21st July 2019

Chanting, hearing, remembering has to be simultaneously

Today is Sunday, we have less devotees chanting today.

I’m not supposed to be chanting today or I am supposed to be taking rest or giving rest to chanting, it’s not the right thing to do. But who will tell them they’re not there on the conference to listen to me? You could tell them, you could find out who is missing, who doesn’t chant on Sundays. May be they are your neighbours, your friends, your colleagues, your god-brothers, god-sisters are not chanting. Some of them are not chanting on Sundays. Of-course many, many of them are not chanting on this conference. Some of them are not chanting on Sundays on this conference. Anyway, if you could do something. ‘bodhayanta parasparam’ that could be appreciated.

Chanting, hearing, remembering all this has to be done simultaneously. Sravanam of course, you have to utter the holy name of the Lord. You have to hear as you utter the holy name and you have to remember the person that you are calling or you will be reminded of that person who you are calling. So, these activities have to happen instantly and simultaneously. Sravanam kirtanam visnoh smaranam. These three activities happen instantly, simultaneously in one stroke. So that’s our goal. That’s the homework that we are supposed to be doing during the chanting of the holy names of the Lord.

That is not easy task. You should do like this or like that. So, there are all sorts of obstacles and stumbling blocks and of course, the mind is always meddling. It comes in between you and your chanting, you and your Lord, you and your hearing the holy name.

mana eva manusyanam karanam bandha-moksayoh (BG 6.5)

Manais the one. Mind is the one that does become the cause of either your bandha-moksayoh. The bondage is caused by mind and moksa, theliberation is also caused by mind.

So, samah, damah, tapah, saucam. The Lord has given instructions to the whole world and society that they should work on this samah, damah. These are the qualities of the Brahmana, Brahmin. The Lord is describing that he begins the samahand damah. Control, mind-control and sense-control. Making mind peaceful and making senses also peaceful. Samah, damah. So, unless the mind is peaceful and satisfied we cannot proceed with our life of devotion, life of jnana, concentration, focus or meditation. Those become impossible if samah, damahthis mind-control, sense-control is not there.

So, anyway we don’t want to talk this stuff, this subject this morning. So, I am thinking of talking about some other topics. Just, we have been talking about this every now and then. Preparation for the sense-control, the mind-control is not something that you work on only when chanting the holy name of the Lord. But, all day long or all night long, you have to work on the mind. Controlling the mind, purifying the mind, taming the mind. This is on-going process, and this is the process, this is ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaḿ, cleansing the mirror of consciousness and the part of the cleansing is cleansing the mind also. cetanah antah karan includes our subtle body, the mind. So, this ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaḿ we have to work on, meaning we’re talking about the mind, work on the mind, purify the mind. So, this is on-going task, we cannot get serious about cleansing the mind or ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaḿ only while chanting the holy name of the Lord.

In other times, we let the mind just go off or do whatever mind likes to do or go here and there. So, we have to watch our mind all the time, keep an eye on our mind, and then like this we can have our intelligence. That is why we also have been saying that the chanting. Well, Bhagavatam said this, the chanting is done by yajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyairyajanti hi su-medhasaḥ the intelligent person in fact, well only intelligent person could perform the sankirtan yajnaor japa yajna. So, with the use of intelligence, we control, we endeavour to control the mind and when the mind is under control, the mind is peaceful then that’s a favourable mind’s condition to chant the holy name or listen to the holy name of the Lord, remember Lord as we chant.

I just wanted to talk more about the episode or the scene that we talked about yesterday that Lord is on the planet for 125 years. The demi-gods have arrived in Dwarka to thank Lord and they are also proposing that You need not continue to be here in this world. Lord, You may return to His, Your own abode now.

Let’s visualise the scene here that Lord is seated in Dwarka as Dwarkadhish, so He must be sitting on very huge, opulent asana, throne in Dwarka but the demi-gods and demi-goddesses they’re up there in the sky, all those millions of demi-gods are up in the sky. There are three-hundred thirty million, 33 crores let’s say, three-hundred thirty million demi-gods and goddesses. Considering that they all have assembled, so you can imagine huge big number of them up there in the sky and from there itself, pranamya, they’re offering their obeisances and they have, they’re offering their prayers and praise also from being up there in the sky. That’s a nice scene to remember or think about. Our Lord is seated in Dwarka on a throne and demi-gods are maintaining their position there, they don’t even touch the ground. They could float in the sky, they could make themselves lighter than the lightest, the different siddhis. So, either they’re still seated on their different vehicles, Hamsa(swan) for Brahma, and Shiva on the back of Nandi, like that each one of them have their vahana. Either they are still seated on the vahana or they’re off their vahana and from there, they are dealing with the Lord, seeing the Lord, talking to the Lord, offering their obeisances to the Lord; Dwarkadhish. Sri Krishna ki jai!

And of course, these kinds of scenes this is not the first time ever they see Him like this but demi-gods have been approaching, coming to the Lord again and again. Beginning with the very first appeal that they made to the Lord for Lord’s appearance, they had appeared. That was while Lord was on Svetadvipa that time they approached. Then when Lord was in the womb of Mother Devaki, they had come up there in the vayumandal above Mathura and they had offered Garbha-stuti, they offered their prayers to the Lord while Lord was in the womb of Devaki. That Garbha-stutiis very famous in the beginning of tenth canto of Bhagavatam and like that throughout the tenth canto of Bhagavatam, we feel the presence of Demi-gods especially whenever some demon was killed. For sure Shukadeva Goswami described how demigods were there showering flowers and other kinds of demigods Gandharvasare singing and Apsaras were dancing and they’re beating different drums, like this and that. So, this was very common scene that they would come to watch the pastimes of the Lord when a demon was killed and they’re expressing their jubilation.

Because of these demon’s presence on the earth, the earth was feeling burdened and that’s why they had approached. “Lord please You appear and do something. kill these demons”. And so, when Lord was complying with their request, appeals for the demons for getting killed left and right and every time that happened, demigods appeared on the scene and expressing their joy; “Jai! Jai!” and they were offering praise and flowers and singing and dancing. So, these scenes were quite common throughout Krishna’s pastimes. For this was not the first time ever they had come to Dwaraka to see the Lord. They were always around and coming and witnessing the Lord’s pastimes.

As they are here now in Dwaraka, or they have not landed there, in the sky and they’ve offered their prayers and praise. One of the items, they’re talking of the Lord’s appearance as Vamanadeva. And later on, He took three steps and Lord was a vaman(dwarf). He increased in size and He became taller and taller and taller and He covered the entire universe with the second step. Of course, the first step was on the earth, the second step He covered the entire universe. And when He did so, took the second step, His Lotus Feet touched the covering of the universe, not only touched but struck and the shell of the universe covering got damaged or punctured and the water of the causal Ocean (Karanodak) which emanates from the body of Maha-Visnhu started leaking into the universe and that made the Ganges appearance into this world.

pada-nakha-nira-janita-jana-pavana
kesava dhrita-vamana-rupa jaya jagadisa hare.( Śrī Daśāvatāra)

That water now that had entered the universe was washing the Lotus Feet of Vamana, who was no more Vamana, He was Trivikrama, three steps. So, the Lotus feet they’re being washed and ‘tuzya carani chya ganga’ now, water was flowing, coming down into the universe again as Lord’s Lotus feet had gone up covering the universe. Now the water that has washed the Lotus feet of the Lord was coming down as Ganga.

