An age-old mode of travel goes a long way in awakening Vedic culture in rural India.

During the eleven years from 1966, when Srila Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in New York City, to 1977, when he passed away in Vrndavana, India, he circled the world fourteen times, started temples, asramas, schools, and farms on six continents, wrote more than seventy books, and introduced literally millions of people to the chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra.

Yet in addition to this great concern for spreading Krsna consciousness outside India, Srila Prabhupada was also eager to revive it in his own country and not just in the big cities like Bombay, Calcutta, and New Delhi either, but in the more than a half million villages of India.

Planes and trains will not take you to these villages. Not even buses reach some of them. Thus, Srila Prabhupada revealed his plan. A small party of devotees, traveling from village to village by ox cart, would perform sankirtana: chanting Hare Krsna, distributing transcendental literature, and giving out prasadam (vegetarian food offered to Krsna).

About the time that Srila Prabhupada conceived his plan, I and about thirty other single male devotees had just finished traveling and preaching throughout parts of India in several Mercedes vans. Not only were the vans expensive to maintain and always breaking down, but in due course we had to ship them back to Germany, because their permits had expired. We were in New Delhi at the time, and when Srila Prabhupada arrived and came to know that we no longer had vehicles for our preaching program, he called me to his room and instructed me to start the ox cart sankirtana program.

We all rushed to Vrndavana, about ninety miles south, to get everything ready. The devotees at our Krishna-Balaram Mandir in Vrndavana had already heard of our ox cart sankirtana, and they were enthusiastic to help us. The head priest came forward and offered his personal set of Gaura-Nitai Deities. (Gaura is Lord Caitanya, and Nitai is His spiritual brother, Lord Nityananda.) We took this gift to be the special mercy of the Lord. Five hundred years before, Lord Caitanya had traveled extensively throughout India spreading Krsna consciousness, and now once again He was to head up a program of traveling and preaching. The Lord’s participation greatly inspired us.

Soon we had acquired some cooking pots and a supply of Srila Prabhupada’s books in Hindi. We also had a few thousand copies of a handbill that described our program and our destination Mayapur, the birthplace of Lord Caitanya. When everything was ready and we were all set to go, we went to see Srila Prabhupada, who was now visiting Vrndavana, to get his blessings. He spoke to us about how Gandhi had wanted to stop the flow of people from the villages to the big cities, but had been unable to do so. Srila Prabhupada said we could accomplish this, however, simply by giving the people a taste for the holy name of Krsna. If they developed a taste for chanting Hare Krsna, he said, they would be content with their simple life in the villages and wouldn’t run after the illusory pleasures of the cities. They would remain at home, happy in Krsna consciousness. Finally, Srila Prabhupada advised us always to camp near a well or other source of water. The well, he said, is the heart of the village. With Srila Prabhupada’s blessings, about eight of us started from Vrndavana toward Mayapur, nine hundred miles away. It was October 1976, and we planned to cover the distance in five months so we could attend the yearly festival at ISKCON’s center in Mayapur. We would pass through the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal.

When we started from Vrndavana, we had everything we needed except the oxen and the cart. So we got a ride to Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal, where I sent the devotees out in pairs to the homes of our patron members to solicit funds for the oxen and the cart. I also sent two devotees to Jaipur for the same purpose. After a few days we had raised enough money, and we went to a weekly animal bazaar near Agra where we bought a pair of white oxen for a little more than two thousand rupees (about $230). We also bought a cart and equipped it with automobile tires. Now our ox cart sankirtana party was ready to get into full swing.

India is thickly populated, with villages everywhere, so for us to stop in each village along the way would be impossible. Usually we would pass through a village chanting Hare Krsna, passing out handbills, and trying to sell some of Srila Prabhupada’s books. As soon as we arrived in the village where we were going to stop for the night, most of us would get down and form a chanting party at the front of the cart. Only the driver and one other devotee, who held a big poster of Srila Prabhupada, would stay in the cart.

As we passed along the main roads of the village chanting Hare Krsna, two devotees would approach the houses on either side of the road. Carrying shoulder bags, they would beg for a little rice and dal (beans) and whatever they needed for cooking. During this sankirtana procession, someone would always come forward and suggest a place where we could stay. Every village, small or large, had a temple or at least a public dormitory, and sometimes a farmer would invite us to stay at his house.

When we arrived at the place where we were to stay, we would unload our things, install the Deities, and immediately begin cooking. We had no gas or kerosene stove, so our cook would simply find three medium-size rocks or some bricks and make a fireplace, while several devotees collected wood for fuel and several others collected grass for the bullocks.

Then I would have a devotee take a megaphone and go throughout the village to announce our evening program of kirtana, arati (offering of incense and other articles to the Deities), lecture, and prasadam. The turn-out was always good. Sometimes everyone in the village would come. In many villages the people were already practiced to chant the Hare Krsna mantra, and they would participate in the kirtana very enthusiastically. After the lecture, the last and most popular part of the program would be the distribution of prasadam. We would serve kichari (a spicy dish made with rice, dal, and vegetables), and the villagers would come for seconds and even thirds.

We would also have our early-morning devotional program, of course, but that was mainly for the devotees, although sometimes a few villagers would also participate. Without fail the devotees would get up early (around 4:00) and bathe either by dipping into a nearby river or pond or by drawing water from the village well and throwing a few bucketfulls over themselves. And then, as at any ISKCON temple, we would have mangala-arati at 4:30. Then we would go through the village chanting Hare Krsna and singing a song called Jiva Jago (“O Sleeping Souls, Wake Up!”). Both adults and children would come running straight from their beds. The sound of the drum, the cymbals, and the holy name reminded them of Krsna and of their Krsna culture, and they were invariably pleased.

After our kirtana through the village, we would return to our camp, do our japa (private chanting on beads), and have a class on the Srimad-Bhagavatam. Then one or two devotees would cook breakfast. After taking prasadam, we would load everything back into the cart, and by 9:00 we would be ready to start.In some villages the people were so enthusiastic that we would spend two or three days. Sometimes they wouldn’t let us proceed, but would beg us to stay for a few more days. Because of this popularity we were averaging only about twenty miles per week.

For the most part, the villagers were very simple and friendly. We spoke their language, we talked about their welfare, we entertained them with kirtana, and we fed them with prasadam. They would all honor the bullocks, the cart, and the devotees especially the foreign devotees, who were the main attraction. The villagers would always follow them and look for a way to interact with them. In most of the villages we visited, no one had ever seen a foreigner.

And these foreigners weren’t just ordinary foreigners they were foreign sadhus! Their bodies may have been foreign, but the religion they were practicing wasn’t at all foreign: it was the villagers’ very own, which they were unfortunately no longer following very strictly. For these villagers, seeing foreign devotees of Lord Krsna was a big surprise and also a necessary reminder. The foreigners were requesting the villagers to study the Bhagavad-gita, their own most holy book, and to chant the holy name of Lord Krsna, who had appeared in their country and who was supposed to be their worshipable Lord.

Today most Indians, including those living in the villages, are busy imitating the Westerners. The people in the villages are eager to go to the cities, and the people in the cities are looking forward to the day when they can go to the West. Srila Prabhupada’s idea was that if the Indians at all want to imitate the Westerners, let them imitate these Westerners who have taken up Krsna consciousness. Then, by such imitation, all of India would again be Krsna conscious, to its great benefit.

In January we reached Allahabad, the city where three holy rivers converge. It was the year of the Kumbha-mela, a large gathering of the faithful that takes place every twelve years at that city, and Srila Prabhupada had come from Bombay by train to participate in ISKCON’s programs. When we met him, he gave us a lot of attention and mercy. He heard our ox cart sankirtana stories at length, and he especially appreciated how the devotees would go from door to door begging handfuls of rice or anything else the householders would offer. The begging taught the devotees humility and engaged the villagers in Krsna’s service.

At the Kumbha-mela several devotees joined us, and now we had about a dozen on the ox cart. We had the Deities, books, pots, the devotees’ personal things, sacks of grain, some food for the oxen, and on top of everything, a dozen devotees all in one ox cart!

Next we reached Varanasi, a famous holy city on the banks of the Ganges. In February the Mayapur festival was to take place, and since we were behind schedule, we decided to load our whole show into a truck and get to West Bengal fast.

Arriving in West Bengal, we again began traveling by ox cart from village to village. We had many ecstatic adventures. Especially successful was our program of distributing prasadam. As our sankirtana party would reach the gate of someone’s home, the ladies of the house would come out and wash the feet of all the devotees, offer obeisances, receive us with folded hands, and offer us a basketful of rice with some vegetables on top. So we carried on our simple traveling and preaching in the land of Lord Caitanya.

When finally we reached Navadwip, just across the Ganges from Mayapur. we were greeted by crowds of enthusiastic people. They were surprised at the simple ox cart sankirtana organized by the Hare Krsna devotees. On top of the cart, as usual, a devotee held up a big portrait of Srila Prabhupada, and everyone got the blessing of seeing His Divine Grace, as they happily joined in the chanting of Hare Krsna. At the bank of the Ganges we loaded everything into a small ferryboat and headed for Mayapur.

Upon arriving at ISKCON’s Mayapur project, we held a big kirtana as we passed through the gates. We went all the way up to the temple and entered. Just as we entered, the curtains opened, and we had an ecstatic view of the Lord in His Deity incarnation. Then we went up the stairs and there was Srila Prabhupada on the balcony. He immediately called us into his room and had us garlanded and given milk sweets. We sat down at Srila Prabhupada’s feet, and he asked us about the journey. He was smiling. He was satisfied, and that was our perfection.

We explained to him that we’d visited seventy-two villages between Vrndavana and Mayapur. When we had come to large highways, we had marveled at how everyone was running and riding in a great hurry. They were going nowhere, we had realized, whereas we were marching slowly but steadily back home, back to Godhead. Once one of our tires had been punctured, and we had had to pay four rupees (about fifty cents) to get it repaired. That had been our only expense throughout the entire journey!

As I sat with Srila Prabhupada, we expressed our sorrow that no new devotees had joined us. Because we had remained for only a very short time in each village, people hadn’t had enough time to build up their faith in the chanting of Hare Krsna and the philosophy of Krsna consciousness. But Srila Prabhupada encouraged us: “Do not mind,” he said, “You have sown the seed. I am very happy to hear of your nice activities on ox cart sankirtana. I wish I could have joined you. I like your program very much. If you continue this program, you will be benefited, the people will be benefited, and everyone will become happy in Krsna consciousness.”

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu spent His later years in Jagannatha Puri, Orissa, immersed in love of Godhead and absorbed in wonderful pastimes with His intimate associates and with the Deity of Krsna in Puri, known as Jagannatha, “the Lord of the universe.” This was nearly five hundred years ago.

One of the most attractive of Lord Caitanya’s pastimes was His role in the yearly Rathayatra, the Festival of the Chariots, in which Lord Jagannatha parades through the main street of the city on a huge decorated cart pulled by devotees. Year after year for eighteen years altogether Lord Caitanya took part in the Rathayatra festival in Puri.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was Krsna Himself in the mood of Srimati Radharani. So during the festival He used to chant and dance in front of Lord Jagannatha’s cart, acting out a drama. Srila Prabhupada, commenting on the Caitanya-caritamrta,where these pastimes are described, says that the two Lords Lord Caitanya and Lord Jagannatha were reenacting a conjugal pastime, or madhurya-lila. Lord Caitanya, absorbed in transcendental emotions, would play the role of Srimati Radharani, Lord Jagannatha’s eternal consort. Sometimes Lord Caitanya would fall behind Lord Jagannatha’s cart. The cart would then stop as Jagannatha tried to catch sight of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, attracted by His graceful and enchanting dancing.

The two Lords were reenacting the pastimes performed five thousand years ago in the holy place of Kuruksetra when Sri Sri Radha and Krsna met after many years of separation. They had last seen each other in Vrndavana, when Akrura had come to take Krsna and Balarama to nearby Mathura. That day had been the worst day for Radharani, the gopis (cowherd girls), and all the Vrajavasis (residents of Vrndavana). As Krsna left, He promised that after killing the demons outside Vrndavana He would return.

Krsna, the life of the Vrajavasis, stayed in Mathura for some time and then moved to Dvaraka, where He continued His wondrous pastimes. During these many years, Radha and the Vrajavasis intensely, almost unbearably felt separation from Krsna’s lotus feet.

