Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 14, No. 19
By Krishna-kripa das
(October 2018, part one)
New York City
(Sent from Yuga Dharma Ashram in New York City on October 19, 2018)
Where
I Went and What I Did
On
October 1, I flew from Dublin to Newburgh, New York, where Krishna
Kumar Prabhu picked me up and took me to his family’s restaurant,
Nimai’s Bliss Kitchen, for prasadam for
the first time. Then I took the bus to New York City and joined the
Yuga Dharma New York City harinama party
chanting Hare Krishna six hours daily in Union Square Park on the
good weather days and in subway stations at Times Square, Union
Square, Grand Central, and Penn Station on the cold and wet days.
During the first half of October I got to hear Indradyumna Swami sing
at the Bhakti Center Thursday Night Kirtan and Bada Haridas Prabhu
sing on a Friday night harinama organized
by the Bhakti Center and attended by many members of Indradyumna
Swami’s festival tour. I
also got to hear Ananta Govinda and Acyuta Gopi and their family and
friends chant at Radha-Govinda temple in Brooklyn one Wednesday
night.
Many,
many apologies for the low audio quality of the videos in this issue
and the previous one. I bought an
android smartphone in India for $42 that takes HD videos, but the
audio quality is inconceivably bad. I
hope to get a camcorder sometime soon to solve that problem.
I
share excerpts from a lecture by Srila Prabhupada. I share excerpts
from Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami’s latest writing project, a free write
journal, and from his Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita. I
share an important point from an address by Indradyumna Swami during
the Bhakti Center Thursday night kirtan. I
share a comment by Dayananda Prabhu during the announcements at the
end of the Saturday program at 26 Second Avenue. I share notes on a
lecture by Ramabhadra Prabhu of the Radha-Govinda temple in Brooklyn.
I share comments from Arjuna
and Rama Raya Prabhus from a going away lunch for the Yuga Dharma
Ashram devotees at the Bhakti Center. I
share excerpts from Pauranic Caritavali, an
inspiring compilation of stories of sages and kings of the Puranas
by Bhumipati
and Isvara Prabhus, soon to be published by Touchstone Publishing.
I
would like to thank Janananda Goswami for his donation to my travels.
Thanks also to Ramabhadra and Satya Prabhus for allowing me to stay
at the Radha-Govinda temple in Brooklyn for two weeks.
I
would like to thank Mangal Arati Das Ramnarine for his videos and
Murli Krishna Prabhu and Divyangi-devi
Dasi (formerly Bhaktin Diana)
for their photos, all of the Yuga Dharma New York City harinama
party.
Itinerary
October
1–: New York City Yuga Dharma Harinama Party
October
20–21: with
my family in Albany,
New
York
November
3:
Bhagavad-gita
class
at 26 Second Avenue
December
24: Albany, New York, for Christmas Eve
Nimai's
Bliss Kitchen
The
family of devotees running Nimai's Bliss Kitchen in Newburgh, New
York, headed by Mayapurcandra Prabhu, kindly agreed to pick me up
after
my flight from Dublin at Stewart Airport, from which Norwegian
Airlines has several cheap flights to Europe. I went to their
restaurant for the first time. I was happy to see Indradyumna Swami
in the parking lot, which was not a complete surprise, as I knew his
America festival tour performed in Newburgh two days before.
The
restaurant had some very beautiful signs,
and
the prasadam
at
the buffet was quite acceptable.
In
general the
food
was not too spicy as it is sometimes is when people from India cook.
I did not ask for any of the other things that one might order there,
as I did not want to be a
demanding
guest. Krishna Kumar Prabhu got me at the airport, took me to the
restaurant, and dropped me
at
the Newburgh
stop of the Short
Line bus to New York City, a
destination an hour
and a half to
the south,
so I could catch the last three and three-quarters hours of the
harinama
at
Union Square Park with the Yuga Dharma Ashram harinama
party.
Chanting
Hare Krishna with the Yuga Dharma Ashram Harinama Party
I
am happy to be back for another autumn with the Yuga Dharma Harinama
party at Union Square in New York City, where every day is an
adventure. The first day a pair of dinosaurs danced with us while an
older lady delighted in playing the shakers
(https://youtu.be/Yv6Jfc1X2vI):
The
next day a lady named Marion stopped by who had attended the Hare
Krishna love feasts in 1966 at the storefront temple and personally
saw Bhaktivedanta Swami [Srila Prabhupada]! She was happy to learn we
are renting 26 2nd Avenue even now and have a weekly Bhagavad-gita
class there, and she took an invitation as well as three “On
Chanting Hare Krishna” pamphlets, two for her grandsons who are
interested in philosophy. She said she knew that Krishna was truth.