Hare Krishna

20th July 2019

abhinnatvat nama namino

I would like to thank the devotees from Melbourne who chant with us every Saturday. They sit in Prabhupada quarter and chant. It’s not morning there still they chant with us, so I thank them and also welcome them.

We have started a new padayatra called Maharashtra padayatra from Pandharpur. That will be Maharashtra limited, travelling, preaching and propagating the holy name. Looks like they have just started and they are on the road. So, they have also joined us this morning. So, we have All India Padayatra party chanting and now we have Maharashtra padayatra party chanting.

Dr.Shyamsundar Prabhu from Nagpur is chanting with us. when I saw him I was reminded of, we started Annamrita kitchen in Nagpur. This is for the midday meal scheme. To begin with, we will be serving 10,000 midday meals to the school going children in Nagpur. Dr.Shyamsundar Sharma donated land to build this kitchen, it’s a bog kitchen. There was an inaugural function which I attended. This is good morning news.

I received a bad news also a devotee from Nasik who chants with us lost his father yesterday. So pray for the departed soul by chanting loudly from your heart.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram
Ram Ram Hare Hare

Brahma had addressed to the Lord, we find this at the beginning of 10th canto of Bhagavatam.

dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata [BG 4.7]

All the religious principles had declined and it was time for Lord to appear. So, all the demigods they had also included bhumi, (earth) and the whole delegation by Brahma. They all had gone to Svetadvipa and prayed to Lord for His advent. Lord had listened to their appeal and call and He had appeared in this world and performed lots of pastimes and gave darsana to the whole world. His name, fame, form, qualities become popular and spread in all direction. And in this way dharma was established.

dharma-saḿsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge[BG 4.8]

Now once again the demigods, there are varieties of names mentioned here in Bhagavatam in 11th canto chapter 6. Viśvedevas, Sādhyas, Gandharvas, Apsarās, Nāgas, Siddhas, Cāraṇas, Guhyakas, Maruts, Ādityas, Vasus, Aśvinīs, Ṛbhus, Aṅgirās, Rudras these are different kinds of demigods or demigoddess. We just say devtas but there are many as described in Bhagavatam.

dvārakām upasañjagmuḥ sarve kṛṣṇa-didṛkṣavaḥ [SB 11.6.4]

They all have come to Dvārakā. First when they wanted the Lord to appear they had gone to Svetadvipa, milk ocean. But now towards the end of pastimes in the world they all have come to Dvārakā. One reason mentioned is,

sarve kṛṣṇa-didṛkṣavaḥ

They are very eager, very anxious to have darsana of the Lord. They want to have darsana of the Lord, drink the beauty of the form of the Lord. They are desirous to see the Lord. This is one reason why they have come to the Lord. Upon arrival there they are praying and praising the Lord.

śrī-devā ūcuḥ

It’s amazing how they are praying together; they know what is in the hearts and minds of each other and other demigods assembled there. They are all talking together and offering praying to the Lord. So you could read the prayers, how they were glorifying Lord Dwarakadhish. They went on and on praying to the Lord.

So they have addressed Lord as, ‘Asesatman’, unlimited atma, paramatma or parmeshwar. Then after that combined or joint session of praying together then only brahma is praying to the Lord. He is thanking the Lord for listening to their prays some 125 years ago.

śrī-brahmovāca
bhūmer bhārāvatārāya
purā vijñāpitaḥ prabho
[SB 11.6.21]

In the past, we had prayed to you Lord, to appear to relive the earth of her burden.

dharmaś ca sthāpitaḥ satsu
satya-sandheṣu vai tvayā
[SB 11.6.21]

There was irreligion all over but you appeared and established dharma among pious men who are always firmly bound to the truth.

kīrtiś ca dikṣu vikṣiptā
sarva-loka-malāpahā
[SB 11.6.22]

You have also distributed Your glories all over the world, and thus the whole world can be purified by hearing about You. The most significant statement, as I was reading yesterday Lord Brahma says,

yāni te caritānīśa
manuṣyāḥ sādhavaḥ kalau
śṛṇvantaḥ kīrtayantaś ca
tariṣyanty añjasā tamaḥ
[SB 11.6.24]

It’s good that you appeared and performed varieties of pastimes. Those pastimes are compiled in the form of Bhagavatam by Vyasadev. They would be made available for the people of this age of kali. They would be greatly benefited by doing the, srnvantaha kirtayantha. As they would be listening to your pastimes and glorifying those pastimes, the people of this Kaliyuga will greatly benefited and they will be released from the darkness of ignorance.

What we understand, Brahma is making kind of prediction that not only people those who are currently present on the planet while Krsna was on the planet but then onwards in the future people will be benefited. As Lord making His appearance, Lord has given us topic to talk about, think about.

Also Vrindavan dhama to visit.

sri radhika madhav yora paar madhuryalila guna rupa nam nam (Guruvaṣṭakam verse 5)

Radha Madhava pastimes, Lord made pastimes available by appearing for those people present there, to this day and to the future. If Lord had not appeared we would not be chanting His names.

śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇa
puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇi
vidhunoti suhṛt satām
[SB 1.2.17]

nityam bhagavat sevaya, all this would not have happened.

So you and me, we all are being benefited by the appearance of the Lord. Krsna making His appearance 5000 years ago and performing all pastimes. So Brahma is talking, this is the kind of benefit, we the people of age of kali are deriving by appearance of the Lord.

We the people of this age of Kali are very fortunate, Lord Sri Krsna appeared at the end of dwapar yuga. Those who appeared prior to appearance of the Lord, then there was not so much opportunity to hear about Sri Krsna, Supreme Personality of Godhead- svayam bhagavan. In that sense we are very fortunate that first Lord appeared then we appeared, giving us opportunity to hear about Sri Krsna.

The big chunk of Bhagavatam is Krsna lila. Out of 335 chapter of Bhagavatam about 90 chapters of 10 canto are Krsna lila. The 11th canto of Bhagavatam also Krsna lila continues, just now we are talking of 11th canto. Also 11th canto has Uddhav Gita- Krsna addressing Uddhav. It’s like Bhagavad Gita. So like this whole 10th canto and 11th canto, so big part of Bhagavatam is Krsna lila. Krsna is ashraya. One of the 10 topics is ashraya and that is Sri Krsna. This is only possible as Lord made His appearance 5000 years ago.

One thing is on the mind of all the Demigods, is they want to thank you Lord. They want to give big thank you to the Lord for listening to their prayers. Now, they say my dear Lord

tataḥ sva-dhāma paramaṁ
viśasva yadi manyase
sa-lokāl loka-pālān naḥ
pāhi vaikuṇ ṭha-kiṅkarān
[SB 11.6.27]

If You wish You may return to Your abode the purpose for which you had come that has been served. We are very happy and thankful for all that you did.

śarac-chataṁ vyatīyāya
pañca-viṁśādhikaṁ prabhu [SB 11.6.25]

You have spent 125 years on this earth, if You wish now You may return to Your abode thank you very much.

