Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 19, No. 2
By Krishna Kripa Das
(January 2023, part two)
Tallahassee, Gainesville, Tampa, Monticello
(Sent from Gainesville, Florida, on February 4, 2023)
Where I Went and What I Did
I stayed in our ISKCON Tallahassee center near the Florida State University campus, and I promoted our Krishna Lunch program, distributed books, and chanted Hare Krishna for three hours a day on the campus except for one Saturday when I went to Cascades Park. It is more austere than it has ever been here for me for I have no one to do the morning program with and no one to sing with in public. On January 27, which was Advaita Acarya’s appearance day, I went to Gainesville and chanted at Krishna Lunch there.
I was so happy to chant with Purusartha, Adideva, Satyahit, and Pancha Tattva Prabhu there on that auspicious day. The next day I went to Tampa for the Gasparilla Ratha-yatra, and I also chanted before that parade with devotees from Alachua and with Chandrasekhara Prabhu. The next day I attended a retreat at the New Jharikhanda Wellness Sanctuary, half an hour east of Tallahassee in Monticello, with Mahatma Prabhu. The last two days of the month, I chanted Hare Krishna in Tallahassee.
I share notes on articles from the May/June 2023 Back to Godhead by Srila Prabhupada and by Nagaraja, Caitanya Candra, Gauranga Darsana, Vraja Vihari, and Brajanatha Prabhus. I share excerpts from Best Use of a Bad Bargain by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami. I share notes on Prabandhavali, a compilation of translations of Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s articles in the Gaudiya magazine by Touchstone Media. I share notes on a meditation seminar with Mahatma Prabhu and classes by Pran Govinda Maharaja in Alachua, Krishna Abhishek Prabhu in Gainesville, and Satyaraja Govinda Prabhu in Tallahassee.
Thanks to Upananda Prabhu for his kind donation in Tampa. Thanks to Purusartha Prabhu for the photo of Adideva Prabhu and myself chanting at Krishna Lunch.
Itinerary
February 4: BIHS Meeting, harinama in Depot Park with Russian devotees from Alachua
February 5–6: harinama and college outreach in Tallahassee
February 7–9: harinama and college outreach in Tampa
February 10–11: harinamas in Gainesville
February 12–March 5: harinama and college outreach in Tallahassee
March 6: Gaura Purnima in Tallahassee or Alachua
March 7: travel to Orlando
March 8–16: NYC Harinam, Bhagavad-gita class at 26 Second Avenue (March 11)
March 17: Orlando harinama
March 18: St. Augustine Ratha-yatra
March 19–23: Tampa harinama and college outreach
March 24–April 15: harinama and college outreach in Tallahassee and Tampa
April 1: Tallahassee Ratha-yatra
April (3rd week): 3 days of harinama with Sankarsana Prabhu in Washington, D.C.
April 27: King’s Day in Amsterdam
May 4: Nrsimha Caturdasi festival at Simhachalam in Bavaria, Germany
May 20: Newcastle Monthly Sankirtana Festival
May 27: Baltimore Ratha-yatra
June 10: New York Ratha-yatra
July and August: harinama in France
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee
One freshman remembered me, recalling coming to the ISKCON Tallahassee Sunday feast as a kid along with her brother, and her parents, back when Nama Kirtan Prabhu was in charge.
She showed me a photo of her parents to jog my memory.
An economics professor who passes by every day said, “I think you have a marketing issue,” pointing to a large crowd a speaker had gathered around himself.
Responding to him, “I said our leader was asked about the lack of interest, and he replied, ‘If you are selling diamonds, you cannot expect to have many customers.’” The professor smiled.
Srila Prabhupada ki, jaya!
Sometimes when I make oatmeal without sugar it is just not sweet enough, but using apple juice in place of water and including raisins and a touch of cinnamon, it is plenty sweet.
One lady declined my offer of a free dessert, saying she was late to teach a class. After her class, she accepted. Turns out as a Ph.D. student, she teaches World Religions. As a Buddhist she is vegetarian, and thus she loves Krishna Lunch. I volunteered to speak on Bhagavad-gita to her students, and she was excited about the idea.
