more than me.’ This is the spiritual master’s position.”
“The devotee does not request Krishna, ‘Please take me back to Vaikunṭha or Goloka Vrndavana.’ No. ‘If You think that I must take birth again, that’s all right. But my only request is that You give me birth in the house of a devotee, that’s all – so that I may not forget You.’ This is the only prayer of the devotee.”
“Our Krishna consciousness society is a bhakta-sanga, a society of devotees. Never try to go away. Discrepancies there may be. You should adjust. This chanting and dancing within the society of devotees has got great value. Here it is confirmed, and all the Vaishnavas have confirmed.”
“This is required. Not anything else. A devotee should not desire anything except this: ‘Let me live in the society of devotees and chant the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.’ This is our life.”
From “Prabhupada Speaks Out” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 59, No. 2 (March/April 2025):
“If you stop sex, then you will become spiritually advanced, and if you indulge in sex, then you will become materially enthusiastic. That is the difference between Western and Eastern culture. The whole Eastern culture is based on stopping sex, and here in the Western countries on how to increase sex. The people here are eating meat, eggs, drinking wine. These things increase sex desire. And as soon as you get a very satisfactory sex life, you become enthusiastic to work hard. Therefore for karmis, or those seeking material advancement, marriage is necessary, because without sex they cannot work. And for those seeking spiritual advancement, sex is prohibited.”
From Letter to Amarendra on 12 June 12, 1972:
“More and more I am urging my students to recognize their grave responsibility for saving this fallen human society from gliding down into hell.”
Letter to Makhanlal on January 10, 1972:
“Our routine work – rising early, cleansing, chanting, temple worship, sankirtana, study – these things must go on very nicely, and if they become improved more and more, and are not neglected or in any way decreased, then all our other activities will be successful.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.13.15 in Geneva on June 4, 1974:
“We have created these GBCs. So they should be very responsible men. Otherwise, they will be punished to become a sudra. Although Yamaraja is a GBC, he made a little mistake. He was punished to become a sudra. So those who are GBCs should be very, very careful to administer the business of ISKCON. Otherwise they will be punished. As the post is very great, similarly the punishment is also very great.”
From a letter to Jagajivana Das on September 6, 1974:
“Leader means spiritually, not materially. This you should understand very clearly. If spiritual potency and strength is there, then material intelligence will automatically follow. We must have a solid foundation of chanting and following the regulative principles. Then one is fit to lead others.”
From a letter on October 1, 1969:
“We can, by sincere cultivation of bona fide spiritual science, attain to the state of pure, unending blissful consciousness, free from anxiety in this very lifetime.”
“That all men are brothers can be practiced only when we realize God as our common ultimate father.”
“Our basic mission is to propagate the sankirtana movement (chanting of the holy names of God) all around the world, as was recommended by the incarnation of the Lord, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. People in this age are very reluctant to understand God consciousness because of their unfortunate condition of life. They are working hard day and night simply for sense gratification. But this transcendental vibration of sankirtana will knock at the door of their hearts for spiritual awakening. Therefore, they should be given the chance for this opportunity.”
“It is not recommended that a Krishna conscious devotee go into seclusion to chant by himself and thereby gain salvation for himself alone. Our duty and religious obligation is to go out into the streets where the people in general can hear the chanting and see the dancing. We have already seen practically how by this process many, many boys and girls of America and Europe have been saved from the immoral practices of this age and have now dedicated their lives to the service of Krishna.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.6 in Calcutta on February 27, 1974:
“This Krishna consciousness movement is simply to teach people how to love Krishna, how to become beloved of Krishna.”
From his purport to “Manah-siksa”:
“The aim of this Krishna consciousness movement is to enable us to approach Radha-Krishna and associate with the Supreme Lord in His sublime pleasure dance.”
From a room conversation in Honolulu on 30 May 1976:
“Our mission is back to home, back to Godhead, to enter into the society of associates of God – but you are avoiding it. You do not want. You want this temporary so-called society, friendship and love, which will be finished within some years. That is your ignorance. This society will not stay. How long you shall remain American? You will not remain for many days. Then where is your position? You will be kicked out. However you may try to remain in this so-called society, friendship and love, you will not be allowed to stay. You will be forced to renounce. We are trying to enter into the society of Krishna, where everything is eternal.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 7.171, purport:
“Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu wanted to preach the sankirtana movement of love of Krishna throughout the entire world, and therefore during His presence He inspired the sankirtana movement. Specifically, He sent Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami to Vrindavan and Nityananda to Bengal and personally went to South India. In this way He kindly left the task of preaching His cult in the rest of the world to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.26.20 in Bombay on Dec. 29, 1974:
“To create sraddha, little faith, we are trying to open these branches all over the world.”
Quoted in Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita, Chapter 51:
“Even if the people are coming every night only to eat kichari, that is also preaching.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.22.23, purport:
“The Krishna consciousness movement is started for this purpose, so that hundreds of ISKCON centers may give people a chance to hear and chant, to accept the spiritual master, and to disassociate themselves from persons who are materially interested, for in this way one can make solid advancement in going back home, back to Godhead.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.1 in New York on July 6, 1972:
“These ISKCON centers are opened just to give everyone the chance of hearing about Krishna so that his dirty heart may be cleansed. This is the purpose. We have no other purpose. We are not opening these centers for some material benefit. No, we want to give to the whole world the spiritual enlightenment without which they are suffering.”
