Bhagavad katha day 6
Hare Krishna Utsav
30-12-2023

Sri Pancha Tattva ki jai! Pancha Tattva, Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is one and Nityananda Prabhu is the second of the Pancha Tattva. Then Advaita Acharyais the third, Srivas Thakur the fourth and then Gadadhar Pandit is the fifth, Pancham (fifth) of the Pancha Tattva.

ajanu lambita bhujau kanakavadhatau?sankirtanaika pitarau kamalayataksau?visvambharau dvija varau yuga dharma palau?vande jagat priyakaro karunavatarau
Chaitanya Bhagavad 1.1.1)

Translation
I offer my respects unto Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Sri Nityananda Prabhu, whose arms extend down to Their knees, who have golden yellow complexions, and who inaugurated the congregational chanting of the Holy Names. Their eyes resemble the petals of a lotus; They are the maintainers of all living entities; They are the best of brahmanas, the protectors of religious principles for this age, the benefactors of the universe, and the most merciful of all incarnations

The lord manifested himself in these five truths. This happened five hundred years ago. Sri Sri Pancha Tattva ki jai!

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare hare

Somethings not good. The Pancha Tattva who are the five forms of the lord, they established the Sankirtan movement and they are all the merciful incarnations of the lord. They have all looked upon all of us, and upon this world, with their glance of mercy. In what form have they done this? The lord has innumerable forms

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare hare

This is love, this is only love, this Mahamantra is love. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Panca Tattva have come from Goloka. Golokam ca parityajya lokanam trana karanat

golokam ca parityajya lokanam trana karanat kalau gauranga rupena lila lavanya vigrahah.

Traslation
In the Kali-yuga, I will leave Goloka and to save the people of kali yuga

We are the people of Kaliyuga and the Pancha Tattva showed mercy upon us crooked people. How? By giving us this Hare Krishna Mahamantra which is the treasure of divine love. What is this Hard Krishna Mahamantra? Did you hear anything, what is it? Yes, it is the treasure of divine love. Do you want to become rich? Yes of course, thats why you all said loudly, ‘Haribol!’

So earn this treasure which is the treasure of the holy name, earn this treasure. Without the treasure of the holy name, this life is worthless Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, ‘ whoever does not have the treasure of the holy name, their life is worthless and they are poor.’ You all become rich and make your lives successful. This word Saphala means successful and there is another word, Viphala.

Saphala means with phala, fruitful life, Hari Hari. This treasure of the holy name is making the whole world rich and along with this, people are becoming happy. You will all say tomorrow, or maybe not tomorrow but the day after you will all say ‘happy new year.’ But the Hare Krishna devotees all over the world, they will not only wish you a happy new year, but they will practically show you how to become happy.

How can you become happy, you may ask? So they will tell you, ‘chant Hare Krishna and be happy.’

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare hare

The world is becoming happy and satisfied by chanting the holy names and performing kirtan. The Pancha Tattva,

Jaya sri krishna chaitanya prabhu nityananda sri adwaita gadadhara
shrivasadi gaura bhakta vrinda

The gaura bhakta vrinda’s are also included in this Panca Tattva Mantra. The Panca Tattva is only complete when the Gaura Bhakta Vrinda’s are there. You are also included in the Pancha Tattva, or you will be one day. So please become Gaura Bhakta’s, devotees of Gauranga Mahaprabhu! Gauranga!

Gauranga Panduranga, Gauranga Panduranga, Panduranga Gauranga, Panduranga Gauranga.

paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge
(Bhagavad Gita 4.8)

Translation
In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.

Just in the beginning of Kaliyuga, the lord comes in five forms of the Panca Tattva and they have done just this, and they continue to do so. Paritranaya sadhunam. Saint Tukaram Maharaja ki Jai! Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came five hundred years ago and it is said that he even went to Mumbai. After this the lord went to Nasik and on the way was this pure city Pune. Next to Pune is Dehu, Hari Hari.

After Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s disappearance, sixty to seventy years passed and after this Tukaram Maharaja appeared, he was born. One day or rather it was nighttime, and he had a dream in which he was ordered and he got initiated. Tukaram Maharaja says, that Raghava Chaitanya, Keshava Chaitanya gave him initiation.

Tukaram Maharaja is telling us this and some Gaudiya Acharya’s and some Gaudiya Vaishnava’s understand that it wasn’t anybody else who came into Tukaram Maharaja’s dream to give him initiation. It was Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself, who came and initiated Tukaram Maharaja! Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ki jai!

Chaitanya Maharaja must be the initiating Guru of Tukaram Maharaja because Tukaram Maharaja said ‘Raghava Chaitanya, Keshava Chaitanya.’ Mahaprabhu is Raghava Chaitanya and he is also Keshava Chaitanya as Raghava means Rama and Keshava means Krishna. At one time in Jagannatha Puri, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya Darshan of his six armed form.

This Darshan has six arms and in two hands the lord had a flute and in another set of arms the lord held a bow and arrow. In the third pair on hands the lord is holding a water pot and stick and so the water pot and stick represent Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the other arms with bow and arrow are Krishna. The arm with a flute is Sri Krishna and Tukaram Maharaja was a Babaji because he was a Sannyasi and Sannyasi’s are also called Babaji.

Hari Hari. Tukaram Maharaja’s teachings and his feelings of devotion, this is all in line with the teachings of the Gaudiya Vaishnava lineage. As it is Tukaram Maharaja had written four thousand abhangs, poems of devotion which were filled with feelings of devotion. There is one poem called Govinda Govinda which is love very much and I often sing this.

Therefore today I thought that because Tukaram Maharaja is here with us in his deity form, we can offer him his own poem of devotion by singing. Om Namo Bhagavate Hari Hari, this is how we chant in our Pandharpura temple. When we dont say this, what do we not only say? Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. We don’t just say this but we also, alongside saying this, we say ‘Om Namo Namah.’

I offer my obeisances unto whom? Bhagavate, the supreme lord Bhagavan. And which Bhagavan is this? Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Why is the lord called Vasudeva? Because he is the son of Vasudeva. So how many sons did Vasudeva have? Well, initially there were eight from which only two survived and when they survived, the seventh son was Balaram. Jai Balaram!

The eighth was Sri Krishna. Krishna Kahnaiya lal ki Jai! So we say Om Namo Bhagavate vasudevaya and in this way we offer our obeisances to Sri Krishna and Balaram. I have said so once or twice before, Krishna and Balaram were together in Vrindavan and then they left together for Mathura. When they left Mathura they were together and then they went to Ujjain for education in Gurukul where they were together.

Then both Krishna and Balaram were fighting against Jarasandha in war. When they ran away, they ran away together from the battle, and they were called Ranchor, because both ran away from the battlefield together. They were both welcomed back to Dwarka together and from Dwarka the lord comes further towards Pandharpura dham.

Therefore in Pandharpura and in the temple there are both Krishna and Balaram. The older brother is there also, both of their Darshan can be had there. Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, we have prepared a presentation for you and it is a TPT presentation which means that there will be audio and video. You can watch and listen, because we are giving you Darshan of what you are listening to.

The lord’s Darshan Pandharpur starts with the Kakad Arati. Uttissttha Uttissttha Govinda Trai Lokyam Manggalam Kuru.

Translation
Wake up Govinda and bring auspiciousness to the three worlds

The Pujari’s chant these Mantra’s and tell the lord to wake up. In Vrindavan, Yashoda ‘songs utthi utthi Gopala, wake up Gopal.’ The darshan of lorc Vitthal in the Kakad Arati is also called Mangal Arati, Mangal Arati, like Mangalam kuri. The days starts with Mangal Arati, have any of you ever gone to take Darshan at Kakkad Arati? Mangal Arati takes place in all the temples around the world, but Pandharpura is the only place where the curtains do not close after Mangal Arati.

The curtain stays open and the lord has Abhishek, bathing in front of everyone. The lord’s Darshan during Abhishek and then the lord is dressed and decorated the in various jewellery. The lord is Natwar, Nat (dance).

barhapidam nata vara vapuh karnayoh karnikaram
bibhrad vasah kanaka kapisam vaijayantim ca malam
(Srimad Bhagavad 10.21.5)

Translation
Wearing a peacock feather ornament upon His head, blue karnikara flowers on His ears, a yellow garment as brilliant as gold, and the Vaijayanti garland, Lord Krsna exhibited His transcendental form as the greatest of dancers as He entered the forest of Vrindavana

When this happens only then can you see it and such a rate darshan becomes possible only in Pandharpura. There is also one temple of the Kshira chora Gopinatha temple and at Badrikashrama. there are only a few places where you can take darshan of the lord’s being bathed and dressed. Then you can understand that when you see all this you become a confidential friend of the lord.

You get the opportunity of becoming an acquaintance of the lord and you will not be told ‘hey you get out. You have no right to be here and to take Darshan.’ This kind of thing does not happen in Pandharpura and when Abhishek is going on- Prabhupada used to say, ‘the lord is offered ‘baal bhoga.’ The lord becomes a small child in the early morning hours, baal gopal.

In the afternoon, the Lord becomes older immediately, and therefore he takes Raj bhog like a king. He honours his lunch Prashad like a king. In the same way Panduranga Vitthal also becomes a small child and when Krishna was a small child in Gokul, what would he be doing in the morning? The Lord still better in the morning every day in Vrindavan, and so when it is time for Mangal Arati everyday in the morning, that is the time of the lord’s butter stealing activities.

The lord loves butter very much. ‘Oh mother, I love butter very much and I do not like anything else. Just keep feeding me butter.’ So in Pandharpura during Abhishek in the mornings, the lord is a child and because it is the time for his butter stealing activities, what is it that we do during the Abhishek? We feed him a ball of butter and the same time the lord is being offered Arati so it is a very special Darshan.

This is because the lord is accessible during this time when his Arati is going on, and this is because the Lord has left all his other things that he is doing, all the busi-ness, and he’s coming, just to give Darshan. And he comes in front of you, and he is amongst you at that time and when he is fed the ball of butter at this time, the devotees are inviting you, ‘look look, take Darshan off this butter thief.’

And those who have come to take Darshan, their mind is concentrated upon this scene of the lord stealing butter and there is offering of Arati to him also at the time of his stealing. Those days are no more, but the warkari’s, the pilgrims used to go to take Darshan in Dhindi or other places. Do you know how they would take Darshan? They would hug the deity of the lord.

Now times have changed and people are changing for the worse but you all and us also, we can not only just take Darshan of the lord’s, but you can touch him also. This opportunity is not possible anywhere else but only here where there is Vitthal. Panduranga Panduranga. Vitthal’s Darshan can be taken like this but in other places, a whole tent full of people may be taking Darshan together, hundred at a time or thousand at a time, but here it is only one at a time to take Darshan of Vitthal.

When it is your turn, even if it is only for a few moments, it will be just you and the supreme lord, alone. The lord gives Darshan to each and every person individually, not a wholesale five hundred or one thousand Darshan for everybody together. In each Darshan Arati it is one at a time Darshan for everyone and such a Darshan is an instruction in one sense. Ot should be so and it is an instruction to those who take Pandharinath’s Darshan.

The lord is very personal and this very lord is he who was witnessed by Tukaram Maharaja. I have given a description a few times of this. The supreme lord came from Dwarka and stood there. Well actually a lot happened, including a conversation between the supreme lord and Pundalik. And what a dialogue it was between the two. Pundalik requested the lord to stay there and the lord stood there upon his request.

The supreme lord who used to move about going here and there, that Dwarakadish is not moving about. He is now just standing there in a deity form but of course he still moves about and walks and he has relationships with many devotees. That could be Janabai or Tukaram, the lord has a personal relationship with unlimited devotees.

We think that the lord is just standing there but Tukaram Maharaj is trying to say something which is not hard to understand. He is speaking about how the lord came to Pandharpura. The lord says ‘aham bhakta paradhino, I am dependant upon the will of my devotees.’ The lord is dependent upon the devotees, so when his devotee said ‘stand here,’ the lord stood there.

Tukaram Maharaja is saying that the deity of lord Vitthal has not been made by any sculptor and nor has the lord been installed, bought to life. Actually, there is no question of the lord being brought to life, the lord already has life in him and so there is no question of installing the lord and bringing him to life. Nobody has made this deity, not has it been installed in any way to be bought to life.

He had come one day to give Darshan to Pundalik, the lord had come from Dwaraka and he bought the atmosphere and mood of Dwaraka along with him with all it’s grandeur. So Hrishikesh which is a name of the lord, as is Dwarakdish, came to Pandharpura and if anyone says that a sculptor in Jaipur or anywhere else had made this deity of lord Vitthal, is there any brave person in here, who can say that this deity has been made by anyone?

If someone says that somebody has made this deity and it was transported to this place and someone did a life giving ceremony, then Tukaram Maharaja has said that that person’s mouth will become filled with ants. Dont you dare! Dont think like this and do not say this! The lord is sac cid ananda vigraha, he is full of eternity, knowledge, and blissfulness. So the Lord came and stood here on a brick and then he became Vitthal.

He will stay forever sac cid ananda vigraha, full of eternity, knowledge, and blissfulness or the Archa vigraha, the deity form, who we can worship and take Darshan of. Man mana bhava mad bhakto mad yaji mam namaskuru

man mana bhava mad bhakto
mad yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi yuktvaivam
atmanam mat parayanah
(Bhagavad Gita 9.34)

Translation
Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.

Krishna has said this to all of us, ‘what should you all do? Man mana, engage your mind in always thinking of me, the supreme lord.’ So Panduranga Vitthal is giving us a chance to remember him right now and right here we are remembering him or at least we are trying to remember him. After hearing and speaking, one remembers which is natural.

Here also because there is speaking and hearing on the subject matter if the lord, there will be remembrance also. So the lord says man mana, remember be and mad bhakta, become my devotee and so we can become devotees of the deity and we can perform devotional service to the deity form of the lord in the deity form. So that is service to the deity because the deity is the supreme lord.

Then there is mad yaji, ‘worship me and offer me Arati and decorate me. Patram puspam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayacchati. Offer me bhoga and if it is butter then that is the best. This is my choice, i prefer butter.’ Then there is mam namaskuru, offer your obeisances unto me.’ Krishna says at the end of the eighteenth chapter of Bhagavad Gita and this sloka is the promise of the lord to us.

And the lord has said that if you do these four things, man mana bhava mad bhaktomad yaji mam namaskuru. When Srila Prabhupada gave me Sannyasa in 1975, we are talking about December in Vrindavan, after my Sannyasa initiation, when I went to meet Srila Prabhupada, I was thinking Srila Prabhupada will order me to do this and so that.

Srila Prabhupada said ‘this is it, you just do four things, you just follow these four principles and then Srila Prabhupada said these very things that I have just spoken about. Man mana, Mad bhakto, Mad yaji and mam namaskuru. If you do this then what does the lord say? The lord says mam evaisyasi satyam te pratijane priyo ‘si me. So mam evaisyasi, if we meditate on the lord, if we become devotees of lord Vitthal, if we worship lord Vitthal and bow down to the lord, then what will the lord do?

The lord says ‘mam evaisyasi, you will attain me and you will come back to me.’ What Tukaram just said that he is going now, back to Vaikuntha, we will be able to do the same if we so these four items. Then the lord is saying, pratyam te, this is the truth. The Lord says at the end of the Bhagavad Gita, ‘I am speaking all this, and why am I saying this? ‘Priya asi, because you are dear to me.’

There on the battlefield, Krishna is instructing Arjuna, and so you all may be thinking that the lord is saying to Arjuna that he is dear to the lord. That is what the lord said, we also belong to the lord and we will always be his, Krishna loves you all. That is why he came to the material world from his home in the spiritual world, and he played so many pastimes here and he spoke Bhagavad Gita. Why? Because he loves you.

Also, Krishna continues doing so many different things and pastimes in his different incarnations for us all devotees. Not only for us here in Maharashtra but for all the devotees all over the world. The lord came to Pandharpura and he stayed there. Why did he stay there? Because he loves you all and he loves me. He glances up on all of us with mercy and he gives us his Darshan. He accepts our service and he also listens to our prayers and accepts our food offerings.

The lord in his Vitthal form, in the form of Panduranga also has a thousand names. Just like there is a thousand names of Vishnu, there is also a thousand names of Vitthal. Go to known by thousand names, they are extremely merciful. There are many devotees of Vitthal like Kurandar das, Kanak das who was from Karnataka and he was a high standing devotee of lord Vitthal.

He has preached about devotion to Vitthal and has glorified lord Vitthal around eight hundred years ago. Then there were the two Gyanadeva and Namadeva and then there was Ekanath Maharaja. Of course Tukaram Maharaja is also there. So in this way there are for big names of the foremost devotees of lord Vitthal. There are the warkari’s who go again and again to pilgrimage to take Darshan of the lord and come back home.

Because they go again and again whicb is called ‘waar am waar’ they are called Warkari. They go one time then two times then waar am waar, again and again. Therefore they become Warkari. So these Warkari’s go in procession and this is called dindi, the procession. Since the time of Gyanadeva Maharaja these processions have occurred and so the devotees go together and expand devotion to lord Vitthal.

Namadeva was present there also and from his name you can tell, that he has glorified the name if the lord to a great extent. The saints of Maharashtra went outside Maharashtra and Namadeva went all the way to Punjab to distribute devotion to lord Vitthal. Some saints stayed
in Maharashtra but Namadeva went to many other places in India to preach devotion of lord Vitthal.

Janabai became his disciple and she was also a unique devotee of lord Vitthal as the lord would help her in her household chores, we were showing you this yesterday. Namadeva Paidi, Paidi means stairs and so the stairs where Namadeva used were called Namadeva Paidi and so even the stairs were named after him. The deity he can see here is also Namadeva. He along with all the members of his family that included some fourteen different members including Janabai, went into Samdhi which was Jiwan Samadhi, spiritual suicide.

They made a well and they all jumped into it and then they were no more. They all go back to the lord to assist in his pastimes. This is the humility of these devotees, just like we were seeing a few days ago that Uddhava was praying to the lord. There is the grass, small bushes and creepers on top of Govardhan and Kusum Sarovar in Vrindavana, please make me one of these my lord. Because when the Gopis come there, they will tread on me, and in this way, I will be able to get some of the dust from their lotus feet my head.’

In the same Namadeva wanted that as many devotees who come for Darshan od lord Vitthal, the dust of all these devotees’s feet would fall on top of his head. So just near the Temple where everyone starts climbing up to the temple, that is the place where he left the world with all his family members and Janabai. That is why each person who goes to the Darshan Arati first bows down to Namadeva’s lotus feet.

His dedication and the way he made an offering of himself for the lord is commendable. He meditated upon Narayana, Vitthal and doing this, he left his body. Hari Hari. Ekanath Maharaja wrote a commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam and he is famous for those words. We also heard about his character, the supreme lord would reside in his home. And the lord would help him in many ways.

And what can we say about the glories of Ekanatha Maharaja and these great soul’s? One day Ekanatha Maharaja went into the river Godawari to take his bath and as he was coming out after taking bath, someone who was eating betal nut spat upon him and so Ekanatha Maharaja went again to bathe. When he came out again, this sinful sinner who was of low caste, again spat upon the great devotee and this happened many times.

Ekanatha Maharaja’s tolerance of this injustice made this sinful person have a change of heart. He immediately fell upon the lotus feet of Ekanatha Maharaja and was begging forgiveness. At that time Ekanatha Maharaja said, ‘thank you, thank you so much. I am indebted to you. Because of you today I, Godavari Maiya ki jai!

Because of you, I got a chance to bathe in the Godawari, so many times and that is all thanks to you. That is why i am so grateful to you.’ At one time, the wicked Aurangzeb came to Pandharura along with one Alludin, then there was Khilji. They were all coming separately but all at the same time and their goal was to destroy Pandharpura, just like they did in many other places for almost one thousand years.

These Muslims have attacked India in all places again and again, but especially in North India, but because Shivaji Maharaja ki Jai! Due to Shivaji Maharaja, the Muslims could did not attack South India as much as they did North India. You may have gone to South India, how many old temples there are all over South India. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala.

