travel journal#4.4: Mayapur

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 4, No. 4

By Krishna-kripa das

  (February 2008, part two) 

Mayapur

 (Sent from Mayapur, West Bengal, India, on 2/23/08)

 

 

Where I Am and What I Am Doing

 

I am in Mayapur doing harinama, and proofreading Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava, Nature's IQ, and the Friends of the BBT Newsletter. As GBC meeting time and festival time approach I see friends from all over the world, a nice feature of Mayapur this time of year. I invite everyone to come on our daily three hour harinamas if they get a chance. On disciple of Indradyumna Swami from Katowice, Poland, at whose house I stayed three times while traveling to and from Ukraine, got a real taste for harinama in the dhama and came out almost every day to my great happiness. I also saw on harinama some devotees I remembered from the Berlin Ratha-yatra, which I attended the last three years. They included some great dancers who increased the opulence of the sankirtana party.

 

Devotional Tips

 

Sri Krishna shows Himself to those who prefer His service to any other occupation.—Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

 

"Krishna is ready to associate with you in any way you like. Somebody likes Krishna as friend, somebody likes Krishna as husband, somebody likes Krishna as paramour. So Krishna is ready. Somebody likes Krishna as son. So any way, Krishna is ready. . . . If you want Krishna as enemy, yes, Krishna is ready. He'll kill you. But that is also good for you. If you want to fight with Krishna, yes, Krishna is ready—everything. Akhila-rasamrita-sindhu. He can associate with you in any rasa, humor, you like. Krishna's ready. Ready means, "That is natural." Because we are part and parcel of Krishna, so the part and parcel must remain with Krishna."—Srila Prabhupada, in a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.7.23, given on September 20, 1976, in Vrindavana.

 

"You shall be always feeling jolly. If I am not jolly, if I am not prasanna-manasa, that means maya [illusion] has attacked me. A bhagavad-bhakta [devotee of the Lord] shall never be aprasanna, not joyful. Always joyful. If he is actually in contact with Kåñëa, how he can become morose? No. If he is morose, if he is unhappy, that means maya has attacked him. This is the test." —Srila Prabhupada, in a lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.20, given on October 31, 1972, in Vrindavana.

 

Lokanath Swami tells of a Delhi businessman who had a thriving shoe business. After chanting Hare Krishna for some time, he decided because of the animal killing involved in making leather shoes, he could not continue, but would produce non-leather shoes instead. He gave Lokanath Swami the first pair.

 

On a bicycle wheel as you move closer to the center, the distance between the different spokes decreases. In the same way, as we move closer to Krishna, the distance between ourselves and other individuals also decreases.—Lokanath Swami

 

We have a tendency to reject a brahmana for making one mistake. Manu Samhita, however, gives an atonement prescription for a brahmana who kills a brahmana. After executing the atonement, the brahmana is as good as before.—Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami

 

If a car always works but it breaks down once, we do not throw out the car. Similarly we should not reject a devotee for a single deviant act. —Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami

 

A Prabhupada Story

 

   In Los Angeles, some devotees from Hawaii were proposing different things they might do. Srila Prabhupada said, "Yes, you can do that" to all their proposals, concluding by saying, "You can do anything you want." They protested, "We are your disciples. We want your sanction." These devotees from Hawaii had long hair, and Srila Prabhupada replied, "You are not my disciples. You all have long hair."—told by Jag Jivan Prabhu

 

Realizations

 

   As today is Lord Nityananda's appearance day here, I thought I would write something related to him. When I proofread the Nityananda Caritamrita, a compilation mostly of material from Caitanya Bhagavata, some points were striking to me. I recall at least a couple worth sharing.

