Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 21, No. 5
By Krishna Kripa Das
(Week 5: January 29–February 4, 2025)
(Sent from Tallahassee, Florida, on February 8, 2025)
Where I Went and What I Did
For the fifth week of 2025, except for the first day when I was in Tampa, which I described in the last journal, I remained living at ISKCON Tallahassee and chanted three hours each day on Landis Green, behind the main Florida State University library.
Miraculously on Sunday four people chanted with me for part of the time. During the week, I distributed three books along with thirty-nine little cups of halava to promote our Krishna Lunch at the campus. I added six students to our mailing list. I describe some special interactions I had with some of the students and with the “Tally Preacher.” I also gave the talk at our Saturday program on the last verse of Bhagavad-gita, where Sanjaya assures us that if Krishna and Arjuna are present in our lives, we will be victorous as Arjuna was.
I share lots of quotes from the books, lectures, conversations, and letters of Srila Prabhupada, many I read in Bhakti Vikasa Swami’s soon-to-be-published book on the mood and mission of Srila Prabhupada. I share quotes from Sanatana Goswami’s Brhad-bhagavatamrita and Vrindavana Dasa Thakura’s Caitanya-bhagavata and its commentary by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. I share quotes from Writing Sessions in the Depths of Winter: A Literary Medley, the latest book of Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami, which is in the production stage. In particular, I share his remembrances of the Boston center which he started. I share a Facebook post where Tirtharaj Prabhu lists several places in the Bible where Jesus Christ refers to himself as the son of God and not God the Father as many Christians claim he is.
Thanks to Ananga Mohan Prabhu for picking me up at the bus when I returned from Tampa. Thanks to Satyaraj Govinda Prabhu, Krishna, Shyam, and Andrew for chanting with me on Sunday at the campus for some time.
Itinerary
January 6–April 15: Tallahassee harinamas and FSU college outreach
– March 9–16: Krishna House Gainesville harinamas and UF college outreach
– March 15: Daytona Beach Ratha-yatra
– April 12: St. Augustine Ratha-yatra
April 16–20: Washington, D.C., harinamas with Sankarsana Prabhu
April 21–22: NYC Harinam
April 23: Flight to Brussels with a layover in Oslo
April 24–25: Kadamba Kanana Swami Vyasa-puja at Radhadesh
April 26: King’s Day in Amsterdam
April 27–May 6: European harinamas and either Birmingham 24-Hour Kirtan or Amsterdam Kirtan Mela
May 7–June 15: NYC Harinam
mid June–mid August: Paris
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee
This young Christian Navigator reminded me that human life has a higher purpose by the slogan on her shirt. She happily accepted the blueberry halava when Brett, the Campus Crusade for Christ guy I was talking to, who she knows from church, recommended it.
Brett, who advocates for Christianity on the campus, said, “According to our Christian theology, Jesus is God Himself. What do you think of that?”
I replied, “Well, we have this philosophy of acintya-bheda-abheda-tattva, of simultaneous oneness and difference. Jesus is one with God as he is coming from the kingdom of God, teaching the message of God, and embodying that message, but many times Jesus said he was the son of God and thus an entity different from God Himself.” Actually upon thinking about it, both in the Bible and in the notion of the trinity, Jesus is thought of as inconceivably simultaneously one with and different from God Himself.
This junior majoring in international relations and public health was happy to get the free blueberry halava I was giving. She’d brought lunch from home but was just lamenting she didn't have any dessert when she heard my call, “Free dessert!”
Here Ayusha chants Hare Krishna at the ISKCON Tallahassee Saturday evening program (https://youtu.be/S6xEy5ZkAek):
Sunday was special as four people joined me on harinama on the FSU campus. It was the first day we numbered more than two. Satyaraja Govinda Prabhu came with his son, Krishna, who is singing here (https://youtu.be/P4bo5RkksD0):
Andrew, the dancer, was teaching yoga on the green, and Shyam was one of his students. Before getting a job in Tallahassee, Shyam ate Krishna Lunch as a student at University of Florida.
Earlier on Sunday one young woman I was talking to about Krishna Lunch said, “I enjoy listening to you play whenever I come by here. I turn down my music to listen to yours!”
Apparently Jay, the Tally Preacher, was upset to find that my table was set up near where he likes to preach.
He took the trouble to write a message blaspheming Lord Krishna on the sidewalk. He also criticized Krishna verbally in the course of promoting Christianity. I decided to chant as loud as I could so neither I nor others would have to listen to it. One guy asked if he could listen to me, and he lay with his eyes closed on the grass, his head on his knapsack, listening to the kirtan for 5 or 10 minutes with Jay ranting in the background. That guy took a halava and a Krishna Lunch flyer when he left. Some students smiled to see the scene. A girl said she liked the kirtan, had never seen a harmonium played before, and took a lunch flyer.
