Diary of a Traveling Sadhaka, Vol. 21, No. 6
By Krishna Kripa Das
(Week 6: February 5–11, 2025)
Tallahassee and Alachua
(Sent from Tallahassee, Florida, on February 15, 2025)
Where I Went and What I Did
For the sixth week of 2025, I remained living at ISKCON Tallahassee and chanted three hours each day on Landis Green, behind the main Florida State University library. I was joined on Sunday by an aspiring devotee who learned three of my harmonium tunes at one sitting. During the week, I distributed four books along with fifty-five little cups of halava to promote our Krishna Lunch at the campus. I added four students to our mailing list. I describe some special interactions I had with some of the students and with the Sister Cindy, the famous Tik Tok preacher.
We had a three-hour kirtan in place of our usual Saturday program, and I would dance in the back, as that is the only opportunity I have to dance in Tallahassee the whole week as usually I am doing the arati or playing the instruments.
On Monday I went to Alachua to celebrate Nityananda Trayodasi.
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 a quote from Vrindavana Dasa Thakura’s Caitanya-bhagavata. 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. I share notes on a Bhagavatam class by Govinda Kaviraja Prabhu, our temple president here in Tallahassee.
Thanks to Ananga Mohan Prabhu for driving me to Alachua for the auspicious festival of Nityananda Trayodasi.
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: Flight from Brussels to New York City
May 8–June 15: NYC Harinam
mid June–mid August: Paris
– June 22: Paris Ratha-yatra
– July 4: Amsterdam harinama
– July 5: Amsterdam Ratha-yatra
Chanting Hare Krishna in Tallahassee
On Thursday a friendly young man bought a Gita, giving me twice the price I asked, signed up to hear of our weekly meetings, took a flyer for Krishna Lunch at FSU, and later came by and told me how much he liked the chili we served for lunch.
I chanted at First Friday at the Railroad Square Art Park. They have redesigned it so there are a lot of parking opportunities there now, which saves time for us on harinama.
My first interaction was with a security guard who liked the music and was happy to try the halava. Events go better when the security guards are favorable.
At least four groups of high school students were attracted by my one-man band, playing the portable harmonium and chanting the holy names. In two of the groups, all four sets of shakers I brought were played by the students, who often also moved their bodies with the music. In another group two girls played the shakers while standing on a wall and dancing and a friend of theirs took a video of it. One girl happily sang at least seven mantras with me as she played the shakers. When I told her about the FSU veggie Krishna Lunch, she said she was vegetarian. She was the most enthusiastic of all.
One FSU student commiserated with me about the rude Christian who criticized Krishna.
A couple of FSU students were happy to hear about the lunch program, and one tried the halava.
All together five people were brave enough to try the blueberry halava, and only one did not really like it so much.
I just spent one hour there as I chanted two hours at the campus in the afternoon, and it is stressful for me to do events all by myself because I am not so social by nature.
We decided to do a three-hour kirtan once a month for our Saturday program, and because Lord Nityananda’s appearance was coming up, we decided to do it the Saturday before. It was great to see several different devotees enthusiastic to chant the holy names.
I chanted for the first fifteen minutes, and then I explained the meaning of the verse beginning “iti sodasakam namnam” from the Kali-santarana Upanisad, in which Lord Brahma tells Narada Muni that if you look through all the Vedas you will not find a better religious practice for this fallen age of Kali than the chanting of the sixteen-word Hare Krishna mantra, which destroys all its anomalies.
Krishna chants Hare Krishna at ISKCON Tallahassee Saturday program (https://youtube.com/shorts/QGloWHc6gQc?feature=share):
Kirti Devi Dasi chants Hare Krishna there too (https://youtube.com/shorts/cTOv_ymJsMI?feature=share):
Govinda Kaviraja Prabhu chants Hare Krishna (https://youtu.be/6gVtHUbjwzw):
Here is a video of him in portrait orientation (https://youtu.be/TXl7WNufMqg):
Satyaraja Govinda Prabhu chants Hare Krishna (https://youtube.com/shorts/tJE9EF8WORA?feature=share):
One student was so happy to get the free dessert and Krishna Lunch invite she gave me a beautiful thank you card she had made from recycled materials.
I think she gave the card to me because she really appreciated that I realized she was an artist. She was dressed better than 90% of the students, so I asked her if she was majoring in art, and she laughed and said, “I wish I was majoring in art!” Then as a parting gesture she gave me that card.
One aspiring devotee equipped with a personal harmonium learned three of my two-part Hare Krishna melodies in five minutes each. One young woman played the shakers as her friend filmed her. Twelve people took halava. It was a good Sunday.