From a morning walk in Melbourne on May 23, 1975:
“You can advise only, ‘Chant Hare Krishna.’ Then everything will be all right, by this one medicine. You can simply plan how they will chant and take prasada. This simple method. Bring them: ‘Please come here, chant, dance, and take prasada.’ They will be all good men. This process. Otherwise, if you give them good advice, they will not be able to carry it out. They are so sinful. The only treatment is this Krishna consciousness movement. Somehow or other, bring them together. Let them chant, let them dance and take prasada. They will be all right. There is no other means to rectify them. We are opening centers in different parts of the world just to give them a chance, ‘Please come here, take prasada, chant, dance, enjoy.’ That transcendental enjoyment will make them correct.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 7.141, purport:
“Love of God is dormant in everyone, and if one is given a chance to hear about the Lord, certainly that love develops. Our Krishna consciousness movement acts on this principle. We simply give people the chance to hear about the Supreme Personality of Godhead and give them prasada to eat, and the actual result is that all over the world people are responding to this process and becoming pure devotees of Lord Krishna. We have opened hundreds of centers all over the world just to give people in general a chance to hear about Krishna and accept Krishna’s prasada. These two processes can be accepted by anyone, even a child. It doesn’t matter whether one is poor or rich, learned or foolish, black or white, old, or still a child – anyone who simply hears about the Supreme Personality of Godhead and takes prasada is certainly elevated to the transcendental position of devotional service.”
From a class on Bhagavad-gita 7.1 in Sydney on February 16, 1973:
“We are opening so many centers all over the world just to give an opportunity to all classes of men to associate with devotees and develop love for God.”
From a letter to Brahmananda on November 11, 1967:
“Without being empowered by Krishna, nobody can preach Krishna consciousness. It is which helps in these matters, but it is sincerity of purpose which helps us always. . . . In this way you will follow my example as I did in the beginning at 26 2nd Avenue. That is preaching, cooking, writing, talking, chanting – everything one man’s show. I never thought about the audience. I was prepared to chant if there were no man to hear me. The principle of chanting is to glorify the Lord and not to attract a crowd. If Krishna hears nicely then he will ask some sincere devotee to gather in such place. Therefore, be advised that thousands of centers may be started if we find out a sincere soul for each and every center. We do not require more men to start. If there is one sincere soul, that is sufficient to start a new center.”
Srila Vyasadeva:
From Rg Veda 1.156.3:
“You who know that the Lord’s name is spiritual should chant it.”
From Brhan-naradiya Purana:
“Just as water is said to be the life of all living beings, so too bhakti is acknowledged as the life of all perfections.”
Jiva Gosvami:
From Priti-sandarbha, Anuccheda 1:
“Love is natural for all living beings. It is seen even among the least spiritual of materialists, those who have destroyed their spiritual life. How can the soul give up its nature? Therefore every soul seeks someone to love. That search for love finds its final culmination when one falls in love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore falling in love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the highest goal of life.”
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:
From Amrita Vani:
“One who gives personal instruction to each and every one, does more for others than the platform speakers do. Generally, whatever platform speakers say cannot solve the problem of everyone in the audience, nor can it always benefit every individual. A person’s defects are better rectified in a private tutorial class or private coaching than in hearing lectures in a school or college. Therefore those who instruct particular persons separately can award them something more permanent.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From The Waves of Times:
“I Too Can Praise the Swami.
“Swami Bhaktivedanta’s 1966 New York
World Sankirtana Journal has been published.
Always I want to remember
I was there and he,
he was in charge
and surrendered utterl
to Krishna.” (pp. 7–8)
“The waves of time are divided in these two ways: when we ‘go forward’ in time, and when we go backward and remember our past. ‘The waves of time’ refers to the fact that the waves go forward and then retract, as in rising tide and retreating tide.” (p. 10)
“The little vignettes I give often tell of some memory of the past. I treasure these. The remembrance of things that are going on right now for me is also very important, as they form my reality. The moving forward and the retreating of the waves of time are all done under the jurisdiction of Time as Krishna. For example, when the waves of time go forward and meet us at our present moment, we are experiencing our reality as we can observe now.” (p. 10)
“I look to the past, and I look to the present and the future. After I was done with junior college, I came under the influence of my spiritual master, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. I have told about that in my previous book, and how there was an influence on me by the jazz saxophonist, John Coltrane, who was a spiritual man, and how especially his long composition, A Love Supreme, moved me toward God consciousness. A Love Supreme even influenced me to follow an advertisement I saw on a storefront window to go and enter and learn bhakti-yoga lessons from Swami Bhaktivedanta. I had already a little interest in Eastern religions and poetry. I took the first opportunity and entered the yoga studio on time to see the Swami. By my first evening there, I was so affected by the singing (kirtana) led by the Swami and the teaching (although I had trouble hearing it through his Bengali accent), that I decided to drop all my sinful activities, meat eating, illicit sex, intoxication and gambling, and follow the Swami in all respects.
