Iraq Preaching Report

Dear Maharaja's and Prabhu's, Please accept my obeisnaces, all

glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Hare Krsna... here is my report to the GBC on my preAching activities
in Iraq. I have set up book stands in 4 differnnt locations on the
base and every 3 days they are dry.... all gone. At the moment we are
approaching 700 books out. So nectar!!! We also have 12 bhaktas that
are reading and chanting regularly. Our programs are spreading, now
I host a mantra meditation class once a week and also Mondays and
Fridays I have a small program of bhajans and prasadam. We are also
distributing cookies on 3 different base camps thanks to Ratna
Bushana Prabhu with an average of 1000 cookies out a week. Recently I
reached out to the Indians that work here and am having a weekly
program with them as-well. I am giving a presentation on the Lord's
lifting of Gorvadhana Hill on Sat, 10 Nov to about 200-300 Indian
body contract workers. My diet is ok; mostly I am eating raw and dry
fruits, dahl with only turmeric, cumin, and small amounts of salt,
very simple food (maybe because I cannot get anything else). I also
am following caturmasya this year strictly and for the Kartika, I
have increased the number of rounds I am chanting and my reading as
my vrata. And have never missed a round of japa since arriving here.
Bhakti Sastri is moving along and am not in the 6th chapter soo much
nectar. The Ratha Yatra was all set to go, but Krsna had another
plan.. so now the hard date is Jan, which is great because all the
Indian's want to be involved.
But like in all areas of the material world.... there are bad
times... one of my soldiers died in my arms, that hit hard because he
did service for my Lord. But I was told he said Krsna before he
left, so that gives some solance. Also I have been hit with a lot of
iEDs, took a round, lost some hearing and some more and I am only 5
months in. Also Krsna gave me the strength to lead my team through a
mass casualty event, where after suicide attacks in the North, we had
to treat over 60 men, women and choldren. The real material world.
nothing more sobering then having to put some little child's brain
matter back in their head while still trying to focus on speaking
Krsna Katha to the dying child. Some died but l always carry Sri
Ugraji with me and His smile was seen by them before they left their
bodies. So powerful this movement, this process. Krsna is helping me
here and showing me how special this life is.
Here is my report, submitted at your lotus feet. I pray that Krsna
helps me out of this situation and I can help others outside the
military come to Srila Prabhupada's feet.

Pictures & video of Puri Jagannatha Snana Yatra

Dear friends,

We have added a new picture gallery showing photographs of Lord Jagannatha in Puri during the annual Snana Yatra festival, as well as a short video clip of Lord Jagannatha dressed in the famous hativesh, "elephant dress".

Once a year the deities of Lord Jagannatha, Balabhadra and Subhadra in Puri are taken out of the temple for a bathing ceremony. This occurs approximately two weeks before the Ratha Yatra festival. Please visit the following two links to view pictures and video of this festival:

Pictures of Puri Jagannatha on Snana Yatra

Video of Lord Jagannatha on Snana Purnima

Today`s Pic (Radhey Radhey)

PREACHERS EVERYWHERE

In spring of 1967, Srila Prabhupada became very ill and appeared to have a stroke. He was taken to the hospital and remained there for some days. He considered the hospital an unhealthy place and expressed his wishes to go to the seashore. Often he described that his guru maharaja lived by the seashore on Puri when he was in ill health and he considered the seashore a healthy place to recover.

Srila Prabhupada would say: "The ocean air is full with vitamins. It is rich in iron, it is very nutritious". So a place in Long Branch, New Jersey, was rented for his recovery spot. It was a two bed room cottage apartment upstairs, just by the seashore and Gaurasundara and I were sent there to clean and prepare the apartment for his arrival. When Srila Prabhupada arrived, though to climb up the stairs was difficult for him, he seemed to quickly gain strength from the healthy atmosphere. During the 3 weeks we lived with him at New Jersey seashore, his strength seemed to increase daily and our spiritual joy increased as well. Being in his company was a daily wonder as there were always new things to learn and to remember. Here are some of the things I remember and always try to recall of our days at the New Jersey seashore: I try to remember them in my daily life. Maybe they can help others to remember Srila Prabhupada as well and if so that is the greatest blessing.

Each day, Gaurasundara and I and Keith would go out to the beach, spread blankets on the sand and sit with Srila Prabhupada. It was a very blissful experience to simply sit and chant japa with him by the seashore. He was weak, so he talked less but as he grew stronger he seemed to enjoy teaching us different things about the world we live in. One day he was looking at the vast expanse of Sandy Beach and noting that there were tiny insects - crabs, ants, and bugs - crawling here and there. Srila Prabhupada would say: "Just see, they say there is no life on other planets but we can see there is life everywhere, even on this barren sand. There are small creatures here and there. How can there be any part of God's creation without life?

There is life everywhere. The form may be different but there is life." When I see small crabs or ants on the beach or in the dessert, I think of Srila Prabhupada sitting calmly chanting Hare Krsna and viewing the New Jersey beach with understanding and detachment, explaining to us how life is everywhere and am reminded of how kind you are, Srila Prabhupada to come into this dessert-like material world in order to teach us bug-like living entities who are foolish enough to believe that our tiny world is the only world.

Warm water and the prevention of heart attacks

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this "sludge" reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.
A serious note about heart attacks - You should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line.
You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we could survive.
A cardiologist says if everyone who reads this message sends it to 10 people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life. Read this & Send the link to a friend. It could save a life. So, please be a true friend and send this article to all your friends you care about.