If you want to tell Jay what you think of his preaching style, you can find him on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook by searching for Tally Preacher.
Photos
It is amazingly to me that although the university was closed three days for a snowstorm two weeks before, this very pious nearby tree is still providing flowers for the worship of Gaura Nitai.
Q: What do you say to someone who says “I love my meat!”?
A: Watch out! Next life someone is going to love your meat!
Poor chickens!
I can understand Krishna prasadam is not ordinary food.
Otherwise I couldn’t have eaten this khicri 5 meals in a row.
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.37, purport:
“Mixtures do not take place automatically, just as a mixture of colors does not take place automatically, without the touch of the living painter. The automatic system is factually activated by the glancing touch of the Lord. Living consciousness is the final word in all physical changes. This fact is mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita (9.10) as follows:
mayadhyaksena prakrtih
hetunanena kaunteya
jagad viparivartate
The conclusion is that the although the physical elements may work very wonderfully to the laymen’s eyes, their workings actually take place under the supervision of the Lord. Those who can mark only the changes of the physical elements and cannot perceive the hidden hands of the Lord behind them are certainly less intelligent persons, although they may be advertised as great material scientists.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.38, purport:
“Persons averse to a loving relationship with God are more or less condemned by their own actions.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.40, purport:
“The way of devotional service is neither sentimental nor mundane. It is the path of reality, by which the living entity can attain the transcendental happiness of being freed from the three kinds of material miseries—miseries arising from the body and mind, from other living entities and from natural disturbances. Everyone who is conditioned by material existence—whether he be a man or beast or demigod or bird—must suffer from adhyatmika pains (those caused by one’s body or mind), adhibhautika pains (those caused by other living creatures), and adhidaivika pains (those due to supernatural disturbances). One’s happiness is nothing but a hard struggle to get free from the miseries of conditional life. But there is only one way he can be rescued, and that is by accepting the shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.42, purport:
“Even such materialistic men, with a little eagerness for hearing about the Lord’s transcendental name, fame, qualities, etc., can surpass all other methods of attaining knowledge and detachment.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.44, purport:
“Even a person perpetually condemned to the miseries of material existence can get relief from bondage if he simply agrees to hear only krishna-katha. In this Age of Kali, the process of hearing krishna-katha is the most effective means of gaining release from unwanted family affection and thus finding permanent freedom in life. The Age of Kali is full of sinful reactions, and people are more and more addicted to the qualities of this age, but simply by hearing and chanting of krishna-katha one is sure to go back to Godhead. Therefore, people should be trained to hear only krishna-katha—by all means—in order to get relief from all miseries.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.45:
“O great Supreme Lord, offensive persons whose internal vision has been too affected by external materialistic activities cannot see Your lotus feet, but those feet are seen by Your pure devotees, whose one and only aim is to transcendentally enjoy Your activities.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.45, purport:
“The Lord’s devotees, however, do not mind the offenses of the foolish in their many gross and subtle bodily endeavors. The Lord’s devotees continue to bestow the blessings of devotion upon all such offenders without hesitation. That is the nature of devotees.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.46:
“O Lord, persons who, because of their serious attitude, attain the stage of enlightened devotional service achieve the complete meaning of renunciation and knowledge and attain the Vaikunthaloka in the spiritual sky simply by drinking the nectar of Your topics.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.46, purport:
“With a serious attitude, the devotee throws away all other achievements like so much dust, and he accepts only devotional service, the transcendental culmination.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.47, purport:
“The devotees keep their individuality to exchange feelings in relationship with the supreme individual Lord. Such reciprocation of feelings takes place in the transcendental Vaikuntha.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.48, purport:
“The cosmic creation is working under the influence of the three modes of the external potency of the Lord. Different creatures are also under the same influence, and therefore they cannot act concertedly in satisfying the Lord. Because of this diverse activity, there cannot be any harmony in the material world. The best policy, therefore, is to act for the sake of the Lord. That will bring about the desired harmony.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.49, purport:
“It is the duty of human beings to acknowledge the mercy of the Lord. As a matter of gratitude, they should feel obliged to the Lord for their supply of foodstuff, and they must first offer Him food in sacrifice and then partake of the remnants.”