The Meeting at Kuruksetra- When Nanda Maharaja (Krsna’s father) and Srimati Radharani and the other residents of Vrndavana learned of Krsna’s plan to visit Kuruksetra, not far away, they at once decided to go there. The long-awaited meeting of Krsna with these devotees from Vrndavana took place in Kuruksetra on the occasion of a solar eclipse, when the residents of Dvaraka came to bathe in Kurukshetra’s holy lakes.

The residents of Dvaraka, members of the Yadu dynasty, erected their royal camp, and nearby the cowherd Vrajavasis parked their simple carts. Krsna and His brother Balarama, Their sister Subhadra, and the residents of Dvaraka and Vrndavana like Vasudeva, Devaki, Nanda Maharaja, Yasoda Mayi, Rohini, Radharani, the gopis all met together, mingling and sharing one another’ company.

The Vrajavasis and the gopis were especially pleased to meet Krsna, the Lord of their life. Yet they felt that meeting Him at Kuruksetra was different from meeting Him in Vrndavana. They were accustomed to see Him as a simple cowherd boy, not as a royal prince. The Kuruksetra setting left them unsatisfied. They wanted Krsna to come back to Vrndavana.

When Radha and Krsna met, Radharani, unable to hide Her desire, expressed Her feelings in this way (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 13.126-131):

You are the same Krsna, and I am the same Radharani. We are meeting again the same way that We met in the beginning of Our lives. Although We are both the same, My mind is still attracted to Vrndavana-dhama. I wish that You please again appear with Your lotus feet in Vrndavana.

Kuruksetra is crowded with people, their elephants and horses, and the rattling of chariots. In Vrndavana, however, there are flower gardens where the humming of the bees and chirping of the birds can be heard. Here at Kuruksetra You are dressed like a royal prince, accompanied by great warriors, but in Vrndavana You appeared just like an ordinary cowherd boy, accompanied only by Your beautiful flute.

Here there is not even a drop of the ocean of transcendental happiness that I enjoyed with You in Vrndavana. I therefore request You to come to Vrndavana and enjoy pastimes with Me. If You do so, My ambition will be fulfilled.

Radharani also pleaded on behalf of the Vrajavasis: “Why is it that You are simply keeping them alive in a state of suffering? The inhabitants of Vrndavana do not want You dressed like a prince, nor do they want You to associate with great warriors in a different country. They cannot leave the land of Vrndavana, and without Your presence they are all dying. What is their condition to be?” (Cc. Madhya 13.145-146)

Hearing Srimati Radharani’s pleas further stirred Lord Krsna’s love for the residents of Vrndavana and perturbed His body and mind.

“My dearest Radharani,” the Lord said, “Please hear Me. I am speaking the truth. I cry day and night simply remembering all of You inhabitants of Vrndavana. No one knows how unhappy this makes Me.

“All the inhabitants of Vrndavana-dhama My mother, father, cowherd boyfriends, and everyone else are like My life and soul…. I am always subservient to the loving affairs of all of You. I am under Your control only. My separation from You and residence in distant places have occurred due to My strong misfortune” (Cc. Madhya 13.149-151).

Full with the desire to take Krsna back to Vrndavana, the gopis tried to convince Him and pull His chariot. And again, just as when He had left Vrndavana on Akrura’s chariot, the Lord promised Radharani He would return. “Your loving qualities always attract Me to Vrndavana,” Krsna said. “Indeed, they will bring Me back within ten or twenty days, and when I return I shall enjoy both day and night with You and all the damsels of Vrajabhumi” (Cc. Madhya 13.158).

The Secret Behind Lord Caitanya’s Dancing- In this meeting of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna lies the secret behind Lord Caitanya’s drama at the Jagannatha Puri Rathayatra. Only a few of Lord Caitanya’s intimate associates could understand it. Srila Prabhupada comments that the whole mood of the Rathayatra festival is that of bringing Krsna back from Kuruksetra to Vrndavana. The imposing temple of Lord Jagannatha in Puri is taken to represent the kingdom of Dvaraka, the place where Krsna enjoys supreme opulence, and the temple of Gundica, to which the Lord is brought, stands for Vrndavana, the realm of His sweetest pastimes.

Assuming the part of Srimati Radharani, Lord Caitanya felt the ecstasy of this most exalted of the gopis. By falling behind the Rathayatra cart, He was testing Lord Jagannatha, seeking His reciprocation: “Is Krsna remembering us? I want to see. Does He really care for us? If He does care, then He will wait and try to find out where we are.”

Amazingly, every time Lord Caitanya would go behind the Rathayatra cart, it would stop. Lord Jagannatha was waiting, trying to see, “Where is Radha? Where are the Vrajavasis?” Lord Jagannatha, who is Krsna Himself, was trying to convey that transcendental feeling to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. “Even though I was away from Vrndavana, I have not forgotten You, My dear devotees, especially You, Radharani.”

The Deities’ Unusual Forms– Anyone who sees the forms of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva, and Subhadra as They are worshiped in Jagannatha Puri may wonder why They look the way They do. Usually Krsna is worshiped in His humanlike form of Syamsundara, playing the flute. Why would Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu choose to worship Lord Jagannatha, this crude, strange-looking form of the Lord? And why has such a form appeared in Puri in the first place? To discover the reason, let us go back to Kuruksetra.

During the visit by the Vrajavasis, a confidential pastime took place. Rohini, Lord Balarama’s mother, met in a big tent a group of residents of Dvaraka. She had been staying in Vrndavana and now wanted to tell the residents of Dvaraka how much suffering the Vrajavasis were going through because of separation from Krsna. Before beginning her narration, she posted Subhadra at the entrance of the tent. “If Krsna and Balarama come this way,” Rohini told her, “don’t let Them in.” She didn’t want the Lords to hear her report, which would certainly agonize Them.

When Krsna and Balarama did happen to come by, Subhadra dutifully stopped Them from getting in. But They managed to listen from outside the tent. As They began hearing, Krsna, Balarama, and even Subhadra, who stood between Them, became motionless. They were completely dumbfounded, immersed in intense thoughts of Radha, the gopis, and all the Vrajavasis.

Krsna, Balarama, and Subhadra had heard of the Vrajavasis’ feelings of separation, but never directly from a Vrajavasi like Rohini. As a result, Krsna, Balarama, and Subhadra became simply astounded. Their eyes grew bigger and bigger in amazement, and other parts of Their bodies arms, legs, and neck withdrew into Their bodies, until Krsna, Balarama, and Subhadra exactly resembled the Deities now worshiped at Puri.

How Jagannatha Came to Puri- How then did these forms come to be worshiped? A few thousand years ago, Visvakarma, the architect of the demigods, agreed to carve Deities of Lord Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra, at the request of a great devotee king named Indradyumna. The king promised to let Visvakarma carve in seclusion until the work was finished. But the impatient king broke into the room early, and Visvakarma disappeared, leaving behind the set of unfinished Deities. As the king began lamenting for what would be the use of unfinished Deities? Lord Jagannatha revealed His identity.

The Lord told the king that He had appeared in this form to fulfill the Vedic statement that although He is without hands and feet He accepts the offerings of His devotees and walks about to bestow His blessings upon the people of the earth. He added that the devotees who have achieved love of Godhead see Him as Syamasundara, Krsna, the original Lord, holding a flute.

Then the sage Narada came on the scene. He disclosed that Lord Krsna had appeared in this particular form once before in Kuruksetra. Narada himself had had the good fortune to see this. Hearing these statements, the king accepted Lord Jagannatha as his worshipable Lord. He understood that the form of the Deities was not an accidental creation: because he had been feeling intense separation from Krsna, the Lord had appeared in this form. This was also a sign that the Lord had felt similar separation from the king. Overwhelmed with ecstasy, King Indradyumna began his worship. Since then these forms of Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra have been worshiped in Puri.

The Ideal Place for Caitanya Mahaprabhu

It is not by chance that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu lived in Puri and there worshiped the Deity of Lord Jagannatha. Lord Caitanya, during His final pastimes, showed more and more the mood of Radharani. Day and night He lamented His separation from the Lord with intense feeling. Lord Jagannatha is the form Krsna assumes as He thinks intensely and solely of the Vrajavasis, the gopis, and Radharani. Therefore the most appropriate Deity for Lord Caitanya, who had assumed the mood of Radharani, was Lord Jagannatha.

The Meaning of the Rathayatra Festival

Externally, Rathayatra is spectacular colorful and entertaining. Yet the Gaudiya Vaisnavas, the followers of Lord Caitanya, see in the Festival of the Chariots much more than just a happy event. The pulling of the cart by the Lord’s devotees symbolizes the attempt of the Vrajavasis, especially Radharani and the gopis, to bring Krsna, Balarama, and Subhadra back to Vrndavana.

Vrndavana can also represent the heart of Krsna’s devotee. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu prayed to Lord Krsna, “For most people the mind and heart are one, but because My mind is never separated from Vrndavana, I consider My mind and Vrndavana to be one. My mind is already Vrndavana, and since You like Vrndavana, will You please place Your lotus feet there? I would deem that Your full mercy” (Cc. Madhya 13.137). For the devotees of Lord Jagannatha who follow in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya, pulling the Rathayatra cart is like pulling their worshipable Lord, Jagannatha or Krsna, into their heart.

Festivals Around the World

The Lord of the universe now parades in major cities all over the world, increasing His mercy unlimitedly, responding to the desire of His pure devotee Srila Prabhupada, who brought the Rathayatra to the West. The first Rathayatra outside India was held on July 9, 1967, in San Francisco. That year the Deities rode on a flatbed truck borrowed from a group of hippies. In later years the Deities were placed on a more traditional chariot, a large wooden structure decorated with canopies and flags and pulled through the streets by the festival-goers.

As years passed, the chariots were made taller, and more beautiful, and soon ISKCON began holding Rathayatras in many cities: New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Rome, Zurich, Sydney, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Guadalajara, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow. Srila Prabhupada happily acknowledged, “In 1973 there was a gorgeous Rathayatra festival in London, England, and the car was brought to Trafalgar Square. The daily newspaper The Guardian published a front-page photo caption: ‘ISKCON Rathayatra is rival to the Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square.’ “

People everywhere are becoming attracted to the joyful and colorful Rathayatra festival. Thousands of pleasure-seekers throng to behold the giant chariots, chant and dance a bit, enjoy tasty prasadam given free to all, or take part in a full festival of music, dance, exhibits, and spiritual entertainment. And because Lord Jagannatha is a most merciful form of the Lord, even those who hardly understand the philosophy behind Rathayatra benefit just by seeing the festival or taking part in it.

TESAMA SATATTA YUKTANAM…….

Lord says he gives intelligence to one and all and lord expects that we use that intelligence to go back to him.

So Lord says that he gives such intelligence to one who is engaged in serving lord continuously, SATATA.

Example of himself (GM) when he was  a child: GM’S MOTHER USED TO TELL HIM TO PRAY TO A DEMIGOD AND ASK HIM TO GIVE SOME INTELILIGENCE AND WHEN GM CAME TO KC, HIS MOTHER WAS NOT HAPPY AT ALL AND SHE GOT ANGRY ON LORD AND TOLD HIM THAT I NEVER ASKED YOU TO GIVE SUCH INTELLIGENCE….

So, one who executes the devotional services continuously gets such intelligence to go back to Him.

Also Lord says that I am sitting in the hearts of all the living entities and not just sitting but also interacts with that soul and also gives knowledge, remembrance and amazingly also the forgetfulness.

Sometimes they say that THIS IDEAD’S TIME HAS COME.

So for you all souls, Krishna’s time has come as you all are remembering him all the time.

The  word remember originally comes from Latin and it means that something that was already known to us, so to remember lord means that we already knew Him but from long time we remembered him again and some medium came to remind us about him. So remembrance about the Lord is very natural. A soul and super soul are naturally connected with each other, it’s natural and eternal. Someone may come and go in our life; we forget them and never want to remember them. Like some  of our school friends, we forget them, some bosses we came across and we never want to remember them, so many people became our parents and also we became parents of so many but we never remember that and its forgotten but the relation of soul and super soul is eternal. We may have some previous relation to Lord that’s why in this life time we are His devotees, so we should thank god.

In the west they say; thanks giving day. So we should thank and remember god for giving us this human form. Only in this for m we can sit like this, hear about lord, do Kirtan, go toVrindavan, chant Hare Krishna, and take part in Jagannath Rathyatra….. And like wise, so who does this? only humans can so we should thank god.

