Hare Krsna,

Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada!

January was a good month for Tirupati — the No. 1 temple in the world, with 17,746 book points. Lord Balaji must be very pleased with the sankirtana devotees in Tirupati, because His glories are being distributed in such a big way.

Surat also did huge. This is a “small” temple, so there are about eight devotees in the temple, but Surat was the No. 3 temple in the world, with 10,728 book points.

I’m in Mayapur at the ILS (ISKCON Leadership Sanga). Twelve hundred devotees have come to hear about how to improve their various services. Recently, Vaisesika Prabhu gave a seminar on book distribution and said many wonderful things. What caught everyone’s attention was his saying, “If you have a Bhagavad-gita and a Srimad Bhagavatam, then you are the wealthiest person in the world.” There was a lot of applause after that.

Similarly, Lord Caitanya said, “If one does not have love for Krsna, then one is considered to be poverty stricken.” We want to give this great wealth to others. This is the highest welfare activity in the world.

Your servant, Vijaya Dasa

         WORLD           WORLD     SANKIR       NEWS      LETTER
          WWW             WWW    SSS     TAN     NEWS       NEW
           WWW           WWW    SSS       SSS    NEWSLE     NEW
            WWW   WWW   WWW       SSSSS          NEW NEWS   NEW
             WWW WORLD WWW           SANKIR      NEW   NEWS NEW
              WORLD WORLD      SSS        TAN    NEW     LETTER
               WWW   WWW        SAN      SSS     NEW      NEWSL
                WW   WW            KIRTAN       NEWSL      ETTER

         *********************************************************
           W O R L D    S A N K I R T A N    N E W S L E T T E R
         *********************************************************
                                January 2016             2/26/2016


              For the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada this page
       contains the following results for the month of January 2016.

            World Totals                                 Page 2
            Monthly Congregation and Weekend Warriors    Page 2
            Monthly Continents                           Page 3
            Monthly Top Ten Temples by Size              Page 3
            Monthly Top Ten Temples by Continent         Page 4
            Monthly Top Teams and Individuals            Page 5
            Monthly All Countries                        Page 6
            Monthly All Temples                          Page 7
            Monthly All Prabhupada Disciples             Page 8




**** Page 2 ****


     * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     *              -- OFFERING TO SRILA PRABHUPADA --               *
     *                                                               *
     *    During the month of January 2016, 111 temples reported     *
     *    distributing the following number of books:                *
     *                                                               *
     *                    59,495 Maha-big books                      *
     *                    19,631 Big books                           *
     *                    29,709 Medium books                        *
     *                   105,764 Small books                         *
     *                    26,644 Magazines                           *
     *                     1,395 BTG subscriptions                   *
     *                       245 Full sets                           *
     *                                                               *
     *                   249,613 literatures for the month           *
     *                   249,613 literatures year-to-date            *
     *               522,255,960 literatures worldwide since 1965    *
     *                                                               *
     *                All glories to Srila Prabhupada!               *
     * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



                         WORLDWIDE BOOK DISTRIBUTION
                        Total Literatures Distributed
 Books (Millions)
16.........................................................................

14X........................................................................
  X     x
12X.....X..................................................................
  X     X
10X.....X.x.x.................x............................................
      x X X X             x X X _ x                                     _ x
8XX...X.X.X.X...........X.X.X.X.X.X..................................._.X.X
 XXX  x X X X X         x X X X X X X                             x X X X X
6XXX..X.X.X.X.X.X.......X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.......................x.X.X.X.X.X.X
 XXXX X X X X X X     X X X X X X X X X                   x x X X X X X X X
4XXXX.X.X.X.X.X.X.....X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X...........x.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X
 XXXX X X X X X X     X X X X X X X X X X _       x X X X X X X X X X X X X
2XXXX.X.X.X.X.X.X.x.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X
 XXXX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
0XXXX_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X

80  82  84  86  88  90  92  94  96  98  00  02  04  06  08  10  12 14 15




                         World Sankirtan Newsletter
                          CONGREGATIONAL PREACHING
                                January 2016

    Congregation and                   %   M-Big   Big  Medium  Small  BTGs
    Weekend Warriors         Points Change Books  Books  Books  Books  Mags
    _______________________________________________________________________

  1 WW Team ISV Week Sil USA  211.25   na     94      0      0     93     0
  2 WW Toronto WW    Tor Can  203.50   na     55     11    120     90     0
  3 WW Dallas        Dal USA  166.00   na     55     22     27     82     0
  4 London Sastra Da Lon Eng   99.00   na      1      6    115    134     0
  5 WW Texarkana WW  Tex USA    3.50   na      1      0      0      6     0
  6 WW Arkadelphia W Ark USA    3.25   na      1      0      1      3     0
                                    (%)Change compared        (*)New record
                                    to monthly average        for this year



**** Page 3 ****

                         World Sankirtan Newsletter
                             MONTHLY CONTINENTS
                                January 2016

                                % of  M-Big   Big  Medium  Small  BTGs Full
  Continent (temples)   Points  World Books  Books  Books  Books  Mags Sets
  _________________________________________________________________________

1 Asia (17)            80244.20  43%  28153   3719   3435  52588 27137  198
2 North America (21)   41308.20  22%  12925   7180   7058  17156  4382   37
3 CIS (23)             23393.50  13%   8562   2345   3550   8598     0    0
4 Europe (31)          22497.75  12%   6395   1988  10554   8509  3155    4
5 Latin America (14)   12454.10   7%    898   4248   4405  16822    21    0
6 Australasia (4)       6105.15   3%   2556    121    702   1957   319    6
7 Africa (1)              78.00   0%      6     30      5    134     0    0



                         World Sankirtan Newsletter
                          TOP TEN TEMPLES BY SIZE
                                January 2016

                                       %   M-Big   Big  Medium  Small  BTGs
                             Points Change Books  Books  Books  Books  Mags
    _______________________________________________________________________

      TOP TEN LARGE TEMPLES (41+ devotees)

  1 Tirupati           Ind 17746.05   na    5794    752    598  12293  9261
  2 Los Angeles        USA 14613.00   na    4360   2518   1968   9174   975
  3 Moscow             Rus  8845.25   na    3673    775    719   1459     0
  4 Pune               Ind  4962.15   na    2167     98     75   1507   418
  5 St. Petersburg     Rus  3507.00   na     926    578    572   3164     0
  6 Bhaktivedanta Mano Eng  3349.50   na    1284     41   1428    106     0
  7 Kiev               Ukr  2576.50   na    1231     22    133    104     0
  8 Budapest           Hun  2376.05   na     491    426     34   3231  1433
  9 New Vrajadham-Hung Hun  2238.90   na     526    535    283   1574  1169
 10 New Govardhana     Aus  1031.50   na     306     40    273    898   185

      TOP TEN MEDIUM TEMPLES (21-40 devotees)

  1 New Delhi(Punj.Bag Ind 10424.95   na    2073      0      0  20191  7676
  2 Salem              Ind  7410.00   na    3302    460      0    554   726
  3 Mexico City        Mex  5345.50   na     267   2700   1600   5246     0
  4 Ujjain             Ind  4749.75   na    1200   1352   1423   1145     0
  5 Sydney-North       Aus  3933.80   na    1789     26    223    862    28
  6 Gainesville        USA  3598.50   na    1150    655    678   1218     0
  7 London-Soho        Eng  2632.25   na     620     45   2251    887     0
  8 Denver             USA  2256.20   na     719    282    560   1016    22
  9 Ahmedabad          Ind  1670.25   na     636      0    187    519   420
 10 Minsk              Bel  1036.00   na     318    122    215    682     0

      TOP TEN SMALL TEMPLES (6-20 devotees)

  1 Surat              Ind 10728.75   na    4691     86     20   1203  2280
  2 RupanugaVedicColle USA  9013.70   na    3203   2116    137    524  2922
  3 Madurai            Ind  7573.70   na    2820      8      6   6162  3822
  4 Shanghai           Chi  4257.00   na    1603    150      0   3604     0
  5 Sankirtan Dham TST Ita  3842.50   na    1369      0   2209      0     0
  6 Rajahmundry        Ind  3555.25   na    1089    611    878   1309     0
  7 Tirunelveli        Ind  3237.70   na    1186      4      0   2544  2257
  8 Cueramaro          Mex  2642.50   na     283    390   1110   4526     0
  9 Curitiba           Bra  1938.00   na     274    735    620   1380     0
 10 Swansea            Wal  1887.00   na     808     24    494      0     0

      TOP TEN MAHA-SMALL TEMPLES (1-5 devotees)

  1 TBB TSKP           USA  4196.00   na    1058    730   2228    942     5
  2 Kishinev           Ukr  2482.50   na    1059    159    261    300     0
  3 Sofia              Bul   769.75   na     283     12    272    223     0
  4 Recife             Bra   460.00   na       0      0     11   1818     0
  5 Zagreb             Cro   417.50   na      51     37     16   1082     0
  6 Hartford           USA   226.55   na      72     32     20    143    48
  7 Gurabo (PR)        Pue   147.00   na       0     38    108    220     0
  8 Spain BBT          Spa   140.50   na      20      0    201      0     0
  9 Baltimore          USA   101.25   na      37      0      4    101     0
 10 Brahmapur          Ind    91.00   na      24     11      3    122     0


**** Page 4 ****

                         World Sankirtan Newsletter
                        TOP TEN TEMPLES BY CONTINENT
                                January 2016

                                      %    M-Big   Big  Medium  Small  BTGs
                             Points Change Books  Books  Books  Books  Mags
                            _______________________________________________


      TOP TEN TEMPLES - ASIA

  1 Tirupati           Ind 17746.05   na    5794    752    598  12293  9261
  2 Surat              Ind 10728.75   na    4691     86     20   1203  2280
  3 New Delhi(Punj.Bag Ind 10424.95   na    2073      0      0  20191  7676
  4 Madurai            Ind  7573.70   na    2820      8      6   6162  3822
  5 Salem              Ind  7410.00   na    3302    460      0    554   726
  6 Pune               Ind  4962.15   na    2167     98     75   1507   418
  7 Ujjain             Ind  4749.75   na    1200   1352   1423   1145     0
  8 Shanghai           Chi  4257.00   na    1603    150      0   3604     0
  9 Rajahmundry        Ind  3555.25   na    1089    611    878   1309     0
 10 Tirunelveli        Ind  3237.70   na    1186      4      0   2544  2257

      TOP TEN TEMPLES - NORTH AMERICA

  1 Los Angeles        USA 14613.00   na    4360   2518   1968   9174   975
  2 RupanugaVedicColle USA  9013.70   na    3203   2116    137    524  2922
  3 TBB TSKP           USA  4196.00   na    1058    730   2228    942     5
  4 Gainesville        USA  3598.50   na    1150    655    678   1218     0
  5 Denver             USA  2256.20   na     719    282    560   1016    22
  6 New York Harinam   USA  1434.25   na     339    423    166   1001     0
  7 New Talavan        USA  1355.50   na     530     13    499    132     0
  8 Laguna Beach       USA  1253.40   na     537     81     79    170   164
  9 Toronto            Can   710.95   na     252     76    171    131    39
 10 Dallas             USA   645.25   na     234     91     27    281    25

      TOP TEN TEMPLES - CIS

  1 Moscow             Rus  8845.25   na    3673    775    719   1459     0
  2 St. Petersburg     Rus  3507.00   na     926    578    572   3164     0
  3 Kiev               Ukr  2576.50   na    1231     22    133    104     0
  4 Kishinev           Ukr  2482.50   na    1059    159    261    300     0
  5 Nizhny Novgorod    Rus  1200.00   na     388    268    236    152     0
  6 Minsk              Bel  1036.00   na     318    122    215    682     0
  7 Ivanovo            Rus   942.50   na     277    178    169    504     0
  8 Kherson            Ukr   643.75   na      75    191    397    417     0
  9 Kirov              Rus   551.25   na     124      2    300    605     0
 10 Perm               Rus   475.00   na     166      6    116    316     0

      TOP TEN TEMPLES - EUROPE

  1 Sankirtan Dham TST Ita  3842.50   na    1369      0   2209      0     0
  2 Bhaktivedanta Mano Eng  3349.50   na    1284     41   1428    106     0
  3 London-Soho        Eng  2632.25   na     620     45   2251    887     0
  4 Budapest           Hun  2376.05   na     491    426     34   3231  1433
  5 New Vrajadham-Hung Hun  2238.90   na     526    535    283   1574  1169
  6 Swansea            Wal  1887.00   na     808     24    494      0     0
  7 Milan              Ita   951.00   na     147      0   1314      0     0
  8 Sofia              Bul   769.75   na     283     12    272    223     0
  9 Simhachalam (NJNK) Ger   645.60   na     249     66    163      0     1
 10 Prague             Cze   447.25   na      82    208      1    299     0

      TOP TEN TEMPLES - LATIN AMERICA

  1 Mexico City        Mex  5345.50   na     267   2700   1600   5246     0
  2 Cueramaro          Mex  2642.50   na     283    390   1110   4526     0
  3 Curitiba           Bra  1938.00   na     274    735    620   1380     0
  4 Aguas Callentes    Mex   813.50   na      50    195    816    442     0
  5 Buenos Aires       Arg   520.75   na       0     35      0   1943     0
  6 Recife             Bra   460.00   na       0      0     11   1818     0
  7 Santiago           Chi   313.75   na      14      2     98    939     0
  8 Manaus             Bra   186.00   na      10    121     40    100     0
  9 Gurabo (PR)        Pue   147.00   na       0     38    108    220     0
 10 Pouso Alegre       Bra    44.60   na       0     15      0    110    21

      TOP TEN TEMPLES - AUSTRALASIA

  1 Sydney-North       Aus  3933.80   na    1789     26    223    862    28
  2 New Govardhana     Aus  1031.50   na     306     40    273    898   185
  3 Melbourne          Aus   924.50   na     416     54     19    116     0
  4 Perth              Aus   215.35   na      45      1    187     81   106

      TOP TEN TEMPLES - AFRICA

  1 Blantyre           Mal    78.00   na       6     30      5    134     0


**** Page 5 ****




                         World Sankirtan Newsletter
                           TEAM BOOK DISTRIBUTION
                                January 2016