“Famine is not due to an increase in population, as less intelligent economists think, but is due to the ingratitude of human beings. When human society is grateful to the Lord for all His gifts for the maintenance of the living entities, there is certainly no scarcity or want in society. But when people are unaware of the intrinsic value of such gifts from the Lord, surely they will be in want. A person who has no God consciousness may live in opulence for the time being due to his past virtuous acts, but if he forgets his relationship with the Lord, certainly he must await the stage of starvation by the law of the powerful material nature. One cannot escape the vigilance of the powerful material nature unless he leads a God conscious or devotional life.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.5.51, purport:
“The expansions of Vedic wisdom give the nitya-baddhas, the conditioned living entities, a chance to improve, and those who take advantage of such transcendental knowledge gradually regain their lost consciousness of rendering transcendental loving service to the Lord.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.9.11:
“O my Lord, Your devotees can see You through the ears by the process of bona fide hearing, and thus their hearts become cleansed, and You take Your seat there. You are so merciful to Your devotees that You manifest Yourself in the particular eternal form of transcendence in which they always think of You.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.26.32, purport:
“The entire material manifestation began from sound, and sound can also end material entanglement, if it has a particular potency. The particular sound capable of doing this is the transcendental vibration Hare Krishna. Our entanglement in material affairs has begun from material sound. Now we must purify that sound in spiritual understanding. There is sound in the spiritual world also. If we approach that sound, then our spiritual life begins, and the other requirements for spiritual advancement can be supplied. We have to understand very clearly that sound is the beginning of the creation of all material objects for our sense gratification. Similarly, if sound is purified, our spiritual necessities also are produced from sound.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.10.6, purport:
“If one is advanced in knowledge, he must always be prepared to sacrifice anything for a better cause. At the present moment the entire world is in a dangerous position under the spell of a godless civilization. The Krishna consciousness movement needs many exalted, learned persons who will sacrifice their lives to revive God consciousness throughout the world. We therefore invite all men and women advanced in knowledge to join the Krishna consciousness movement and sacrifice their lives for the great cause of reviving the God consciousness of human society.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.14.16, purport:
“One who has education and wealth must use them to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead by helping the sankirtana movement that has already begun – the Hare Krishna movement, or Krishna consciousness movement. All educated and wealthy persons must join this movement, since money and education are meant for service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If money and education are not engaged in the service of the Lord, these valuable assets must be engaged in the service of maya. The education of so-called scientists, philosophers, and poets is now engaged in the service of maya, and the wealth of the rich is also engaged in maya’s service. The service of maya, however, creates a chaotic condition in the world. Therefore the wealthy man and the educated man should sacrifice their knowledge and opulence by dedicating them for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord and joining this sankirtana movement (yajhaih sankirtana-prayair yajanti hi sumedhasah [SB 11.5.32]).”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 14.50:
“Our propaganda is simply meant to enable intelligent people to understand the distinction between matter and spirit and understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the whole spiritual identity. That is our mission.”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 11:
“Srila Rupa Gosvami describes one who is fit for becoming engaged in devotional service. He says that persons who are neophytes and who have developed a little love of Godhead are not interested in the activities of sense gratification, in proportion to their devotion. But if there is still some attraction for sense gratifying activities, then the result of such activities should be offered to Krishna. This is also called engagement in the service of the Lord, with the Lord as the master and the worker as the servant.”
“In the Skanda Purana there is another statement about tulasi, as follows: ‘Tulasi is auspicious in all respects. Simply by seeing, simply by touching, simply by remembering, simply by praying to, simply by bowing before, simply by hearing about or simply by sowing this tree, there is always auspiciousness. Anyone who comes in touch with the tulasi tree in the above-mentioned ways lives eternally in the Vaikuntha world.’”
From The Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 12:
“A similar statement is in the Third Canto, Seventh Chapter, verse 19, of Srimad-Bhagavatam: ‘Let me become a sincere servant of the devotees, because by serving them one can achieve unalloyed devotional service unto the lotus feet of the Lord. The service of devotees diminishes all miserable material conditions and develops within one a deep devotional love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead.’”
“Sukadeva Gosvami tells Maharaja Pariksit, ‘My dear King, if one is spontaneously attached to the chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, it is to be understood that he has attained the highest perfectional stage.’”
“The same thing is confirmed in the Adi Purana by Krishna. While addressing Arjuna He says, ‘Anyone who is engaged in chanting My transcendental name must be considered to be always associating with Me. And I may tell you frankly that for such a devotee I become easily purchased.’”
“For persons who are not inclined to clean the dust from their hearts and who want to keep things as they are, it is not possible to derive the transcendental result of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. One should, therefore, be encouraged to develop his service attitude toward the Lord, because this will help him to chant without any offense.”
From an ad Srila Prabhupada placed in a local Indore newspaper:
“Wanted: Qualified brahmanas to preach Bhagavad-gita all over the world. Educated candidates accepted without discrimination of caste, color, or creed. Apply ISKCON.”
“You can go to the jail and lecture about Krishna consciousness and the values of life. . . . And the same can be done in the mental hospital as well. . . . Preaching at these and other big institutions is solid work, so try to increase this activity.”
From a letter to Mukunda on December 27, 1972:
“We want that the mass shall support us, but that the class shall preach for us – that is the distinction.”