I would mostly watch the book table, chant the response,
play the shakers, and distribute the free literature.
Sometimes I would dance.
This
month Bhaktin Diana, who is always enthusiastic to distribute Srila
Prabhupada’s books, received spiritual initiation from Vaisesika
Prabhu. She is now known as Divyangi-devi Dasi. All congratulations
to her on this important event in her spiritual life.
One day someone attracted by the devotees’ tilaka asked that we put some on him. As I am not very artistic I invited Kalki Prabhu to do that service.
The
most enthusiastic participation from the public came one time when we
were chanting in the Union Square subway station and Rama Raya Prabhu
was leading and a group of several people delighted in dancing with
us for several minutes (https://youtu.be/_nqeGwgB53o):
Rama
Raya Prabhu, our leader, chanted many lively Hare Krishna kirtans,
usually at the end of the day, and often the devotees and others
would dance.
Rama
Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and onlookers dance
with devotees (https://youtu.be/NqQtsnqrkZo):
Rama
Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and two devotees
ladies dance (https://youtu.be/drubyUFd0ns):
Rama
Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Union Square and a new guy dances
with Mahotsaha Prabhu (https://youtu.be/hZVzciDY4hc):
Rama
Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Penn Station subway station, and
Mahotsaha Prabhu dances (https://youtu.be/W6Y_JNUCv68):
Rama
Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna, and a bystander claps and moves to
the music (https://youtu.be/I0hJOHl4vV4):
Sometimes
Rama Raya Prabhu would dance when others like Kaliya Krishna Prabhu
would chant Hare Krishna, as here in Union Square
(https://youtu.be/bRpqZMDj5EI):
Here
Keli
Lalita Devi Dasi, who teaches yoga and performs kirtan in Upstate New
York, chants Hare Krishna in Union Square, and Rama Raya Prabhu
dances (https://youtu.be/YD3ZfP50J4g):
On
several occasions, Padmalaya Devi Dasi of Russia, who became a
regular on the Yuga Dharma Ashram party since my visit last year,
chanted lively Hare Krishna tunes at Union Square
(https://youtu.be/lqooniHGJrc):
Jayesa
Prabhu from Sweden has joined our Yuga Dharma Ashram also and also
Bhakta Marcel, who was traveling and distributing books with
Brajananda Prabhu.
Kaliya
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and devotees and
onlookers dance with delight (https://youtu.be/8CsY1RESrHI):
Kaliya
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square and a mom and son
play shakers with Rama Raya Prabhu (https://youtu.be/x4T7He-iCpE)
Kanai
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and onlookers
dance (https://youtu.be/Y9tiGg1bUDE):
Here
Kanai
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna and a University of Miami graduate
in religious studies who donated $20 and accepted Bhagavad-gita,
Science of Self-Realization, Sri Isopanishad, and
Nectar
of Instruction
learned
to chant the mantra, encouraged by Krishna Prasad Prabhu
(https://youtu.be/EfwfLV-3GqM):
She
also played the shakers.
In
the end she happily accepted a garland.
