Diary
of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 20, No. 14
By
Krishna Kripa Das
(July 2024, part two)
Paris,
Bratislava, Milan, Vienna
(Sent
from Sarcelles, France, on August 3, 2024)
Where I Went and What I Did
I continued residing at ISKCON Paris in Sarcelles and chanting Hare Krishna for three hours in the city each day, except for three days when I went to Slovakia to attend the first ever Bratislava Ratha-yatra. On the way to Slovakia, I chanted for an hour and a quarter at Milan Bergamo Airport, where I had a layover, in Italy, a country I had never been to before. In Bratislava we did harinama with Harinama Ruci the day before the Ratha-yatra and during the Ratha-yatra stage show the next day. I wasn’t determined enough to organize a harinama for the following day, so I just chanted at the Vienna airport for an hour and twenty minutes before boarding my flight.
I share notes on Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam as well as some of his lectures. I share notes on Caitanya-bhagavata by Vrindavan Dasa Thakura and its commentary by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. I share notes on a couple of recorded lectures by Niranjana Swami on Brhad-bhagavatamrita. I share notes on classes in Paris by Janananda Goswami, Samba Prabhu, Nitai-sevini Devi Dasi, Gangeya Prabhu, Nitai Caran Prabhu, and Vasumati Devi Dasi. I share quotes from two books by Sadaputa Prabhu and two articles by Dvija Govinda Prabhu.
Many, many thanks to Kalavati Devi Dasi of Slovakia, a leading organizer of the Bratislava Ratha-yatra, for her very generous donation. Thanks also to Mahaksa Prabhu for his kind donation. Thanks to Trilokatma Prabhu and Yashoda Dulal Prabhu for the rides in Bratislava and Mahananda Prabhu for the ride in France. Thanks to Yashoda Dulal Prabhu for all the prasadam for my visit to Slovakia. Thanks to Ekadasi Vrata Devi Dasi for coming on harinama and for her donation.
Itinerary
June
17–August 16: Paris harinamas
August
16–19: Balarama Festival (New Mayapur France)
August
20: Paris harinama
August
21: Prague harinama
August
22–25: Trutnov (Czech Woodstock)
August
26–27: Janmastami and Vyasa-puja in CZ
August
28: London harinama
August
29–30: Liverpool harinamas
August
31: Liverpool Ratha-yatra
September
1–8: The North of England harinamas
–
September
8: Great North Run harinama
(Newcastle, UK)
September
9–11: Dublin harinama
September
12: NYC Harinam
September
13–18: Albany
September
19–20: Philadelphia harinamas
September
21: Philadelphia Ratha-yatra
September
22–29: Albany
September
30–January 2025: NYC Harinam
Chanting Hare Krishna in Paris
Because of increased security as a result of the Olympics, we were stopped from chanting and book distribution in many places in Paris we always went to. One place they told us we could go to is La Republique which is famous as a free speech area. All kinds of protests happen there. One day no one came out with me, and I took this photo of myself chanting at La Republique. That day I met an Indian man who was visiting Paris to play mrdanga at some concert. He told me he occasionally comes to Paris and other European cities to play mrdanga at different events. I encouraged him to visit our temple.
Praya Bandhu Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Anvers near his workplace after work (https://youtu.be/ZYTJBBR1fVo):
Patita Pavana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Anvers (https://youtu.be/-Vl0wm7gQqM):
Gangeya Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Anvers (https://youtu.be/RXRMLSByJAk):
Rohininandana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Anvers (https://youtu.be/blNyzEmrGRQ):
And the end of Rohini’s kirtan, two guys from a tourist group which had been watching our chanting, joined in dancing with the devotees (https://youtu.be/Ma9RXDI7-wk):
Patita Pavana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Stalingrad (https://youtu.be/_Fg5s3Ehbow):
Rasa Parayana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Stalingrad (https://youtu.be/jidtCtZRXKI):
While Rasa Parayana was chanting, two women danced with devotees (https://youtu.be/YWIJUmgu77k):
Devotees invited some of their contacts from book distribution to a Sunday program at Parc des Buttes Chaumont. Here Rasananda Sankirtana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in that park with those who attended (https://youtu.be/wBmDIuaqums):
Sarker of Bangladesh works part-time at a shop in Vincennes I was chanting Hare Krishna outside of. His mom, his wife and his five sisters are all devotees. He said he likes Lord Jagannatha so I told him about the Ratha-yatra on August 10 in Basel, Switzerland, 3 hours away by train, that I had just bought a ticket to that morning.
When Ian saw me chanting Hare Krishna by Canal Saint-Martin in Paris a couple of years ago he remembered me from when he taught yoga at the Bhakti Center.
This day he let us use Jivamukti’s mrdanga so I didn’t have to bring one from the temple, and he practiced a beat that Visvambhar Sheth taught him to the point of being able to chant the mantra at the same time. We hope to chant Tuesdays together at the canal.
This woman happily took photos of the Paris devotees on harinama and book distribution at the canal, remembering the Hare Krishnas on Oxford Street during her college days in London. She gave 10 euros and took a Gita. Now she’s half the year in Paris and the other in LA, where she soon travels to. She was happy to learn of our Ratha-yatra there in a couple of weeks.
Bilvamangal Prabhu, the father-in-law of Acharya Prabhu, chants Hare Krishna at Canal Saint-Martin (https://youtu.be/f-AdpFq2Io0):
Anuradha Devi Dasi, wife of Acharya Prabhu, chants Hare Krishna at Canal Saint-Martin (https://youtu.be/wbcqxcV4L-M):
Rasikananda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Stalingrad (https://youtu.be/k1llqMPDLGw):
Patita Pavana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Stalingrad (https://youtu.be/IHjpLh2HVic):
While Patita Pavana Prabhu was chanting, a guy danced (https://youtu.be/VRT0Vq1zAl8):
Rasa Parayana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Stalingrad (https://youtu.be/vNobY5XW6Qg):
Sudevi Manjari Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna at Stalingrad (https://youtu.be/caz4smKqAPI):
Yumi chants Hare Krishna at Stalingrad (https://youtu.be/S9AS0OApe78):
João chants Hare Krishna at Bastille (https://youtu.be/zjv5zTE09gI):
Vishnujanananda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Bastille (https://youtu.be/2c9eE3V7Bl0):
Ekadasi Vrata Dasi was visiting ISKCON Paris just for the morning on the way to a gathering of Bhakti Tirtha Swami disciples in New Mayapur. As we do harinama together in Gainesville and New York, I asked her if she'd like to do harinama for an hour at the Tuesday market in Sarcelles, attended by hundreds. She was into it, and 4 devotees joined us. People smiled, waved, took videos, gave donations and took a few books. If she hadn't come, I never would have organized it, as I had only slept 4 hours, and I never do extra service on so little sleep!