From a room conversation in Bombay on January 8, 1977:
“First of all we must attract people, then give them prasada. . . . Let them do whatever nonsense they are doing. Let them chant and take prasada. We don’t mind what they are doing. . . . Let them come, chant Hare Krishna. Caitanya Mahaprabhu stressed on mass kirtana every night. He was not speaking philosophy. Philosophy was with Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, Prakasananda Sarasvati, not with the mass of people. To the mass of people – “Come on! Chant!” Give them prasada. . . . What philosophy will they understand?”
From a lecture at MPV College in Surat on December 24, 1970:
“I tried to start this movement in India. I saw Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, I saw President Radhakrishnan, I saw Lal Bihari Shastri, many prominent men, and requested them that this is Indian original culture—Krishna consciousness—and if we present this Krishna consciousness movement in its right form, people will accept it, and the whole world will be benefited.
But… Of course, I was sympathetically received by Lal Bihari Shastri. He was very much sympathetic with me. And our President Radhakrishnan, he promised that ‘Swamiji, maybe after retirement I shall join you.’ Anyway, I could not get any help either from the politicians or from any other party. Then I decided that I should go to America. And I was dreaming that if the American people will accept this Krishna consciousness movement, maybe our Indian brothers may follow them.”
From a discussion with Shyamasundara on the philosophy of John Dewey:
“We are presenting this Krishna consciousness movement as the solution of all problems. Let any intelligent man come and discuss with us, and we think that we shall be able to convince him that this is the only solution. ”
From a letter to Mukunda on June 28, 1969:
“I want the people of the whole world to come to God consciousness and be happy. Without God, there is no question of happiness, and without God, there are no good qualities in a person. So the leaders of the human society are missing this point, and here is a program of Krishna Consciousness that if sober and truthful men join, certainly we shall be able to give something very sublime to the suffering peoples of the world.”
From a letter to Madhudvisa on September 7, 1972:
“The president of the United States, the Queen of England, the Communist leaders, all business magnates, all should have taken this movement seriously for the upliftment of human society, but because most of them are miscreants, rascals, lowest of the mankind, and lost of all real knowledge, they are still unaware of the importance of the Krishna Consciousness Movement. Indeed, however, it is our duty to enlighten them in different ways through our Sankirtana movement, so that one day may come very soon that they may be enlightened and take this movement with all seriousness and do the best thing for humankind.”
From a letter to Karandhara on July 10, 1973:
“In London we have instituted a program where important men are coming to meet me in the evening for discussion of Krishna consciousness. I have talked with a very famous sculptor and a teacher of a boys’ college, and today George Harrison is supposed to visit. Syamasundara is arranging for visits by many other famous men. Wherever I shall go now this policy of important men being invited to talk with me about our Krishna consciousness movement should be implemented.”
From “Who Is Krishna?” in Journal of Self-Discovery, Chapter 2, Part 4:
“This movement can solve all the problems of life, all the problems in the world. Social, political, philosophical, religious, economical – everything can be solved by Krishna consciousness. Therefore we request those who are leaders . . . try to understand this Krishna consciousness movement.”
From a conversation with Allen Ginsberg in Columbus, OH, on May 12, 1969:
“Our mission is that intelligent persons of the world may know that . . . simply seeking after sense gratification is not the aim of human life.”
From a letter to Kancanbala on April 20, 1970:
“Regarding your preaching work in the schools, colleges, and universities, try to attract the students, they are our great future hope.”
Sanatana Goswami:
From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 1.6.19–21, commentary:
“The ecstasies of pure Vaisnavas, which appear on their bodies as perspiration, trembling, horripilation, and so on, are the priceless treasure of those Vaisnavas, a treasure whose value can be estimated only by Vaisnavas following in their footsteps.”
“Devotees in the conjugal mood become even more blissfully attached to Krishna when jealous of His other lovers.”
Vrindavana Dasa Thakura:
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.256:
“Whatever you have said has been spoken by Me. Otherwise how could those statements come from your mouth? O Mukunda, you have simply repeated My words. Because you are an unalloyed devotee, no statement other than the truth can come from your mouth.”
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.260:
“Wherever I incarnate, you will accompany Me as My singer. You are My eternal companion, and you always sing for Me. Wherever I incarnate you will appear as My associate to sing the glories of Hari.”
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.263:
“Anyone who hears Mukunda's prayers and the benediction awarded to him will become a singer with him.”
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.312:
“One who chants the names of Krishna without blaspheming anyone will easily conquer the unconquerable Lord Caitanya.”
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura:
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.246–48:
“The entire world is under the control of providence. Birth, activities, the results of pious and impious actions, and the meeting and separation of all living entities are under the control of providence. Therefore there is no force superior to providence. Yet Lord Krishna is greater than providence. Since providence is under the control of Lord Krishna, saintly persons worship Krishna, who is the Supersoul and Supreme Personality of Godhead. Through His pastimes, Sri Krishna can diminish or expand this providence. Therefore the devotees of Lord Krishna are not bound by providence. They are imperishable and transcendental.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.249:
“The Kaivalya Upanisad states: sraddha-bhakti-dhyana-yogad avaiti—‘Faithful sadhakas attain Lord Krishna by meditating on His form with devotion.’”