Mangal
Arati Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Grand Central subway station, and
onlookers dance with devotees (https://youtu.be/Xs3iXbh8Fko):
Kaliya
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a boy plays
the shakers and dances (https://youtu.be/arGr8qEX1ac):
Kaliya
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a devotee mom
dances with babe in arms (https://youtu.be/5CUu0prQr58):
Karuna
Sindhu Prabhu of Germany chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and
devotees dance (https://youtu.be/QhkPycSVY9o):
Kaliya
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna and an onlooker dances with
devotees (https://youtu.be/gminZkcpi3Q):
Here
Kaliya Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and a
passerby and I dance [a live Facebook video by Mangal Arati Das
Ramnarine] (https://youtu.be/OWUNfLJbtig):
Kaliya
Krishna Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Union Square, and two devotees
dance (https://youtu.be/pmIglV1obVc):
Padmalaya
Devi Dasi leads the chanting of Hare Krishna and Kishorirani Devi
Dasi and Nadia, also from Russia, dance nicely, bringing Union Square
harinama
to another level (https://youtu.be/_zvZ_zzAvDk):
I
also dance as usual as you can see in this Facebook live video by
Mangal Arati Das Ramnarine (https://youtu.be/TPH7qDjtAYY):
Here
I chant Hare Krishna at Times Square Subway Station [a live Facebook
video by Mangal Arati Das Ramnarine] (https://youtu.be/titjjvS656I):
The
day the Yuga Dharma harinama
devotees
moved from their apartment in the Lower East Side to their building
in uptown Manhattan, many devotees from the Bhakti Center joined us
on harinama
in
the Times Square subway station:
Here
Rama Raya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Times Square subway station,
and Murali Gopal Prabhu of the Bhakti Center dances
(https://youtu.be/m5pNjpnAtNI):
Later
Jaya
Jagannatha Prabhu of the Bhakti Center chanted
Hare Krishna at Times Square subway station, and onlookers and
devotees danced
(https://youtu.be/3SInEpHXarI):
Youssef,
a resident of the Bhakti Center who I chanted with at University of
North Florida when he was a student, chants Hare Krishna at Times
Square subway station (https://youtu.be/PMKkhTuNY6Y):
While
Yuga Dharma and Bhakti Center devotees were chanting Hare Krishna in
the Times Square subway station, a group of youths danced with
delight and became curious about what we were doing
(https://youtu.be/bc5PAodZtGY):
Rama
Raya Prabhu often
speaks
briefly
on
the glories of sankirtana,
the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord,
after the harinama.
Chanting Hare Krishna at Other Venues in New York City
In
addition to my daily participating in the Yuga Dharma New York City
harinamas, I went to other
kirtan events in New York City.
The
first week I was there, Indradyumna
Swami chanted
Hare Krishna at The Bhakti Center Thursday Night Kirtan. The
room was so full of people, I could not get anywhere near Maharaja,
but I took video
of
some of
the
many
devotees who
danced
with great enthusiasm
(https://youtu.be/jX5Jw8u978Y):
The
next day devotees
from Indradyumna Swami’s tour and from The Bhakti Center chanted
Hare Krishna in New York City from The Bhakti Center to Washington
Square Park by way of 26 Second Avenue. Here
Bada
Haridas Prabhu leads
the chanting of Hare Krishna
outside
26 2nd Avenue, and many dance (https://youtu.be/rStzhdIDuE8):
Here
the
American festival team of Indradyumna Swami and the Bhakti Center
devotees chant Hare Krishna in Washington Square Park
(https://youtu.be/3kT9MY6dlVw):
At
one point, a
devotee lady chanted
Hare Krishna, a couple of onlookers played
their drums, and many,
many people
danced
in Washington Square Park (https://youtu.be/wYxHFGoalMU):
A
couple of high school girls liked
dancing so much they came back two or three times. As they followed
us out of the park, they were also
shouting
Hare Krishna. They had never encountered Hare Krishna before, but you
would never guess that. They were happy to hear about the Tuesday and
Thursday kirtans at The Bhakti Center
(https://youtu.be/29LtQxPJV9s):
One
Wednesday I also chanted at the kirtan which Ananta Govinda and
Acyuta Gopi and their family and friends have at the Brooklyn temple
on Sunday and Wednesday from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m.
(https://youtu.be/_Yq_x3gO6KU):
Here
Keshav chants Hare Krishna during that Radha-Govinda temple late
night kirtan (https://youtu.be/OZLLuhxIwiA):
Sri
Sri Radha-Govinda
The
Radha-Govinda deities in New York City were installed by Srila
Prabhupada. Even ordinary people with no obvious devotional assets
sense Their temple room is a very spiritual place.
I
met Them in 1979 on West 55th Street where the Hare
Krishnas had an eleven-story building. Niranjana Prabhu (now
Niranjana Swami), who then was in charge of the new men, invited me
to live in that temple during the time I took off from college
between my second and third year. As a result I acquired a taste for
chanting Hare Krishna, reading Srila Prabhupada’s books, and taking
Krishna prasadam. I was so
happy that Ramabhadra and Satya Prabhus allowed me to live in the
Radha-Govinda temple for the first two weeks of October this year,
until the Yuga Dharma Ashram devotees got a larger place.
Each
day I would go to mangala-arati and
dance and sing the response for Radha-Govinda, bring in the tulasi
for worship, and sing the
tulasi-puja kirtana. I
would also attend greeting of the deities and Srila Prabhupada’s
guru-puja, during
which I would play the karatalas. Then
I would spend up to an hour preparing vegetables for Govinda’s
Vegetarian Lunch or for the temple Sunday feast. A devotee named
Mohan Prabhu made excellent chapatis, sabji, and
dal for breakfast.