                                       %   M-Big   Big  Medium  Small  BTGs
    Individuals              Points Change Books  Books  Books  Books  Mags
    _______________________________________________________________________

                                    (%)Change compared        (*)New record
                                    to monthly average        for this year




                         World Sankirtan Newsletter
                             TOP 50 INDIVIDUALS
                                January 2016

                                       %   M-Big   Big  Medium  Small  BTGs
    Individuals              Points Change Books  Books  Books  Books  Mags
    _______________________________________________________________________

  1 Keshav Murari d  New Ind 5350.00   na   1800      0      0   7000     0
  2 Narayan Pandit d Sha Chi 4043.00   na   1519    118      0   3548     0
  3 Bk Jay Khush     LA  USA 3101.90   na    934    297    243   3214   119
  4 Nava Gauravara d Tir Ind 2833.25   na   1087    192    100   1665    10
  5 Tirtha Krishna d Tir Ind 2731.75   na    989    179    155   1931   126
  6 Pavitra Hari d   New Ind 2700.00   na      0      0      0  10800     0
  7 Ananda Kirtan d  LA  USA 2572.65   na    863    165     76   2531   109
  8 Krishna Bhagavan RVC USA 2523.30   na    906    553      3    152  1188
  9 Paramesvara d    RVC USA 2305.80   na    747    626      0    130  1533
 10 Kaunteya Sakha d Tir Ind 2170.75   na    775    112    100   1835     0
 11 Nandanandana Gov Tir Ind 2067.85   na    817    102     79   1097   162
 12 Nitya Mukta d    Tir Ind 2004.50   na    931     17      6    386    70
 13 Visnu d          Kie Ukr 2000.00   na   1000      0      0      0     0
 14 Gaur Lila d      Pun Ind 1963.00   na    978      7      0      0     0
 15 Gaur Sundar d    LA  USA 1844.95   na    858     85     68     37     7
 16 Bk Storm         LA  USA 1769.75   na    545    182    440   1089    55
 17 Nilacala Narayan Tir Ind 1423.30   na      0      0      0      0  3840
 18 Prema Sankirtan  LA  USA 1396.00   na    403    137     22   1768     0
 19 Deva Krsna d     RVC USA 1322.75   na    586    120      0    123     0
 20 Mohanasini dd    New USA 1315.50   na    530     13    419    132     0
 21 Nityadham d      New Ind 1231.20   na      0      0      0      0  7676
 22 Subal Sakha d    St. Rus 1136.50   na    288    209    138   1130     0
 23 Bk Carlos        Gai USA 1106.50   na    416    175      0    398     0
 24 Anupam Krishna d Mos Rus  976.50   na    477      3      0     78     0
 25 Dasya Prema d    RVC USA  968.35   na    353    195     92      7   196
 26 Bk Carlos        TBB USA  919.75   na    169    159    653    385     0
 27 Brajananda d     RVC USA  901.00   na    302    297      0      0     0
 28 Dharmaraja d     RVC USA  900.75   na    294    290      0     91     0
 29 Laxmipati Gaura  Tir Ind  838.00   na    419      0      0      0     0
 30 Madhukari d      TBB USA  837.25   na    397      3     42     77     0
 31 Kalki d(2 Kimani Gai USA  836.00   na    255    249    105     98     0
 32 Girish Naik d    Pun Ind  814.00   na    407      0      0      0     0
 33 Sakatari d       Iva Rus  808.75   na    270    135     90    355     0
 34 Advaita Simha d  Ujj Ind  804.00   na    330     89     50    120     0
 35 Hansa d          Syd Aus  786.75   na    359      0      5    265     0
 36 Madhava Puri d   TBB USA  782.75   na    174    151    496    143     0
 37 Bhava Vibhushana Syd Aus  758.75   na    347      0     48    163     0
 38 Sacitanoy d      LA  USA  751.50   na    175    329      0    290     0
 39 Nidra dd         Den USA  741.00   na    224     70    295    302     0
 40 Gadadhara Prana  Cat Ita  727.00   na    267      0    386      0     0
 41 Nitai Lila d     Cat Ita  727.00   na    252      0    446      0     0
 42 Gauranga Prema d LA  USA  722.00   na     58    228    570    372     0
 43 Vrajasundara d   Cat Ita  721.50   na    277      0    335      0     0
 44 Bn Karly         Gai USA  691.00   na    117     99    473    486     0
 45 Visnunama d      Ahm Ind  687.00   na    235      0    127    414   120
 46 Bk Garaev        Mos Rus  669.50   na    334      1      1      0     0
 47 Bk Siddhartha    Tir Ind  663.65   na     56      9     30   1307  1876
 48 Gopal Raya d     Swa Wal  657.50   na    323      1     21      0     0
 49 Rupa Raghunatha  New Aus  643.00   na    216     25    110    450   185
 50 Krsna Rupa d     Cat Ita  624.50   na    234      0    313      0     0
                                    (%)Change compared        (*)New record
                                    to monthly average        for this year


**** Page 6 ****



                           World Sankirtan Newsletter
                                 ALL COUNTRIES
                                  January 2016

                                     %    M-Big   Big  Medium  Small   BTGs
   Country (Temples)        Points Change Books  Books  Books  Books   Mags
   ________________________________________________________________________

 1 India (16)             75987.20  -66%  26550   3569   3435  48984  27137
 2 United States (19)     40467.00  +14%  12646   7088   6829  16960   4325
 3 Russia, CIS (10)       15991.50  -26%   5741   1822   2119   6512      0
 4 Mexico (3)              8801.50  +89%    600   3285   3526  10214      0
 5 United Kingdom (3)      7868.75  +77%   2712    110   4173    993      0
 6 Ukraine, CIS (12)       6366.00  +19%   2503    401   1216   1404      0
 7 Australia (4)           6105.15 +136%   2556    121    702   1957    319
 8 Italy (6)               5730.80  -10%   1614      0   5003      0     13
 9 Hungary (2)             4614.95  +54%   1017    961    317   4805   2602
10 China                   4257.00   na    1603    150      0   3604      0
11 Brazil (5)              2648.85  -50%    284    871    671   3489     21
12 Belarus, CIS            1036.00   na     318    122    215    682      0
13 GermanyAustria (7)      1002.10  -70%    326    155    390      0      1
14 Canada (2)               841.20  -60%    279     92    229    196     57
15 Bulgaria                 769.75  +11%    283     12    272    223      0
16 Argentina                520.75  -88%      0     35      0   1943      0
17 Czech Republic           447.25  -82%     82    208      1    299      0
18 Switzerland              425.75 +230%    111    107    135    117      0
19 Croatia                  417.50   na      51     37     16   1082      0
20 Portugal                 377.25   na      30    284      0    133      0
21 Chile                    313.75   na      14      2     98    939      0
22 Lithuania (2)            310.75   -5%     83     62     15    301      0
23 Sweden (3)               170.75   na       9     15     31    489      0
24 Norway                   151.40   na      46      5      0      2    539
25 Puerto Rico              147.00   na       0     38    108    220      0
26 Spain                    140.50  -56%     20      0    201      0      0
27 Malawi                    78.00  +25%      6     30      5    134      0
28 Romania                   70.25   na      11     32      0     65      0
29 Suriname (2)              13.00   na       0     12      0      4      0
30 Dominican Republic         9.25   na       0      5      2     13      0
                                   (%)Change compared
                                     to Jan last year


**** Page 7 ****



                         World Sankirtan Newsletter
                                ALL TEMPLES
                                January 2016

                                      %    M-Big   Big  Medium  Small  BTGs
    Temples (size)           Points Change Books  Books  Books  Books  Mags
    _______________________________________________________________________

  1 Tirupati (L)       Ind 17746.05   na    5794    752    598  12293  9261
  2 Los Angeles (L)    USA 14613.00   na    4360   2518   1968   9174   975
  3 Surat (S)          Ind 10728.75   na    4691     86     20   1203  2280
  4 New Delhi(Punj.Bag Ind 10424.95   na    2073      0      0  20191  7676
  5 RupanugaVedicColle USA  9013.70   na    3203   2116    137    524  2922
  6 Moscow (L)         Rus  8845.25   na    3673    775    719   1459     0
  7 Madurai (S)        Ind  7573.70   na    2820      8      6   6162  3822
  8 Salem (M)          Ind  7410.00   na    3302    460      0    554   726
  9 Mexico City (M)    Mex  5345.50   na     267   2700   1600   5246     0
 10 Pune (L)           Ind  4962.15   na    2167     98     75   1507   418
 11 Ujjain (M)         Ind  4749.75   na    1200   1352   1423   1145     0
 12 Shanghai (S)       Chi  4257.00   na    1603    150      0   3604     0
 13 TBB TSKP (MS)      USA  4196.00   na    1058    730   2228    942     5
 14 Sydney-North (M)   Aus  3933.80   na    1789     26    223    862    28
 15 Sankirtan Dham TST Ita  3842.50   na    1369      0   2209      0     0
 16 Gainesville (M)    USA  3598.50   na    1150    655    678   1218     0
 17 Rajahmundry (S)    Ind  3555.25   na    1089    611    878   1309     0
 18 St. Petersburg (L) Rus  3507.00   na     926    578    572   3164     0
 19 Bhaktivedanta Mano Eng  3349.50   na    1284     41   1428    106     0
 20 Tirunelveli (S)    Ind  3237.70   na    1186      4      0   2544  2257
 21 Cueramaro (S)      Mex  2642.50   na     283    390   1110   4526     0
 22 London-Soho (M)    Eng  2632.25   na     620     45   2251    887     0
 23 Kiev (L)           Ukr  2576.50   na    1231     22    133    104     0
 24 Kishinev (MS)      Ukr  2482.50   na    1059    159    261    300     0
 25 Budapest (L)       Hun  2376.05   na     491    426     34   3231  1433
 26 Denver (M)         USA  2256.20   na     719    282    560   1016    22
 27 New Vrajadham-Hung Hun  2238.90   na     526    535    283   1574  1169
 28 Curitiba (S)       Bra  1938.00   na     274    735    620   1380     0
 29 Swansea (S)        Wal  1887.00   na     808     24    494      0     0
 30 Ahmedabad (M)      Ind  1670.25   na     636      0    187    519   420
 31 New York Harinam ( USA  1434.25   na     339    423    166   1001     0
 32 New Talavan (S)    USA  1355.50   na     530     13    499    132     0
 33 Bhopal (S)         Ind  1346.25   na     589     62      8    409     0
 34 Laguna Beach (S)   USA  1253.40   na     537     81     79    170   164
 35 Nizhny Novgorod (S Rus  1200.00   na     388    268    236    152     0
 36 Minsk (M)          Bel  1036.00   na     318    122    215    682     0
 37 New Govardhana (L) Aus  1031.50   na     306     40    273    898   185
 38 Milan (M)          Ita   951.00   na     147      0   1314      0     0
 39 Amravati (S)       Ind   949.20   na     439      1     61    124    30
 40 Ivanovo (S)        Rus   942.50   na     277    178    169    504     0
 41 Melbourne (L)      Aus   924.50   na     416     54     19    116     0
 42 Aguas Callentes (S Mex   813.50   na      50    195    816    442     0
 43 Mumbai-Chowpatty ( Ind   811.95   na     241     44    175    775    47
 44 Sofia (MS)         Bul   769.75   na     283     12    272    223     0
 45 Toronto (S)        Can   710.95   na     252     76    171    131    39
 46 Simhachalam (NJNK) Ger   645.60   na     249     66    163      0     1
 47 Dallas (M)         USA   645.25   na     234     91     27    281    25
 48 Kherson (S)        Ukr   643.75   na      75    191    397    417     0
 49 Kirov (S)          Rus   551.25   na     124      2    300    605     0
 50 Buenos Aires (M)   Arg   520.75   na       0     35      0   1943     0
 51 New Orleans (S)    USA   513.00   na      58      0    330    928     0
 52 Perm (M)           Rus   475.00   na     166      6    116    316     0
 53 Recife (MS)        Bra   460.00   na       0      0     11   1818     0
 54 Prague (M)         Cze   447.25   na      82    208      1    299     0
 55 Zurich (S)         Swi   425.75   na     111    107    135    117     0
 56 Zagreb (MS)        Cro   417.50   na      51     37     16   1082     0
 57 Ekaterinburg (M)   Rus   417.00   na     173      0      0    284     0
 58 Nagpur (S)         Ind   385.25   na     159     35      1    127     0
 59 Lisbon (S)         Por   377.25   na      30    284      0    133     0
 60 Vellore (S)        Ind   345.00   na     140     45      0      0   200
 61 Hillsborough, NC ( USA   341.25   na      84     69      7    357   115
 62 Santiago (S)       Chi   313.75   na      14      2     98    939     0
 63 Miami (S)          USA   305.00   na      86     46      3    340     5
 64 Chicago (S)        USA   289.25   na      65     22     63    423     0
 65 Prabhupada Desh (M Ita   279.00   na      14      0    502      0     0
 66 Rome (S)           Ita   248.50   na      13      0    445      0     0
 67 Kaunas (S)         Lit   240.75   na      61     51      6    259     0
 68 Torino (S)         Ita   236.00   na      39      0    316      0     0
 69 Hartford (MS)      USA   226.55   na      72     32     20    143    48
 70 Perth (S)          Aus   215.35   na      45      1    187     81   106
 71 Silicon Valley(ISV USA   211.25   na      94      0      0     93     0
 72 Dnepropetrovsk (S) Ukr   204.75   na      69      2     76    107     0
 73 Kharkov (S)        Ukr   197.25   na      31     24     25    395     0
 74 Manaus (S)         Bra   186.00   na      10    121     40    100     0
 75 Villa Vrndavana (L Ita   173.80   na      32      0    217      0    13
 76 Oslo (S)           Nor   151.40   na      46      5      0      2   539
 77 Gurabo (PR) (MS)   Pue   147.00   na       0     38    108    220     0
 78 Spain BBT (MS)     Spa   140.50   na      20      0    201      0     0
 79 Vancouver (S)      Can   130.25   na      27     16     58     65    18
 80 Almvik (L)         Swe   120.75   na       7      0      2    423     0
 81 Cologne(Gauradesh) Ger   115.50   na      25     31     69      0     0
 82 Berkeley (S)       USA   106.90   na      18     10     59    108    44
 83 Baltimore (MS)     USA   101.25   na      37      0      4    101     0
 84 Brahmapur (MS)     Ind    91.00   na      24     11      3    122     0
 85 Rovno (MS)         Ukr    86.50   na       0      0    173      0     0
 86 Odessa (S)         Ukr    84.25   na       7      0    108     65     0
 87 Heidelberg (MS)    Ger    83.00   na       6     39     64      0     0
 88 Leipzig (S)        Ger    81.00   na      25     16     30      0     0
 89 Blantyre (MS)      Mal    78.00   na       6     30      5    134     0
 90 Timisoara (S)      Rom    70.25   na      11     32      0     65     0
 91 Vilnius (S)        Lit    70.00   na      22     11      9     42     0
 92 Berlin (S)         Ger    63.50   na      18      1     53      0     0
 93 Pouso Alegre (S)   Bra    44.60   na       0     15      0    110    21
 94 Stockholm (M)      Swe    42.25   na       2      9     28     61     0
 95 Tiraspol (S)       Ukr    38.50   na      18      0      3      4     0
 96 Lvov (MS)          Ukr    22.00   na       5      0     24      0     0
 97 Florianopolis (MS) Bra    20.25   na       0      0      0     81     0
 98 Komsomolsk-on-Amur Rus    20.25   na       3      9      6      9     0
 99 Magnitogorsk (S)   Rus    19.50   na       6      4      0     14     0
100 Vinniza (MS)       Ukr    16.50   na       6      0      4     10     0
101 Rybinsk (S)        Rus    13.75   na       5      2      1      5     0
102 Ternopol (S)       Ukr     9.25   na       1      1     12      1     0
103 Santo Domingo (S)  Dom     9.25   na       0      5      2     13     0
104 German Congregatio Ger     8.00   na       3      0      4      0     0
105 Gothenburg (S)     Swe     7.75   na       0      6      1      5     0
106 Nickerie (S)       Sur     6.75   na       0      6      0      3     0
107 Paramaribo (S)     Sur     6.25   na       0      6      0      1     0
108 Goloka Dhama (S)   Ger     5.50   na       0      2      7      0     0
109 Chernigov (MS)     Ukr     4.25   na       1      2      0      1     0
110 Texarkana (S)      USA     3.50   na       1      0      0      6     0
111 Arkadelphia (S)    USA     3.25   na       1      0      1      3     0
                                    (%)Change compared          (*)New high
                                    to monthly average            this year