While I was chanting Hare Krishna at Canal Saint-Martin, two policewomen on an ice cream break wanted a photo with Hare Krishna monk.
The next day, at Anvers a policeman questioned what we were doing. We encouraged him to talk to Dayal-Nitai Prabhu, a French speaker and native of Paris.
Dayal-Nitai said, “We are monks, and we are chanting mantras for purification.”
The policeman replied, “This is good. You should do this all over Paris, and especially here.”
Patita Pavana Prabhu had told us at Anvers, a lot of drug dealing goes on, so we are the least of the worries of the police there.
João chants Hare Krishna at Anvers (https://youtu.be/b-5QIufusfM):
Patita Pavana Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Anvers (https://youtu.be/6FGpmt2hiGs):
Chanting Hare Krishna at Milan Bergamo Airport
I was supposed to have three hours and twenty minutes between flights, but my first flight was delayed, and I calculated I had an hour and a quarter outside the airport before I had to go through security for my next flight.
I sat on a bench, outside arrivals, playing karatalas and chanting Hare Krishna, as people passed by on their way to their ground transportation or waited for their next flight.
I displayed “On Chanting Hare Krishna” in English, Spanish, and French on the one bag I carried on my journey. Occasionally people smiled or moved to the music, and once a taxi driver tapped his cab to the beat with his hands.
At the end a young woman and her kids (left) danced a bit to the music, and she took videos of her kids doing so. I offered her the English “On Chanting Hare Krishna” as she was from London. Surprisingly she had never encountered Hare Krishna in London, although many people have. I told her about Govinda’s, one of the oldest vegetarian restaurants in London, at 10 Soho Street.
Chanting Hare Krishna in Bratislava
Here Harinamananda Prabhu and Harinama Ruci chant Hare Krishna in Bratislavia outside the restaurant Govinda, in operation since 2003, where their harinama the day before the first ever Ratha-yatha started (https://youtu.be/oW3lstEfXFI):
We distributed Ratha-yatra invitations with one side in English and the opposite in Slovak.
Harinamananda Das and Harinama Ruci engage people of various races, ages, and genders in chanting Hare Krishna and dancing on the evening before Bratislava Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/-nKZdVHmjJY):
After the harinama, Yashoda Dulal Prabhu, who remembers me from my earliest visits to Slovakia, arranged that I get some lasagna prasadam from Govinda, and it was very good. It is their most popular item. He also gave me enough pizza and cake to last my whole visit.
Before the Ratha-yatra an Indian woman made a little speech in English that was translated into Slovak. I think she was India’s ambassador to Slovakia.
Valmiki Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Bratislava Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/y-O7sl2zmKs):
Savyasachi Prabhu of India chants Hare Krishna in the Bratislava Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/NTt5g-NpbwI):
Priya-kirti Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Bratislava Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/J3GRM8S4N1Y):
Harinamananda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Bratislava Ratha-yatra (https://youtu.be/RwXpK_p3r9Y):
Harinamananda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Bratislava Ratha-yatra, and women dance with devotees (https://youtu.be/3Pt8UFW91ac):
In front of the entrance to the stage show, there was a sign telling the schedule of events.
For an hour between the Bratislava Ratha-yatra procession and the final stage show kirtans, Harinamananda Prabhu and Harinama Ruci did harinama through the city (https://youtu.be/Aki1fZ_c2lc):
They engaged over ten groups of people in chanting Hare Krishna and dancing (https://youtu.be/wBUXgpgi4IU):
Ananda Dulal Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Bratislava Ratha-yatra stage show (https://youtu.be/UPEmqAK0wKI):
I gave three kids, who were attracted to the kirtan, some shakers to play.
The older girl, at Premi Devi Dasi’s request, began dancing with the devotees (https://youtu.be/otWvGuHlrdc):
Then the other two continued playing shakers.
Later the Premi convinced the boy to dance as well (https://youtu.be/FxISj7b-1gU):
Then the remaining girl played all three shakers!
Valmiki Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in Bratislava Ratha-yatra stage show final kirtan (https://youtu.be/g41dvAsiGXE):
The older girl, who got an invitation to our Slovakian centers and restaurants, came back and danced during Valmiki’s kirtan.
As Valmiki continued to chant, more and more devotees began dancing (https://youtu.be/3L3txcC11UA):
Photos
When I woke up the deities, I would set the pins holding the chadars together on a shelf in the kitchen. A pujari later moved them to the pin cushions in the pujari room. When that pujari left for two months, the pins would sometimes remain on the kitchen shelf.
Once I was eating the sabji at lunch, and it had a pin in it. Thus I realized I should find a safer place to put the pins! It is interesting that by Krishna’s grace it was I who ended up getting the portion of sabji with the pin in it!
At France’s Beauvais airport they have a vending machine for purchasing the toiletries you may need on your trip.
On the trash and recycling bins they have drawings of the appropriate items for each.
Insights
If you donate to the TOVP, they give you, among other things, a nice compilation of quotes from the Vedic literature confirming the divinity of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, including many I didn’t know:
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.14:
“The damsels of Vraja, after pastimes of laughter, humor and exchanges of glances, were anguished when Krishna left them. They used to follow Him with their eyes, and thus they sat down with stunned intelligence and could not finish their household duties.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.15, purport:
“As electricity is generated by friction of matter anywhere and everywhere, the Lord, being all-pervading, appears because of the friction of devotees and nondevotees.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.20, purport:
“Others, who were in the marginal position, being neither friends nor enemies but slightly in love of Godhead by appreciating the beauty of His face, were at once promoted to the spiritual planets, the Vaikunthas.”