There was also rice, of course, which I am not so fond of and did not
take. I got to taste the mangala-arati sweets
on occasion and recall that thirty-nine years ago
it was my service to transfer those sweets and wash the plates
afterwards.
I
do not usually
take photos of the deities as there are many professional
photographers with professional equipment who do a much better job
than I would do. Still one day during mangala-arati I
thought Radha-Govinda looked especially beautiful, so I took a few
photos.
Striking
Photos
Occasionally
you see the devotee ladies wearing
saris of special colors. At the harinamas at
the University of Florida football stadium, sometimes the devotee
ladies choose to wear blue and orange, the colors of the local
Gators football
team. Sometimes a devotee
pujari lady will wear
the same colors as the deity when she does the arati.
Here
one devotee lady, said to be from Russia, wore a sari with the colors
of the American flag for Indradyumna Swami's American festival tour.
In
different spiritual traditions, there are monastic orders who
renounce married life to focus on their spiritual disciplines. Others
who are not necessarily so
spiritually focused may give up marriage
relationships due to bad experiences with them, as indicated in this
graffiti.
These
days even children play chess for money.
Insights
Srila
Prabhupada:
From
a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam
1.16.18 in Los Angeles on January 13, 1974:
“In
this Kali-yuga, religious principles of human society is supposed to
be only one fourth. . . . As the religious principles are reducing,
so many other things are reducing, of which the duration of life,
bodily strength, mercifulness, memory. . . . In this way we are
becoming almost on the level of animals.”
“Every
man is being prepared, being educated as sudra,
nonreligious, mleccha,
yavana, like that. So
there is no improvement. There is no spiritual improvement. . . .
Without religion, everyone will degrade.”
Satsvarupa
Dasa Goswami:
From
Free Write Journal#07:
“The
Swami moved into my neighborhood. I saw the little paper in the
storefront window: ‘Classes on Bhagavad-gita M.W.F. 7:00 P.M. /
Transcendental Sound Vibration.’ I was curious, so I went in. I
liked the chanting with karatalas,
the Swami leading and playing on a one-headed drum. At first I
couldn’t understand much of his speech, but as I kept on attending
I gradually . . . He was a magnetic person. He had a message,
‘Krishna consciousness.’ He was a guru, seventy years old. I was
twenty-five. ‘No illicit sex, no intoxication, no meat-eating, and
no gambling.’ I changed my ways and followed him. He had about
twelve young men following him. It was the best time of my life.
Chanting Hare Krishna with the Swami made you get high. He promised
it would. ‘Boy, I really tripped out on that one!’ In autumn we
made our public debut, sitting on an old Oriental rug in Tompkins
Square Park. We were shy but he was bold, leading us through the
streets and leading in the maha-mantra
with his bongo drum. He sang nonstop for one-and-a-half hours, then
gave a short talk (‘and chant and dance in ecstasy’). Onlookers
gathered; Allen Ginsberg joined. Then he would lead the singing for
another one-and-a-half hours. His health was so strong, his demeanor
so virile. We had no indication of the health issues he would face in
the future. At this time, we struggled to keep up with him. He walked
fast, and spoke and sang strongly. There were no traces of the heart
attacks he endured on the freighter that carried him across the ocean
from India to America in thirty-five days. He pushed himself like a
young man. He had an urgent message in his remaining years, to
establish his spiritual master’s teachings in the West. Prominent
in his agenda was translating and writing commentaries in English on
the major Vedic/Vaisnava texts. He was working single-handedly, but
he’d look to his new followers to help.
“Writing
about Prabhupada in 1966 was effortless. The sentences flowed. It has
been written many times, but it still felt fresh to me, and I hoped
it was not boring to the readers. Prabhupada says this is the nature
of krishna-kathah.
Mundane literature gets hackneyed with repeated reading, but one can
always have new lights in Krishna conscious literature.”
From
Free Write Journal#08:
‘“Krishna
alone is not particularly beautiful, but when He is combined with His
hladini potency,
Radharani, He appears magnificent.’ Srila Prabhupada wrote this in
Krishna Book, and I treasure it. We don’t worship Krishna alone.”