 

   The glorification of Lord Nityananda by Lord Caitanya and the glorification of Lord Caitanya by Lord Nityananda are filled with such a depth of both knowledge and devotion that they increase our faith in both of the two Lords, and I highly recommended them. Some of these are in the chapter "Lord Nityananda Offers Prayers to the Six-armed Form of  Lord Caitanya." Lord Nityananda prayed, "You will fill the entire universe with Krishna-nama-sankirtana. Loving devotional service to the Lord will be preached in each and every house. . . . You will distribute devotional services to Lord Vishnu that are unknown in the Vedas."

 

   Vrindavana Dasa Thakura warns that if two devotees disagree and we side with one and criticize the other, by offending a devotee in this way we can end up falling away from devotional service altogether. I cannot help but think that such circumstances may account for why so many devotees have left the Hare Krishna movement. At least I can try to avoid criticizing devotees in my own life, thinking that because of their devotion, they are dear to the Lord, even if I cannot appreciate some things about them.

 

   There were some special incidents on Lord Nityananda's appearance day for me. Although I was delayed getting ready in the morning and worried I would be late, I arrived at the temple just as the curtains on Pancatattva's altar were opening. The week before, on Advaita Acarya's appearance day, I ended up missing the noon arati and kirtana in order to make sure I didn't miss lunch and I felt really bad about it, because such behavior is very substandard for me. On Nityananda's appearance day, two of my friends leaving the temple after the bathing ceremony, strongly encouraged me to skip the arati and get in line for the feast or I would miss out, but remembering the previous week and my love for kirtana, I just ignored them. Chanting and dancing at the noon arati during the appearance day festivals is the best part of the festival for me. As it turned out, I left the temple after the kirtana accompanying the arati ended and made it just in time for the prasadam feast without having to wait in line at all! Another thing was I was unwilling to wait in line for maha-prasadam, but a friend of mine walked past me with a bowl of it and kindly gave some to me. Our harinama party took our Nitai-Mayapur Chandra Deities and the Gaura-Nitai Deities from Prabhupada's bhajan kutir around Prabhupada's Puspa Samadhi, and it was a very lively event with some of the pilgrims also participating by dancing. I got some of the maha-prasadam from an offering along the way and shared it with some friends. Our harinama party got to lead the evening arati chanting at Prabhupada's bhajan kutir after we returned the Deities to their home. I had a sense that Lord Nityananda was fulfilling my desires to participate in His festival, and my happiness from the whole experience carried over to tulasi puja the next day in which I danced with more enthusiasm than usual. All glories to Lord Nityananda, who is so kind to encourage even neophyte devotees in His service.

 

nityanandam aham naumi

   sarvananda-karam param

hari-nama-pradam devam

   avadhuta-siromanim

 

"I bow down to the Supreme Lord Nityananda Prabhu, who is the awarder of the highest joy to all, the bestower of the holy name and the crest jewel of all paramahamsa mendicants."—quoted in Pancaratra Pradipa

 

travel journal#4.3: Mostly Mayapur

                       Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 4, No. 3
                                    By Krishna-kripa das
                                 (February 2008, part one)
                                        Mostly Mayapur
               (Sent from Mayapur, West Bengal, India, on 2/15/08)


What I Am Doing

I am in Mayapur doing harinama, finishing Bhaktivaibhava Cantos 1-3,
and proofreading Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava, Nature's IQ, and the
Friends of the BBT Newsletter.

Devotional Insights

From Dhanurdhara Swami:

The Lord expands into two to experience love, and He takes the part of
His lover to complete His experience.

Why is Madhavi devi considered a "half associate" when enumerating
Lord Caitanya's most intimate associates in Caitanya Caritamrta?
Because circumstantially Lord Caitanya was a sannyasi and Madhavi devi
was a lady, she could not associate with Him to the extent that the
male intimate associates could.

Whatever pastimes take place in Vraja, Mathura, and Dvaraka, also take
place in Puri.


From Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami:

  Our problem is that there are a lot of nice things in our life that
not really connected to Krishna. We identify the negative things as
maya or illusion, but the pleasurable non-Krishna conscious things we
do not really see as also maya.
  When we try to engage our impious culture in Krishna consciousness,
a lot is left out.
  If you follow Vedic culture, that is human life, otherwise it is
animal life. If you can't follow, it does not mean you cannot be a
devotee. After all, Hanuman is a monkey, Garuda is a bird …

Within the family, often family members give love to each other only.
But the brahmacari gives love to everyone and gets love from everyone.
The sannyasi is loved (and taken care of) as a son but respected as a
father.—Bhakti Purusottam Swami

The Vedas are bewildering, even to their author, Vyasadeva, thus his
guru, Narada, had to "straighten him out."—Pankajanghri Prabhu

The critic Ramacandra Puri in Lord Caitanya's pastimes was Jatila in
Krishna's pastimes, where Krishna enjoyed her harsh words.
—Madhavananda  Prabhu


Devotional Tips

"Let me not desire anything but the highest good for my worst
foes."—Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

One Christian prayer says, "When we pray, we speak to God, and when we
read scripture, God speaks to us."—Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami

Q[by me]: Although we preach, often people do not take it very
seriously. How do we handle that?
A[by Bhakti Purusottam Swami]: Sometimes it is seen that the most
argumentative people become devotees. We preach and just wait and see.

Lord Caitanya gave us our identity, the servant of the servant of the
servant of the master of the gopis.—Jananivasa Prabhu

No one can be more senior than Lord Brahma, but as Haridasa Thakura he
taught to chant the holy name, one must accept an insignificant
position. —Madhavananda  Prabhu

Once should always respect one's guru. If someone gives you a million
dollars, would you spit in his face? What the guru gives is worth much
more than that!—Madhavananda  Prabhu

Chanting japa inattentively is like trying to fill up a bucket with
holes in it.—Premadatta Prabhu, Tripura TP

Nice analogy: As we have to obey a traffic officer when his directions
differ from the traffic light, similarly, we have to carry out Lord
Krishna's direct order in preference to His orders in the Vedas.—heard
in Kolkata SB Class


Prabhupada in Puri

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami described Srila Prabhupada's 1977 Puri visit.
Srila Prabhupada did not enter the Jagannatha temple because his
disciples were not allowed to enter. Two Puri brahmanas sang
"Jagannathastakam" for Srila Prabhupada. This song has the refrain "O
Jagannatha, Lord of the universe, kindly be visible to me." Srila
Prabhupada commented to the brahmanas that his disciples are now
hankering after seeing Lord Jagannatha, but "you do not let them in
the temple. . . . You want Jagannatha Svami to be compact within your
home and you do not expand the mercy of Jagannatha. . . . He is not
only just Purinatha [Lord of Puri] or Oriyanatha [Lord of Orissa]. He
is Jagannatha [Lord of the Universe]." Satsvarupa Maharaja asked the
devotees to say what qualities Srila Prabhupada demonstrated in these
dealings with the Puri priests. Compassion, righteousness, and
boldness were some of the responses.


Realizations

Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, my diksa guru, was just here in Mayapur.
While in this holy dhama, he did a retreat of increased japa (chanting
on beads). As I do extra japa on Ekadasi, I decided to chant with him.
He, his servant Baladeva Vidyabhusana Prabhu, and myself chanted for
half an hour in his room, and an hour and a half outside. I glanced
out at the lush vegetation toward the Jalangi River from our rooftop
position at the Vaishnava Academy, roughly in the direction of
Bhaktivinoda Thakura's samadhi. As we chanted I thought how it was
amazing that the three of us were there chanting Hare Krishna in
Mayapur just because Srila Prabhupada desired it, Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura desired it, and Bhaktivinoda Thakura
desired it. These great devotees were so powerful, simply by their
desire, they had changed the materialistic course of the lives of
thousands of people in the West like us. By material calculation we
are insignificant souls from a different culture, separated by
thousands of miles and dozens of years from Bhaktivinoda Thakura and
His transcendental son, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. Yet because
they desired, we Westerners were taking to the chanting of Hare
Krishna, and our Srila Prabhupada made it happen. Ultimately we were
chanting because Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu desired it and these great
saints took great trouble to represent His will to us.