Have you ever been there? There are many temples there, yes or no? That many temples they used to be in North India, just as many as there are there. They cannot be seen because to these Muslims because Shivaji Maharaja ki Jai! He was the one who stopped them and conquered them. There are so many more names like Aurangabad, this bad that bad Hyderabad, Faridabad, Gaziabad.

At that time lord Vitthal was in a place called Humpi in Karnataka for a short while. In this place there is Pampa Sarovar also (a lake). There King Krishnadevaraya made a temple called ‘Vijay Vitthal,’ victory of Vitthal which you can see here. And our deity of lord Vitthal, who belongs to everyone, he stayed here in this place for some time. This is a unique temple where the pillars make the sound of music when they are tapped. Sa re ga ma pa, this kind of music is sounded.

So lord Vitthal was bought back here from Karnataka by Bhanu Maharaja, who was from the same family as Ekanath Maharaja. At another time there was danger again, there was a great risk and so in Pandharpura, not far from where our Hare Krishna dham in Pandharpura which we are building called Bhu Vaikuntha, two or three hundred meters away, there is one Dev Gau, village.

There in the well the lord was hidden for a short while and the lord was being worshipped inside that well. He was decorated and worshipped in there. Due to
fear of Muslims, they were worshipping the lord in this way. Behind the lord Vitthal temple, there is another temple called Shree Takpithe Vitthoba. The children are making noise, I can hear. Is it Ramabai?

Yes, Ramabai used to come to Pandharpura and she used to mix buttermilk and flour and would make a special dish. This she would take to the Vitthal temple and she would offer this to the lord and the lord would really enjoy this. Who says that the lord does not eat? It is because we don’t feed him with the love which Shabari did. She only fed the lord ber fruit, she did not feed him the king of fruits, the Mango.

She just fed the lord the ber fruit, who gives importance to this kind of fruits like berries and bers, this is the fruit fit for the monkeys. But when Shabari fed lord Rama this ber fruit, the lord was very satisfied as if she had fed him a full meal. ‘I have never tasted anything like this before. What a fruit, wow!’ Ramabai has this same love and devotion and so her preparation of buttermilk and flour was very dear to
lord Vitthal and the lord ised to eat this with love.

But then she became ill and she was not able to go to the temple to see the lord and offer him this preparation. So she began to pray to the lord and he started coming to her home to eat the buttermilk and flour preparation. Haribol! Then slowed the lord started to stay there at her home and that is why there is a deity of lord Vitthal there even now. It is understood that this deity of lord Vitthal who eats this preparation and the lord in the temple of lord Vitthal are the same.

So when the Temple is closed, and people cannot take Darshan, many people then go to take Darshan of this deity who is taking this preparation of buttermilk and flour. The people become very happy by doing this as they are thinking ‘oh we have taken Darshan of Vitthal. Takpithe Vitthoba bhagavan ki Jai! The Acharya’s of the four Sampradaya’s have gone there, the Acharya of Brahma Sampradaya who is Madhavacharya, the Acharya of Sri Sampradaya, Ramanujacharya and then there is the Acharya of Rudra Sampradaya who is Visnuswami.

And from this Rudra Sampradaya came Vallabhachrya. He too came here and from the Kumara Sampradaya came Nimbarkacharya and all these Acharya’s have stayed in Pandharpura at some time or another. When we made Prabhupada Ghat we put four doors and on the four doors we have put the names of the four Acharya’s. So Vallabhachrya from Visnuswami Sampradaya, worshipped Bal Gopal in Vatsalya Rasa, as a parent or elder personality.

The lord is a small child and he is worshipped as Laddu Gopal and when Vallabhacharya was in Pandharpura, he gave Bhagavad Katha just as we are doing here right now in Hadapsar. Vallabhachrya was famous for his Katha on Srimad Bhagavatam and he has given Bhagavatam talks in sixty four different places. All these are known as the sitting places of Vallabhachrya, wherever he stayed and gave talk on Bhagavatam.

There is one such place in Pandharpura just close to our Iskcon Temple. When he was giving Bhagavatam talk, lord Vitthal used to give him Darshan and speak with him. They would have a conversation, Vallabacharya and lord Vitthal and as I was saying, when there is talk of the lord, who comes? The lord himself comes.

Mad bhakta yatra gayanti tatra tisthami narada, oh Narada, I am present wherever My devotees are chanting. The lord went there and Vallabhacharya took the lord’s Darshan and the lord also took Darshan of Vallabhacharya. By this we can learn about the character of Vallabhacharya ad understand that the lord Vitthal gave him an important instruction. And what was that?

The lord told him, ‘you must accept the Grihastha Ashram and get married.’ The lord must have had a plan in mind and his instruction must be followed. So Vallabhachrya had many children and one of them he named Vitthal. Then Adi Shankaracharya came and he said ‘Bhaje Pandurangam, worship lord Pandurangam.’ From his mouth he started glorifying the lord in this way which is natural for all of us.

These Mayavadis and Advaitavadis speak nonsense things to preach in the wrong way is possible but here what happened was natural. Shankaracharya said ‘Parabrahma lingam bhaje Pandurangam.
I Worship that Panduranga, Who is the veritable Image (Lingam) of Parabrahman. ‘He also said in Varanasi ‘bhaja govindam bhaja govindam govindam bhajamudhamate. Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, you fool!’

The scholars of Sankrit may have knowledge of the Sanskrit language but they are not devotees. That is why Shankara has said bhajamudhamate. ‘Oh you donkey! Worship Govinda. At the time of death this wont protect you.’ What wont protect him? ‘Rules of Grammar will not save you at the time of your death. bhaja govindam govindam bhajamudhamate.’

This is Shankarachrya’s – well, at heart Shankaracharya is a Vaishnava.

nimna ganam yatha ganga
devanam acyuto yatha
vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh
purananam idam tatha
(Srimad Bhagavatam 12.13.16)

Translation
Just as the Ganga is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta the supreme among deities and Lord Sambhu [Siva] the greatest of Vaishnavas, so Srimad Bhagavatam is the greatest of all Puranas.

It is said in the Bhagavatam, Vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh, lord Shiva is the best of Vaishnava’s. Nimna ganam yatha ganga, of all the rivers which flow to the sea, the river Ganges is the greatest, devanam acyuto yatha, lord Acyuta the supreme among deities and purananam idam tatha, Srimad Bhagavatam Purana is the greatest of all Puranas.

That is why the lord told lord Siva to play such a great part of becoming Shankaracharya and to preach Mayavadi philosophy. He has performed his duty very well, buy he is actually a Vaishnava and so lord Siva goes to take Darshan of of baby Krishna in Nanda Gram and he is also allowed entrance into the Rasa Lila of the lord’s lotus feet. He was in the Rasa Lila, can you imagine his devotion?

His feelings of devotion was like the Gopi’s and he had a form of a Gopi at that time. He had come there to the place called Maan Saorvar with his drum, dreadlocks, scorpions and a snake around his neck. He came and he was stopped at the entrance, ‘hey where are you going?’ He answered, ‘oh Im going to the Rasa dance arena.’ then they told him that only one who has the form of a Gopi and the feelings of a Gopi can go into the Rasa dance arena. He was told to take a bath in the Maan Sarovar.

Lord Siva then jumped into the lake and he came out after a short while, he became Gopeshwar, that was his name and he had become a Gopi, a very important Gopi. In Vrindavan there is a very important Temple of Gopeshwar and there is a deity there of Gopeshwar Siva. This is lord Siva and only a few people actually know lord Siva because they are sense enjoyers themselves.

kanksantah karmanam siddhim
yajanta iha devatah
ksipram hi manuse loke
siddhir bhavati karma ja
(Bhagavad gita 4.12)

Translation
Men in this world desire success in fruitive activities, and therefore they worship the demigods. Quickly, of course, men get results from fruitive work in this world.

Those people who desire fruitive results go to the demigods with many wishes and desires and the demigods give them what they want. Lord Siva does the same, even though he does not want to do this. He asks, ‘what do you want?! Okay have it, now get out!’

Brahma says with his four mouths ‘Krishna Krishna Hare Hare’ and Lord Siva sings with his five mouths, ‘Rama Rama Hare Hare.’ Lord Brahma and lord Siva actually only want to chant the names of the lord and you say that even in the hands of lord Siva, there is chanting beads and he is constantly chanting in the beads. He does not chant his own names, he chants the supreme lords’ names on his beads.

When someone comes and asks, give me a long life and give me wealth. Give me, give me, give me. Because lord Siva is Asutosa, he is quickly satisfied so he says, ‘okay, here take it and go quickly, I have to chant.’ In this way Adi Shankaracharya came to Pandharpura and he has preached and distributed devotion and by singing the Panduranga Astaka, he has also requested us to do what? Worship Parabrahma lingam bhaje Pandurangam.
that Panduranga, Who is the veritable Image (Lingam) of Parabrahman.

I think we should go to the presentation, Vaikunatha presentation. You can see here, can you see here on that screen? Can you see the Dindi festival in this picture? Yes, no? Okay Hari Hari, sorry. The Dindi’s do not even take a step forward without chanting the lords names, Jai Jai Rama Krishna Hari. Tukaram also sings his devotional poems and by this he is singing the glories of the lord. By doing this, he is going further towards the lord’s lotus feet.

This sort of beautiful festival like Dindi, you will not find in the whole universe, not even in the heavenly planets. This is only in Maharashtra,in Pandharpura in Dehu. There are other small Dindi festivals in other towns and villages, but this is the biggest Dindi festival held here. For so many people to walk for eighteen days together, is a world record. They walk together and they stay together and all the while they are performing Kirtan of the holy names of the lord.

There is a Gazal, a song in poetry which has reached New York, London, Melbourne in Australia also, yes? It is in Durban, South Africa and Moscow, Russia. It has reached more than one hundred countries in the world, in thousands of cities and villages in which there is Kirtan happening! Shouts of Haribol! Srila Prabhupada knew that I would also have something to do with such a Dindi festival, and that I grew up knowing this culture.

My father was a Warkari, a preacher of devotion, and so Srila Prabhupada ordered me to organise these Dindi festivals. In Iskcon, Dindi entered when Prabhupada told me ‘ you were in Vrindavan, now you go to Mayapura with this Dindi, group of Padayatra devotees and bullock cart to preach in this way. Then Prabhupada told me, ‘go to Jagannatha Puri.’

So we went there also, and in one Padayatra, we went from Dwaraka, then once from Pandharpura, Kanniyakumari, Jagannatha Puri, Mayapura. There is a eight thousand kilometres Padayatra from eighteen months, and there are around one hundred and fifty devotees from twenty different countries who have done Padayatra Parikarama with us!

Me included, and the Srila Prabhupada wrote me a letter in which he said, ‘we could have millions Padayatra’s and millions of carts all over the world. So
What happened is that the leaders were planning to celebrate Srila Prabhupada’s hundred birthday in 1996 in a big way. So we took it photograph of Padayatra, Dindi festival and this and that. I was a Padayatri, part of Iskcon Padayatra so we decided to perform Padayatra in one hundred countries.

And the Padayatra which had started at the time of Srila Prabhupada, this is still going on today! Till now, we Iskcon devotees who are Padayatri’s and Warkari’s also, we have done three hundred thousand Padayatra’s. You didn’t seem to like this and you dont seem impressed, (shouts of Haribol). So it seems like you do not think this is a big deal, ‘oh is that it? Just three hundred thousand?’ So you need to clap.

So with with the Dindi, Padayatra and bullock cart Sankirtan, the prophecy that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told,

Prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama
sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama
(Chaitanya Charitamrita Antya 1.117)

In every town and village, the chanting of my name will be heard.

‘My chanting of my name should bot be preached only in Maharashtra or India, but ache yata nagaradi grama, it should be preached in every city and every village in the world. In all cities and all the villages my name will be preached.’ This Hare Krishna movement is making this prophecy come true and so is Iskcon’s Dindi or Padayatra. This Kirtan is going on all over the world just like Rathayatra which used to be celebrated only in Jagannath Puri, this same Jagannath Rathayatra is happening in more than seventy countries in the world!

We celebrated Janmasthami festival five, six months ago and devotees in over one hundred and fifty countries celebrated Janmasthami! All the cow killers in the world are now becoming protectors of the cows! Haribol! For your information this is being stated and so Tukaram Maharaja used to walk in the Dindi processions, but at one time it was not possible for him to go because he was not able to breathe properly.

Then Tukaram Maharaja wrote a letter addressed to lord Vitthal and he gave the letter to a neighbour who was going on the Dindi procession. He told him ‘when it is your turn to take Darshan, please read this letter to the lord on my behalf. The friend did just this and lord Vitthal found out that this year his Tukaram will not be able to come. In the letter Tukaram Maharaja had written, ‘oh Prabhu Panduranga, oh Vitthoba, I cannot come because my breathing is not proper.

Can you come to meet me and to give me Darshan? This was written by Tukaram Maharaja in the letter and when lord Vitthal heard this and read the letter, the lord started getting ready to leave. ‘Yes, yes, I want to go! When Rukmini found out the lord was leaving, it was also the day of Ashadi Ekadashi, she began to speaknto the lord. ‘Oh my lord, one to two million people have come to take your Darshan today and if you leave now, how will they be able to take your Darshan?’

The lord said ‘But i will have to leave because Tukaram cannot come, he is ill.’ This is the love of lord Vitthal, like a father he has this love for his devotee. So what would happen because all these people had come for Darshan and so Rukmini gave a suggestion and she said, ‘oh lord, why dont you send Garuda? He will go and he will put Tukaram Maharaja on top of him and bring him to you.’

The lord said, ‘good idea.’ So Garuda was sent, in Indonesia there is an airline which is called Garuda Airlines. India’s airline is called Air India, this is nonsense. There is American line, Australian Airways and Chinese Airways, and so seeing this, India also called it Air India, what is this nonsense? Or would be good if India Airline’s name was Garuda Airlines pr something like this.

So Garuda Ji reached Tukaram and he told Tukaram, ‘I have come to take you to the lord.’ Tukaram Maharaja said ‘no, no! Your vehicle is to be used for my lord. It is for the supreme lord so how can i use the same vehicle? No, no, no. You go and send the lord, send lord Vitthal. So poor Garuda goes back and by then most of the devotees on Dindi had taken Darshan of the lord’s lotus feet.

Rukmini then said we can go now because most of the devotees have taken Darshan. So Rukmini and lord Vitthal sit on Garuda and come to Dehu and although Tukaram Maharaja is not breathing well, he was coming out again and again and he was thinking, ‘when will the lord come? Why is he not coming and when will my lord come?’ Just like Rukmini was waiting for the Brahmana who was going to bring the lord to kidnap her during her marriage.

In the same way, Tukaram Maharaja was waiting and he was very anxious and so here in Dehu, the lord comes down and comes forward and hugs Tukaram Maharaja. Jai Panduranga Panduranga Panduranga. This sort of love and affection can be found only between the lord and his devotee. And so Tukaram Maharaja performed Kirtan of the lord you can say twenty four hours all day and all night.

This is called Bhakti, devotional service and the lord teaches us through his devotee how devotional service should be performed. Tukaram Maharaja was a householder, not a Sannyasi or Bhramachari. You may be a householder or a celibate devotee, but what should one do? One should perform Harinama, chanting of the lord’s holy names. i have to stop, it’s pretty late. So in happiness or distress one should chant the holy names of the lord.

This is the teachings of our Acharya’s, this is what they have taught us and so when the Dindi procession reached Pandharpura, all the pilgrims go to have a bath in the Chandrabhaga Maiya ki Jai. There is a great festival and especially in the month of Chaitra, March to April and Asada Ekadasi, there is a great festival. Hari Hari.

Ganga has manifested from the lotus feet of the lord and by seeing the condition of the fallen conditioned souls, the lord feels merciful towards them. The lord’s heart becomes soft and the lords heart begins to melt, then the Ganga which has come from his lotus feet, is bought here by the lord, so that we can bathe in her pure waters and become pure. The holy rivers are his mercy upon us. Ganga Maiya ki Jai.

River Chandrabhagha is the Ganga of Pandharpura and many ghats like Uddhava ghat which was made in 1784 and Mahadwara ghat was made ten years after this. Chandrabhaga ghat was made in 1820 which means in the past two hundred and fifty years, no ghat was made! After two hundred to three hundred years, Srila Prabhupada ghat ki Jai! Iskcon has made this ghat and there, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Nityananda Prabhu and Visvarupa’s slippers have been installed there.

And in that place, Radha Pandharinath ki Jai! Now Radha Pandharinath are also there giving Darshan for many years and their worship, Kirtan and so forth is going on there and Bhu Vainkuntha is also being established! This all I was speaking because it is all in the book which is why I am getting the opportunity to describe all this and after a lot of research this book being created and also into so many languages. In English, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu and Tamil and many other languages.

And fifty thousand books have been distributed already. So you are welcome to Bhu Vaikuntha, the project is called Bhu Vaikuntha and Pandharpura is also called Bhu Vaikuntha and this book is also called Bhi Vaikuntha. So you are most welcome and this book is here on the book stall. Bhu Vaikuntha ki kai! Pandharpura dham ki Jai! Vitthal Rukmini ki Jai! What happened? Jai! Srila Prabhupada ki Jai! Nitai Gaura Prem Anande Hari Haribol.

Bhagavat Katha Day 7
Hare Krishna Utsav
31-12-2023

A very warm welcome to you all. I want to welcome you today and so please accept my welcome! Shouts of Haribol! You’re most welcome. I am thinking that just as I am welcoming you all now, one day in the near future, may you have the same welcome in Vaikuntha Dham! Shouts of Haribol.

You have put this turban on me. so finally Tukaram Maharaja went back to his own village. And the village that he comes from is all of our’s village also. That is because Vaikuntha or Vrindavan and now they say Pandharpur also is our home. Also Bhu Vaikuntha in this Iskcon is eternal.

We have to become qualified to go to Bhu Vaikuntha that is here, in Iskcon, by performing our devotional service and taking darshan of Vitthal. We are all children lord Vitthal and he is waiting for us all to go to him as he stands with one hand on his waist. At least it looks like that, and this picture that you are seeing of the lord here, just like this, the Lord in Vaikuntha and in Gokula is we waiting for us.

So please come and let us go back to the lord. Political issues will only take us as far as Delhi or Mumbai, but the devotees and great saints like Tukaram Maharaj and Srila Prabhupada ki jai! Like Srila Prabhupada and many other Acharya’s, what is their campaign? ‘Come with us back to godhead, to Vaikunatha.’ Are you welcoming this idea?

Are you ready? Enough is enough now, this is too much and Vaikunatha is our actual village and Vaikunatha is our motherland, our fatherland. Because our real father and mother are Vitthoba, lord Vitthal.

He is the mother and he is the father and he is the lord. He is everything. He is the all in all, Srila Prabhupada says. Panduranga is all in all. He is our everything and so wherever he is staying in his abode, that abode, that village is also ours. When Gokarana was speaking Katha for Dhundhukari, at the end of the Katha many planes came from Vaikunatha.

In those planes there were air hosts -there is no mention of air hostesses, but air hosts were there. Whoever in the audience had listened to the narrations of Krishna with faith and attention like in Samadhi, and with their mind, those who had taken the narrations in their minds, they were all invited to board the planes.

The lord himself had also come and he invited Gokarana personally and the other hosts told all of them to board the plane which they did. They fastened their belts, engines started and they took off. Vaikuntha dham ki jai! That is the same thing which happened three hundred and seventy four years ago in Dehu. A plane came and Tukaram maharaja left on that plane.

Also, as he left, he demonstrated how to leave this world. This demonstration has also been given by the lord next door. Because Dehu village is in the city of Pune, and no Air India or China Airways or this one or that one like British Airways could do this. So when the planes were taking off, Tukaram Maharaja sat down and reached Vaikunatha.