So as demigods had arrived in Dvārakā they offered their obeisances to the Lord. They are offering sastanga dandavat pranam.

This word sastanga has been explained or commented upon by acaryas, by Sanatana Goswami. So they have quoted the verse that mentions the asta means 8 and anga means body part’s. when one is offering pranam, he is using 8 different parts of his body to offer obeisance, then that obeisance is called sastanga dandavat pranam.

Sanatana Goswami is quoting a verse,
dorbhyāṁ padābhyāṁ jānubhyām
urasā śirasā dṛśā
manasā vacasā ceti
praṇāmo ’ṣṭāṅga īritaḥ
(Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 8.162,360)

These are 8 parts of the body used to offer sastanga. dorbhyam-two arms, padabhyam-the two legs, janubhyam- two knees, urasa- the chest, sirasa- the head, drsa- the eyes, manasa- the mind and the vacasa- power of speech. If you are offering obeisances but not saying prayers that’s also offense.

So these are the 8 parts mentioned in the commentary. The demigods are offering prayers to the form of the Lord and the form of the Lord is non-different form the Lord.

deha-dehi-vibhāgo ’yaṁ neśvare vidyate kvacit [CC Antya 5.123]

There is no distinction between the body and the soul of the Supreme Personality of Godhead at any time. Lord and Lord’s body is same. We have body- deha and soul-dehi inside. But Lord’s body is spiritual, this is how Lord should be understood tattvatah, this is sidhhanta. This siddhanta has also been stated in this section of Bhagavatam by acaryas.

abhinnatvat nama namino

Like there is no difference between deha and dehi like that there is no difference between nama and nami- no difference between Lord and His name. Further contemplate on this, meditate –do manan and assimilate this that it becomes part of your thought process.

Hare Krishna

19th July 2019

Offences against Holy Name

I was reading Vyasa puja books, there are two – one in Hindi and other in English language. Many of you have mentioned about our zoom Japa conference, how you are appreciating my endeavors and how you have benefited through this conference. I am happy and you are happy with me hence I will continue to do this conference. You are happy that I am chanting, likewise I am also happy to see you chanting. As I see you chanting I am happy. We are increasing happiness of each other by chanting in this conference. You are making use of the prime time that is brahma muhurta.

So I am happy you are chanting in prime time in countries like India and Mauritius. Some have mentioned that they were chanting late in the day, are now chanting in the morning. Thus leaving the anarthas. So keep chanting and also engage others also for quality chanting.

In one weeks’ time I will begin with my overseas tour to America, Russia I am just thinking how to manage, it will not be possible to chant on this time. I am telling you this so that you keep this practice to chanting regardless of temporary zoom conference not being there. You have developed taste for chanting. Keep up the spirit of chanting during the zoom conference time.

Keep chanting with full faith, full faith in the glory of the holy name without offences. One of the offence is misinterpretation about the holy name, this misinterpretation minimizes the importance of holy name. No one can get such benefit just by chanting . Such misinterpretations are detrimental to the glories of holy name, stay away from such anarthas.

I would like to share one story how Lord was misunderstood by non-other than Parvati.

avajananti mam mudha manusim tanu asritam[BG 9.11]

As Krsna has said some mudha fools think, form of Krsna is like just another human also His name is ordinary, not potent. One time Shiva and Parvati were returning from Bhagavat katha and they were passing through Panchavati near Nashik. Kidnapping of Sita had just happened. Lord Ram was missing Sita he was asking everyone even the trees, have they seen Sita. He was in tears, completely lost. Parvati had misunderstood Ram, she was thinking he must be an ordinary husband. He is crying for his wife. He must not be God, He must be just an ordinary husband.

Of course Siva, he had offered his obeisances to Lord Ram from a distance. But Parvati was not offering obeisances in fact she was saying, “why are you offering obeisances to a ksatriya, just an ordinary person he is not even brahman.”

So of course Shiva had his reasons and convictions that Lord Ram is Supreme Personality of Godhead but Parvati was not understanding. Shiva proposed you could test whether he is Supreme Personality of Godhead. So she dressed just like vanavasi Sita and then she went towards Ram she was sure he will think Sita has come, and he will come running towards her, “oh! Sita where were you I was missing you.” As he is just an ordinary man, he will take me as Sita.

So as Parvati disguised as Sita proceeded towards Lord Ram.

om parvate namah

Lord Ram, He offered his obeisances to Parvati Devi next thing He said “why are you alone why Shiva is not there with you in this deep forest. Where is my dear Shiva.”

So Ram passed the test. He immediately recognized and offered his obeisances. Parvati was embarrassed, she sat there and she was meditating and the whole scene changed. There were Ram Sita Laxman sitting there amongst saints and

yam brahma varunendra rudra marutah stunvanti divyaih [SB 12.13.1]

Demigods are praying and glorifying Them this was Lord’s nitya lila.

Parvati was seeing this. And the kidnapping of Sita was just a part of prakat lila. When Shiva asked how did the testing go? She just said I offered obeisances and came back, she did not disclose what had happened, how she dressed like Sita. She kind of lied. She was very guilty of her behavior.

Ram feeling separation and looking for Sita and undergoing inconveniences and tribulations. Prabhupada has stated that Lord is teaching a lesson to those who are attached to their wives or to husband. That’s message or lesson to be learned from this episode. That Lord is also not spared, this is what could happen to you if you are too much attached to your wife. Guideline for grihasta, better not to take wife when you are travelling long distance. Lord Ram is acting like a man or human being because it was possible to kill Ravan as he had received benediction that he will not be killed by any of the 84 lakh species and he did not even think of human being as he thought human beings can never kill him.

Demigod knew this so they prayed to Lord, oh Lord you come as human being so that you can kill Ravana. So He is searching for Sita acting like a mere man. He is proceeding towards Sri Lanka. And as human form He can kill Ravana. That’s another reason Ram is acting like an ordinary human being. This whole pastime is that Lord Ram is considered as human.

avajananti mam mudha manusim tanum asritam
paRam bhavam ajananto mama bhuta mahesvaRam

But we should not think as Lord Ram is acting like a human so He is a human. No He is Lord Himself. That param bhava He eternally exists and we should understand Him as Supreme Personality of Godhead. So we should be careful of misinterpretation on the holy name.

The glories of holy name are rare and intact they should not be considered as exaggeration. I am trying to explain you through this lila, so that you don’t commit offences against the holy name. We should have full faith in the potency of holy name.

Hare Krsna

18th July 2019

Always stay high- stay inspired

I was happy, pleased yesterday as you posted your comments, what you liked the most about Pandharpur Vyas puja & Prabhupada ghat opening festival. Of course, many of you were personally present and those who were not personally present they were watching through Mayapur TV. They also expressed their appreciation about the program. The festival gave us boost and inspired us. So, now the challenge is to stay high, stay inspired that we have to make sure that we don’t get into bad habits.

kvacin nivartate ’bhadrāt
kvacic carati tat punaḥ
prāyaścittam atho ’pārthaṁ
manye kuñjara-śaucavat
(SB 6.1.10)

Elephant takes nice bath and enjoys very happily then it comes on the bank of the river and again puts dirt on his body. We have to be cautious and careful so that we don’t fall into bad habits and again put aparadha and anrathas in us. So we should try to stay high. MWhat we did in Pandharpur can be summarized. We did 5 different activities pradhana anga. There are 64 activities listed in Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu. There can be many but 64 are listed and out of them 5 are main activities.