Harinama and Prasadam Distribution Story

  We were doing harinama to the Jagannatha temple near Mayapur and a
prasadam [spiritual food] distribution party came with us. The kitri
was so popular that around Lord Caitanya's birthplace, the food party
stopped and we continued chanting toward the Jagannatha temple. I had
to leave early so I took the bus back to our Mayapur temple. When the
bus driver came upon our prasadam distribution party, he stopped the
bus to everyone's surprise and got out. He got a bowl of kitri, ate
it, and returned to the bus, wiped his hands with a cloth, and
continued driving. Everyone smiled to see this. I peeked around to
glance at the driver, and when he turned to look, I said, "Khub bhalo
kitri?" ["Very good kitri?"] He smiled, and said with enthusiasm,
"Khub bhalo kitri! Khub bhalo kitri!" Everyone smiled and glanced at
each other, amused at the bus driver's enthusiasm, a Westerner's
attempt to speak Bengali, or perhaps a combination of both.
  When I told Jagannatha Misra Prabhu, our harinama leader, he told
me that one time the passengers forced a bus driver to stop against
his will, and twenty people on the bus got off and got bowls of kitri!
  All glories to transcendental prasadam distribution!


My Favorite Pastime of the Lord

The following is a submission to the Back to Godhead magazine, "In
Your Own Words" feature:

My favorite pastime is Lord Caitanya and His associates plundering the
storehouse of love of Godhead and eating and distributing the
contents. I am inspired because they do not consider who is fit or who
is unfit. They give spiritual love to everyone through the holy name.
How? "They danced, cried, laughed and chanted like madmen, and in this
way they distributed love of Godhead." (CC Adi 7.22) Miraculously,
unlike a material storehouse, as the love is distributed, the supply
increases hundreds of times. Best of all, this pastime continues even
now, and you and I can take part in it, tasting spiritual nectar and
endearing ourselves to the Lord. "The present Krishna consciousness
movement is nondifferent from the pastimes performed by Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu . . . , for the same principles are being followed and the
same actions performed without fail." (CC Antya 5.88 purport)
  Each year, as I visit the Polish festival tour, the world's
Ratha-yatras, the devotee festivals in Ukraine and Mayapur, and our
regional harinamas, I see many people smile, laugh, and dance, tasting
some pleasure and developing spiritual desires through this
congregational chanting introduced by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His
associates, and I feel happy in their happiness and grateful to be
allowed to participate this glorious benedictory pastime.

"It is to be understood, however, that this chanting and dancing do
not belong to this material world. They are actually transcendental
activities, for the more one engages in chanting and dancing, the more
he can taste the nectar of transcendental love of Godhead." (CC Adi
7.22 purport)

travel journal#4.2: Mayapur, Puri, and Between

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 4, No. 2

By Krishna-kripa das

  (January 2008, part two) 

Mayapur, Puri, and Between

 (Sent from Mayapur, West Bengal, India, on 2/9/08)

 

Where I Am and What I Am Doing

 

    I am in Mayapur where winter has hopefully finally ended. I felt successful as I invited Kapilasva Prabhu on harinama, and he and his daughter joined our nagar-sankritana party with its three-hours harinamas for three or four days and had a great time. Devarsi Prabhu from France showed the DVD on Bhaktivedanta Institute conference in 2004, and it was nice to be reminded of the BI preaching again. I volunteered to be Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami's assistant in December in Delaware. I feel indebted to him for giving me the maha-mantra initiation and writing lot of wonderful books on Srila Prabhupada's life which created a lot of my initial faith in Prabhupada, as well as writing books filled with tips on sadhana. I meant to serve him in the past but I was absorbed in working with Adi Kesava and Sadaputa Prabhus for 23 years, so I never got around to it. December is slow for college preaching and harinama and so a good time to do it.