And we know name of god so no need to just call hum god. Like if someone knows somebody then he calls him as Mr. john but others may call him just as mister. So we know the name of god so no need to be impersonal to him. He is Krishna, he has parents also. Actually he does not need parents as he is the father of every one.  And god is great and that great god is Krishna, he is my friend. If a great person like a minister stays next to us then we say that such a great person is my neighbour. So we should also say that such a great lord, master of the entire creation he is mine. BHOKTARAM YAGYA TAPASAM….

So we have a relatio0n with such a great person, so continue this relationship, cultivate it, strengthen this relationship.

SO HOW DO WE CULTIVATE AND STRENTHEN THIS RELATIONSHIP?

BY CHANTING….

Chanting with attention, with devotion. Chanting constantly, all the time and calling out that oh Lord, I am yours so please accept me and engage me continuously in Your service. So this is the mood of chanting so every mantra we chant, our relationship becomes stronger and reminds us about it.

Every name has a deep meaning and mood so by chanting continuously we are reminded of the relationship and also the deep mood.

EXAMPLE; AS DOCTORS DO INOCULATION AND THEN ENTER THE DISEASED AFFECTED AREA AND THEY ARE NOT CAUGHT BY THAT DISEASE.

So similarly first we have to inoculate ourselves by Hare Krishna Mahamantra and then enter this material world and then we would not be affected by it. Also we need to do service, give association, read books and likewise.

You all are also Sadhus so you all can also give and take association, as we were hearing from Bhakta Malu LAVA MATRA SADHU SANGA…. So you all can also do it and also can go to temple to take association of Sadhus who are practising Krishna Consciousness from a long time. Whenever, some senior devotee comes we should go and take his association.

So likewise if we are inoculated by all this then we will not be affected by this world. This world is terrible. I was there in Tirupati for one week and the mood over there was completely different then here, Dham protects us so yesterday after leaving from Tirupati and coming to Delhi was a experience, its completely different here, so much passion, so much fashion, it’s terrible.

PYASA BADHAO, PYAS BUJHAO….

Yesterday while coming from airport we saw an advertisement and one lady was holding a bottle of Limca and was saying this, of course Limca may be an innocent drink but the way of promoting is terrible.

EX: A YOUNG MAN IN MUMBAI SHOWING LIMCA BOTTLE IN HIS HEART …..

LIVE LIFE KING SIZE…..

So they say that use the cigarettes of our brand and your life will be like a king…. You must have seen them ..they smoke…..(laughter as GM acts…)

So keep chanting and also follow our 4 regulative principles no intoxication, no meat eating, no illicit sex, no gambling…..

So keep practicing Krishna Consciousness and we become better people, better human beings, and better quality people. Our numbers are multiplying.

When 60 years ago, Mahatama Gandhi time the population was 30-35 crores and within a short period of about 40 years it has multiplied. So we are increasing quantity wise but quality wise we are diluting, we are not concentrated. You understand its chemistry word.

So by practising Krishna Consciousness we make you a better person, we add quality to your life we make you concentrated. This is very much needed, simple living. At many places they are realising this; simple living and high thinking.

Sometime back when I was in America I met a group of people and they  said ; Swamiji we are using KISS FORMULA, so I said we are Swamis and we have nothing to do with kiss but then they said no not that kiss but it means; KEEP IT SIMLPE STUPID. So keep your life simple, stupid.

So in many areas of west they are coming to this level but not we.

So when our life is simple we can have high thinking, but if we have animal life then what can we expect about our thinking.

SO ARE THERE ANY MORE QUESTIONS?

1. Sometimes when we hear scriptures we get confused and it becomes hard to believe so what to do?

KEEP SOME PATIENCE AND WAIT FOR SOMETIME, YOU WILL GET INTELLIGENCE TO ACCEPT EVERYTHING. WHATEVER IS WRITTEN IN SCRIPTURES IS A COMPLETE TRUTH SO WAIT FOR A WHILE AND CHANT HARE KRISHNA…..AND EVEN IF YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING AND ALL THE DETAILS OF SCRIPTURES BUT IF YOU JUST CHANT HARE KRISHNA THEN ALSO YOU CAN GO BACK TO HOME, BACK TO GODHEAD.

2 .What is meant by simple life?

LIVING A SIMPLE LIFE MEANS NOT TO BE COMPLICATED. AS WE GET COMPLICATED, WE ALSO LOOSE OUR INTELLIGENCS AND WE FORGET OUT DESTINATION, OUR GOAL OF LIFE. SO TO BE SIMPLE MEANS TO BE STRAIGHT IN OUR DEALINGS. SO TO BE SIMPLE MEANS TO DRINK WATER AND NOT WINE. SIMPLE PEOPLE EAT GRAPES BUT COMPLICATED PEOPLE DECOMPOSE THAT FRESH FRUIT AND DO SO MANY THINGS SO THAT IS COMPLICATED LIFE….SO DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS; THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIMPLE AND COMPLICATED LIFE.

Venue: Guayana, Guayana katha, 2006, June 29. Parikshit Maharaja Ki Jai!! Hastinapur ki Jai!

So as now king Parikshit was ruling of kingdom, one day as he was on a tour, going around checking out, how is everything working? Then he noticed, hey! What’s going on here, at a distance he saw, someone Oh! He looks like a king, look he has a dress and crown, he has sword also, but what is he doing with the sword? There is a cow near him, he is trying to hurt the cow, he is the trying to kill the cow, No! King Parikshit was very furious; he rushed to the spot towards that place. He jumped down on him own chariot, he took his own sword and King Parikshit was ready to slaughter that so called king.

He was not a real one but fake king he only looked like a king, he was only dressed like a king that was the Age of Kali, the kali had appeared disguised as a King only to kill the religion, symbol of religion that’s cow. But then this kali disguised as a king, he begged for pardon, begged for forgiveness. Please! Please! Spare my Lord, spare my life oh! Lord. No king Parikshit was still very angry ready to kill, but he kept appealing “forgiving is considered superior to killing, the act of forgiving somebody”. So King Parikshit decided to forgive ok you may go. But where could I go? wherever  I go, it’s your rule, you are going to follow me, you are  going to be chasing after me, please give me some place,  some corner in your kingdom where I could stay as  I am, the bad character as I am, the age of kali as I am.

Ok you could stay in four places, King Parikshit gave 4 places for this age of Kali to reside in. oh!  What are those 4 places? King Parikshit said “dyutam-panam striyah-suna yatradharmas catur-vidhaha” (S.B 1.17.38)

The 4 places of irreligion, where irreligion is practiced, such 4 places you could reside- what are those places? “dyutam”  Where there is a gambling, places of gambling is one place for you. “panam” please ! Tell me what is the other place? Yes, places where there drinking and smoking and chewing tobacco all the intoxication goes on that is also designated place for you. But you said 4 places, what is the third place? Third place is place where there is illicit sex. Sex outside marriage or even exercise sex in the marriage that is also the place. Places of prostitution, cinemas and these television which is all sex and violence business, you could stay in Hollywood you could stay Bollywood. Ya! these are your places. Ok that’s third and  fourth one is place of meat eating, where  there is slaughter, animal killing, meat eating, fish eating, egg eating that is also location for you to reside. So kali had these 4 places “dyutam” because in this list in Bhagavat “Dyutam” – gambling is mentioned 1st, usually we say the other way round and then finally he was given one more place also, oh! Any other place you could think of? Yes! Yes! I could think of one more place. And King Parikshit said whether is gold, the black marketing unnecessary   accumulation at the cost of others that is also your location.

So these places where given by King Parikshit to the age of Kali 5000 years ago and Kali had kind of hard time finding such places in those days. But gradually, gradually kali has worked very very hard and  has expanded his networking day and night, you  learn lesson from kali, he is very hard working determined to expand his empire and after 5000 years, he had hard time finding places of Meat eating, Gambling, Intoxication , illicit sex and now what has happened? Where are those places , where there is no meat eating? Where is that place- no illicit sex! Where is that place? Where is that country? Where there is no intoxication where is that place where there is no gambling? It’s all over everywhere this way the irreligion has been propagated spread all over the world.

As one eats meat he become merciless, this 4 sinful activities correspond to 4 pillars, 4 supports of the religion, 4 principal and positive principals of religion, correspond with the four sinful activities. The Meat eating has connection with the “Daya” “Daya dharma ka mula hai”. “Ahinsa parmo dharma” the nonviolence is supreme religion, Buddha appeared and he declared this.  So with meat eating all mercy is finished, no more compassion. With intoxication no more tapasya, no more austerities. Daya is the 1st principal, mercy is the 1^st, then tapasya – an austerity is number 2.

With illicit sex no more “suci” no more purity which is 3rd principal of religion and gambling smashes all the truth, no more truth (satya) ‘daya, tapasya, suci-pavitrata and satya’. These are 4 pillars of dharma. These are 4 pillars of dharma, they are being weakened and destroyed by this 4 sinful activities of these age of kali.

And to conclude we could only say what is the solution “harer nama harer nama harer nameva  kevaluam! Kalu nasteva nasteva nasteva  gatir anytha” . Chanting of the holy name, chanting of the holy name, chanting of the holy name, chanting and hearing of the holy katha.  “Sarvanam kirtanam” chanting the glories, spreading the  glories of the Lord all over is the only solution “the only way you could defeat the age of kali, only way you could drive away  this kali from your home, from your life , from your country is  to chant out loud “Hare Krishna Hare krishna, krishna krishna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare” and hold Bhagavat katha preferably  “nityam bhagavat sevaya” and  eat Krsna Prasad and  be in company of devotee of Shri Krsna  and in this  way there will be “param vijayate sri Krsna sankirtanam” there will be victory.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu sankirtanam army could be victories. So with this aim in mind aim of defeating this age of kali, kali’s forces are to be defeated. This is the purpose of the foundation of International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Hari Haribol………..Haribol and right behind is Sri Krsna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.  And you could see the success that Hare Krsna movement is having all over the planet. Srila Prabhupada introduced these 4 principals, how many of you are ready to follow?  Prabhupada asked in New York, after he was only few months in New York in 1965 and he had some followers, they were coming to 26 Second Avenue in Manhatan, Prabhupada had his store front preaching centre.  How many of you are ready to follow 4 regulative principles?  Please raise your hands and so many were ready. American boys and girls were ready to take vows yes from this day no more meat, fish, eggs. From this day onwards no more intoxication, from today no more illicit sex and no more gambling. Americans were taking these vows and following them strictly.  And then Prabhupada moved to another country into another, into another and he came to Venezuela also traveling, travelling 14 times around the world and this elderly saintly gentleman, sadhu jetage parivrajachari he travelled 14 times around the world and during his travel he came close to this country and that was Venezuela . Where ever he went wonderful response he met persons who were willing to follow four regular principles. And it is possible to follow 4 regulative principles with the help of chanting of Hare Krsna those who chant “Hare Krishna Hare krishna, krishna krishna Hare Hare, Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare” and recite Bhagavat gita and Bhagavatam, maintain the company of devotees of Shri Krsna and take Krsna prasad becomes easy to follow these principles. So for past 40 years now this endeavour is on, there are all ready over 500 ISKCON temples, farms and communities and 100s & 1000s of followers of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu following these 4 regular principles chanting Hare Krishna and they are happy. So we invite everybody to join this effort for the welfare of humanity at large. There is no other way, there is no other way, there is no other way.

Nitai Guar Premanande ……………Hari Haribol.

Maharaja sings: Aum Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.

Sri Sri Radha Rasbhihari ki jay. Srila Prabhupada ki jay. Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jay.

Verse 5: pracetasa uchuh

svagatam te surarshe ‘dya

dishtya no darshanam gatah

tava cankramanam brahmann

abhayaya yatha raveh

Translation: All the Pracetas began to address the great sage Narada: O great sage, O brahmana, we hope you met with no disturbances while coming here. It is due to our great fortune that we are now able to see you. By the traveling of the sun, people are relieved from the fear of the darkness of night—a fear brought about by thieves and rogues. Similarly, your traveling is like the sun’s, for you drive away all kinds of fear.