Devotion for personal gain or for Lord

In the Bhagavad-gita it is said that four kinds of men who had performed pious activities in the past take to the devotional service of the Lord. They are the distressed, the poverty stricken, the learned and the inquisitive. The distressed man takes to devotional service with a view to receive some favor from the Lord. The poverty stricken also takes to devotional service to remove his adversities. The learned man takes to devotional service, not for any material gain but for spiritual salvation, and the inquisitive takes to devotional services to know only the principles of theism etc. All these devotees are not pure devotees because all of them take to such devotional activities with an intention of personal gain.

Detachment Should be Our Nature

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Mathajis,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Gurudev.

The recent mail from Shri Kalachakra Prabhuji titled, "Removing the Trash in Our Mind" is nice to meditate and apply in our lives. We were extremely fortunate to associate with our Gurudev, and by His Holiness' presence we were completely oblivious of this temporary material world and were immersed in the transcendental topics of Srimad Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. Today (4/12/07) our Guru Maharaj has left Abudhabi and I was discussing with H G Girivaradhari prabhu while entering our office that we are once again back to the material contamination unless we put into practice the wonderful practical instructions of Srila Gurudev. On 4th Dec 07 our Guru maharaj was explaining on two words from 5.18.2 verse - dharmaaya and aatma-vishodhanaaya.

bhadrashravasa ucuh
om namo bhagavate dharmaayaatma-vishodhanaaya nama iti

"The ruler Bhadrashravaa and his intimate associates utter the following prayer: We offer our respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the reservoir of all religious principles, who cleanses the heart of the conditioned soul in this material world. Again and again we offer our respectful obeisances unto Him. "

dharmaaya – Source of all religious principles.
atma visodhanaaya - Who purifies us of material contamination.

Maharaj was explaining the process of clearing our material contamination from the Source of all religious principles with down-to-earth practical realizations for us to imbibe and put into practice.

1. Detachment will lead to Pleasing attitude.
2. Pleasing attitude will lead to understanding of Religious Principles.
3. Religious principles makes you very active because it is essential for our bodies.
4. Such Active Religious principles will automatically purifies our body of all contamination.

Detachment
A detached person never cares. As it is "DETACHMENT SHOULD BE OUR NATURE" . This is as plain as daylight. Manage whatever is there and be detached. The main reason for not having pleasing attitude is on account of anger, especially suppressed anger is very dangerous. It can break the nerves of the brain (which are as thin as our hair) and may lead to tension which in turn will lead to brain hemorrhage. Detachment is a must because we are going to go away and all our relatives are not going to help you at the time when you are in death bed. They are more interested in our wealth and nothing else. Therefore detachment will lead to pleasing attitude.

Pleasing Attitude
Once we are pleased then our mind becomes clear and brightness will glow. This will enable us to understand the religious principles. Religious principles are meant for human beings or otherwise we are considered as animals. Therefore our body requires religious principles. In order to use our body to perform religious principles we need to be active. Therefore religious principles means being active always.

Religious Principles Impels Us to be Active
Religious life will propel the cleaning process. Religious principles makes us active and that will impel the circulation of blood nicely in the body which will enable us to be at ease always. The movement should increase rapidly and we should be very active in Krishna consciousness and other necessary material engagements. Unless the body is alright we may not be able to perform religious principles. In order to be always active we have to do penance. Penance only purifies our existence ( tapo divyam putrakaa ena sattvam shuddhayed yasmaat brahma saukhyam tu anantam). It is very important that we should wake up for mangalara arati at 4.00 am and retire to sleep at 9.00 pm. This is a must for a devotee. Penance include sitting on the ground and sleeping on the mat and not on bed. There is no mention in the scripture for double cot bed. This leads to laziness and relaxation which stops the circulation of blood in our body. The moment the movement stops the disease starts creeping in. In the names of Yukta vairagya don't get allured by good life and increase your artificial necessities. It is very imperative that we should have active life full of penance. As a devotee we should have unflinching faith in the religious process. The moment there is a small disturbance in our body we immediately go to the doctor. Instead of natural medicines like ginger, cinnamon ,turmeric etc, we take artificial medicines which impels our blood circulation artificially and may cause various damages to body. There is a book written in America which talks about how to save ourselves from the trap of these modern day medicines which are killing thousands of human beings. Maharaj was saying that the moment you see a doctor please take a bath. It is full of contamination.

Purification of Material Contamination
Once we imbibe and put into practice the above religious principles it works as a perfect purificatory medicine for even one who is in deathbed. Anything regarding Lord Krishna is fully perfect and pure and therefore it is incumbent on our part to sincerely strive for concrete progress on this process of purification of existence and not perform showy fervor.

Since I am in the process of purification I may not have assimilated and transcribed fully the transcendental instructions of our Gurudev and please forgive my deficiency.

I sincerely pray to the Supreme Lord, Prabhupada and Gurudev to shower their causeless mercy on me to understand and imbibe in my life for my complete purification of existence.

Service and Sadhana

Hare Krishna Prabhujis and Mathajis,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Gurudev.

On days when we work for extended hours, we would find it very difficult to chant our regular rounds. Sometimes we are bewildered as to whether we need to continue work or to give up. It becomes a challenge as to what needs to be prioritised. His Divine Grace very nicely replies on this matter in one his letters to his disciple as follows -

"There is no difference between chanting Hare Krishna or Sankirtana and doing one's assigned work in Krishna Consciousness. Sometimes we have to do so much managerial or office work, but Lord Caitanya promises us that because in the Kali yuga this is required for carrying on our preaching mission. He gives assurance that we will not become entangled by such work. When the work has to be done, do it first, then chant. But you must fulfill at least 16 rounds daily. So if necessary sleep less but you have to finish your minimum number of rounds."