And as he left, he was telling everybody who was there, ‘you come there soon,’ and ‘you come there also. That’s why what do you have to do now? You have to chant with your mouth, Rama Krishna Hari. Or

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

Is it ready now? Yes or no, where is the PPT? Where is the team? Okay so go ahead. First light, could you display? This presentation is called Vasudeava kutumbakam, this is the name I have given it. Our culture or you can say Bhagavad dharma, the principles of devotional service, this teaches us simple living and what is it? High thinking. This is what we want to do, simple living and high thinking.

Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah
Sarve Santu Niraamayaah
Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu
Maa Kashcid Duhkha Bhaag Bhavet
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih

Translation
May All be Happy,
May All be Free from Illness.
May All See what is Auspicious,
May no one Suffer.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace

This is also high thinking, that all be happy and free from illness and so on, everything in relation to these things. Hari Hari.

ekam sastram devaki putra gitam
eko devo devaki putra eva
eko mantras tasya namani yani
karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva
(gita-mahatmya 7)

In this present day, people are very much eager to have one scripture, one God, one religion, and one occupation. Therefore, ekam sastram devaki putra gitam: let there be one scripture only, one common scripture for the whole world, Bhagavad-gita. eko devo devaki putra eva: let there be one God for the whole world, Sri Krishna. eko mantras tasya namani: and one hymn, one mantra, one prayer — the chanting of His Name: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. karmapy ekam tasya devasya seva: and let there be one work only — the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

The messages of the Bhagavad Gita the also are written in such a way that all these thoughts are that we want to persue and presented here with the title vasudhaivam kutumbakam. So lets start as we dont have much time. In Maharashtra we say vasudhaivam Kutumbakam as it is said that the whole world is my home. It is one world, one family.

From the Sastric view of the Vedas, this theme or way of thinking is also correct. Srila Prabhupada was asked once, Srila Prabhupada ki jai! The Iskcon founder Acharya, he was asked, ‘why have you come to foreign countries?’ Prabhupada answered, ‘I want to change the way the world thinks.’ And what is that change? For people to have a Vedic view.

‘I have come so people can have this change of thought.’ vasudhaivam Kutumbakam is the same saying of the Vedas.

Ayam nijah paro veti gananaa laghucetasaam . udaaracaritaanaam tu vasudhaiva kutumbakam.
(Hitopanisad)

This whole world is a creation of Krishna and every living entity is His family member. In other words, this whole world is just one family and all the living entities are brothers, sisters, fathers or mothers of each other.

Not that ‘these persons are mine but these people are outsiders.’ Those people who thinking is like this, their thinking and their feelings are laghu chetana is low thinking. They think, ‘these people are mine and others are outsiders.’ This is of dual thinking, but those who are great persons have high thinking. They are merciful and therefore their thoughts are always ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.’

Vasudha is this Earth and so as many people there are on this Earth, they are my family. We are all children of the one God. The head of the family is God and we are all part of his family. This means that as many people there are on this planet, they are all part of this one family. There are all brothers and sisters and so whoever thinks in such a way has high thinking. And the supreme Lord is also thinking in this way, the common brotherhood.

So when one that’s not have this thinking, there is fighting, quarrels and wars. This is the symptom of Kaliyuga. There was one war in 1914 which was the world war and anyway there are many other wars. These things have now become daily affairs by enviousness and thinking of ‘me you, me you. You get out of here!’

The second world war lasted from 1939 till 1945 and this is one thing. In Kaliyuga there is the prominence of low thinking which comes from the modes of ignorance and passion which makes one think and act in a certain way and there are fights over differences. Mahabharata.

dhrtarastra uvaca
dharma ksetre kuru ksetre
samaveta yuyutsavah
mamakah pandavas caiva
kim akurvata sanjaya
(Bhagavad Gita 1.1)

Translation
Dhrtarastra said: O Sanjaya, after my sons and the sons of Pandu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kuruksetra, desiring to fight, what did they do?

Was Mahabharata not a world war? In Mahabharata there were eighteen Akshauhini divisions of armies involved and all the countries in the world were there. Some were on the Kaurava’s side and some on the Pandavas side, but they were all involved. So there was no doubt that it was a world war which happened before three thousand and sixty seven years BC Christ.

That means that the world wars that occurred are quite recent in comparison, and the world wars one and two are there but what about the Mahabharata war? That means the first world war is actually the second world war and the second world war is the third world war. So this is a big problem and what to speak of Mahabharata? That is history and in this world there are two prominent historical events.

One is Ramayana and the other is Mahabharata whose author is Srila Vyasadeva and the author of Ramayana is Valmiki. So the historical events are called ‘Itihasa.’ Iti means it and Hasa means it happened. So Itihasa means ‘so It happened.’ What was the possibility that the British would come, the Christians would come? And in the past, the British have said that whatever has been described, this is all Hindu mythology.

This means they are saying it is all imaginary, and gradually we Indians also got brainwashed and we also started to say ‘it’s mythology.’ We all started repeating what they had said and so this has to be stopped. Hare Krishna. What else can be said? So the western people are saying this but the Indians are no better in saying this is mythology.

Srila Prabhupada used to call them frogs, frogs in the well. One frog came near the Pacific Ocean and so another frog asked him, how big is that well that you visited? So the frog who asked the question took his tummy out and asked ‘ is it this big?’ The frog answered ‘no no, it’s bigger.’ so then the frog asked is it this big, how about this big?’

‘no, no bigger, bigger,’ came the reply. As he continue to bring his stomach out, his stomach ripped into two pieces. How would a frog who lived in the well, understand the depth and width of the Pacific Ocean? In Kaliyuga, there are many people like this, especially in the western countries. And here in India there are also people who are trying to imitate them.

These people are like that that Dr frog in the well. I was in Los Angeles California and the people there were having a celebration. So I asked one of the people there, ‘how old is your Los Angeles?’ He answered ‘our Los Angeles is a very OLD city.’ By longing out the word old, he wanted to make me understand just how old the city Los Angeles was.

He said ‘it is very old.’ So I asked him, ‘how OLD is Los Angeles?’ He replied ‘two hundred years old.’ How old? So to his understanding, two hundred years was very old. Jai Sri Rama! So the Rams has just come back to Ayodhya, we understand that he was here for one million years.

paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge
Bhagavad gita 4.8)

Translation
In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.

How old is Ayodhya? It is at least 10 million years old. Ayodhya dham ki jai! This history must be fixed and so in terms of history, they have got it wrong. In Christian theology they are saying that the works world was only in existence for around four thousand years before Christ. God created this world in seven days and after the world was made in seven days, the Supreme Lord took rest.

This is why the whole world takes rest on Sunday, and the reasoning is it is because God also took rest on that day. ‘ because, to rest ,let us also do the same.’ This was a perfect excuse to have a holiday. So actually they have no clue as to how old this world is, and who is its creator. Who is the operator who is the destroyer?
They say there was a big bang and the world was created.

There are so many talks like this. Previously a living g entity in the form of a cell was called amiba. So they have no clue that first it was Vitthoba, not amiba who created this world. Then from the Lord Brahma was born and he is the one who creates the whole world, and his life is of one hundred years. I cannot get into all this, but Brahma’s one day is, well one thousand Mahayugas are twelve hours of Brahma. Then another one thousandis his day and night.

Kaliyuga is four hundred and thirty two thousand years and double that it Dwaparyuga, three times more is Tretayuga and four times more is Satyayuga. When you put these four cycles of Yuga’s together there is one Mahayuga. After one thousand Yuga cycles like this, it will be the end of Brahma’s one day and night. What’s more, 360 of these days and nights make 1 of Brahma’s years, and he lives for a full 100 of these years. So Brahmas’s one lifetime is the same as one breath of Maha Vishnu.

And you can see here right? With the out coming breath of Maha Vishnu, so many universes are coming out of his body. Anandakoti Brahma Nayak Krishna Kahnaiya Lal ki Jai! When the lord inhales, those universes again, go back in to him. And how many times this the Lord breathe in and out? He’s constantly breathing in and exhaling out. Therefore, the universes are coming in and out many, many times.
Therefore, the lord says that he is this span of time, kalo ’smi.

Sri bhagavan uvaca
kalo ’smi loka ksaya krt pravrddho
lokan samahartum iha pravrttah
rte ’pi tvam na bhavisyanti sarve
ye ’vasthitah praty anikesu yodhah
(Bhagavad gita 11.32)

Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. With the exception of you [the P???avas], all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain

Krishna has given us instruction which is in the sastras, vedas, puranas and Bhagavad gita. And of course Bhagavad gita, Srimad Bhagavatam and the Puranas are non different from the Vedas. The lord has called them the king of all knowledge.

raja vidya raja guhyam
pavitram idam uttamam
pratyaksavagamam dharmyam
su sukham kartum avyayam
(Bhagavad gita 9.2)

Translation
This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed

This is transcendental knowledge, although the world is running after material knowledge. It is expert knowledge for those who are foolish and it is also study of the consciousness. We can only learn these things from the Bhagavad gita.

sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto
mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca
vedais ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedanta krd veda vid eva caham
(Bhagavad gita 15.15)

Translation
I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.

So other religions which have come gradually, they have been made and they all have their own religious books. Those religions have one or maybe two books like the Bible or the Quran and in western countries they say that theirs is the book of religion. Their one book is there but what do we have? We have a library of religion. We have many books, a whole storehouse of books.

In 1202 AD there were these people who we are showing you now, but actually we should not even be looking upon their face. The middle east Muslims have come and they have caused a fire on actual religion, and there thinking is that ‘when our Quran is there, what need is there for any other religion? These Hindu’s are outsiders, so let us kill them.’ This is their low thinking.

They came and they put fire in Nalanda Viswavidyalaya amd for four months the whole place was burning. Many branches of the Vedas have no end, there is Srutis, Smritis, Puranas and much more. They tries to burn all these books. These books are the greatest in mankind and they were established seven hundred years before Christ where eleven hundred scholars from all over the world came to study all different subjects of the Vedas.

At one point, everybody understood that Bharat, India is the spiritual master of all the other countries. Bharat Mata ki Jai! All the intellectuals from all over the world, we gather in India for their higher studies. They used to read Vedas there, just like now there is higher education overseas, and it is possible that you have also sent your son or daughter to another country. But that is not higher but lower education because higher educated means to study Bhagavad gita, Srimad Bhagavatam and the Vedas and Puranas. This is transcendental knowledge but in Kaliyuga everything turns upside down and this is also a symptom of Kali.

We are in darkness because Kali means darkness and what sort of darkness? The darkness of ignorance.

Krsna surya sama; maya haya andhakara
yahan Krsna, tahan nahi mayara adhikara
(Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya 22.31)

Translation
Krsna is compared to sunshine, and maya is compared to darkness. Wherever there is sunshine, there cannot be darkness. As soon as one takes to Krsna consciousness, the darkness of illusion (the influence of the external energy) will immediately vanish

At one time this Bharat, spiritual master of all other countries, bha means light and rata means to advise, and this is how we should understand the name of the country. Bhaskar is another name of the sun as he gives light to the eyes and so in this way we understand that Krishna is the original Bhaskar, the original light.

Bahu koti candra jini vafana ujjvala.

bahu koti candra jini’ vadana ujjvala
gala dese bana mala kore jhalamala

Translation
The brilliance of Lord Caitanya’s face conquers millions upon millions of moons, and the garland of forest flowers around His neck shines

The resplendent face of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, shines with light and this light is also the light of knowledge. India our sastras and there is no question if you and us and we think ‘oh we are Indians and you are westerners, you are foreigners and we are the nationals.’ No, this thinking is not good but it is going on in Kaliyuga and then we start to speak like this also.

So here, the knowledge that the supreme lord has given.. well, Bharat is not the India that we call now. No that is not Bharat because Bharat means the whole of Earth. King Parikshit and King Yuddhishtir have been called the Kings of Earth in the Vedic literatures. Krishna also calls Arjuna ‘He Bharata’ in the Bhagavad gita.

So every single person used to be called a Bharatian in those day, a citizen of Bharat. This is the problem in Kaliyuga because Kaliyuga breaks everything apart and makes divisions in the world. So Bhagavad gita and Srimad Bhagavatam is not only for Hindu’s. Krishna does not give his instructions in the Bhagavad gita and say ‘for Hindus only.’ Sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto, the lord is saying that he is seated in everyone’s heart.

He did not then say ‘oh no, no, this only a place for the Indians and the Hindus.’ This includes all living entities and the lord is saying this. It isnt for just Hindu, Muslim, Christian and this or that one. This sort of talk has only started about one and a half thousand years ago. Before then, the whole world was one and these Vedas, Sastras, Puranas and Vedas were for every human being.

And of course books of religion are
for everybody just like in chemistry. We know that H2O is one part hydrogen and one part oxygen, and that is always the truth. Then there is Catalysis and what will happen with this? There will be water production. So this formula is the same, the one written in the Sastra. Just like science cannot be American science, English Science or European science.

Science is Science. So the problem is just this, idam sastram pramanam te. Krishna says Bhagavad gita is the original science, along with Srimad bhagavatam, Vedas and Puranas. Sastra means Science and Science is for everybody, not that only Hindu’s or Muslims. If they have science in their religious books like the Quran then that scripture is also for the whole world this means that that book is for all of the living entities in the world.

And throughout the whole world only Bhagavad gita and Srimad bhagavatam.. anyway what can we say? Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada is the founder acharya and he has translated Bhagavad gita and Srimad bhagavatam in around one hundred languages and the people of those countries are reading the books and also distributing them. Millions of books of Bhagavad gita and Srimad bhagavatam are being distributed all over the world right now!

We just had Gita jayanti on Moksada Ekadasi recently and the followers of Iskcon, who are around one million all over the world, all of them, just like Tukaram Maharaja has said,

gita bhagwat kariti shravan, akhand chintan vithobache.

Translation
Where there is unceasing reading of Bhagavat Geeta, Srimad bhagavatam and contemplation of Lord Vitthal

This is what the International society of Krishna consciousness is doing and this is just the beginning. So much more os going to happen. And in regards to Iskcon India, in this month, we are going to distribute seven million books. This is just in India so if you consider in Europe, inAmerica, in Australia, in Russia because this is an international society so our followers are all Vaishnava’s or Gaudiya Vaishnava’s. They are all preachers of this dharma and they are all preaching the holy name.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

We are constantly chanting in Kirtan, along with Mrdanga and kartals and that is why people call us all over the world, ‘oh these are Hare Krishna people, they are Hare Krishna people.’ This Hare Kirtan has become so famous all over the world and we have dhoti and kurta (bottom and top) for gentlemen and Saris for ladies. Then of course their is Tilak, Tulasi neck beads and Sikha (tail on head for men).

We are embarrassed to put on Tilak and when is our turn to bow to the Lord and pay obeisances, we look around to see if somebody is looking at us or not. That is why we quickly hit the floor with our head and then get back up again very quickly. ‘ I look at him he’s not scientific minded, he is old-fashioned. In our Vedas they do not know what is there. They are not only a few mantras for Arati and a few Slokas but they also include space science, astronomy, agriculture, mechanics, textiles and architecture, practice with weapons, Ayurveda, geography, you name it.

There is also solar energy, communications and knowledge of flying a plane. Logistics is also there and I’m just reading a small list here. All these subject matters are in the Vedas snd Puranas. The scientists have only come about some five hundred years ago but before this, all science was in Sanskrit and the lord was the creator of all the sciences. All this knowledge has always been around and therefore it is called Apaurusheya, not made or written by man.

What is the time? Okay. Lets go forward faster. Hindi Chini bhai bhai. In 1962, were you there then? Who was around in 1962? Do you not have hands, nobody is not putting their hand up. Okay, so some of you were there, and at that time there was a war between India and Pakistan, no not Pakistan, it was China. We were small school children then and we were being taught to chant, ‘Hindi Chini bhai bhai.’

Because India and China, both friendly countries, and so we wanted that we stop fighting and so should they. Vasudeva Kutumbakam is the high thinking and we are all bhai bhai, brothers. So I would also chant these slogans. But I was young and I was a villager, and so I did not understand what this meant, Hindu Chini bhai bhai.

I would chant this slogan, but I was thinking that Hindi was the language and Chini means sugar in Hindi. Then there was bhai bhai. So I was thinking how can this be possible? The language is Hindi and the sugar, Chini. How can these be brothers? So I was thinking, what are they actually meaning by this and what are they saying? Then I grew older and understood that Hindi means the people of Hindustan, and Chini means the people of China.

I still could not understand what it meant by these being brothers. Two people can be brothers, but how can all the people of two countries be brothers? If two people have a common father, then they can be brothers, but here i was thinking who is the common father of so many people of two different countries? Is it Modi or someone? Is it the president, is he the common father of China and Hindustan?

It still was not making any sense, but when I became older and when I met his divine grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada ki Jai! When I reached the shelter of his lotus feet and when I heard from him, the Bhagavad gita, I began to understand. Krishna says ‘I am the seed giving father of all living entities, I am the common father.’

So that made sense, so not only a Hindi and Chini brothers, but all others like the Russians and the Ukrainians, they are what? They are brothers as are the Russians and Americans. This is a fact and this on the strength of this fact we can establish brotherhood of mankind. Then it will be awareness Vasudeva Kutumbakam which is a fact anyway and then we can expect peace.

Okay so it’s that ready now? You were making a copy? In New York, there is the headquarters of the United Nations. When Srila Prabhupada used to go through New York, in 1955 or 1966, he used to see that the flags of all the nations were increasing. Another flag and yet another flag. What kind of United Nations is this? This is disunited Nations not United Nations. United Nations means just one flag.’

They say God made the country and man made the town. Made made the concrete jungle. We can see how beautiful God’s world is, fresh air and clean water, it is pure. So then a question has been asked what did Man do? So God has made this most beautiful world, and what has man done? Man has made a mess. The mess that we see in this world.

Man has polluted the air and the water, this pollution, and that pollution. Food pollution and the most dangerous pollution is that of the mind and thoughts. That is why Srila Prabhupada Prabhupada held his last public lecture in Mumbai 1977. After this Prabhupada went back to godhead in the same year. In that last lecture he gave, there was a great big tent built and many people gathered to hear him and I was also there.

Srila Prabhupada started by saying ‘the modern civilisation is a total failure.’ That was the topic of the lecture. And actually it cannot be called civilisation because we are uncivilised. The people of Kaliyuga are asabhya, uncivilised. Civilised means sabhya but we are uncivilised asabhya. We are gentleman in name only but actually we are very rough, we are rough-ians.

The modern civilisation is a total failure, and so Srila Prabhupada gave the talk a sub title, Krishna consciousness is the only solution. Otherwise, everything else is a failure, and so Krishna consciousness is the only solution. The chief minister of that time, SB Chavan, was there to inaugurate that session near cross maidan. This was the place where Srila Prabhupada gave the lecture and in this world there are two types of economics.

You’re all thinking ‘what how can there be two types of economics?’ One type is an agrarian economy, as they call it in English and the other one is industrial economy. Economy based upon Farming, Agriculture, dairy farming and it is said in the gita that agriculture, dairy farming, and commerce are the natural works for those with the qualities of Vaishyas.

This includes the land and the cow and the ball, these entail industrial economy in according to the Vedas, this agrarian economy is the right economy. But the western world has introduced industrial economy and the world is seeing the consequences of this and actually the world is suffering because of this. Now it time to awake and so we will show you some samples. Yes could you Haribol?

It is finished? Where have the bulls gone? When i go back to my village in Aravade, I used to see in the years gone by that all the farmers would decorate their cows and bulls along with the carts and there would be such nice competition with so much enthusiasm, ‘ I will decorate the best carts and bull.’ In each house. We would see bulls cows and milk, but now we have the bulls gone? All we see are tractors and we do not know what has happened to the bulls. Maybe they are.. What can be said?

They are sending them to the slaughter houses. Go mata ki Jai! Agrarian economy used to mean milk, earth, crops, cows and bulls. People want everything fresh. Fresh air, fresh water, fresh vegetables but what is going on now? Chemical fertilisers and this and that. Back in my village, they used to be around seven cows and bulls and in the villages everybody used to stay healthy at all times.