“Love of Godhead is dormant in every living entity, and the entire process of devotional service unto the Lord is meant for awakening this dormant eternal love of Godhead. But there are degrees of such transcendental awakening. Those whose love of God is awakened to the fullest extent go back to the Goloka Vrindavana planet in the spiritual sky, whereas persons who have just awakened to love of Godhead by accident or association are transferred to the Vaikuntha planets.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.23, purport:
“The Lord accepts the least qualification of the living entity and awards him the highest reward. That is the standard of His character. Therefore, who but the Lord can be the ultimate shelter?”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.27, purport:
“The land of Vrindavana, the Lord’s childhood playground, still remains today, and anyone who visits these places enjoys the same transcendental bliss, although the Lord is not physically visible to our imperfect eyes. Lord Caitanya recommended this land of the Lord as identical with the Lord and therefore worshipable by the devotees. This instruction is taken up especially by the followers of Lord Caitanya known as the Gaudiya Vaishnavas. And because the land is identical with the Lord, devotees like Uddhava and Vidura visited these places five thousand years ago in order to have direct contact with the Lord, visible or not visible. Thousands of devotees of the Lord are still wandering in these sacred places of Vrindavana, and all of them are preparing themselves to go back home, back to Godhead.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.28, purport:
“Child Krishna did not belong only to His parents, Nanda and Yasoda; He was the son of all the elderly inhabitants of Vrindavana and the friend of all contemporary boys and girls. Everyone loved Krishna. He was the life and soul of everyone, including the animals, the cows and the calves.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.2.34, verse and purport:
“In the third season of the year, the Lord enjoyed as the central beauty of the assembly of women by attracting them with His pleasing songs in an autumn night brightened by moonshine.”
“Before leaving the land of cows, Vrindavana, the Lord pleased His young girlfriends, the transcendental gopis, in His rasa-lila pastimes.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.3.14, purport:
“The entire process of cosmic arrangement is intended just to give a chance to the conditioned souls to enter the kingdom of God, and there is an adequate arrangement for their maintenance by the nature of the Lord.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.3.15, purport:
“The devotees and associates of the Lord are completely surrendered souls. Thus they are transcendental instruments in the hands of the Lord and can be used in any way the Lord desires. The pure devotees also enjoy such pastimes of the Lord because they want to see Him happy. Devotees of the Lord never assert independent individuality; on the contrary, they utilize their individuality in pursuit of the desires of the Lord, and this cooperation of the devotees with the Lord makes a perfect scene of the Lord’s pastimes.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.4.11, purport:
“Only the pure devotees can know, by the mercy of the Lord, that the personal association of the Lord is the highest perfection of life.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.4.16, purport:
“Pure devotees of the Lord are not very much concerned with philosophical speculation in regard to transcendental knowledge of the Lord. Nor is it possible to acquire complete knowledge of the Lord. Whatever little knowledge they have about the Lord is sufficient for them because devotees are simply satisfied in hearing and chanting about the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. This gives them all transcendental bliss.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.4.18, purport:
“A pure devotee like Uddhava has no material afflictions because he engages constantly in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. A devotee feels afflicted without the association of the Lord. Constant remembrance of the Lord’s activities keeps the devotee alive, and therefore Uddhava requested that the Lord please enlighten him with the knowledge of Srimad-Bhagavatam, as previously instructed to Brahmaji.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.19.41, purport:
“The tendency of modern civilization is to give money in charity to the poor. Such charity has no spiritual value because we actually see that although there are so many hospitals and other foundations and institutions for the poor, according to the three modes of material nature a class of poor men is always destined to continue. Even though there are so many charitable institutions, poverty has not been driven from human society.”
“The best solution is that of the Krishna consciousness movement. This movement is always kind to the poor, not only because it feeds them but also because it gives them enlightenment by teaching them how to become Krishna conscious. We are therefore opening hundreds and thousands of centers for those who are poor, both in money and in knowledge, to enlighten them in Krishna consciousness and reform their character by teaching them how to avoid illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling, which are the most sinful activities and which cause people to suffer, life after life. The best way to use money is to open such a center, where all may come live and reform their character. They may live very comfortably, without denial of any of the body’s necessities, but they live under spiritual control, and thus they live happily and save time for advancement in Krishna consciousness. If one has money, it should not be squandered away on nothing. It should be used to push forward the Krishna consciousness movement so that all of human society will become happy, prosperous and hopeful of being promoted back home, back to Godhead.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.20.3, purport:
“Bali Maharaja had already been blessed by his grandfather Prahlada Maharaja. Therefore, he was a pure devotee, although born in a family of demons. There are two kinds of highly elevated devotees, called sadhana-siddha and kripa-siddha. Sadhana-siddha refers to one who has become a devotee by regular execution of the regulative principles mentioned in the sastras, as ordered and directed by the spiritual master. If one regularly executes such devotional service, he will certainly attain perfection in due course of time. But there are other devotees, who may not have undergone all the required details of devotional service but who, by the special mercy of guru and Krishna—the spiritual master and the Supreme Personality of Godhead—have immediately attained the perfection of pure devotional service. Examples of such devotees are the yajña-patnis, Maharaja Bali and Sukadeva Gosvami. The yajña-patnis were the wives of ordinary brahmanas engaged in fruitive activities. Although the brahmanas were very learned and advanced in Vedic knowledge, they could not achieve the mercy of Krishna-Balarama, whereas their wives achieved complete perfection in devotional service, despite their being women. Similarly, Vairocani, Bali Maharaja, received the mercy of Prahlada Maharaja, and by Prahlada Maharaja's mercy he also received the mercy of Lord Vishnu, who appeared before him as a brahmacari beggar. Thus Bali Maharaja became a kripa-siddha because of the special mercy of both guru and Krishna.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.2 in Caracas on February 23, 1975:
“So dharma means, generally, a kind of faith, dharma. But actually dharma does not mean that. Faith, you may have faith, and others may not have, but that is not fact. That is fact which is accepted by everyone, either he may have faith or may not have faith. In Sanskrit language, the Vedic literature, dharma means the codes or the law given by God. So one may have faith or one may not have faith; it doesn’t matter. The codes or law given by God, that is a fact. Just like the law given by the state: one may not have faith, or one may have faith, but it must be accepted. For example, just on the street we see, ‘Keep to the right.’ This is the law given by the state. So you may believe it or not believe it; you have to carry out. So it cannot be changed in any circumstance. Therefore dharma does not mean a faith. It is compulsory.”