“Around this time my attachment to listening to jazz, as well as my attachment to my English professor, waned. But I never stopped reading books and loving to read books, only now I switched my interest from books that could be considered worldly to strictly spiritual books, scriptures from India like Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, and following the rules and regulations of bhakti-yoga. I became the Swami’s boy, an initiated devotee, and my reading changed, as well as my listening to music. Now I concentrated on reading the Vedic scriptures like Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam and the other bhakti books.” (pp. 12–13)
“Although I gradually rejected my religious upbringing, I was still looking, seeking for higher truth and a more spiritual life. I found all this in abundance at the lotus feet of my spiritual master, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. This happened after quite a few years of disappointment and sinful life, and I did not take complete shelter in the great saint until I was twenty-five years old.” (p. 21)
“It is very, very important, that I actually went to the storefront and sang Hare Krishna and became ecstatic and met the Swami, came under his influence and got initiated by him. I should never underestimate the ongoing (for my whole lifetime and forever) influence of Srila Prabhupada himself on me.” (pp. 22–23)
“Prabhupada’s statement that the artists’ and writers’ sincerity is their God consciousness really hits my heart and is important to me in my occupation. But I wonder if it’s really a very important Krishna conscious statement or siddhanta, emphasizing the sincerity of the vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yoga people. To me, the importance of that statement is that he personally said it to me, and that I personally treasure it. This is dear to me because he personally said it to me, and I always remember it in that way.” (p. 26)
“I asked Prabhupada, in the assembly of devotees, ‘As a person, I can be many different personalities. But you are saying we should only act to please Krishna. So, I would like to know, “What kind of a person would Krishna like me to be?”’ For an answer, Prabhupada praises me although I am a neophyte. He had barely begun accepting me as his disciple and friend, but he said, directing his attention to me, ‘This boy is nice. He gives donations from his job, and he does much typing for me. You should all be like this.’ That affirmation of my beginning service to him made me very blissful and made me eager to develop my relationship with Srila Prabhupada—by serving him. I was therefore able to overcome my doubt about how to deal with the former heroes in my life.”
“Lord, You are giving me so many headaches. But I take these headaches in stride because they are being sent by You. I am a happy man. I am living to an old age with the ‘privilege’ of being able to write and write, my favorite passion.” (p. 44)
“I believe in Krishna! That’s who I’m writing about, my Lord. He has given me the ‘privilege’ to write about Him. I love Him, and I love Radharani. I love to write about Them.” (pp. 45–46)
“To Srila Prabhupada
“Let me write, let me write
episodes of life with Srila Prabhupada.
He was and is the most
important person in my life.
He saved me from drowning,
and now I am sailing safely
with him. It is an eternal
relationship.
“Let me write about Srila Prabhupada,
the perfect soul
the most influential
of world preachers;
please never kick me
away from your lotus feet.
Forgive me for my sins.” (pp. 51–52)
“The few New York Hare Krishnas also went and attended the be-in which was held in Franklin Park in Boston. There were hundreds of youngsters gathered at the be-in. The participation of the Hare Krishna devotees was a great success for them. They brought their few Indian musical instruments and chanted Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Their enthusiasm infected all the people at the be-in, and very many of them joined in with the chant. When they went back to 26 Second Avenue and told Prabhupada of their success in Boston, he told them that a new center should be opened there.
“A devotee named Raya-Rama suggested that I should go there alone and open the center. I was not so daring and was reluctant to do so. But I wanted to please Swamiji. It was therefore decided that around the same time devotees would leave and open a center in San Francisco, I would go alone and open a center in Boston. I went to see Prabhupada alone, and he bid me farewell and gave me blessings. He said, ‘Go to Boston and set off that big cannon of Hare Krishna.’ In the last hours before I left, I went to see him and say goodbye. I bowed down before him where he was alone in his room. He reached over me and rubbed my back with affection. This gesture of his gave me courage to actually go to ‘Beantown’ and face the sure obstacles I would find there.” (p. 54)
“On Sundays in good weather, the three of us would go out and hold musical kirtana in the park called the Boston Commons. This gave us real life, to be chanting Hare Krishna mantra and giving it to the people. The people were mostly hippies, but there were also older people like immigrants from Ukraine, Puerto Rican immigrants, and young people hungry for a meal and liking the spiritual atmosphere.” (p. 57)
“I should not be interested in fame or money or selling books or getting my name cleared of infamy. Just write because you have a great desire to write and glorify Prabhupada and Krishna. Write because you love to, and because you love the Swami. Make him famous, not yourself.” (p. 61)
From June Bug:
“He went to Vrndavana and met up with a fellow who had left ISKCON and said how he chanted all day long and thought of the gopi-mañjaris. He met up with another man who said only his guru was bona fide. He met up with a man who had given up spiritual life entirely and was selling sweets and blaspheming. Another man went to worship Allah. Another and another. It fills your head with sawdust.”