In Bhagavad Gita verse 3.31, Lord Krishna says,

ye me matam idam nityam / anutishthanti maanavaah
shraddhaavanto 'nasuyanto / mucyante te 'pi karmabhih

"Those persons who execute their duties according to My injunctions and who follow this teaching faithfully, without envy, become free from the bondage of fruitive actions."

Firm faith in teachings of Guru and Krishna is the key for one's progress in spiritual life. Whether one is materially qualified or not, if one simply places his faith on the words of scriptures, Guru and Krishna and strictly follows their injunctions, then they would be blessed with the ability to perform the service and also be freed from all sorts of bondages. In his purport to the above verse, Srila Prabhupada assures that, "In the beginning of Krishna consciousness, one may not fully discharge the injunctions of the Lord, but because one is not resentful of this principle and works sincerely without consideration of defeat and hopelessness, he will surely be promoted to the stage of pure Krishna consciousness."

I seek the blessings of Gurudev and Gauranga, so that I am able to execute my duties at work and also perform sadhana regularly.

The Significance of Bhagavad Gita

The Significance of the Bhagavad-gita by Thomas Merton



The word Gita means "Song." Just as in the Bible the Song of Solomon
has traditionally been known as "The Song of Songs" because it was
interpreted to symbolize the ultimate union of Israel with God (in
terms of human married love), so The Bhagavad Gita is, for Hinduism,
the great and unsurpassed Song that finds the secret of human life in
the unquestioning surrender to and awareness of Krishna.

While The Vedas provide Hinduism with its basic ideas of cult and
sacrifice and The Upanishads develop its metaphysic of contemplation,
The Bhagavad Gita can be seen as the great treatise on the "Active
Life." But it is really something more, for it tends to fuse worship,
action and contemplation in a fulfillment of daily duty which
transcends all three by virtue of a higher consciousness: a
consciousness of acting passively, of being an obedient instrument of
a transcendent will. The Vedas, The Upanishads, and The Gita can be
seen as the main literary supports for the great religious
civilization of India, the oldest surviving culture in the world. The
fact that The Gita remains utterly vital today can be judged by the
way such great reformers as Mohandas Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave both
spontaneously based their lives and actions on it, and indeed
commented on it in detail for their disciples. The present translation
and commentary is another manifestation of the permanent living
importance of The Gita. Swami Bhaktivedanta brings to the West a
salutary reminder that our highly activistic and one-sided culture is
faced with a crisis that may end in self-destruction because it lacks
the inner depth of an authentic metaphysical consciousness. Without
such depth, our moral and political protestations are just so much
verbiage. If, in the West, God can no longer be experienced as other
than "dead," it is because of an inner split and self-alienation which
have characterized the Western mind in its single-minded dedication to
only half of life: that which is exterior, objective, and
quantitative. The "death of God" and the consequent death of genuine
moral sense, respect for life, for humanity, for value, has expressed
the death of an inner subjective quality of life: a quality which in
the traditional religions was experienced in terms of
God-consciousness. Not concentration on an idea or concept of God,
still less on an image of God, but a sense of presence, of an ultimate
ground of reality and meaning, from which life and love could
spontaneously flower.

Realization of the Supreme "Player" whose "Play" (Lila) is manifested
in the million-formed, inexhaustible richness of beings and events, is
what gives us the key to the meaning of life. Once we live in
awareness of the cosmic dance and move in time with the Dancer, our
life attains its true dimension. It is at once more serious and less
serious than the life of one who does not sense this inner cosmic
dynamism. To live without this illuminated consciousness is to live as
a beast of burden, carrying one's life with tragic seriousness as a
huge, incomprehensible weight (see Camus' interpretation of the Myth
of Sisyphus). The weight of the burden is the seriousness with which
one takes one's own individual and separate self. To live with the
true consciousness of life centered in Another is to lose one's
self-important seriousness and thus to live life as "play" in union
with a Cosmic Player. It is He alone that one takes seriously. But to
take Him seriously is to find joy and spontaneity in everything, for
everything is gift and grace. In other words, to live selfishly is to
bear life as an intolerable burden. To live selflessly is to live in
joy, realizing by experience that life itself is love and gift. To be
a lover and a giver is to be a channel through which the Supreme Giver
manifests His love in the world.

But The Gita presents a problem to some who read it in the present
context of violence and war which mark the crisis of the West. The
Gita appears to accept and to justify war. Arjuna is exhorted to
submit his will to Krishna by going to war against his enemies, who
are also his own kin, because war is his duty as a Prince and warrior.
Here we are uneasily reminded of the fact that in Hinduism as well as
in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, there is a concept of a "Holy
War" which is "willed by God" and we are furthermore reminded of the
fact that, historically, this concept has been secularized and
inflated beyond measure. It has now "escalated" to the point where
slaughter, violence, revolution, the annihilation of enemies, the
extermination of entire populations and even genocide have become a
way of life. There is hardly a nation on earth today that is not to
some extent committed to a philosophy or to a mystique of violence.
One way or other, whether on the left or on the right, whether in
defense of a bloated establishment or of an improvised guerrilla
government in the jungle, whether in terms of a police state or in
terms of a ghetto revolution, the human race is polarizing itself into
camps armed with everything from Molotov cocktails to the most
sophisticated technological instruments of death. At such a time, the
doctrine that "war is the will of God" can be disastrous if it is not
handled with extreme care. For everyone seems in practice to be
thinking along some such lines, with the exception of a few sensitive
and well-meaning souls (mostly the kind of people who will read this
book).