“In his commentary on the Vedanta-sutra (3.3.54) Sri Madhvacarya has quoted the following verse: bhakti-sthah paramo vishnus – “Lord Vishnu dwells in devotional service. The Supreme Lord Vishnu is controlled only by devotional service. Only through devotional service does He give His darsana to His devotees, and only by devotional service does He award liberation to the living entities. Intense affection for Lord Vishnu is called devotional service. This devotional service is the supreme method for achieving the darsana of the Supreme Lord Vishnu.”
“In the Mundaka Upanisad (3.18) it is stated: jñana-prasadena visuddha-sattvas tu tam pasyate niskalam dhyayamanah—‘If a pure-hearted, self-realized sadhaka meditates through the knowledge of the scriptures on the unchangable Supreme Lord, then he can directly see Him.’”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.250:
“Failing to achieve My darsana, the nondevotees cannot see My personal form; they are perpetually bereft of My darsana because they maintain impersonal conceptions. Due to
foolishness they follow mundane conceptions, and without understanding the need for having darsana of the seer and the object of sight they accept the philosophy of monism as the goal of life. Therefore they simply become perpetually bereft of the happiness of serving the form of eternity, knowledge, and bliss.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.251:
“One who becomes an offender by opposing devotional service can never develop the propensity for service. Being thus cheated of the service attitude, his darsana of the Lord goes in vain. Other than those who are inclined to the service of the Lord, no one can possibly achieve happiness from the Lord’s darsana. Since others consider the Supreme Lord as an object of enjoyment, they lack a service attitude and are unable to achieve eternal happiness, which is the actual fruit of the Lord’s darsana.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.279:
“Even if one accumulates name and fame by making many disciples, by organizing many Vaisnava gatherings, and by performing welfare activities for people like constructing many temples, one does not achieve the mercy of Sri Caitanyadeva. The four Vedas declare that Sri Caitanyadeva is controlled only by nonduplicitous loving devotional service.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.280:
“Being puffed-up with the prestige of scholarship, the society of learned scholars monopolized the glories of Navadvipa, yet they were unable to understand the appearance and activities of Lord Gaurasundara.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.283–84:
“In the Laghu-bhagavatamrta (Purva 391) it is stated: ‘Even today if one of His dear devotees intensely desires to see one of His particular pastimes, the merciful Lord immediately exhibits that pastime for him.’”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.285:
“In order to see any particular pastime, persons who desire deliverance from their mental concoctions may chant the appropriate mantra to see the Lord’s corresponding pastime. Sri Caitanyadeva manifest in different forms before different devotees.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.286:
“By displaying the pastimes of Vishnu's various incarnations, Mahaprabhu taught His devotees that He was the fountainhead of all incarnations. Those who realized this imparted it in turn to others.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.289:
“The devotees can accept the remnants of garlands, sandalwood pulp, and other items that are first offered to the Lord. While accepting the Lord’s remnants such as betel nuts, which are ingredients of His enjoyment, the service propensity of the living entity is enhanced. If while accepting such remnants of the Lord a living entity becomes happy, thinking, “The Lord has enjoyed these items,” then his happiness derived from material enjoyment is vanquished. If a conditioned soul under the pretext of service accepts those ingredients of enjoyment in order to fulfill his desire for material enjoyment, then he invites inauspiciousness.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 10.320:
“O Gauracandra, I offer my obeisances at the lotus feet of those Vaishnavas who attained the happiness of Your association and who have become glorious by engaging in Your service.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 11.96:
“In the Rg Veda it is stated: ananta-saktih paramo ananta-viryah so ’nantah.
‘He who possesses unlimited energies, who is the supreme controller of all controllers, and who possesses unlimited strength is known as Ananta.’”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 12.18:
“In the Brhad-yamala Lord Krishna speaks as follows:
balaramo mamaivamsah
nityananda iti khato
nyasi cudamanih ksitau
“Sri Balarama, who is My expansion, will also appear in Navadvipa as the crest jewel among the sannyasis and will be known as Sri Nityananda.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 12.39–40:
“After drinking on the order of Sri Gaurasundara the water that had washed the feet of Sri Nityananda, someone said, ‘The water from Nityananda’s feet is very tasty. After drinking this water its sweet taste does not vanish. Even after drinking this water the sweetness remains in the mouth for a long time.’”
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya, Chapter 13 summary:
“Without the mercy of a Vaishnava, even Krishna’s holy names, which are the best form of atonement, cannot nullify an offense committed against a Vaishnava. All the scriptures have warned everyone by boldly declaring this fact.”