Nagaraja Prabhu:
From the table of contents in Back to Godhead, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Mar/Apr 2025):
“Yes, we have free will, but instead of helping us become truly free, it tends to get us into trouble.”
Visakha Devi Dasi:
From “An Evolution of Questions” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Mar/Apr 2025):
[By clearly and authoritatively answering Arjuna’s series of questions, Krishna leads him to a doubtless decision. I recommend reading the article and hearing all the good points Visakha makes about the questions of Arjuna. I just share the conclusion here.]
“Asking thoughtful questions of a qualified person and imbibing that person’s answers can bring each of us to the same coveted mindset that Arjuna has at the Gita’s end: we too can be free of illusion and prepared to act in a transcendentally virtuous way. This is the immeasurable benefit of questions sincerely asked and properly answered.”
Devaki Devi Dasi:
From her soon-to-be-published book on the vanaprastha-ashrama:
“I once saw a sannyasi hoarding a whole tray of pizza and stashing it inside a cupboard in his room – some years later, he had to step down from his position.”
“Furthermore, the Garuda Purana explains: ‘One cannot be liberated without association with a pure devotee of the Lord. And unless one shows mercy to those in an inferior position, one’s life will be superficial.’”
“Unless we come to the point in our spiritual development where we genuinely and selflessly desire to serve others by reaching out to uplift them, we will remain kanisthas, simply focusing on ourselves.”
“The culture of respect forms the foundation of bhakti, whereas a culture of disrespect forms the foundation of sense gratification.”
“As we gain insights into this mysterious transformation called death, we come to realise that dying is no big deal – we have already done it many times. We simply don’t remember. As we receive knowledge, death loses its horrifying moments. We may rather become a little curious – what it will be like, and where our journey will take us next. We can regard it as a journey into an unknown service situation.”
“When preaching in Ukraine, I met Surabhi Dasi in Mykolaiv, a serious devotee of the Lord. One day she suffered a stroke and was paralysed on the right side of her body, with her speech and memory entirely lost. For some time, she could not remember anything; her entire memory was wiped out, like a computer program getting deleted – it simply no longer existed. She could not speak a single word in either Russian or any other language; nor could she remember her name or where she lived – absolutely nothing.
“Gradually, she recovered; she regained her memory and began speaking like she used to. Some time later when I met her, with great curiosity, I asked her, ‘What was it like, not being able to remember anything, not even your own name? And not being able to say a word? It must have been a rather bewildering situation for you!’ And she gave this remarkable answer: ‘Yes, it was very unusual – my brain did not function at all. Everything was blank. But one thing I remembered: the maha-mantra! That was the only thing that stayed with me; I constantly chanted the maha-mantra within my mind, and this made me so peaceful – I knew I would be all right, and everything would be fine.’”
“We know another example, and it’s that of Mother Isha, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada. She left her body some years ago, also after a stroke. She too lost her entire memory and power of speaking, and since she was elderly and required full-time care, she had to be admitted to a nursing home; unfortunately, no devotee could be found to take care of her. As with Surabhi Dasi, the only thing she remembered and could utter was the holy name – the maha-mantra. Nothing else returned. And she would loudly sing the maha-mantra all day in the corridors of the old-age home.
“Srila Niranjana Maharaja knew her well – she had been in Boston transcribing Srila Prabhupada’s dictations when Maharaja joined the ashrama as a new bhakta. Also, Mother Isha served as a mother to the boys, taking care of them. Now, when Maharaja heard of her situation, being pained at the situation of her ending up in a non-devotee nursing home, he decided to travel for several hours to visit her. Upon his arrival, she could not recognise him; she was simply singing the maha-mantra through the corridors. All the nurses knew her, referring to her as the lady who does the Hare Krishna singing. In this way, she purified the whole establishment.
“Maharaja tried his best to connect with her, saying, ‘Hare Krishna Mataji! Do you remember me? Niranjana?’ But no, she could neither remember anything nor recognise him. Initially, Maharaja was a little disappointed at this, after travelling for several hours to meet her. But then the realisation struck him: ‘At least she remembers the maha-mantra! That’s the most important thing. Whether or not she remembers me is, after all, not important.’
“Krishna had allowed her to remember the maha-mantra, and nothing else. He had washed her brain of all unnecessary impressions, so she would remember Krishna alone at the moment of death. In this way, we can perceive the situation as Krishna’s divine mercy upon her, relieving her from all kinds of nonsense stored in the subtle body of her mind, intelligence and false ego, enabling her to remember Krishna alone. What may at times seem like the biggest calamity – making us wonder why Krishna is doing this to us – is nothing but Krishna’s sublime joke. He jokes by giving us a little stroke, so we forget all nonsense impressions; then He enables us to return to His abode. Or He may arrange a serious accident for us and thereby leave us paralysed, thus stopping us from engaging in further sense gratification. He arranges different situations for us to leave our body, and we think, ‘Oh, how terrible!’, being unable to recognise Krishna’s joking arrangements. Since we identify very deeply with our body, we consider each near-death situation as a horrible calamity, but as a matter of fact, it has no significance for the soul. Absolutely none!”