The Gita is not a justification of war, nor does it propound a
war-making mystique. War is accepted in the context of a particular
kind of ancient culture in which it could be and was subject to all
kinds of limitations. (It is instructive to compare the severe
religious limitations on war in the Christian Middle Ages with the
subsequent development of war by nation states in modern times-backed
of course by the religious establishment. ) Arjuna has an instinctive
repugnance for war, and that is the chief reason why war is chosen as
the example of the most repellent kind of duty. The Gita is saying
that even in what appears to be most "unspiritual" one can act with
pure intentions and thus be guided by Krishna consciousness. This
consciousness itself will impose the most strict limitations on one's
use of violence because that use will not be directed by one's own
selfish interests, still less by cruelty, sadism, and mere blood lust.

The discoveries of Freud and others in modern times have, of course,
alerted us to the fact that there are certain imperatives of culture
and of conscience which appear pure on the surface and are in fact
bestial in their roots. The greatest inhumanities have been
perpetrated in the name of "humanity," "civilization," "progress,"
"freedom," "my country," and of course "God." This reminds us that in
the cultivation of an inner spiritual consciousness there is a
perpetual danger of self-deception, narcissism, self-righteous evasion
of truth. In other words the standard temptation of religious and
spiritually minded people is to cultivate an inner sense of rightness
or of peace, and make this subjective feeling the final test of
everything. As long as this feeling of rightness remains with them,
they will do anything under the sun. But this inner feeling (as
Auschwitz and the Eichmann case have shown) can coexist with the
ultimate in human corruption.

The hazard of the spiritual quest is of course that its genuineness
cannot be left to our own isolated subjective judgment alone. The fact
that I am turned on doesn't prove anything whatever. (Nor does the
fact that I am turned off.) We do not simply create our own lives on
our own terms. Any attempt to do so is ultimately an affirmation of
our individual self as ultimate and supreme. This is a self-idolatry
which is diametrically opposed to "Krishna consciousness" or to any
other authentic form of religious or metaphysical consciousness.

The Gita sees that the basic problem of man is his endemic refusal to
live by a will other than his own. For in striving to live entirely by
his own individual will, instead of becoming free, man is enslaved by
forces even more exterior and more delusory than his own transient
fancies. He projects himself out of the present into the future. He
tries to make for himself a future that accords with his own fantasy,
and thereby escape from a present reality which he does not fully
accept. And yet, when he moves into the future he wanted to create for
himself, it becomes a present that is once again repugnant to him. And
yet this is precisely what he has "made" for himself-it is his own
karma. In accepting the present in all its reality as something to be
dealt with precisely as it is, man comes to grips at once with his
karma and with a providential will which, ultimately, is more his own
than what he currently experiences, on a superficial level, as "his
own will." It is in surrendering a false and illusory liberty on the
superficial level that man unites himself with the inner ground of
reality and freedom in himself which is the will of God, of Krishna,
of Providence, of Tao. These concepts do not all exactly coincide, but
they have much in common. It is by remaining open to an infinite
number of unexpected possibilities which transcend his own imagination
and capacity to plan that man really fulfills his own need for
freedom. The Gita, like the Gospels, teaches us to live in awareness
of an inner truth that exceeds the grasp of our thought and cannot be
subject to our own control. In following mere appetite for power, we
are slaves of our own appetite. In obedience to that inner truth we
are at last free.

Anxiety To Know About The Absolute Truth

Hare Krishna Prabhus and mathajis!

Please accept my humble obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupad and Gurudev!

Often when sitting in Bhagavatam class, after half an hour or sometimes less than that my legs start giving trouble and I find it hard to concentrate on hearing. When the morning class goes on for over an hour or two then hunger creeps in or I start thinking about other things. All this goes to show the interest I have in hearing the message of Bhagavatam. In the verse SB 1.1.12

suta jaanasi bhadram te / bhagavaan saatvataam patih
devakyaam vasudevasya / jaato yasya cikirshayaa

"All blessings upon you, O Suta Gosvami.You know for what purpose the Personality of Godhead appeared in the womb of Devaki as the son of Vasudeva."

In his nectarean purport to this verse Srila Prabhupad says: - bhadram te or "blessings upon you" indicates the sages' anxiety to know the Absolute truth from the speaker. So unless this anxiety is there all the troubles mentioned above would keep coming up while hearing Bhagavatam class. In the next verse the sages further say -

tan nah shushrusamaanaanaam / arhasy angaanuvarnitum
yasyaavataaro bhutaanaaam / kshemaaya ca bhavaaya ca

"O Suta Goswami, we are eager to learn about the Personality of Godhead and His incarnations. Please explain to us those teachings imparted by previous masters [acharyas], for one is uplifted both by speaking them and by hearing them."

This eagerness and anxiety to know about the Absolute Truth made it possible for the sages at Naimisaaranya to hear about Srimad Bhagavatam for 1000 years. Even in the instance, when Parikshit Maharaj first heard the Srimad Bhagavatam from Sukadeva Goswami, he and the sages gathered at the bank of Ganges heard Bhagavatam with rapt attention, so much so that none of them were touched by hunger, thirst, fear or lamentation for all the 7 days.

Narada Muni very nicely confirms the above truth to King Prachinabarhi through the following verses (4.29.39-40) in Srimad Bhagavatam as follows,

yatra bhaagavataa raajan / saadhavo vishadaashayaaha
bhagavad-gunaanukathana / shravana-vyagra-cetasah

tasmin mahan-mukharita madhubhic-caritra-
piyusha-shesha-saritah paritah shravanti
taa ye pibanty avitrsho nrpa gaadha-karnais
taan na sprshanty ashana-trd-bhaya-shoka-mohaah

"My dear King, in the place where pure devotees live, following the rules and regulations and thus purely conscious and engaged with great eagerness in hearing and chanting the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in that place if one gets a chance to hear their constant flow of nectar, which is exactly like the waves of a river, one will forget the necessities of life—namely hunger and thirst—and become immune to all kinds of fear, lamentation and illusion."