 

Tips on Devotional Service

 

Something to keep in mind: "The living being has no factual relationship with material nature. He is simply imagining everything, and this imagination is the cause of material existence. Spirit has no good reason to association himself with matter. He does so, although it is insane."—Jayadvaita Swami

 

"In an hour glass, the future is the sand in top and the past is in the bottom. The sand that is in between is the present. Bhaktivinoda Thakura says our only progress is that which we do in the present."—Hari Sauri Prabhu

 

"The material world: You can't win. You can't break even. You can't quit."—Pankajanghri Prabhu

 

"Lord Caitanya told Devananda Pandit, 'Never think you have understood Srimad-Bhagavatam. Each syllable has volumes of meaning.'"—BVV Narasimha Swami

 

Q: Why is Ekadasi called 'mother of devotion'?

A: Mother gives birth. Ekadasi gives birth to devotion.

                                                                                    —BVV Narasimha Swami

 

   "The greatness of this age is we have few good qualities. If we are honest we will become humble and thus able to chant Hare Krishna effectively."—Dhanurdhara Swami

 

   "Sacinandana Swami says, 'Do not think it is easier to go to another country than a holy dhama [spiritual place]. Just as you need a passport and visa to enter a country, you need special qualifications to enter the holy dhama.'"—Madhavananda Prabhu

 

"Low esteem is based on failure to dominate nature or become God which is on the platform of false ego, but spiritual humility is based failure to attain pure devotional service to God."—Dhanurdhara Swami

 

"Devotional service is all about experiencing mercy. A proud person cannot experience mercy because he always thinks he deserves more. It is not that we are not getting mercy, but that we cannot perceive the mercy we are already getting."—Dhanurdhara Swami

 

"Aisvarya is the pot in which madhurya is held."—Madhvacharya

[Aisvarya is knowledge of the Lord's majesty and madhurya is experience of the Lord's sweetness.]

 

"The pure devotee is so hungry for love of Krishna, he thinks he has none." —Dhanurdhara Swami

 

   Puri offers abundant benedictions, even to the unserious. If you inquire about the price of vegetables here, you get the result of offering prayers to Krishna. If you go to the Internet café [or anyplace else], you get the result of going on parikrama. Sleep counts as samadhi, the deepest perfectional meditation. Sometimes I think ill of people doing frivolous activities, especially in the sacred places, but now I am thinking of their good fortune to have come to Puri and to spiritually benefit in their frivolity.

 

Temple Descriptions—ISKCON Puri (original property)

 

   ISKCON Jagannatha Puri is situated on the site of Bhaktivinoda Thakura bhajana kutir. It is across the street from the Haridasa Thakura's samadhi. They have a very large murti of Bhaktivinoda Thakura there, and they chant his pranam mantra after Srila Prabhupada's in all the kirtanas there.

   Later in life, Bhaktivinoda Thakura was transcendentally despondent that Lord Caitanya's movement had not become more widespread. Thus Lord Caitanya appeared to him in a dream, and said, "If you perform your bhajana next to Haridasa Thakura's samadhi, it will be heard all over the world." Thus Bhaktivinoda Thakura build a small building there and performed devotional service to Krishna there from 1902 till 1914. And now, by the grace of the Lord, it is clear his bhajana is becoming heard all over the world.

   The ISKCON temple has deities of Lord Caitanya, who looks like He is experiencing some transformations in devotional ecstasy, and the beautiful divine couple, Radha-Giridhari. The temple rents rooms to devotees for 150 rupees per night, and they let me stay in the brahmacari ashram for free. They have a restaurant on the ground floor. Their new property is four kilometers south, down the beach, in a quiet part of Puri that the friendly temple president, Gaura Nitai Prabhu, said is a nice location for one's personal bhajana. 