Purport: Maharaja reads the purport by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada: Because of the night’s darkness, everyone is afraid of rogues and thieves, especially in great cities. People are often afraid to go out on the streets, and we understand that even in a great city like New York people do not like to go out at night. More or less, when it is night everyone is afraid, either in the city or in the village. However, as soon as the sun rises, everyone is relieved. Similarly, this material world is dark by nature. Everyone is afraid of danger at every moment, but when one sees a devotee like Narada, all fear is relieved. Just as the sun disperses darkness, the appearance of a great sage like Narada disperses ignorance. When one meets Narada or his representative, a spiritual master, one is freed from all anxiety brought about by ignorance.

Sage amongst demigods and demons drives away darkness of ignorance:

Maharaja continues to speak:  Prachetas welcomed Narada muni while addressing him as ‘surarshi’. (svagatam te surarshe ‘dya). Surarshi means sage amongst demigods.  In verse 3 from this chapter, Narada muni was just described as ‘surasuredyo’ (sura-asura idyah) or worshipped by the demons and demigods. He is sage amongst both demons and demigods. Just like in glorification of the six Goswamis, it is said, ‘dhira-adhira jana priyau’. The six goswamis were very popular and honored equally in the camp of gentlemen and rogues as well. So was Srila Narada muni.

The Prachetas said in the verse, “dishya no darshanam gatah” – It is due to our great fortune that we are now able to see you and have your audience. Your wandering around the globe is just like Sun.

Krishna—surya-sama; maya haya andhakara

yahan Krishna, tahan nahi mayara adhikara

[Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya 22.31 Krishna is compared to sunshine, and maya is compared to darkness. Wherever there is sunshine, there cannot be darkness. As soon as one takes to Krishna consciousness, the darkness of illusion (the influence of the external energy) will immediately vanish.]

The Sun dispels the darkness and as a result people are relieved from the darkness, fear of thieves and serpents, ghosts and all those who do dark activities in the mode of ignorance during dark nights. Similarly, your travelling also drives away all kinds of fear.

Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita (10.11) “Tesham evanukampartham, aham ajnana-jam tamah, nashayami atma-bhava-stho jnana dipena bhasvata”. (To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.) Krishna says, when I am kind to somebody, with My compassion I destroy the darkness born out of ignorance from his heart. How?  I light the lamp (of knowledge) within the heart of that person and immediately there is light (bhasvata). Sun is also called Bhaskar.  Bha is light and ‘kara’ is the doer. As Bhasker, the Sun is the doer of the light, or spreader of the light. Similarly is the word ‘Bharat’ meaning India. Bha-rata means People of the nation who are absorbed (rata) in light of knowledge (bha). They are called Bharatiya.. not because they have Indian passport. By definition, if you are absorbed in the light coming from Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, then you are Bharatiya! Otherwise you should surrender all your passports!! (laughter).

Thus the Prachetas compare the traveling of Naran muni to that of the Sun. See how Narada muni is addressed here. First he is addressed by the Prachetas as sura-rishi, the sage amongst demigods. Then he is addressed as ‘Bhahmann’, translated as brahmana. Who is a brahmana? Brahma janati iti brahmanah. One who knows Brahman is a brahmana. In this case, he not only knows brahmeti, paramatmeti but also knows “Bhagavan”. So he is addressed as knower of the absolute truth. Oh how lucky we are that today we have your darshana and  audience. We welcome you!!

When king Parikshit sat with a large audience of sages on the bank of Ganga and they were pondering and deliberating upon what do and what course of action should be taken, at that time Shukadeva goswami arrived on the scene. King Parikshit said to Shukadeva goswami, (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.19.33):

yesham samsmaranat pumsam

sadyah shuddhyanti vai grihah

(Simply by our remembering you, our houses become instantly sanctified.) Sadyah means today. Prachetas are using the word ‘adyah’ and Parikshit is using ‘sadhyah’ – today and here. Just remembrance of you is sufficient for our purification, but today you are giving us your darshana:

kim punar darshana-sparsha-

pada-shaucasanadibhih (1.19.33)

(And what to speak of seeing you, touching you, washing your holy feet and offering you a seat in our home?) The king said, today we are able to see you, touch you, wash your lotus feet and offer you exalted seat and so on do many other things. Like doing a big lunch Prasad feast and when you lie down on the bed, massage your feet etc. oh, fortunate I am today, king Parikshit said.

Meaning of darshan of spiritual master or great personalities:

So the Prachetas are talking about darshan.  When we say that we have darshan of the spiritual master, or of great devotees maha bhagavatas, what does it really mean? Is it just seeing him, take some photographs etc? That is just one kind of darshan, just one limited meaning of the darshan. Darshan is actually his speech, darshan is really what he speaks.

Just like in Srimad Bhagavad Gita it is said in verse 4.34, “tad vidhhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya..( Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him) and then what happens, “updeksanti te jnanam jnaninas tattva-darshinah”.  (The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.)

Tattva darshan of the Lord through speech:

When we go for darshan and have his audience, he gives “tattva-darshan” through his speech. He is tattva-darshinah. He gives darshan of the tattva. It is not different from darshna of the Lord. As such there are six schools of thought – that are called Sad-darshan – like Vedanta darshan, sankhya darshan etc. These darshans are so transparent via media, that you can actually look through them, and they do not stand between you and the Lord and thus you can see the Lord. They give the vision to see the Lord, so that you could have darshan of the Lord. Thus when you have darshan of the spiritual master or a devotee bhagavat, or a personality like Narada muni or Srila Prabhupada, it is actually the darshan of the Lord.

One time Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati was in a math with his devotees giving talk, giving tattva-darshan. One devotee got up in the middle of his speech and went out. When he came back, Bhakti Siddhanata asked him where he went. He said I went to take darshan of the deities in the temple room. He thought his spiritual master would be very pleased with him for having gone for darshan. But Bhakti Siddhanta did not approve of it, rather he chastised the disciple. He said, oh you went for darshan? So as you took darshan, did you open and close your eyes a few times? How was your “eye exercise”? he rebuked his disciple, you fool! I was here to give you darshan of the Lord; I was arranging for darshan; I was giving you the eyes to see the Lord. But you preferred to go away and take darshan on your own with your charma-chakshu? Charma-chakshu means eyes made up the leather of skin.

Darshan : Vision to see the Lord –

Chaksu dan dila jei, janme janme prabhu sei (Vaishnava prayer in praise of the spiritual master: the guru gives spiritual insight to the disciple, and therefore the guru should be considered his master, life after life.)

Bhagavad Gita refers to great personalities who have taken shelter of the divine nature of the Lord (BG 9.13 – mahatmanas tu mam partha daivi prakritim asritah). When such great personalities, mahatmas give us darshan,  they give us dristi or vision to see the Lord. That is what darshan is. That is why we pray to the spiritual master, “Aum ajnana timirandhasya jnananjana salakaya, chakshurumilitam yena tasmai sri gurave namah’. (I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the torchlight of knowledge.)

This ajnana timir (darkness of ignorance) is similar to what Lord Krishna said in Bhagavad Gita – ajnana-jam tamah (verse 10.11). I was in total darkness of ignorance. What did my spiritual master do? He gave jnananjana. Like a doctor’s operation with instruments, he opened my blind eyes. He showed me the light of the day, coming from Krishna. He assured me the path, gave me the technique, the process how to see the Lord, how to meet the Lord.

Darshan is awakening of the sleeping jiva (soul):

Jiva jago, jiva jago Gaurachandra bole (o sleeping soul, wake up to self-realization says Sri Gauranga). In this song, Bhaktivinod Thakur writes, jiva jago, wake up sleeping soul, not wake up sleeping body.

Our  body wakes up every morning after long sleep all ready to go to work. But even after that kind of waking, our jiva soul may remain sleeping all day and all night.  Soul never wakes up, completely covered over. Who wakes up the soul? In the vaishnava song it is said,  Jiva jago Gaurachand bole, kota nidra jao maya-pishachera kole.. How long are you going sleep in the lap of the witch called ‘maya’? Even if one gets out of the bed, the soul continues to sleep in the bed in the lap of maya. That is why Mahaprabhu says, wake up sleeping soul.

That is why waking up is done by Narada muni, Srila Prabhupada and all great soul and then they give us darshan, tattva-darshan so that we can see things as they are.

That is Lord’s arrangement. The Lord comes personally also (sambhavami yuge yuge). He comes every yuga after yuga. In between He sends His representatives, His devotees. They are His speakers, they act on His behalf. They are empowered, to speak the Lord’s message. The Lord says, mamekam saranam vraja (BG 18.66) – just surrender unto Me. His devotees say, surrender unto the Lord. Prabhupada used to ask, what is the difference in the two messages? In other words, these representatives allow Krishna to speak through them.

Darshan through hearing makes one fearless:

Nowadays everyone is talking. The phones are cheaper and everyone is having “cheap talk”. No one is ready to hear. God has given us one mouth and two ears. So should we talk or hear more? We should stop talking and listen to the Lord’s message. Give your ears to the Lord. In fact this is how we take darshan.  Darshan should be taken not with the eyes but with the help of ears. If you are  interested in seeing or having darshan, then use the ears to hear the Lord’s words.  This verse says, ‘abhayay yatha raveh’ – fearlessness. As soon as we hear the words of the Lord, we become fearless. So we take darshan of these great personalities and become fearless. Our ignorance is destroyed and maya is replaced with Krishna.

Chanting – doubtless and fearless way of success:

Bhag 2.1.11 says ‘etan nirvidyamananam, icchatam akuto-bhayam, yoginam  nrupa nirnitam Harer namanukirtanam’ – constant chanting of the holy name of the Lord after the ways of the great authorities is the doubtless and fearless way of success for all. Srila Sukadeva goswami  and all the sages arrived at this conclusion 5000 years ago – if you want to become fearless, then chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.  This was the prescription for the kali yuga declared by Sukadeva goswami – take shelter of the holy name of Lord Hari.

So chant Hare Krishna and be happy; do not be afraid any more. Mamekam saranam vraja, aham tvam sarva papebhyo mokasyisyami, ma shucha. (BG 18.66) If we take shelter of Krishna’s name, Krishna has guaranteed “do not fear”.

Darshan of the Lord through chanting:

In this age of kali the Lord appears in the form of His name. “kali kale nama rupe Krishna avatar.” Bhaktivinod Thakur writes in Arunodaya kirtan, “nmashraya kori’ jatane tumi,thakaha apane kaje” (carefully take shelter of the holy name and remain always engaged in His service as your eternal occupation.)

So is there a contradiction when Krishna says in Kurukshetra battlefield “mamekam saranam vraja”, take shelter of Me and when it is said “namashraya kori”, take shelter of My holy name? It is the same. Abhinnatvam nama namino. Lord Krishna who appeared in Kurukshetra has now taken the form of the holy name.

So when we hear it is ‘shabda brahma. From sound comes the form. From Hare Krishna sound, comes the form. Rather sound is the form. This is spiritual technology. H K maha mantra is the Lord. If we chant and hear properly,  it brings remembrance of the form of the Lord, the qualities of the Lord, pastimes of the Lord, and abode of the Lord. As we chant attentively, we are reminded of everything about the Lord. That is how the process is supposed to be. Very easy and sweet.

Lord Brahma’s darshan to Narada through Hare Krishna maha mantra:

So this is how we get this darshan.  In fact, Narada muni himself wanted to take darshan of Lord Brahma at the beginning of the age of Kali. After taking darshan of Brahma, his spiritual master and father – , Narada muni enquired from Brahma, “Now this is the new age. What is the process for this age?”  Brahma replied, “my dear disciple, my dear child, chant the holy name, Hari nama”. Narada muni said, “But could you be more specific? There are so many names, Vishnu sahastra nama, thousands of names. Then Brahmag gave darshan, tatva darshan. He said,

“Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare – Iti sodasaka namnam kali kalmasa nasanam, Natah parataropaya sarva vedesu drisyate”

(From Kali santaran Upanishad). Brahma said to Narada Muni, “these sixteen names can nullify all the degrading, contaminating effects of the materialistic Age of Kali. In all the Vedas, no higher way is to be found.”  Brahma assured, I am the first knower of Vedas from Lord Krishna Himself. I am not speaking without authority. The very first verse from Srimad Bhagavatam says, “tene brahma hrida ya adi kavaye (It is Krishna only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmaji, the original living being.). Lord Brahma is the adi kavi, the first one to hear the Vedas. Lord Krishna revealed all the knowledge , essence of Vedas to Brahma. That person, as the knower of the Vedas confirmed to  Narada muni: natah parataropaya sarva Vedesu drisyate. As far as I could see and understand, there is nothing but chanting of the holy name and specifically this name is to be chanted: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

The goal of attentive chanting is ‘darshan’:

So let us all take shelter of the holy name and be happy and be fearless. We just have to do this chanting properly, where the goal is darshan of the Lord, to have audience of the Lord; as Srila Prabhupada wrote once, the goal is to join the dancing party of Radha and Krishna! How to achieve that goal? The right means (sadhan) to achieve  the goal of joining the dancing party of Radha and Krishna (sadhhya) is Harer namaiva kevalam. Just do the sadhan properly and do not worry. If you are on the right path with right mantra, then you will achieve the goal of the Lord’s tattva-darshan. If you are sitting in the right train, you will reach the right place.