I pray to Guru Maharaj and Krishna so that I can develop this interest for hearing Bhagavatam forever.

Pearls of Wisdom

Dear Prabhujis and Mathajis,

Hare Krishna! Please accept my humble obeisances! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada and Gurudev!

It has been our greatest good fortune that our beloved spiritual master H.H. Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj was here in Abudhabi from 29th of November to 3rd December, immersing all of us in transcendental bliss with his nectarean instructions. We have very limited capacity to even collect the pearls of wisdom that were flowing from his lotus mouth. Whatever we could assimilate, according to our limited capacity, we would like to share with all the members of this wonderful Granthraj forum. In the Mangala aarati program on 30th November, Maharaj asked us to recite the ten offences against the Holy name. As soon as the first offence was recited, Maharaj gave a wonderful insight into it and gave a lot of practical instructons on the ways to avoid this great offence.

THE FIRST OFFENCE: To blasphame the devotees who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy name of the Lord.

Maharaj categorically stated that devotees do not criticize anybody. By doing this, we save half our life. When two people meet, we always have the tendency to talk about and criticize the third one and this has to be avoided. He quoted the following verse from Mahabharat and everyone of us should remember this always in order to get out of the pitfall of criticizing others.

dharmam bhajasva satatam
tyaja loka dharmaan
sevasva saadhu purusaan
jahi kama trsnaan
anyasya dosha guna cintanam aashu muktvaa
sevaa katha rasam aho nitaraam pibatvam

1. dharmam bhajasva satatam: One should always focus and speak about dharma. Here the verb 'bhajasva' indicates an order and it is not a request. Dharma refers to the religion that links us to the Supreme Personality Of Godhead. We are all eternal servants of the Lord and this dharma is our constitutional position. Every part has to serve the whole. The soul, which is part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, can never survive on its own. That is why the supersoul never leaves the individual soul. If every soul is part and parcel of Krishna, we have no right to criticize anyone. This is the practical application of the knowledge. Unless the knowledge is realized and applied, it becomes mere speculation. Here it is mentioned 'satatam', which means that the religious principles have to be practised all the time. A grain of practise is more valuable than tons of knowledge. By not criticizing anybody, we are observing the austerity of speech. Speaking is a very easy activity and that is why we criticize. Our body is so formed, that we can see only other's face and we cannot see our own face. We are not aware of our own defects and we talk about others. By always performing the religious principles, we avoid this pitfall.

2. tyaja loka dharmaan: we should abandon the general meaning of religion. People are running after so many demigods, other living entities and so many rituals without actual knowledge of real religion which is to glorify the supersoul. Here again the verb ' tyaja' indicates an order to abandon and is not a request. Time is running out and we should not be running after false things. We either use the time or lose it.

3.sevasva sadhu purushaan: All through our life, we are serving our mind, greed, envy, our wife, children-everything else other than Krishna. we should serve the sadhus who are simple people who have taken shelter of Krishna. A sadhu is a renounced person, but we should be clear that renunciation is not only the showy fervor, but the actual realization must be there that ' everything here is temporary'. We should always seek the association of the sadhus. There are three things.

1. sanga - association
2. satsanga - good association
3. prasanga - prabhu's (Lord's) association.(prabhu's sanga is prasanga)

We should always seek prasanga. In Srimad Bhagavatam 1.19.16, King Parikshit prefers this prasanga when he prays 'ratih prasangas ca tad-aashrayeshu'. Krishna consciousness flows from one living entity to another and this is the value of prasanga . By this prasanga, we save ourselves from the pitfall of criticism. Any talk, other than about Krishna, affects our blood ciriculation and hampers our devotional service. If our goal is constant remembrance of Krishna, then our tongue is automatically controlled. The more we concentrate on the pages of Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita, the less we talk about others. In prasanga we relish His association and this brings us satisfaction. Thus our health definitely depends upon 100 percent Krishna consciousness.

4. jahi kaama trshnaan: We have to stop all material desires. In Srimad Bhagavad Gita 3.39, Krishna instructs,

aavrtam jnaanam etena / jnaanino nitya vairinaa
kaama-rupena kaunteya duspurenaanalena ca

"Thus the wise living entity's pure consciousness becomes covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust, which is never satisfied and which burns like fire."

Devotional life means all transcendental and hence all the material desires have to be given up.

5. anyasya dosha guna cintanam aashu muktvaa: We should not think about other's bad and good qualities. We should concentrate on our own bad qualities and try to improve our qualities and behaviour. Our minds are always wandering thinking about so many things. We have already wandered through 84 lacs of species completing at least one round, but even now our mind wanders. we should stop this wandering of the mind.

6. seva katha rasam aho nitaraam pibatvam: we should drink regularly the nectarean juice of Krishna's topics. so many times we say that Bhagavad gita is non- different from the Lord, but again we do not focus on bhagavad gita, and we talk so many other things. We have to change our nature and habituate ourselves to studying the scriptures. ' pibatvam' means 'you drink' which means that we should seclude ourselves for one or two hours and read and understand the scriptures.

In conclusion, for our own health we should stop criticizing. Maharaj was giving practical instructions on avoiding the other offences also, and I shall try my best to post them in the ensuing mails.