On Tuesday, seeing a crowd up ahead, a student asked, “What’s happening?”
I replied, “Sister Cindy, the famous Tiktok preacher, is here.”
He responded, “I think I'd rather listen to you.”
Then he sat down and listened to ten minutes of Hare Krishna kirtan.
Last year when Sister Cindy came to FSU I thought of a question to ask her, but I didn't want to take time from my harinama and Krishna Lunch promotion. This year I asked a student who liked the halava to ask her the question for me, “What is the goal of life and do we attain it?”
He liked the question and returned after at least 30 minutes with the answer, “To know God through a relationship with Jesus.” We might answer like that except replacing Jesus with one’s guru. Not satisfied with the Tattvavadi acarya’s answer to the same question which Lord Caitanya had asked him, Lord Caitanya gave His own answer: “According to the verdict of the sastras, the process of hearing and chanting is the best means to attain loving service to Krishna.” (Cc. Madhya 9.258)
When asking the question to Sister Cindy for me, the student had prefaced it by saying, “My Hare Krishna friend told me to ask you this question.” In the course of her answer, she told the student to invite his Hare Krishna friend to come. Thus I decided when the devotees came to take me back to the temple, I would give them the table, chair, and the sign, and I would stay on the campus to visit Cindy and her crowd of listeners with my harmonium, halava, and books. Jiva Goswami Prabhu from Venezuela, who cooks the Krishna Lunch here, decided to join me.
As we walked toward the green where Cindy was, we passed some Mormons who asked the students, “What brings you PEACE?”
I wrote on their chalkboard, “CHANTING HARE KRISHNA,” while Jiva wrote, “Surrendering to RADHA’s will.”
Cindy was asking how many students were virgins, and at most three out of sixty raised their hands. Someone asked her about President Trump, and I was surprised to see her enthusiasm for him, despite his possession of a number of the demoniac qualities listed in Bhagavad-gita.
I thought about what to ask her and decided on this question. “Three places in the Bible it is said, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. In different traditions God is known by different names. Do you think Jesus is happy if we chant these?”
She responded to that by saying, “No, only the name of Jesus Christ.”
I was not impressed. One of the references about being saved by calling on the name of the Lord is in the Old Testament, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered.” (Joel 2:32) That was before the appearance of Jesus Christ, and thus that cannot be the name that is being referred to. A Gainesville rabbi once told me that in the Jewish Kabbalah, God has 72 names. Later someone told me that “Hari” and “Rama” are two of these. The Muslims have 100 names of Allah, and in the Hindu tradition the “Vishnu Sahasra Nama” tells of 1000 names of Vishnu. Thus I am never impressed by those who claim to have the only true name of God. Even in Bhagavad-gita alone, Krishna is referred to by several names like Govinda, Madhava, and Madhusudana, to name a few.
After answering my question she gave me an autographed “Ho No Mo” button. Later on the Internet, I learned that “Ho No Mo” is an abbreviation for “hoe no more” where “hoe” is slang for prostitute. Among other things, she is campaigning against premarital sex, and thus that is her slogan. After accepting her button to make her happy, I offered her a free dessert. She declined to accept it but encouraged me to offer it to the crowd of students around her. I distributed all I had left!
Maia, my last customer, asked what the dessert was. When I replied, “halava,” she was excited. Her father ate Krishna Lunch as a UF student from 1987 to 1991, and she had halava several times, most recently when touring UF at age 15. Hopefully we will see her at Krishna Lunch at FSU!
Chanting Hare Krishna in Alachua
Godruma Prabhu chants Hare Krishna at Nityananda Trayodasi festival in Alachua (https://youtu.be/Cbfr6yyWK38):
Bhadra Prabhu chants Hare Krishna in the Gaura Arati kirtan at the Nityananda Trayodasi festival in Alachua (https://youtu.be/13MSR0XTOM0):
Twenty-seven minutes later, Bhadra Prabhu was still chanting Hare Krishna in that ecstatic Nityananda kirtan, occasionally letting another devotee lead for a mantra or two (https://youtu.be/X0vUbcBmJnI):
Photos
We invited this Indian student to the temple when we encountered his car at a red light. Jiva, who runs Krishna Lunch at FSU, gave him “On Chanting Hare Krishna.”
As of the end of this week, February 11, I chanted by myself 20 days out of 24 this spring semester in Tallahassee. That is not as relishable as chanting with others, but on the bright side, I do get all the blueberry halava I want!