**** Page 8 ****



                         World Sankirtan Newsletter
                            PRABHUPADA DISCIPLES
                                January 2016

                                       %   M-Big   Big  Medium  Small  BTGs
    Prabhupada Disciples     Points Change Books  Books  Books  Books  Mags
    _______________________________________________________________________

  1 Gaur Sundar d    LA  USA 1844.95   na    858     85     68     37     7
  2 Mohanasini dd    New USA 1315.50   na    530     13    419    132     0
  3 Nidra dd         Den USA  741.00   na    224     70    295    302     0
  4 Drumila d        New USA  265.00   na     10      0    210    560     0
  5 Cakri d Dallas   Dal USA  252.25   na    102      0      0    183    25
  6 Bhrgupati d      LA  USA  241.30   na     76     57     15     92    18
  7 Visala d         Mia USA  186.50   na     56     18      3    218     5
  8 Govinda Datta d  LA  USA  164.25   na     44      0     80    145     0
  9 Shankar Pandit d Chi USA   27.75   na      5      0      0     71     0
 10 Lalita dd        Ber USA   19.70   na      3      3     12     16     7
 11 Cekitana dd      Per Aus   13.50   na      0      0     27      0     0
 12 Prajapati d      Mia USA    8.50   na      1      2      0     18     0
                                    (%)Change compared        (*)New record
                                    to monthly average        for this year

Bhakta Jay Khush, Radha Krsna Dasa, and Bhrigupati Das distribute books to top medical doctors and professionals at the International Stroke Conference 2016 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Sponsored by Dr. Vinaya Gaura Chandra Das and his wife Padmaksi Sri Devi Dasi, to promote alternatives to stroke patients for recovery. His Holiness Jayapataka Maharaja is the inspiration behind this project, and we’ve dedicated a website for further learning. – www.spiritualstroke.com

Srila Prabhupada wanted us to preach to the intelligent class of men the science of Krishna Consciousness. All glories to this wonderful service!

The Mysteries of Kamyavan (Album with photos)
Indradyumna Swami: Kamayavan, a two-hour drive from the town of Vrindavan proper, is full of transcendental holy places. Most significantly the Deity of Vrinda devi, worshipped by Srila Rupa Goswami, resides there. Kameswar Mahadeva, one of the 5 principle Siva lingam’s of Vraja is also situated in Kamyavan. There are numerous sacred kundas, including Dharma kunda, where Maharaja Yudhistira successfully answered the questions of Yamaraja in order to save his brothers. There are also several prominent Radha Krsna temples. We spent the entire day exploring the mysteries of Kamyavan, where it is said one can fulfill all the innermost desires of the soul.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/p0Jvdo

By Brendan O’Connor

Gradually they are coming out the woodwork. And suddenly it seems that half the people I know are secretly meditating. They range from casual transcendental meditators to practically full-blown Buddhists or Hare Krishnas.

And the strange thing is that these are not hippies or crusties or drop-outs or people living alternative lifestyles on an ashram-inspired commune near Sligo. Just regular blokes, a few of them quite senior in what they do. There are thrusting business types and entrepreneurs and generally pretty serious people. These are not people who go for reiki or acupuncture or any of the other usual trappings of the “I’m not religious but I am a very spiritual person” lifestyle. They are fairly practical people. And meditation is just one of their tools, a technology for modern living.

I have a theory on one thing that does bind them together. They are fathers of young children. And I have a theory that fathers of young children will do anything for a few minutes of peace and quiet. For some of us, it’s the warm embrace of the Sunday papers enveloping you, for others it’s a run, for some it is sitting in a shed tinkering with something. But seemingly for more and more guys, it’s meditation.

And you can see why. Because it’s not really acceptable in these days of superdadism to blithely announce that you are heading out for a game of golf. If you are not working, you are supposed to be ministering to your kids, or smothering them, as said children probably experience it.

But heading off to meditate is completely acceptable, because it’s like maintenance. It’s like pulling into the garage to fill your tank. It’s like eating, almost. Eating chicken soup for the soul. It has to be done. And you can hint darkly that it is to everyone’s benefit that you get to do your daily meditation – or sitting and doing nothing, as it’s also known.

Sitting down to empty the mind may have been construed in the past as having a little rest. But not any more. This is because we live in an age of mindfulness, when it is recognised as everyone’s God-given right, in the First World, to tune in, turn on and drop out for a while. Or sit there breathing as you might call it.

I was reading somewhere recently that while we might think of Hare Krishnas as a marginal cult, their influence on the world we live in now is enormous. The view seems to be that while the religion has not succeeded in the mainstream as such, the ideas have. Everywhere you look there is watered down Hare Krishna-ism, from the kinds of foods we eat, to the notion of sustainable, community-based living, to the whole mindfulness thing.

It seems we are all a little bit Hare Krishna now. Do you practise yoga? Are you a vegetarian? Do you believe in karma? Do you believe in positive vibes through social media? Then, my friend, you might just be a little bit Krishna-conscious.

Even the Hare Krishnas themselves are living regular lives these days. After the usual sex scandals and so on that plague most cults and religions, many modern Hare Krishnas live what they call “householder lives”, meaning they don’t chant in airports anymore, instead leading lives of devotion and spirituality while holding down jobs, wearing regular clothes and raising children.

I am toying with the whole meditation idea as a way of dealing with stress and getting a bit of a guaranteed sit-down, but it kind of bothers me that it would be the equivalent of someone who doesn’t believe in God praying to him just for a bit of quiet time. Or going to Mass to get a break from all the noise.

Is it really right? Is it OK that we take the trappings of spiritual techniques, just to use them as accoutrements of the modern world? Or is it actually no harm to use these ancient techniques purely as technology, without actually buying into the whole thing?

Or worse, do the Hare Krishnas and the rest of them know something we don’t? Do they know that the more people they can get to chant or meditate or not eat meat or do the yoga, even if those people just do it for well-being and buns of steel, the more people they bring a little closer to Krishna.

Will we all end up in saffron robes some day?

Sunday Independent: http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/brendan-oconnor/we-are-all-hare-krishnas-now-meditation-goes-mainstream-30618281.html

The All India Padayatra Itinerary And Book Scores – 2016.
By Acarya Dasa (assisted by Jayabhadra Dasi)
Here are the main places that Padayatra India visited in the month of January and their book scores. Some of these places have already been mentioned in previous articles. This summary of locations will help give you an idea of the places and distances traveled by this padayatra party.
January 1: Vijaya Durga Kalyana Mandapam – located on Vellore Road in the Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh
January 2: Vasanthapuram – a village situated in Gudipala Tehsil and located in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
January 3: Katpadi (pronounced [katːpaːdi]) – is a locality in Vellore, in the northern part of Vellore city. After leaving Andra Pradesh we entered the Indian state, Tamil Nadu in South India after travelling for 14 kilometers.
January 4-5: Katpadi – our party traveled to Gandhi Nagar to visit the ISKCON center there. We traveled for 7 kilometers on this day.
January 6-7: Jai Ramsi Kalyan Mandapa – located in the city of Vellore. Travel distance 8 kilometers.
January 8: in the city of Vellore (8 kilometers traveled).
January 9: Ratnagiri – located in Vellore. We traveled 7 kilometers.
January 10: Ranipet – also known as Ranipettai, ‘Rani’ refers to queen and ‘pettai’ means district. It is a suburban town and the industrial hub of Vellore city. Travel distance, 11 kilometers.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/xiaXcL

By Syama Chandr Das

Mahaprabhu is manifesting His causeless mercy on the devotees in Pakistan who endeavor to glorify Srila Prabhupada on the occasion of Golden Jubilee Celebration of ISKCON.

A Gita Conference was arranged on Friday, 26th of March 2016, at Rangi Ram Darbar, PirJu Ghoth, Khairpur District, Sindh. The event was blessed with the presence of around 2000 people who participated enthusiastically in the discussions.

The conference was graced by the presence of special guest, HG Sarvabhauma Prabhu (Dr. Shishpal Sharma) who visited the Land of Saints, Sindh, after almost a Decade to spread the message of Bhagavad Gita for peace and prosperity. In his lecture during the conference, he stressed on following teachings of Srila Prabhupada pointing out the fact that it’s a greatest blessing that our Acraya has left to help us awaken the Love for God in this modern age of Kali.

HG Sarvabhauma Prabhu is famous in Sindh for delievering Bhagavad Gita Lectures and has inspired many People in the 80’s and 90’s by teachings of Lord Sri Krsna. Again with same enthusiasm, ISKCON Pakistan is pledging to arrange many programs in near future in different cities of Pakistan to enlighten people with the teachings of ‘Bhagavad Gita’ and spread the message of Mahaprabhu.

The program ended with loud chants and Kirtan which overwhelmed the devotees and they danced on the tunes of Mahamantra with HG Sarvabhauma Prabhu.

Devotees of ISKCON Prahalad-desh are offering this homage for the pleasure of Srila Prabhupada on the 50th Anniversery of ISKCON.

ISKCON Pakistan.

Phase Five of the Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra.
MADHYA PRADESH VILLAGE PREACHING REPORT – FEBRUARY 13 TO 21
Reported by HH RP Bhakti Raghava Swami
As often expected, the unexpected happened. One day before Gour Gopal prabhu was to arrive from Secunderabad to Madhya Pradesh he had an automobile accident that prevented him from travelling. Instead, Hari Kirtan prabhu had to replace him along with Bhakta Ashok but they could only reach MP after a few days. Our first two programs were thus without mrdanga.
This preaching program had been planned long back by Samikrsi prabhu whose devotional and professional career has been in America but who desired strongly that Lord Caitanya’s mercy be introduced in his own and surrounding villages. He had requested his old friend and Godbrother, Bala Krsna prabhu from Saranagati Village in Western Canada, to come to India specifically to visit his village and advise how to develop his land as an ideal sustainable project. He also desired devotees from our Sri Govind Gau Gram Prachar Yatra to also participate and help revive village preaching in his area close to Khandwa and Khargone.
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/NwpzBM

A one time only big book offer, free download/read.
A free download for a period of time for the 20th Anniversary of Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami.
Sri Guru Makes Krsna Appear in Your Heart.
This book by Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami contains eight lectures on the qualities and the position of the bona fide guru.
Find it here: https://issuu.com/tvpbooks/docs/book_sgmka_s

The Iskcon Education ministry awards for adult education goes to…….. MAYAPUR ACADEMY. Gaurapremanande!

A new sannyasi for Iskcon.
Indradyumna Swami: Today the GBC have given their blessings for my beloved disciple, Uttama Sloka dasa, to enter the renounced order of life. On March 12, the appearance day of Srila Purusottama das Thakur, I will perform Uttama sloka’s sannyasa ceremony in Sridham Mayapura. All those who can attend that most auspicious function are welcome.

The Consul and a team of Russian Government representatives visited Mayapur yesterday. They walked around ISKCON campus, visited International School, TOVP, had Diety’s darshan at the temple, prasadam of course. Most photos in this album were made by Nara Hari prabhu, who have hosted this party in his home and took the group around for the site seeing.

Dear Devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances. Jaya Srila Prabhupada!

We are looking for brahmacaris and householders who are book distributors and who would like to become part of our team here at the Berkeley Temple. The San Francisco Bay Area has many great spots for distributing books, so if you are interested, please contact us by calling 707-426-4672.

yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada,

Jagannath Swami dasa
​, President​
ISKCON of the Bay Area, Inc.
2334 Stuart St.,
Berkeley, CA 94705

A Talk by Giriraj Swami December 24, 2010 Ventura, California

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual master, is my grand spiritual master, but I feel that I never really knew him so well until I read his biography Sri Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava by my godbrother Bhakti Vikasa Swami. Many of the quotes and references below come from that work, which has helped bring me closer to my spiritual grandfather.