From
Srila Prabhupada-lilamrita
- A Lifetime in Preparation - India 1896-1965,
Chapter 10: “This Momentous Hour of Need”:
“Srila
Prabhupada: ‘The communist party has become popular simply by
distributing their literatures. In Calcutta, the communist agents
were inviting friends and reading their literature. The Russians
never came to India, but by distributing literature in every language
they got a pretty good number of followers. If it is possible for
ordinary, third-class, mundane literature, why shouldn’t
transcendental literature create devotees all over the world? There
is good potency for pushing on these literatures very vigorously from
village to village. The bhagavata-dharma
is the original religion of the human society. Whatever else may be
passing as religion has come from the Vedic literature. People are
after these books. They are hankering for them. Lord Caitanya said
that in every town and village on the surface of the world they will
know the message of the sankirtana
movement. This means that in every village and town all over the
world there are many candidates who are awaiting this message. It is
transcendental literature. Nobody can challenge it. It is done so
nicely, without any spot, the spotless Purana.’”
Indradyumna
Swami:
From
an address during the Bhakti Center Thursday Night Kirtan:
The
other goals of life pale in comparison to the goal of becoming free
from our karma and going back to Godhead.
Arjuna
Prabhu:
From
an address at the going away luncheon for the Yuga Dharma Ashram at
the Bhakti Center:
When
I am around all you book distributors and harinamers,
I do not feel that I am a senior devotee. I feel that I am very
junior. We all know what Srila Prabhupada very much liked, harinama
and book distribution.
Dayananda
Prabhu:
From
a comment after his lecture at 26 Second Avenue:
After
we gave a Hare Krishna presentation, the host told the audience we
would be going around collecting donations for the Hare Krishna
movement, and she advised them to remember “you can give without
loving but you cannot love without giving.”
Ramabhadra
Prabhu:
I
traveled with Srila Prabhupada’s personal servant, Dhrstadyumna
Swami, for a couple of months. He told me once that he heard Srila
Prabhupada talking in his room very early in the morning. He wondered
who got past him as he was supposed to be guarding Srila Prabhupada’s
room. He went up and peeked in the room. Srila Prabhupada was shaking
his finger and saying, “You have misused the human form of life,
and look at what has happened to you!” Then Dhrstadyumna Swami
looked in the corner of the room and saw the mouse that Srila
Prabhupada was talking to.
The
only free love is love of Godhead. By loving God, you love everybody.
Satya
gave Michael Jackson a piece of Radha
Govinda burfi, the
Krishna Art book, and
Bhagavad-gita when she
was engaged by the Hinduja family as a cook when Jackson came to
visit back in 1997.
Ed
Koch, former mayor of New York, got a Bhagavad-gita from
Satyaraja Prabhu.
An
example of the degradation of this age is that in California there is
registered The First Church of Satan.
The
previous cat we had at the temple would come to mangala-arati
every day. We had a cushion in
back of the temple, and the cat would come, sit on the cushion, and
watch the arati. That
was a very advanced cat. She got a human birth no doubt. Most cats
are just chasing after mice.
Srila
Prabhupada used to say he wanted everyone to study his books two
hours a day.
Following
the order of the spiritual master brings us to the mode of goodness.
It will not happen immediately unless we were highly advanced in the
previous life, but gradually we will undoubtedly attain the platform
of goodness if we follow.
Rama
Raya Prabhu:
From
an address at the going away luncheon for the Yuga Dharma Ashram at
the Bhakti Center:
Srila Prabhupada said his guru wanted to spend ten years preaching in America but due to circumstances he could not. Srila Prabhupada said that through him the desire of his guru to preach in America for ten years was fulfilled.
I offered to show Cindy, who introduced herself as the younger sister of Brahmananda and Gargamuni, our original temple at 26 Second Avenue. She saw the photo of Brahmananda dancing with the Swami’s flock in the park. In the course of that visit we happened to meet Satyaraja who had written a book on Brahmananda.
In a Ratha-yatra lecture in San Francisco in 1974, Srila Prabhupada told his American disciples: “People outside America generally follow and imitate what America does. I am traveling all over the world, and everywhere I see other countries building skyscrapers and in other ways imitating your country. Therefore if you kindly become Krishna conscious and chant and dance in ecstasy, in emotional love of God, the entire world will follow you. Thus the entire world can become Vaikuntha, a spiritual world in which there will be no more trouble. Thank you very much.”
Our new landlord is OK with us having a Hare Krishna ashram in his building. He has an Indian wife and was married in a Hindu wedding wearing a turban and riding on a horse.