In my village and maybe yours as well. Are any of you from the village? Did anyone take birth in a village? Oh okay more than half, in fact about seventy percent of you. In the village there is a population of three to four thousand people and a doctor would cycle to the village every Wednesday just to see if there were any sick people that needed medical treatment.

And they were many times when the poor doctor could not find any sick people to treat, they were all healthy by being active and they were so hard-working, they would sweat naturally. And everything was fresh, including their thoughts, which would be positive. Good thoughts. The slowly the time came where everything was spoiled and the industrial civilisation came to ruin everything. Tractors and factories and chemical fertilisation, and this and that. There was the radio and cinema and then finally the internet.

So then they created the dispensary. The doctor would come, and they opened a small hospital, people came to the opening and there was a medical officer who cut the ribbon to open the hospital. Then people clapped in celebration, ‘we also have a hospital in our village! So people must think before they move forward, as they say. They must think twice.

So can you see here, the boomerang effect, that how this industrial economy is breaking everything down? The modern man is falling, this is what is going on day and night. We are being defeated and we want to fight back with our defence mechanisms. So many pollutions came, water pollution, noise pollution, soil pollution and noise pollution. There is radioactive pollution and then there is mind pollution of course.

It is said clearly in the chapter of the gita that if you get attached to your senses by exploiting its objects, one will become lusty. Lust lust lust, or sin sin sin. One becomes helpless to perform these things. Tukaram Maharaja has said, we are awaking the sin and lust through our attachment and association with the senses and their objects.

And when lust is not satisfied, and indeed, it is never satisfied, then what happens? Anger arises. And we have seen the effects of anger in our own homes, or in the villages. One state is fighting with another state, one country is fighting with another country, one religion is fighting another. We are always becoming angry and we are always allured to becoming angry and when we do so, intelligence has lost.

We are then destroyed, we do not become enlightened but rather we are destroyed. This technology in this modern civilisation and this and that, industry, we’re going to the moon, by all these things, we are becoming characterless. But if we meditate upon the lord rather than on our own senses, then what will happen? Our would love will awaken and then when we serve the lord in love, the lord has promised in the gita that he will give us the intelligence to attain him.

But for one who wants to enjoy the senses, lord gives the wrong type of intelligence. For one who meditates upon the lord, and who has engaged in his service, the lord gives the right type of intelligence, ‘so he can come to me, he can come to Vaikuntha.’ This type of intelligence is used here so that one can use it in. Vaikuntha also. But the wrong intelligence leads one to hell. The lord has told us that lust, greed and anger are like three gates.

We want to go to Vaikuntha. Vaikuntha dham ki Jai. Bhu Vaikuntha ki Jai. Pandharpura dham ki Jai. Sri Sri Vitthal Rukmini ki Jai! The are so many problems like global warming, which we have caused. We have caused harm to the land on which we walk, the land on which we were born, mother Earth. We have made her temperature high, and we continue to do so.

When the mother is not healthy, how can we as the children that she maintains remain healthy? We are cutting the forests, deforestation. This is happening everywhere and then they set up the factories and they said industries. We have the Amazon in South America upon this earth, this is the forest . There is an Amazon river also, and then there is this Amazon forest.

There is the understanding that the air we breathe upon this Earth, the oxygen that we are breathing, twenty percent of this oxygen that the people breathe comes from the forest. and we are cutting down this very forest. What will happen? Our throats are going to suffocate without oxygen because we are destroying the source of our life air. What to speak of the killing of animals and this meat eating is causing a big problem.

This includes India, you may not know but we are filling big boats and sending meat to the Middle East and in exchange they are giving us Patrol. ‘can you take this meat and an exchange you give us Petrol.’ Bharat is exporting meat including, what can we say? We should not even speak it but they are exporting beef also and as we are talking now, thousands if not millions of cows are being slaughtered in our country and then we expect peace.

Twenty or twenty five years ago, there was a discussion in Parliament in regard to the slaughter houses in India. They were saying that the blades used to kill the animals were not sharp enough. This means that to cut the animal was taking longer and so the animal was feeling much pain for a long time. ‘The animals are feeling a lot of pain so what to do?’

This discussion was going on and so you will be surprised, but do you know what decision the parliament took? ‘We have to modernise our slaughter houses and we should get blades from Ireland so that we can quickly cut the animals and they will not feel pain.’ This is the mercy which was shown by the members of Parliament. They had mercy, but actually is this mercy? No, this is cruelness.

India’s parliament were thinking ‘we have to be modern, so slaughterhouses.. The animals are saying ‘we are living entities, I am mot meat. I am also a soul, i am not a piece of meat. Exploitation of material resources is going on and the consequences to these actions by the means of coronavirus and there are many other ways.

Disease’s are increasing and I’m sure you remember when the coronavirus was strong, there was lockdown, remember lockdown? We were are all locked down and before coronavirus, hear this illustration because it is very funny. Before coronavirus the animals were locked up in cages or in the zoo and we would go to see them.

And the animals were locked behind the bars but when coronavirus came our roles changed. We were locked down behind the bars and the animals were enjoying this sight, they were laughing and heading a good time. That’s why they say that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. We are also becoming enjoyers to a greater extent throughout the world, but we are not taking into consideration that this sort of enjoyment brings about disease.

You enjoy, enjoy and then suffer, this is called the law of Karma. All the commercials are made to tempt us into shopping and so much more, what can be said? There used to be small shops in the past, but now everything has become big, big stores and huge shopping centres. Slowly super bazaars and hyper bazaars are opening. From this enjoyment, there comes about disease and America has become the most sick nation in the world.

America is the land of opportunity, and it is the greatest country of enjoyment, therefore, the number one sick country must be America. They always want to become number one in everything, so therefore they have also become number one in being the most sick nation in the world. We have become greedy beyond our need. Mahatma Gandhi also said, ‘need is fine but not greed, that isn’t needed.’

It’s fine to use what you need as necessity, but when you become greedy to stock more and more and get more and more, this is not good. There is some stock, this one that one, and we want to keep getting more and more keeping it all together. This is not necessary, this is greed and there are consequences to this greediness. They did a survey about high living low thinking, this is happening now.

Not simple living, high thinking, the opposite of that is happening now. There’s low thinking or no thinking. People walk around with a T-shirt on which has a thumbs up, and it means just do it. You don’t have to think, just do it. Think of what you have done afterwards but just do it. This is low thinking, so if all of ours and everybody else’s living standard becomes like America’s thinking, if all the people of the world and all the countries start thinking like America, the resources of the whole Earth will not be enough for us.

How many Earths will we then be needing? Five Earths, which is never going to happen so in the meantime we will all keep fighting between ourselves. Russians and Ukrainians are brothers, so Mayapur dham is Iskcons headquarters just like New York is the headquarters of America. Mayapur is the birth place of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and it is just like Vrindanvan and we are making Mayapur our headquarters.

The war between Ukraine and Russia but they were Hare Krishna devotees in Ukraine and there are Hare devotees in Russia, but they do not fight between themselves. Everyone else is fighting but when we become devotees of Krishna and devotees of Rama, when we become devotees, we do not fight because we have the feeling Vasudeva Kutumbakam. So the Russians and Ukrainians are also brothers and this brotherhood between all nations is possible if we come to take shelter of the supreme lord and if we accept the lord as our father.

Vasudeva Kutumbakam is certainly possible. So Hari Hari, I will stop now. Thank you to all of you that you came, and you sat patiently listening to the talk. You weren’t sleeping were you? Thank you.

Srimad Bhagavatam 09.10.50
Ram Rajya
Iskcon Noida
30-01-2024

Hare Krishna. Thank you for saying Hare Krishna and also for your coming here. There is that hope that NIDC, temple presidents and managers may be present here. I see some are here, and some are on their way and I am thinking that they will be here and you all will be here, and you will have to stay. Thinking like this I have come back from Ayodhya.

(Shouts of Haribol)! I have come from the installation ceremony of Ram lala ki jai! This is why I have chosen the fiftieth verse from the tenth chapter of canto nine, so let’s see what happens. Most definitely there will be mention of lord Rama and his reign over the world. The leaders of our Iskcon are also kings in one way.

They are warriors in their form as managers and they have to manage their zones and their own temples and this verse I have chosen for them as it will give them inspiration in their duties and so lets see what happens. There is a concept if time as there always is and lord Rama is called the lord of controlled mannerisms, Maryada Purushottam, and time also has its limits, and needs to be managed.

Keeping this in mind, we will start the recitation of the eternal Srimad Bhagavatam. Do you have the verse? Anyway,

agrahid asanam bhratra
pranipatya prasaditah
prajah sva dharma nirata
varnasrama gunanvitah
jugopa pitrvad ramo
menire pitaram ca tam
(Srimad Bhagavatam 09.10.50)

Translation
Being pleased by the full surrender and submission of Lord Bharata, Lord Ramacandra then accepted the throne of the state. He cared for the citizens exactly like a father, and the citizens, being fully engaged in their occupational duties of varna and asrama, accepted Him as their father.

People love Ram rajya, the state run by lord Ram, do they or not? Prabhupada says so but I just wanted to confirm. and even today politicians sometimes form a party called Rama-rajya, but unfortunately they have no obedience to Lord Rama. They want the kingdom of God but without God. This is because people are thinking, ‘I am God, I am the enjoyer.’ Such an aspiration, however, is never to be fulfilled. Good government can exist when the relationship between the citizens (cut).

Hari Hari. Should I speak or not speak about Ram Rajya, the kingdom of lord Rama? Rama and his citizens are called his people and what was the relationship between the people and lord Rama? As soon as you say his people, we can understand what the relationship is. Lord Rama would look after them and see to their every need. This being said, the lord would do this in the same way in which a father looks after his sons and own family members.

Actually they are because lord Rama is Aham bija pradah pita, he is the supreme lord and father of all living entities.

sarva yonisu kaunteya
murtayah sambhavanti yah
tasam brahma mahad yonir
aham bija pradah pita
(Bhagavad gita 14.4)

Translation
It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kunti, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.

Lord Krishna said this in Bhagavad gita but who is Krishna? He is the same Rama. In Treta Yuga Rama and Lakshman became Krishna and Balaram in Dwapara Yuga. And in Kali Yuga they are the same Gaura Nitai ki jai! We must understand these principles and knowledge of the supreme lord which most people do not understand. Lord Rama is certainly the supreme lord and alongside this he has become a King and a warrior.

Amongst all other warriors and Kings he is leading in an exemplary way for not only the Kings of his time but for the future warriors. Their ideal is Jai Sri Rama! How must one look after his citizens? A King should understand them to be his own people, part of his family. This intimate relationship is full of love also and so Hari Hari.

Prabhupada has written here and we have also read that people like the idea and arrangement of Rama Rajya. Lord Rama looked after and ruled his kingdom for around one million years and so when people think of their country and it’s leaders, what do they say? If there should be a King, he should be like Lord Rama. And if there should be a country, it should be like Rama’s kingdom.

So I would say that even in Iskcon what sort of management should there be? Like Lord Rama. You can say Rama Rajya, or Krishna Rajya or Chaitanya Rajya. The King of Kali Yuga or the form of lord Rama or Krishna came as lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Kali Yuga. This current time span belongs to whkm? Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ki jai!

In this dark age we will not only be able to have Rama Rajya, the kingdom of God but also there will be much more in this Chaitanya Rajya. Hari Hari. In Rama Rajya there is some questioning of what occurred and during the period of lord Rama there were many Yagna’s taking place and therefore dharma samsthapanarthaya -Rama descended,

paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam
dharma samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge
(Bhagavad gita 4.8)

Translation
To protect the righteous, to annihilate the wicked, and to reestablish the principles of dharma I appear on this earth, age after age.

The Lord descends to protect righteousness and this Lord Rama and Lakshman have performed this work. Who had come to get them? Vishvamitra had come saying, ‘give me Rama and Lakshman.’ Their father answered, ‘what are you saying? You want to take my Rama and Lakshman?!’

Rama and Lakshman were both the same age because they were both born on the same day. So it isn’t just Rama Navami, it is also Lakshman Navami and Bharata Navami and also Shatrughna Navami. We do not understand this because we do not realise that Lakshman is also the supreme lord, as is Bharata and Shatrughna. They are Vishnu Tattva and this is known only to the Gaudiya Vaishnava’s.

Some others know also and they should know this. Because of Srila Prabhupada we are also in knowledge of this principle. ‘So Dasharatha was shocked and he spoke. ‘My boys are only un shodhasa varshia.’ What does this mean, how old are they? Shodasha means sixteen and un means one. So they were one less than sixteen and so Dasharatha said ‘my sons are only fifteen years old.’

So this is not the time for Katha and so Rama and Lakshman established Yagnas and protected the principle of performing Yagna. The king of Kali will have to protect the yagna of that age and this is also a Yagna. Krishna has said yajnanam japa yagno ’smi

maharshinam bhrigur aham giram asmyekam aksharam
yajnanam japa yajno ’smi sthavaranam himalaya?
(Bhagavad gita 10.25)

Translation
I am Bhrigu amongst the great seers and the transcendental Om amongst sounds. Amongst chants know Me to be the repetition of the Holy Name; amongst immovable things I am the Himalayas.

Krishna says in the 10th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. What is Japa? It is the best of Yagnas and Krishna says that of all Yagnas, I am the Yagna, the sacrifice of chanting Japa. There are many types of sacrifices and so Krishna says, ‘out of all these, I am the sacrifice of chanting Japa.’

‘yajnanam japa yajno ’smi,’ the lord says. And of all sacrifices, the sacrifice of chanting Japa and that too, the chanting of

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

This is the best of all Japa. This is also Yagna and it is called Sankirtan Yagna. So the Kings of Kali Yuga including the Kings of Iskcon who are called the Governing Body commissioners are the Parampara, the managing successors, the GBC’s, the zonal secretaries and regional secateurs and the temple presidents and managers, they are all part of the disciplic succession. Evam Parampara-praptam.

evam parampara praptam imam rajarshayo vidhu
sa kaleneha mahata yogo nashtah parantapa
(Bhagavad Gita 4.2)

Translation
This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.

All these Kings come in the succession and they are all administrators and of all these administrators, Sri Rama established religious principles that were relevant in his time, in that yuga.

krte yad dhyayato visnum
tretayam yajato makhaih
dvapare paricaryayam
kalau tad dhari kirtanat
(Srimad Bhagavatam 12.3.52)

Translation

Whatever result was obtained in Satya yuga by meditating on Visnu, in Treta yuga by performing sacrifices, and in Dv?para-yuga by serving the Lord’s lotus feet can be obtained in Kali yuga simply by chanting the Hare Krsna maha mantra

As there are four Yugas, ages of time, accordingly the paths of religion are laid out in terms of the time and circumstance of that particular Yuga. There are different practices for each age and therefore Lord Rama established the religious practice of the Yuga he had appeared in and he protected those practices also by making sure everyone was living in accordance to the religious rituals of that age.

The Kings in Kali Yuga, just like there are kings in Iskcon, who are administrators, they need to establish the religious principles of this age. What is that? The Sankirtan dharma, the chanting of the holy names. Kali kalera dharma krsna nama sankirtana

kali kalera dharma krsna nama sankirtana
krsna sakti vina nahe tara pravartana
(Chaitanya Charitamrita Antya 7.11)

Translation
The fundamental religious system in the Age of Kali is the chanting of the holy name of Krsna. Unless empowered by Krsna, one cannot propagate the sankirtana movement

Hari Hari. There is a purport to this verse but if I read the whole purport now then time will run out and that is why. This verse in question has been discussed and Lord Rama accepted the throne when he saw Bharata’s complete surrender unto him. Hari Hari. Here we see that Bharata was reigning the Kingdom in place of Lord Rama very well.

The astonishing thing is that he was not even eager or wanting to do this. He was not at all interested in having the seat, which seat? The seat which would give him power. Of course Bharata is Rama’s Bharata and therefore he was not power hungry. They had an argument, lord Rama and Bharata, ‘no I dont want to be King, you be the King, no,no you be the king.’

There is so much devotion and love is shown here between Rama and Bharata and this should be studied by us. We must learn from this encounter. Bharata becomes the citizen of Lord Rama and of course he is Rama’s younger brother anyway and he can also be counted as a citizen. Lord Rama love for Bharata and also Bharata’s love for Rama, sad vidham priti lak?a?am.

dadati pratigrhnati
guhyam akhyati prcchati
bhunkte bhojayate caiva
sad vidham priti laksanam
(Nectar of instruction 4)

Translation
Offering gifts in charity, accepting charitable gifts, revealing one’s mind in confidence, inquiring confidentially, accepting prasada and offering prasada are the six symptoms of love shared by one devotee and another

Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhupada has written about what sort of relationship there must be between Vaishnava’s. That is the relationship of love and attachment. One must establish this relationship of love and affection by following these six principles of giving gifts and receiving them and so on. Those who are the leaders in Iskcon, the administrators and temple presidents, they should also have this relationship with the temple congregation members.

Just like Rama had with Bharata and with everyone actually, the lord loved all his citizens like he did Bharata. ‘No you come back and you look after all the affairs of the kingdom.’ As Bharata spike like this, at the end Rama gave his slippers to Bharata. Bharata took the lord’s slippers considering them to be non different to Rama himself.

He installed these slippers and he was thinking ‘lord Rama is ruling through these slippers and Rama is the one sitting on the throne.’ In this way our administrators and temple managers should have the same feelings and understanding that Bharata had. They should feel Dasosmi, Dasosmi or Das anu Das, they are the servants and the servants of the servants of Srila Prabhupada.

our position actually gets higher this way. The more people we put above us the more higher our position gets. When you become a servant of the servant you have a high position. So when you are a servant of the servant if the servant then what happens? That is a even bigger position and so what must you do if you want a bigger position? You must become the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant.

This is amanina manadena. The congregation on the temple and the devotees should respect their authorities and what else should happen? What do the authorities need to do? They also need to act in a certain way towards the devotes and the congregation members. What is that? Amanina manadena, this is the instruction of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Bharata had said, ‘Prabhu Prabhu, oh my lord Rama, you will now say you will mit come back until the fourteen years are over, and although I am not happy I will agree to what you say. But you will have to come back before the time is over or at least on time. If you are even a moment late then you may as well not come because you will mot find me alive.

After the fourteen years were over, Rama left very swiftly. The lord had walked to Lanka but if he was to walk back then many more months would pass. Do you know why he went back on the flying chariot? The Lord was remembering his promise to Bharata, ‘i’ll be back on time or actually before time.’ That is why the Lord was hurrying on the flying chariot to reach back to Ayodhya.

At that time, the respect and welcome there was in place for lord Rama, Jai Sri Rama! That is the exact same welcome that happened just now on the 22nd January when lord Rama came back to Ayodhya! Mahatma Gandhi especially had this dream and he used to think that when Bharat, India would become independent, India, Bharat will establish Rama Rajya.

But seventy five years had passed and some years ago there was a movie that came to the cinemas and the name of the movie was Ravan Rajya. I know ow you would not have seen this movie, or maybe you did. Along with opening of Rama temple and the installation of Rama Lala in Ayodhya, you can say he is the King also, Modi Raja.

There is Rama Raja, and then there is Modi Raja and this King promised something he went on to fulfil. Along with the opening with the temple, the mood and exemplary acts of Rama Rajya have also been put there. Haribol! ‘Good days will come now.’ Do you remember those promises?

Maybe you don’t understand, but this is what Sir Modi used to say, he would assure us that good days will come. But good days can only come when there is the kingdom of lord Rama. Srila Prabhupada ki jai! When I was in Ayodhya in between all the ceremonies of the opening of Ram lala temple, I was seeing that all the leaders who were present there, including many saints, they were all dancing and singing the glories of Modi Raja, Kimg Modi.

They weee also speaking about the bright future of Bharat, India and about how they would make India the Viswaguru, the global teacher of the whole world. So all these talks were going on, and I was listening to all this, and at the same time, I was also thinking, ‘fifty years before this, Srila Prabhupada was the one who had started this Rama Rajya or Chaitanya Rajya.