 

Lord Jagannatha Delights in Prasadam Distribution

 

On my first day in Jagannatha Puri one devotee offered us some wonderful parathas with very little oil and spice that were made by the Chowpatty devotees for Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami's party. Before I had even finished one of them, I was informed about some Jagannatha prasadam downstairs. How could I pass up Jagannatha prasadam! Still munching my paratha, I rushed downstairs to see what was available. That beautiful sweet dal along with rice and sabjis (vegetables) were there in clay pots, and I took a leaf plate with a little of everything. Late for Dhanurdhara Swami's evening lecture because of taking prasadam, I entered the room. Smiling, Maharaja said he was glad to see me, and before I had even offered obeisances, he asked if I had gotten enough prasadam. I laughed and explained my recent experience, concluding that it seems in Puri, Lord Jagannatha wants everyone to be well fed.

   Walking back from the internet café in the evening, I saw sweet shop after sweet shop, many with khaja, known popularly as Jagannatha tongues, one of my favorite sweets. I had even made them for the deities on occasion. Recalling a pastime I heard last visit, in which Lord Jagannatha reveals He likes khaja so much that He accepts them as soon as they are thrown in the boiling ghee, I longed to buy one and eat it. Then I reflected that I should not waste my money meant for preaching Krishna consciousness on unnecessary sense gratification. "Surely someone will give me some prasadam sweets soon. Let me wait till then." When I returned to the temple, two or three devotees asked if had prasadam and urged I go downstairs and get some chapatis hot off the stove with some sabji. The next day, Baladeva Prabhu offered me some nice maha-prasadam from the Mumbai Jagannatha deities he had received while there—a least four varieties of sweets. Those must have been the sweets I desired the night before.

   All glories to Lord Jagannatha, who always makes sure His devotees get plenty of prasadam, and who thus inspires them in devotional service.

 

Realizations

 

   Siddha Bakula was a powerful place. I chanted for twenty minutes with my head touching that tree which Lord Caitanya planted and embraced and which Haridasa Thakura chanted under. Physically touching the tree like that for so long definitely made an impression on my mind. The kirtana there was the most spiritually invigorating of all the kirtanas so far.

   As I liked Vrindavana better this visit, I also liked Puri better. Puri is nice because like Mayapur it reminds us of Lord Caitanya's pastimes and associates. Like Mayapur, as many people greet us with, "Hare Krishna." Unlike Mayapur and Vrindavana, we do not have either regular harinama programs or twenty-four kirtana programs at our Hare Krishna centers in Puri. If I was really ambitious, I could start them there.

 

Attempt at a Spiritual Conversation

 

   I talked to the other foreign tourist quota passenger on my trip from Puri to Howrah (across the Ganges from Kolkata). Julienne from Thailand was in Kolkata for a month volunteering for a charitable organization. She shared a room with other college-aged girls from Portugal, Chile, Italy, and another country, all doing the same charity work. Like many people in Kolkata, they had decided to go to Puri for the weekend. I explained I had some friends who were Hare Krishna missionaries in Thailand. I asked her if Thailand was primarily Buddhist, and she replied that it was but she was Catholic. I told her about the Catholic boy who attended our Hare Krishna programs in Gainesville. It was Lent, and he was avoiding meat on Friday, thus he came to our lunch and dinner programs that day. He had been impressed with similarities between the two traditions, especially in the offering of respect to previous saints. I explained the Hare Krishna founder, Srila Prabhupada, glorified Lord Jesus Christ as a shaktyevesh-avatar, someone who descends from the spiritual world and who is empowered by God, in Christ's case, to arouse God consciousness in others. Prabhupada felt, however, that if the Christians refrained from killing animals, only then would they be truly following the commandment not to kill. She responded, as the Christians often do, that God had put man in a superior position above the animals. That may be, I said, but it does not mean man has to kill them, especially when we can live very well on a vegetarian diet. I told how Francis of Assisi is my favorite of the Christian saints since he considered the animals like his brothers and sisters, and that some Christian monks also practice vegetarianism. I mentioned that the Buddhists were also originally vegetarian although many now eat meat. She mentioned about half the Catholics do not follow their principles strictly, and she found that was lamentable. I explained that Lord Caitanya, who originally started the Hare Krishna movement in Bengal, once said that of the civilized human beings who have some scripture, only about half of them actually follow it. It seems to me that the world's problems will end not so much by adopting a particular religion, but by following the one we have adopted, and I encouraged her in her following.