Insights
Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.10.3, purport:
“The conception of one world state can only be fulfilled if we can follow the infallible authority. An imperfect human being cannot create an ideology acceptable to everyone. Only the perfect and infallible can create a program which is applicable at every place and can be followed by all in the world.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.4.18, purport:
“The politicians of the world may remain in their respective positions because the pure devotees of the Lord are not interested in political leadership or diplomatic implications. The devotees are interested only in seeing that the people in general are not misguided by political propaganda and in seeing that the valuable life of a human being is not spoiled in following a type of civilization which is ultimately doomed. If the politicians, therefore, would be guided by the good counsel of the devotees, then certainly there would be a great change in the world situation by the purifying propaganda of the devotees.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.21–22, purport:
“The brahmanas should always be worshiped, and under their guidance the ruler should discharge his duty and rule the citizens. Unfortunately, in this Age of Kali, the executive is not selected by very intelligent people, nor is he guided by qualified brahmanas. Consequently, chaos results. The mass of people should be educated in Krishna consciousness so that according to the democratic process they can select a first-class devotee like Bharata Maharaja to head the government. If the head of the state is guided by qualified brahmanas, everything is completely perfect.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 5.14, purport:
“The disease of the modern civilized man is his disbelief of everything in the revealed scriptures.”
From Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Madhya 4.93, purport:
“When the people are Krishna conscious, naturally the government will be so also.”
From a garden conversation in New Vrindaban on June 22, 1976:
“Everyone will be benefited. Simply you have to preach. You have to preach in the same way that where there is no necessity, there also the preaching will go on. You have to become like cloud. Therefore you sing every day, samsara-davanala-lidha-loka-tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam. Ghanaghanatvam means deep cloud. You have to become deep cloud and pour water. This blazing fire will be extinguished. When there is blazing fire in the forest, the small fire brigade or bucketful of water will not help. It requires cloud, ghanaghanatvam, to pour water—finished. You have to do like that. . . . One who can do this, he is guru.”
From a letter to Sukadeva on December 13, 1972:
“Enter into the universities and colleges wherever possible and preach there with a view to recruiting some first-class devotees for helping me manage and push on this movement all over the world. Overall there is shortage of first-class, experienced men to manage things just to the highest standard, as you are doing. Therefore I am calling upon you the big leaders to push this idea forward, namely, to attract some educated men to join us.”
From Science of Self-Realization, Chapter 1:
“At present, human society is being misled by leaders who are blind, for they do not know the aim and objective of human life, which is self-realization and the reestablishment of our lost relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the missing point.”
From a morning walk in Mauritius on November 5, 1975:
“Actually, the Supreme Lord is the source of everything. So if one is actually scientist, by his scientific explanation he will point out, ‘Here is the cause of all causes.’ By scientific knowledge he will point out that God is the origin of everything. Then his scientific study is perfect.”
From a morning walk in Los Angeles on May 3, 1973:
“The whole world is running on a false theory that life is born out of matter. But that is not a fact. So how to defeat this theory? That is our business. We have to defeat this rascal theory. We have to challenge all these rascals and defeat them. How it is possible? By logic, by science. . . . We have to make program. Because this is most misleading. The whole human society is affected by this misleading theory. We have to make program, go from place to place and invite all big men, all scientists. That program we have to make. We cannot allow this nonsense theory to go on.”
From a conversation with Raymond Lopez, Wally Strobes, and Bob Bourne in Melbourne on May 22, 1975:
“You are putting this theory, that life has come from chemical[s]. So science means observation and experiment. Now experimentally prove that the chemicals have produced a life.”
From a letter to Svarupa Damodara on December 17, 1975:
“So try to prove that chemical combination can never bring about life, this is our main argument. If we can prove this particular subject matter, that the soul cannot be manufactured by combination of chemicals, then gradually we can prove that vedic knowledge is perfect, while other sources of knowledge by speculation and imagination are all wrong.”
From a morning walk in Johannesburg on October 20, 1975:
“Experimental science is condemned. . . . You are imperfect. What is the value of your experiment? Therefore it is rejected. Whatever you’ll do, that is imperfect. First of all you become perfect; then you make experiment. But you . . . remain imperfect, and you [are] making experiment, what is the value of it? ”
From a letter to Svarupa Damodara on December 17, 1975
“Why should we blindly accept imperfect scientists, they are imperfect because they are changing their position in the name of progress. The word progress is used when there is imperfection at the beginning. So this regular changing of standard knowledge in the name of progress proves that they are always imperfect. It is a fact that they are imperfect, because they gather knowledge with imperfect senses.”