The son of Satyaraja Govinda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at a Sunday program at his home in Tallahassee (https://youtu.be/N2Sr0X61Va0):
Keshava Gopal Prabhu chanted the final Hare Krishna there, which I requested because I felt we hadn’t done much Hare Krishna chanting during the arati, and his and his wife had traveled an hour from Madison to come there (https://youtu.be/NWYFvYgcFbU):
Spiritual Yoga, with Rsabhadeva’s teachings to His sons, is a bit heavy for new people, and some devotees don’t distribute it. I warn people that it’s about renunciation. I told one girl, “It exposes the fraud of material enjoyment.” I told another, “It tells how sensuality destroys your spiritual focus.” They both surprised me by taking it!
Another day I told a girl that Spiritual Yoga had a lot of renunciation in it and was good for people who realize that material enjoyment is a sham, and she took it!
A middle-aged man approached my book table one day. He said he has been attending meetings of a local atheist group, and he feels it would be good for them to hear alternative views and asked for a contact number and a small book summarizing the philosophy. He took Bhakti-yoga and “On Chanting Hare Krishna.” I mentioned that many of us were atheists or agnostics, and we found this was the best presentation of religion we had encountered. He said he felt the atheist group wasn’t real atheists, just agnostics. The Lord works in mysterious ways.
A senior told me he’s majoring in computer science and creative writing. I asked him what he’ll do after graduating. He’s interviewing for a job, but his love is game development. I asked him he’d read the great Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, mentioning about their amazing characters with supernatural powers.
He said, “Everyone loves the Greek gods, etc., but there is a real lack of representation of Eastern spirituality in the game world.” So now he has a direction. 🙂
Here is my harinama report for Tallahassee in January:
Chanting Hare Krishna in Gainesville
Purusartha Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch on the appearance day of Advaita Acarya (https://youtu.be/Poac4HA4AoU):
Adideva Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Gainesville Krishna Lunch on the appearance day of Advaita Acarya (https://youtu.be/xYdmHiTIycA):
Panca Tattva Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Krishna Lunch on the appearance day of Advaita Acarya (https://youtu.be/y3u970dIVco):
I also chanted Hare Krishna there on that day (https://youtu.be/8sVSZe4jsu4):
Manmohini Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna with Alachua devotees at the University of Florida entrance (https://youtu.be/nQPB0MjktYE):
Guru Vagmi Prabhu also chanted Hare Krishna there (https://youtu.be/fDBQjTD0uw4):
Willow chants Hare Krishna at the Krishna House Friday night program (https://youtu.be/T3XGOG9XdZw):
Chandrashekhara Acharya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Gasparilla in Tampa, and passersby play shakers (https://youtu.be/vovRAY4xpL8):
Devotees chant Hare Krishna as the Gasparilla Ratha-yatra begins (https://youtu.be/GGnAMlP-oco):
Devotees chant Hare Krishna in Gasparilla Ratha-yatra, and onlookers greet them with joy (https://youtu.be/Q_NNSnGfSh4):
Here’s a portrait orientation video from the event (https://youtu.be/wog6GP8nHsQ):
Devotees chant Hare Krishna in Gasparilla Ratha-yatra in Tampa and dance in a circle while girls play shakers (https://youtu.be/xl9x1lXHgTs):
Devotees chant Hare Krishna after the Gasparilla Parade in Tampa while waiting for the bus (https://youtu.be/J0urcRtmTmU):
Chanting Hare Krishna at New Jharikhanda Wellness Sanctuary
Mahatma Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at New Jharikhanda Wellness Sanctuary (https://youtu.be/ZDShY7jybHc):
When the kirtan became very ecstatic, the ladies danced (https://youtu.be/ppBsTixcFZs):
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From “Brahminical Culture: The Key to Peace” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 57, No. 3 (May/June 2023):
[Edited transcript of a lecture on Brahma-samhita 5.29 in Los Angeles on December 4, 1968.]
“In a garden, if there is one nice flowering plant, such as a rose plant, with good scent, the whole garden becomes fragrant, scented. Similarly, we do not expect that the whole population of human society will take to this brahminical culture; but if even one percent of the population accepts this brahminical culture, Krishna consciousness, then the whole world will be peaceful. Not even one percent, less than one percent. It is so nice.
“The Krishna consciousness movement is a very scientific movement. Unless you raise the population from the animal propensities, how can you expect peace? Do you think there is any peace in the dog society, in the cat society? No, it is not possible. You keep some dogs. They meet. As soon as they meet together there will be howling – ‘gow, gow, gow, gow.’ So if you a create a dog society, then you cannot expect peace. You have to create brahmanas as a certain percentage of the population. Then there is the possibility of peace.”