Counteraction to Kali

In this age of Kali the propensity for mercy is almost nil. Consequently
there is always fighting and wars between men and nations. Men do not
understand that because they unrestrictedly kill so many animals, they also
must be slaughtered like animals in big wars. This is very much evident in
the Western countries. In the West, slaughterhouses are maintained without
restriction, and therefore every fifth or tenth year there is a big war in
which countless people are slaughtered even more cruelly than the animals.
Sometimes during war, soldiers keep their enemies in concentration camps and
kill them in very cruel ways. These are reactions brought about by
unrestricted animal-killing in the slaughterhouse and by hunters in the
forest. Proud, demoniac persons do not know the laws of nature, or the laws
of God. Consequently, they unrestrictedly kill poor animals, not caring for
them at all. In the Krsna consciousness movement, animal-killing is
completely prohibited. One is not accepted as a bona fide student in this
movement unless he promises to follow the four regulative principles: no
animal-killing, no intoxication, no illicit sex and no gambling. This Krsna
consciousness movement is the only means by which the sinful activities of
men in this Kali-yuga can be counteracted.

Ref. VedaBase --> SB 4.26.5

Worth Reading: Becoming mature in Krsna consciousness

Becoming mature in Krsna consciousness

It's time to become mature - high time. All around us the signs are clear.Crystal clear. The winter of kali-yuga is increasing its intensity. If we do not become mature soon, our life will freeze on the the banyan tree of this world.What exactly does it mean to become mature?Immediately two answers come to mind:1. to develop a new set of desires and a new orientation in life2. to become enjoyable for others.Let us consider the example of a young immature boy or girl. When they become physically mature, they see each other in a different light.Previously they had thought any member of the opposite sex as foolish,uninteresting and not good to play with. Upon physical maturity they develop different outlook - they become attracted, even infatuated. And new, previously unknown desires arise in them.The same is true for a devotee who becomes mature. He or she will find new or previously unknown desires enter his or her mind. "Oh, I wish to really serve Krsna! Oh, I really wish to satisfy Him and when, oh when will I develop my relationship, my loving fulfilling relationship with the Lord."Often Krsna helps His devotee to mature by sending him a challenging situation which all of a sudden changes his perspective on life. At such a time new perspectives and desires arise in the mind. A little while ago I received the following very inspiring letter by a nice devotee who wrote a prayer to Krsna one day before a risky operation. As you will see the prayer is highly inspired by his reading the Saranagati of Bhaktivinodha Thakura:"I beg you, Krsna, when will the day come when I will stop committing offenses and Your holy name finally enters into my heart? When will I genuinely pray for the mercy of the vaisnavas?When will the tide of divine love overflow my heart?Because of my offenses, bad character and attachment to the opposite sex, this body has become an abode of pain and suffering.But even if through the operation I should get rid of the pain, as long as my soul is covered by impurities I will continue to act improperly and suffer the reactions.Oh, My Lord, when oh when will I get rid of my enjoying mentality? I am desperate, my body is exhausted from drinking the deadly poison of material desires.My mind is also exhausted. Dressed in the ropes of lust, I am expecting Your holy name to break through my layers and enter my heart. When will this cheater put down all his disguises and become your servant?When will the attachment for the beautiful members of the opposite sex turn into the swan of love for you?
Oh, Krsna, I know that You are here beside me, even in this hospital.But again and again I forget You and repeat my best story - cheating myself and others.But please don't forget this fool that is still floating in the ocean of his material desires and emotions. I do not know if I will live the next morning.Please if I have to leave this body during the long night of pain (the writer refers to his operation), please give me the opportunity to remember You one more time."In this little article I would like to concentrate on another aspect of maturity: To become pleasing for others. Let us consider the example of a fruit which matures. Previously it was hard and sour, but upon maturation it becomes sweet and enjoyable for others.The same holds true for a devotee. He or she becomes the source of encouragement and inspiration for others and ultimately very pleasing for Krsna because of his or her service attitude.

Not long ago, people in America wanted to find out who is actually happy in this world. The result was astonishing for them: They found out that those who serve others are the happiest people in the world.To illustrate this point, please allow me to present a little story which I wrote being inspired by a sufi story*Lessons From A Tea Cup - A True Story:

Once there was a young man, rather immature in his life, but ready to learn. He had a strong liking for antique things and was happy to visit different antique stores in all European countries he went to for holidays. Over the time he developed a strong interest in antique pottery and especially in tea cups. He felt - they all had their unique stories to tell.Once while he was in an old fortress in Serbia which had been partiallytransformed into a museum, he spotted an exceptional tea cup in a dusty antique store which clearly had Turkish influences. He asked the bespectaled seller:"May I see that exceptionally beautiful tea cup over there? It seems to come from Turkey..."

As the man handed him the tea cup, our young man suddenly heard the tea cup speak up:"You don't understand," it said, "I have not always been a tea cup. There was a time when I had no idea what service meant. I was just a dumb lump of red clay. Let me tell you my story, you will learn from it. I've lived for many, many thousands of years. I've witnessed wars and peace coming and going. Whole civilizations rolled over me as I sat there waiting... For what I don't know."Then one day my master came. He took me, brought me home, rolled and pounded me on a wooden table. Again and again, he poked his fingers into me until finally I yelled out: ,Don't do that!' Imagine someone would take you like this. ,Leave me alone!' But he only smiled and gently said: ,Not yet!"The tea cup became more and more alive as he spoke to the shocked young man:"Then, whoommmm! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly spun around and around and around until I lost all my sense of direction: ,Stop it,don't you see that I'm getting sick? Quickly, take me from the spinning wheel!' But the master only nodded in understanding and quietly said: ,Not yet!' He only bent me in and out of shape to suit his plan with me and then..."Then he placed me carefully into an oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door: ,It is hotter than hell - I'm burning to ashes. Please get me out of here before it is too late.' I could see him through a tiny hole. I could only read his lips as he shook his head from side to side and silently pronounced ,Not yet!'