“Raghava Das was a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, of Scottish descent, living in Edinburgh as a brahmachari. He was absorbed in performing harinama in the streets, and he also cooked in the kitchen at times. One day, the driver of the harinama vehicle fell asleep and caused an accident; Raghava Das got heavily injured and left his body. Needless to say, the devotees were perturbed and informed Srila Prabhupada of the tragedy. But Srila Prabhupada was not disturbed, viewing the occurrence with spiritual vision.
“In a letter to Revatinandana, dated 14 November 1973, he responded: ‘Regarding the auto accident, just hold a condolence meeting for Raghava Das brahmachari and pray for his soul to Krishna for giving him a good chance for advancement in Krishna consciousness. Certainly Krishna will give him a good place to take birth where he can again begin in Krishna consciousness activities. That is sure.’
“With the help of astrology, one can ascertain that the soul may very well have taken birth again in London – now in an Indian Vaishnava family, in a woman’s body. Today her name is Ratnavali Dasi, a disciple of Srila Bhakti Charu Maharaja. In her childhood, she already had a strong attraction for Krishna consciousness; and once she was a grownup, she repeatedly saw episodes of her life as Raghava Das in her dreams. Whenever we see the same episodes in our dreams, it may very well mean that those experiences are from our previous life.
“Bhaktivedanta Manor and ISKCON London are some of the most historic projects in our movement; up to this very day, there are many disciples of Srila Prabhupada living in this community, and many of them knew Raghava Das. Whenever Ratnavali Dasi meets any of these devotees, she can perceive a sense of having known the person for a long time – as if from a previous life. We may have come across such a phenomenon where we meet a person for the first time, but have a deja-vu experience – as if we have known this person for ages.
“Moreover, one devotee in London knows the art of regressing people under hypnosis to enable them to see their previous life. When Ratnavali Dasi underwent such a regression, she remembered various events and activities she experienced in her life as Raghava Das. In this way, it is commonly accepted in ISKCON that Raghava Das may very well have taken birth again as Ratnavali Dasi.
“When her spiritual master Srila Bhakti Charu Maharaja heard of this story for the first time, he asked her the most obvious question: ‘What happened? What did you think of at the moment of death? In your last life, you were in a British man’s body, but now you are in an Indian woman’s body. So, what happened?’ Ratnavali Dasi was indeed curious to find the answer and researched this matter, asking many disciples of Srila Prabhupada about Raghava Das’s life and activities. And gradually, all the little pieces of the puzzle came together. When Raghava Das returned to the temple from harinama sankirtan, he sometimes served in the kitchen, where there was also an Indian lady assisting him.
We might now suspect that he was attracted to her; that he might have even been in love with her. But no, Raghava Das was a strict brahmachari and did not allow himself to be attracted by women. In fact, it was rather the opposite; there was some little tension between the two; some quarrelling. And this was enough for Raghava Das to do another round in the material world by accepting a woman’s body!
“When I heard this story for the first time many years ago, I was awe-struck! It left deep impressions in my heart. I then realised that it is, in fact, not so easy to go back to Godhead. Raghava Das was a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, a brahmachari who left his body on the battlefield of performing the most glorious service of distributing the holy name! One would naturally think that he would have surely gone back to Godhead; but he didn’t. And Srila Prabhupada knew it.
“Not only do we need to give up our attachments and attractions, but also our aversions. Aversions are also based on a certain kind of attachment – the attachment to being averse, to disliking somebody or something. As the saying goes, attraction and aversion are the two sides of the same coin; both have to be given up and dissolved. Only when I heard this anecdote, could I deeply understand the meaning of the above-mentioned saying, which explains how aversions and dislikes are also based on some material attachment, which binds us to this material world by occupying some space in our mundane mind.
“Online, we can find pictures of Raghava Das, Ratnavali Dasi, and the lady who assisted Raghava Das in the kitchen. When looking at these pictures, we may burst into laughter. We may recognise Ratnavali Dasi’s facial features to be a mixture of Raghava Das’s and the Indian lady’s features – hilarious indeed! We may wonder why Ratnavali Dasi still carries characteristics of Raghava Das today; the answer is our strong attachment to our present facial features – after all, with no other part of the body do we identify ourselves more than we do with our face. And interestingly, in the human form of life, Krishna arranges almost every person to look so entirely different from anybody else in the whole world – just to deepen our bodily identification. Very rarely do we find two persons looking exactly alike, unless they are identical twins. In this way, we may think, ‘Nobody has eyes as beautiful as mine! My nose is so special and cute, and my lips are uniquely attractive!’ In this way, we thoroughly identify with our present body, carrying this attachment into our next life, which will determine our future facial features. Likewise, by Raghava Das having felt some attraction or aversion towards this Indian-bodied lady, he also invited some of her facial features into his facial features while in the body of Ratnavali Dasi.
“This narration illustrates just how subtle the entire process of devotional service is! How we carry so many aversions and attractions within our minds! Likes and dislikes, attractions and aversions – the dualities of material existence that we must eventually cross over. It requires a lot of internal work. This episode made it clear to me that going back to Godhead is not such an easy matter – for many, it is a process that will take several lifetimes. Somehow just hanging in there and mumbling our rounds off is not enough. It is not such a cheap thing. We must gradually throw overboard our baggage of likes and dislikes, besides attractions and aversions – a true challenge!”