“No ordinary man can understand the scientific intricacies taught in a scientific college. Students require some preliminary qualification to enter the scientific college. They require some preliminary qualification to enter the law college, the postgraduate classes. Similarly, to understand the subtle or finer implications of spiritual science, one has to become a brahmana. Without becoming a brahmana it is not possible.”
“In every country, in every nation, in every society there must be some people who have the brahminical tendency. From your country we have picked up some boys and girls who are inclined to adopt this way of life. So this Krishna consciousness movement is simply picking up the brahminical class of boys and girls.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From Best Use of a Bad Bargain:
“It occurred to me that it’s possible to be connected to Lord Caitanya’s movement, which is the topmost theology, and practice love of God, yet practice it poorly. Then we would find vaidhi-bhakti dry, chant with offenses, not love the Vaishnavas, not feel real devotion. It’s possible. It’s possible a Christian or even a Mayavadi might have more taste and devotion in his meditation than we do. That doesn’t prove that Buddhism or Christianity or impersonalism are better than Krishna consciousness, but just that we are poor, offensive followers in Srila Prabhupada’s camp. Still, we’re well situated, and we can hope to improve. One of our anarthas might be pride, thinking ourselves better than all other religionists with nothing to learn from anyone, whereas actually we need to be humble.”
“In a place like this [a health care center], with so much emphasis on the body, you have to bring your own bhakti program and practice it. Nourish your Krishna consciousness. It’s up to you to draw yourself close to the fire in the heart just as someone who has been out in the cold draws near the fireplace. The fire of bhakti is kindled by the holy names. Try for it.”
“Sign in prayer hall: ‘No prayer means no peace.’”
“When Prabhupada says that chanting will soon bring me to pure love of Krishna, I can only conclude that it hasn’t happened to me because of my offenses to the holy name.”
“Taking care of the body or doing anything isn’t enough unless we have a purpose and think of it often. Smartavyah satatam vishnur. What am I trying to gain in becoming free of headaches and in lightening my body? How will I use health to better contribute to Lord Caitanya’s mission? How will being free of headaches improve my chanting and hearing? Improved health is only to increase my devotional life.”
“A happy moment this morning was when the attendant was spraying warm water from a pressurized hose at me to wash off the caked-on mud. I helped by pushing it off with my hands. It felt like a ritual—I was shedding a dirty covering. Wish it were that easy to wash dirt off the soul.”
“I can only take so much health talk— pontification about the pancreas.”
“Purusottama, Lord of all,
dear Guru, please
let me
let me
learn what I
must learn, although I’m afraid to ask,
‘Give it all to me now.’
You know this—
You know all—
please take me to You.
Take away the
stones I carry that
weigh me down, my
misconceptions and false possessions,
my ego.”
“Sometimes I doubt that process. Actually, I doubt it every day. The poor readers have to read through it all. It’s like having a neurotic husband and having to listen to the same complaints every day. A good wife will encourage him, and he may try to free himself, but the path is not always clear.”
“This body is meant for pain. There is no way to free myself from it. Even while sitting in the hip bath this morning, a fierce mosquito bit me in four places, causing big swellings. I could become absorbed in the misery and meditate on mosquitoes as my enemies instead of thinking of Krishna, but that is only more misery.”
“But surrender
to Nama Prabhu, the holy name.
Fall at His feet
like the lost offender you are.
Beg Him to sprinkle a few drops
of His mercy on you so
that you may rise from
the pit of despair
where you are distracted by
a thousand mental mosquitoes.
Please give me the strength to work in
Your sankirtana movement
in this world.”
“Humility’s the dad of other virtues.”
“The doctor just blew my mind with his sensible advice. I asked how to eat in the West. He said I should eat according to where I am, how I work, and how I feel. I must be my own judge of what’s good for me. He said what Prabhupada said: ‘Eat what you can easily digest.’ When you have digestive trouble or illness, eat only fruit. Or skip a meal.”
“These mosquitoes don’t even rest during the day. They have day shifts and night shifts.”
“Everything is revealed as we read Prabhupada’s books. I see how he wants us to preach in order to give both offenders and the innocent a chance to chant the holy name.”
“We are many times smaller even than a four-headed Brahma, and we are outcasts, so we don’t get to see Krishna. But He sees us. If we want to attract His mercy, we have to demonstrate sincerity in our endeavors, a service attitude (a servant a thousand times removed, a servant of His servants).”