1. Sadhu Sanga

2. Nama sankirtanan- Lots of chanting and sankirtana

3. Bhagavata sravan -We heard Guru katha and Krsna katha

4. Worshiping the deities

One Mataji said “Yesterday maharaj on ashadi day I managed to have darsana of Pandhuranga on that day in midst of lakhs of warkaris.”

5. Dhama vasa- we were all residing in dhama for 4 days.

So, we were busy and we were absorbed in following these five processes of devotional service and that gave us joy, pleasure, inspiration and boost. So, you all are back to your respective places now you have to carry on doing that at your pace. Prabhupada gave us Vrindavan and Mayapur festival, idea was devotees are busy with preaching devotees and non-devotees. Some of your family members may not be devotee or anti Krsna. So, devotees tend to lose their energy so while dealing with them, Prabhupada wanted that such practitioners and preachers should come together and go to dhama and get their battery charged. They come to festival and get inspired and fired up and get fully charged. So in this festival Prabhupada is behind this festival and we had great fortune of being part of the Pandharpur festival.

These 5 limbs of devotional service we have to practice on daily basis. We have two forums we have ISKCON temples and your place of residence. ISKCON temples where Krishna is Vishnu lok. You could also make your home as temple. You must be having altar at home but not of demigods or you will land up in heaven, then that’s not dhama. Dhama means where Krishna is worshipped. So these are the possibilities ISKCON temples and your homes where you reside.

So, go to temple regularly, also attend Sunday feast. Get associations of temple devotees, some of them may be your friends, your siksha guru so get their association. When you have sadhu sanga, sadhus will always remind you to do nama sankirtana, they will tell you to worship deities, sometimes they will bring you to Mayapur or Vrindavan dhama.

So one of the limb is sadhu sanga then there will be,

bodhayanta parasparam

[ Bg 10.9]

They will tell some Bhagavad katha, they will remind you to make sure you have Prabhupada books at home and you read them. They will make sure you have deities at home and then your home is dhama. This is importance of sadhu sanga. You are also grihastas and you are practicing Krsna consciousness, you are duly initiated devotees. You yourself are sadhus, your husband is sadhu, mataji is sadhavi. Even children are practicing Krsna consciousness they are also sadhus like Prahlad Maharaja. Do not think sadhus are only in temples and dhama, no you are also sadhus under training. Take association of sadhus at home.

As Lord says, bodhyanta parasparam

Discuss amongst yourself, you know Dhruva maharaja said this, benefit by association at home. I want to see you stay high forever never go low always stay high. So I am reminding you to visit ISKCON temple and your house is also dhama.

Bhaktivinod Thakur says,

je-dina grihe, bhajana dekhi, grihete goloka bhaya

When there is nagar sankirtana at my home I experience my home has become Golok. I invite sadhus there in sankirtana, mridanga is played and my heart is jubilant and I experience I am in Golok atmosphere of being at dhama or temple and this is done by sadhu sanga. You could act as sadhus. That way you could always stay high.

Hare Krsna

17 July 2019

Utsava Gives Utsaha

Devotees are back from Pandharpur. Now they are joining us again on zoom conference. When I see you all chanting, I feel very happy.

How was the festival? From utsava comes utsaha. I hope it has inspired you in your devotional life. I hope you all have benefited from the festival. Lots of memories of Prabhupada were shared and some memories about myself were also shared. There was Prabhupada ghat opening, pandal programs and prasadam. Lots of association with devotees.

dadāti pratigṛhṇāti
guhyam ākhyāti pṛcchati
bhuṅkte bhojayate caiva
ṣaḍ-vidhaṁ prīti-lakṣaṇam (NOI Verse 4)

Some rare souls managed to get darshan of Panduranga, lakhs of warkaris come for darshan, so having darshan of Panduranga, for all was not possible. I want you all to share your realizations about the festival. Some liked my kirtan, the management, the pandal programs, Prabhupada glorification, my house at Aravade, the lectures at Dehu. The Nityananda charan event, association of devotees, Srila Prabhupada ghat was liked by many devotees. Many were watching the festival online also. Some liked prasadam, 8500 devotees honored prasadam and all the prasad management was by Chowpatty devotees, Gauranga prabhuji and his team. I am grateful to them. They arranged breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some liked travelling with me for 3 days.

6000 books were distributed, Prannath Prabhu was in charge of book distribution. Some liked pada-puja. Bhakti Vedanta gurukul we have started. The padayatra bulls were attraction for the warkaris and some of you have not seen bulls.

‘Guru vidhi japa nidhi’ book published by Akinchan Bhakta Dasa, thanks to him. Also we have found marathi devotee who also wants to publish japa talk in marathi and also in English, work is going on.

To me the drama was inspirational it gave me boost, it was amazing. I was overwhelmed watching the drama. From that moment, I was not the same person any more. I thank Svetadvipa Prabhu from Pune.

Chandrabhaga temple was liked by many. Many books were published and one of them “Amcha Lokanath” in Marathi was liked by the Marathi devotees. Some said Vyasa puja event was memorable. 500 devotees walked from Dehu to Pandharpur, that was inspiring. Some liked adivasa in the evening and kirtan of Kamalochan Prabhu. Someone liked 70Kg cake. Someone said I was afraid of dancing but as I joined ISKCON I happily danced in kirtan. Istagosthi with devotees, arrival of All India Padayatra was liked by many. My dance was liked by some, I am an old man now.

‘Yadi prabhupada na hoite’ –then I could not imagine, this Pandharpur festival would not be there, so all credit goes to Srila Prabhupada ki ..jai!

priti lakshanam,

I hope you all must have experienced priti lakshanam. Some liked Bhakti Vikas Maharaja books. 7000 prasad plates were distributed. 7000 japa malas were distributed by Keshav Prabhu’s team. We had 70 hours kirtan mela. And it was 7 days festival. 4 days in Pandharpur and 3 days in travelling we reached Dehu. Now your memories are unending.

Keep chanting,

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

While chanting you have topics to remember to think about in Pandharpur. High thinking, you could remember those high point, those highlights of the festival.

You could read and also write down and post your comments about the festival. You could also share your memories about the festival that inspired you.

Hare Krishna

16th July 2019

Inspiring devotion of Tukaram Maharaja

So, the part of the preparation, this morning chanting, we prepared the previous day, so that we could chant better, chant attentively during the morning hours. So, I would say, for me, I have prepared. I did the preparation, of my this morning chanting yesterday as we visited Dehu Gaon, the birth place of Tukaram. Yesterday, as we visited Dehu Gaon, the Dehu village, of course, we had several hundreds of devotees with us. We were remembering and sharing the memories of Tukaram, so that is inspiring, that has become an inspiration for this morning’s chanting. As I was chanting today, this morning, I was remembering our visit to Dehu Gaon, the life of Tukaram Maharaja. Hari Hari!