We are all here by the mercy of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. There’s a line through which the mercy descends upon us, beginning with Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and passing, one teacher after the other, through parampara, or disciplic succession. Five thousand years ago Krsna came in His original form and instructed, in the Bhagavad-gita (9.34, 18.65), man-mana bhava mad-bhakto: “Always think of Me and become My devotee.” Five hundred years ago the same Lord Krsna came again, in the devotional form of Sri Krsna Caitanya, to explain and personally show how to be a devotee and always think of Krsna. Lord Caitanya quoted a verse from the Brhan-naradiya Purana (38.126):

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam kalau nasty eva nasty eva nasty eva gatir anyatha

“One should chant the holy name, chant the holy name, chant the holy name of Hari, Krsna. There is no other way, no other way, no other way for success in the present age of Kali.” He also desired and predicted:

prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama

“In as many towns and villages as there are on the surface of the earth, My holy name will be propagated.” (Cb 3.4.126) This desire and prediction were expressed at a time when it was almost impossible to imagine or believe that it could happen.

In the 1800s Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura began the effort to spread the holy name of Krsna to countries outside India. He wrote a small book in English called Caitanya Mahaprabhu: His Life and Precepts and dispatched copies to libraries around the world. In recent years Srila Prabhupada’s disciples have discovered copies in libraries from Canada (McGill University) to Australia. Bhaktivinoda Thakura yearned for the day when devotees from all over the world would unite in harinama-sankirtana and wrote, “Very soon the unparalleled path of harinama-sankirtana will be propagated all over the planet. . . . Oh, for that day when the fortunate English, French, Russian, German, and American people will take up banners, mrdangas, and karatalas and perform kirtana through their streets and towns. When will that day come? Oh, for the day when the fair-skinned men from their side will raise up the chanting of ‘Jaya Sacinandana, jaya Sacinandana ki jaya!’ and join with the Bengali devotees. When will that day be?” (Sajjana-tosani)

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a very powerful spiritual master, acarya. After the disappearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and His associates, many unscrupulous people claiming to be Mahaprabhu’s followers introduced concocted philosophies and practices–even illicit activities–to the point that if an educated Bengali heard the word “Vaisnava,” he would immediately think the worst. In educated circles, “Vaisnava” had come to mean a sentimental, ignorant person with loose character who in the guise of religion engaged in all sorts of activities. In this precarious situation, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura came forward and presented the true understanding of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, speaking strongly against the deviant groups that had distorted and perverted His pure teachings and practices.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura held a high position in the British rule of India–the highest an Indian could hold, and then only very rarely. He had important responsibilities in the government and had a large family, but his main interest was Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the sankirtana movement. He would sleep little and rise early. He did so much–wrote books, traveled, preached, established centers–and had a tremendous effect, especially on the people of Bengal and Orissa, including the intellectual elite who were just then coming in touch with modern ideas from the West. He revived the true mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, inspiring hosts of people to join him, and pushed back the deviant groups, which lost much of their influence.

Having undertaken such a tremendous task and executed it so successfully but still being surrounded by so many parties with vested interests in covering the true intention of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was at a loss as to who would carry on his mission. So he prayed to Sri Krsna to send someone–one of His own associates from the spiritual realm–to continue the work. It is understood that the appearance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was the answer to Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s prayers.

There are many incidents from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s early life that indicate that he was that person sent by Krsna. When he was five months old, the Ratha-yatra cart halted in front of Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s home in Puri, and the Thakura directed his wife, Bhagavati Devi, to carry the baby to the chariot. When the infant was placed at the lotus feet of Lord Jagannatha, he extended his tiny arms to touch the Deity’s feet, and Lord Jagannatha dropped one of His garlands around the baby–a blessing and a confirmation of his divine descent.

Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati understood his father’s mission and worked with him to fulfill it. His father initiated him into the chanting of the holy name
(hari-nama), the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, but according to etiquette, a father does not give actual diksa to his son. So Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura instructed him to approach Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji, a great maha-bhagavata, fully self-realized, liberated soul, for diksa. But Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji was a renounced bhajananandi and not inclined to accept disciples; he preferred simply to immerse himself in chanting the holy names and hearing scripture.

When Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati approached him, Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja told him directly that he would not accept him or anyone else as a disciple. Still, Siddhanta Sarasvati persisted, so Babaji Maharaja told him, “I will ask Mahaprabhu.” A few days later, when Siddhanta Sarasvati returned and inquired, “What was Mahaprabhu’s order?” Babaji Maharaja replied, “I forgot to ask.” And when he came for the third time, Babaji Maharaja directly refused him: “Mahaprabhu has not given permission.” Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati was devastated. He stood up and quoted a line by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, addressed to the guru–karuna na hoile, kandiya kandiya, prana na rakhibo ara: “If you are not merciful to me, I will simply weep, and I will not be able to maintain my life.” When Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja understood how sincere and serious Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati was, he accepted him as his disciple and initiated him.

Five years later, in 1905, Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati undertook a vow to chant at least three lakh holy names daily, or ten million monthly, until he had chanted one billion holy names. For his disciples, Srila Prabhupada fixed the minimum number of sixteen rounds per day, which takes most devotees about two hours. Four times sixteen is sixty-four rounds, or one lakh names. And three times sixty-four rounds comes to three hundred thousand names, which would take us, even at a good rate, at least sixteen hours a day. In Mayapur, Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati constructed a grass hut, where he lived very simply and chanted day and night. If rain came and leaked through the thatched roof, he would just hold up an umbrella and continue chanting: “Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”

To complete his vow took more than nine years, but even then, Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati would write, preach, and serve the dhama.

One program he attended was especially significant. In Bengal the caste brahmanas held a stranglehold on religious people’s practices. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura had spoken openly against them and their false claim, based on their supposed high birth, that they possessed exclusive rights to be gurus and perform brahminical functions. Naturally, when Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati challenged them, the brahmanas reacted. An assembly of smarta-brahmanas and jata-gosanis (caste Gosvamis) came together to try to refute the arguments of the pure Vaisnavas and published a tract against them. In response, the Vaisnavas called a three-day public meeting to discuss the relative positions of brahmanas and Vaisnavas. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was expected to be the main speaker, but severe rheumatism had rendered him bedridden.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura himself was not born in a brahmana family, and obviously, neither was his son. Now, the question may be raised, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was a ray of Visnu, an eternal associate of Krsna’s sent from the spiritual realm to the material world to preach–Krsna could have arranged for him to take birth in the highest class of brahmana family, with all the brahminical qualifications, but He didn’t. Why not? Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati explains that the Lord does not arrange for pure devotees to take birth only in high-class families, with all the advantages of good health, education, culture, wealth, strength, and so on, because ordinary people would feel discouraged. They would think, “Oh, I didn’t take birth in a high-class family; I didn’t have this or that advantage. What is the hope for me?” So great souls take birth in various kinds of families to show us the example that anyone in any condition–even if not born in a brahmana family–can become Krsna conscious, and to give us hope that we too can be Krsna conscious.

So, after the publication of the caste brahmana’s tract, on the eve of the public meeting to be convened by the Vaisnavas, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was incapacitated, and he cried out in desperation, “Is there no one in the Vaisnava world who can reply to these people and by presenting scriptural evidence and logic put a stop to their base activities?” Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati took up the challenge, wrote an essay called “Conclusion Regarding the Comparison of Brahmanas and Vaisnavas,” and went to attend the meeting.

Many caste brahmanas, although not invited, also went to the meeting. Understanding that Bhaktivinoda Thakura was indisposed and unable to attend, they swaggered about, confident that they would easily triumph over the Vaisnavas.

Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati was the first speaker. He began by quoting various statements from scripture about the exalted position of brahmanas, and the caste brahmanas in the audience were delighted. He was so brilliant that he could speak better about the high position of brahmanas than the brahmanas themselves. But then he began quoting verses from scripture about the position of Vaisnavas, establishing that Vaisnavas were higher than even brahmanas and that irrespective of one’s birth, if one accepted the Vaisnava principles he would attain a position more exalted than that of a brahmana. The brahmanas in the audience were completely overwhelmed. Seeing no way to counter Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati’s arguments, the smarta-brahmanas and jata-gosanis slinked away.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura felt assured that his mission was in capable hands, that Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati was a worthy successor to continue his cause. And Sri Siddhanta Sarasvati began to preach far and wide. He was fearless and open in his criticism of anything false. His example and instructions are relevant to us today.

Srila Sarasvati Thakura was a prodigious writer and speaker, on various topics, including how to present the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. He noted that there are people who think that you should say only positive–not negative–things. I experienced that when I was in Madras. I was just preaching as I had heard Srila Prabhupada preach, and people reacted. Even friends, people who were hosting me and supporting me, advised me, “Don’t criticize others. Just say positively what you want about your philosophy and activities, but don’t criticize others.” Srila Sarasvati Thakura addressed this very issue and averred that it is imperative not only to elucidate the truth but also to criticize anything false, because in Kali-yuga there is so much false propaganda that we have to be very clear; there cannot be any ambiguity in our message:

“The positive method by itself is not the most effective method of propaganda in a controversial age like the present. The negative method, which seeks to differentiate the truth from non-truth in all its forms, is even better calculated to convey the directly inconceivable significance of the Absolute. It is a necessity which cannot be conscientiously avoided by the dedicated preacher of the truth if he wants to be a loyal servant of Godhead. The method is sure to create an atmosphere of controversy in which it is quite easy to lose one’s balance of judgment. But the ways of the deluding energy are so intricate that unless their mischievous nature is fully exposed, it is not possible for the soul in the conditioned state to avoid the snares spread by the enchantress [Maya] for encompassing the ruin of her only too willing victims. It is a duty which shall be sacred to all who have been enabled to attain even a distant glimpse of the Absolute.”

Srila Prabhupada also demonstrated this approach. He had a friend named Dr. Patel who would always accompany him on his morning walks on Juhu Beach and converse with him. Dr. Patel was quite literate, he knew Sanskrit, and he was quite sharp. One morning, Dr. Patel started praising a revered popular religious figure of India, and Srila Prabhupada, in turn, began to criticize the figure. Dr. Patel protested, “You cannot criticize like this.” But Srila Prabhupada replied, “I am not saying; Krsna is saying–na mam duskrtino mudhah prapadyante naradhamah, mayayapahrta-jnana asuram bhavam asritah: if you are not surrendered to Krsna, you are a miscreant in one of these categories–fool, rascal, demon.”

Dr. Patel became very agitated and raised his voice, and Srila Prabhupada raised his. The whole situation became very tense and intense. Finally, Dr. Patel’s friends dragged him away. It was like in a boxing ring when the bell rings to signal the end of the fight and the two opponents just keep going at each other and the referee has to tear them apart.

For the first time, Dr. Patel stopped coming for the morning walks, and Srila Prabhupada also said, “Now no more discussion. We will only read Krsna book.” But after a couple of days, as Dr. Patel explains it, with no intention of joining Srila Prabhupada–he was walking from one direction on the beach, and Prabhupada from the other–something in his heart just drew him to Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet. He offered obeisance and said, “Prabhupada, I am sorry, but we are trained to respect all the accredited saints of India.” And Srila Prabhupada replied, “Yes, and our business is to point out who is not a saint.” That he learned from his guru maharaja, Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja. We not only tell who is a saint; we also explain who is not a saint. And that is the mercy of the Vaisnava, so people know clearly what is what; otherwise, they can be misled and suffer.

Srila Sarasvati Thakura was a tremendously powerful and successful preacher who fearlessly spoke the truth. And his pure preaching inspired hundreds of thousands of people to support him, follow him, join him, and become his disciples.

Yet he also had enemies. He himself was the enemy of falsehood, and people who were thriving on falsehood sometimes became his enemy. There were many incidents. Once, when he and his party were performing navadvipa-parikrama, the caste brahmanas hired gundas, or thugs, who let loose with a volley of stones and boulders on the party. They were really aiming to take Srila Sarasvati Thakura’s life. (There were attempts on his life on other occasions as well.) But one of his disciples cleverly exchanged his white dress for Sarasvati Thakura’s saffron, so Sarasvati Thakura emerged disguised and escaped. But it was a terrible scene. It looked like a massacre, with the streets of Navadvipa stained with the blood of the Vaisnavas. Some devotees suffered severe gashes and fractures, but by Krsna’s grace none was killed.

It was a dark, dark moment, but when it came to light that the attack had been perpetrated by the caste Gosvamis, the shocked public sided with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and the Gaudiya Matha, and the caste Gosvamis’ opposition to him lost whatever apparent credibility it had. As news of the event spread, those in learned circles protested in newspapers and magazines. The chief police inspector in Navadvipa was sacked, and the parikrama continued under full police protection. Later, when urged to press charges against the culprits, Srila Sarasvati Thakura declined, saying that the hooligans had done a yeoman’s service–otherwise how could the Gaudiya Matha have been featured on the front pages of all the newspapers? Srila Sarasvati Thakura was the enemy of falsehood, but he was the well-wisher of everyone, even of people who were inimical to him.

Although Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was so austere and rigid, so strict with himself, when it came to preaching he was ready to spend any amount of money and do anything. When I was first serving in India, in 1970, only affluent people could afford cars, mainly the locally manufactured Fiats and Ambassadors. But Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had a limousine–back in the 1930s. And he dressed nicely. He would always wear a dhoti, but on occasion, as required, he would also don a double-breasted coat, stockings, and shoes. For receiving special guests, he had fine furniture. Thus, referring to the elite, he said, “We are preaching by approaching the people of the world dressed even somewhat better than they, showing knowledge even somewhat greater than theirs, being even somewhere more stylish than they–without which they would think us worthless and not listen to our hari-katha. . . . I have to go to various places for propagating hari-katha, so I must present myself as a learned and decent gentleman; otherwise nondevotees will not give me their time.”

He used all means to broadcast the message of Krsna. He had dioramas and other exhibits made, using the latest technologies, and staged huge Theistic Exhibitions. He built a grand marble temple on the banks of the Ganges at Bag-bazar in Calcutta. The procession that brought the Deities on a beautiful ratha, chariot, from the matha at Ultadangi to the new temple was enormous. Literally millions of people lined the streets along the two-mile route, which took four hours to traverse, and twenty-five thousand men, divided into forty-three groups, accompanied the Deities with loud harinama-sankirtana. For its work, the Gaudiya Matha owned four cars, a horse and buggy, an elephant, and a camel. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati would treat prominent guests to excursions on the Ganges in one of the Matha’s launches and expound hari-katha to them.