“From that day on Mahaprabhu included Jagai and Madhai among His own associates, and He personally begged all the Vaishnavas to forgive their offenses and bestow mercy on them. After falling at the feet of all the devotees and receiving their blessings, Jagai and Madhai became free from all offenses. Their sinful reactions were then deposited with those who blaspheme the Vaishnavas. By the order of Mahaprabhu, all the devotees then began a huge kirtana, in which Mahaprabhu and the two brothers danced. At the end of the kirtana, everyone sat down, their bodies covered in dust, and Mahaprabhu declared that Jagai and Madhai were “maha-bhagavatas.” After ordering everyone to respect them as maha-bhagavatas, He warned that if anyone acted to the contrary or criticized the two they would be ruined as a result of that vaishnava-aparadha.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 13.7:
“Since Navadvipa was the residence of many classes of foreigners coming from beyond the Sindhu River, there was a great deal of discrimination amongst the residents of Navadvipa. That is why the exemplary preacher, Lord Gaurasundara, engaged two great personalities [Lord Nityananda and Haridasa Thakura] who were fully absorbed in devotional service to preach amongst the communities of persons belonging to both faiths. Realizing that people of the Aryan culture and the Yavana culture would not listen to each other, the qualification for chanting the name of Hari was given to both to make it known that both have an equal right to engage in devotional service.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 13.8:
“The Lord’s order is meant for everyone—those who are outside varnasrama, those who follow varnasrama, those who are beyond varnasrama, all living entities, all plants, the animate, and the inanimate. Individually and collectively, according to their ability, all should accept Mahaprabhu’s orders.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 13.21
“Inclination towards Krishna is the source of all good manners in this world. Persons who are decorated with good manners obtain transcendental happiness by engaging in the service of Krishna.”
From his commentary on Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 13.23:
“As a result of distorting the actual meaning of good counsel one obtains inauspiciousness.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From Writing Sessions in the Depths of Winter: A Literary Medley:
“Pioneering in Boston
“Prabhupāda sent me off to Boston, and I started a temple there around the time Mukunda started one in San Francisco. I could talk a little bit about starting Boston, I may have talked about it before, but … Boston didn’t exist in ISKCON, it was just 26 Second Avenue. But there was an event held in Boston called the ‘Be-In,’ in hippie language. A Be-In, and it was a successful Be-In, with hundreds and maybe thousands of young people gathering, and they just sat in and smoked and gathered. So it was in the newspapers, the “Boston Be-In” at the Franklin Park Zoo. That’s a big open zoo in Boston. So devotees from New York, who were a little numerous, went to the Boston Be-In, and they brought their instruments, and it was reported in the newspaper that they took over the Be-In, they were so dominant with their musical instruments and their singing, and ‘Wow! The Hare Kṛṣṇa movement is here!’ For the first time we appeared in a different city, Boston, and took over the show. So Prabhupāda heard and saw our excitement when we came back reporting how wonderful it was, and he said, ‘Oh, we should open a center there.’ So that was still around the time they were opening a center in San Francisco (Los Angeles was on the way, too). But I was picked because it seemed like a good place to open yet another center, where the Be-In had been held. But I was all by myself. They didn’t send anyone else with me. And I had my Navy duffel bag with me, it was my luggage. And straight from the USN I had carried my belongings and books and things in my duffel bag. And I went up, all by myself, to Boston with the same bag. I rented a room in central—let’s see, there’s Harvard Square, that’s at the end of the road, and then in the middle of Boston there’s Central Square, and that’s where I went. And I rented a furnished room—they’re famous, they’ve got some furniture in them, and a young person or an older person rents a room, usually not for a wealthy person but usually for a person who doesn’t have any big ties. But I went there and one day I found a place and I rented it. They looked me over and found that I was respectable enough to be given an apartment in Central Square. The first night there I was on my own, and I thought, “I should do something.” So, I took some Back to Godhead magazines and I went to an event, which was an indoor dance that was being held. And I was really shy. But I brought these magazines, and I circulated among the crowd. A little later, maybe not that night, but I used to hawk my wares, and say, ‘Back to Godhead magazine! Article by Allen Ginsberg, Swami Bhaktivedanta, twenty-five cents!’ And I’d go around and hawk. And I wouldn’t get much—twenty-five cents if I was lucky—for a kind of interesting-looking Back to Godhead magazine. We had already some illustrated covers and sometimes—who did we have there? —the Beach Boys were interviewed, and the famous illustrator, Rick Estrada producing art for one of my articles, and he was gained by a connection of a Hare Kṛṣṇa fellow who knew him and who himself was a story-writer and illustrator, Raymond Marais.”
“I wanted to go to Boston, but I had a city job in New York. So I went up in one day to the Boston office of welfare, and I told them I wanted to transfer and take a job in the Boston Department of Welfare. And the woman said to me, ‘Why?’
And I said, ‘I don’t like New York City. It’s a dirty place and a violent place, and I think I will like Boston better.’