“So we should conclude like this, that ‘If God can supply eight million types of different lower animals, then why shall not God give the necessities of life to the human society?’”
“So don’t execute your religious principle for some material benefit, but try to revive your relationship with God and try to love Him.”
“So unless we realize God and our position, and we become lover of God, there is no question of peace in the mind. Therefore it is recommended here that if you want real peace in the mind, try to understand what is God, what is your relationship with God, and act accordingly. You will be immediately peaceful. As soon as you become peaceful, your life is successful.”
“This Krishna consciousness movement is for educating people how to think of God constantly.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.1.3 on February 24, 1975, in Caracas:
“Mukti means give up the false conception of life and take the real conception of life. That is mukti.”
“In India there is a class of men, they are called Mayavadis. They recommend that ‘You worship any demigod. The result is the same.’ This is false religion. Krishna said that mam ekam saranam vraja: ‘Only surrender unto Me.’”
“So mukti means to give up all these material desires and be situated in your original constitutional position, Krishna consciousness.”
“Vedanta-sutra is the cream of all Vedic literature, and Srimad-Bhagavatam is the further explanation of this Vedanta-sutra.”
“Why a devotee shall aspire after liberation? As soon as a bhakta, he is already liberated. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita,
mam
ca yo ’vyabhicarena
bhakti-yogena
yah sevate
sa
gunan samatityaitan
brahma-bhuyaya
kalpate
[Bg. 14.26]
‘He, anyone who is engaged in pure devotional service, he is transcendental to all these three qualities of the material world, and he is situated in the Brahman platform.’ Liberation means to be situated on the Brahman platform. So for a bhakta the liberation is already there.”
“I have not brought something invented by me. I have brought the Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita. That’s all. That’s all.”
Vrindavan Das Thakura:
From Caitanya-bhagavata Madhya 8.275–277:
“The followers of Lord Caitanya were intoxicated in the mellows of Krishna consciousness, therefore the statements of the materialists did not enter their ears. Day and night they happily chanted, ‘Jaya Krishna, Murari, Mukunda, Vanamali!’ Visvambhara danced day and night with the devotees. No one became tired, for they all had spiritual bodies.”
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 9.243–244:
“Anyone who hears the prayers of Sridhara and the benediction he received from the Lord will obtain the wealth of prema, or love of Godhead. One who does not blaspheme the Vaishnavas attains Krishna by developing love and devotion at His lotus feet.”
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya-lila, Chapter 9, Summary:
“Although Vaishnavas appear in poor families within this world to teach the fallen and wretched living entities to worship Hari, they are not actually poor. The purpose of such pastimes is to demonstrate how one can worship Hari in spite of being born in a poor family. The characteristics of Vaishnavas are incomprehensible to the materialists. If one surrenders to the Vaishnavas with nonduplicitous simplicity, then by their mercy one can recognize them. It is the duty of every intelligent man to stay far away from the vaishnava-aparadha of trying to measure Vaishnavas with material knowledge. A person who is devoid of vaishnava-aparadha can easily attain love of God by chanting the holy name of Krishna even once, otherwise namaparadha in the form of blaspheming Vaishnavas will create havoc in one’s life.”
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 9.2, purport:
“The sankirtana movement of Sri Gaurasundara is the highest benediction in all respects. The subject matter of this kirtana illustrates the most exalted pastimes of the Lord, therefore there is no comparison to this sankirtana.”
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 9.54, purport:
“Although the process of sankirtana is mentioned in the scriptures, people were inclined to solitary services like chanting japa. But in order to award the highest benediction to the people of Kali-yuga, Sri Gaurasundara revealed the necessity of performing sankirtana.”
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 9.213, purport:
“Satyabhama’s devotional service is explained as follows: During Krishna’s Dvaraka pastimes, the great sage Narada one day came before Krishna with a parijata flower in his hand that Indra had given him. At that time Krishna was residing in the house of Rukmini. When Narada gifted that parijata flower to Sri Krishna, Lord Vasudeva gave it to Rukmini. On seeing this, Narada praised the good fortune of Rukmini and concluded that she was the most intimate and chaste wife of Krishna. Thereafter the maidservants of Satyabhama who were present at the time informed Satyabhama about the incident. As a result, when Satyabhama became filled with conceit, Krishna went to her residence and promised to bring an entire parijata tree to the house of Satyabhama in order to please her. Thereafter, when Narada went there and specifically glorified the Punyaka-vrata, Satyabhama expressed a desire to observe that vow. Then Krishna brought the parijata tree from Amaravati, the abode of Indra, and according to the prescriptions of that vrata, Satyabhama bound Krishna to that parijata tree and gave Him in charity to Narada.” (Hari-vamsa,Vishnu-parva, Chapter Seventy-six)
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 9.233, purport:
It is impossible to identify the characteristics of a Vaishnava by material sense perception or external symptoms. It is not that one who possesses more wealth is a superior Vaishnava. It is not that one who gathers more followers is a superior Vaishnava. It is not that one who has more knowledge of the scriptures is a superior devotee of Vishnu. The servants of Lord Caitanya may not have much wealth, may not gather many followers, and may not have the academic qualification of being expert in argument and counter-argument, but ordinary people have no qualification to understand why they are indifferent to such matters. The devotees consider the service of Sri Caitanya as superior to wealth, followers, and knowledge. Therefore it is impossible for ordinary people to estimate their dignity, glories, and greatness.