“M. said he discovered himself remembering Krishna in a simple way and wants to pursue that during the day. He thinks how Krishna is his well-wisher. Rather than forget Him, he remembers. When misery comes, remember Him; when good fortune comes, remember Him. That’s how we should live, entering ever deeper into devotional service.”
“Read the Gita and become
a strong man—not physical bala
but self-realized, in love with Krishna.”
“We have to be here for a mission: to gain health to preach. Therefore, we are protected, but also have to protect ourselves from the mundaneness of the environment.”
“There is no easy cure for the conditioned souls’ illness. Pride, envy, material lamentation—all of these are deep-rooted problems—sense addiction, disinclination to serve Krishna, mental speculation, laziness. We have so many ills. We also have the best science with which to heal them.”
“A pious booklet about Indian Nature Cure advocates that we pray to God twice a day. That’s nice, but he discusses it as a health measure, on the same level with drinking lots of water and eating only two meals a day. Don’t they know that health is for serving Govinda? He is not a mere paragraph in the discussion, something to elevate the consciousness out of the mire that causes disease, but He’s the whole purpose of life.”
“Taking care of the body doesn’t mean identifying with the body. You take care of your car, but you don’t identify with it. You do this in Krishna’s service, so it is spiritual.”
“My headaches prove that without health you can’t do anything. Didn’t Canakya say that? It’s true. I can’t even prosecute my usual duties properly, although they are meant to sustain me. To try to gain health is certainly not maya, but important service. As Srila Prabhupada ended all his letters to his disciples, ‘I hope this meets you in good health.’ Without at least tolerable health a devotee can’t work. And this is an active movement.”
“I feel the responsibility to imbibe Prabhupada’s teachings in my heart and intelligence and to live my understanding of them as is best suited to my nature. We all have this great, personal responsibility. That’s how it is.”
“I admit I’m still a beginner, still haven’t attained the higher stages, don’t have symptoms of prema. Alas. But I’m persistent in my attachment to the mercy of His Divine Grace.”
“Lord Caitanya lifts His arms and implores us to chant and dance with Him. He personally distributes the fruits of prema from His own tree. Why hold back? Let’s take it and taste and distribute.”
“The doctor said the stomach can be extended beyond the size of the uterus, which is capable of containing a full-size baby. But it’s not meant to be so misshapen.”
“The man is a brahmacari, quite old, but the doctor was not pleased that ‘his material desires are increasing rather than decreasing.’ What is the proof? The priest requested a personal TV for his room. Yesterday the new antenna for the TV arrived, and the workmen installed it on his roof.”
“When I accept the inflated praises, it creates a karmic reaction for me. This obscurity allows me to serve the Lord with a pure motive, without expecting to be honored in return.”
“O Krishna, without You I am a fool, wandering and lost. You are my mother and father, my friend and my beloved. Your pure devotees are my well-wishers. All living beings are part of You. Your spiritual abode seems so far away, yet still You tell us we can reach it. Please help me.”
Bhaktivinoda Thakura:
From “Siksastakam”, Song 4, in Gitavali:
“In whatever birth I take, wherever my karma leads me, let me sing the glories of Your holy name birth after birth.”
“In danger or success, good fortune or disaster, let me remain in equipoise. And let my affection for You increase day by day by the influence of the holy name.”
From “Worship of Hari Must Begin from Childhood” in Prabandhavali:
“Because they cannot see God with their material eyes, they think that there is no such thing as God. Just as blind people cannot see the light of the sun, atheistic people cannot see God and so they do not believe in the existence of God.”
“But after attaining the platform of acyuta-gotra, if there is an absence of forceful devotional service, then that status is lost. Forceful devotional service alone is the life and soul of acyuta-gotris, or devotees.”
From “Religion and Science” in Prabandhavali:
“It is the duty of those who aspire to achieve the goal of life to give up all materialistic isms and theories and cultivate the science of self-realization. They should accept all material variegatedness as being the result of the creator’s control over nature, and at the same time they should cultivate love of God. It is not the duty of wise men to remain confined in petty isms and materialistic theories.”
“Art, industry, and scientific knowledge should be utilized in the service of self-realized souls. The science of the self is confidential, and those who are engaged in its cultivation have no time to become entangled in ordinary matters, like science and art. That is why all others should try to help them by providing their bodily necessities. O brothers! O evolutionists! O gradual ascenders! Perform your duty in a way that will help you and the world. Do not indulge in unauthorized interference into the affairs of the faithful by trying to discuss the faults and good qualities of the science of the soul. If you behave properly and act as gentlemen, we will always bless you.”