She liked that, she took to me for liking Boston, and in one day she gave me a job. So right away I was a member of the Boston Department of Welfare. And I ran back to the Lower East Side in New York City and with much glee I told Prabhupāda, ‘I got the job! I got it in one day!’
And he was kind of dry, and he said, ‘By Kṛṣṇa’s grace.’ But he was pleased. So I got the job and moved at once. I had a paper in my record at Boston that recorded that I did not go on strike when all the welfare workers went on strike. They made a big strike and practically stopped the giving out of welfare in New York City. The people would come for getting money, but there were no welfare workers to go to their apartments and see how they were living. So they really locked them down. But I didn’t go on strike and that was noticed, and it was put into my record. So when I tried to transfer, that went in my favor. It was just me, I was a caseworker, and the supervisors who didn’t quit, they went to work because they had to pay family bills. And I became friends with them, I remember in particular a black man, he and I became closer, when I didn’t quit and he didn’t quit. So then I was a Boston welfare worker, and I moved to Boston.
“The next step was finding a place. So there were, I think, three of us looking, including a boy named Dan Clark, he was a moviemaker, avant-garde with a small camera, not a big one, 8mm. And they really were avant-garde, he would make a movie of an apple, or something like that. And he was a case worker in the welfare department, and he came to Boston with me. And I went to Boston, and Jadurani came to Boston too. She didn’t like the men in New York, the men workers, so much. They hampered her painting. So about three of us declared that we were moving, but we had no place. And then we went around and looked for a place, and Dan found a little storefront just like the one at 26 Second Avenue—small, not upper class. And we rented that one, not a good place. But we rented it and Prabhupada came there, made an official visit, and didn’t criticize it. I’ve written about it in Prabhupada-lilamrita, ‘A Visit to Boston,’ and how he made an examination of the oil burner in the basement, how he saw our facilities for bathing, which was that Jadurāṇī would use a bath made out of—what are those bricks called? —cinder bricks. And they were piled up, and only she could use that place at women’s hours, that was her bathtub, and we used it at other hours. And it was not a clean, nice place. We had an oil burner to keep the place warm. And I would go to work every day, and Jadurāṇī would stay back painting, and Dan would stay back, we made him the temple president. And then one day Dan came up to me in the temple and said, ‘I don’t think I want to stay here anymore. My wife is really upset that I’m not staying at home but I’m temple president in Boston, so I’m quitting.’ So I was left to be temple president. And then there was just me, Jadurāṇī, and Pradyumna, the famous ‘Panditji.’ He was averse to regular work. He liked to just learn Sanskrit and learn more Sanskrit, and he didn’t like chores. He was a kind of burden on the temple, so it was kind of below him to go to people’s homes and ask if they needed a refrigerator. So there were only about three of us, and then gradually four, five … Not long after Pradyumna came, Prabhupāda wanted him to get married, so he told him to get married to Arundhati, and she says (she told me that Prabhupada told her, ‘You should marry a sage.’ So she figured she did.) Arundhati—I meet her occasionally at New York gatherings.
“There was a competition for the salary I was getting from the welfare department, but that stopped because of Jadurani forceful yelling at Brahmananda that he had no business to take the money of Boston and use it for New York. Boston was not a branch of New York (although formerly New York money used to go to New York.) From now on Boston’s money would not go to New York. Brahmananda just accepted it; he was pretty tough. So then we had our own money, anyway. It wasn’t long before the Boston center was functioning as a temple; people would come by, and people would attend. And then we would go out to the Boston Commons, every Sunday, the park, for kirtana, and that became popular. But there was always a kind of hostility in the air in Boston between the devotees and the nondevotees, who were not nice people. Some people joined and lived with us in the storefront. After a while the storefront wasn’t enough, with a woman too, so I had earned enough at least to rent an apartment across the street from the storefront, and that could be used for men and women. Not so exciting I guess, as New York, but it was a happening place. As I say there was hostility. Once we were attacked by a Hells Angels group in the park. They came around us while we were singing, and one of them grabbed our karatalas and threw them around my neck, and another stopped us in another way and completely disrupted the kirtana, and so we stopped. And then they did things like break windows and yell at us from the street, a somewhat unfriendly place. But then we had the universities there and so we made friends with professors and had engagements in the classes, and they were friendly to us, seeing young people who were learning a little bit about the Vedic culture and want to be accepted by the professors. They were friendly to us. One was named Professor O’Connell, Joseph O’Connell (whom Anuradha has had some association with). So Harvard grad students would gather around us and befriend us. And also the wonderful O’Connell, who recently passed away. He was a very close friend to the Hare Krishnas. He bought the first three Bhagavatams before the devotees even knew what they were. So we had some friends and some enemies. The academic world was friendly.