In January of 1935 the governor of Bengal, Sri John Anderson, visited Mayapur. This was a major event, because the Britishers were the rulers, and Srila Sarasvati Thakura was one of their subjects, their vassals. Still, the governor, accompanied by many other dignitaries, came all the way to Mayapur to meet Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and see his work.

In spite of his tremendous purity and potency and success as a preacher, within Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s own institution there were disconcerting signs that some of his leading disciples were becoming materially infected. With so much opulence, facility, fame, and respect, some of them had become distracted. Instead of realizing that all the facility was meant for the service of the Lord, to bring people to the Lord’s unalloyed service, they were enjoying the facilities and the adulation. In an effort to reform them, Srila Sarasvati Thakura spoke strongly, and he restricted the use of certain facilities–only for service, only for preaching–to curb the devotees’ materialistic tendencies. (Of course, he also had many sincere disciples, who did not become materially affected.) At the same time, Srila Sarasvati Thakura continued his propaganda activities in full force, with all enthusiasm, writing, publishing, traveling, and preaching, and was successful wherever he went. Still, he was disturbed within himself that some of his disciples had become so mundane.

Ultimately, when Srila Sarasvati Thakura reached the age of sixty-two, his health declined. He also made statements indicating that he would soon be leaving. In late October 1936 he traveled to Puri, a holy place that was also warmer than Calcutta. But for some reason, in December, in a very weakened condition, he wanted to return to Calcutta, and the disciples arranged for his travel by train. One poignant incident took place when he was about to leave. A householder told his young son, “This may be the last time you see him,” and the boy offered full, flat obeisances to Srila Sarasvati Thakura, who noted the child’s devotion.

In Calcutta his disciples called in some of the most renowned physicians in the city. When one advised Srila Sarasvati Thakura, “You have to rest more. You can’t speak so much,” Sarasvati Thakura proceeded to preach to him, for hours, about the purpose of human life, that the physical body is temporary and that the soul’s absolute necessity is to serve the Lord. He felt that if he couldn’t speak about Krsna, what would be the use of living? We’re here on this planet only for the sake of serving and broadcasting the glories of Sri Krsna.

On December 23, he instructed the devotees gathered at his bedside:

“I have upset many persons’ minds. Many might have considered me their enemy, because I was obliged to speak the plain truth of service and devotion towards the Absolute Godhead. I have given them all those troubles only so they might turn their face toward the Personality of Godhead without any desire for gain and with unalloyed devotion. Surely some day they will be able to understand that.

“I advise all to preach the teachings of Rupa-Raghunatha [two of the Six Gosvamis, direct disciples of Lord Caitanya] with all energy and resources. Our ultimate goal shall be to become the dust of the lotus feet of Sri Sri Rupa and Raghunatha Gosvamis. You should all work conjointly under the guidance of your spiritual master with a view to serve the Absolute Knowledge, the Personality of Godhead. You should live somehow or other without any quarrel in this mortal world only for the service of Godhead. Do not, please, give up the service of Godhead, in spite of all dangers, all criticisms, and all discomforts. Do not be disappointed, for most people in the world do not serve the Personality of Godhead; do not give up your own service, which is your everything and all, neither reject the process of chanting and hearing of the transcendental holy name of Godhead. You should always chant the transcendental name of Godhead with patience and forbearance like a tree and humbleness like a straw . . . There are many amongst you who are well qualified and able workers. We have no other desire whatsoever.”

After midnight on December 31, Srila Sarasvati Thakura left this world. His disciples took his body to Mayapur and established his samadhi there.

He was a monumental personality. News of his departure was broadcast on All-India Radio, and an official day of mourning was observed in Bengal. The Corporation of Calcutta held a special meeting in tribute to his memory and issued a resolution expressing its members’ deep sorrow. The mayor addressed the assembly:

“I rise to condole the passing away of His Divine Grace Paramahamsa Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja, the president-acarya of the Gaudiya Matha of Calcutta and the great leader of the Gaudiya movement throughout the world. This melancholy event happened on the first day of this New Year.

“Born in 1874, he dedicated his whole life to religious pursuits and dissemination of the cultural wealth of this great and ancient land of ours. An intellectual giant, he elicited the admiration of all for his unique scholarship, high and varied attainments, original thinking, and wonderful exposition of many difficult branches of knowledge.

“With invaluable contributions he enriched many journals. He was the author of some devotional literature of repute. He was one of the most powerful and brightest exponents of the cult of Vaisnavism, his utterances and writings displaying a deep study of comparative philosophy and theology. Catholicity of his views, soundness of his teachings, and, above all, his dynamic personality and the irresistible force of the pure and simple life, had attracted thousands of followers of his message of love and service to the Absolute as propagated by Sri Krsna Caitanya.

“He was the founder and guiding spirit of the Sri Caitanya Matha at Sri Mayapur (Nadia) and the Gaudiya Matha of Calcutta. The Gaudiya movement, to which his contribution is no small one, has received a setback at the passing away of such a great soul. His departure has created a void in the spiritual horizon of India, which is difficult to be filled up.”

That void was a big one–there was no one else like him. Practically, there had never been anyone like him before, and nobody could imagine anyone like him coming afterwards.

But then, in 1965, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s humble servant, a grhastha disciple named Abhay Caranaravinda dasa, who after his guru maharaja’s disappearance had been awarded sannasya, and the name “A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami,” by Sripada Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja, boarded a steamer from Calcutta, traveled to New York, and began the Krsna consciousness movement, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in the West. Bhaktivedanta Swami, or Srila Prabhupada, as he became known, embodied the spirit and teachings and potency of his guru maharaja and fulfilled that desire and prediction of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, and Srila Sarasvati Thakura that the holy names of Sri Krsna, of Sri Krsna Caitanya, be propagated in every town and village of the world.

Srila Prabhupada made adjustments, because he had his own audience and particular circumstances. Like his guru maharaja, he was ready to use anything and everything in the service of the mission. He engaged modern technology–tape recorders, Dictaphones, electric typewriters, printing presses, computers, airplanes–in the service of the Lord. He sent disciples to Bengal to learn the traditional art of doll making and also used modern technology to create diorama exhibits illustrating the principles of Krsna consciousness and the pastimes of the Lord. Adopting Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati’s idea of theistic exhibitions, he created the FATE (First American Theistic Exhibition) museum in Los Angeles.

So the line of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura is continuing, by his divine grace.

But it is not easy to preach in Kali-yuga. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati had many enemies, and Srila Prabhupada did too. As Srila Prabhupada said, “Big preaching means big enemies.” If we just stay at home, or tell people, “I’m okay, you’re okay–everything is okay,” we’re not going to make many enemies, but neither are we going to have much effect. In fact, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati sarcastically remarked, mein bhi cup, tum bhi cup: “I’ll be quiet, you be quiet,” meaning, “I won’t disturb you, you don’t disturb me.” But that was not his mood, and that was not Srila Prabhupada’s mood, and that should not be our mood either.

And of course, the holy name: the essence of everything is the chanting of the holy name. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati advised, “Krsna and krsna-nama are not two entities. Krsna is His holy name, and the holy name is Krsna. Krsna-nama is the son of Nanda, Syamasundara. Our only devotional service and duty is sri-krsna-nama-sankirtana. This understanding is auspicious.”

And to one disciple, he wrote:

“I am overjoyed to hear that your enthusiasm for chanting is increasing. As our contaminations are removed by chanting, the Lord’s form, qualities, and pastimes will be revealed to us in the holy name. There is no point in making a separate effort to artificially remember the Lord’s form, qualities, and pastimes. The Lord and His name are one and the same. This will be understood clearly when the coverings in your heart are removed. By chanting without offenses you will personally realize that all perfections come from the holy name. Through chanting, the distinction that exists between the self, and the gross and subtle bodies, is gradually effaced and one realizes one’s own spiritual form. Once aware of the spiritual body, as one continues to chant, one sees the transcendental nature of the Lord’s form. Only the holy name reveals the spiritual form of the living being and then causes him to be attracted to Krsna’s form. Only the holy name reveals the spiritual qualities of the living being and then causes him to be attracted to Krsna’s qualities. Only the holy name reveals the spiritual activities of the living being and then causes him to be attracted to Krsna’s pastimes. By service to the holy name we do not mean only the chanting of the holy name; it also includes the other duties of the chanter. If we serve the holy name with the body, mind, and soul, then the direction of that service spontaneously manifests like the sun in the clear sky of the chanter’s heart. What is the nature of the holy name? Eventually all these understandings spontaneously appear in the heart of one who chants the holy name. The true nature of hari-nama is revealed by listening to, reading, and studying the scriptures. It is unnecessary to write anything further on this subject. All these things will be revealed to you through chanting.”

So let us all chant, “Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.”

Thank you very much.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura ki jaya! Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!

Appearance Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada.
A Prayer at the Lotus Feet of the Gaudiya-Vaishnavas.
“In all of the Vedas and Puranas it is said that the dear devotees of Śrīman Mahāprabhu are deliverers of the patitas, the most degraded. Because I am so degraded, so fallen, the lowest of the low, I have developed greed to take shelter at the lotus feet of the dear devotees of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. I beg for their mercy. Otherwise I cannot be delivered.”
To read the entire article click here: http://goo.gl/2X0ElV

February 28. ISKCON 50 – S.Prabhupada Daily Meditations.
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami: A Further Prayer to Prabhupada.
Our heartfelt prayers to Prabhupada should be guided by śruti smṛti purāṇādi-pañcarātra vidhiṁ vinā. I am praying to Prabhupada to please direct me in the best way for my spiritual life. In one sense, we are waiting for an immediate response from Prabhupada, although we must also understand that prayer is itself a process. It is an ongoing meditation, rather than an isolated event with a set result.
Dear Srila Prabhupada, today I asked a devotee how to pray to you. The answer I got was that we should speak in prayers composed by the previous acaryas. I thought one of the most obvious prayers is the pranama mantra, which you yourself gave to us. “I offer my obeisances to His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Krishna on this earth, having taken shelter at the lotus feet of the transcendental Lord.” And sometimes we pray to you spontaneously in our own words, “Prabhupada, please help me,” “Prabhupada, thank you for allowing me to serve and function as your assistant.”
Prabhupada, please let me go forward in Krishna consciousness, please let me serve you, please let me remember you, please guide me. I want to especially concentrate on that prayer – please guide me. You yourself were so confidential, private, and grave that you didn’t even tell us about it. You knew that preaching to us meant stressing the Bhagavad-gita and convincing us that God exists. But you also gave the postgraduate study, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and beyond that, Caitanya-caritamrta. You gave us the truth that Krishna came to taste Radha’s love in the form of Lord Caitanya. You explained to us that Lord Caitanya wanted to distribute that love, the love of the gopis, to the whole world. You introduced us to the Six Gosvamis. But you were also careful. You didn’t want to confuse us. You wanted to protect us.
To read the entire article click here: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20490&page=5

Download the audio for this lecture here:

http://www.mayapurtvarchives.com/p/downloads-2016.html

From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir

Date: February 21, 2016 Speaker: HH Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaj

Subject: S.B.7.1.45-46

TEXTS 45-46

tatrāpi rāghavo bhūtvā

nyahanac chāpa-muktaye

rāma-vīryaṁ śroṣyasi tvaṁ

mārkaṇḍeya-mukhāt prabho

TRANSLATION

Nārada Muni continued: My dear King, just to relieve Jaya and Vijaya of the brāhmaṇas’ curse, Lord Rāmacandra appeared in order to kill Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa. It will be better for you to hear narrations about Lord Rāmacandra’s activities from Mārkaṇḍeya.

tāv atra kṣatriyau jātau

mātṛ-ṣvasrātmajau tava

adhunā śāpa-nirmuktau

kṛṣṇa-cakra-hatāṁhasau

TRANSLATION

In their third birth, the same Jaya and Vijaya appeared in a family of kṣatriyas as your cousins, the sons of your aunt. Because Lord Kṛṣṇa has struck them with His disc, all their sinful reactions have been destroyed, and now they are free from the curse.

PURPORT

In their last birth, Jaya and Vijaya did not become demons or Rākṣasas. Instead they took birth in a very exalted kṣatriya family related to Kṛṣṇa’s family. They became first cousins of Lord Kṛṣṇa and were practically on an equal footing with Him. By personally killing them with His own disc, Lord Kṛṣṇa destroyed whatever sinful reactions were left in them because of the curse of the brāhmaṇas. Nārada Muni explained to Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira that by entering Kṛṣṇa’s body, Śiśupāla reentered Vaikuṇṭhaloka as the Lord’s associate. Everyone had seen this incident.

………………………………………………………………

HH Bhakti Vidya Purna Maharaj

The point of discussion is about the equalness of the Lord, because we have our own particular idea of what equalness should look like. Sometimes the Lord’s actual nature of equalness is hard to appreciate. It seems that so many people get benefit and so many people get difficulties. Nice people are getting difficulties, not so nice people are getting benefits. What is the position, how do you judge equalness? This is the actual crux of the whole spiritual and material consciousness. What do you use as the factor of judgement?

How do you define something? There are unlimited ways you can define, depending on all the varieties of mundane consciousness. Spiritual consciousness has only one way to define it. That makes it easy.

Once you get to spiritual world, whatever aspect is in there, Vaikuntha, Dvarka, Vraja, they all think in one way. It’s all about the connection to Krishna, the pleasure of Krishna. Therefore, there, the decision making point is about how it pleases Krishna. From there you work back into your particular mood, your particular relationship, the particular nature of the rasa that you are serving in. So that will have its unique expression. The central point is always about the Lord’s pleasure, nothing else.

In the material world, then, because every living entity is thinking about themselves, then our view is going to be based on what’s good for me. So something that is not nice, but may good for me, I’ll say it’s nice, but if it’s not good for me, then I’ll say it’s not good. Then we become confused.

From the transcendental platform it is simply, what does Krishna want, what does He like, what pleases Him as a person? That’s what is defined in sastra. Sastra defines what pleases Krishna.