From “The Conclusion of Vedanta” in Prabandhavali:
“Dualism and oneness are simultaneously true and so while considering the truth of oneness, one must still make a distinction between matter and spirit. And, while considering the truth about the self, it must be admitted that the minute conscious living entities are eternally different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For one who understands this science of oneness and difference, there is nothing remaining for him to know.”
Mahatma Prabhu:
When you have a retreat in a natural setting, half the benefit of the retreat is just being in nature.
When we talk about becoming purified by meditation or chanting, what are we becoming purified from?
There is a relationship between the seven mortal sins of Catholicism and the five kinds of material contamination, lust, greed, anger, envy, and illusion.
Srila Prabhupada replied, “Yes,” when a pilot asked him if God was good, Then he explained that the sun is radiant and illuminating, but when we keep our back to it, we create a shadow. That is not a defect in the sun. Similarly when we keep our back toward God, we create evil, although in God there is only goodness.
When we chant, the curtain of darkness begins to open.
When I first met the devotees, the first thing I learned was I was an eternal spiritual being and that I was full of knowledge and bliss. I could never accept that idea that I would cease to exist, so I when I heard that, I thought, “I knew it!”
It is painful not to know.
I was at the University of California at Berkeley in Philosophy 101, and the professor said, “There is nothing you can learn from me, and so there is no need to come to my classes. Pick a topic you like, write an essay, give yourself a grade, and hand it in.” I had so many questions I hoped to have answered, and to hear this from a philosophy professor was shocking.
I was chanting with the devotees, and I felt ecstasy. “This is as good as surfing,” I thought. It occurred to me that it was the first time I did not have to make a big endeavor to attain happiness.
Bob Dylan, when he was inducted into the hall of fame, was asked how it felt. He said, “It felt good for about a week.”
My friend who won the Grammy in Latin America was having such a good time in India, he didn’t want to come back to the West to accept it.
The chanting was an amazing experience for me because I could feel happy in a natural way without much endeavor.
Think of the mantra as the sun, and bath in the mantra.
Do not have any expectations of the mantra. Be open to experience the mantra.
The meaning of the mantra is within the mantra. I want you to feel it.
How did you feel?
In the beginning I worried about my voice, but I got past that.
I had my eyes closed. I forgot where I was. When I opened my eyes, I was very peaceful.
(by me:) When you said to feel the mantra, I knew that the mantra would make me want to dance, so I stood in back where there was room to dance.
You do not have to be a musician, you just have to have a heart and want to get free of the coverings.
When you dance, you lift off the ground, and you feel more transcendental.
It is not like a drug. The benefit of the chanting stays with you.
When you chant you transcend, and when you return, you are more able to deal with your life.
It is good you have experiences like this so you can appreciate there is another reality.
You do not have to be special. If you do special things, you can have a special experience.
Imagine having, like Jesus Christ, so much love, you want to suffer all the sins of everyone in the world so they do not have to suffer. That level of love exists in the hearts of those who are purified.
When we hold on to envy of another person we are just punishing ourselves.
The consciousness of returning love when experiencing hate is within us.
Our natural state is to love everyone.
We wanted to be independent of any divine connection, and thus we are here in this playground.
Because we have been practicing materialism for many lives it is very deep rooted. Anything you practice you get good at. Imagining doing something for many lives!
Sometimes when you try to break a habit, it strikes back.
The mantra gives you the strength to get beyond your habits.
Chanting is like a reprogramming, but because you are returning to your original state it is natural.
Because society is going in a different direction, you might feel it’s unnatural, but it is not unnatural.
Srila Prabhupada said, “You should not use pesticides because the pests also have to eat.”
When ants were on Srila Prabhupada’s plate, a disciple asked what to do, and he said not worry about them as they do not eat very much.
We have all been programmed in a certain way, but many people do not ask themselves if they like the way they have been programmed.
The media is programming us more these days because there is more media and we are on it more.
There is not such a jump from exploiting animals to exploiting humans.
Sometimes you cannot understand something is bad until you stop doing it. When I encountered people who could not understand it was bad to eat meat, I would ask them to stop for two weeks and then reconsider, and in every case when they did, they could understand that it wasn’t good.