   She studies medicine in Sydney and mentioned to another passenger that she liked Indian food. I told her that we have many vegetarian restaurants serving Indian food in Australian cities, including Sydney, and I gave her my Krishna.com card so she could look them up.

   She mentioned how she had visited a Durga temple in Kolkata. I explained Durga is Mother Nature and is worshiped by those seeking a better position in this world but that her worshipers do not attain the kingdom of God. To seek a position in this world is like aspiring for a better cell in the jail, instead of aspiring to get out. She liked that analogy. I told her about our temple in Mayapur and how beautiful it is with is gardens and fountain in attractive rural setting, and I gave her the address of our web page on it.

   I hope she gained from her experience of meeting a Hare Krishna devotee. For me it just was nice to share some transcendental knowledge and opportunities with someone, especially after spending lots of time just hearing on pilgrimage.

   While writing this account, I regretted I did not try to sell her a book. I guess I figured because she seemed satisfied with her Catholicism, she would not accept it. That reason is not valid—I know because once, by Krishna's grace, I sold a Science of Self-Realization to a man reading a Bible in his car in a Gainesville shopping center!

 

"On the shores of the ocean, covering a very large area is the place known as Nilacala [Jagannatha Puri]. This is also known as Purusottama-ksetra, the abode of the Supreme Person. It has a most pleasing and peaceful atmosphere. Even at the time of the cosmic annihilation, this place remains intact, unscathed. I reside there eternally, and daily receive opulent offerings of foodstuffs."—Lord Krishna speaking to Lord Siva (Caitanya Bhagavata, Antya Khanda, Chapter 2).

travel journal#4.1: Mayapur and Puri

Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 4, No. 1

By Krishna-kripa das

  (January 2008, part one) 

Mayapur and Puri

 (Sent from Mayapur, West Bengal, India, on 2/1/08)

 

Where I Am and What I Am Doing

 

    I am in Mayapur where I am going on harinama almost every day for three hours, proofreading a book the Hungarian devotees did against Darwinian evolution, proofreading a book Bhakti Vikas Swami wrote on Srila  Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, having lunch with Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami and his disciples and going to his evening lecture, and trying to stay warm in the chilly mornings and evenings. I regular meet devotee friends from all over the world and encourage them to join us in our daily harinamas at least once, while they are here in Mayapur.

 

 

On Experiencing Srila Prabhupada's Reciprocation

 