“The story includes another amazing detail. When Ratnavali Dasi took birth, she had some birthmarks on her little baby body – one on her forehead, and another across her belly. Before I met the devotees, I was working as a physiotherapist in Germany, treating early-born babies to enhance their development by taking advantage of certain reflexes. I distinctly remember treating a baby with birthmarks and turning to a senior doctor with a question. I asked him why some babies have them. And his response was, ‘Babies have these things – nobody knows.’
“Nevertheless, by understanding the science of the soul, we can give a better answer. Ratnavali Dasi’s birthmarks are exactly on those places where Raghava Das suffered his fatal injuries – a trauma on his forehead and another across his abdomen, as confirmed by the post-mortem.”
“Meanwhile, there has been more research done on this topic, and various doctors and scientists of the secular world have also arrived at the conclusion that birthmarks are connected with the death experienced by that particular soul in their previous life. Commonly, birthmarks can be found on the head, and they almost look like gunshot wounds, indicating that the person may have given up his previous body because of a gunshot. For further reference, please read Birthmarks and Birth Defects Corresponding to Wounds on Deceased Persons by Ian Stevenson.”
“On my tour around Slovakia in July 2024, I visited the community of New Ekachakra. After I concluded a seminar on death, the mother of a little boy asked whether it was possible for a devotee to have been a cow in his previous life. She also said that her four-year-old son, in his very early childhood, told her that he remembered being a cow in his previous life. Interestingly, a senior devotee of the community used to take care of 200 cows, and, over the years, they gradually passed away, with only one cow remaining at the time of my visit. And this boy stated that he was a cow in his herd, and even pointed to the field where he used to graze and finally gave up his cow body. The family consulted an astrologer who confirmed this fact.”
“We can view death as a journey into an unknown service situation. Krishna may take us home, back to Godhead; or else we will take another birth in a family of devotees, just as Raghava Das did. In one sense, there is no loss in taking another birth, as Krishna allows us to keep all the advancement that we have made in this life, to be continued at our next destination. And Lord Chaitanya’s sankirtan movement will always require more advanced personalities to take birth in this world to continue the preaching mission.”
“In 2007, when experiencing my first cancer adventure, I sent out a regular diary informing devotees of my situation. My father had requested me to add him on my mailing list, and in this way, he could read my realisations and thoughts on preparing for death. Then, one year later, when he was diagnosed with the final stage of cancer himself, having earlier read my diary greatly helped him deal with his situation. As a result, he left in a very auspicious way; completely focused, fearless and peaceful – on the morning of Parsva Ekadashi in September, which is one day before Vamanadeva’s appearance.
“A couple of days before his departure, I reminded him: ‘This is like travelling – now you start preparing yourself to travel to an unknown destination. You wait at the departure gate, with the boarding pass in hand, apart from the visa stamped on the passport; everything is now ready. But there is some delay – the flight is delayed.’ He could easily relate to this analogy, having travelled all his life in very unconventional and adventurous ways.”
“With unflinching faith in Krishna, we put ourselves in His hands, knowing well that He will perfectly take care of everything. After all, He arranged things throughout our whole life beyond compare – why shouldn’t He do so in this last and most crucial of all moments…? Ultimately, our main concern is to be once again in the association of devotees and get an opportunity to serve the Lord and His devotees. And we can rest assured that this will happen.”
“Sometimes we may wonder whether a devotee may also have to face the Yamadutas at the moment of death. In this regard, an extraordinary story comes to my mind which I experienced in Bangladesh – an Ajamila-story of the modern days of ISKCON.
“One day at the Swamibag temple in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, a large amount of money and gold jewellery went missing from the Deity department; somebody had stolen it. Devotees were offering an appeal to kindly return the money and jewellery, reminding everyone that even Lord Brahma became bewildered and stole Krishna’s calves and cowherd boys but later returned them. As Krishna forgave Lord Brahma, He would surely also forgive our thief. Some of the gold jewellery reappeared, but the money remained lost. Then the idea of using a special technique to find the thief came up; as per the idea, they invited a distinguished brahmana who knew the art of chanting some mantras to a small bag of raw rice and thereby find the thief. All the devotees who could have possibly been involved in the thievery had to sit in a circle with a banana leaf with some raw rice on it in front of them; each of the suspects would be told to chew the raw rice into a semi-liquid paste. And whoever cannot produce the semi-liquid paste and has a rather dry, crumbly mass of raw rice in his mouth would be identified as guilty. It sounded rather mysterious.