The goal of darshan will be lost, if chanting is inattentive:

The proper chanting has to be attentive chanting. After listing ten offenses, we say that those who wish to achieve the goal of this human form of life, which is Krishna prema (love of God),  have to chant and hear the holy name attentively while avoiding all offenses against the holy name. Bhaktivinod Thakur said that we continue to commit ten offenses if our hearing is inattentive. If our chanting and hearing is not attentive, then we are bound to commit offenses. Inattentive chanting becomes the breeding ground for the offenses.

Mind’s business while chanting:

This is topic of japa retreat or japa reform worshop. There is something I would like to share in regards to this japa reform. In order to achieve attentive chanting, there is something from our mind that we need to get rid of. In inattentive chanting, we verbally utter the name and our chant just bounces off the mind, like that of playing a ball against a wall. Many times we chant Hare Krishna but it just bounces back because we are not free to hear, we are busy with some other business of thoughts. But this chanting is a serious business, you have an appointment with the Lord, to have some dialog with the Lord. Is it not a serious business? While chanting, we need to only chant and do nothing else. Even if we do not do many things while chanting and sit down to chant, still we are too busy to hear holy name, we have no time. We may not be busy with people or phone, yet we may be too busy internally to hear the holy name. While japa mala is making rounds one after the other, the mind is also making round may be around the world, or around the home, man, woman, new car or this or that. We are just not free. While chanting goes on outside but it is not entering us, it is not touching our soul.

Mind becomes a block between the holy name and the soul:

Our soul is not hearing. (Jiva jago) the soul has to wake up and hear. But there is something in between the holy name, the Lord himself, and the soul who is the recipient of the holy name. In between the name and the soul, there is mind as a stumbling block.

mana eva manushyanam karanam bandha-mokshayoh

(For man, mind is the cause of bondage and mind is the cause of liberation – from purport to Bhagavad Gita verse 6.5, taken from Amrita Bindu Upanishad).  So we must ask, what is the mind doing while chanting? Mind has to be a part of the hearing and chanting process. But if the mind is busy with its own separate business, wanderings, thoughts, sankalpa and vikalpa (acceptance and rejection etc. )

Mood music of the mind:

Mahanidhi maharaja was once sharing this in his japa retreat. He said, in the shopping mall, they play some background music called ‘mood music’ to improve the shopping mood of the people. So while shopping, walking, talking etc. the people happen to hear this mood enhancing music as well. Similarly in an inattentive chanting, the mind’s mood music goes on in the background. It does not allow you to hear the music of chanting, Hare Krishna. It just does not penetrate in there because of the mood music of the mind distracts us.

So attentive chanting would include chanting, hearing, remembrance, the right thought process while chanting, fully alert mind clear from stumbling blocks.

Yato yato nischalati nams chanchalam asthiram, tatas tato niyamyaitad atmani eva vasham nayet.

(Bhagavad Gita 6.26 – From wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the self.) Do not follow the mind wherever it goes, drag it back to the holy name. Chanting is not just sitting around. Our body, mind, intelligence, soul, everything has to be absorbed and busy in the holy name that time. “sumedhasah”, intelligent people will glorify the Lord in the form of His holy name. People with sharp intelligence, who are very alert while chanting, can keep watch on the movements of the mind. Use all of this for your homework on chanting.

Hare Krishna!

In remote corners of Vrndavana, Pilgrims find little known places of Krsna’s  pastimes and get a clearer view Into their own hearts.

THE VRAJA Mandala Parikrama* is a walking pilgrimage throughout the land of Vraja, or Mathura, the district in North India where Lord Krsna appeared five thousand years ago. Devotees walk the entire parikrama path, stopping at the places where Krsna performed His pastimes. Vraja Mandala Parikrama can be considered pada-sevanam (serving Sri Krsna’s lotus feet), one of the nine forms of devotional service.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

Within Mathura, the Yamuna River and the twelve forests of Vrndavana form the stage for the divine play of Radha and Krsna’s transcendental pastimes. Lord Krsna presides over the seven forests on the Yamuna’s western bank: Madhuvan, Talavan, Kumudavan, Bahulavan, Vrndavana, Kamyavan, Khadiravan. And Lord Balarama rules the five forests decorating the eastern bank: Bhadravan, Bhandiravan, Bilvavan, Lohavan, and Mahavan. These twelve beautiful forests are the most important places of pilgrimage.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, set an example by touring Vrndavana’s twelve forests. While Lord Caitanya was performing the parikrama, the residents said:

Who says He is a sannyasi? He is Krsna Himself appearing in this dress and form. Just see the proof. Different birds are all coming for His darsana [audience]. The cuckoos and parrots are happily addressing Him as Krsna, and the peacocks are dancing in jubilation. See the wonderful blooming of the trees! O brother, just see the creepers showering flowers on this person, who is disguised as a sannyasi. The deer are coming near Him and staring undivertedly towards His face. All the cows are coming running from all sides with raised tails, and they also look at His face. By the tears of ecstasy falling from the eyes of these creatures, we can understand that they are meeting Him after a long period of time.

From the book Mathura Mandala Parikrama, based on Srila Narahari Cakravarti Thakura’s Bhakti Ratnakara

The six Gosvamis and other associates of Lord Caitanya, as well as thousands of faithful in His line (Gaudiya Vaisnavas) throughout the centuries, have enthusiastically executed Vraja Mandala Parikrama, a blissful form of devotional service. In October 1932, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, the spiritual master of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, led a group of more than a thousand disciples and other pilgrims on a month-long parikrama of the sacred places of Vrndavana. It was one of the largest parikramas ever seen in Vrndavana. Srila Prabhupada, then a married man living in Allahabad, traveled to Vrndavana intent on seeing Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and hoping to join the parikrama party.

“I was not initiated at the time of the parikrama,” Srila Prabhupada recalled, “but I had very good admiration for these Gaudiya Math people. They were very kind to me, so I thought, ‘What are these people doing in this parikrama? Let me go.’ So I met them at Kosi.”

Today dozens of groups of devotees from different parts of India still perform the padayatra (walking festival) of Vraja Mandala to see and hear about the places of Krsna’s pastimes. Every year during the month of Kartika (Oct.-Nov.), Krsna devotees taste the ecstasy of circumambulating Sri Vrndavana Dhama. Besides being a wonderful way to see and serve Sri Krsna’s transcendental land, Vraja Mandala Parikrama purifies one’s consciousness.

Srila Rupa Gosvami has described Vraja: “I remember the Lord standing by the banks of the Yamuna River, so beautiful amid the kadamba trees, where many birds are chirping in the gardens. And these impressions are always giving me transcendental realization of beauty and bliss.” Even non-devotees can feel the bliss described by Rupa Gosvami. The places in the eighty-four-square-mile district of Mathura and Vrndavana are so beautifully situated on the banks of the river Yamuna that anyone who goes there will never want to return to this material world.

Simple, Sacred Life

We rise before the sun and walk through hills and valleys, traveling deep into Vrndavana. Little remote villages dot our path. Village life is simple and austere, but the villagers are warm and generous. Whenever we stop they offer us fresh water, buttermilk, and steaming hot whole-wheat rotis (chapatis, or flatbreads).

As we cross cultivated fields, a team of oxen and a straw-laden donkey amble past rice paddies ornate with exotic birds. The sounds of the cuckoo bird, the mourning dove, and the Hare Krsna maha-mantra mingle together. Some devotees keep to the back of the kirtana party, silently chanting japa on their beads. The morning is calm, and the soft sandy path is gentle on our feet.

As we enter Madhuban, children bounce beside us, their eyes twinkling with glee. The kirtana reverberates off the mud walls and through the narrow lanes. The village brahmana greets us, a wise old man with happy eyes and stubbly beard. He sprinkles holy water on us. The cow-dung homes smell fresh and clean. In a spotless courtyard, children carrying bows and arrows imitate Sita, Rama, Laksmana, and Hanuman. Villagers invite us into their homes for something to eat or drink.

While some devotees rest or read, others venture farther into the village to get a closer look at the life of the local residents (Vrajabasis). Some devotees take a refreshing bath in a pond, while others wash their laundry. Clustered around the village water pump, we watch the children dexterously fill their waterpots. It is a crowded scene. Suddenly, a teenage boy and his mother approach the well. The boy pushes his way through the crowd and takes hold of the pump handle. We think he’s angry that we’re using “his” pump. But with an infectious smile, he begins to pump water for everyone.

Time to Think

Most devotees who visit Vrndavana never experience Vraja like this. One devotee comments, “If you don’t walk, you miss ninety per cent of Vraja.” Normally in Vrndavana we tend to feel like transcendental tourists, catching buses to the holy places. But to see Vraja on foot allows one more time to think and to find one’s real identity.

We visit Talavan forest, where Lord Balarama killed Dhenukasura. In the village of Etarsi, we visit the temple where breathtakingly beautiful deities of Balarama and His eternal consort, Revati, reside. A tala tree stands just inside the temple compound.

It is traditional to perform parikrama barefoot, and we try our best to follow the example of the saintly persons who have walked before us. Sometimes small thorns prick our feet, and we try to remember the austerities of Dhruva Maharaja, compared to which ours are insignificant. Vraja Mandala Parikrama strips one of all pretensions. We may have a big position in this world, but the thorns don’t discriminate.

Before it gets too hot, we climb to the summit of Kedarnath Mountain. A stone staircase etched into the mountainside leads us up 270 steps to a temple of Lord Siva. The temple is a natural cave, its overhang resembling the hoods of a multi-hooded snake. From atop the hill, we view the unique panoramic scene of the Vraja plains, stretched for about twenty kilometers all around us. As our gaze wanders out over the expanse of sacred land, we meditate on and hear about Krsna’s Vrndavana pastimes.

Krsna’s Footprints

In the early afternoon we take to tarred road on a seemingly endless walk to Caran Pahari. Here, Krsna would play His flute and melt the rocks with a touching melody. The rocks captured Krsna’s footprints. We eagerly rush to see them and smear on our heads the dust from these fivethousand-year-old footprints. We pray that our stone like hearts may also melt in response to Krsna’s call.

Where Krsna played His water sports and submerge ourselves in the Yamuna River, where He performed unlimited pastimes. We feel like we are following Him around Vraja. If we stay on His trail, we’ll turn the last corner of material attachment and catch up with Him. On parikrama we get a glimpse of the mood of separation from Krsna as we wander through the forests of Vrndavana. Parikrama instills appreciation for devotional sentiments even within the heart of a neophyte devotee.

Finally we see the city of Mathura rise from the plains of Vraja like an ancient medieval kingdom. We’ve made it! One hundred sixty-eight miles in thirty days. A tremendous feeling of accomplishment and exhilaration rises in our hearts. Our Vraja Mandala Parikrama is almost over, and our walk on the path back to Godhead has shortened.

A tall bridge leads us across the Yamuna back to Mathura. The kirtana resounds through the crowded back streets of the city. We take our final bath at Vishram Ghat. Vraja Mandala Parikrama is a perfect test for one’s spiritual health. In the pure atmosphere of the Lord’s land, our impurities stand out clearly, like black spots on a white sheet. Out here we see how far we have come in spiritual life and how far we have to go. Yet, this is encouraging; it increases our desire for purification, so that one day we may become qualified to reside eternally in Vrndavana. Lokanath Swami is the director of ISKCON Padayatras (“walking pilgrimages”) worldwide and the author of the recently published book Kumbha: The Festival of Immortality. He has been coordinating Vraja Mandala Parikrama since 1987.