According to the order of his spiritual master, Prabhupada had started building temples. Okay, because Ayodhya is the place of Lord Rama, they have built a temple there, but Srila Prabhupada had built a temple of lord Rama many years ago in Delhi. And England is such a big name, that England that ruled over so many places and countries, the British Raja.

In London, Srila Prabhupada installed lord Rama at Bhaktivedanta Manor, a huge property given to Prabhupada by George Harrison. We all know about the influence of America upon the world, and in that America, in Washington DC, Srila Prabhupada bought lord Rama there. (Shouts of Haribol)!

This is not all, and Modi was speaking something about the next thousand years to come and he was speaking about the great things he wants to achieve. You can call this his devotion to lord Rama, or you could call it, nationalism, a Hindu nationalist. So this is his vision for the next one thousand years, and he was speaking about great things he wants to do.

But Srila Prabhupada had a plan for the next ten years and that vision was Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s vision actually.

Prthivite ache yata nagaradi grama
sarvatra pracara haibe mora nama
(Chaitanya Bhagavat Antya 4.126)

Translation
In every town and village throughout the world, said Lord Caitanya, the chanting of My holy name will be heard.

And wherever the chanting of the holy names will reach, in that place people will join together to perform kirtan. There will be some Nama hatta, where people can come to chant and there will be Bhakti Vriksha’s, small temples where there will be structured sanga’s. Then one day what will happen?

Will, there not then be opening of a Temple in these places? Of course they will! Wherever the holy name reaches, people come together and then a temple is opened. So these ten thousand years, to come are called the golden period. This has been prophesied by the Sastra’s and Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself.

So whatever has been said, or prophesied will certainly come true. At that time, in ten thousand years, how many temples will there be? How many? There must be a limited number. So as many towns and villages there are in each country, that many temples there will be, and there will be congregation in all of the places.

I think we should clap now upon hearing this, and that is if you want to. So Srila Prabhupada has become Viswaguru, the guru of the whole world and books are the basis, Srila Prabhupada’s books are being distributed throughout the whole world. People come across the Hare Krishna Mahamantra and then they join Harinama and take Prashad.

It could be that someone came across one of Srila Prabhupada’s books, or they came to a festival like Rathayatra and in this way he becomes a devotee, or he is becoming a devotee. We already have millions all over the world, devotees of Rama, devotees of Krishna or lord Chaitanya, and in this way they are becoming Gaudiya Vaishnava’s.

Srila Prabhupada introduced the four regulative principles based upon the teachings of the Bhagavatam. ‘No meat eating, no intoxication, no illicit sex and no gambling.’ These are the principles of Iskcon and it’s beauty. People have become ready to follow these principles, and this is true even for people in China. Patran puspam phalam toyam, no
mutton-am chicken-am or biryani.

Patran puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty upahrtam
asnami prayatatmanah
(Bhagavad Gita 9.26)

Translation
If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it.

Radha Govinda deva ki jai. And in this way

Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah
Sarve Santu Niraamayaah
Sarve Bhadraanni Pashyantu
Maa Kashcid Duhkha Bhaag Bhavet
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih
(Upanishads)

Translation:
Om, May All be Happy,
May All be Free from Illness.
May All See what is Auspicious,
May no one Suffer.
Om Peace, Peace, Peace

Rama was always making sure that everyone was happy and the same for Srila Prabhupada and all his followers. What is are goal? Sarve sukhina bhavantu, eveeyone should be happy. That is why Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s movement is not limited to Hindus or India and that is why Srila Prabhupada named this movement the international Society of Krishna consciousness.

These are such important words, and thats why Prabhupada did not say international temples, no he said an international society. This means that as many people there are this earth and wherever they may be, for them this international society has been created. This has been down so that these people can become Krishna conscious, Rama conscious, or Chaitanya, conscious.

This society is also called Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the whole world is one family). What happened recently in India in the G20 summit? It was a G20 convention and what else could happen better than what Srila Prabhupada has done and what Iskcon is doing? In Iskcon the whole world is one family.

One world, one family. Therefore they say that you must walk the talk, that means that some people are talking big but Seila Prabhupada didn’t just talk, but he did what he proposed. In Mayapur festival which takes place, there are devotees from around the whole world from fifty, sixty or seventy countries. From how many countries do devotees gather?

Devotees come from more than seventy countries and when we all come together, we all stay like one family. It’s like one kitchen, one family. There is one kitchen only and some people are still just thinking to propose these things or they are just talking about it and they cannot do anything more than this. Apart from imagining these things, they cannot do anything more.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ki jai! That Rama becomes even more merciful, and how could he be Rama if he was not merciful? So Rama was always merciful and Krishna Krishna

he krishna karuna-sindho dina-bandho jagat-pate
gopesa gopika-kanta radha-kanta namo ’stu te
(Sri Krishna Pranam)

O my dear Krishna, ocean of mercy, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation. You are the master of the cow herd men and the lover of the gopis, especially Radharani. I offer my respectful obeisances unto You.

So Rama and Krishna are very merciful but even more merciful than them is Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ki jai! The people of this age were more fallen and so the lord had to descend as more magnanimous than other incarnations of the lord. Rama cannot do this because when he comes as Rama or as Krishna, the lord has to play a befitting role according to time and circumstance.

The role of lord Chaitanya is the most magnanimous because he comes to liberate the most fallen souls. I’ll just say this one last item and then i will stop. Mostly all people know lord Rama and they know Krishna also but although Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is that same Rama and he is the same Krishna, still people do not know him.

I was feeling that way, especially in recent times where the Ayodhya temple is opening and everyone is chanting ‘Rama Rama.’ Rama is known and called everywhere is Ayodhya and in Bharat but amongst all this lord Chaitanya is missing. He is the missing link and so it is our job to bring back that which is missing, which is lacking, we must bring Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as we are feeling his absence.

This is the job of Iskcon devotees, the administrators, managers and the governing body. It is the work of all of us and that is why Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has said

yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna’-upadesa
amara ajnaya guru hana tara’ ei desa
(Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya 7.128)

Translation
Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Sri Krsna as they are given in the Bhagavad gita and Srimad Bh?gavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land

So continue giving this message of lord Krishna to the whole world and become Guru’s in this way. If you cannot become Viswaguru then at least become the Guru’s of your household members. Become the Guru of your neighbourhood or your town and townspeople.

Try and make bigger this sphere of influence. In this way all the Iskcon devotees around the world should spread Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mossion. We must tell everyone who is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and so on, so on. We must especially introduce the chanting of

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

As you do this, you can remember Srila Prabhupada and understand that you are indebted to him. Are we indebted to him or not? Who here understands that we are indebted to Srila Prabhupada? (Shouts of jai)! Srila Prabhupada was having a casual conversation once with some of his disciples. His disciples were telling Srila Prabhupada, ‘Prabhupada, we are indebted to you.’

Prabhupada said, ‘yes, that is ture. You are indebted.’ So the disciple asked, ‘is there anything we could do to become free from this debt?’ So Prabhupada answered ‘there is nothing you could do.’ Then Prabhupada paused and then he said, ‘yes yes, you could do one thing.’ They asked. ‘What is that Srila Prabhupada?’ He answered’ You do as i did.’

He was saying that whatever he had established, they should continue that and also expand his teachings to further places. ‘By doing that, you can get free from this debt to some extent.’ Who here wants to try and do this? (Shouts of haribol)!

Padayatra goes on
29th October 2018
ISKCON meeting
Noida

Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu six years he travelled and that was padayatra.

1508: Caitanya Mahaprabhu left on his 6 years padayatra to establish the yuga dharma, the chanting of the holy names.
Why acharya’s where walking and traveling and why did Chaitanya Mahaprabhu travelled? This was to spread the glories of the Lord and especially did Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and our Gaudiya Vaishnava have traveled to bring the holy name to more towns and more villages. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was the inaugurator of this program and Srila Prabhupada took it up.

1952: Srila Prabhupada (still Abhay) organized the League of Devotees in Jhansi. Srila Prabhupada himself in 1952 while he was in Jhansi. He went on padayatra. Just short not long one but he did padayatra himself of 30 kilometers from Jhansi to Chirgoan.

In 1974, this was shared with me by Tribhuvanath Prabhu. Tribhuvanath Prabhu and Bhagavat Prabhu, Prabhupada wanted to see them as going up near Bombay, they were excited, what assignment Prabhupad is going to give us. Finally when Prabhupada said (You go on padayatra) You do padayatra, but then that did not materialize but Prabhupad was thinking and approaching his disciples, followers to take up this Padayatra program.

End of 1974 (Bombay) :

For the first time Prabhupada introduced the idea of bullock cart sankirtana party to Bhagavat Das and Tribhuvanath Das. He surprised his disciples with his new idea and even promised he would accompany them but the idea was not pursued.

Beginning of 1976, entrance gate of Mayapur:

Srila Prabhupada received the half dozen devotees who had walked 3 months on the 1500 km bullock Padayatra from Hyderabad to Mayapur.
“Naturally the sankirtan men travelling with the bullock carts are blissful. It is Lord Caitanya’s engagement. Lord Caitanya personally travelled all over India for six years. His program was simply kirtan and prasada distribution. Lord Caitanya never spoke philosophy in public… So continue this program. It is very pleasing to Lord Caitanya.

December 1975: Letter to Mahamsa Swami, then in charge of Hyderabad Farm

Then in 1976, padayatra finally happened from Hyderabad to Mayapur (1500 kms) and Prabhupad was there to greet them, I understand. Then Prabhupad wrote a letter to Mahamsa Swami, who was then incharge of the Hyderabad farm.

We heard this from Yasomatinadan Prabhu.
During His visit of Gujarat in 1975

Srila Prabhupada asked Yasomatinandana Prabhu to arrange a bullock cart to travel village to village. He said he would travel with the Padayatris.
In 1975 Prabhupada said to Yasomatinandana Prabhu please arrange bullock cart to travel village to village and he would travel with padayatris. There was a gentlemen called Punjabi Parmananda and he had written to Prabhupada of taking of this Padayatra Program and Prabhupada responded to the communication of Punjabi Parmananda saying.

Letter to Punjabi Premananda
May 16th, 1976

“Concerning your offering of doing Padayatra travelling village to village, if young Indian men join me, I am immediately ready for this travelling touring from village to village, town to town. However my foreign disciples have the language defect, they can’t speak the village language, otherwise I would have started this programme long ago. If some young men like you would join me then along with some foreign disciples, I can immediately take up this programme. If you are very eager, please get hold of at least half a dozen young men like you then with another half dozen foreign disciples, I can immediately take up this programme and tour village to village and town to town.
It will be very, very effective, I know that.”

This is Srila Prabhupad and I am sharing this so that we would know what was in the mind of Prabhupada. There were so many things on his mind book distribution this that but certainly this was one of the items that was very much in his mind and dear to his heart.

I know that because I have interacted with Srila Prabhupada and had many talks, correspondence and I know how much he appreciated the padayatra program. I am just transferring these thoughts of Prabhupada. I would be no more but you will be here for much longer, so I just wanted to make sure that you fully understand Prabhupada, his thoughts for padayatra and why padayatra should be brought to more towns and more villages.

What do we distribute in ISKCON. We distribute book of Prabhupada, with sweet prasadam , Krishna prasadam , and what else do? We distribute harinam, and I think these are three big items and new festivals this that and when it comes to distribute share the holy name is in top of the list and Prabhupada wanted to make sure the holy name spreads far and wide not to be limited only to towns.

So Prabhupada is representing Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and wanting to make Chaitanya’s prediction come true this was Prabhupada’s strategy this padayatra travel program.

August 1976 in Delhi on Radhashtami:

Srila Prabhupada: “You don’t need to travel on the bus in India. Instead you can get one bullock cart and go preach village to village all over India. It will be a great success.”

(Speaking to Lokanath Swami who had been travelling and preaching on two German Mercedes buses with the Nitai-Gaura World Sankirtana Party.
In 1976, this is where in Delhi I personally received this instruction of the padayatra on Radhastami day. When ISKCON was in Lajpat Nagar only once on Gandhi Road you know the address all the way back 1976 Prabhupada was attending Radhasathmi festival (Radha Parthasarthi temple) and Radhasatmi Prabhupad said, you don’t need to travel on the bus in India. Instead, you can get one bullock cart and go preach village to village all over India. It will be a great success.

We were traveling in German buses of Hansaduta Maharaja GBC also that time with the western buses and we were traveling all overnight in north India and we had good time. We were enjoying the German buses you know they are very special opening and closing doors you push the button and lot of people would just gather around, it was a Mercedes bus. People would gather around just to see how the door opens door closes and we were having good time but then Prabhupada said get down from the bus. Here is the bullock cart.

Travelling in bullock cart is a big sacrifice but we were happy. Then we started the first walk was from Vrindavan to Mayapur. Prabhupad said you go to Mayapur and on the way, we passed to Kanpur. I wrote to Srila Prabhupad need some financial help for padayatra we need money we need men and I wrote to Srila Prabhupada.

This was the response.
“Do not depend on outside help. Also, for financial support depend on Krishna…. Also, book distribution. We are maintaining our huge establishment by selling books. That is wanted. In foreign countries they are distributing huge quantities of books. Money is needed, that you have to collect. You can’t expect money from outside.”
(Srila Prabhupada’s letter to Lokanath Swami)
December 1976, Kanpur .

So, we took up book distribution very seriously on padayatra and I would like to report scores of 9th 2015 -2016 and 2017 we distributed in 2015, 96 thousand books of Srila Prabhupada on padayatra and in 2016, 97 thousand and in 2017 over 100,000 thousand books were distributed and that made padayatra more self-sufficient.

We have padayatra president here Acharya Prabhu for last ten years he had been managing padayatra right here and they are saving funds by distributing books and they took a pledge of 5 lakh for TVO VP and they are sponsoring other projects certain temples from book distribution on padayatras.

So, besides chanting the holy name bringing into every town every village Prabhupad abooks are going to all remote area corners of India and they have gone around India six time the 6th time (6th round) as we do temple parikrama they are doing Bharat varsha parikrama.

Padayatra INDIA Book Scores

Books By Categories 2015 2016 2017
S1 – Small (Soft copy)
Raj Vidya, Teachings of Prahalad Maharaja, Beyond
Birth & Death, Laws of Nature, BTG 73,221 68,966 35,592
S2 – Medium (Soft copy) Second Chance 904 698 200
S3 – Big (Soft copy)
Science of Self Realization 1,487 1,171 7,193
H4 – Maha Big (Hard copy, 500+ pages)
BG, SB, Krishna Book, Prabhupada Lilamrita, Ramayana 20,790 26,982 63,124

Grand Total 96,402 Books 97,727 Books 106,109 Books

Prabhupada wrote to me in 1976, I’m also happy to hear your very nice activities. I wish I could have joined you.”
“I’m also happy to hear your very nice activities. I wish I could have joined you. I like your program very much. If you continue this program you will be benefited, people will be benefited, and everyone will be happy.”
Letter to Lokanath Swami, 1976

What more Prabhupada would say to us to inspire us keep doing this program. Then 1977 as we had a very successful bullock sankirtan party going in India. This was Prabhupada wrote to Nityananda our God brother in America New Talavan farm community.
March 16th 1977
(Letter to Nityananda Dasa,
New Talavan Farm Community, US)

“And oxen can be used for driving carts and preaching village to village. What is the question of killing them? Here in India our Lokanatha Maharaja has successfully organized such a program and it is a great success. He has travelled all over India and everywhere they distribute books, prasadam and perform kirtana, village to village. Each night they stop at a different village. We can introduce many millions of such carts all over the world.”

And then you wrote here in India our Lokanath Maharaja has successfully organized such a program and it is a great success. He has travelled all over India and everywhere they distribute books, prasadam and perform kirtan, village to village. Each night they stop at a different village. And then you can read that highlighted statement or hear and Prabhupad wrote. “We can introduce many millions of such carts all over the world.” This is Prabhupada’s big thinking Prabhupada never thought small so this is big thinking we had only one cart’s round which we thought was very successful then he’s is talking of millions of hearts but this was not to be organized only by Lokanath Swami from this it is very clear Prabhupada wanted his followers, his managers to take up this project of padayatra, spreading the holy, name around.

PADYATRA WORLDWIDE MINISTRY,
GBC MANDATE,
1991
“TO BRING THE CONGREGATIONAL CHANTING OF THE HOLYNAME TO EVERY
VILLAGE OF THE WORLD THROUGH ORGANIZED PADAYATRA FESTIVALS.”

In 1991, GBC formed a Padayatra worldwide ministry and this is the mandate of GBC mandate for padayatra worldwide to bring the congregational chanting of the holy name to every town and village of the world through organized for the padayatra festivals. So, to execute the will of Srila Prabhupada’s, GBC took that action and gave that Mandate Padayatra, we are on the road. You could do the calculation that is how many 34, All India Padayatra is on the road for as 34 years and every day they go to new village, to new village, to the new village, new village and a thousand. I was looking at Acharya prabhu is keeping record. He took over some 9 or 10 years ago and he was showing me the record started in Pandharpur in the 10 kilometers down the road this village and he has all record of all last 10 years, 10 years, Padayatra visits and their phone numbers and some contact. They are becoming devotees as goes back. He is our 5th president in 34 year we are 4 before as we have gone around nonstop and then 1996, we organize 100 birth anniversary of Srila Prabhupada. Everyone was thinking well he is his disciples how to glorify, where to offer Srila Prabhupad 100th birth anniversary. So padayatra ministry also were thinking Pancharatna for who was with us being plans or as a part of Centennial. So, we took the pledge of organizing Padayatra in 100 countries and he is a list of all those countries because we have in fact 105 countries, we covered with padayatra.
ALL INDIA PADAYATRA 1984-2018

And I think today Padayatra has worked 250,000 kilometers and Padayatris do not take one step forward without chanting a very Krishna, Krishna at every step they are chanting. So, you could imagine how many towns and villages holy name has reached. And sometimes I say, and this is true that padayatra not only brings holy name to every town and every village, but in between the villages and in between the towns we chant. We not only in the town, in the village, but in between, from one town to another one. One village to another. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s prediction. This is coming true, in 77. Probably.

You know, Prabhupada wanting to go on bullock cart but his health was bad for months, he wasn’t able to get up and sit on his own. Get me Bullock cart. So, this is Prabhupada and inconceivable Prabhupada. Then we have Brajamandal Parikrama, Navdeep Mandal Parikrama and Sri Kshetra Parikrama Puri Parikrama is very much there. Then Bhakti Purushottam Maharaj took over.
I only go for inauguration cutting the ribbon and is going on for 10 years. More than 12 years Sri Kshetra Parikrama, Pandharpur Parikrama and this Parikrama and Punjab Many Parikrama is also going on. We have a padayatra manual how to organize from beginning all the details that you made available websites.
www.padayatra.com
This is a web site padayatra.

• Padayatra Andhra Pradesh/Telangana on the road since the end of 2012, led by Vishnuswami Dasa.
• 20-Day bullock cart Padayatra by ISKCON Bhubaneswar at the end of Kartika (Orissa). 2018 will be its 26th anniversary.
• 18-Day bullock cart Dindi yatra from Dehu to Pune to Pandharpur (Maharashtra).
• Dindi bullock cart Padayatra from Aravade to Pandharpur (Maharashtra).
• Dindi yatra from Solapur to Pandharpur (Maharashtra). 2018 will be its 20th anniversary.
• One-Day Padayatras around Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Vallabhavidya nagar, Surat & Bangalore.
• 22-day long Padayatra by Yasodadulal Dasa from Ahmedabad to Dandi (Gujarat).
• 2-Day pilgrimage at the end of 2016 by Yasodadulal Dasa accompanied by a group of 150 local devotees (Assam).
• 15-Day bullock cart Padayatra from Noida to Vrindavan (UP) in October 2016.

One grihastha devotee disciple of Bhakti Vikas Maharaja, he had been doing padayatra in Telangana and Andra also since 2012 and he has only party of not more than half dozen just 4 or 5 devotees so many villages, so many books. Just one gentleman one grihastha leaves his family wife behind and he goes. Lot of the time, most of the time is on the road.