I thought of having a retreat for nonvegetarians where we ask them their favorite food, and then we have them take care of that animal for a whole day, and the next day we ask them if they would like us to cook it so they could eat it.
You can see your body on the operating table from above or you can see your body from within your body.
It is easy to say “I am consciousness,” but to realize “I am consciousness” is a different thing.
The only body you identify with is the one you presently reside in, but after this life, you will no longer identify with this body.
If I can be conscious of my thoughts, I must be different from my thoughts.
The trees do not understand how they got there nor how to get out.
Exercise: Go outside and visualize each living thing as a soul and not a body.
Experiences by participants:
I found myself not wanting to step on the vegetation. Usually I feel alone in the forest but not today.
I felt I should benefit the other living creatures.
Mahatma Prabhu: You can chant to them. You can bless the trees.
Me: Halfway through the exercise I realized I should be chanting to them.
Ants are insignificant to us, and we do not care so much for them, yet we are small compared to God, but He cares so much for us.
The same microscopic soul is energizing both the ant body and the elephant body.
No other generation has messed up the earth like the present generation.
There was a hospital. The doctors went on strike for a week, and fewer people died that week.
If we have knowledge we can act properly ourselves, and we can share knowledge to benefit others.
Experiences of japa:
I found it harder than with the instruments but sometimes more difficult things are more rewarding.
God can come to you in this sound as fully as in any other way.
Nagaraja Prabhu:
From “The Aims of Life” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 57, No. 3 (May/June 2023):
“Srila Prabhupada, in describing the aim of life with both common sense and scriptural citations, included the quest for happiness as a suitable goal. Yes, he would say, we seek happiness above all else, but our attempts to achieve it through material pursuits must ultimately fail. True and lasting happiness can be found only through self-realization. Our aim in life, therefore, should be self-realization, which becomes complete only when it includes God realization, or realization of the Absolute Truth.
“Because real happiness must include freedom from unhappiness, Srila Prabhupada often stressed that the aim of life is liberation from the various kinds of suffering we all endure as captives of the material energy. He would often point out that the desire to find the solution to our suffering in the material world is the defining quality of human life. Without that desire, human beings are no better than animals.”
“Still, one doesn’t have to listen to Srila Prabhupada for long to learn that he directed our aim to things higher than just liberation. Freedom from suffering entails only the convalescent stage of the soul. The soul is active by nature, and its natural, eternal desire is to act in a loving relationship with God.
“So Prabhupada often framed the aim of life as reviving our relationship with God, or Krishna. The name of his society – the International Society for Krishna Consciousness – indicates that aim. He wanted to teach the world that life is meant to be aimed at knowing, loving, and serving Krishna. There’s nothing as valuable as pure devotional service to the Lord. We must set our sights on that. When we do, Krishna becomes satisfied, and when He’s satisfied, He responds by fully satisfying us.
“While Prabhupada spoke of liberation as an inferior goal, he nonetheless strongly encouraged us to aim at going “back home, back to Godhead,” the highest form of liberation. By using the word home for the spiritual world, he implied that it’s natural for us to want to go there, to that place where Krishna lovingly and eagerly awaits us. Because the most highly advanced devotees are always fully aware of Krishna’s company, they may be indifferent to their location. Still, the Lord’s pure devotees generally leave this world at death and attain the spiritual world, which is fully saturated with devotion for the Lord. Our aim in life should be to follow their example and achieve both pure love for Krishna and eternal residence in His love-filled abode.”
Pran Govinda Swami:
jananti – they know
ajananti – they don’t know
avajananti – they really don’t know and are going away from the true understanding
abhijananti – they know perfectly
Mudha can mean one who has no intelligence at all.
Mother Yasoda does not want Krishna to be bigger than the biggest or to be smaller than smallest. She wants Him to fit on her lap, but within that form sitting on her lap, His form as smaller than the smallest and His form bigger than the biggest are contained.
If I know so much philosophy, I cannot know Krishna. If I say I have heard my whole life about God, I should get darsana. That is also rejected in this verse (Katha Upanisad 1.2.23):
nayam atma pravacanena labhyo
na medhaya na bahudha srutena
yam evaisa vrnute tena labhyas
tasyaisa atma vivrnute tanum svam
“The Supreme Lord is not obtained by means of expert explanations, vast intelligence or even much hearing. He is obtained only by one whom He Himself chooses. To such a person, He manifests His own form.”
With more affection for Krishna, we have more possession of Him. Yasoda thinks He is my child.