Replica of the Spiritual World

IN THE SPIRITUAL world of Vrndavana the buildings are made of touchstone, the cows are known as surabhi cows, givers of abundant milk, and the trees are known as wish-fulfilling trees, for they yield whatever one desires. In Vrndavana Krsna herds the surabhi cows, and He is worshipped by hundreds and thousands of gopis, cowherd girls, who are all goddesses of fortune. When Krsna descends to the material world, this same Vrndavana descends just as an entourage accompanies an important personage. Because when Krsna comes His land also comes, Vrnda-vana is not considered to exist in the material world. Therefore devotees take shelter of the Vrndavana in India, for it is considered to be a replica of the original Vrndavana. Introduction to Teachings of Lord Caitanya, by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Instructions from Sage Narada

Narada Says to Dhruva: “My dear boy, I therefore wish all good fortune for you. You should go to the bank of the Yamuna, where there is a virtuous forest named Madhuvana, and there be purified. Just by going there, one draws nearer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who always lives there.” Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.42

Acquiring Spiritual Flavors In Vrndavana

SRILA BHAKTISIDDHANTA Sarasvati Thakura states that the business of the tongue is to gratify itself with the varieties of flavor, but by wandering in the twelve holy forests of Vraja-mandala (Vrndavana), one can be freed from the twelve flavors of material sense gratification. The five principal divisions of material relationships are neutral admiration, servitude, friendship, parental affection, and conjugal love; the seven subordinate features of material relationships are material humor, astonishment, chivalry, compassion, anger, dread, and ghastliness. Originally, these twelve rasas, or flavors of relationships, are exchanged between the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living entity in the spiritual world; and by wandering in the twelve forests of Vrndavana one can respiritualize the twelve flavors of personal existence. Thus one will become a liberated soul, free from all material desires. If one artificially tries to give up sense gratification, especially that of the tongue, the attempt will fail, and in fact one’s desire for sense gratification will increase as a result of artificial deprivation. Only by experiencing real, spiritual pleasure in relationship with Krsna can one give up material desires.

SRILA PRABHUPADA appeared in this world just a day after the celebration of Lord Krsna’s appearance day. We followers of Srila Prabhupada’s see this as a sign of his intimate relationship with the Lord. The Vedic literature teaches us that because a spiritual master such as Srila Prabhupada is the Lord’s most confidential servant, we must honor him as much as we honor the Supreme Lord Himself. We are therefore honoring Srila Prabhupada throughout his Centennial Year and especially on the 100th anniversary of his appearance day.

Srila Prabhupada often said, “I am not God, and you are not God, but we are eternal servants of God.” Although we are all servants of God, most of us have forgotten our positions. Prabhupada, however, was a self-realized servant of the Lord, as we can understand by examining the selfless work he performed on behalf of the Lord.

In Bhagavad-gita (4.8) Lord Krsna says, “To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.” Srila Prabhupada writes in his purport to this verse that the Lord sometimes comes to earth Himself and sometimes sends His empowered representatives to carry out His mission. Let us briefly consider Srila Prabhupada’s contributions to the Lord’s mission on the earth.

To Deliver the Pious

To shelter pious and sincere souls, Srila Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The Society’s schools, farms, and temples are spiritual oases that give relief to faithful devotees in the desert of material existence. And the different aspects of the Society such as Deity worship, Food for Life, congregational chanting, and spiritual festivals are meant to revive the devotion of pious souls and prepare them to return to the spiritual kingdom of the Lord.

To Annihilate the Miscreants

Following in the footsteps of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Srila Prabhupada worked to curb down the demoniac tendencies of the people of this age. Prabhupada spoke out strongly against anything or anyone opposed to Krsna consciousness. His words were razor sharp, his books bombs smashing illusion. His Bhaktivedanta purports will continue to devastate atheistic opponents for thousands of years to come.

To Reestablish the Principles of Religion

Real religion is one: to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srila Prabhupada translated bhakti not just as “devotion” but as “devotional service,” to emphasize that devotional service is the eternal occupation of all living entities.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu introduced the main process of devotional service for the present age: the chanting of the holy names of the Lord. Lord Caitanya spread the holy names within India. And Srila Prabhupada said that Lord Caitanya had left to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness the job of spreading the holy names to the rest of the world. When Prabhupada first came to America, he chanted by himself in New York City. Later, he encouraged his disciples to chant and dance through the streets of cities all over the world.

In early July forty devotees attended a two-day conference on social development within ISKCON. The conference, held at Radhadesh, ISKCON’s center in Septon-Durbuy, Belgium, was the third in a series of conferences meant to develop recommendations to the GBC (ISKCON’s governing body) concerning ISKCON’s social structure. The discussions at Radhadesh centered mostly on the importance of the grhastha asrama, or married life in Krsna consciousness.

Silver Anniversary of Srila Prabhupada’s Moscow Visit

Guests from Europe and America joined nearly one thousand devotees from all over the Commonwealth of Independent States for the twenty-fifth anniversary of Krsna consciousness in Russia. The event took place in Moscow on July 14. Syamasundara Dasa, who had accompanied Srila Prabhupada on his visit to Moscow in 1971, guided a tour of the places they had stayed at or visited. Special guests were Professor C. G. Kotovski, whom Srila Prabhupada had met during his visit, and Ananta Santi Dasa, Srila Prabhupada’s only disciple in Russia. The event coincided with the arrival in Moscow of Padayatra Europe—a group of devotees completing a 10,000-km walk from Belfast.

ISKCON Incorporation Day

On August 7 devotees gathered in temples worldwide to remember the early days of ISKCON and review its purposes, as given by Srila Prabhupada when he incorporated the Society in 1966. Devotees discussed the successes and failures of their respective centers and made plans for improvement. In many places devotees passed out pamphlets explaining the Society’s goals, purposes, and history.

Other Centennial News

TV Series on Srila Prabhupada

In India, a weekly television series about Srila Prabhupada is now on the air, in Hindi. The series is called “Abhay Charan—The Life and Teachings of Srila Prabhupada.” Doordarshan, Indian national TV, broadcast the first episode on September 7, the day after Srila Prabhupada’s appearance. The series is scheduled to run for at least 104 weeks. Producer: Bhakti Caru Swami.

Street Named After Srila Prabhupada

Bhaktivedanta Swami Circle is the new name for the street in front of ISKCON’s temple in Durban, South Africa. The city renamed it in honor of Srila Prabhupada.

New Books about Srila Prabhupada

The Centennial Year has inspired many devotees to publish their memories and realizations of Srila Prabhupada. Many books about Prabhupada are already available, and more are expected before the end of the year. Here is a list of books we know about: Published *

Acarya—Portraits of Srila Prabhupada, by Sesa Dasa

The Jaladuta Diary, by The Bhaktivedanta Archives

Journey to the Pacific Rim, by Bali Mardana Dasa

My Glorious Master, by Bhurijana Dasa

Srila Prabhupada and His Disciples in Germany, by Vedavyasa Dasa

One Hundred Prabhupada Poems, by Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami

Prabhupada Sayings, by Aditya Dasi

Srila Prabhupada At Radha Damodara, by Mahanidhi Swami

Srila Prabhupada’s Visit to Malaysia, by Janananda Dasa

A Transcendental Diary, Vols. 1-3, by Hari Sauri Dasa (more volumes to come)

Venue: Mayapur, March 1st, 2011 Reading from Bhagavad-Gita As it is, Chapter 2, text no.9, Bhagavad-Gita was spoken in morning and we are hearing in the evening (Maharaj addressing a devotee in Bengali “Bosun, Bosun”). So we have seen the Lord. Yes! You have seen the Lord? Yes! Where is He? Where is He? Where is He? Did you see Him today? Are you seeing Him now? (A devotee answers Lord is everywhere, maharaj say “bhagvan samne ashen ki na ashen” (laughter). So we all like see Him, we all like see Him. It is also very important that we hear Him. People like to see Him but not hear Him. We should come to the temple to see the Lord and hear the Lord.

So we have seen Him, He is standing right before our eyes. Please you takes darshan, please look ‘Ghanshyam’, please look ……look… Jay Radha Madhav Astasakhivrund ki……………………….. …….Jay!!! In fact we will see Him more by hearing; the way to see the Lord is Krishna not with the eyes but in fact with the ear we see more than with our eyes.

We have visitors sitting; we have some guest also with us, so we welcome them all the devotees and guests. We said Krishna spoke Bhagavad-Gita in the morning, not this morning some five hundreds ago in Kurukshetra, He spoke ‘Bhagavad-Gita’ during early morning hours. You all agree? He spoke in the morning not during lunch or after His diner He spoke in the morning, sunrise sun was rising in the east. Army had already arrived and there were camps, two camps Pandav camp, Kaurav camps and as in the rule for Dharmaudh at sunrise they commence the battle. It goes all day long and then at sunset full stop.  So that particular morning it was also ‘Ekadashi’ the name is also there of that Ekadashi Mokshada Ekadashi.

So we know who spoke? Where He spoke? What time He spoke? What did He spoke? Everything is very clear.  So here in the temple every day we read one verse, one shlok, one statement from the Lord. In fact Krishna begins His speech, His dialogue, His conversation with Arjuns in the 2nd chapter of Bhagavad-Gita. 1st chapter of Bhagavad-Gita is also Bhagavad-Gita but it is not technically song of Krishna or statements of Krishna, Arjuna and another’s have spoken more in the 1st chapter. And then Sanjaya also speaks makes his comment, Sanjaya is also. There were 3 parties who were listening to Bhagavata-gita simultaneously. Arjuna was of course It was meant for Arjuna it’s also meant for you. And as Krishna – Arjuna dialogues was happening in Kuruksetra, sanjay also able to hear in Hastinapur in same time, durdarshan, durvani, television. There are two parties and 3rd one there was a tree not for from where Krishna – Arjuna dialogues was on seated in the chariot very next to very close to the chariot there was a tree akshya vat tree is still there. You could go see that tree even today the tree is standing even tree has become immortal by hearing Bhagavat-gita, what to speak of us. Sanjay is  also one of the speakers of Bhagavat- gita or communicator.

So todays verse is spoken by Sanjaya, Sanjaya uvach: “Evam uktva hrsikesah gudakesah parantapah, na yotsya iti govindam uktva tusnim babhuva ha” (B.G 2.9)

Sanjay uvach- Sanjay said, Evam – thus, uktva-speaking, hrishikesham – unto Krishna, master of senses, Gudakesh- Arjuna master of curbing ignorance, parantapaha – of chastiser of enemies, na yotsye – I shall  not fight,  iti- thus, evam, govindam- unto Krishna, the giver of pleasure to the senses uktva-saying, tusnim-silent, babhuva- became, ha-certainly.

So Sanjaya said: Having spoken thus, Arjuna chastiser of the enemies, told Krishna “Govinda, I shall not fight,” and fell silent.

Purport: Dhrtarastra must have with very glad understand that Arjuna was not  going to fight and was instead leaving the battle field for the begging profession  but Sanjaya disappointed him again relating that Arjuna was competent to kill his enemies (parantapaha). Although the Arjuna was, for the time being overwhelmed with false grief due to family affection, he surrendered unto Krishna, the Supreme spiritual master as a disciple. This indicated that he would free from false lamentation resulting from family affection and would be enlightened with perfect knowledge of self realization or Krishna consciousness and would then surely fight. Thus Dhrtarastra’s joy would be frustrated, since the Arjuna would be enlightened by Krishna and would fight at the end.

“Evam uktva hrsikesah gudakesah parantapah, na yotsya iti govindam uktva tusnim babhuva ha” (translation repeated)

So Srila Prabhupada is pointing out in this purport when Dhrtarastra heared or he is hearing now. Sanjaya is speaking Dhrtarastra is right there hearing him and Arjuna is declaring, the declaration, the decision of Arjuna is beginning communicated to Dhrtarastra by Sanjaya. “na yotsya” I shall  not fight and he is addressing Govinda, Oh! Govinda I shall not fight. He said this much and tusnim babhuva became silent. It’s good news for Dhrtarastra (laughs) that Arjuna is not going to fight. Oh! That’s wonderful and that what we were looking forward to Arjuna is going to fight my children would be spared or they would be become victorious if Arjuna did not fight.

But in this verse, Sanjaya is he is talking to Dhrtarastra, he is describing Arjuna as “parantapah”. He is a chastiser of enemy and Srila Prabhupada in this purport he is pointing out yes! Temporarily he has been overwhelmed by affection, family affection, family ties “moha”, illusion but as he would be listening to Krishna, becoming his disciple and then coming out and then he would, chastising ultimately chastising, fighting, killing enemies and becoming victories.