Depending upon the individuals, their particular conditioning, their values and interests, then the pleasure of Krishna will be presented in a variety of ways. From more subtle, more metaphysical, more gross, more intellectual, more sentimental, more attachment or more detachment, any combination.

All the different sastras give the same points, they just use different words to explain it.

Just like you have synonyms, they explain the same thing. But depending on the flavor, the mood, or the situation, you use a different word. The sastras are like that. All they are defining is what pleases Krishna.

What is comes down to is that since it is about Krishna, then how He constructs things, how He arranges things, is going to make for His pleasure. Someone who follows the Vedic recommendation, whether it is known or unknown, will please Krishna. If you know it and you follow it then that will please Him more. If you don’t know it and you follow it, then it’s nice. It’s better than not following.

That is actually the bottom line. How close is it to what Krishna wants. What does He like as a person. That’s why you will see that somebody who is not necessarily a nice person may somehow or another being doing something right.

Let’s say like Robin Hood. You steal from the rich. Stealing is never good. It doesn’t matter if they are rich or poor, it doesn’t matter who they are. Stealing is not proper. But then he gives in charity. He takes gives to people who are in need. That part is good. The other part is not good. For one part he will get a bad reaction and for the other part he will get a good reaction. It’s not that oh he is a thief, everything is bad.

It’s based on what you do. What part is good, is good. What part is not, is not. To take things a bit further, there is the intent on why you’re doing it.

Now, he’s stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. What’s his intent on doing that? That will also have a flavor. Now if he’s giving to the poor because he wants to be well known and famous among that group of people, then he will get less benefit. If you are proud of your charity then you lose the benefit. You boast yes, I gave this much, you know, this and that. You will lose the benefit. Intent is also there.

We see this combination. Krishna is sitting in the heart, He knows what you think. He knows what you feel. He knows why you do everything. That’s the whole point. He knows all of these things. Depending on how you deal, He responds. If you do things right, you get a good result. If you do things wrong then you get a bad result. That’s the equality.

For every living entity, no matter who they are or how they deal, Krishna will see in this way. Therefore, it doesn’t matter your position, you will be taken care of according to how you are reciprocating with Him either directly or indirectly.

Then you have the devotees. That will be a step beyond. For the general public, that’s called sthana, that’s just the maintenance of the universe. For the devotees though it is nourishment. He’s nourishing them because they are doing it consciously with devotion.

Therefore, for the other things, you do one unit and you get one unit – one unit good you get one unit good, one unit bad and you get one unit bad. But for the devotees, because they are doing something to please Krishna then they get so much more, so much greater. The results are much more. Therefore, nourishment.

This, then, is bewildering in general because you can’t tell why people are getting such good situations, who don’t seemingly deserve it. Why do these things happen? For the devotee, the idea is that if you always look at according to how Krishna would look at it, what would please Him, according to His standards, not our standards…sometimes you hear devotees say, oh Krishna wouldn’t like that. But it’s because they don’t like it. Krishna might actually be ok with it.

For Krishna, it’s the devotion that is the main thing. When we say it’s something that Krishna likes, the only thing he actually likes is devotion. What we are referring to when we say the rules and regulations of the scriptures or the recommendations of the scriptures, we’re not talking about the primary, the devotional attitudes. We are talking about the secondary forms, the medium to express the devotion.

The mediums are not the devotion. Therefore, expressing the devotion. But it doesn’t mean that your intent in choosing a secondary medium doesn’t have some connection to devotion.

Am I choosing a secondary attribute because it pleases me or because it pleases Krishna. If it pleases Krishna, that’s sannyasa. I’m doing this work for Krishna. It’s already Krishna’s. If I’m doing it for myself and then giving it to Krishna, that’s renunciation. If I’m doing it for myself and eventually some little bit is given to Krishna, then that’s smaller renunciation.

That’s the whole thing that Krishna will be looking at, not about what secondary is being performed, it’s about the intent of it. Why do you choose what you choose? What is the reason that you do what you do? That makes for the greater point. Then you will see that for the action itself, that will get a reaction. That will come. That you don’t have to have to worry about. Beyond that, it’s going to come to what is the intent in connection to Krishna. That becomes the subtlety there.

It’s about the personal relationship with Krishna. That’s actually the whole point of everything. It’s not about the rules and regulations. It’s not about the forms. It’s not about that. It’s about the devotion. Because it’s about the devotion, it actually starts from devotion.

Here we are starting from the externals working towards devotion. But we have to remember that in the spiritual world, they start from devotion and then there is the secondary manifestation of that.

Mother Yasoda has love for Krishna. That’s the primary aspect. The secondary is that she expresses that particular parental love through cooking for Krishna, keeping the house nice for Krishna, making nice clothes for Krishna, worrying about Krishna. That’s the secondary.

That means how does this work? There the primary is first and then the secondary follows to support it. Then it reflects off the viraja of our desire. Then it reverses. If we look at it, what are we interested in? Are we interested in the devotion that Krishna gets, that love is there? Or is it about the facilities He has and the enjoyment He gets from it? Therefore, it reflects off of our attachment or lust for the secondary items.

The first thing that we do is only deal with the secondary. The primary we very rarely ever get to. It means the devotional we rarely get to, basically, unless we take up devotional service. Even on the mundane platform, actually the purpose of a secondary aspect, very few people know and do. What you do is always going to go back to some good quality.

Why does somebody work very hard to have a house? He has a mortgage, works very hard, saves his money, misses out on so many facilities that he could have, but he’s working for the house. What’s the point of the house? The point of the house is security, safety, and environment in which then members of the family can then have a relationship and express that relationship in a stable and steady way. Because you know it’s going to be the same every day. That’s the point. But the focus is all on the secondary, the external point. It’s about the house. Oh, you have a nice house? Then the family life must be great. You don’t have a nice house then you can’t have a good family life. It actually has nothing to do with that. It’s whether you appreciate the quality of that security, the quality of that relationship. Then you can have something.

That’s what actually makes things function. But by modern advertising, you don’t sell money off of that much. It goes by the secondary, the social, all of these different things, the economic. We are looking at the secondary.

With the scriptures, the first thing we’ll notice are the rules and regulations because that’s where we put all of our focus. So then there are recommendations: these secondary acts are followed by the residents of the spiritual world. This is what they do. This is how they eat, they talk, they walk, they sit, they dress, they dance, this is what they do. If you want to develop love like them, they use these secondary attributes to express that love.

If you use that, it’s a step in the right direction since we don’t have that love. By doing those secondary aspects, connected to the Lord, that we want to do it to please the Lord, it will purify us and bring us to that platform of devotion for Krishna. It’s not the forms we are using that makes the devotion, it’s the intent in using it.

The reason that we choose it is that it’s what has been recommended to us by the great personalities. What do we know about the spiritual world and what is going on there? But the great personalities, they know, they’re from there. They know what pleases Krishna. They know what their superiors do. They are just assisting them.

The devotee is doing these secondary things to please Krishna with the intent of developing that love. Therefore it’s nourishment. For the non devotees, they’re either just following the rules and regulations the vedas give by determination or haphazardly because human beings and nature tend to do nice things here and there. Then they get the reaction to that, the result of that.

If you look from this perspective then you can actually see how Krishna maintains, how He reciprocates with each and every one. If one uses another formula, one will find that it will be very confusing.

So this is what Narada Muni is explaining, that it’s the aspect of pure devotion that makes things work. That’s what is actually the functioning point. Everything else is simply something to support that. There are recommended aspects of support, things that are neutral, and things that are opposed. The acharyas discuss these things. Srila Prabhupada tells us what is useful and what is not.

He is pointing out here that because of their contact with Krishna, because of their absorption in Krishna, they are going to get something. They are thinking of Krishna. The point is that one should always be absorbed in thinking of the Lord.

Ravana, Hiranyakasipu, Sisupala, they are totally absorbed. Therefore being killed by the Lord, they don’t know He’s the Lord, but they get material facility. Understand that connecting oneself to the Lord gets benefit. They’re getting benefit. One could say they are demons, why are they getting this benefit? But they are getting benefit because they are actually connecting themselves to the Lord.

It’s just like we see that the demons follow Sukacharya, they surrender to him, he’s the guru, they do what he says, and they get elevated to the heavenly planets. Indra offends his guru and he ends up sitting in a lotus stem in the manasarovara hiding there. If you look at the lotus stems carefully you notice that they’re not very big.

That’s just how it works. It’s Krishna’s system, it’s not our system of how we say it should be. It’s how Krishna says it should be. That’s what’s going to get us something. We have to look at it from that point. That’s the perspective. It’s the International Society for “Krishna” Consciousness.

The point is that the consciousness is there. Not that we say oh yeah, yeah, what about this thing. No. That “is” the thing. Then you choose the best secondary to express it. It’s not about the secondary. It’s about what is best to express the primary. If you make it about the secondary then you’ll miss the point, you will miss the primary. It’s which one to do, which one matches the situation.

That’s what the vedas are all about. What are the time, place, and circumstance to see one’s Krishna Consciousness in connection to Krishna and to see that consciousness to engage it in Krishna’s service. That’s what the vedas are talking about. They talk about all the different situations, all the different activities, all the different results that you can gain. But that’s only so you can decide which one is best for serving Krishna right now. Nothing else.

It’s not time, place, and circumstance to get it practically done for me. It’s time, place, and circumstance to actually express devotion for Krishna. Then, by the practical activity, practical results will come. The point is that your consciousness will define whether you get devotion from that practical endeavor or not.

Are there any questions or comments?

A question regarding sannyasa and renunciation, ok. The difference between sannyasa and renunciation. Ok.

It’s a simple, simple point. We are talking about it in connection to Krishna Consciousness. We are not talking about sannyasa and renunciation outside of that.

Basically, you have an activity that you perform. And from the activity it will generate a particular result. That’s just how, by the laws of the Lord, His energy transforms. You follow the law correctly and it transforms in a particular way. You don’t follow the law then it transforms in some different way.

If I engage in a particular activity that will result in transformation of the energy that will produce a particular result, why am I doing that? It’s not the activity itself because we always take everything as it’s this or that. It’s why you’re doing it.

Remember, the jiva can desire. We are not the one that’s doing it. The energy itself is transforming. Just like if I put something in a blender and push the button, I don’t blend it. I can say I blended it, but I didnt. The machine blended it.

What’s your intent in doing that? So if your intent in doing this is that the result is Krishna’s, that means that before I start, it’s Krishna’s, then that is called sannyasa. The result has already been given to Krishna.

If I perform the activity and the idea is that it’s my activity, my result, and then I’m going to give the result to Krishna afterwards, that’s called renunciation. That can mean that I can give all of it to Krishna or part of it to Krishna. So it’s depending on how great is my own desire.

The more I see it all, that whatever I’m doing is in connection to Krishna and that’s it, then that’s sannyasa. That means that is the ideal in the vedic system. It’s that everybody should be sannyasa.

We have eight different ways to express that mood of sannyasa through the varnashram system. As we said, you have to have an expression for the mood. Socially we have the varnashram system.

Ekalavya das: Maharaj, could one say that sannyasa is bhakti and that renunciation is karma mishra bhakti?

Maharaj: You can say it like that. It could be karma mishra, it could be jnana mishra. The point is that there is something mixed. Because it’s connected to Krisna, you will get purified. By getting purified, knowledge and detachment come, so eventually by good association, you come to the platform of pure sannyasa. That means that anybody can come to the platform of sannyasa no matter what their situation. That’s what we are trying for.

When we talk about giving up the results of things, we mean that’s it’s done to please Krishna. We don’t mean that you don’t work in the field. We’re not saying that grihasthas don’t make money and take care of the family, but why are they making money? Why are they taking care of the family? Is it about Krishna or is it about themselves? If it’s about themselves, then it’s renunciation. If it’s about Krishna, then it’s sannyasa.

Therefore, you see very attached persons as grihasthas and you see the paramahampsas as grihasthas. Priyavatra is a paramahamsa. He was asked to become a grihastha and become the king. He was a paramahampsa all the way through. He’s simply using grihastha ashram to perform those duties to please Krishna.

Most people take up grihastha ashram because they like the results and working in that field of endeavor. They are comfortable there. So they do that for Krishna. So it will be renunciation.

But he would be in that position of sannyasa. Because it’s not about him, he does the duties nicely. Therefore he will look like an attached householder. That was the doubt and the questioning about it. How is it that by attachment, you’re not going to get devotion if someone who has devotion would never manifest attachment? How is it that the prajatas are in family life for a long time? I think it was for a million years. At the end, they became great personalities and went back to Godhead. That’s because they were great all the way through, but, you only see externally when they gave it up and took to the renounced order, then you see ok now they are detached. But they were detached all along. It was all about I’m following grishastha life simply because it will please Krishna. Therefore they do it.

It’s like a drama. A good actor plays his part well. It’s not that he thinks I am that. Except for, you know, the Stanislavsky-ists. They’ll say I am that. But technically you’re not, right?

They are there playing their part. And they are playing it well. To everyone else it looks like here is a very attached grihastha. You can tell by other symptoms that they’re not because family is happy, family is this.

It’s an interesting point that, I think it’s fourth canto, the discussion that Srila Prabhupada brings up is about attachment and hatred. When we see hatred we see all of the isms and all of the fractional kind of things. That comes up because there is material desire. If there is no material desire then you don’t see that. That’s how you see the symptoms.

When you see the Pandavas, do you see that they see there is us and them? No. But with Duryodhana, you do. He has deisre. Yudisthira doesn’t. That means Yudisthira is running his kingdom, he’s dealing with wife very gently and nicely. He’s not going, hey I don’t need this, I want to chant my japa, why are you being so trippy. No. He deals with everything. He deals perfectly with all of the household elements. It’s because Krishna says that is how the grihastha ashram should run. He’s doing it to please Krishna. That’s called sannyasa.

The idea is at the lastest, you attain that by the time you take sannyasa. When you take sannyasa, now you don’t have anybody else to work for so it should be that it’s about Krishna. At least there, then, if you haven’t developed it before, it’s like with the trapeze you have the net below. If it doesn’t work before that then at least by this time you get it right.

In the vedic system, it starts before, like Prahlad Maharaj. Here, he’s already sannyasa and he’s three years old. That’s the point.