“Present in Dhaka at the time, I was curious to take part in the unusual investigation process beginning early in the morning, immediately after mangal-arati. A large group of brahmacharis and I met in a room allocated for it, and we sat in a circle – with a banana-leaf plate with some rice on it in front of us. We then put some grains into our mouth and began chewing it. After some time, the distinguished brahmana went around the circle of devotees sitting down, requesting everyone to spit the paste of rice onto the leaf plate. Everybody’s paste was liquid, except for one brahmachari’s. His rice was very dry and crumbly. The brahmana frowned as he approached that devotee, saying: “Oh oh! This doesn’t look very good! Your rice is very dry. Pick it up and put it back into your mouth. Chew a bit more.” After another five minutes, he checked again to see the condition of the rice. This time, it was even drier – indeed, it was so dry that the raw rice had cut the inner skin of his mouth, making his blood mix with the crumbly grains.
“The temple authorities asked everyone to leave the room, except for the brahmachari who had failed the test. And in a typical Bengali manner, they confronted him, ‘So where is the money? What happened to it’ He quickly responded, ‘All right, I will go and get it from my room.’ He returned to his room, but instead of bringing the money back, he drank a little bottle of poison, which he already had in the pocket of his kurta. The poison was so strong and fatal – enough to kill him. Obviously, in fear of the chance of getting caught, he had arranged for the poison in advance.
“After giving the brahmachari a good several minutes to return with the stolen money, some devotees went to his room to look for him. When they went in, he was lying on his bed, and a strong smell of poison permeated the room. The devotees immediately understood what had happened, and they rushed him to hospital, taking the empty bottle of poison along to show it to the doctors. Thank God it was early in the morning, when there were no traffic jams on the way, unlike any other time of the day. One of the brahmacharis stayed with him the entire day and the following night. When the doctors saw what poison he had taken, they commented, ‘No hope for him. We cannot save him.’ Nevertheless, the doctors tried their best and admitted him to the ICU ward.
“During the following night, the poisoned boy turned to his companion, saying, ‘I think I will leave my body. Let’s chant the Nrsimhadeva prayers.’ And so, in the middle of the night, in the intensive care unit, they sang the prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva together, followed by a short maha-mantra kirtan. Amazingly, the boy did not leave his body – to the utter astonishment of the doctors, who had already concluded that he didn’t have even the slightest chance of survival.
“Some days later, after this brahmachari had returned to the temple, I regularly spent some time in his room to encourage him, as everyone else had abandoned him, condemning him to be a thief. Once he began feeling a little better, he shared with me that he had received the darshan of the Yamadutas. Judging by the intensity and bewilderment with which he described the episode, the story of his encounter with the Yamadutas had to be true – he was not inventing it just to be sensational. He related that two Yamadutas had stood at his head, and two at his feet – black and fierce-looking, with frightening horns on their heads. As he described them, he became overwhelmed by fear and horror, sobbing in despair. They had come three times to try and pull him out of his body; but since the two brahmacharis had taken shelter of Lord Nrsimhadeva by singing His prayers, the Yamadutas were not successful in taking him.
“What an amazing and heartfelt pastime! Truly a modern day Ajamila-story. Even though the boy had tulasi-beads around his neck and maybe also tilak on his body, the Yamadutas nevertheless tried to take him away. Obviously, a situation where one has poisoned oneself after committing a theft is not conducive to the appearance of Vishnudutas – even if one has worn tulasi-beads around one’s neck and chanted the maha-mantra during one’s life. Nevertheless, because he took shelter of Lord Nrsimhadeva at the moment of his impending death, the boy proved himself to be a devotee, and the Yamadutas could not touch him. The story shook up all the devotees in Bangladesh, offering many lessons to be learnt. It took this boy quite some time to digest the whole episode – he was visibly shaken and disturbed. Ultimately, Krishna gave him a second chance, turning him into a stronger devotee of the Lord.”
“Instead of making arrangements for living nicely, we should be concerned about dying nicely.”
Karuna Dharini Devi Dasi:
From “The Essential King” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Mar/Apr 2025):
“We spirit souls have accepted the environment of the material world, along with the covering of a material body, mind, and false ego. We accept all this in order to live separately from God, but we are not fully satisfied by doing so, because it is against our true nature. We are meant to relish life with Krishna in a spiritual body in His eternal spiritual domain. However, to experience independence, we opt out of our relationship with Him and in doing so lose our natural cognizance and become ignorant of the nature of reality. We are thereby thrown into turmoil, which is compared to the tossing of the sea. We find ourselves in the middle of a sea, and our education, research, technology, and so on are all meant to improve the material world, but these are not the solution recommended in Raja-vidya.”
Vicaru Prabhu:
From a Govardhan Puja / Diwali program at State University of New York at Albany:
Rama asked Vibhisana for a vehicle to use to return to Ayodhya from Lanka with. Vibhisana got a flower airplane from Kuvera for Him to use.
When Rama passed through the forest He asked the sages to transform all the trees of Ayodhya into fruit trees so those who came to His coronation would have some fruit to eat.
Krishna and His incarnations perform pastimes simply to attract us to come back to the spiritual world.
They are 8,400,000 species of life, and they will all cheat us. But the Lord and His pure devotees will never cheat us.
God is one, but He has many forms and names.
We make so much endeavor looking throughout our life for love. If we give a little love to Krishna, there is so much benefit.