Arjuna has come on the scene with the determination to fight, seated in a very special chariot. Shlok “tatah svetair hayair yukte mahati syandane sthitua” (B.G. 1.14) The 1st chapter says – white horses were pulling the “mahati syandane” very special expensive, nicely carved chariot “madhavah pandavas caiva” and in that chariot 2 personalities are sitting Madhava and Pandava and this Pandava is Arjuna “divyau sankhau pradadhmatuh” and soon both of them they sounded, they blew their transcendental conch shell. Krishna blew his conch shell called “Panchyajanya”. The name of Arjuna’s conch shell? “Devadatta dhanajaya”. Devadatta was the name of conch shell and there are names of other Pandavas conch shells are also mentioned. So Arjuna was very much eager to fight. So before beginning to fight he was desirous to see his enemies. Please show me who they are? Who do they think they are? They would fight with me, please bring my chariot forward.

“senayor ubhayor madhye ratham sthapaya me cyuta” (B.G. 1.21)  Arjuna says senayor ubhayor madhye in between two enemies “ratham sthapaya” please get my chariot situated in between two armies. Immediately Parthsarathi, Lord Krishna has become the chariot driver of his devotee. In his left hand, He has the ropes of the horses. Lord is having big “cabuk” and He started taking the chariot forward. So soon the chariot was in between the two armies, closer to enemies’ camp. And Arjuna is seeing who has come who has assembled? That time as Arjuna in observing the armies, enemies camps, enemies. Krishna says pasyaitan just see “pasyaitan samvetan kurun iti” (B.G. 1.25) all those who have assembled here are none but the Kurus. Lord is giving some hint to Arjuna oh! You wanted to see, just see who has come to fight with you. Or you have to fight with Kurus they are Kurus, you are also Kuru same family wake up Arjuna take note of this Arjuna. Not only Arjuna seeing but Lord is also showing, getting his attention just see, just see. Kurus have come to fight with, you, same family.

So by seeing and by hearing the whole chemistry inside, within had changed very fast. His blood was boiling; take my chariot he was getting ready, sharpening his arrow. But now as he has seen and also heard from Krishna just 5 words “pasyaitan samavetan kurun iti” (B.G.1.25) this 4, 5 words these are the only words Krishna speaks in 1st chapter of Bhagavad-Gita nothing more, nothing less. Then Arjuna begins trembling, his body is shaking. “sidanti mama gatrani” (B.G.1.28) my body is trembling, mukhama parisusyati my mouth is drying up. “ gandivam” –dhanushya (B.G.1.29) the bow is slipping right out of my hands. Can you fight with you shaking hands? Can’t fight? You have to be very steady focused, motionless. So, so many things are happing to his mind, whole body transformations are there and then Arjuna he is also thinking, he is expressing himself now.

“na ca sreyo nupasyami hatva sva-janam ahave”(B.G.1.31) I don’t see any benefit, no sreyo, no long term benefit really by killing “hatva sva-janam ahave” in this horrible battle, killing our own family members. I don’t see any benefit and I am not interested.

“na kankse vijayam krsna na ca rajyam sukhani ca”(B.G.1.31) Arjuna is making very clear, I don’t want kingdom, no happiness. I am not interested in this and then Arjuna keeps on talking more and more and more. So many concerns what about this dharma and what about jati dharma? What about kula dharma? What about this and that? So many dharmas, so many concerned, so many issues. So with each additional idea that he presents, he is deviating more and more deviation, this is the way to go, but with each idea he is turning away from Lord’s idea and soon he would be 180* and this is  what is the verse “tusnim babhuva” I am not going to fight. The fighting this was Lord’s idea and Lord’s desire, Lord’s plan. “paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrutam dharmasamsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge” (B.G.4.8) I appear, this is the purpose for which I appear, this is Dharma yudha and this meant to establish Dharma, and to protect the devotee like you Pandavas and to kill the miscreants this is the vision of the Lord, the purpose of this advent. But now Arjuna is not showing any interest in his plan or vision or desire of the Lord.  Vasudev ki jai……………..

So again also at the end of the 1st chapter Arjuna he sits down, making it clear that I am not going to fight. Sometimes the bulls or buffalo, he buffalo, not she buffalo. Pulling the cart and big load and its summer season and its hard for him to pull further. Sometimes the farmer he is beating the buffalo, he is trying to push or pull more him forward, when the he buffalo doesn’t wants to move and wants to make it clear what does buffalo do? He sits down (laughs) he makes very clear statement ok this is it now you know my dear farmer I am not going to move. The last statement of the 1st chapter was very similar also and also.

Spoken by Sanjaya “evem uktvarjunah sankhye rathopastha upastha upavisat, visrjya sa-saram capam soka-samvigna-manasah” (B.G.1.46) sanjaya said

Radha madhva ki jai………………………….

Arjuna having thus spoken on the battlefield cast aside his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot his mind overwhelmed with grief. So as Arjuna was talking to Lord what about this? What about this dharma? He was thinking he would convince him. Arjuna was expecting yes….yes…yes fine what you said is exactly right Arjuna I agree with you forget this battle lets have breakfast. (Laughs).

As Arjuna was talking and talking and talking the 1st chapter is like Arjuna –gita not Bhagavad-Gita. So Arjuna- gita,  song of Arjuna. So he was thinking that oh! This did not work now, I will say something more this statement will convince the Lord. If not this, that one probably the Lord would say or that’s fine forget this battle lets go have breakfast.

So Arjuna is sitting in the chariot making it very clear that he is not going to fight. Infact Arjuna begins “ashrupurna kulekshanam” he is in tears Arjuna in tears. Could you imagine, Arjuna is full of compassion and depressing mind, eyes full of tears. Now the 2nd chapter, 2nd verse this is where Krishna begins talking. 1st thing that Krishna had to say was, Arjuna was expecting Lord is going to praise my statement, appreciate what I have said. Congratulation well done, well spoken Arjuna. But that was not the case instead Lord said “kutas tva kasmalam idam” kutas tva =where from kasmalam idam all that you have spoken, that-idam. Kasmalam=all this rubbish. Ok where in the dustbin where is dustbin (laugher) it should be dumped in the dustbin. This is Lord’s comment observing on all that Arjuna had to see Arjuna was thinking I am speaking something very intelligent social concern this issue, that issue, family, tradition.

Infact when people read 1st chapter they hear Arjuna speak or they read what Arjuna has to say they kind of agree with Arjuna. Forget all other people when you read it for 1st time, I used to when I was reading chapter Arjuna statement this makes sense its right carry on Arjuna yes yes go on  speaking I was kind on Arjuna ki jai…..but Lord doesn’t say Arjuna ki jai (laugh). So then there are more statements then Arjuna again speaks and then they become quite and that is today’s verse. And then toward the end of Bhagavad-Gita. Lord is talking and concluding, saying “sarvadharma paritajya………… (B.G.18.66) what? Give up these varieties of religion. Why is He talking of this? “sarva dharman” what is the connection? Why Krishna says Arjuna “sarvadharman parityaja” you give up all varieties of religion, why? Is this in Bhagavad-Gita context or there is some other connection. Right here in the 1st chapter all the dharmas, some of the dharmas, Arjuna has mentioned what about this? What about that? And Krishna says “give it up” these thoughts. Lord accept my dharma not your dharma. I think, according to me, it’s my opinion; “give this up” this is all gambling, it all mental speculation and gambling but this a bigger gambling – mental speculation, I think according to me. Arjuna is talking in 1st chapter. My opinion and Krishna says give it up.

So the 1st word in Bhagavad-Gita is.  What is the 1st word in Bhagavad-Gita? “Dharma” the first word is dharma and last word? “matir mama” last word is “mama”. 1st word – dharma last word – mama, put it together “mama-dharma” whole Bhagavad-Gita is what? My Dharma, my law, my Lords law, law of the Lord that’s dharma, religion, whole Bhagavad-Gita is dharma.

Give up other ideas and accept Krishna ideas, the original ideas, beneficial for everybody, living entities, and the family and the society and humanity. So we will stop here.

Srimad Bhagavad gita ki jai…………….!

Sri Krishna Arjuna ki jai………………….!

Sri Radha Madhava Ki Jai………………!

H. H. Lokanath Swami Ki Jai……………!

War and pious deeds have often come together at this ancient North Indian site.

KURUKSHETRA, about one hundred miles north of New Delhi, is best known as the place where the great battle of the Mahabharata was fought and Lord Krsna spoke the Bhagavad-gita. But long before that, Kurukshetra had played a dominant role in the history and culture of ancient India. For thousands of years it was a hub around which the Vedic civilization spun in its full glory. Kurukshetra’s religious importance is described in many scriptures, including the Bhagavad-gita, the Mahabharata, and various Upanisads and Puranas. The scriptures refer to it as a place of meditation and an abode of demigods. The atmosphere of Kurukshetra is still charged with the chanting of Vedic hymns, especially the Bhagavad-gita.

The first verse of the Gita refers to Kurukshetra as dharma-ksetra, or “the field of dharma,” indicating that it was already known as a holy place. Today one can find many ancient temples and sacred lakes at Kurukshetra, an area of about one hundred square miles between the sacred rivers Sarasvati and Drsadvati in Haryana state.

The Great King Kuru

Kurukshetra was formerly known as Brahmaksetra, Brghuksetra, Aryavarta, and Samanta Pancaka. It became known as Kurukshetra because of the work of King Kuru.

The Mahabharata tells of how King Kuru, a prominent ancestor of the Pandavas, made the land a great center of spiritual culture. King Kuru went there on a golden chariot and used the chariot’s gold to make a plow. He then borrowed Lord Siva’s bull and Yamaraja’s buffalo and started plowing. When Indra arrived and asked Kuru what he was doing, Kuru replied that he was preparing the land for growing the eight religious virtues: truth, yoga, kindness, purity, charity, forgiveness, austerity, and celibacy.

Indra asked the king to request a boon. Kuru asked that the land ever remain a holy place named after himself, and that anyone dying there go to heaven regardless of his sins or virtues. Indra laughed at the requests.

Undaunted, Kuru performed great penance and continued to plow. Gradually, Indra was won over, but other demigods expressed doubts. They said that death without sacrifice did not merit a place in heaven. Finally, Kuru and Indra arrived at a compromise: Indra would admit into heaven anyone who died there while fighting or performing penance. So Kurukshetra became both a battlefield and a land of piety.

The Mahabharata Battle

When the Pandavas claimed their legitimate share of their paternal kingdom from their uncle Dhrtarastra and his sons, the Kauravas, they were given the Khandava Forest in the south of the Kuru kingdom. There they built a magnificent city called Indraprastha, located where Delhi is today. The Kauravas kept Hastinapura, situated to the northeast of Delhi, as their capital.

Later, the Pandavas were exiled for thirteen years after Yudhisthira’s defeat in a game of dice. After the exile, the Pandavas demanded the return of their kingdom. On behalf of the Pandavas, Lord Krsna went to Duryodhana, the eldest Kaurava, and begged for five villages for the five Pandavas. But proud Duryodhana refused to give any land. “I won’t even give them enough land to fit on the tip of a pin,” he said.

The war was therefore unavoidable, and the Kauravas and Pandavas decided to fight at Kurukshetra, because it was large, uninhabited, and abundant with water and fuel-wood.

The Pandavas won the Battle of Kurukshetra, which lasted only eighteen days.

The Birth of the Gita

The Battle of Kurukshetra began on the day known as Moksada Ekadasi. (Ekadasi is the eleventh day of either the waxing or waning moon, and moksada means “giver of liberation.”) On that day, Krsna enlightened Arjuna with the knowledge of Bhagavad-gita, liberating him. Now every year on that day considered the birthday of Bhagavad-gita festivals in honor of the Gita are held at Kurukshetra and many other places in India. The grand festival in Jyotisar, the spot where the Gita was spoken, is organized as a state function, with chief ministers and governors presiding. Coincidentally, this is also the time of ISKCON’s annual Prabhupada Book Marathon, when devotees distribute hundreds and thousands of copies of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is in India and around the world.

Rathayatra’s Kurukshetra Roots

Once, when Krsna was preparing to go to Kurukshetra at the time of a solar eclipse, He invited the gopis (cowherd girls) and other residents of Vrndavana to meet Him at Kurukshetra. When He had left Vrndavana in His youth, He had promised to return very soon. But He had been away for a long time (about a hundred years), so out of intense spiritual love, the residents of Vrndavana had always felt ecstatic longing to see Him again.