So, this is certainly Lord’s arrangement. Lord sends His pure devotees into this world and the way they live their lives and their dealings and thoughts and acts and all their dealings, whatever they do, becomes an inspiration, a glaring example for the whole world to follow.

Does Vaikuntha exists?

So many ask this question; we all have that question. So, yesterday we were there, we visited the Vaikuntha Viman landing spot and then we remembered the whole episode how Tukaram boarded that plane. While leaving his last words were, he had compiled four thousands abhangas. The last abhanga he recited that he compiled and spoke, sang, as he sat on the plane.

ami jati amchya gava amcha rama rama ghyava

This was his last abhang wherein he sings, “I am going back to home, please, accept my Ram Ram Ram Ram, I am going.” He went, the aircraft, Vaikuntha Viman departed and he never returned. Now, these villagers, of course, they were thinking that Tukaram will make a few rounds up there and will come back.

ami jati amchya gava amcha rama rama ghyava

His gaon is right here. But they were disappointed. They were waiting and waiting for hours, for days, but Tukaram never returned as the aircraft never returned, went back to home, back to Vaikuntha or back to Goloka. So, he is giving some proofs like this. You want a proof of Vaikuntha or Vaikuntha exists and people go back to home? Look, there is life of Tukaram or departure of Tukaram, he left for Vaikuntha. Hence, there is no samadhi of Tukaram also. In Alandi there is a Samadhi but there is no samadhi of Tukaram or anywhere on this planet, there is no samadhi of Tukaram. This is another amazing thing, with his own body, he departed. So, it is an amazing evidence of the existence of Vaikuntha of devotees leading the life of devotion, they do go back to home, back to Vaikuntha or Goloka.

kirtaniya sada hari

Tukaram Maharaj always chanted the holy names of Panduranga, Panduranga, jai jai Ram Krishna Hari. So, it was difficult for him to stop singing and chanting. For us, it’s difficult to chant, utter these names, But Tukaram, once he started chanting and singing, he would just go on and on and on and he was unstoppable. So, he was always doing as is expected by Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He gave goal to His devotees, kirtanya sada harih! And Tukaram Maharaja, yet, another example of someone who did kirtaniya sada hari all the times.

Then one morning, a person, he was not a gentleman, he was an anti-party, he was an offender, he had come to Tukaram’s home. He inquired, “Tukaba, are you here?” So, the family members told, “No, he would be just now coming. Please hold on, just wait here.” So, after some time, Tukaram returned. During the morning hours, he had gone to the fields to take care of his body, pass stool. Coming back, and this person who was vaisnava aparadhi, Tukaram aparadhi, he saw Tukaram returning. Seeing he had lota in his hand, in Tukaram’s hand, he asked, “Did you take bath?” “No, not yet.” “And you are chanting, doing harinama, kirtana, without taking bath? Such a fool you are! Offender! You do not know the basic rules how to keep clean, ‘suchi’, and then begins the process of worship or chanting or dharmic activities he performed.”

So, Tukaram said, “I am sorry, I, it’s very difficult to follow, for me to follow this rule and only after I have taken my snana, my bath and then I begin my singing or remembering or worshiping. “And Tukaram Maharaja said, “You know, I am not able to stop chanting. It’s beyond me. Something within me is forcing me, dictating me, prompting me to chant and I just cannot stop. If you wish, you could try stopping my chanting.” Then there is this person, the aparadi, the karmakandi, paakhandi, he stepped forward and he held the neck of Tukaram tight so that he does not chant but the chanting did not stop. Now, not only his mouth was chanting, Tukaram’s whole body was chanting. From the pores of his body there was the trance of the holy name of the Lord. His body was trembling and vibrating and singing was on and neither Tukaram was not able to stop chanting on his own and neither any external forces or parties were able to stop that chanting because, in fact, personalities like Tukaram, of course, nobody’s body chants, its soul chants.

So, Tukaram’s soul is chanting and he is chanting and chanting and never stopping. So, this way we also heard and remembered how Tukaram Maharaja was always doing his kirtaniya sada hari activity or process. Now, we also remembered, one thing, there are karmakandis and pakhandis and hypocrites and offenders; offenders of the vaishnavas, aparadis and nama aparadis. And Tukaram was becoming popular and well known, he was loved by all and they were not very happy with the name, fame, glory of Tukaram Maharaja.

Similar to what they did to Sri Namacarya Srila Hari Das Thakura, a prostitute was sent to Tukaram, like was sent to Hari Das Thakura. And the prostitute tried her best and she could not succeed as Tukaram was busy absorbed in bhajan with his veena in one hand, chipdya- some kind of kartal, and he is absorbed and singing, ‘Jai Jai Ram Krishna Hari, Jai Jai Ram Krishna Hari.’

So, what could the poor prostitute do? Tukaram was fully absorbed and fully satisfied within chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no vacancy with something external or outside. Tukaram was calm and just happily chanting. So, prostitute did all that she could do, was dancing and trying to get the attention of Tukaram but she failed. She surrendered unto Tukaram Maharaj, begged for forgiveness for such an offensive attempt to cause his fall down but there was no way maya could, prostitute could cause his fall down. He is like achyuta, he is with achyuta, he is stuck with achyuta, infallible. So, it was not possible, so, very similar to what happened to Namacarya Srila Hari Das Thakur and a prostitute that happened not far from here, Dehu Gaon with Tukaram Maharaj, very same thing. We should be contemplating upon, take inspiration to keep chanting Hare Krishna and we you are not alone and then you could become victorious.

yatra yogesvarah krsno
yatra partho dhanur-dharah
tatra srir vijayo bhutir
dhruva nitir matir mama(BG 18.18)

There is victory and no defeat. So, Tukaram Maharaj became victorious and prostitute also became victorious in a sense, she surrendered unto Tukaram Maharaj and she had a glorious life then onwards. Tukaram Maharaj was free from kamini, kama vaasna and also free from kanchan, the gold or the wealth.

One time, Shivaji Maharaj wanted to send or he did send a special gift, some clothes and ornaments. He had sent his rajadhuta or messenger,Tukaram Maharaj was out of station, was not in. So, his wife, Tukaram’s wife accepted all the gifts. She started wearing ornaments and putting clothes on and giving, “okay my dear, you take this” to son and daughter, and wearing makeup and they were really happy, seeing they’ve never experienced any expensive clothing and ornaments. But Tukaram arrived and he said “No, no, no what are you doing?” and took all those, took away all those ornaments and clothes from children and from wife and returned, “You take them, we don’t need this kind of gift and have no interest in this.

para-dravyesu lostavat

Wealth of others is like dirt or pebbles or rock, no interest, no attempt to enjoy or exploit wealth like this. So, this is Tukaram.

na dhanam na janam na sundarim kavitam va jagad isa kamaye ( Siksastakam verse 4)

We are praying. Tukaram’s prayers were already heard and he had no interest in dhanam the wealth and janam the following and sundarim beautiful women, the opposite sex, he had no interest whatsoever. He has only interest in Krishna’s name and that is wealth, right? That is the wealth.

Golokera prema dhana, dhan, said dhan, prem dhana, so Tukaram had dhana, so he was the wealthiest person in Dehu, in the world in fact. So, he was not, no interest in wealth or this, that. Jai Tukaram Maharaj ki, jai!