About two years we stayed at the storefront and paid the rent, and then they wanted to raise the rent, and we couldn’t manage to do that. So we hustled to find a new place, and one of devotees was lucky and he found a big old mansion; it used to be used as a display place for coffins, a funeral parlor. And it was quite a step up for us, in a big hall for kirtana and Deity worship. Andy Day (Mathuresa dasa) joined not long after that, he was a student but more like a hippie. He lived in Boston, I don’t think he was going to the university. So Boston had its own place in the gallery of ISKCON temples. Prabhupada came five times to visit, gave lectures, initiated devotees—four or five times he made devotees. And that’s the first place where he made brahmanas—the Boston Brahmanas. I was one of them, and three or four other boys, including Pradyumna, and then in a revolutionary mood, two girls, Govinda dasi and Jadurani, managed to change Prabhupāda’s mind, and he agreed to award them brahmana initiation, but no thread. So, he made women brahmanas; now there are many women brahmanas. The first place he did it was Boston. Govinda dasi was his secretary, and she was part of the ‘women’s revolution’ to get initiated by Prabhupāda into brahmana initiation.
“I was in Boston at least two years, and I was there with ISKCON Press. We were together a little uneasy alliance, because the temple devotees wanted the Press devotees to attend all the programs and to be regular brahmanas. But the Press devotees would wear brown pants and shirt and not attend the programs, until Prabhupāda heard about it and he said, ‘If they don’t go to the programs, shut down the Press.’ There was a triple wedding, which was a first in ISKCON. Prabhupada thought that the girls looked too skinny, his disciples, they looked anemic, and he said it was because they weren’t married. So as a father he got them married, a girl named Rukmini, a girl named Jahnava, and I can’t remember the third girl offhand, but they got married to three devotee men, all in the temple. Rukmini was married to Bharadvaja at first, and then years later to Anuttama. She told me that I saved her life. I don’t know what she meant by that, but she meant that I was just a protective temple president and I gave her all shelter. So I said that, and Anuttama said, ‘You have saved her life, but you’ve saved my wife.’ Rukmini was an outstanding Boston devotee; so was Arundhati, Pradyumna’s wife, and Jahnava (married to that man who passed away, Nanda Kisora). That was a triple wedding, an outstanding thing to happen, we had wood spread out in three, Prabhupada himself performing the marriage. Just spectacular. It may have been performed since then, but up to then it had never been done. Boston story is not so spectacular as 26 Second Avenue, and the Boston story is connected with the New York temple, but its got its own notoriety. It was daunting, non-Hare Krishna devotees entering a city and go out into the street and do what devotees do. I feel I’m not giving you so much as I did when we were talking about 26 Second Avenue, or other things, but that’s Boston. Prabhupāda came there many times, though, it was surprising how many times, maybe four or five regular visits to the Boston temple, stayed in quarters we provided him, and gave lectures and initiations. He really paid attention to Boston.
“In Boston, I was a writer, so I wrote articles along with Jayadvaita Maharaja that got published in Back to Godhead magazine. We didn’t do art layouts, stuff like that, mostly we wrote articles and prominent in selling them on the streets, selling Back to Godhead magazine. I did a lot of that, went out with a stack of magazines and did hawking in the beginning, was just going up to people and trying to fast-talk them: ‘Back to Godhead magazine! Allen Ginsberg!’ To the degree that we had learned the philosophy and were loyal to Prabhupāda, we could sit down and tell people about it, show them the books, show them his pictures. The Second Canto ‘chapter books’ were produced in Boston by ISKCON Press and distributed on the street. They mostly consisted of chapters of the Bhāgavatam. We tried to get people interested in the Teachings of Lord Caitanya (TLC), printed by Dai Nippon in Japan. I typed TLC from beginning to end, with Gaurasundara dāsa and Govinda dasi doing the illustrations.
“I was pleased to remember my part in those early days over fifty years ago when I took part in the opening of the Boston temple.”
“I have been a disciple of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada for maybe almost sixty years. Sometimes I fail him. But I always bounce back and fall at his feet. It is a terrible thing that I sometimes do not have the highest love for him. It is a terrible thing. Actually, however, I never fall away from him. He always comes and catches me and brings me back to his loving arms.”
Tirtharaj Prabhu:
From a Facebook post:
[Although Christian preachers often claim that Jesus Christ is God Himself, many times Jesus referred to himself as the son of God and not God Himself.]
“Jesus said, ‘The Father is greater than I.’ (John 14:28) Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.’ (John 8:42–44) Jesus said: ‘Now this is eternal life; that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.’ (John 17:3) Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing’ is a prayer that Jesus said while being crucified. (Luke 23:34) Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ [(Luke 23:46)]”
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Sometimes we becomes despondent when sharing Krishna consciousness because there does not seem to be much interest. That is actually predicted by Krishna in Bhagavad-gita in this verse so we should not be surprised or feel so bad.
manusyanam sahasresu
yatatam api siddhanam
kascin mam vetti tattvatah
“Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.” (Bhagavad-gita 7.3)