The residents of Dvaraka (a majestic city) arrived at Kurukshetra on chariots; the residents of Vrndavana (a simple cowherd village), on ox carts. Because the families of Vrndavana and Dvaraka were related, a joyful reunion took place.

Of all the residents of Vrndavana, the leading gopi, Srimati Radharani, had felt the pangs of separation from Krsna more than anyone else. She and the other gopis were determined to bring Krsna back to Vrndavana. The loving exchange between Krsna and the gopis at Kurukshetra is the esoteric meaning behind the festival known as Rathayatra (“Festival of the Chariots”). So whenever Hare Krsna devotees put on Rathayatras in cities around the world, they are proclaiming the glories of Kurukshetra.

The Inhabitants of the earth benefit from a cosmic fight for immortal nectar.

THE LORD’S pastime of protecting the devas (demigods) from the asuras (demons) by producing nectar from the ocean of milk is described in detail in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Canto 8, chapters 5 through 11.

Millions of years ago, the sage Durvasa visited the capital of Indra’s kingdom in the heavenly planets. While Durvasa Muni was passing on the road, he saw Indra on the back of his elephant and was pleased to offer Indra a garland from his own neck. Indra, however, being too proud of his material wealth, took the garland and placed it on the trunk of his carrier elephant. The elephant, being an animal, could not understand the value of the garland. It threw the garland between its legs and smashed it. Seeing this insulting behavior, Durvasa Muni cursed Indra to become poverty-stricken.

The asuras, the natural enemies of the devas, took this opportunity to attack Lord Indra and steal all the riches and virtuous possessions in his kingdom. A fierce battle for supremacy of the heavenly planets raged. Bereft of all influence and strength, the devas were defeated.

The devas then went to Lord Brahma for help. Unable to offer a solution, Lord Brahma took them to Svetadvipa, the abode of Ksirodakasayi Visnu in the ocean of milk.

Snake-And-Mouse Logic

Lord Visnu advised the devas to cooperate with the asuras and churn the ocean of milk to attain an immortal nectar that would make the devas invincible. He told the devas to follow the logic of the snake and the mouse in dealing with the asuras. A snake and a mouse were once caught in a basket. The snake said to the mouse, “Look, I could eat you very easily, but it’s more important for me to get out of this basket. So why don’t you make a hole so that we can both escape?” The mouse agreed and started working. But as soon as the hole was big enough, the snake ate the mouse and came out of the basket.

Similarly, the Lord wanted the devas to take help from the asuras, but He had no intention of giving any of the nectar to the asuras. He would appear as Mohini-murti and cheat them.

The asuras and devas uprooted Mandara Mountain to use as a churning rod and requested Vasuki, the king of the serpents, to serve as the churning rope. With the churning, the mighty golden Mandara Mountain began to sink slowly into the ocean of milk. The devas and asuras became discouraged at the turn of events.

Then the Lord took the form of a tortoise, known as Kurma-avatara. He entered the water and held the great mountain on His back. The mountain moved back and forth with the churning motion, scratching the back of Lord Tortoise, who, while partially sleeping, was pleasingly experiencing an itching sensation.

Soon a fiercely dangerous poison was produced from the ocean, covering all directions. The compassionate Lord Siva drank the poison and held it in His throat, turning his neck bluish and earning him the name Nilakantha, “one who has a bluish neck.”

Products of The Milk Ocean

The milk ocean then produced many wonderful items: a surabhi cow, a beautiful horse named Uccaihsrava, the elephant Airavata, eight great white elephants that could go in any direction, eight she-elephants, the crescent moon, a conch shell named Pancajanya, a bow named Haridhanu (“the bow of Hari”), the goddess Varuni, the precious Kaustubha jewel, a desire-fulfilling parijata flower, Apsaras (the most beautiful women in the universe), Laksmi (the goddess of fortune), and Dhanvantari.

A partial incarnation of the Lord, Dhanvantari rose slowly from the ocean. Srimad-Bhagavatam (8.8.32-33) describes his beautiful form:

He was strongly built; his arms were long, stout, and strong; his neck, which was marked with three lines, resembled a conch shell; his eyes were reddish; and his complexion was blackish. He was very young, he was garlanded with flowers, and his entire body was fully decorated with various ornaments. He was dressed in yellow garments and wore brightly polished earrings made of pearls. The tips of his hair were anointed with oil, and his chest was very broad. His body had all good features, he was stout and strong like a lion, and he was decorated with bangles. In his hand he carried a jug filled to the top with nectar.

The jug of nectar was the prize everyone was waiting for. The asuras quickly stole the jug, and they began to fight over who should take the first drink. While they argued, the Lord assumed the form of an extremely beautiful woman known as Mohini-murti and slowly approached them.

Mohini-murti said, “The demigods are very miserly and are excessively anxious to take the nectar first. So let them have it first. Since you are not like them, you can wait a little longer. You are all heroes and are so pleased with Me. It is better for you to wait until after the demigods drink.”

The asuras, overwhelmed by Her beauty and charm, gave Her the jug of nectar, and She promptly delivered it to the devas.

The asuras were furious at the deception and attacked the devas with all their force. According to the Skanda Purana, at one point during the fight, Jayanta, a son of Indra, took the kumbha (jug) and ran away toward the heavenly planets. The asuras followed, eager to retrieve the nectar, and the fierce fighting continued. From time to time during twelve days of fighting, circumstances compelled Jayanta to place the kumbha at four places on earth: on the bank of the Godavari River in Nasika, Maharashtra; at the Shipra River in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh; at the Ganges in Haridwar, Uttar Pradesh, and at the Triveni-sangam in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.

When the kumbha was lifted at each location, some drops of nectar fell onto the earth. That same nectar appears at these sites during certain planetary configurations. Even today, millions of people come to partake of the nectar, to become immortal by bathing in the holy rivers and drinking the nectarlike waters. Because the fighting between the devas and the asuras lasted for twelve earth years (twelve demigod days), Kumbha-melas are held at each of these sites once every twelve years.

Lokanath Swami is the director of ISKCON Padayatras (“walking pilgrimages”) worldwide and the author of the recently published book Kumbha: The Festival of Immortality.

Srila Prabhupada at Allahabad

FOR THIRTEEN YEARS Srila Prabhupada lived in Allahabad. He moved there in 1923 with his family. Allahabad was a good location to start his pharmaceutical business, Prayag Pharmacy. He entered a business partnership with a physician, Dr. Ghosh, who diagnosed patients and gave medical prescriptions, which Prabhupada would fill. Motilal Nehru and his son, Jawaharlal, (the future Prime Minister of India) were both customers at Prabhupada’s pharmacy.

During his time in Allahabad, Prabhupada stayed in contact with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, whom he had first met in 1922 in Calcutta. On November 21, 1932, under the direction of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, the Allahabad Gaudiya Matha held a cornerstone-laying ceremony for their new temple. The governor, Sir William Haily, was the respected guest. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta held an initiation ceremony, and Prabhupada received initiation (harinama and Gayatri) from him.

Previously, upon learning that Prabhupada had requested initiation, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta had remarked, “He likes to hear. He does not go away. I have marked him. I will accept him as my disciple.”

Prabhupada at Kumbha-mela

The Vedic literature states that whoever bathes in the Triveni-sangam at the auspicious time of the Kumbha-mela is guaranteed of liberation from birth and death. That is why the Mela has always attracted millions of pilgrims.

Yet Srila Prabhupada said, “We are not interested in liberation. We have come to preach devotional service. Being engaged in Krsna’s unalloyed devotional service, we are already liberated.”

In contrast to almost everyone present, Prabhupada emphasized giving spiritual knowledge as the prime reason for attending the Mela. The devotee’s only ambition is to enlighten as many people as possible. Pilgrimage was secondary. With this mood, the devotees attended the 1971 Kumbha-mela with Prabhupada and enthusiastically presented Krsna consciousness to the millions of pilgrims.

None of the western devotees had ever attended the Kumbha-mela. The many bizarre sights can bewilder and confuse the mind, but Prabhupada reminded the devotees that spiritual life is neither exotic nor bewildering, but simple and practical.

“To go to a holy place means to find a holy person and hear from him,” Prabhupada had said. “A place is holy because of the presence of the saintly persons.”

In a conversation recorded in January 1977 (just before the Kumbha-mela), Prabhupada said that the real purpose of the Kumbha-mela is to take advantage of the spiritual knowledge presented there:

The Kumbha-mela is sat-sanga. If you go to the Kumbha-mela to find out a man of knowledge, then your Kumbha-mela is right. If one thinks that this salila, the water to take bath in the water is Kumbha-mela, then he is a go-kharah [a cow or an ass]. But the real idea is “Now there are assembled so many saintly persons. Let me take advantage of their knowledge.” Then he is intelligent. People should take advantage. You can go to different groups of saintly persons.  Different groups means “ brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti”. There are some yogis, some jnanis, some bhaktas. They are of the same category, little difference. But they’re all spiritual. They have no interest in this material world.

Some Real Yogis

Srila Prabhupada said that although many of the sadhus present were inauthentic and didn’t really know the highest goal of human life, many were perfect yogis. These yogis, from remote parts of India, would come out for the Mela and then return to seclusion.

“I have personally seen,” Prabhupada said, “that they take bath in the Ganges and come up in the seven sacred rivers. They go down in the Ganges and come up in the Godavari River. Then they go down and come up in the Krishna River, and go down, like that.”

The devotees, therefore, should respect everyone who attended the Mela.

Prabhupada also explained that one is not liberated automatically by taking bath at the Kumbha-mela on the specific auspicious days. But by coming to the holy tirtha and taking bath on the holy days, the door to liberation gets opened.

“If you are trying to enter a room and the door is closed,” he said, “there is some prohibition. It is more difficult for you to enter the room. But if the door is opened for you, then your entrance to the room is easier.”

Monkey Renunciation

After the 1977 Kumbha-mela, the story of the death of a Naga Baba made the national newspapers. Wearing no clothing, he had died from the extreme cold. Prabhupada commented on the incident. “He must die. They imitate. They have no sadhana [regulated spiritual practice], no bhajana [worship], and simply naga [naked].”

The devotees told Prabhupada that the imitators smoke chillums (marijuana) and become so intoxicated that they don’t feel the cold. One disciple told Prabhupada that he had seen a Naga who had been smoking cigarettes for twelve years without stopping. Another man had been holding his arm up in the air for the past twelve years. His fingernails had grown very long, and his arm was flat. Another renunciant hadn’t sat down for eighteen years. He carried a small swing with him, which he would tie to a tree and lean on.

“This is markata-vairagya, the renunciation of a monkey,” Prabhupada said, referring to the type of renunciation that, although difficult to perform, doesn’t produce any advancement in Krsna consciousness. The monkeys also have no clothes to wear and live in treetops in the secluded forest, but the male monkeys have a large group of female monkeys to sport with. Some devotees concluded that severe penance was not recommended anywhere in the Vedas, but Prabhupada corrected them: “No, Hiranyakasipu did it. But what did he gain? He became a raksasa [demon] and was killed.”

The Significance of Prayag

THE WORD prayag refers to a place where great sacrifices are held. Many ages ago, Lord Brahma chose as a place for sacrifice a prime piece of land encircled by three sacred rivers: the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the Sarasvati. That site became known a Prayag. In A.D. 1573, the Mogul king Akbar erected a large fort at the confluence of the three rivers and renamed the city Ilahabas or Ilahabad, “the city of Allah.” From that time, Prayag became known as Allahabad.

The confluence of the three rivers is known as the Triveni-sangam. Tri means “three,” veni refers to a braid, and sangam means “union.” The dark blue and black Yamuna flows swiftly into the white and gray Ganges. The Sarasvati flows underground.

Bathing in any of these sacred rivers is purifying, but the purification is said to increase a hundred times where the rivers meet. The Varaha Purana states: “In Prayag there is the Triveni. By bathing there one goes to heaven, and by dying there one gets liberation. It is the king of all tirthas [holy places of pilgrimage] and is dear to Lord Visnu.”

Lord Brahma has said, prayagasya pravesesu papam nasyanti tatksanam: “All sins are at once cleansed upon entering Prayag.”

Many exalted saints and sages have visited Prayag. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Lord Nityananda, and Advaita Acarya all spent time there during pilgrimage tours.