So, Shivaji Maharaj did want to give some wealth or some gifts, some gold. So, he thought he is not accepting this, maybe he is thinking others would watch him and he does not want others to see while he is receiving these valuable gifts and ornaments, so let us do this hiding when there is no one around on the wealth available, or made available, then certainly he will grab it. So, thinking so, now that is a little different strategy of Shivaji Maharaj and his gifts deliverers or messengers. So, what they did was one early morning, they went to Indrayani Ghat. They knew that Tukaram Maharaj comes there during the dawn time and there is less light and to take bath. So, they placed gold and ornaments and wealth like that, displayed it and they thought for sure he will be by himself, no one will be able to see him taking it or accepting. So he would go for it but that did not happen. When Tukaram went he saw all ornaments there. They are dazzling, shining golden ornaments. So, Tukaram Maharaj left that place and went to an another ghat to take snana that morning. Another said, “oh, you are taking bath here today? Why not your ghat, every morning you have been in such and such ghat but today you are bathing here?” He said, “I think someone has passed stool there.”

The stool also has complexion like gold. So, he wanted to stay away from the stool, golden stool and so he was fully detached and no hankering, no liking, no wanting wealth like this because he was fully satisfied chanting:

Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa
Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma
Rāma Rāma Hare Hare

And it is possible to be fully satisfied by chanting. How do we know? We know from life of Tukaram. He was happy, fully satisfied. What was the cause of his satisfaction? Joy and the holy name, in another word, Lord’s name, Lord’s pastimes, Lord’s darsana, Lord’s service until the Lord.

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

harer namaiva kevalam This we can understand from. Kindly, Lord has sent such saints, Sant Tukaram in this world. Residence of Pune, Punnya Nagri are very fortunate. Tukaram birth place is just around the corner from here. So, we should make Tukaram a hero and follow the example of Sant Tukaram Maharaj ki, jai! Yesterday also we said that Tukaram Maharaj was a, householder, not a sannyasi like ourselves, like me or Radhanath Maharaj or Gopal Krishna Maharaj. He was a grihastha. Devotees have made a congregation so for them they could see how another grihastha, the special one from their town, from Pune, Dehu, not two towns, they are the same town, so, study his life and teachings, follow his footsteps and make your life perfect, especially by chanting the holy name of the Lord the way Tukaram chanted or relished chanting.

Okay, time has come to stop.

Hari nama sankirtan ki, jai!
Sant Tukaram Maharaj ki, jai!
Srila Prabhupada ki, jai!
Gaura bhakta vrnda ki, jai!

15th July 2019

Let’s internalize and meditate on the Lord

So, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He shared the nectar of Krishna Karnamrita with the devotees those who were around Him. He made Krishna Karnamrita so popular that till date we relish it.

We also remember compiler of Krishna Karnamrita, Bilvamangala Thakura. Previously he was not a very good character person. He was somewhat like dasi pati Ajamila.

He was attached to a prostitute. Once, he wanted to go to meet her on the other side of the bank of the river. It was raining heavily still he wanted to go at any cost to meet her. He was so attached to that prostitute. He saw a trunk of tree with its support he crossed the river but that was not wood but dead body. Chintamani, was the name of the prostitute and was staying at first floor. He saw a rope and climbed finally. But it was not a rope it was a snake. And then he was face to face to that prostitute.

It was great fortune for Bilvamangala Thakur to meet that prostitute. She was surprised to see him. “How did you get here? It is raining so heavily.” She chastised him throwing some lights on his dark mind. If you had attempted to meet Lord instead of meeting me, my body which is full of blood, stool and pus. If you would have tried to see the Lord that would be perfection of your life. Her words had effect on Bilvamangala Thakur. She acted like a siksha guru. And Bilvamangala Thakur accepted her orders as a siksha guru.

And he stopped all his enjoying propensity. And he started his journey to Vrindavan to meet the Lord. First, he wanted to meet the prostitute but now he wanted to meet the Lord. He started his journey to Vrindavan to meet the Lord.

As he was on way to Vrindavan, he was thinking of Lord, he wanted to have audience with the Lord. He was always busy with his sadhana. He was trying to live simply, simple living and high thinking, Krsna conscious thinking. But again, he met another woman, a very chaste woman and he had thoughts of enjoying her. But Lord gave him reminder- same things Chintamani had told him- don’t do this thing, don’t try to enjoy the opposite sex. He asked the lady to give him her hair pins. She did not know what he was going to do with the pins.

papa vasana nako dau doda tyahuni andhada baracha me

The famous statement of Tukaram, if I am going to see the sinful objects or sinful scene then it’s better to be blind. He took two pins in his hands and pierced his eyes and spoiled his eyes. He became blind, he internalized and he only wanted to see Lord within the heart. He moved towards Vrindavan with help of passersby Oh! Where is Vrindavan? Please help! People were helping him on the way to Vrindavan.

He did end up in Vrindavan he had great fortune of meeting Krsna, Krsna became his friend. He had good time with Krsna.

Hare Krishna

14th July 2019

Hare Krishna! Aravade dham ki jai!

After 70th Vyasapuja festival in Pandharpur we, 400-500 devotees have started short pilgrimage, for 3 days and our first stop is Aravade, my birth place, the place where this body took birth. Of course that body is no more, but we could say something like that this body took birth and we visited that location, that spot where I was born, along with seven hundred devotees yesterday.

Devotees were amazed to see the spot, the house in kind of primitive condition, the house it was 70 years ago; they have made an attempt to maintain it. So, the devotees who saw different aspects of the house, they were amazed. Devotees also were equally or more amazed and pleased to see the grand beautiful clean and green opulent Radha Gopal temple in my village here. Then we also had the grand procession in the village; with thousands in attendance we took a tour and of course there was constant chanting of

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

Locals, my neighbors, my friends, my relatives, as I went around visiting devotees, they were greeting us at every step, every door, we were welcomed like a hero’s welcome, as someone from their town has become the spiritual hero. So welcoming! So, it was very heart touching and moving experience of touring village.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu ki jai! So, this village has become a very special, extra ordinary village in India where there Radha Gopal are residing deities and we claim that this village is visited by Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We have installed footprints of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu in this village.

In the evening there was program and good attendance and we addressed the assembled villagers and there were head of 70 different villages around my village, from 70 villages, 70 sarpanchas, the heads of villages were also invited and we gave them some gift, we gave them Radha Gopal as a gift, framed photograph of Radha Gopal. So, that was another experience of addressing the gathering last night here in Aravade.

Way back in 1974, I came to the village as a Hare Krishnawala, I had become Hare Krishna devotee and I came for first time in the village. Lot to say; I can’t say all of that, but that also surprised my family members and villagers. Comments they were making were, ‘he used to be such a good boy. What has gone wrong with him? Just see he has become mad.’ But then we used to have in early days, early years of my visit, we used to gather whole village in a school ground. So that used to be festival. So, one year I wrote a report to Srila Prabhupada, it must be 76. I gave report that how grand the festival was and we chanted and we danced and we spoke philosophy and we fed everyone full belly prasad and on top of that I mentioned that one farmer he was so much impressed with our presentation that he approached me towards the end of the program and said ‘Maharaj, from today onwards I am going to chant Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, 16 rounds of Hare Krishna maha mantra.’ I included that as part of my report. Prabhupada had received the report and he responded that you make that person who is now ready to chant, make him representative of ISKCON in your village. So that gave me hint or indication, clear indication that Prabhupada wanted ISKCON in my village with that one particular chanter as a representative of ISKCON.