Bhuvaneswar from Gaura Govind Maharaja’s days, then after, his glorious departure, ISKCON Bhuvaneswar is organizing padayatra every year
In India, Pune to Pandharpur this is ISKCON Pune takes part in organizing the padayatra every year, 18 days, 50 temple devotees join, they’ll have good time, padayatra is nice retreat, retreat everyone like padayatra and there’s a whole list

And upcoming padayatras which is ISKCON Kanpur is on the list, and ISKCON Baroda and Tirupati’s being ready to have padayatra all over Andhra Pradesh and many temples organize padayatra every year there’s one day padayatra concept is cropping up in Ahmadabad and Gujarat, 3 day padayatra, 1 week padayatra or ISKCON Noida devotees go from here to Vrindavan , so please take this up, as I said in the beginning it already resolve that you are and they resolve for you are the doers, temple president you have to take this action to organize padayatra in your area.

You see Prabhupada’s will or legacy that he left behind in the form of padayatra and we have to shift forward
You are Ready!! once more once more show up hand, all those who wish to be a part of initiative.
Jai Srila Prabhupada ki jai

om ajnana-timirandhasya
jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena
tasmai sri-gurave namah

and those are obeisances unto Srila Prabhupad and my obeisances to all the assembled devotees in this world

vancha-kalpa-tarubhyas ca
krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah

I was first didn’t want to have association of Srila Prabhupad and in Kartik on 1972, as well as unfortunate month of Kartik in 1977 and very first instruction Prabhupad gave to me in my life as I came to Vrindavan, that had a connection with Goverdhan, You and Panch Dravid are going to Agra and collect some grains, gud and ghee and Suji, Prabhupad wanted to organise a big Annakut. Goverdhan Puja Mahaotsav ki Jai…………

So that was first service instruction and the very last instruction also bring me to Goverdhan in a bullock cart. Hari Hari. I am sure that it is everybody’s experience that on disappearance day Prabhupad appears more. Yes is that? This is the day to become Prabhupad conscious, well not only this day, but in fact every day should be the day to become more and more Prabhupad conscious. I mean knowing Prabhupad and what were his expectations from us also to know that , to know lot of things as we become Prabhupad conscious. We realise Prabhupad and then will also act on his behalf or as he said, You do as I did. He did not ordered to, You do as I did, and in order to do as I did, we will have to become more and more Prabhupad conscious and this applies to every single one of us, not just Prabhupad disciples but now we have grand disciples and Prabhupad has a great grand disciples and followers around, around the world. I have to serve his institution, protect his institution, he was so much concerned about among many other things, this was the one of his major concerns, how this movement will go on, after, he moves on and as he did today entering Krishna Balaram past times, Nitya lila pravistha, Srila Prabhupad ki Jai……..

So during one of those last days of Prabhupad in Vrindavan, he was with Giriraj, not swami or Maharaj that time, he was just Baramachari, anyway, I was expecting him to be here but Is he here? so Prabhupad asked how will this movement go on after I am gone?, and the response of Giriraj Prabhu was Prabhupad we will chant Hare Krishna, we will follow four regulative principles and like that on and on, he was saying these items. Prabhupad I was sure, he was pleased to some extent but not fully happy with the response and, so Prabhupad paused and he said, “organisation and intelligence”, Go mata ki Jai…
So this is what we have to do, we have to organise intelligently, so that Prabhupad’s movement could go on and on and on, I would take just one more minute. I just want to remind myself and all the assembled devotees, Prabhupad’s so very famous statement almost like a will, his will, “Your love for me will be seen by how you co-operate with each other.” So that this movement is protected after I am gone.

So, I think this is the day to remind all of us, of this spirit of co-operation that Prabhupad expected, and I would just add, not that we have to only love Prabhupad, we also have to love and trust devotees around us or devotees all around then only of course we will co-operate with each other and that could be pleasing Srila Prabhupad. The movement will be protected and the movement will go on and on. I just wanted to see that we take such a vow today, as an offering. I would like you to reach out your next neighbour, hold his hand, mataji’s could hold other mataji’s hand’s, do that and we want to express our, where are the hands, where are the hands, I want to see hands, we want to show Prabhupad out hands, we are together, we are gone co-operate, we are ready, we are taking this vow, as an offering unto you Srila Prabhupad.
Srila Prabhupad ki Jai…
Nitai Gaur Premanande
Thank you.

Kirtaniya Sada Hari
Padayatra Forever

Some devoteescome on Sunday. What about other, devotees? You should come visit theLord and devotees. Come – go, come – go, and then once come and never go.Do this kind of preparation. AttainLord and return back to Godhead from where we all actually belong, that planet is Vaikuntha planet or Golok planet. Do you all belong to Krisna?
You belong to Ram, onlyLord is yours and mine.

tvama eva mata
tvam eva pita
tvam eva bandhu

Tvam eva, Tvam Eva, we say tvameva, it is formed from two words evameans only you, you only are the mother, you only are father, you only are brother, you only are friend, tvam eva dravinam that is knowledge and wealth. Our spiritual life begins with the sambandha (relation) in this way, we should re- establish our relationship with theLord. Who we are?Who isLord? And what relation we have with theLord? These are the basic things we should learn and understand in this human life.

“athato brahma jijnasa”
‘Translation: “Now is the time to inquire about the Absolute Truth.”

Atha means now and now means whenyou have become human. Atha means for this reason you become inquisitive about spirit.Lord Krishna says in Gita
“pari prashnena sevaya,

Ask questions, who am I? Ke ami, kema amay, jare tapa trya.

What is mine? ask questions and you will get answers, every question has an answer. No one can ask any question which is not asked before. We cannot ask any new question. Before us, many had asked that question and now we are asking. Whenever the question was raised, answer was available there because answer is truth and truth is eternal. Satya meva jaite, truth always win.

sarvam eta dhritam mane yanmam vadasi keshav

Arjun also says in Bhagavat Gita said that whateverLord you speak, you speak only truth. The Vedas are also the Vani (speech) of theLord and all is truth. So, it is expected from us that we should be curious, not just curious but curious with relation to Brahma, Parabhrama or soul. But what we ask questions are about price in the market. All these question and answers are going on day and night in court or vegetable market or in school and colleges, but many of the questions are not spiritual and related to Brahma. (Kirtan Hare Krishna …) Hare Krishna mahamantra do you all liked it?
Devotees: Hari Bol!!!

Lokanath Swami Maharaja : It is not any manorajan (entertainment) programme, it is atmarajan, atmarajan means for the peace and satisfactionof the soul or for the nourishment of the soul so that we can becomemahatma than just atma everyoneand also woman because, here we are talking about the soul so there is no question or difference of female and male. In this way, you all in your home, or wherever you are, do kirtan, this is told by Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself and to tell this he went from village to village, town to town, there is a possibility that from Jagannath Puri to Jharkhanda, now it has become a state, before it was a forest so he went from there to Mathura-Vrindavan. Does Kanpur come in between?
Devotees: Yesss!!

Lokanath Swami Maharaja : I wanted to sayLord must have come here also, there is a possibility, also it is said that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu here somewhere took a bath on the banks of Ganges, in this area and then moved ahead. Krsna who is merciful, if he was not merciful what kind of Krishna? If not, ours then at least listen to the words of Krishna and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Caitanya Mahaprabhu said?

“bolo Krishna bhajo Krishna karo Krishna Shiksha”

Like this he said two-three more things, he himself would also do this,as well as said to Haridas Thakur and NityanandaPrabhu who were the leading preachers. Who was Haridas thakur? Brahma himself, Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh from which the Brahma he became Brahma Haridas thakur or his name became Haridas thakur.

And Balaram hoilo Nitai, Krishna Balaram ki jai, Dauji ka bhaiya Krishna Kanhaiya”

That Dauji 500 years ago appeared as NityanandaPrabhu”Balaram hoilo nitai”.There were many teams who used to preach on behalf of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, so one of that teams ,’leading team’ was of Haridas thakur and Nityananda prabhu so Chaitanya mahaprabhu said,

suno suno Nityananda, suno Haridasa,
sarvatra amara ajna koroha prakasa,
prati ghare ghare giya koro ei bhiksa,
bolo Krishna, bhaja Krishna, koro Krishna siksa

“O hear Me, hear Me Nityananda! Hear Me Haridasa! Simply disseminate My order everywhere. Go from house to house and beg [the residents as follows]: ‘Speak about Krsna, worship Krsna and teach [others] about Krsna.’”

[Caitanya-bhagavata Madhya-Lila 13.8-9]

Go to each house and preach my order and that is “bolo Krishna (say Krishna) bhajo KKrishna (chant Krishna) karo Krishna Shiksha(teach others about Krishna)” so this is Chaitanya mahaprabhu’s instruction,not mine, who am I to instruct you ,I am also like you,I am just one of you.
500 years ago when Chaitanya mahaprabhu appeared “sambhavami yuge yuge”and what he does dharma samsthapanarthya establishes principles of religion, and Kaliyuga’s dharma is Harinam Sankirtan

“kali kaler dharma harinaam sankirtana ara nahi dharma”,
It is said in the scripture’s there is no other dharma in this age of Kali other than Hari nam sankirtan.
“Iti sodasakam namnam kali-kalmasa-nasanam
Natah parataropayah sarva-vedesu drsyate”

Brahma said this to Narada Muni, we should accept that kali yuga dharma is Harinam sankirtana. Do you all agree?
Devotees: Yesss!!!Hari Bol

Lokanath Swami Maharaja : Otherwise, I will have to give you references from different shastra. If you understand then I would not say all that. So you all become religious, Kaliyuga’s dharma is harinama sankirtan to become dharmic we will have to accept the dharma of kali yuga then only we will become dharmic. If we do Harinam sankirtan, Brahma ji said to Naradmuni- Brahamaji is father, Guru, he is not only engineer or constructor of material world. He is acharya. Like our acharya is SrilaPrabhupad. We are called as Gaudiya Vaishnav and our first acharya is Brahmaji.four different types of Vaishnav tradition. Out of that one disciplic succession, whose first acharya is who says

“Om Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare”

“iti sodasakam namnam kali-kalmasa-nasanam
natah parataropayah sarva-vedesu drsyate”

Iti means this, sodaskam namnam- 16 name, Kali-kalmasa-nasanam- is to counteract the evil effects of Kaliyuga. Natah parataropayah- and there is no better way, sarva-vedesu drsyate-no other method has been mentioned in all the Vedas.

Harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevlam

I am the knower of all the Vedas, I was the only person who heard Veda fromLord lotus-mouth (Mukharavind), and I am the authority to say,
na atah paratarah upayah paratarah means better, so there is no better way “na” means no, “sarva vedeshu” in all the Vedas no other way is mentioned Harer Namaiva kevalam.

So, in this discipline succession of Narada muni, even theLord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also appeared and in the line of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu recently In the 20th century Bhakti Vedanta Swami SrilaPrabhupada ki jai. Prabhupada appeared and took the responsibility of spreading the spiritual principles given by his spiritual master. “Yato yato Yami Tato Prabhupada” wherever we go there is Prabhupada. Prabhupada’s spiritual master instructed Prabhupada about a 100 years ago to spread awareness about Bhagvat Dharam or Chaitanya Bhagvat dharma in the Western countries. This instruction was given 100 years ago so In ISKCON we are celebrating the 100th anniversary in 2022 accordingly in 1922 this instruction was given by Srila Bhakti Siddhant Saraswati Thakur to Bhakti Vedant a Swami Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada followed his spiritual master’s instruction and founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

So we can say that Srila Prabhupada was the protector of Gaudiya Vaishnav sampradaya, that was his responsibility then to spread the instructions of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as well as his desire. So as we discussed already Dharma Samstha panarthay Sambhavami Yuge Yuge. One of the reason of the incarnation ofLord is to preach the dharma, and Kaliyuga’s dharma is Harinam Sankirtan, so spreading harinam sankiratn was the responsibility of Bhakti Vedant Swami Srila Prabhupada, he made many plans so that Harinam could be propagated and spread all over the world, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu had predicted that,

“prithvi te ache jat nagar adi Gram
sarvatra prachar hai be moranaam”

He said in Bengali becauseLord had appeared in Bengal/Mayapur which is nondifferent from Vrindavan, It is Vrindavan only because Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Krishna himself, not only he is Krishna but he is Radha also,

“Sri Krishna Chaitanya Radha Krishna Nahi Anya”

Such is the introduction is of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And he predicted that my name will be preached in the whole world, in every town and every village. This prediction was made true by Bhakti Vedant Swami Srila prabhupada, So to spread the holy name he made many plans, under which Srila Prabhupada started this padayatra which is also known as the walking festival or bullock cart sankirtan and what to say, he instructed me “You preach the holy name by bullock cart padayatra” There are other means or mediums of Harinam propagation, out of that one can say that padayatra is a special or main medium to reach harinam in cities and villages. I don’t know what you’ll are looking at. I got this instruction on the day of Radhastami in New Delhi in Radha Parthsarthi temple Prabhupada told me to handle this, then we went to Vrindavan from Delhi and we prepared everything so that we can go from padayatra or bullock cart.

This is about 1976 on 10th or 12th of September, Prabhupada himself inaugurated this program behind the Krishna Balaram temple where here is Prabhupada quarter, we were only 10 to 12 padayatris (members of bullock cart sankirtan party) so Prabhupada spent a whole hour talking to us, and many things he explained about how to spread this even he told us that when we enter into any village, park your cart next to the well. So, we came to know this later, although I was a villager, I came to know that rural people come to places where water is available, so you can meet them there. Prabhupada explained many things like this to us. He told us to keep two blankets because the winter days were just about to start and Prabhupada also said that your bullock cart should also have rubber tiers.

And when you go into the village, you have to keep the people in villages only, nowadays rural people are running towards the cities. We were in Kanpur, they helped us a lot, our padayatra was going on in Kanpur, Nagar Sankirtan, book distribution. At that time, we did not have financial assistance for our padayatra, we did not have a bank account and our bank balance was zero, so I wrote a letter to Prabhupada from Kanpur, send us some money and some manpower, so then Prabhupada replied, no no don’t depend on outside help, become self-sufficient, do book distribution. By the way Prabhupada sent a sankirtan newsletter with that letter and said that our institute is maintained with the collection from the book sells. We maintain our institution by distributing books worldwide, so you will also have to do the same thing and we were also thinking to open a center in Kanpur for fund raising, there are many rich people, many businesses men’s in Kanpur.

So Prabhupada came to know about our idea, how to raise funds, then he again wrote a letter to me he gave an address Mr. G. Panth, Ashok Nagar, Kanpur, Prabhupada said yesterday itself this gentleman from Kanpur had come to see me in Vrindavan, Mr. Panth and he is a great devotee, he can help you, so contact him. So like this we were contacting and conversing with Srila Prabhupada about raising funds in Kanpur to support padayatra sankirtan party and then I even sent the bullock cart sankirtan party ahead and I alone stayed back for some time for fund raising or to open a center but then I also joined the party and then we reached Allahabad, Prayag Raj, at the time of Kumbh mela in 1977, there was a camp (pandal) of ISKCON and Prabhupada himself came there even though his health was not good and our bullock cart sankirtan party had also reached there.

As I met UP (Uttar Pradesh) padayatris today, the devotees of UP padayatra were narrating their reports to me about how good the preaching is going on and the books are being distributed very well, this person sponsored the cart for us, we have a motor cycle we use it, etc. they were telling. So just as they were reporting me about UP padayatra, I also shared with Prabhupada whatever experience we had from Vrindavan to Prayag raj and Prabhupad was listening interestingly and was asking questions also and as I went answering, there was only Prabhupada and me in that tent and as he kept on listening the bullock cart sankirtan party’s report so “the face is index of mind” so looking at the happiness on his face I understood that Prabhupad was very happy, and that happiness which I saw personally, the mood on Prabhupada’s face, it was joyful and happy and it still inspires me to do padayatra and to take the sankirtan forward. The annual Prabhupada Vyasa puja book is made every year so at least once a year I give my report with a hope and I am confident that Prabhupada would be certainly pleased with it.

Recently in the last week I have sent my offering for the Vyasa puja offering book of this year. So, one day Srila Prabhupada was returning from his morning walk in the Kumbh Mela and we had parked our bullock cart’s in the park, Prabhupada came straight to the bulls I was also with him I remember one thing that on one side of our bullock cart we wrote our party’s name Bhakti Vedanta Swami bullock cart sankirtan party, This name was written in a semi-circle so Prabhupada started reading from one point and he read it in circular manner as it is written. we had named the sankirtan party ” Bhakti Vedanta Swami bullock cart sankirtan party” ki jai. Then we went ahead to Varanasi, Prabhupada’s order was to go from Vrindavan to Mayapur. So, when we would go, people used to ask us where is this party going? Then we would say we are going to Mayapur. Some people would say you’ll are Swami ‘s and you are going to Mayapur? you are going into Maya? so at that time people were totally blank about Mayapur slowly now because of Prabhupada everyone is coming to know about Gauranga Mahaprabhu and his birth, at that time almost no-one knew about Mayapur. So, when we were in Varanasi, it was February, and we want to reach Mayapu in March because Gaura Purnima festival is celebrated in March.

Srila Prabhupada used to organize Mayapur festival there, his disciples and followers from all over the world used to come together and Gaur Purnima means same as Krishna Janmashtami festival.Lord Krishna appeared on Ashtami and Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared on Gaura Purnima or Falgun Purnima. Gauranga! Nityananda! Just like in Vrindavan (we say) “Dauji ka bhaiya, Krishna Kanhaiya, in Mayapur (we say) “Gauranga, Nityananda” because that same Krishna, Balarama appear in the form of Gauranga and Nityananda in Navadvip. So, we had to reach till Gaura Purnima and only one month was left and we were in Varanasi so we were thinking how to reach on time, so we came up with a plan, please don’t share it with anyone okay? We hired a truck, we were cheated a little, we were supposed to go by bullock cart and padayatra from Vrindavan to Mayapur but we wanted to reach till Gaura Purnima so we hired a lorry (truck) and our bullock cart, our bulls, our all padayatris, their all personal belongings, our books, our Gaura Nitai deities that time the head pujari of Vrindavana he was a household devotee so he gave us his personal Gaura Nitai so all of these we loaded into the lorry.

This was a kind of black business, we wanted to travel at night so that no-one could know, we crossed the entire Bihar and unloaded at the Bihar-Bengal border, and from there we left for Mayapur. The Padayatra was very much welcomed in Bengal specially. Because from a vision Bengalis were fortunate becauseLord Gauranga mahaprabhu appeared in Bengal, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Kirtan has been famous in Bengal since long. Harinam Kirtan is performed for Ashta prahar (24 hours) day and night. We were very welcomed wherever we went. We went to Navadweep city, we had to cross Ganges to go to the other side is Mayapur, Chandrodaya temple. So then again, we loaded bullock cart, bulls, padyatris, into a boat.

When we were crossing the river, one of our bulls went into the Ganges. The boat was going ahead and the bull was going backward. We were praying toLord. Narsimha, please help, protect. We were pulling the bull; with great difficulty and prayers we reached Mayapur. Aarti of Radha Madhav was being performed in the afternoon. We took darshans, the bullock cart was parked in front of the temple. We went up to meet Prabhupad. Prabhupad had met us in Vrindavan, in between in Prayag raj and now when we reached Mayapur, Prabhupad was there. Prabhupad lived on the 2nd floor. Prabhupad’s servant Hari Sauri Prabhu, we were about to climb the 2nd floor, then he came forward and said You can’t go, Prabhupad is busy you can’t meet. So luckily Prabhupad came out of the bathroom it was not attached and was about to go to his roomhe saw something was happening here, a riot. Prabhupad said let them come then we reached Prabhupad’s room, lotus building, 2nd floor. We sat down after paying obeisances. So that day, when Prabhupad came for darshan, his disciples had garlanded him with many colorful, aromatic, lotus and many other flower garlands. It was all lying there in Prabhupad’s room. Prabhupad said “Tamal Krishna, Hari Sauri, offer them garlands. So, within a few moments we wore big-big garlands.