We work for our spiritual master’s mission, and in the course of that we develop our love for God.
Our personal dedication to developing our love of God gives us the most to offer to the community we serve.
I did not plan to have book distribution or a brahmacari ashram. This all manifested from the harinama.
Srila Prabhupada said his guru wanted to spend ten years preaching in America but due to circumstances he could not. Srila Prabhupada said that through him the desire of his guru to preach in America for ten years was fulfilled.
I offered to show Cindy, who introduced herself as the younger sister of Brahmananda and Gargamuni, our original temple at 26 Second Avenue. She saw the photo of Brahmananda dancing with the Swami’s flock in the park. In the course of that visit we happened to meet Satyaraja who had written a book on Brahmananda.
In a Ratha-yatra lecture in San Francisco in 1974, Srila Prabhupada told his American disciples: “People outside America generally follow and imitate what America does. I am traveling all over the world, and everywhere I see other countries building skyscrapers and in other ways imitating your country. Therefore if you kindly become Krishna conscious and chant and dance in ecstasy, in emotional love of God, the entire world will follow you. Thus the entire world can become Vaikuntha, a spiritual world in which there will be no more trouble. Thank you very much.”
Our new landlord is OK with us having a Hare Krishna ashram in his building. He has an Indian wife and was married in a Hindu wedding wearing a turban and riding on a horse.
We work for our spiritual master’s mission, and in the course of that we develop our love for God.
Our personal dedication to developing our love of God gives us the most to offer to the community we serve.
I did not plan to have book distribution or a brahmacari ashram. This all manifested from the harinama.
Bhumapati and Isvara Prabhus:
From
Pauranic Caritavali:
“Durvasa
kept his word and arrived at the Pandavas’ cottage hungry with his
ten thousand disciples just after Draupadi had finished her meal.
King Yudhisthira greeted him respectfully and offered obeisances to
the exalted sage. He then invited him and his disciples to lunch.
When the sage accepted the invitation, King Yudhisthira asked Durvasa
to go and bathe at the nearby Devanadi (Vimala Kunda, at Kamyavana).
But when King Yudhisthira learned that Draupadi had already eaten
from her magical pot, he became worried. If Draupadi had eaten, her
mystical pot, a gift from the sun god, would produce no more that
day. If the Pandavas were unable to feed their ten thousand guests
after they had been invited, the wrathful Durvasa would certainly
curse them. A distressed Draupadi prayed to Lord Krishna to save
them. At the time, Krishna was lying on Rukminidevi’s bed, and she
was fanning Him with a camara. Although for His pastimes it
seemed that Krishna was present only in Dvaraka, as the Supreme Lord
He is always present everywhere, so He heard Draupadi, whose heart
was full of devotion, and appeared
before her immediately.
“Krishna
said, ‘I’m very hungry. Give Me something to eat.’ Draupadi
felt both like smiling and crying when she heard Krishna’s request,
so much did she love to cook for Him. But she had already eaten and
there was now nothing left. She told Krishna she was sorry, and then
said, ‘Durvasa and his ten thousand disciples are about to come
here for lunch on Yudhisthira’s invitation. If we fail to feed
them, then his curse will destroy the our entire family.’
“Krishna
said, ‘I have no time to hear more. I am too hungry! Just give Me
anything to eat.’ When Draupadi again mentioned that the pot she
had received from Suryadeva was empty, Krishna asked to see it. In
the pot He found a small piece of spinach, which He then ate.
Draupadi also gave Him some water. He said, tripto ’smi, ‘I
am fully satisfied.’ And as soon as Krishna was satisfied, Durvasa
and his disciples were also satisfied, as if they’d eaten a
banquet. Durvasa was astonished by how full his stomach felt, and
when he saw that his disciples felt the same, they realized they
could never honor whatever the Pandavas were cooking. If they went to
lunch and then didn’t eat, they would be committing an offense.
Durvasa already knew how much trouble he would undergo if he offended
a Vaishnava from his encounter with Maharaja Ambarisa. Thinking it
better to wait until they were hungry again before returning to the
Pandavas’ camp, Durvasa ordered his disciples to take rest. When
the afternoon grew late and Durvasa had not returned for his meal,
Lord Krishna sent Bhima out to call for him. Hearing Bhima’s voice,
Durvasa became afraid and, with his disciples, ran away. Of course,
when they arrived
at the camp again the next day, they were properly served.”