When I thought I could not bear the heat for another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on a shelf where I began to cool. It felt so good to be left alone."But more was going to come. After I had cooled down he carefully picked me up, looked at me and brushed some dust away. Then ... he brought the colours! And something transparent - the glaze. The fumes were horrible! I thought I would gag! ,Please,... you have no mercy! Don't you understand my misery? Please, please give up on me! Please! Stop it!'But he only shook his head and said: ,Not yet, you're not yet ready!' "Then unexpectedly and very quickly he put me back into the oven. Only it was about twice or trice as hot as the first time - this was the most intense. From the beginning I felt... this is my death... I begged... I pleaded ... I threatened ... I screamed ... Finally, I cried without tears. Not even hot tears. I was convinced I will never make it. I was ready to give up."Just then - in the last second as I was slowly fainting, the door opened and he took me out. And again placed me on the shelf - where I cooled and waited... and waited ... and waited."What was going to be next? An hour or later he came back and placed a mirror before me and said: ,Look at yourself!' And I did.

"What I saw, amazed me. It is what you see now. ,That's not me!' I said.That cannot be me... It is too beautiful, too ...""With a very compassionate voice he spoke: ,This is what you are meant to be.', and then he explained: ,I know it hurt you when I rolled and kneaded you on the table. But if I had not gotten the air out of you, you would have broken.'"I knew you must have lost all your sense of orientation when I was spinning you. But without this you would never have come into this form. I know the fumes of the colours in the glaze were intolerable when I painted you all over. But if I had not done that, you would not have had any colour in your life and you would not have hardened. And when I placed you in the second oven I knew that this would be the most severe part. But without it you would have broken very easily when the realities of life would have come. Believe me, all I did was for your good. Now you are what I had in mind when I first saw you on the ground. Now you are a finished product."With this the tea cup stopped speaking - but there was a tear of gratefulness coming from its beautiful rim.

The young man purchased the tea cup and only used it when he offered something to God. He never forgot the lesson he received from it. And whenever he himself was in a difficult situation and he felt like calling out ,Stop it! Leave me alone!', he remembered the words of the tea cup-maker: "Not yet...!" However, he also became grateful - for he knew that everything that happened was designed by the Lord to make him what he was meant to become: a pleasing servant.And he had trust. God knows what He is doing for each of us. He is the potter and we are the clay. He will mold us and make us ready. And He will expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we will become a perfect piece of His liking.

Book distribution stories in Srila prabhupada times

Read these inspiring incidents(attachment) of book distribution during srila prabhupada times . the the determination & enthusiasm of the devotees for distribution of these transcendental literature was amazing during those days & that is still continuing till date.

"The Sankirtana devotees(BOOK DISTRIBUTORS) are very very dear to Krishna.
Because you are doing the field work of book distribution, Krishna has
immediately recognized them as true servants. Just like during war time, a
farm boy or ordinary clerk who goes to fight for his country on the front,
immediately becomes a national hero for his sincere effort. So Krishna
immediately recognizes a preacher of Krishna consciousness who takes all
risks to deliver his message." SP letter, 11/12/75

Here's nice story from 1975 Thanksgiving Day in America. Ramesvara had sent a report about book distribution in America (this is a little long but its well worth the read): December 9, 1975 — Vrindavana

"Ramesvara concluded enthusiastically, "Our only desire is to surrender our lives to help publish and distribute millions of Your Divine Grace's wonderful books. Here in LA they are selling over 200,000 BTGs this month of December, more than even the entire Radha-Damodara party combined. Of course Radha-Damodara is selling more big books than anyone else. Devotees are more enlivened in the USA than I have ever seen for distributing your books. This will be the biggest month ever. Already one million BTGs is not enough for this month."

"Nothing pleases Srila Prabhupada more than hearing how his books are being printed and sold. He wrote back, "You keep your enlivened position. I was just talking to Hansaduta about the good fortune of America that Krishna consciousness is there; and if you can cover the whole America with Krishna consciousness that will be good for the whole world."

"Then Hamsaduta prabhu read out an ecstatic report by Uttamasloka dasa, the president of the Chicago temple, although it was not directly addressed to Srila Prabhupada. It described the efforts of the devotees in the recent record-breaking, Thanksgiving-day book-distribution competition. Out of 5,000 books sold by the three temples, Chicago, assisted by nine Radha-Damodara traveling sankitrana party brahmacaries, sold over 2,000. The letter was written to Ramesvara prabhu and sent on. Hamsaduta read it out loud as Prabhupada listened, eyes sometimes wide with amazement and appreciation at the incredible effort and risk his disciples are taking to distribute his books throughout this world of darkness:

"We took the challenge seriously—not that we were puffed up and over confident of victory—for we knew that anything could happen by Lord Caitanya's mercy. Then the first crew left—16 men and women—they were distributing by about 6:30 a.m. Later a small party went out by about 10:00 a.m. with more books and prasadam, and later on in the day several others came out. Altogether there were about 25 devotees at the airport throughout the day. Sripati and I sort of floated about helping in different ways, like you did. There were the 17 regular distributors plus Tripurari Swami and a couple of weekend regulars and a few more new comers.