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 9.237, purport:
“In the Skanda Purana, Markandeya speaks to Bhagiratha as follows:
yo
hi bhagavatam lokam upahasam nripottama
karoti
tasya nasyanti artha-dharma-yasah-sutah
nindam
kurvanti ye mudha vaisnavanam mahatmanam
patanti
pitribhih sardham maha-raurava-samjñite
hanti
nindati vai dvesti vaisnavan nabhinandati
krudhyate
yati no harsam darsane patanani sat
“My dear King, if one derides an exalted devotee, he loses the results of his pious activities, his opulence, his reputation, and his sons. Vaishnavas are all great souls. Whoever blasphemes them falls down to the hell known as Maharaurava. He is also accompanied by his forefathers. Whoever kills or blasphemes a Vaishnava, whoever is envious of a Vaishnava or angry with him, and whoever does not offer obeisances or feel joy upon seeing a Vaishnava of the certainly falls into a hellish condition.”
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 9.242, purport:
Living entities who have received even a tiny merciful glance of Sri Caitanya see the entire world as full of eternal happiness.
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From A Writer of Pieces:
“This is a literal truth. One cannot get beyond the modes of nature unless one literally surrenders to Krishna. What does it mean to surrender to Krishna? To give up all material desires and make Krishna your sole desire, pleasing Him in body, mind and intellect. This is what it means to ‘surrender’ to Krishna.”
“As soon as Prabhupada moved into the storefront and some devotees had gathered and gotten initiated, one of the first things he ordered was that they get a signboard and put it in the window. The signboard would be like ones put in restaurant windows advertising the food fair, or advertising something else that was going on inside the store. Prabhupada was insistent about the signboard. He asked Brahmananda to go out and buy one as soon as possible. Brahmananda came back after some time and said they didn’t have enough money to buy a signboard. Prabhupada got somewhat angry and said, ‘Go out and get the signboard!’ After some efforts and donation-raising, Brahmananda finally got a signboard. It was a good one, like in restaurant windows, with places for putting letters of the alphabet which would spell out what was going on and advertised in the store. Prabhupada was very happy with the look of the signboard. The very first night they displayed it with lettering to indicate what kirtana was and what the lecture would be for that night, they got a booming increase in attendance. Many more people came than usual. Prabhupada assigned myself, Satsvarupa dasa, to be the one to put the labels of the lecture at least once every three days. Prabhupada told me what to write there. Sometimes he didn’t give me the exact wording but told me what the lecture was about. I considered it a very responsible duty to change the letters. I did it once every three days to keep up with his lecturing from the scripture. One time, at his indication, I placed the words in the signboard, ‘Prahlada Defies His Father.’”
“Prabhupada had risky adventures giving lectures in the storefront on the Lower East Side. Every time Prabhupada lectured he would give out an apple sliced into many pieces as the prasadam distribution. The devotees didn’t have enough money to give out more food than one apple sliced into many pieces. Swamiji himself took the apple in his hand and sliced it, first into halves, then into fourths, then into eighths, and cut it as small as he could and distributed it to the people who had attended the storefront lecture. It was Prabhupada who actually handled the apple, and using his own knife, cut the pieces. But one time a ruffian came up to Prabhupada and took the knife from his hand. Brahmananda became alert and protective of Prabhupada. There were cases where a ruffian actually took the knife from Srila Prabhupada’s hand. But in all cases they never attacked Prabhupada but cut the apple into small pieces for themselves and gave Prabhupada back, safely, the knife and the remainder of the apple.”
“From the beginning of regular activities at 26 Second Avenue, the poet Allen Ginsberg was cordial toward Prabhupada and the devotees. One time he donated a harmonium so the devotees could play it during kirtanas (although they could only play a drone and did not know how to play melodies). Several times he made donations of $100 or more.
“With his long hair and long beard, the infamous Allen took part in the kirtanas. But he told Prabhupada that he was surprised at the tune they sang. He said he had learned the tune for the first time in India, and he didn’t know that any other tune existed. But Prabhupada showed him the new ‘Hare Krishna’ song.”
“Sometimes questions from the audience were hostile or challenging. One time a man standing at the back of the storefront raised his voice and asked Swamiji, ‘Are you Allen Ginsberg’s guru?’ Prabhupada lowered his head humbly and said, ‘No, I am everyone’s servant.’ In a private conversation Allen told Prabhupada that Prabhupada himself had asked Allen if he could become the president of the newly formed ISKCON. Allen politely, humbly and definitely declined the offer of becoming president of ISKCON. He knew he was unfit to take the post, being himself so unholy in his habits that it would be a farce. And he denied the post.”
“A Writer of Pieces repeats himself. He keeps saying, ‘I love You, let me serve You.’ But the Lord savors His devotee’s sincere repetitions.
“The Writer of Pieces is capable of writing at length, but aficionados prefer his short haiku-kisses.
“The Writer of Pieces doesn’t make a long treatise. He prefers utterances like, ‘Please let me serve You, Lord.’”
“A Writer of Pieces ‘speaks’ from the heart.”
“A brother wrote him and said he was an icon. But he is more like an old, old man with the last sands of the hourglass running down.”
“She asked me if Prabhupada was ever physically threatened or put into trouble. I remembered a time when Prabhupada and his devotees were together walking on a horizontal moving sidewalk in the airport. A malicious man came up walking behind Prabhupada and threatened to hit him with his luggage. Harikesa Swami saw what was about to happen, and he stepped in-between the man with the luggage and our dear Prabhupada. Prabhupada was saved from any injury.”
“Prabhupada told how one day he took a walk on the Bowery by himself. It wasn’t the only time he went alone. He said a black-bodied woman (this was early in the morning) touched his body. Prabhupada then decided not to take early morning walks on the Bowery anymore. He told this story to a number of his devotees, and I was present.”