One verse by Krishna in connection with Uddhava, says, “If you develop love for Me, you should develop more love for My devotee.”
Caitanya Carana Prabhu:
From “The Universal Form as Revealed in the Bhagavad-gıta” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 57, No. 3 (May/June 2023):
“To help us better appreciate the vision of the universal form, the Gita describes it thrice: in Krishna’s words, in Sañjaya’s words, and in Arjuna’s words.”
“Why does the Gita use this triple descriptive framework? To help us gain a sense of a vision that is otherwise incomprehensible. When something is difficult to understand, it’s helpful to have that thing described or explained from different perspectives. In general, if someone claims to have seen something supernatural, it’s natural that most people will be suspicious. But if multiple people see the same thing, that increases the credibility of the vision. Beyond that, if we want to know more about what was actually seen, then we can try to integrate the details of the sight as described by different people.”
“What Arjuna sees initially as the majestic universal form soon starts devouring the warriors assembled on the very Kurukshetra battlefield where Arjuna is. This is Krishna’s cosmically destructive form of time, kala-rupa. That the kala-rupa perturbs a valiant warrior of Arjuna’s caliber underscores its unbearable scariness. This vision reveals the all-round nature of God’s omnipotence: no one can inspire devotion like Him (in His form as Krishna), and no one can induce fear like Him (in His form as time).”
“Vishnu is like God in the office, and Krishna is like God at home: same person, different personalities. And because God is omnipresent, He can be present both in the office and at home simultaneously.”
Krishna Abhishek Prabhu:
[He was born in a Vaishnava family. He has a Ph.D. in Hinduism from University of Chicago. He studied Bhaktivinoda Thakura. He did a master’s thesis is on Caitanya-caritamrita.]
I was initiated into chanting Hare Krishna at 4 or 5 years old by my grandfather.
I was exposed to Christian and Muslims, but I found the books in my own Hindu tradition had better answers to a lot of questions I had.
Is Krishna for real? Where does He fit in? Is this all mythology, monkeys flying with mountains?
Mahabharata and such books deal with a time when there were 16 great kingdoms in India. Thus Krishna is an historical people.
There is not an English equivalent of bhagavan. We use God but that is not exactly right. Bhagavan means the possessor of six qualities, wealth, strength, beauty, fame, knowledge, and renunciation. Krishna is bhagavan.
The different levels of God appreciation can be compared to increasing degrees of falling in love with someone.
Divinity can be personal and impersonal.
Krishna is a historical personality who did things you could not believe a person could do.
The Heliodorus Column says that the Greek ambassador was worshiping Vasudeva and Sankarsana.
The Brits may call us Americans Yankees, but we do not call ourselves Yankees. Yet the Hindus call themselves Hindus because outsiders gave them that name.
Tapa is more than austerity it is resilience, enterprise, endurance.
Satyam (truthfulness), saucam (cleanliness), tapa (austerity), and daya (mercy) are sanatana-dharma (eternal religious principles).
Vicious people destroy dharma, and virtuous people protect dharma.
Krishna stands for these four pillars of religion which you can find in every culture.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura says, “Hinduism is my culture. Vaishnavism is my religion.”
The essential truth is every soul is a bride of God, in the sense that we have loving, committed, relationship with God, that we have forgotten, and that our spiritual practices are meant to awaken.
Krishna’s birthday is a national holiday in India.
Vaishnavism is the third largest religion at 800 million people.
The Hare Krishna mantra is a divine love song from the transcendental world that transports you there.
Love means two. If we become the beloved there is no exchange of love.
We are always situated in the five primary rasas (neutrality, servitude, friendship, parental affection, or conjugal love) or seven secondary rasas (comedy, compassion, chivalry, anger, ghastliness, dread, and wonder).
In the beginning we have to know that Krishna is God, but to fully love Krishna we have to forget Krishna is God.
No one in Krishna’s life has peace.
Peace is one step lower than joy.
In dreamless sleep you are in Brahman, but you cannot stay in that state forever.
My life has been transformed in such a way that every opportunity I get I share this message.
If you and I are one, then why are you asking me questions?
Time is not material, but your watch is material, and yet it helps you connect with time. Similarly God is not material, but the murti is material, and yet it helps you connect with God.
In a mango there is the skin, the pulp, and the seed. They are all one, but you have to distinguish between them to taste the mango.
Bhakti is like a prism which splits the white light into exciting colors.