   On my way to do my proofreading service, I walked by Srila Prabhupäda's puspa samadhi here in Mayapur. Now that Bhaktivaibhava class was on break and our nagar sankirtana party had a day off, I felt less pressured and thought I should stop by and see Srila Prabhupada and bow down to him. Entering the samadhi, I was disappointed to see the curtains closed, but I went up to the altar to offer obeisances anyway. There was crowd of people, including many school children in uniforms wandering about, doing there best to ignore the "Silence Please" signs in English and Bengali. I saw the pujari pick up the conchshell and was pleasantly surprised to find the midday arati for Prabhupada had not yet occurred. It does not start here till 1:00 p.m. Remembering that Prabhupada liked live kirtana during the arati, I asked the brahmacari distributing the maha-prasadam for some instruments. He pointed to the altar, and so I made a gesture to the purjari like someone playing an instrument. He handed me a gong and karatalas. I chanted, but there was so much background noise I could hardly here myself. I decided to chant as loudly as I could for the whole fifteen minute arati. People bumped into me as they rushed the altar to honor the offered ghee lamps, in typical Indian fashion, but I just chanted on, singing the Hare Krishna mantra alone, because that is the standard at the samadhi. I chanted the "Jaya Om" prayers at the end, and the distributor of maha-prasadam thanked me for my enthusiastic chanting saying, "Srila Prabhupada liked your kirtana." He then motioned to come downstairs, saying, "I will get you some maha-prasadam." He told the kitchen staff to give me a whole plateful. Srila Prabhupada is offered for lunch chapattis, rice, pakoras, chutney, at least five vegetables preparations, and three sweets. I was happy to see the nice arrangement they have for him. It all tasted wonderful.

   The whole experience was very sweet and taught me that by these simple devotional exchanges of bowing down, chanting, and accepting prasadam we can experience a loving exchange with Srila Prabhupada even now.

 

Quotes from Classes that are Tips on Devotional Service

 

Q: Krishna exists everywhere. Why then do we need to worship Him?

A (by Jananivasa Prabhu): If you feel Krishna is in every atom, you will want to worship Him. You will see, "My worshipful Lord is here."

 

Padmalocana Prabhu: If we understand completely the illusory nature of this material world we can absorb ourselves in devotional service.

 

Dhanurdhara Maharaja recalled a statement he heard from Srimati Mataji that was made by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura: "Dhama seva (service of the sacred places) leads to nama seva (service to the holy name), and nama seva leads to kama seva (service given by the Lord to fulfill His personal desire)."

 

In the dhama, even the wind is serving Krishna.

 

Dhanurdhara Maharaja shared a realization a godbrother told him: Trnad api kirtana (chanting in humility) means we contribute to the kirtana but do not try to appear prominent, just as every blade of grass contributes to a beautiful lawn but none stands out.

 

Madhavananda Prabhu mentioned that if we appreciate the devotee association that Krishna gives us, He will give us better and better association.

 

I gave a class on verses dealing with the ages and their dharmas and the yuga-sandhyas divisions. While researching I found Back To Godhead (Nov./Dec. 1999, Vol. 33, No. 6) had some great quotes describing Lord Caitanya's appearance which increase our faith:

 

"In the first sandhya [period] of Kali-yuga, the Supreme Personality of Godhead will assume a golden form. First He will be the husband of Laksmi, and then He will be a sannyasi who stays near Lord Jagannatha at Puri."—Garuda Purana

 

"In the first sandhya of Kali-yuga I will appear on the earth in a beautiful place by the Ganges' shore. I will be the son of Sacidevi, and My complexion will be golden."—Padma Purana

 

"In the first sandhya of the Kali-yuga I will reveal My eternal golden form by the shore of the Ganges on the earth."—Brahma Purana

 

I also chanted several verses about the holy name being the yuga dharma and the best spiritual practice for the age such as the following:

 

Those who are actually advanced in knowledge are able to appreciate the essential value of this age of Kali. Such enlightened persons worship Kali-yuga because in this fallen age all perfection of life can easily be achieved by the performance of sankirtana. (SB 11.5.36)

 

Many people loved the class, but that is no surprise. This is the holy dhama of Mayapur, and they are all devotees of Lord Caitanya, and all I did was glorify the Lord and his process of chanting the holy names!

 

hare krishna hare krishna

   krishna krishna hare hare

hare rama hare rama

   rama rama hare hare

iti sodasakam namnam

   kali-kalmasa-nasanam

nätah parataropayah

   sarva-vedesu drsyate

 

"The sixteen words—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—are especially meant for counteracting the contaminations of Kali. To save oneself from the contamination of Kali, there is no alternative but the chanting of these sixteen words." (Kalisantarana Upanisad)