“Prabhupada was in a car accident in Mauritius. They had borrowed a luxurious car from a Life Member. Driving in traffic, another car came forward and smashed into the car Prabhupada was in. Prabhupada had placed his cane down on the floor of the car, and it helped stop his jerking forward and hurting himself worse. But he was hurt by the jolt and drew some blood. One of the car windows also was broken, glass hit Prabhupada and caused some bleeding. This accident caused him to limp for a few days, but soon he recovered, and he was all right and went about his holy business as usual.”
“O God, O Krishna, O Jesus, please banish these headaches, or if You don’t want to, then I won’t grudge it. Just give me a little supply of medicine. And if You don’t want to do that, let me at least keep writing.”
“The Writer of Pieces is regularly trying to dig up gold. He is trying to find gems, even little tidbits of memories about Prabhupada. One time, Prabhupada, while standing on the street with a few devotees, ordered a can of 7 Up for himself, and he drank it there on the street. The devotees were pleased and amazed to see Prabhupada acting in such an informal way. This started something of a fad in ISKCON, and some of Prabhupada’s disciples started buying 7 Up. They all had their excuses and reasons. I know one sannyasi who said he needed to drink it to improve his digestion, and there were other reasons for drinking 7 Up on the street after they had seen their master do it.”
“The Writer of Pieces knows very well the story of the time Prabhupada’s servant, Satsvarupa, was learning how to cook for his master. He made a lot of mistakes. One mistake he made was to cut a raw cucumber the wrong way. It’s supposed to be cut lengthwise, but he cut it the other way. When Prabhupada saw how he cut the cucumber, he said curtly, ‘This is wrong.’ The servant replied, ‘Well I can learn to do it right, Prabhupada,’ somewhat defensively. Then Prabhupada said to him, ‘You will not learn to cut a cucumber in three hundred years.’”
“There is a story I took part in with Prabhupada that I can record here for devotees’ amusement. It is again me making a mistake. I forget the exact mistake I made, but as a result of it Prabhupada called me ‘Sir Isaac Newton.’ And then he explained. He said the great learned scientist (of the seventeenth and eighteenth century) was extremely brilliant. But on the other hand he had a reputation for being absent-minded. One time a friend visited Sir Isaac Newton and saw that he had two different holes of different sizes in his door to the outside. The friend asked, ‘Why do you have two holes in your house door?’ Sir Isaac Newton said, ‘I have two cats. One cat is a little bigger than the other, so I have made a bigger hole. The smaller hole is for my smaller cat.’ When the scientist said that, his friend laughed heartily at his big scientist-companion. He said, ‘How foolish you are! You could have made one hole in the door, and both cats could have fit through.’ Prabhupada called me this name on another occasion. I was going with him and others on a morning walk. First, we took the car to the place where we were going to walk. I was going to sit in the back seat, but as we were getting out of the car, I discovered that I had left my bead bag and beads locked in the car. When I noticed it I said, “Oh! I’ve locked my beads into the car!” I turned to go back and get them, but nobody joined me. Prabhupada kept walking ahead without paying any attention. But he turned his head as he walked, looked back at me, and said sarcastically, ‘Sir Isaac Newton.’”
“I can count many mistakes that I made when I was Prabhupada’s servant. I was his cook at the same time. The only facilities I had to cook were a bare room with a linoleum floor, no burners, no kitchen stove. So, one time, while I was cooking, I placed a burning hot pot on the floor. I had no other spot to place it. Later Prabhupada came in the room and asked me to pick up the pot. When I did so there was a big hole in the linoleum floor where the pot had burned through. Prabhupada asked me, ‘What have you done?’ I told him I had no other facility, so I just put the pot down on the floor. He didn’t call me ‘Sir Isaac Newton,’ but some of the words like that may have gone through his head when he saw this foolishness.”
“One nice thing that we used to do with Prabhupada was stop for a picnic when he was being driven in a car from Calcutta to Mayapura. We stopped about halfway there and had a picnic under mango trees. It was a mango tree orchard and a very pleasant place to sit and gather. What made it truly pleasant was that Prabhupada was there in the center. The devotees had brought prasadam from Calcutta temple, and we opened the prasadam containers, sat on the ground, and distributed the prasadam, a lot of it. It is such a nice memory. I went many times with Prabhupada. Unfortunately, now it is only a wisp. And I do remember, and I try to dig up more about those picnics between Calcutta and Mayapura.”
“The whole thing is service by the disciple to the guru. The guru is so pleased by this service that he renders service back to the disciple in the form of instructions in Krishna consciousness.”
“Don’t give up, comrades. Yoke your thoughts to Krishna and make an attractive-sounding Piece.”
“At least in this lifetime there is very little time left. How much further can I go? Who will help me? I know. It is Prabhupada himself, my dearest leader, and his faithful followers.”
Janananda Goswami:
People in the Vedic culture understood that giving to brahmanas was beneficial for themselves for many reasons.
Nowadays you can be a millionaire one moment and in poverty in next. This is because what the people have is not true wealth.
The devotee knows he has nothing to renounce because everything belongs to Krishna.
Real renunciation is to understand that it is a false conception to consider something is ours and to give that conception up.
The goddess of fortune is not meant for us to enjoy. She is meant for Krishna’s enjoyment.
Real renuciation is to understand everything is for Krishna’s enjoyment and to employ in that way.
If we still think that there is something somewhere that is ours we still have our foot in the material world.
Not only money but praise and recognition are meant for Krishna.
One of the first books we distributed, one of the first books Srila Prabhpada translated, was Sri Isopansad. We would have classes on it. We would even chant it on harinama occasionally.
Arjuna had so many doubts and thus he had so many fears. Fears and doubts are the same.
Even if everything around us is going haywire, we should chant Hare Krishna. Ultimately we will realize that human life is simply for self-realization.
The London devotees did a marathon for two or three weeks before Ratha-yatra, and it was more successful than the Prabhupada marathon in December.
Visvambhara Prabhu was the national secretary for ISKCON France during the history when Bhagavan was in charge, and although he was not as famous as other devotees, he was doing a lot of work behind the scenes facilitating devotees, and making the yatra successful.
We all make mistakes. The result depends on our reaction. If we go on a campaign against those who punish us, we will not learn the lesson.
Revenge is devoid of bhakti.