So that’s how the idea of starting ISKCON in village came about, originated from Prabhupada, mind and heart. So, he thought of having ISKCON in my village, Aravade. I take that as origin of ISKCON in mind and heart of Srila Prabhupada, part of ISKCON in Aravade. Then we got going and you could see grand ISKCON presence in my little village. There are big fish in small pond, small village and big Hare Krishna. And of course, ISKCON in Aravade is not only for the folks of Aravade but the whole region, hundreds of villages and towns; they considered ISKCON Aravade as a place of pilgrimage. So, we make this all offering, all this outcome as an offering to Srila Prabhupada for his pleasure.

Lord Vitthal, Deities of Lord Vitthal and Radha Gopal are also here to stay and They will be here forever. New generations will take birth and they will depart and yet another generation will be born and gone and like that. Last night I was asking the audience that hundred years from today one of them could come back and take a stop at the situation in this village and who is who.

So, it is guaranteed that none of us, those who were present last night in the gathering they would not be there. Entire new batch would be there on the scene, claiming this land is mine and this house is mine and they would be thrown out. Another batch comes and they make the claim, same land, no, no, it’s my land. So, scenes would be changing, the proprietors would be changing, citizens would come and go, but Radha Gopal would be constant factor or personality who would be here years after years or century after century, for all the time to come. Radha Gopal is meant to be here and of course He is not going to be inactive. Lord will bless all the residents or citizens of this village and of course He is going to give blessings to citizens, villagers and other villages and town around Aravade and that way the center this ISKCON Aravade will do purification, ceto darpan marjanam bhava mahadavagni nirvapanam, so along with Radha Gopal there will be also generations of devotees after devotes another generation will come and they will be worshiping Radha Gopal.

They will be chanting Hare Krishna Hare Krishna; they will keep studying and distributing Bhagavad Gita. They will keep honoring prasadam of Radha Gopal and distributing Radha Gopal’s Prasad. So, like that the eternal show of Radha Gopal would also continue. And many many generations or all the generations in the future would be benefited by Lord. Not just the Lord, there has to be devotees then Krishna consciousness, Radha Gopal consciousness would reach the masses, the public, people, the villagers. And there are devotees having just temple, so that will be also go on.

Okay so we will conclude our japa talk saying that now we will, the group that is travelling with me will proceed to place which is outside the town, that there is a confluence of two sacred rivers, Krishna Venna and that place was visited by Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, that’s where Caitanya Mahaprabhu found Krishna Karnamrita.

He made a copy of it, photostat or whatever way they used to make copy in those days 500 years ago. And He took Krishna Karnamrita with Him and He had delivered that unto devotees in Jagannath Puri. This is Bilvamangal Thakur’s compilation. Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu always relished listening to and contemplating upon Krishna Karnamrita. So now we are proceeding to that location. It is in district, town called Satara and from there we will keep proceeding towards Dehu, the birthplace of Tukaram. We will stay overnight in birthplace of Tukaram tonight. So, from my birthplace we are going to Tukaram’s birthplace.

Dehu is near Pune, outskirts of Pune, just for your information. And during festival in Pandharpur there was a grand presentation, drama, presentation of life and teachings of Tukaram. I was again reminded and very much impressed and elevated, lifted and inspired by that drama presentation two nights ago. That great personality saint Tukaram Maharaj ki Jai!

We have opportunity to visit his home village to get further purified and inspired by his life and teachings.

Gaur Premanande Hari Hari Bol!

13th July 2019

Vyasa Puja Festival part 4

I meant to chant with all the devotees in the temple this morning but I had to do another conference call with the devotees from Australia. They were celebrating Vyasa puja festival. So, I had to address them. So, I could not join chanting with the devotees in Pandharpur temple this morning. So, Vyasa puja celebrations are on and I am getting greetings and reports of Vyasa puja from here and there, in Chittagong, Bangladesh and this and that. So, the news reports and greetings are continuously pouring in.

The main Vyasa puja where I was present was celebrated in Pandharpur on Shayani Ekadashi day, here. This is the biggest day for Lord Vitthal, Pandhuranga, when few million people, we can’t just call them people. Devotees! His devotees come to take His darshan on Shayani Ekadashi. Shayani means go to sleep. So, Lord goes to sleep and with that Chaturmasya begins. And Lord is going to rest for four months now. So, before He goes to sleep, take little break, devotees like to come and see the Lord. So that was today, the big day in Pandharpur. And by that kind Lord I was given birth on the biggest day of Lord of Pandhari, Pandharinath.

There were days when we were celebrating my birthday, Vyasa puja on wrong day, day or two days before the actual day, Shayani Ekadashi. Then we got out calculations together and I realized that I was born on Ekadashi and not on navami. We were celebrating two days before Ekadashi, but, that happened may be 10-15 years ago. So when we got calculations together and I realized, the Lord has given me birth on Shayani Ekadashi day- the biggest day of the Lord in Pandharpur.

I was kind of moved and I remember my emotions stirred up to know, to realize that I was born on Shayani Ekadashi day, when millions of devotees come to Pandharpur to have festivities and main festivity is Netrotsav, Nayanotsav, feast for eyes, that is festival. I want to see the Lord, Lord of their hearts, face to face, Panduranga, Vitthala! And that is the day devotees meet the Lord; it is milan day or reunion day. It is a big day and I realized I was born on that day. I was touched and moved and emotion stirred up and then we started to celebrate Vyasa puja on Shayani Ekadashi day and also started celebrating that in Pandharpur, we have stuck to Pandharpur.

Vyasa puja celebration in Pandharpur is the reason that I was born on Shayani Ekadashi day. It is the biggest day in Pandharpur.

So, on Vyasa puja day that was yesterday herein Pandharpur and devotees were making their offerings and of course many of you wrote your offering and I have them in the form of Vyasa puja book here. And this year we had one book for English offerings and another one for Hindi and Marathi offerings. So, devotees were making offerings yesterday and devotees are writing through email.

Tukaram, all the way from California, he was meant to come here, but he couldn’t manage. So, he wrote offering and like that many other devotees also sending their offerings through email. So, they were glorifying as is expected. And then during my Vyasa puja address yesterday I made one point that these glories, qualities that they were focusing on, Guru Maharaj is compassionate, Guru Maharaj is this and so many things. I said or I reminded that these are qualities of Krishna and some of these qualities Lord has invested in all of us. The source of these qualities, originality of these qualities, and cause of these qualities is Lord. So, anybody who needs to glorify that should be the Lord or unknowingly you are glorifying the Lord, although I am in front there, in front of the assembled devotees. But these qualities are qualities of the Lord. So, He should be getting the credit.