“Once,
when Visvamitra, was engaged in severe penance, Indra became afraid
that Visvamitra might usurp his position, so to spoil the sage’s
penance he sent Menaka to tempt him. Although Menaka was reluctant –
she knew the power of such sages – she could not refuse Indra’s
order. To protect herself she prayed to Vayu. Together the two
tempted Visvamitra – as Menaka danced before the meditating sage,
Vayu blew her clothes in a provocative manner. As a result, the sage
had sex with Menaka, who later gave birth to his daughter. Her
mission for Indra accomplished, Menaka abandoned her newborn on the
bank of the Malini River and returned to the Nandana gardens.
Visvamitra, too, left that place. The Malini River flowed through
Kanva’s hermitage. There was no one to look after the baby, and no
one to protect her from ferocious animals. But the sakuntas
(vultures) surrounded Menaka’s daughter and saw that no animal
could harm her. Just then, Kanva was on his way to bathe in the
river. Seeing the child helpless in the grass, he brought her to his
ashram. Sastra states that the one who gives the seed, the one
who protects the life, and the one who gives food are all fathers.
Since this girl was protected by vultures in a solitary forest, Kanva
named her Sakuntala. And because Kanva raised her, Sakuntala
considered him her father.
“Hearing
Sakuntala’s story, King Dusmanta treated her like a princess and
offered to marry her. Sakuntala asked the king to wait until Kanva
returned, but since neither of them knew when that would be, King
Dusmanta proposed a gandharva marriage, which for a ksatriya
was proper and reasonable. But Sakuntala said that before she
would enter into such a marriage, the king must promise that if she
bore a son, that son should have the right to inherit the throne.
King Dusmanta accepted her condition. Before returning to the
capital, Dusmanta assured Sakuntala that he would send four armies to
bring her to the capital. However, after returning to the capital,
the king repented his quickly given promise.
“When
Kanva returned to his ashram, he found Sakuntala somewhat
embarrassed, and through his divine vision he understood everything.
He pacified his foster daughter and assured her that although she had
had a gandharva marriage, she was indeed married to the king,
and with King Dusmanta being a pious king, she would have a noble and
powerful son. This boy, Kanva said, would rule the world and the
seven seas. Nine months later, Sakuntala gave birth to a powerful
son, and the sage duly performed all the required rituals. When the
child was six, he captured lions, tigers, elephants, pigs, and
buffaloes in the jungle, playing with them and tying them to trees.
The sages at Kanva’s ashram were astonished to see his
extraordinary feats, and so named him Sarvadamana.
“When
the child was a little older, Kanva sent Sakuntala and Bharata to
King Dusmanta at Hastinapura. Kanva’s disciples accompanied
Sakuntala. On arrival, they narrated the story of the king’s visit
to their ashram and announced the birth of the king’s son there.
Then they returned to their ashram. Sakuntala also reminded the king
of his son, along with the promise he had given her before he was
conceived, and asked the king to install Bharata as the prince
regent. But King Dusmanta told her he did not know Sakuntala. He
spoke cruel words to her, calling her a mischievous ascetic woman and
denying that he had had any relationship with her. He tried to send
her away. Sakuntala was shamed by her husband’s harshness and,
overwhelmed, refused to leave. Sakuntala was now angry. She said, ‘If
you reject me, I will return to the ashram, but you have no right to
reject your son.’ This only made the king angrier, and he spoke
even crueler words, denying her and her son and calling her a liar.
‘How could this boy become as tall as a sala tree in such a
short time? Sakuntala’s mother is Menaka, so she is born of lust.
It’s obvious that she is like her mother. Otherwise, why would she
be here with her deceits?’
Shocked,
Sakuntala established that her birth was superior to the king’s.
She added that if the king had no faith in the truth, then she would
leave. Her son, she said, with or without his help, would one day
rule the earth, as Kanva had predicted.
“After
Sakuntala left, a divine voice declared from the sky, ‘O Dusmanta,
you must take care of your son. Do not neglect Sakuntala. You have to
maintain (bharana) this son of Sakuntala according to our
statement. For this reason this son will be renowned as Bharata.’
“After
hearing this voice, King Dusmanta happily told his priests and
ministers, ‘You all have heard that voice. This is my son. Had I
accepted him simply at Sakuntala’s word, people would have doubted
him.’ King Dusmanta then welcomed his noble son and his wife into
the palace. He explained to Sakuntala that he had treated her so
badly in order to remove any accusation that an illegitimate son had
mounted the throne.