Caitanya Carana Prabhu:
From “Sita After Being Abducted: Resourcefulness Amid Helplessness” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Mar/Apr 2025):
“The same Lord who has seen us through our many past troubles – not just the ones we knew about, but even the ones we didn’t know about – will take us through our present troubles as well.”
“His plan, formed according to His infinite wisdom, is often inconceivable to our finite minds. According to His plan, sometimes our role may expand and sometimes it may shrink. Sometimes the ability we have to change our externals may increase, and sometimes it may dramatically decrease. When our power to play our part has shrunk substantially, and indeed when our part itself has shrunk substantially, it is our faith that can help us accept our humbler situation. We gracefully accept the situation that has come upon us within the Lord’s plan, and we seek to play our modified part accordingly.”
“No human mistake can ever be so big as to disturb, let alone disrupt, God’s plan. His plan is so expert and so subtly inclusive that it can continue to work even through the ill-advised choices of the human participants in His plan, be they us or others.”
“Once we faithfully accept the smaller, humbler part we presently have, then we can resourcefully direct our attention and energy toward playing that part as well as possible.”
“Even if we are in a situation of utter external powerlessness, we are never in a situation of utter internal powerlessness.”
“Devotional directives to always remember the Divine are not mindless rituals; they are time-tested strategies for inner empowerment by providing us an ever-available enriching and empowering object of thought.
“The more we are resourceful in connecting internally with our indwelling Lord through remembrance, the more we will be guided by Him to become resourceful externally for acting constructively (Gita 10.10).”
“Each step in the darkness of adversity can be guided by simple questions that will become our sources of light: ‘My dear Lord, how can I serve You in this situation? In Your service, how can I act to make things better? And what can I learn through this situation so that I can become a better human being?’”
Chandravamsi Prabhu:
From a Govardhan Puja / Diwali program at State University of New York at Albany:
Krishna’s speaking can convince anyone. Thus He was able to convince His father to worship Govardhana and not Indra.
Namaste Girirajaya Sri Govardhana namine,
Ashesha klesha nashaya parmananda dayine.
“I bow down to Sri Govardhan, the king of hills, who destroys unlimited miseries and gives the supreme bliss.”
We say that we do not have time, but Krishna says, “I am time.”
Materially we are active, but spiritually we are lazy.
Jagannatha Gopala Prabhu:
From “The Essence of the Essence” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Mar/Apr 2025):
“Prabhupada focuses significantly on the process of bhakti-yoga, even in sections where it is not explicitly discussed by Krishna. Some may see Prabhupada’s presentation as biased or even hasty. Far from being so, however, Prabhupada’s emphasis on bhakti-yoga is in line with Krishna’s emphasis on it.”
“Despite its being a philosophical book, the way to truly understand the Gita is not through mere scholarship or intellectual endeavor but with an underlying mood of devotion, as exhibited by Arjuna, the first and direct recipient of the Gita. Therefore, as an expert teacher, Prabhupada taught us not only the essence of the Gita, but also the disposition required by the seeker to understand and realize that essence.”
“When Thomas J. Hopkins, a professor of religious studies and an expert in Caitanya Vaisnavism, asked Prabhupada about the relationship of the Bhagavad-gita to Srimad- Bhagavatam, Prabhupada replied that the Bhagavatam was like the graduate study of the Gita, beginning where the Gita left off. In this way, the essence of bhakti presented in the Gita expands to become the ripe fruit of Vedic knowledge, in the form of Srimad-Bhagavatam.”
Thomas Mallery:
From “A Dichotomy of Freedom: Free Will and the Will to Be Free” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Mar/Apr 2025):
“Our free will gets us in trouble; our will to be free can get us out of it.”
“Oscar Wilde’s quote ‘We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars’ is a fitting analogy for those who have resided mainly in the lower modes but who aspire to elevate themselves to the mode of goodness and beyond – to transcendence.”
“In Gita 15.5 Krishna gives us an internal road map for the process of surrendering to Him. He says that by understanding our eternal nature; giving up false prestige, illusion, false association, and material desires; and being free from the dualities of happiness and distress – in other words, giving up the things that take our attention away from Krishna – we can fix our mind and heart squarely on the path of surrender to Him.”
“Betting against Krishna is like – as the saying goes – betting against the house (i.e., the odds are stacked against you).”
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According to Krishna, a devotee is situated in a neutral position. This idea appears in a verse at the end of the twelve chapter of Bhagavad-gita, one of several verses in which Krishna makes the point that the devotees who are most dear to Him are not affected by material dualities.
anapeksah sucir daksa
sarvarambha-parityagi
yo mad-bhaktah sa me priyah
“My devotee who is not dependent on the ordinary course of activities, who is pure, expert, without cares, free from all pains, and not striving for some result, is very dear to Me.” (Bhagavad-gita 12.16)
Discussion of this verse came up during the U.S. presidential election as some devotees favored one candidate and others favored another. In the purport to this verse, I recalled this relevant statement by Srila Prabhupada: “A devotee never takes the part of a particular party; therefore he is carefree.” I was serving my guru, Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami at the time, and I shared this sentence with him, and he wanted me to print it to use in his writing.