From a letter to Dr. W. H. Wolf-Rottkay on February 7, 1977:
“More and more in the future Svarupa Damodara and others like him will be working to force the educated public to accept that there is God. Whatever cooperation you can give in this connection will help your own spiritual life and will give the greatest benefit to others.”
From a class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.19 in Los Angeles on June 15, 1972:
“The only opportunity of becoming happy is that you preach this Krishna consciousness movement among the people, so if the people become educated in Krishna consciousness, and if they decide that ‘we shall vote for a Krishna conscious leader,” then there will be happiness.”
The humble servants of Srila Prabhupada:
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.87.21:
“My Lord, some fortunate souls have gotten relief from the fatigue of material life by diving into the vast nectar ocean of Your pastimes, which You enact when You manifest Your personal forms to make known the unfathomable science of the self. These rare souls, indifferent even to liberation, renounce the happiness of home and family because of association with devotees who are like flocks of swans enjoying at the lotus of Your feet.”
From Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.22.10:
[Krishna speaking to Uddhava] “Because a person who has been covered by ignorance since time immemorial is not capable of effecting his own self-realization, there must be some other personality who is in factual knowledge of the Absolute Truth and can impart this knowledge to him.”
Sanatana Goswami:
From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.3.27, commentary:
“One would normally think that to attain liberation one must reject material nature; but in fact one achieves liberation when material nature chooses to release one.”
From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.3.28, commentary:
“Pure Vaishnavas do not care for liberation, but still they respect Prakriti for other reasons. She is Lord Vishnu’s humble servant and sister, born as Subhadra from the womb of Yasoda, and she helps Lord Vishnu’s devotees make progress in devotional service. Although Maya is not identical with Lord Vishnu’s internal energy (antaranga-shakti), she is the expansion of that energy, embodied in the external elements.”
From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.3.41, commentary:
“The Supreme Personality of Godhead always invites His part-and-parcel jivas to share loving reciprocations with Him, even in the abode of liberation. He kindly considers the liberated souls who surround Him there His bhaktas, but actually they are hardly interested in personal service. The only bhakti they offer the Lord is to decorate Him as particles of His effulgence.”
From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.3.50, commentary:
“Lord Shiva’s garland of bones was in fact auspicious and beautiful because it was made from the bones of departed Vaishnavas.”
From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.3.158–159:
“Of the many ways to chant Krishna’s glories, foremost is His nama-sankirtana. It is deemed the best because it can evoke at once the treasure of pure love for Krishna. When relished with love in countless ways through service rendered constantly by the tongue, the nectar of Sri Krishna’s name delights the heart. Who can describe the unequaled excellence of that nectar of Sri Krishna’s holy name?”
From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.3.165, commentary:
“Nama-sankirtana so quickly and infallibly leads to prema that the two are considered virtually identical. Wherever prema is seen to have developed, one can presume that nama-sankirtana must have been performed. Nama-sankirtana is the necessary and sufficient cause of prema.”
From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.4.188, commentary:
“Since Sri Krishnadeva is the boundless ocean of all superexcellent glories, why doesn’t every devotee serve Him and Him alone to obtain the highest possible happiness? The answer is that every Vaishnava, no matter what form of Vishnu he worships, achieves a special individual happiness, suited exactly to his own attitude, and this completely fulfills his heart’s desires. All the Supreme Lord’s pure servants know such perfect satisfaction, so they all attain the ultimate limit of happiness available in their own rasas.”
From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.4.207–209, commentary:
“If persons doing devotional service to Me happen to fail to execute some of their karmic duties, thirty million exalted sages carry out those obligations on their behalf.” (Padma Purana)
From Brhad-bhagavatamrita 2.4.210:
“One can reach perfection by honoring even a blade of grass—provided one sees within it the presence of the Supreme Lord—or by just once uttering or hearing even a faint semblance of the Lord’s name.”
Vrindavana Dasa Thakura:
From Caitanya-bhagavata, Madhya 13.58:
[Lord Nityananda, observing the condition of the two drunken brothers, said:] “Now they are fully intoxicated and do not know themselves. If only they could become intoxicated like this under the influence of Krishna’s names.”
Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami:
From Writing Sessions in the Depths of Winter: A Literary Medley:
“The children of the Krishnas are growing up. No one is writing to me anymore. But I have new friends.”
“Let me be with my friends and not be bitter about those who have scorned me, and those who I did not treat well.”
“Humility is one of the gems of a devotee’s life. Being humble can make up for one’s faultiness and pride. Krishna is very pleased when one of His devotees is truly humble. A truly humble bhakta or bhaktin gains great credit in the eyes of the Lord. I wish I were humble! Then I could make up for my pride and my blunders and mistakes in performing so-called Krishna consciousness.”