Sannyasa is the mentality, then it has its natural, external form. The confusion comes because grihastha doesn’t look like sannyasa. If it’s done in Krishna Consciousness, then it is.

Is it about Krishna or is it not? That’s why we have to look at that as the first. Then we start looking at the secondary and the forms and how they match.

Vaishesika dasa: Hare Krishna Maharaj. Thank you very much. Very insightful, as usual. Recently, having a discussion with a god brother about agyata sukriti. His position is that in ISKCON, we depend on the idea too much of agyata sukriti. To support his point, he quotes the last verse, 28, in chapter 17:

But sacrifices, austerities and charities performed without faith in the Supreme are nonpermanent, O son of Pṛthā, regardless of whatever rites are performed. They are called asat and are useless both in this life and the next.

I was wondering if you could help to describe what happens in agyata sukriti.

Maharaj: It’s useless. That’s why you don’t get rid of them. And then others are not nice, useless, you’ve just forgotten about them because they got in the closet or you got busy and stuff.

We’re used to the idea that nice means useful and not nice means not useless. But actually, if it’s connected to Krishna, it’s useful, and if it’s not connected to Krishna then it’s useless.

That’s why there is so much discussion about these pious activities, the recommended activities, charity, austerity, penance, all the good qualities, tolerance, humility, respect, all of these different things. These are the ideal secondary mediums to engage in Krishna’s service. Unless they are engaged in Krishna’s service, it’s just so much niceness and temporary and ultimately, it’s useless.

That has to be clearly understood because otherwise we tend to judge useful and useless by its secondary position and by our value system, what we value as a secondary item by our conditioning. That tends to cloud the thing.

Agyata sukriti means unknowing devotional service. That means someone has done devotional service but didn’t know it was devotional service. That’s why it’s agyata sukriti. If they do devotional service and they know it’s connected with the devotees, that’s where it becomes devotional service.

That’s why the point I may be projecting here that we may be working from the point too much that we’re depending on agyata sukriti because we are exposing people to devotional service, but, due to sometimes shyness or anxiety that people won’t be comfortable with it, we don’t mention about devotional service. Then, all people get is agyata sukriti.

Let’s say that we are distributing prasada but they don’t know it’s devotees. They’re taking prasada, they’re getting devotional benefit, that will be eternal. Agyata sukriti is eternal. It’s pious activities not connected to Krishna are the ones that are temporary.

They will get eternal benefit but the problem is that they won’t contemplate devotional service or devotees. They will have to wait for that volume to pick up and there’s no impetus for it to pick up any quicker. Once agyata sukriti reaches a certain volume, then it will transform into sraddha or faith. If they see we are devotees and they are taking prasada, and they appreciate the devotees, now they are getting more agyata sukriti. Much more quickly they will come to the point of sraddha.

That’s why, if it’s at all possible, you always make it clear that this is connected to the Lord, that this is devotional service. The idea that if you just leave it in the background, it will happen, yes it will happen. But it’s not necessarily that we’re getting as much credit as we think we deserve.

These things are arranged. Krishna is already doing that. He is arranging that these things happen. He has arranged that the guy had some interest. “What’s going on? What’s happening in life? Why is my life like that?” So his alarm didn’t go off. He was late. He missed the carpool and had to take the bus. When he got off he had to walk some distance and walked by the harinam party. Krishna is already doing the agyata sukriti stuff.

The whole point is that he doesn’t press. But Lord Caitanya is worried about that. People don’t know. Advaita Acharya says I’m already arranging that, no one’s responding. He’s calling Lord Caitanya who is taking the mood of the devotee that so that devotees will tell you here’s Krishna. I know that you’ve done nothing to deserve it but hey, take it anyway. Where Krishna is only if you desire it, if you take a step forward, He’ll reciprocate.

That’s the point of devotees and preaching that they please Krishna more than anyone. That the first offense is offending the devotees. It’s because they actually go out and are bold about it. They preach. That’s the whole thing. That’s what preaching is, to get it across to the person in a way that they would be attracted.

That idea that I just kind of put it there and leave it and disappear, that’s ok. At least it’s around. The real credit is going to be that if I do something. Let’s say, for example, the husband has done something wrong, he’s upset the wife. The tendency is that he just sits there and won’t something and waits for the wife to respond to it. But she’s waiting for him to do something because she’s in the feminine position. He does nothing, she waits for a little while, then she gets up and leaves. He’s going, now what’s happened? When she was expecting him to try, and he’s worried that if I try something, she’ll reject it. But at least he should try – if I try something and she rejects this, or try that and she rejects that, until you get one that works.

That’s the thing that is pleasing, that effort, how? We’re presenting this, it’s more of a delicate situation, but what wording could we use? What examples could we use? What kind of setting could we use that would interest them in Krishna Consciousness? That they know that this is Krishna Consciousness. Because nothing is more attractive than Krishna Consciousness to the soul. Nothings is more sophisticated or refined. Nothing is more intellectual. Nothing is more practical.

If one has that faith, people will find it. If one doesn’t have that faith, well of course, the karmis are more sophisticated, more intelligent, more professional, more this, so who are we? We just kind of sit back and throw it out and maybe they’ll notice.

But if you have faith that there is nothing better than Krishna, he is the most attractive, he makes the atoms hold together. The gravity they talk about, Krishna enters, they say there is a certain mass. But what they forget is how does this mass hold together? You have to have gravity in the first place to get mass. That means Krishna enters each atom and because of that mood of Madan Mohan, they get attracted to each other. He is the attractive feature that makes everything work.

So if we can present Krishna in wording and examples that the individual can appreciate, then they can take up Krishna Consciousness more quickly. Otherwise, if we just leave it to chance, who knows how many lifetimes it will take. The way people are going these days, there are going to be a lot of lifetimes in between their next human life. It mentions in the sastras that they go to hell for so many times, they go through so many animal species, then they come back to the human form of life and they get another shot. By engaging them in agyata sukriti nicely, then that can be hurried up.

Agyata sukriti is always good, but like you said, to depend upon it, that it will work on its own without my endeavor – so another is thing is that I’m making the endeavor and then we leave it up to Krishna and it’s totally up to Him, that dependence is good. That’s proper. Not, oh, I did this preaching so therefore I made the devotee. No, Krishna.

But this thing that we don’t want to be too pushy and this and that, you know, why don’t we hide in the closet and that kind of thing, people would like that, right? How is that going to please Krishna? That’s why the devotees are there. That’s why Lord Caitanya took the mood of Radharani, so He could preach. That’s why Lord Caitanya is preaching. But then, is anybody else?

Rupa Gosvami said no, we’ll do this for you. Therefore, those in the line of Rupa Gosvami, they’re bold. It doesn’t mean they’re not nice. We take that it means oh it’s not nice. That’s why I’m saying we have to go by Krishna’s definitions, not ours. Modern says bold is not nice.

But if you look at it, let’s say you had a five year old kid. You’re sitting in the airport and this five year old kid just walks over to you and says hi, what’s your name? That’s bold. But you would say that’s nice. There’s no agenda.

Boldness without agenda is good. People like it. But boldness with agenda, that’s the problem. What we have to understand is that all of these good qualities are good when they are connected to Krishna. If they’re not connected to Krishna, no matter how nice they are, they’re still temporary.

The guy is a nice guy this lifetime. Next life, what’s he going to be? A nice deer? I just read about how they have these little miniature donkeys that are this big. People keep them as pets. They say they’re really, really nice, they like kids. Ok, so he becomes a nice miniature donkey in someone’s back yard. He takes care of the kids, loves kids. But he’s a donkey.

That’s the point. He’s nice. But next life he’s going to be a nice what? So only when that niceness is connected to Krishna does it become of value. That’s what the Bhagavatam does from all other scriptures. All other scriptures tell you how technique works, and how, understanding the technique, this is how it connects to Krishna.

All Bhagavatam does from the first verse is tell you this is how you connect to Krishna and these are the things that you can connect. It starts with the primary and then shows how the secondary has been used by the great personalities. All of the other literatures show what are the secondary and how people have connected it to Krishna.

Do you understand the difference? One shows the science and then there is the connection in a few verses. The Bhagavatam is all about the connection, and then the connections are given through the examples of kings and householders and sannyasis and brahmans, and all kinds of situations.

That’s why it’s the paramahampsas scripture, because it’s talking about pure devotional service. The other ones are talking about activities that you could engage in Krishna’s service or not. They’re pious activities. But they are the recommended activities. Devotees are supposed to be pious, live a pious lifestyle, pious by Krishna’s definition, not by ours. But do that for Krishna because being pious is not enough. It’s a nice way to spend your time here, but you’ll spend your time here. But if you do it in connection to Krishna then you’ll get out of here and go back to Godhead.

Last question, yes?

Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaj. Since in Kali Yuga people can very easily make offenses to the holy name and Lord Caitanya is very merciful, why don’t the scriptures recommend chanting Lord Caitanya’s name instead of the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra?

Maharaj: Why chant Hare Krishna instead of Lord Caitanya’s name? Because He’s more merciful then why not chant His name?

The whole system is about pleasing Krishna. Krishna is the original form. That’s where His fullness in svarupa sakti is manifest. We see that there are five forms where Krishna is complete. Complete meaning manifesting full potency. Krishna, Lord Caitanya, Balarama, Nrsimhadeva, and Rama. They are called paravastu. So they are full manifestations. They are not expansions of Narayana. They are the original.

We see in all of these other moods, He’s manifesting less interaction with His internal potency. The full expression of His completeness is there in is pastimes as Krishna with Radharani in Vraja. That is the topmost.

To come to that position then we need that mercy. That’s when Krishna, who is Mukunda, who can liberate us, takes the mood of the devotee so that we can actually see the importance of chanting. That’s why we follow the order of Lord Caitanya, respecting Lord Caitanya. Then on His order we chant Hare Krishna. Lord Caitanya said that we should chant Hare Krishna. That’s what He would do.

Therefore, before we start chanting Hare Krishna, we chant Lord Caitanya’s name, but it’s actually about chanting Hare Krishna. That’s what pleases Lord Caitanya.

Again it comes back to this thing that what please Krishna is the actual standard. Otherwise, logically it would look like if I chant Lord Caitanya’s name and He’s the most merciful, I’ll get the most benefit. But He’s the most merciful if we follow what He wants. What He wants if for us to chant Hare Krishna.

We’ll end here.

Speaker: HG Vaisesika Prabhu
Venue: Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir
Date: 27 Feb 2016

Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Ninth Canto, Chapter 11, Text 25.

sri-badarayanir uvaca
athadisad dig-vijaye
bhratrms tri-bhuvanesvarah
atmanam darsayan svanam
purim aiksata sanugah

Translation
“Sukadeva Gosvami replied: After accepting the throne of the government by the fervent request of His younger brother Bharata, Lord Ramacandra ordered His younger brothers to go out and conquer the entire world, while He personally remained in the capital to give audience to all the citizens and residents of the palace and supervise the governmental affairs with His other assistants.”

My humble obeisances to all the exalted Vaisnavas. Thank you very much for this opportunity to be with you. In this purport Prabhupada comes to this military terminology, Prabhupada’s vira rasa, where he wants to fight with the world to speak Krishna consciousness is evident in the way he wrote his letters when he wrote at the top of them ‘Camp Baroda’, ‘Camp Los Angeles’ and he saw it as a war against maya. In fact he used military terminology when he talked about book distribution. He said, ‘We are fighting with maya. It’s a war. And to fight maya means to go out and drop hundreds and millions of books into the laps of conditioned souls. Just like during war time people drop bombs.’

So in this verse also which is talking about the way in which Lord Ramachandra sent out His brothers to conquer the different directions which was the custom at that time. Prabhupada immediately relates it to the sankirtana movement and how one must become dig-vijaya and that way that one becomes dig-vijaya is to take the open order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. And that is about the best deal there is in the whole universe because Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s words’s are inviting us to engage in the sankirtana movement and as Prabhupada phrases it, it’s an open order. That means anybody can take it at any time to their full capacity, whatever capacity one has, one can take that order and when one takes the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, its immediate that one becomes connected to the internal energy of the Lord because as Srila Prabhupada says in the Second Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam in relationship to the catur sloki Bhagavatam, that the direct order of the Lord is a manifestation of His internal potency. It is by that potency that one comes to see the Lord face to face. So it is pretty exciting there is an open order, isn’t it?

So what is the open order. Its just a small thing that can be taken care of within a few days, right! And not much room for many people. No! Its open for the whole world, the whole universe. Anywhere and everywhere one can go and spread this sankirtana movement. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is deputising everybody as a representative who just takes the open order. In fact when Prabhupada was speaking to the devotees who were asking him about how the movement would go on, and specifically they were asking how about initiation, how would that go on? Prabhupada had a few things to say and then he interjected as an afterthought, he said that ‘One who understands the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, he can become guru, or one who understands the order of his spiritual master which is the same order, he can become guru.’ And this is the prerequisite, one simply has to understand that there is an open order, that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and one has to take the order.

So leadership is defined in the Fifth Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam as the ability to understand this principle that one must deliver people and I love the word Prabhupada uses in this purport, he says induce. At first it sounds like when you are inducing somebody it may be a little bit aggressive. Does it to you? Just a little bit, maybe! I looked at the word. It comes from Latin, inducere which means to lead, ducere means ‘to lead’ and in means ‘in’. So inducere means to lead someone in a particular direction. So to inducing means to bring somebody along in the right direction. Well not necessarily in the right direction but in our case following the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the spirit of the sastra, which I mentioned in Fifth Canto,

gurur na sa syat sva-jano na sa syat
pita na sa syaj janani na sa syat
daivam na tat syan na patis ca sa syan
na mocayed yah samupeta-mrtyum (SB 5.5.18)

Didn’t get it completely perfect the second time either, but the verse says that whatever kind of leader one is attempting to become or whatever leadership roll one is taking, whether its as a diksa guru or as a mother or a father or any worshipable position. Whatever position one is either asserting oneself for or finds oneself suddenly pushed into, which often is the case, one should keep this principle in mind, na mocayed yah samupeta-mrtyum. One’s idea should be to induce people to become free from birth, death, old age and disease and take to Krishna consciousness. Its an inducement.