Prabhupad welcomed us this way and did the hospitality. Then again reporting happened like it happened in Prayag raj. Now we narrated the entire journey from Prayag raj to Mayapur. Prabhupad asked how was the journey? I told Prabhupad “it was easy journey to Mayapur planet”. There is a book by Prabhupad called “Easy journey to other planets”. The journey was smooth, I said. After that festival Prabhupad said now you go to Jagannath Puri. Earlier we were told to go from Vrindavan to Mayapur, now he said go to Jagannath Puri. We also went. Now this is 1977, this is Prabhupad’s last year among us or in this world. Prabhupad was in Vrindavan in November, a week before his departure to Golak. I and my party, Prabhupad had asked us to organize a bullock cart party as well as a book distribution party.

The name of that party was “Narad muni travelling sankirtan party”. When we reached Mayapur, Prabhupad had kindly given darshan’s to us. In those days it was difficult for Prabhupad to even sit, he used to lie down. We went and sat next to Prabhupad and again Prabhupadasked for the report of book distribution. At that time,we had come from Badrikashram, while distributing books we went to Badrika ashram, we knew Prabhupada’s health was not good but, in those days, we had no mobiles, e-mails, SMS to contact se we ourselves came from Badrikashram to Vrindavan.Prabhupad was asking which book was more distributed. We said that we had gone to Badrikashram and we showed your Bhagwat Geeta to Srila Vyasadev ji in Vyasa cave. Prabhupad was very happy to hear this. We thought that Vyasa dev must be staying in that Vyasa cave, we didn’t see him but he must have definitely seen us and the Geeta. At the end of the meeting, I and other devotees of the sankirtan party were also leaving the room, I was the last person to leave the room so I turned to see before I leave, Prabhupad signaled me with fingers to come so I went into the room and sat. So Prabhupad asked me ” I would like to see you, what time could I see you?.

I said anytime Prabhupada, there’s no question, anytime you wish to see me. Prabhupad said”4 O’clock is, okay? I was thinking whole day that the way Prabhupad had said I want to see you, I was seeing that something was serious, he had something in his mind. So, when we returned at four O’ clock, whatever he wanted to say at 4 o’clock, Prabhupad had already told it to his servant’s and secretary during the day. The thing was that Prabhupad wanted to travel in Vraj Mandal especially as a trial to Govardhan by bullock cart.

You all easily said Haribol, we also had said Haribol, but many said cautions! Because Prabhupada was bed for 4 to 6 months his situation was very delicate. So Krishna-Balaram temples senior devotees were discussing at the reception hall and I also was there, so they sent me to Mathura to organise a bullock cart and I also organised a cart, it was also parked in front of the temple and next morning we had to go to Govardhan but then at night yes/no, agree/disagree, all of that happened and then finally Srila Prabhupada dropped the idea to go by bullock cart, so bullock cart idea was not going to happen. So, the next day, Prabhupada was not going to travel by bullock cart, but the travelling idea was not dropped, “okay I can’t go bullock cart in this condition”. So, we, disciples were sitting around Prabhu Pada’s bed so Prabhupada again gave the proposal, I want the travel with (by) buses, at this time no one had taken objection and Prabhupada wished to travel so everyone was happy too as Prabhupada will be with us, he will not return back to godhead, he would be with us. We all welcomed. So, like that, so this traveling by bullock cart did not happen so I was thinking, because I was the owner of bullock cart or Prabhupada gave me the responsibility, I thought this is the will, last desire of Prabhupada to travel by bullock cart but that couldn’t be fulfilled. By the way, Prabhupada’s idea was that as a trial first, we will have padayatra in Vrindavan and then slowly extend the preaching everywhere. Prabhupada would say “fighting with maya, I will reach back to godhead by fighting with maya”, preaching is fighting, “fighting with maya I want to leave the world”. Then in 1984, we were making plans about how can we celebrate Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s 500th birth anniversary, Chaitanya mahaprabhu appeared in 1486 so in the year 1986, 500 years were going to be completed.

So, we planned and with that planning the wish of Prabhupada that was not yet fulfilled that will be fulfilled, so we decided that we will organise padayatra from Dwarka to Mayapur, first yatra was from Vrindavan to Mayapur and this yatra was from Dwarka to Mayapur via Kanyakumari. we started that Padayatra on the day of Radhashtami, the day Srila Prabhupada instructed me to take charge of bullock cart team. So, after 18 months we reached at Mayapur from Dwarka completing the journey of 8000 miles. At that time, it was a big setup like a circus, with elephants, camels’ cart and so many bullock cart’s also we had. These bulls in UP padayatra, this idea we had in the year 1984, then we Purchased bulls from Gujrat Whenever we have new padayatra being started we take bulls from Gujarat.

We got success in this padayatra so we taught how can we stop. We were supposed to stop at Mayapur but we did not stop, so then we thought from where we have started the journey we will stop there only, we will complete a round. So, we came to Jagannath Puri from Dwarka, and from that we thought we would go to Badrika ashram from Mayapur, then back to Dwarka and we had gone to Rameshwaram also, and we completed journey of 4 Dham, so we completed one round. We thought we had completed one round so we will go for one more round than 3rd round and 4th round and, in this way, padayatra had completed 6 rounds of entire India and we call that as “mother of padayatra”, and its children’s are UP padayatra, Andhra Pradesh Padayatra, Utkala Banga padayatra, Gujarat padayatra, Maharashtra padayatra. Padayatra is going on in a half dozen states. Single padayatra was held and Prabhupada was very impressed by the bullock cart sankirtan so he wrote a letter to his disciple in America named Nityanand prabhu. The letter said,” we should have millions of such cart all over the world”, such cart’s means the carts which we were using in India, Prabhupada said we should have lakhs of such padayatra’s all over the world. We took inspiration from this and when Prabhupada’s 100th birth anniversary was going to be celebrated in 1996. Century means hundred years were being complete for the birth of Prabhupada. Until then padayatra ministry was also established, there are many ministries in ISKCON out of which padayatra ministry is one.

So ISKCON Padayatra ministry had organized padayatra’s in 100 countries to celebrate the festival of Srila Prabhupada’s 100th birth anniversary. Either you didn’t listen or you are not so surprised,’ OH, it’s just 100 countries, How many countries?100 Countries i said. Actually it’s more than 100, in 111 countries for 5 years padayatra happened, and those ISKCON Padayatris have travelled 3,00,000 kilometres till now, three hundred thousand kilometres, every day in a new village, new town. Once we started Europe padayatra in Glasgow in England. From Glasgow to Moscow, 5 years of travelling, everyday not only walking but at the same time even chanting “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare”. By doing this, from many European countries we went from Glasgow to Moscow. Then we had American padayatra,like that we did padayatra in the west coast.I myself travelled from San Francisco to San Diego and then on the east coast, then Australia, Africa, and everywhere in innumerable villages and cities Prabhupada hypothesized this padayatra.Srila Prabhupada Ki jai. So with this, the future prediction of Chaitanya mahaprabhu that,

” Prithvi the achhe, Nagaradi gram,
sarvatra prachar hoibe mor naam”

is being made true by this Srila Prabhupada’s padayatra, around the world. OK. Thank you for your time and interest. Now your padyatra, ISKCON Kanpur’s own padayatra is held from many years, are the padayatris here?stand up, Ritudvip prabhu is our leader and behind are many padayatris. From 3 years, during COVID pandamic we stopped for some time otherwise nonstop in many villages and cities of UP, just imagine, everyday padayatra goes from many villages, village 1, village 2, village 3 then in 4th village we stop at night, and next day 1, 2 villages then next, in this way and this padayatra does not preach only in villages or only in towns, in the middle of villages or in the middle of the towns also preaching happens. Thank you. Congratulate the padayatris and we are also thankful to ISKCON Kanpur’s management, for giving the support and energy, and you all also can join sometime, on weekends or vacations, whole family can go with them for yatra. Can they come?. You’re welcome, youth’s can go, ofcourse temple brahmachari’s are always welcomed, and household devotees also on vacation. Ok, thank you. Hare Krishna!

Talk By Srila Guru Maharaj to International Devotees.

So, I am happy again to see you all and have not all of you, sorry, I am not hearing all of you. Read or write your offerings or maybe you already have written. I will read out if you wish you could write also which I will read and then we could also share that on the conference, Dinukampa mata ji could do that. Keep Practicing and propagating Krishna Consciousness. Hari Hari. Krishna has or Gauranga has made us fortunate by bringing us to the devotees connecting us with the Parampara. This is certainly, I mean many of you are saying, Oh! Maharaj is merciful., Maharaj is merciful., Maharaj is merciful, but it is all Krishna’s mercy. Krishna is very kind and his mercy is what we display or wish. We share with you all, with others, so in turn you also become merciful, so others souls connect them with this Parampara, connect them with Krishna. Hari Hari. It is also expectation from Chaitanya Mahaprabhu which Srila Prabhupad spread out of Chaitanya Charitamrit and Srila Prabhupad used to repeat this. I heard this so many times Prabhupad saying this and that is bharat bhumite manusya haila janma yara janma sarthaka kare karo upakara

“ If you are born in Bharat Varsha and if you wish to make your life perfect then do Parupakara, So what is parupakara? Parupakara is share Krishna with others. That’s the only thing other are looking for, in fact they may not know even. When George Harrison had to say that we are looking for Krishna, he said, “ I may not looking for but in fact all souls are looking for Krishna. So, if you wish to make them happy give them Krishna. So you have received Krishna or I had received Krishna from Prabhupad and now I am sharing that Krishna with you and in turn you have to share that same Krishna with others. Hari Hari.

Well, the statement says, “Bharat bhumite haila manusya janma yara,” those who are born in Bharat Varsha, you may say oh! I am not born in Bharat Varsha and so I don’t have obligation. So I don’t have to do Parupkar. I don’t have to propagate or share Krishna Consciousness but the fact is those who are practicing Krishna Consciousness which you all, that makes you Bharatiya means resident of Bharat Varsha and those who have come in contact with Srila Prabhupad’s Hare Krishna movement, you are more Bharatiya’s Bhartiya. Then most of the Indian’s are in India, you may be wherevaer you are, in America, here there, Africa, Australia, Asia, practicing Krishna Consciousness, you are bharatiya, you are practicing the ancient Culture of India, forget India, the India is worse than west. Oh! I think if I say this you will understand what, I mean one gentleman as he was addressing the gathering to introduce himself. He said, “I am not Indian, Main Bharatiya hoon.”I am not Indian, please not I am not Indian. I have nothing to do with India, mein bharatiya hoon. I am Bharatiya. So, in that sense I think I could say more but I think you are getting that. So, wherever there are Krishna Conscious temples, ISKCON temples, centres, preaching centres or even homes. Bharat has extended there. So, you are all Bharatiya’s, you are all and if you are nodding yes, I am here, then do this kind of Proupkar and there is also instructions of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu again, however, Krishna is Sri Krishna Chaitanya. Our God is Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Krishna becomes Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Krishna was from Dwapar Yug and in Kaliyug, he appears as Sri Krishna Chaitanya and when Krishna becomes more, more Kind, more Merciful, more magnanimous than that Krishna, more magnanimous Krishna is Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ki Jai…………

So, take this Krishna consciousness seriously, Chant Hare Krishna daily and attentively, follow all the four regulative principles strictly. Read Srila Prabhupad’s books thoroughly and propagate and share Krishna consciousness enthusiastically and make your lives perfect. We are very close, we are very close to Krishna’s lotus feet. We are almost there. I will just stay there no if’s and but’s and no U-turns and no becoming Punar Mushika Bhava, Punar Mushika Bhava, become mouse again if you know what that is. Hari Hari. So lead a simple life or simple living, high thinking, not simply living, some people are just simply living, simply living and that is animal. Animals are also simply living, so you have taken initiation, so it becomes our responsibility to keep guiding you, keep inspiring you, so that you stay on this path, way back to home, back to Krishna. We are all foreigners. All right whatever you are, you are a foreigner and sharing reunion island, you are a foreigner there, or in USA, you are a foreigner. You may say I am a local, I am local, I belong to…, look at my passport, I am US citizen, I am Australian yeah or do not forget or get reminders that we are away from home, we are away from our homeland, we are away from our motherland, fatherland. We have forgotten who is our original father and mother and that is Krishna and wherever he resides, our father mother resides that is our country. Thus we belong to that nation, that country, that land, that home. So wake up or if you have waken up stay awake and stay on the path and never forget the goal of life, the final destination and that’s why we had association. So, yeah “Bodhyantah Parasparam”, Krishna says when devotees get together and that is what we are doing right now, right here, “Bodhyantah Parasparam”, we remind each other, we keep inspiring each other, we remind ourselves of what, what the reality including or beginning with who we are and, who Krishna is, who are the others, others members of our family or who are our neighbours, who are the friends, who are the colleagues.

So we are in big illusion thinking that they are the bodies, Hari Hari, So they are all spirit souls, parts and Parcels of Krishna. So help them out, so wherever you are, get together or got the temples for the association whatever good enough my heart, I will go wherever association to God is available and he had inspired to get fired up, yeah read books of Srila Prabhupad, distribute Books, yea so much, so much ignorance, in this world. Sky is the limit of that ignorance, unlimited ignorance. Hari Hari.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has a plan, has a strategy and Srila Prabhupad the Senapati Bhakt, Srila Prabhupad the Commander in Chief of the Sankirtan army by doing the foundation of this International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Srila Prabhupad is executing the will of the Lord, execution of the will of the Lord. Gauranga Mahaprabhu’s will is being executed. So, let us all play our roles in that execution which is basically propagation of Krishna Consciousness. So, go on and Stay High forever and thank you for all the love and trust that you are expressing through your words and express that, let that love and trust also be expressed through your actions, actions speak louder right. So, walk the talk, walk the talk all that your are taking practice that we are family, we are together, may be always not physically together but, we are, this is almost like physically , almost like a virtual togetherness, almost real. And yeah, you know we do this morning Japa Session, so as much as possible try to join us at least for some time or at least some days if not every day. So this kind of communication, association is available every day, Oh that is something we have been doing when I started that, so that we could be together that forum would provide facility to associate, not only you get my association but you also get association on thousands of devotees from all over India and also from several countries around the world. So try to take advantage of us for convenience to you all, You are free to write to us, we are, send us an email or if you really have to talk you could email sometimes also try to speak to us on the phone. We have written several books as Prabhupad used to say if you want to know me, read my books. So, we could also say something similar but if your want to know me more, or even associate and we benefitted that way, you could read books. Hari Hari.

You are welcome to come to Vrindavan Dham, Mayapur Dham or sometimes Pandharpur Dham also you could come and connect with us or catch up with us here in India. In one of the dham’s, on Parikarma or whatever possible. So stay connected and let us be stay united as united we stand and you know the rest. We don’t want to fall on the rise, go higher. Okay I am tired but it is for none, You know it is same Shubhratri or least for those devotees in India, Shubhratri or good night with Krishna conscious dreams and see you tomorrow morning on Zoom Session.

Hare Krishna
Nitai Gaur Premanande Hari Haribol

15.11.2023

You have all reached Dham. That’s why you all welcomed me. You are all residential here and I am just a visitor.

CC Madhya 19.53
namo maha-vadanyaya
krsna-prema-pradaya te
krsnaya krsna-caitanya-
n?mne gaura-tvise namah

Translation
“O most munificent incarnation! You are Krsna Himself appearing as Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krsna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.

Krsna has brought us here.

Unnat ujawal rasa

The best of all rasas is madhurya rasa. Caitanya mahaprabhu had appeared to relish the madhurya rasa and also spread it.

Srila Prabhupada ki jai!

He established ISKCON to preach and spread the unnat ujwal rasa in nagar adi Gram.
I can see you all have come here from all over the world.

That’s all by the mercy of Guru and Gauranga.

Gauranga and Guru is Srila Prabhupada and by their mercy we are here.
I called you all local residents and I am a visitor but we all are actually visitors. We are Sadhaka.

We are coming and going.

And our aim is that one day we come and never go back.

na tad bhasayate suryo
na sasanko na pavakah
yad gatva na nivartante
tad dhama paramam mama (BG 15.6)

Translation
That supreme abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach it never return to this material world.

Parikrama is sadhana and we become siddha by sadhana.

mora ei abhilasa, vilasa kunje dio vasa
nayana heribo sada yugala-rupa-rasi (Tulasi Kirtan 3)

Translation: My desire is that you will also grant me a residence in the pleasure groves of Sri Vrndavana-dhama. Thus, within my vision I will always behold the beautiful pastimes of Radha and Krsna.

With this desire or becoming a beggar we are pleading for Vilas kunje diyo vasa.
Prem sarovar is also Vilas kunje.

namo namah tulasi krsna-preyasi namo namah
radha-krsna-seva pabo ei abilasi (Tulasi Kirtan 1)

Translation: O Tulasi, beloved of Krsna, I bow before you again and again. My desire is to obtain the service of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna.

We all pray to Tulsi Maharani that you are very dear to Krsna. As Radha is dear to Krsna almost like that Tulsi Maharani is dear to Krsna.
Krsna plays lila and tulsi does all arrangements for the pastimes.

Vrindaya Radhaya Bhaktanaam Vanam Tatr Vrindavan”
Translation: Vrindavan means the forest of the devotees of Shri Radharani.

Vrinda devi does set the scene of all the pastimes of Krsna and Radharani like Jhulan yatra and Jala krida. She is an event manager or temple commander.

Krsna also married Vrinda devi. We offer obeisances and prayers to such Vrinda devi by understanding her position and also engage others in services.

If you want to serve, go to tulsi Maharani. She will engage you.

ei nivedana dharo, sakhir anugata koro
seva-adhikara diye koro nija dasi (Tulasi Aarti 4)

Translation : I beg you to make me a follower of the cowherd damsels of Vraja. Please give me the privilege of devotional service and make me your own maidservant.

May we be qualified to serve the Lord. May we be anugata of the gopis.

nirodho ‘syanusayanam
atmanah saha saktibhih
muktir hitvanyatha rupam
sva-rupena vyavasthitih (SB 2.10.6)

Translation:
The merging of the living entity, along with his conditional living tendency, with the mystic lying down of the Maha-Visnu is called the winding up of the cosmic manifestation. Liberation is the permanent situation of the form of the living entity after he gives up the changeable gross and subtle material bodies.

Madhura rasa, Sakhya rasa and Vatsalya rasa. These 3 rasas are prominent in Vrindavan. Forget Sakhya and Dasya bhava.

So we are going towards Nandagaon.

Gokul and Rawal are also nearby. Rawal is the birth place of Radharani and Krsna was born in Mathura, but immediately was transferred to Gokul.

If we think or say that Nandagram is 8 km then it is an aparadha. Whatever we see is not always true.

In Rasa lila how many gopis are there?? Arabudha ..crores of gopis. If so many gopis are there then how much far the Rasa lila place will be, it’s beyond kms.

There were 9 lakh cows at Nanda Maharaj’s home, so how much place is required its beyond kms.

We think Vraja is 84 Kosa but that’s not true. Pastimes have happened here and are still happening here in Dham.

Acaryas have seen and realised the pastimes and they have entered in Bhagavatam, Caitanya Charitamrita, and Gaudiya satras.

Krsna was in Vrindavan for only 11 years but the pastimes are still happening here. So there is an ocean of pastimes.

When this pastime appears from the mouth of Acarya we can take a dip in it.

avat?rne gaura-candre vistirne prema-sagare
suprakasita-ratnaughe yo dino dina eva sah

“The advent of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu is just like an expanding ocean of nectar. One who does not collect the valuable jewels within this ocean is certainly the poorest of the poor.”

Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared and made a Prema Sagar. And at the bank of such Prem Sagar, we are sitting. We have to take dip in such Kunda

itidrik sva-lilabhir ananda-kunde
sva-ghosham nimajjantam akhyapayantam
tadiyeshita-jneshu bhaktair jitatvam
punah prematas tam satavritti vande (Damodarashtakam 3)

Translation: By such childhood pastimes as this He is drowning the inhabitants of Gokula in pools of ecstasy, and is revealing to those devotees who are absorbed in knowledge of His supreme majesty and opulence that He is only conquered by devotees whose pure love is imbued with intimacy and is free from all conceptions of awe and reverence. With great love I again offer my obeisances to Lord Damodara hundreds and hundreds of times.