Does your mother cook the same thing every day? No. Where there is love, there is variety.
Gauranga Darsana Prabhu:
From “Monster Mother” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 57, No. 3 (May/June 2023):
“Krishna’s anger, however, was temporary, because it got transformed into the greatest mercy within no time. His anger is only to rectify and reform demoniac people, not to take revenge on them. As the supreme well-wisher of all, His ultimate disposition toward anyone is mercy.”
“No one can perpetually control or cheat people. One’s power ultimately gets nullified by higher powers, and one’s real colors get revealed to the world.”
“Those who want to harm God or godly people are themselves ruined.”
“Putana lost her life. She fell down in the pasture and smashed all the trees within twelve miles. (These trees were part of a garden belonging to Kamsa.) It was remarkable that only the trees were crushed and not the village’s houses or cowsheds.”
“Service rendered to Lord Krishna, whether directly or indirectly, knowingly or unknowingly, becomes successful. The Lord’s mercy is unparalleled, unimaginable, inconceivable, and beyond human logic.”
“Srila Prabhupada quoted the following verse from the Puranas to describe
the rarity of a bona fide guru.
guravo bahavah santi
sisya-vittapaharakah
durlabhah sad-gurur devi
sisya-santapa-harakah
“O Devi, there are many gurus who are expert in plundering the wealth of their disciples. But it is very difficult to find a bona fide guru who can remove the miseries of the disciple.”
Vraja Vihari Prabhu:
From “Freedom from the Crocodile’s Jaws” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 57, No. 3 (May/June 2023):
“‘When the going gets tough, the tough simply surrender,’ wrote biblical scholar Samuel Davidson (1807–1898).”
Brajanatha Prabhu:
From “Letting Go of the False Ego” in Back to Godhead, Vol. 57, No. 3 (May/June 2023):
“That the soul is real and eternal implies that our sense of I-ness is real and eternal. So to become enlightened, we don’t need to give up our sense of I-ness; we just need to shift its focus from the body and the mind to the soul. Some voidist or nihilist philosophers claim that our sense of I-ness is the cause of all our illusion and tribulation, so it needs to be dissolved. By rejecting wholesale the sense of I-ness, they leave themselves defenseless against the question ‘When we give up I-ness, who will relish enlightenment?’”
“Krishna acts in a very personal way with those He favors, and not everyone’s spiritual needs are the same. If He takes away a particular person’s wealth, the goal is not simply to take away the wealth, but to enrich that person in spiritual understanding. Others may not need it.”
“Krishna’s special mercy and His giving of wealth do not necessarily go together, as the way His special mercy manifests depends on the particular devotee. Both giving and taking away can be His mercy.”
Satyaraja Govinda Prabhu:
Bhisma’s conch shell sounded like the roar of a lion, but the Pandavas’ conch shells vibrated both in the sky and the land and were tumultuous.
The perfect demonstration of the saying “if Krishna wants to protect you no one can kill you and if Krishna wants to kill no one can protect you” is the pastime of Prahlada, who could not be killed, and his father, who could not be protected.
Barbarika, who got the benediction of seeing the Battle of Kurukshetra from a mountain peak above it, saw that although the great Pandava warriors thought they had killed so many enemies, they were actually all killed by Krishna.
Comment by Umesh:
The monkeys in Ramesvaram are honored as the descendants of the monkeys who assisted Lord Rama in His pastimes.
Krishna Kripa Das:
Posts on Official Hare Krishna Humor:
A lady on the campus had a T-shirt with the slogan, “We are all lesbians.” It reminds me that as jivas, we are the Lord's energy, and are thus feminine. Here we are all engaged in enjoying with other jivas, also feminine, instead of enjoying with the Parama Purusa, the Supreme Male, Sri Krishna.
Some men complain about being controlled by women, but we cannot do anything about it because it is our constitutional position. Either we are controlled by Krishna's material energy, Durga Devi, or we are controlled by His spiritual energy, Radharani. 🙂 May we make the best choice!
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I like this verse because it tells us that love of God, the perfection of life, is already there in our hearts. Beyond that it tells how to access it, by engaging in devotional service beginning with hearing. It is very authorized being spoken by Lord Caitanya to Sanatana Gosvami as He was explaining devotional service in practice, and Srila Prabhupada would often quote it.
nitya-siddha krishna-prema ‘sadhya’ kabhu naya
“Pure love for Krishna is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.” (Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 22.107)