In fact the whole material world if you think about it is a huge chance for Krishna to induce the living entities to go back home, back to Godhead. It’s the srishti lila, during which in the exhalation of Maha Visnu there is unlimited opportunities for living entities to come in contact with the various incarnations of the Lord, the various representatives of the Lord, the Ganges, different sastras, and its mentioned also in the Srimad Bhagavatam that the process of destruction takes place when Anantadeva becomes a little annoyed, actually angry it says. Annoyed is a more modern word. (laughs) He becomes angry that the living entities who have being offered so much opportunity to take to Krishna consciousness and Prabhupada says in the purport – to close down their business in this material world. Everyone’s got a little business going on, they have a little chip in the game here and Krishna comes along and gives a better deal, much better deal and says you kn ow, ‘Just close your business. I’ll take care of you, go back to Godhead.’ But people keep playing in here, keep playing their little business game and they don’t close it down, they don’t listen. So Prabhupada says, Anantadeva becomes angry. And from the forehead of Sankrsana comes out the eleven Rudras. They come shooting out of His eyebrows and they begin their dance of destruction, they burn down this universe because people aren’t using it properly.

So this indicates the intention of the Lord for the world. And the open order is that one can help Him in the mission which is to induce people, to lead them, to bring them closer to Krishna. And in the Caitanya Caritamrta Antya Lila its mentioned that Haridasa Thakura was particularly dear to the Lord. Prabhupada says, he understood Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s mind that He was in anxiety because the living entities are suffering in the material world. Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s anxiety can be relieved by those who take the open order and go out and induce people to take to Krishna consciousness. And Srila Prabhupada says that this is how one become an intimate devotee of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, by taking this idea to induce the living entities to come back.

As far as our organisation goes, our organization meaning our ISKCON society, there is a way in which we are organised around this principle as well and it seem natural that when we keep this principle in the center, of inducing those who come, leading those who come to Krishna consciousness, to hear and chant about Krishna, to come closer to Him. And the leaders also, a leader means one who also takes this very seriously. I particularly noted the first verse in the Upadesamrta which says that one who can control all of one’s urges,

vaco vegam manasah krodha-vegam
jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah
sarvam apimam prthivim sa sisyat (Sri Upadesamrta (1))

That one who is controlled becomes a teacher for everyone else in the universe, its says everyone becomes his sisya, his disciple. So first of all one must, one has the opportunity to carefully take up the process of Krishna conciseness and cultivate it and by that one feels inspired and then can lead others by that potency and can induce other people to take to Krishna consciousness.

So leadership means, first one must be the leader of one’s senses, which are described in another sastra to be like bad masters and one has to overcome the bad masters of the senses.

kamadinam kati na katidha palita durnidesas
tesam jata mayi na karuna na trapa nopasantih
utsrjyaitan atha yadu-pate sampratam labdha-buddhis
tvam ayatah saranam abhayam mam niyunksvatma-dasye (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (3.2.35)

The devotee who is advancing says, for how long and how many ways have I obeyed the bad masters of my senses but no longer will I obey them. They have never given me time off. They have never given me mercy and I never questioned them. But now my intelligence has awakened, labdha-buddhi, and now I am looking for personal service to Krishna, no longer serving my senses.

So this the foundational point of our Krishna consciousness movement, of our leadership, is to become the leader of one’s own senses. And to aspire for and be engaged in service to Krishna and Krishna’s devotees. And then one can go out as the dig-vijaya, as Srila Prabhupada is mentioning in this purport, Lord Ramachandra sent out His younger brothers to conquer all the world. So Prabhupada says we must also do the same thing, and this is victory. So victory over one’s senses and then one can go out…(reads from the purport of SB9.11.25)

“This is the order of the Lord, who speaks as the supreme emperor. Everyone should be induced to accept this order, for this is victory (dig-vijaya).”

And inducing people all over the world to take to Krishna consciousness. We see Caitanya Mahaprabhu did in various ways. He took sannyasa as an expedient measure to allow people to honour Him so they would make advancement in Krishna consciousness. And Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya, he was very patient with Prakasananda Sarasvati, he was very humble. But his full intention was to induce them to take to Krishna consciousness. So there are various ways of inducing people.

There is a devotee of Lord Nityananda whose name was Gadadhara dasa and he was given the mission to go all over town, door to door, and induce people to chant Hare Krishna and he was angry with the Kazi because the Kazi was trying to hinder the sankirtana movement. So he went right in the Kazi’s house and he began screaming out that the Kazi had to come down, he had to take to Krishna consciousness and the Kazi came down, normally a very brutal kind of person but he was a little amused by the audacity of Gadadhara dasa and said, ‘Listen why don’t you go home! Maybe I’ll take to this Hare Krishna chanting another day!’ Gadadhara dasa began to dance in ecstacy and said, ‘Why do I have to wait for another day? You just said Hare Krishna!’ This is the prerogative of the devotees. They are always trying to induce people to chant Hare Krishna.

And it reminds me when we are going door to door, not too long ago, I think it was in San Deigo, or Laguna beach, anyway somewhere in Southern California, there are all these apartments that you can go to. There are so many, you can’t even count them all in one life time and behind them are people just sitting in there, as Prabhupada said in his poem before he came to America, looking down the road waiting to see when are Nitai and Gaura going to come and rescue me! If you are wondering what people were doing in there, thats what they are doing! They are looking out of the window, ‘When are Nitai and Gaura coming to rescue me?’ So when you knock on the door don’t be surprised if they are happy to see you.

And I knocked on one door, there was a very nicely dressed gentlemen in his early forties, he was on way to work. He managed a fast food restaurant and he was a devout Christian and a very civil person. And he talked to us for a while and declined our inducement to purchase a book. So then we tried to induce him in another way by saying, ‘Do you believe in the power of prayer?’ And he said, ‘Yes I do!’ I handed him a card and I said, ‘Then this is a beautiful prayer in Sanskrit that’s meant to wake up pure love for God in your heart. Repeat after me. Are you ready?’ Which is what I usually say, because people might say no! So I say, ‘Are you ready!’ And then he said, ‘Oh no! I can’t do that!’ And there were several devotees, maybe about seven, we were watching him and taking to him and he gave a long explanation and he said, ‘Yeah, I just cant do this!’ I said, ‘Can’t do what?’ And he goes, ‘Say Hare Krishna!’ (laughter) And all the devotees who were standing there went, ‘Haribol!’ They were so happy that he said Hare Krishna! And according to the sastra,

aho bata sva-paco ’to gariyan
yaj-jihvagre vartate nama tubhyam
tepus tapas te juhuvuh sasnur arya
brahmanucur nama grnanti ye te (SB 3.33.7)

Devahuti says, oh how wonderful it is, somebody if they just one time say Hare Krishna, even the tip of their tongue, even just one time, then this person is the greatest amongst all the other kinds of living entities. It is considered by sastra they have already performed so many pious works, gone to many pilgrimage places, so forth. They are qualified people, become elevated so quickly.

So in the overall, the over arching goal of the Krishna consciousness movement is to take to Krishna consciousness very seriously. One of the ways in which we can connect ourselves and induce ourselves to always think of Krishna is by everyday reading the Bhagavad Gita because Krishna is personally present there and speaking to us directly.

So to that end we started an organization called CHAD, A Chapter A Day, where everyone has the right if they would like to. No one can stop you. Even if you are put in prison you can still do this, to chant one chapter of Bhagavad Gita a day. Try it and see. If somebody tries to stop you, just say, ‘No, I won’t stop! I am going to chant Hare Krishna! And read my chapter of Bhagavad Gita every day!’

And so if you chant one chapter of the Bhagavad Gita everyday then you’ll stay close to Krishna because He is personally present in the Bhagavad Gita. And also reading Srimad Bhagavatam which is, where Prabhupada is most available in his purports. Just by staying close to the Srimad Bhagavatam everyday, everyone can be guided very properly by hearing his purports. And sometimes it seems intimidating to read the whole Srimad Bhagavatam. But if one divides it up into small segments and reads a measured amount everyday, one can finish the whole Bhagavatam within a given period of time.

So if you read just 8 pages of the Bhagavatam everyday, you’ll finish the whole Bhagavatam in five years. And you’ll be five years older in five years anyway. But if you read the whole Bhagavatam in five years then you’ll conquer maya and you’ll be directly connected to Krishna in a very profound way. And if you read 41 pages everyday of the Bhagavatam, you’ll finish in just one year.

So this is the inspirational part of this purport that I picked up about dig-vijaya, conquer the senses and take this spirit out and induce people to chant Hare Krishna and organise whatever community you have, and whatever project you are doing around this principle of guiding people to hear and chant and the spirit of going out and giving Krishna consciousness to other people.

And now I am going to take a few reflections just to see if we can pull something else out.

HH Kesava Bharati Maharaja: Thank you very much Vaisesika Prabhu for this inspirational class. (audio indistinct)

HG Vaisesika Prabhu: Kesava Bharati Maharaja says he found this to be an inspirational class. He’d like to document the last point that I made, about how important it is to read all of Srila Prabhupada’s books and to continue reading them for the rest of all lives. Not just start reading other things until one has assimilated what Srila Prabhupada has given. In the Madhya lila Chaper 25, text 178, there is a wonderful purport. He is going to try to repeat it, verbatim.

“Everyone connected to the Krishna consciousness movement must read all the books that have been published. Otherwise after some time, they will simply eat and sleep and fall down and miss the opportunity for an eternal life of bliss and knowledge.”

Hare Krishna!

(Applause for HH Kesava Bharati Maharaja!)

HG Vaisesika Prabhu: Yes. Just something else about inducement on my mind and that is that, living entities in this world are called tatastha. And tatastha means that they are open to suggestion. You can experiment with this but living entities everywhere, if you make a suggestion to them, they will consider it. And Krishna consciousness movement is meant to give this very strong suggestion to people that they can improve their lives, they can go back to Godhead simply by taking to Krishna consciousness. And everything we do is going towards helping the living entities do that, jive doya, krsna-nama—sarvva-dharma-sara, (Ajna-Tahal, Bhaktivinoda Thakura) The essence of our process is to show mercy to the living entities by widely distributing the holy name of Krishna.

One more? Yes?

Devotee: What about listening to Prabhupada lectures?

HH Vaisesika Prabhu: Yes, you could get all the Prabhupada lectures and you can even get them in chronological order and then you can go through each one and listen to them from the very beginning to the very end and then start over again. And in that way you can constantly hear from Srila Prabhupada.

Someone else?

vañcha-kalpatarubhyas ca
krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah

Gaurapremanande Hari Haribol!

Photos from Sridama Das

By Romapada Das

On the fourth day of the ILS, delegates at the plenary session heard a presentation by Anuttama Das, GBC Minister for Communications on the topic, ‘Srila Prabhupada, the greatest communicator’. He explained that we normally associate Prabhupada with his books, letters, conversations and speeches, but we should also remember that Prabhupada was a skilful communicator.

“Prabhupada tried to create a favourable environment for preaching Krishna consciousness by meeting influential leaders of the day such as Allen Ginsberg, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, George Harrison, and others. He met several religious leaders, VIPs, government leaders, and businessmen,” said Anuttama Das. “Prabhupada made it clear that he did not want to convert everyone or make them into devotees. Instead he wanted influential people to become ‘sympathisers’ so that a favourable environment could be created for spreading Krishna consciousness.”

Stressing the importance of how much communication mattered to ISKCON in the 21st century, Anuttama concluded, “We generally emulate Prabhupada to build temples, distribute books, make devotees and distribute prasadam. But we should also emulate him and follow his communicating strategies. The question every ISKCON temple should ask itself is: are we communicating like Prabhupada wanted us to?”

Almost 1200 delegates and presenters at the ILS have been fed three full meals every day by the organisers. The massive task of cooking these meals is being overseen by Bhavamrita Krishna Das from Mayapur. A team of over 30 devotees cut, clean and chop big mounds of vegetables, cook in large vats and woks, and transfer the cooked prasadam to big drums3.

“There are many western devotees at ILS, hence we are careful with the amount of spice we use in the prasadam,” said Bhavamrita Krishna. “We try to maintain variety in tastes and diversity in the cuisine by including South Indian, Punjabi, Bengali, Chinese, Italian and continental dishes every day. It is our great fortune to cook for so many senior Vaishnavas who are assembled together at the holy dham in the service of Srila Prabhupada.”

Complimenting the cooking team of 30, is the large service team of 100 devotees that transfers the cooked prasadam from the kitchen to the dining areas and carefully serves them to the ILS delegates.

Vanamali Mukunda Das, a sankirtan devotee who has been staying in Mayapur for seven years, is one of the 100 people who serve prasadam to the delegates. He feels that serving senior Vaishnavas at the holy dham of Mayapur is a rare opportunity that makes him a happier person. “When Vaishnavas are happy, the Lord is happy too,” he commented. “We feel so energised to see senior sannyasis, GBC members, Temple Presidents and ISKCON leaders all gathered together in the dining area, and even more so when we see them appreciate the prasadam and the service.”

The variety and range of different cuisines was appreciated by several ILS delegates.

“We are spoilt for choice,” laughed Vijnan Rajsatyal from Nepal. “The different tastes are balanced and the invigorating recipes are nutritious. Even if we eat a little bit, we feel totally satisfied. The devotees who serve the prasadam are truly humble and care for every small detail. I have so much to learn from them in terms of Vaishnava etiquette.”

Paramvyoma Das from Brazil has visited India fifteen times and tasted prasadam at innumerable locations in the country. “I feel that this is the best prasadam I have eaten in India in all my 15 visits. This is because the food is not too spicy, and also because of the incredible number of gourmet dishes and flavours they serve.”

Laxmimoni Dasi who oversees the organising and logistical parts of the ILS on behalf of the GBC Strategic Planning Committee is committed to maintaining the quality of the cooking and the service. “However, we need help to maintain the same quality for the ILS. In addition, many devotees who are not formally registered for ILS do walk in and ask us for prasadam. If we had more donations, we would be able to feed all of them too. We appeal to all generous devotees out there to please consider sponsoring the prasadam service at ILS, which is such a pleasing part of the whole event.”

ISKCON-Delhi - Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur Appearance (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: There are two ways of association—by vani and by vapuh. Vani means words, and vapuh means physical presence. Physical presence is sometimes appreciable and sometimes not, but vani continues to exists eternally. Bombay, November 10, 1974.
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