Won’t you all like to take a dip?? Haribol.

So atleast desire to take a dip.

Today is also the birthday of Brajabhumi prabhu.

In kunda there, Krsna and Gopis do Jal krida. One time this Kunda was not there. After a long long time Radha and Krsna met here.

They meet like they have never met each other. So the joy of meeting is always new.

In material life if we meet someone many times we may not feel like meeting him again. But that’s not seen in the spiritual world. It’s always new. Meeting is there but there is also fear of losing each other when Radha and Krsna meet.

Yoga and become Viyoga. Yoga means meeting And Viyoga means separation.

This is Vrindavan and its filled with Kalpa Vriksha and Radha Krsna were sitting on a Ratna throne. So as they were meeting, there came a bumble bee and was making noise. Maharaja made a noise and said I am a nakli bumble bee.

Madhu mangal saw the bumble bee and thought it was bringing an obstacle in the meeting of Radha and Krsna. Madhu mangal is a funny friend of Krsna. So he came with a stick and drew the bumble bee away.

Madhumangal said Oh, I fled away the bumble bees. As Radharani heard this she thought he has drawn away her Madhusudan and the fire of separation started burning her. As Radha Raman Maharaj was saying Prem Vaichitya.

And the love becomes more and more solidified and that prem is Vaichitya. And in this Krsna was sitting right there but Radharani feels that Krsna has left her. With that thought Radharani start crying. And tears are flowing from her eyes and all her clothes have become wet.

As Krsna saw Radharani crying, he said hey why are you crying. What happened I am right here. But Radharani is all absorbed in her Bhava tastha also called Vipralambha Bhava. That also becomes Samadhi.

In spite of all his attempts Krsna can’t counsel her. He feels compassionate for her. He is surprised what is happening to her.

And seeing her cry, he also starts crying. They cried for a long time and because of all the tears from both their eyes, the Kunda was filled and it become Prem Sarovar.
Tears of Radha are Radha herself and the tears of Krsna are Krsna himself.

gita su-gita kartavya, kim anyaih shastra-vistaraih
ya svayam padmanabhasya, mukha-padmad vinihsrita (Bhagvat Gita Mahatmya 4)

Translation: Because Bhagavad-gita is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one need not read any other Vedic literature. One need only attentively and regularly hear and read Bhagavad-gita. In the present age, people are so absorbed in mundane activities that it is not possible for them to read all the Vedic literatures. But this is not necessary. This one book, Bhagavad-gita, will suffice, because it is the essence of all Vedic literatures and especially because it is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Gita is the lord himself.

The words which come from Radha and Krsna’s mouth are Krsna and Radha only. They are Sachidananda.

Like that this water is also Sachidanand.
This Kunda reminds us of that pastime which occurred here. This Dhama is filled with wonderful pastimes.
Next we will go to Sanket Dham. Where Radha and Krsna would meet.

When Krsna was a small child that time Vatsalya rasa was predominant. Then on Diwali day, Krsna and his family shifted to Chattikara. That place was filled with Sakhya rasa. Rawal gaon vasis go to Basanti.

Krsna reaches Nandagram and Radharani to Barsana and then begins Madhurya lila.
At Sanket, Krsna and Radha decide by gestures where to meet.

Madhyan lila takes place at Radhakunda. And other lilas take place in forests. There are not only 12 forests but there are forests in forests.

So where to meet is decided at Sanket by gestures.

On the way to Nandagaon is Uddhav kyari. Here Gopis meet Uddhava. There Gopis sang their Bramar geet.
And when Akrur had come to take Krsna and Balaram, Gopis tried to stop. Gopis shouted as Akrur, who named you Akrur you are very Krur. You are taking away our life, our Prannath. Akrur took away Krsna and Balaram and Gopis just stood there crying and crying and fell down.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu had come to Nandagram and asked, Is there any darsana on the top of the hill. The hill in Nandagaon is Shiva. Hill in Barsana is Brahma.

Govardhan is Krsna or Vishnu. So Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh are staying in Vraja.

There is pavan sarovar, Krsna Balaram temple in Nandagaon, Krsna stays here and Radharani stays at Barsana.
Krsna has walked in this place where we are. This is all causeless mercy of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada.

It’s mercy that we are here in Dham in Kartik Masa and doing Parikrama.

Thank u to the team of Parikrama –
Radharaman Maharaja, Bhadra prabhu, Istadev prabhu, Brajabhumi prabhu.

By their efforts Parikrama is going on smoothly. We should thank them also.

14.11.2023

Om namo Bhagavate Girirajai!

Krsna was only 7 years old. At that age he gave some instructions to his father.

SB 10.24.25
tasmad gavam brahmananam
adres carabhyatam makhah
ya indra-yaga-sambharas
tair ayam sadhyatam makhah

Translation:
Therefore may a sacrifice for the pleasure of the cows, the brahmanas and Govardhana Hill begin! With all the paraphernalia collected for worshiping Indra, let this sacrifice be performed instead.

All elderly folks have assembled and they are preparing for some Yajna and worship like every year.
Krsna asked to his father, What’s going on Baba??

They said we are preparing for Indra puja.

kamais tais tair hrta-jnanah
prapadyante ’nya-devatah
tam tam niyamam asthaya
prakrtya niyatah svaya (BG 7.20)

Translation
Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.

Lord is always Lord at any age.
Nanda baba once told Krsna to bring his shoes. But Krsna could not lift them, he used his both hands to lift them and kept on his head as they were very happy.
This happened at the age of 3.5 years and now he is 7 years old and he is going to lift Govardhan. I mean to tell Lord is always lord at any age.

SB 10.24.30
etan mama matam tata
kriyatam yadi rocate
ayam go-brahmanadrinam
mahyam ca dayito makhah

Translation:
This is My idea, O father, and you may carry it out if it appeals to you. Such a sacrifice will be very dear to the cows, the brahmanas and Govardhana Hill, and also to Me.

Like Krsna has said to Arjuna in the Gita,

iti te jnanam akhyatam
guhyad guhya-taram maya
vimrsyaitad asesena
yathecchasi tatha kuru (Bg. 18.63)

Translation
Thus I have explained to you knowledge which is still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do.

Then Arjuna said,

arjuna uvaca
nasto mohah smrtir labdha
tvat-prasadan mayacyuta
sthito ’smi gata-sandehah
karisye vacanam tava (BG 18.73)

Translation
Arjuna said: My dear Krsna, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.

You all don’t have to do other preparations you can use the same material. So they reached Anyor village for Govardhan Puja. Brajvasis had done Indra puja for so many years. But he never appeared.

So Brajavasis were happy as Govardhan was present there personally to accept their puja.

sri-bhagavan uvaca
kalo ’smi loka-ksaya-krt pravrddho
lokan samahartum iha pravrttah
rte ’pi tvam na bhavisyanti sarve
ye ’vasthitah praty-anikesu yodhah (Bg. 11.32)

Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. With the exception of you [the Pandavas], all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain.

Krsna and Balaram both were present there and they were worshiping themselves.

Today’s festival is called as Annakuta.

Anna is food and Kuta is mountain like Citrakuta, Kuta is mountain.

So today Brajavasis had made a big mountain of Anna. There was khira and soup.

Giriraj was honoring the bhoga with his own hands. There is a possibility, he must have become sahastra bahu.

On the spot they are milking the cows and making Khira. Because Giriraj was asking anayor-anayor. Is there anything more.
The Lord does not have a microphone. He does not need it.

His vani was spreading all over. The Lord was asking for more. Bring me more. If lord is Annata so there is no end to his demands.

There is a possibility that lord was offered everything but not Tulsi patra. So one devotee offered Tulsi to lord.

Lord said, Oh I’m satisfied now thank you.

sv-alankrta bhuktavantah
sv-anuliptah su-vasasah
pradaksinam ca kuruta
go-vipranala-parvatan (SB 10.24.29)

Translation: After everyone has eaten to his satisfaction, you should all dress and decorate yourselves handsomely, smear your bodies with sandalwood paste and then circumambulate the cows, the brahmanas, the sacrificial fires and Govardhana Hill.

It’s said that after honoring bhoga some particles were fixed in his teeth. So he was giving big bamboos to clean his teeth.

So many tooth-picks can be made by those Bamboos..like this is our lord Krsna.
So after the festival, all did Govardhan circumambulation pradakshina. Right now lakhs of people are doing Govardhan Parikrama. We will do Parikrama here.

Krsna and Balaram did Parikrama. All Brajvasis did Parikrama. Old folks did Parikrama in a bullock cart. Some people do abhishek of Govardhan while doing Parikrama.

Caitanya mahaprabhu ki jai!

Caitanya Mahaprabhu also did Vraja Mandal Parikrama and also Govardhan Parikrama.
The shape of Govardhan is like a peacock. Radhakunda and Shyamkund are his eyes.

We start from Radhakunda, there is neck of peacock.

As Caitanya Mahaprabhu moved ahead from Kusum Sarovar, he had darshana of Govardhan he ran towards and embraced Govardhan and all Ashta Vikar developed. In this way Caitanya Mahaprabhu is doing Aradhana of Govardhan.

hantayam adrir abala hari-dasa-varyo
yad rama-krsna-carana-sparasa-pramodah
manam tanoti saha-go-ganayos tayor yat
paniya-suyavasa-kandara-kandamulaih (SB 10.21.18)

Translation
Of all the devotees, this Govardhana Hill is the best! O my friends, this hill supplies Krsna and Balar?ma, along with Their calves, cows and cowherd friends, with all kinds of necessities — water for drinking, very soft grass, caves, fruits, flowers and vegetables. In this way the hill offers respects to the Lord. Being touched by the lotus feet of Krsna and Balar?ma, Govardhana Hill appears very jubilant.

Gopis says Giriraj is harisasya varya. Giriraj is lord.

As Krsna Balaram walk on it, Giriraj feels joy and happiness. Caitanya Mahaprabhu as he was doing Parikrama he developed Ashtavikar.
Some people do Dandavati Parikrama. Caitanya Mahaprabhu is rolling in the dust and again get up and again roll in dust. So he must have done Dandavati Parikrama.

And he was also doing abhishek with what, you know?? Did he bring any water from anywhere??

He did with his tears.
In kirtana also he, Mahaprabhu would develop Ashta Vikar.

mahapraboh kirtana-nritya-gita-
vaditra-madyan-manaso rasena
romancha-kampashru-taranga-bhajo
vande guroh sri-charanaravindam

Translation: Chanting the holy name, dancing in ecstasy, singing, and playing musical instruments, the spiritual master is always gladdened by the sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Because he is relishing the mellows of pure devotion within his mind, sometimes his hair stands on end, he feels quivering in his body, and tears flow from his eyes like waves. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master.

In kirtan he would bath all the assembled devotees with his tears.

So like that Caitanya Mahaprabhu was doing abhishek of Giriraj.
Instructions of Gita are also for all of us.
We will do Go-puja.

namo brahmanya-devaya
go-brahmana-hitaya ca
jagad-dhitaya krsnaya
govind?ya namo namah

Translation: “My Lord, You are the well-wisher of the cows and the br?hma?as, and You are the well-wisher of the entire human society and world.” (Visnu Purana 1.19.65)

Also Brahman puja we will do and distribute the anakuta prasad. That will be Vaishnava seva.
Also you all can ask for forgiveness from the devotees you offended knowingly or unknowingly.

vancha-kalpatarubhyash cha
kripa-sindhubhya eva cha
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaishnavebhyo namo namaha

Translation: I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees and can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.

So the same opportunity we have of doing Govardhan puja as the Brajavasis. And like that one day we will become Brajavasis and then one day enter nitya lila of Lord.

Nitai Gaura Premanande hari hari Bol!

On 18 dec Suvarna and Neelam Mataji are getting the blessing of Gurudev and they are getting initiated.
Plz pray for them.

8 November 2023

You are far away from the world here at Badrinath. Badrinath dhama ki Jaya!

The five Pandavas had left everything and moved towards Badrinath dhama It’s a beautiful and silent place. Every sanatani wants to go to Badrinath once in his life on Char-dhama Yatra. And above all the dhamas is Vrndavana Dhama. Vrndavana dhama ki Jaya!

It’s beyond all the Tirtha Sthalis. Krsna is the source of all incarnations. Like that the source of all the dhamas is Vrndavana Dhama.

All avatars are in the avatari.

advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam
adyam purana-purusam nava-yauvanam ca
vedesu durlabham adurlabham atma-bhaktau
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

Translation:

I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is inaccessible to the Vedas, but obtainable by pure unalloyed devotion of the soul, who is without a second, who is not subject to decay, is without a beginning, whose form is endless, who is the beginning, and the eternal purusa; yet He is a person possessing the beauty of blooming youth. (Sri brahma-samhita 5.33)

We can realise here that all the dhamas are in Vrndavana Dhama. That’s why it’s called Adi-badri.

The source of Badrinath in the North is this Adi-badri. The Badrinath in the Himalayas is an extension of this Adi-badri. Nanda baba and Yasoda Maiya and other Vrajavasis had a desire to go on Badrinath yatra. There is a possibility that they were thinking of going North. This is my thinking. So Nanda baba said to Krsna, Balarama and others, “Let’s go to Badrinath.”

Krsna brought them here and pointed towards the mountains and said, “See the Himalayas.” I also said to my god brother, Gurudev Prabhu to see the Himalayas. Mostly people do not know that these mountains are the Himalayas. Even I did not know.

Sri Krsna finished the pastimes here and wanted to return to His dhama.

krsne sva-dhamopagate
dharma-jnanadibhih saha
kalau nasta-drsam esa
puranarko ‘dhunoditah

Translation:

This Bhagavata Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Krsna to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purana. (SB 1.3.43)

When Uddhava got the news and he said, “I will also go back with you.” But Krsna said, “No, you go to Badrinath. Uddhava followed the order and came to Badrinath. Did you have darshan of Uddhava?

Uddhava is also at Uddhava Baithak at Gulma Lata. In this universe, there are 9 Varsas and 7 Islands.

Bharat Varsha is one of them and every Varsha has their preacher. In Bharat Varsha, Narada Muni is the leading preacher. Vyasa Dev is also there. Ganesh Gufa is also there, but you can’t see it. You listen and see and believe. In Badrikasram there is a cave in which Vyasadev was dictating and Ganesh who was writing like a stenographer. I had gone to Badrinath in 1977 in November. It was very cold. Devotees woke up, but continued sleeping in their sleeping bags. And then we got up and performed kirtana and were warmed up.

There we have Tapta Kunda with boiling water. Here we also have a Tapta Kunda, but there is cold water. In the boiling water in Tapta Kunda people even cook their rice. Who can make such arrangements? Only Lord Krsna can. So it’s very cold there from Diwali to Akshay Tritiya and it’s closed. But the pujari keeps all bhoga there for the closed period. When the gate is opened on Akshaya Tritiya, all the Bhoga is used up. It’s said Narada Muni and demigods worship the Lord in that closed period. The military is there. They say that they hear the sound of the conch shell and bells during that closed period.

Narada Muni keeps travelling all over. Narada Muni once said to the Lord, “Oh Lord, people ask me what the Lord is doing now? So I have to always tell them that the Lord is lying down and Laxmiji is massaging His feet. But that’s not very inspiring. People will say that if the Lord is resting we should also rest.”

The Lord thought, “I will renounce every thing and do tapasya.” Thinking this He came to Badrinath, but it was occupied by Shivji and Parvati Maiya.

The Lord took the form of a Baby and was crying for help. Seeing this Parvati Maiya was filled with compassion, but Shivji said, “No. Don’t go. It may be some Maya.”

But Parvati Maiya could not stop herself and took the Baby and kept Him in her house. Shivji and Parvati went to Gauri Kunda. When they came back and knocked on the door, there was no response from the inside. Shivji understood it was the Lord and He has encroached on their place. Then they moved to Kedarnath.

The Lord stayed here and did tapasya as Nara Narayan.

rsabha uvaca
nayam deho deha-bhajam nrloke
kastan kaman arhate vid-bhujam ye
tapo divyam putraka yena sattvam
suddhyed yasmad brahma-saukhyam tv anantam

Translation:

Lord Rsabhadeva told His sons: My dear boys, of all the living entities who have accepted material bodies in this world, one who has been awarded this human form should not work hard day and night simply for sense gratification, which is available even for dogs and hogs that eat stool. One should engage in penance and austerity to attain the divine position of devotional service. By such activity, one’s heart is purified, and when one attains this position, he attains eternal, blissful life, which is transcendental to material happiness and which continues forever. (SB 5.5.1)

When Brahma appeared, he also heard two words ta… pa and he also did tapasya. The Lord did Tapasya here. Laxmiji comes here and stays in the form of Badri trees. She is serving here as the Badri trees. Badri means Laxmi. Nath is Lord. So it’s Sri Sri Badrinarayan. Sri Sri Laxmi Narayan ki jaya!

From Badrinath yatra in 1977 we returned to Vrndavana. Our party’s name was Narada Muni Sankirtan Travelling Party. Prabhupada had asked us which book was distributed most. He liked book distribution very much.

He has filled his Bhava in his books so he says, “If you want to know me, read my books. I will never die till my books are there.”

We told Prabhupada that we showed his Bhagavad Gita to Vyasadev. Prabhupada was happy to hear this. I also said one more thing to Prabhupada which one of Prabhupada’s disciples did not like.

There is a Bhima Pul in Badrikasrama. And now only Bhima and Yudhishthir were remaining. Once Bhima had an encounter with Hanuman. Hanuman was sitting on the way and his tail was in the way so Bhima thought he is an ordinary monkey. Hanuman said, “Please leave my tail. I am old.” Bhima could not even move his tail an inch. Then Hanuman showed his original form. Bhima and Hanuman both are Vayu Putra.

Hanuman said to Bhima, “If you need me, you can call me.” Hanuman was on the flag of Arjuna’s chariot in the Kurukshetra war. From Bhima Pul in Badrikasrama Bhima had gone to the Lord’s abode. I told this to Prabhupada, but my god brother did not like it. He felt I am reminding Prabhupada of going back to the Lord’s abode.

Badri Narayan darshan is a very special Abhishek. There are very few temples where we can have darsana of the Abhishek of the Lord – Pandharpur, Badrinath, Kshir chora Gopinath. We can see Their Abhishek.

All of have reached Badrikasrama. You are fortunate. Is the Yatra going on wonderfully?

Madhuvan is Tapo Stali of Dhruva Maharaja and here the Lord did tapasya. Caitanya Mahaprabhu also came here. Also at Tapta Kunda, water has washed His lotus feet. The birds are also sleeping now. This is very normal. The sun is up means the light is on. Night is for sleeping and the night light is the moon.

Vrindadevi is like a temple commander. She makes all arrangements for The Lord’s pastime.

Kakati is a monkey who wakes up Radha and Krsna as they are resting after Rasa lila and tells them to go home before all at home wake up. There is a place named Sanket where Krsna and Radha make gestures and give their message to each other as to where they will meet. Yasoda Maiya puts Krsna to sleep and leaves, but Krsna gets up and goes to the forest for Rasa lila. Krsna plays His flute and only the Gopis can hear the flute and they leave home and go to the forest for Rasa dance. Then is it is jaya radha madhava kunja bihari. They also have snacks and they dance together and then they rest.

I wanted to tell you that we should go to bed early, but we do night duty and we are busy. So tomorrow via Kedarnath, you will be going to Kamyavan. There are many places of darsana in Kamyavan. Many Kundas and temples like, Sri Lanka and Ashok vatika. There are many monkeys. Ram setu made by monkeys, is there. Gopis said to Krsna, “You just keep talking.” So the Lord showed the Gopis how He made Ram Setu. Krsna became Rama and the monkeys came and the construction of Ram Setu began.