One-time Prithu Maharaj, he was being glorified by the citizens. Prithu Maharaj, he was empowered, Shaktyavesha avatar of the Lord and his citizens were praising him, glorifying him. But then Lord made the point, what is the need to glorify me separately? The glories of the Lord, Supreme Personality of Godhead, they exist eternally, they prevail, satyameva jayate. So why are you glorifying me? Glorify the Lord. Lord’s glories are worth glorifying. They are always there. So, he was encouraging his citizens. He was kind of directing them towards the Lord. Don’t make me the target. Don’t think I have this quality. These qualities eternally exist in the Lord. So, I was just remembering Prithu Maharaj’s stand that he took. Why me? Why me? These glories are always here eternally. Glorify the Lord.

I also reminded all assembled devotees that the qualities they are talking about and glorifying those qualities in their spiritual master, I reminded that those qualities are also in you. You are also qualified and you are also then worth glorifying because you belong to the Lord and Lord has invested qualities in you also. So like father like son. So, qualities of the father are found in the son or daughter. So here there are two fathers- spiritual master is father and ultimately Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna, Panduranga Vitthala, He is father of all of us.

So, the spiritual master’s qualities are in his disciples, in his followers and Lord’s qualities are also in every living entity, every part and parcel has qualities of Krishna in minute quantity.

So do not forget or you should remember or remember to revive those qualities and become qualifie. Knowing this, that everyone, all other devotees are parts and parcels of Krishna, they belong to Krishna, they belong to spiritual master, they are Krishna’s property, they are spiritual master’s property, realizing this is also enough to know that connection with Krishna, spiritual master’s connection. So those devotees around us, we should be respecting them, do the ‘amanina manadena’ as Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s expectation, offer all respect to others.

So why offer all respect to others? Because they belong to Krishna; they are Krishna’s devotees and they are worth glorifying or taking refuge in or worth glorifying. They are qualified and hence we should offer all our respect to others as they are Krishna’s and spiritual master’s.

So, Vyasa puja festivals are going on. Devotees have assembled. From Melbourne Australia, 40 devotees have gathered and they are having celebration there. So today here in India or in Pandharpur, we are leaving for Aravade, my birth place. Several hundred devotees are leaving for Aravade. There we will have, not exactly Vyasa puja but something, something. Some welcome and some procession in the village and my family and friends and villagers would be greeting us. Those who will go there, they will have opportunity to not just visit my birth village but birth place also. It is a little house, where I was born and that has been preserved. So those who will go there they will get to see exact location where I was born on this day, 70 years ago. So, this is part of yatra.

We had festivities for 4 days in Pandharpur and then we have 3 days of yatra beginning with Aravade, my birth place today and tomorrow we will proceed to Kolhapur, Mahalaxmi darshan and katha there. And then we will go Krishna Venna confluence, place visited by Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu, where He found Krishna Karnamrita. So, we will visit it tomorrow and remember, recite Krishna karanamrita little bit. And then proceed to Dehu, the birth place of Tukaram and day after tomorrow the whole tour of birth place of Tukaram and that birth place is very special amongst many features. This is where Vaikuntha viman (plane) landed some 400 years ago. Tukaram boarded the plane and took off as thousands witnessed this departure of Tukaram for spiritual world. So that is day after tomorrow. So, like that we have beginning with today, 3 days yatra, pilgrimage ahead of us.

Okay so we will stop here. I have to get ready to leave for Aravade. Keep chanting with attention and see you another day chanting japa.

Mean time I want to mention one book has been published. This is in Hindi, based on japa talks. 70 japa talks have been selected and printed in Hindi and because it is a 70th Vyasa puja, we have printed 700 copies and they are kind of being sold on big demand. You could try to get your copy and it could be helpful, inspirational guidelines in this book.

Haribol!

12th July 2019

Lord’s life in Pandharpur

Today there are approximately 7000 devotees chanting with us. I was given birth on this auspicious day; this day is very special for two reasons. Not because it’s my birthday but because it’s ekadasi. So today is my birthday. I am grateful that Lord has given me birth on this day. In my last birth I could not go back. So, I thank the Lord for this birth. How could I say thank you to Lord, even if I say unlimited thank you it will not be enough.

The day I was born 70 years ago right, (laughs) it was a Tuesday. It’s Ram’s day. Krsna was born on Wednesday. So, I was given name Raghunath, as it was Lord Ram’s day. So that was one kind of birth.

Getting human birth is very rare, there are 84 lakh species. But there is something rarer, rarest of rarest that is coming in contact with a devotee like Srila Prabhupada. He gave me birth in Vrndavan; I was born in Vrndavan in Kartik month on Bahulastami. It is the appearance day of Radhakunda that was my real birth, birth within birth.

Hitvaanyatha rupam, all other bodies are discarded. Srila Prabhupada gave me a new birth and with that the chanting of Hare Krsna and be happy.

I am sure Prabhupada prayed, every spiritual master prays when he gives initiation. Chant and you may not be reborn anymore. That is the prayer Srila Prabhupada prayed for me. Every spiritual master says this prayer for his disciple.

Hare Krsna means end of the material existence. If you wish to, I also want to end my material existence in order to begin spiritual life. Especially this is achieved in kaliyuga, by chanting,

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna
Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

Kabe Ha’be Bolo (from Saranagati)

when will that day come, today is my birthday

You also have a birthday, but you also have two birthdays. How many of you have two birthdays?

Hare Krsna birth, haribol. Maybe in our last life we were born as Hare Krsna but again we have our birth again in Hare Krsna, kabe habe.

Everyday we are born more and more, if we are working on this aparadhe guchi part. The more we are away from apradha, we are born more and more. The more we work on our offences we are born more and more. Every day is our birthday, when we get up, sleep is like short 6 hours death. Something is going on, breathing is going on but almost death. Then when you get up you are born again. So, each day could be better, could be different, more evolved. The day before month, before year, before more, we are born. As we work on aparadha it’s a revised version, purified version, so we have to work on aparadhe guchi.

When will that day come when I will be free from aparadha? I was born 70 years ago, it’s a long time, so we have to work on Harinama. In ruchi we become free, more and more from offences. It’s not going to happen automatically, no, you need special endeavor. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur recommends that you review yourself from one ekadasi to the next. Review your performance, as a devotee, how did I perform?

Even drivers want to know how did they perform with their driving, how is my driving please suggest if I require any improvements, so like that we also like to improve. Devotees make special endeavor to rectify the blunders or faults. This does not happen automatically, efforts are required and it takes, time to sit down and review and then after careful review take informed resolution. Going forward I will not do that and improve, so like that we perform Hari name ruchi.

So, keep chanting. Some devotees say I decided to stop chanting, when asked? They reply my chanting is full of offences so in order not to commit any offenses, I have stopped chanting. Is that the right policy, no.! Japa must be done with or without offences, you should always keep chanting, always, then slowly you will be free from offences, sravanadi suddha. By hearing and hearing, Vasudeva bhakti, keep performing devotional service and result will be yours. You will be free from worldly things and will also develop jnana-knowledge.

Vidya vadhu jivanam, which is life, of wife that is vidya. Hare Krsna or wife. Wife gets life and you become more knowledgeable as you chant Hare Krsna. These are two gifts of chanting- jnana and vairagya. They are two sons of Bhakti Devi. Thoughts continue there is so much in knowledge chanting the glories of holy name of the Lord. Glories of the holy name are unlimited. Every day we discuss something, some vidhi nishedha.

Hare Krsna