Dharma is to take shelter of Krishna, giving up all temporary shelters.
We realize that no one can protect us other than Krishna. We realize that no one can benefit us other than Krishna.
The guru is meant to cut the knot of our material attachment, but here Sukracarya is advising to make the knot tighter.
The son of the richest family in the UK committed suicide because he wanted to marry someone and his family was against it and would not allow it to happen.
All a pure devotee is worried about is bringing more pleasure to Krishna.
There was a Christian group who was criticizing the devotees for their poverty, saying it was proof that they were worshiping the devil. That group was ultimately stopped by the government.
We have to pass the test of attachment to material wealth ultimately as we cannot go back to Godhead with material baggage.
Niranjana Swami:
From a class on Brhad-bhagavatamrita for the Bhakti Sangama festival on September 16, 2021, via Zoom from Mayapur:
No one in Vaikuntha is dissatisfied, and no one envies another, as they each have achieved the relationship with the Lord that their heart desires.
Although prakrita-bhaktas, who worship the deity but do not properly respect the devotees, are deprecated in the revealed scripures, if they just continue their service and do not abandon it, by the mercy of the Lord and His advanced devotees, in time they will attain the highest perfection of love of God.
From a lecture on Brhad-bhagavatamrta:
Uttara wanted her son to reveal something that would alleviate her distress caused by his upcoming departure. Thus he spoke Brhad-bhagavatamrta.
A wandering mendicant wanders to share what he has been given and also to seek association.
When Gopa Kumar attained Vaikuntha, Narada explained to him the identities of the residents and how they attained that position.
Sadaputa Prabhu:
From Mysteries of the Sacred Universe:
“Bhagavata cosmology is driven by an underlying theological world view, whereas modern cosmology is driven by an underlying theory of physics.”
From Maya: The World as Virtual Reality:
“To account for one universe with life, this [multiverse] scheme requires us to posit a vast number of universes without life, as well as an underlying process that endlessly spawns universes. One could ask which theory carries more metaphysical baggage, this one or the traditional idea of a cosmic designer.”
Bhavasindhu Prabhu:
From a class on Vaishnava etiquette:
The Vaishnava etiquette is considered secondary but necessary, while chanting is a primary principle.
Yama are things you should restrain from.
1.
ahimsa
– do
not cause harm to other beings with body, mind, or words.
Devotees
are environmentally friendly therefore.
2. satyam – refrain from lying, speak the truth, and not in such a way as to humiliate others.
3. daya – compassion, kindness to others, forgiveness, helping people who are weak or elderly.
4.
asteya
– not
stealing, do not be possessive, do not be greedy, refrain from theft
and debt.
Do
not envy others. Accept your position. As an old man, reflecting on
my life, I see my fortune is always changing.
5. brahmacarya – divine conduct, practice celibacy, avoid images that provoke lust, for grhasthas be faithful to your spouse.
6. ksama – patience, do not be disturbed by circumstances beyond your control, patience with children and the elderly.
7. steadfastness – persist in fulfilling desires, don’t be lazy.
8. arjavam – honesty, do not blame others for your faults, be straightforward in dealings.
9. mithya-ahara – moderate appetite.
10. saucam – keep body, mind, and speech pure.
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.20.1:
Bali had to chose to follow his guru to not surrender to Krishna or to chose to actually surrender to Krishna. Actually at every moment we also have to choose whether to surrender to Krishna or not.
There is a guru for every aspect of life in Vedic culture, in dance, in health, and in spiritual life.
Krishna in your heart will help you discriminate between a real guru and a false guru.
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.20.5–6 in Paris:
Bali Maharaja is in a difficult situation because he wants to keep his promise to Vamanadeva, and at the same time, he does not want to offend his spiritual master, Sukracarya.
The Vaishnava can surrender to Krishna because he has faith that Krishna will not let him down.
The initiation is a contract between two souls, the guru and the disciple, the guru agrees to take the karma of the disciple and the disciple agrees to serve the guru.
Because each devotee is inclined to give service to others, that creates a nice mood.
There was a devotee named Visvesvara Prabhu, a disciple of Bhakti Charu Swami, whose joy was to clean the temple which he did for forty years at Radhadesh.
A disciple who is completed dedicated to executing the orders of his spiritual is highly advanced.
An advanced devotee never wastes time in prajalpa (gossip).
Samba Prabhu:
In Europe, people were not buying the books, so devotees sold people paintings and gave them the books.
Srila Prabhupada was pleased with the quality of the European books.
Although Bali Maharaja had to go to the lower planets for disobeying his guru, by the grace of the Lord it was like heaven.
Jnanam (knowledge) is necessary in the beginning of bhakti but not in the advanced stages.
We have to cry to Krishna to be successful in preaching.
If we work together it is possible.
Srila Prabhupada wanted many ashrams in India for western devotees to stay. After staying for some time they could go back and preach in the west.
Our strategy, given by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, is to become dear to Nityananda Prabhu by preaching.
It is not difficult to surrender to Krishna. It just requires determination.
Everyone wants happiness in this world. The husband is thinking that his wife will make him happy. The wife is thinking that her husband will make her happy. The kids think that the parents will make them happy. However, no one is becoming happy. But instead if we try to make Krishna happy, then we will become happy.
Nitai-sevini Devi Dasi:
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura said if you cannot save any book, the Gita, the Bhagavatam, or the Cc., you might as well drown.
Preaching also benefits ourselves.
If we do not distribute the right thing, the wrong thing will become prevalent.
In many cases Lord Krishna increased the opulence of His devotees, such as Sudama brahmana and the fruit seller, but Lord Caitanya decreases the opulence His devotees and yet is advertised as most magnanious. Why? Because He gives Krishna prema.
Although Sridhara was proverty stricken he could purchase Lord Caitanya’s time.
“Alvar” means one advanced in love of Godhead.
There is a pastime where Srila Prabhupada was asking Tamal Krishna Goswami about the use of this plant and that plant. When he asked about one plant, Tamal Krishna Goswami told Srila Prabhupada that it was useless. Srila Prabhupada became angry and told him that nothing in Krishna’s creation is useless. He explained that we may not know the use of a particular thing, but that does not mean it is useless.