“Bharata
went on to become the undisputed emperor of the world. Like Indra,
king of heaven, he performed many, many sacrifices. Kanva had him
perform sacrifices that required him to give an abundance of charity.
For all his glorious acts, Bharata became one of the most renowned
kings in history, and from him the Bharata dynasty become widespread
and glorious.”
“When
Indra was overcome by Krishna’s illusory energy he proudly flooded
Gokula with rain. Krishna carefully protected Gokula by lifting
Govardhana Hill. Thus Indra’s pride was crushed and he understood
Krishna’s identity. Then, along with Surabhi, he worshiped Lord
Krishna at Govinda Kunda near Govardhana by performing an abhiseka
and begging His pardon. He also begged the blessing that when the son
of Nanda, Lord Krishna, appeared as Lord Gauranga, with the sentiment
of Srimati Radharani, and performed pastimes in Navadvipa, that he
may not again mistakenly commit offenses at His lotus feet. Lord
Krishna granted Indra’s desires and pacified him. Before Mahaprabhu
appeared in Navadvipa, Indra took birth, along with Surabhi, at
Godrumadvipa in order to worship Him. Since Surabhi lived under the
banyan tree, this place is called Godruma.”
“Mrikandu’s
son Markandeya was blessed with a lifespan of seven kalpas. At
the time of annihilation, when the earth was flooded, Markandeya
floated helplessly in the water until he arrived at Nadiya. This
thirty-two-mile dhama was not flooded. Surabhi was living at
Godruma. When she saw Markandeya lying almost unconscious, hungry and
thirsty, she revived him by supplying her milk. Her milk allowed
Markandeya to regain his health, and he offered her prayers in which
he glorified her and also described the pain of not being able to
die. Surabhi instructed him that all misery is destroyed by
worshiping Lord Gauranga. Such worship allows one to attain the
ultimate goal of life.”
“Your
father is pure, and twenty-one generations of the family in which you
took birth have also become purified. According to Sri Madhvacarya,
the twenty-one previous generations referred to does not refer to
Prahlada’s parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and so on,
but to Prahlada’s parents in this life, Prahlada’s parents in his
previous life, and back twenty-one generations of parents, each of
whom has directly assisted Prahlada in his development.”
“How
Prahlada Maharaja attained devotional service to the lotus feet of
Lord Nrisimhadeva is described in both the Brihan-narasimha Purana
and the Hari-bhakti-vilasa. There, Lord Nrisimhadeva tells
Prahlada, ‘In ancient times in the city of Avantipura there lived a
brahmana named Vasu Sharma, who was well versed in the Vedas.
His wife, Susila, was chaste, pious, and devoted to him, and so her
glories were spread in the three worlds. Vasu Sharma had five sons by
Susila. The first four were learned, pious, and devoted to their
father, but the youngest son – you, Prahlada – had no good
character and so became attracted to a prostitute. Your name in that
life was Vasudeva. Association with that prostitute stole all your
good fortune, and your behavior became uncivilized. Once, on Nrisimha
Caturdasi, you quarreled with her, and as a result you both
unintentionally fasted, staying awake the entire night. Because of
this, both you and the prostitute obtained the fruit of observing the
Nrisimha Caturdasi vow. The prostitute became an Apsara in her next
life. After enjoying life in the heavenly planets for some time, she
eventually became My dear maidservant. You too became My dear devotee
and took birth as the son of Hiranyakasipu. Worshiping Me, Brahma is
empowered to create, Shiva to annihilate, and all others achieve
their respective powers and the fulfillment of their desires.’”
“According
to the Garuda Purana, Srimad-Bhagavatam is the meaning
of the Brahma-sutra, the purport of the Mahabharata, a
commentary on the Gayatri mantra, and the purport of the Vedas.”
-----
On
the Yuga Dharma Ashram harinama party
in New York City we chant six hours of Hare Krishna in public every
day. What is the value of all this chanting one may ask? This is one
of many verses that reveal that!
kalim
sabhajayanty arya
guna
jnah sara-bhaginah
yatra
sankirtanenaiva
sarva-svartho
bhilabhyate
“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
[the congregational chanting of the holy name of the Lord].”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam
11.5.36)
Although
there are many disturbing anomalies in this age, they all can be more
than compensated for by the powerful chanting of the holy name of the
Lord in congregation. Let us all therefore chant Hare Krishna Hare
Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama
Hare Hare, and be happy on the eternal spiritual plane!”