“Double It!
“Prabhupada wanted us to be active. On his order we went into the streets, and we chanted the Hare Krishna mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. It didn’t take us long to print and produce our own magazine, Back to Godhead. This was a great tool for preaching. Devotees took it into the streets, approached people and made a short pitch for buying a copy of Back to Godhead. They were attractive magazines, and they sold easily.
“Prabhupada asked that each issue have one of his lectures featured, and also he asked that his own students write for the magazine, sticking straight to parampara philosophy, which was what Prabhupada was speaking in his lectures, and what he said in his printed magazine articles and books. Back to Godhead was the first tool for preaching, and devotees were given credit by how many magazines they sold. We were limited in how many copies we could print by our crude equipment.
“How joyful it was to circulate the crowds and streets distributing BTG. Those who did the most were able to boast. Prabhupada encouraged those who could distribute many magazines, and he wished them to do many and more. Some of the devotees even devised a saying, ‘Double it.’ They meant take the quota your spiritual master may give you and ‘double it.’ He wanted more. Double it! Do more!
“He recognized those who did the most. In other words, he encouraged competition. Krishna conscious activities were not above competition. He liked competition among devotees, and would even publicly point out who had done more than others. Double it! His devotees took up the cry.
“Many magazine sellers could not meet the call of ‘Double it!’ They became tired, or they got headaches just by pushing themselves too much to meet what they thought was Prabhupada’s standard.”
“Dear Swamiji,
“I will remember and treasure one of the high points that occurred between you and I early in our relationship. You saw that I was a good prospect, but that I also had some misgivings toward you. I was certainly displaying utsaha, eagerness to serve you. I did this by typing your manuscripts and giving money from my welfare job. But the high point I’m thinking of was your acknowledgement of my favorable acts. One time, after I had accumulated a great deal of typing, I brought it to you. (It happened to me the day after Janmastami in 1966, and I missed the first initiation.) Prabhupada, you said nothing to criticize my missing initiation. You just took all the typing and gave me a few grapes in return. Then you said some words to me that I will always treasure. You said, ‘This typing is not automatic. If you love me, then I will love you.’ When you said this, you broke through all my remaining misgivings toward you. I automatically loved you in a natural, spontaneous way. We now became close companions, although you were the guru and I was just your servitor. I was so happy at your words I exploded in glee. You gave me some more typing, and then I went downstairs overcome with happiness. I went to the basement and picked up my huge double-bass from my jazz days. I began to strum it and sing Hare Krishna with a happy beat.”
“I don’t ever want to forget those stellar moments with Prabhupada, and so I press them either on the letters or verbal exchanges, or sheer touching memories.”
“In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna declares that even if one commits ‘an abominable act,’ if he surrenders to Krishna and stays fixed in acts of devotional service, the Lord will forgive him and purify his soul. If a person doesn’t forgive a sincere, repenting devotee, then he is making a great mistake and Krishna is not pleased with him.”
Govinda Kaviraja Prabhu:
When my wife was pregnant she would listen to the kirtan tapes of Aindra Prabhu all the time. After our son was born and grew to be a child, the boy’s grandmother gave the boy a tape player, and he would play the three Aindra kirtan tapes we had all the time. Now as an adult in his twenties he is really into kirtan.
The samskaras help us to put our consciousness in state so we can progress.
When we are covered we cannot understand it until someone else points it out and then we can realize it.
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Srila Prabhupada gives special attention to this verse which stresses the power of hearing from realized souls. In the previous verse, Krishna describes three kinds of people who attain the perfection of seeing the Lord within themselves, those who perform the yogas of meditation, knowledge, and action. Here He describes how the bhakti-yogi attains perfection.
anye tv evam ajanantah
srutvanyebhya upasate
te ’pi catitaranty eva
mṛtyum sruti-parayanah
“Again there are those who, although not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin to worship the Supreme Person upon hearing about Him from others. Because of their tendency to hear from authorities, they also transcend the path of birth and death.” (Bhagavad-gita 13.26)
Srila Prabhupada comments, “This hearing process is very important. Lord Caitanya, who preached Krishna consciousness in the modern world, gave great stress to hearing because if the common man simply hears from authoritative sources he can progress, especially, according to Lord Caitanya, if he hears the transcendental vibration Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.” (Bhagavad-gita 13.26, purport)
On harinama-sankirtana we give people the chance to hear the Hare Krishna and purify their consciousness. Thus they will make more spiritually advantageous choices spontaneously and gradually advance in Krishna consciousness.