If you have no Krishna consciousness, how are you going to spread it. If you have no jam how can you spread it.
Comment by me not made because of lack of time:
Regarding your stressing the importance of preaching, this statement of Srila Prabhupada supports it: “People in general are trapped by ignorance in the material concept of life, and they perpetually suffer material pains. So unless one elevates people to spiritual knowledge, one is practicing violence. One should try his best to distribute real knowledge to the people, so that they may become enlightened and leave this material entanglement. That is nonviolence.” (Bhagavad-gita 13.8–12, purport)
Dvija Govinda Prabhu:
From “Artificial Intelligence: Can a Computer Possess Consciousness?”:
“Undoubtedly, modern computer technology cleverly harnesses electrical energy to power devices that are able to manipulate symbols at tremendous speed, allowing them to perform extremely cumbersome and complex tasks. But can we expect a computer to be actually ‘conscious’ of its actions, any more than we expect a calculator or an ordinary wooden hammer to be?’”
From What is the Brahmanda?”:
“Interestingly, although modern science provides a wide spectrum of hypotheses explaining how the universe was created, the definitions of the universe itself are generally vague and unclear.”
“Now let’s turn our attention to the well-known image representing a logarithmic scale conception of the observable universe with the solar system at the center, inner and outer planets, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, Alpha Centauri, Perseus Arm, Milky Way galaxy, Andromeda Galaxy, nearby galaxies, cosmic web, cosmic microwave radiation, and the Big Bang’s invisible plasma on the edge. [Distance from Earth increases exponentially from center to edge.] Celestial bodies appear enlarged to appreciate their shapes.
“It looks much like the structure of brahmanda, and it also resembles Bhu-mandala as presented in the Fifth Canto of the Srimad-Bhagavatam. So it’s interesting to note that when modeled using a log scale, the observable universe appears to have a layered structure surprisingly similar to depictions of the brahmanda as found in our earlier research.”
“So the idea of many universes in modern science is an attempt to account for fine-tuning without relying on intelligent design scenarios: each universe comes with a different set of physical laws, and only in some particular, very rare universes (like our own) is there such fine-tuning of physical constants that life is possible. However, according to the Vedic viewpoint, fine-tuning is featured in every universe, and thus life is present in each one.”
Gangeya Prabhu:
I was attending a loft program in Australia, and I was asked by the leader to organize a festival, to write a play and to have it performed. I had never done any of those things, but I agreed anyway. I found that Krishna sent different people to help me with different practical things I did not know how to do, and He sent other people to encourage me. He even sent a devotee who was an actor and a director who was so excited by the idea of the drama that he wrote the whole thing in one night. Thus even in the beginning of my Krishna consciousness, I saw Krishna’s reciprocation very clearly.
Q:
How to develop faith?
A:
Ask other devotees. Generally we have not come from a place of pure
devotional service, but many devotees have come to a high devotional
standard. We can ask them how they did it. We can ask how they
overcame the obstacles.
Notes on Sunday program in Parc des Buttes Chaumont:
One Mexican lady attendee said that since 2019 her spiritual practice is to hear Bhagavad-gita and Mahabharata, and to meditate on them.
A Bangladeshi lady, Sharada Muni, was formerly worshiping Shiva. She said, “I am thinking that by getting the blessings of Lord Shiva, that I becoming more and more interested in Krishna, and am thinking I will become completely a Krishna devotee.”
Rasananda Sankirtana Prabhu: In the same way you cannot separate the sunshine from the sun, you cannot separate consciousness from the soul.
Nitai Caran Prabhu:
Bhaktivinoda Thakura recommends in his song “Gurudeva, kripa bindu diya” that one cry for the guru’s mercy.
In the material world we cry for the loss of so many material things.
One day, somehow or another, it was 1 p.m., and I had not chanted any rounds. My guru called me on the phone. My guru never calls me. And he asked me how my chanting was going!
Comment by me:
Regarding the tears we experience in material life, Lord Kapila says in Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.28.32: “A yogi should similarly meditate on the most benevolent smile of Lord Sri Hari, a smile which, for all those who bow to Him, dries away the ocean of tears caused by intense grief.”
In this age, Krishna manifests Himself also as Jagannatha and the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
One day, after an hour an a half of harinama, no one gave a donation or took a book. I usually do three hours, and the last hour is the best. Although it was time to chant for the deities in the temple at the Sunday feast, I decided to stay out for the full three hours. I ended up collecting $17 and distributing four books or so. Thus I see Krishna reciprocated with me for staying out.
Vasumati Devi Dasi:
During Vedic times kama, sense gratification, was achieved through religious principles, but now people endeavor for sense gratification by any means.
Also the kind of sense gratification people endeavor for is not of a very high grade.
I
researched the frequency of lying. I found:
People
say from 10 to 200 lies a day.
Extroverts
speak lies more than interverts.
Men
more often tell lies to protect themselves. Women more often tell
lies to protect others or to protect relationships.
We also sometimes lie to ourselves.
Nonviolence is a more important principle than truthfulness.
One swami, considering it his duty to promote knowledge and renunciation, blessed a newly married couple to have as much happiness as possible in a world where happiness does not exist.
The more we do not listen to Krishna’s warning us not to lie from within, the less He will remind us.
It is said one of the Six Goswamis did pranayama before chanting gayatri to focus his mind.
-----
Some verses, like this one, make the point that all you have to do is devotional service to Krishna because by such devotional service you also attain the results of all other good deeds, and beyond that, you also attain the spiritual world.
vedesu
yajñesu tapahsu caiva
danesu
yat punya-phalam pradistam
atyeti
tat sarvam idam viditva
yogi
paramm sthanam upaiti cadyam
“A person who accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft of the results derived from studying the Vedas, performing sacrifices, undergoing austerities, giving charity or pursuing philosophical and fruitive activities. Simply by performing devotional service, he attains all these, and at the end he reaches the supreme eternal abode.” (Bhagavad-gita 8.28)