"In the first hour and half most of the distributors had done 15 to 25 books, so by the time we got out (about 11:00 a.m.) they had already done about 300-400 books! The mornings are always good. Things were quiet; not too many announcements and no break ups or hassles. We all met together for lunch at 1:00 p.m. and took a preliminary count: over 750 books—we were close to breaking the world's record half way through the day. By 1:00 p.m. Manusuta dasa had already done 100!!!!!! Praghosa dasa 80!!!! and Tripurari Swami 70!!!!! Our hairs began to stand on end a little as we speculated about the potential results and everyone was back distributing by 1:30 p.m. "Basically we distribute two terminals… there is a corridor about 25ft. wide that the people funnel through after coming from the 'fingers'… All of the passengers come through there on their way to the baggage claim and also on their way to a flight…. We found out from the paper next morning that over 220,000 people came through the airport that day!!!!

"At about 4:00 p.m…. a demon worker of the airlines came up to one devotee and punched him in the face; the men were stunned. Then he went up to another devotee and punched him in the face! The men and karmis began to congregate. Tripurari Swami came running to see what was happening; the demon punched him in the face!!! All of the devotees immediately jumped on the demon and began beating the stool out of him!!!!!!! There was a huge crowd all around and the devotees were shouting for the police to stop this man. There was blood on his face and on the ground. Praghosa's punch had drawn blood and there were drops of blood on Praghosa's clothes and drops of perspiration on his face: he was feeling very blissful!!"

"Prabhupada's eyes opened wide at the description of the fight. "Accha!" he said in surprise, shaking his head in wonder at the risks his men were taking on his and Krishna's behalf. Hamsaduta was laughing and shaking his head in awe and he read on. "Half the crowd was in our favor and the other half against. The police came in and the demon said that we had given him a book and then taken it back and started a fight. The police arrested the devotees! This is typical of all the incidents—they attack us and we get arrested! Anyway somehow or another, by Krishna's grace, the devotees were released and back distributing in 20 minutes.

"Around 6:00 p.m. I took a preliminary count… I sat in the phone booth and added the score. As I added my eyebrows began to raise higher and higher! My eyes began to bulge from their sockets!! My mouth dropped open! I was speechless! Tears actually began to flow from my eyes! We had broken 1400 books! I couldn't believe it; I was stunned and took another count to be sure, and sure enough, it was right. I began to shout in ecstasy 'Hari Bol, Hari Bol, Hari Bol!' All the karmis were looking at me through the phone booth with screwed up faces of bewilderment… .

"When I got back there had been another incident… A couple of plainclothers (cops) had tried to set up one of the women for an arrest and she tried to get one of the men to help her. One of the men tried to intervene and they arrested him and took him downstairs. Another mother went down to find the girl whom they tried to arrest and when the cops saw her they said "Where's the other girl?" "I don't know" she said. "OK, then we'll arrest you instead!" "Hey, let me go! I didn't do anything!" Two small scuffles broke out with the two devotees and the police. Another devotee came in to stop it… and the police turned on him and the three of them mercilessly beat him up on the floor in front of many bystanders! One of the policemen's guns fell out during the scuffle and books were scattered every where. The devotees were then taken to jail downtown (the two men devotees). Of course this knocked at least 100 books off our score."

Prabhupada was listening with rapt attention to the whole description, occasionally raising his eyebrows in surprise and shaking his head and smiling in appreciation. He was aglow with obvious pride at the determination of his disciples to sell his books despite all obstacles, and he listened to the entire report, blow by blow.

"While we listened to this incident and took prasadam, a demon who had found three books ripped them up and threw them in our midst. Unaffected, a little tired, but undaunted in their determination, the devotees went back to distribute. Meanwhile a huge blizzard began and traffic started jamming both on the roads and in the air.. At 10:30 p.m. I got a report from Sripati: over 1700 books—we might break 2,000!!!! This is incredible!! Who can imagine the mercy of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu? All but four of the men were coming back at 11:30 p.m.—Manusuta w/191; Praghosa w/153; Tripurari Swami w/135 and Ranganatha w/120…. The first crew returned in the blizzard by 2:00 a.m. and the four others left about 1:30 or 2:00 a.m. Everyone struggled to get up for mangala arati (the four latecomers didn't even go to sleep) and after an ecstatic kirtana I ran around to get the final scores… On Thursday we fasted from breakfast and chanted and slept till noon arati when we had a big arati kirtana and after a nice feast!!!!

"Thank you for inspiring us to compete for the mercy of the Spiritual Master. If it weren't for you we wouldn't know what to do. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Your servant, Uttamasloka dasa."

"Another page carried the totals for each distributor. Two men did over 400 between them: Manusuta set a new individual world's record with 210 books, Pragho a was just behind with 200. Another seven, Tripurari Swami, Ranganatha, Romapada, Buddhimanta, and Preraka prabhus, including two women, Sa bhuja and Jagaddhatri das…s, broke the one-hundred—book mark. The grand total was 2,042 hardbound books.

"At the bottom of the list Uttamasloka added a note to Ramesvara: "My humble suggestion and request is that you read this letter and all of its contents to the assembled devotees of New Dvaraka Dhama. Even though it is irregularly composed and full of mistakes and errors, it is still very transcendentally pleasing and will be relished by all."

"At the top of the letter Ramesvara had written in large clear capital letters, "THE MOST ECSTATIC SKP NEWSLETTER OF ALL TIME! SHOULD BE READ ALOUD TO ALL OF THE ASSEMBLED DEVOTEES!"

"When Hamsaduta finished, Srila Prabhupada had a huge smile on his face, clearly pleased and obviously enjoying transcendental ecstasy. He dictated his reply, not to Ramesvara but to Uttamasloka. "Please accept my blessings. I read your sankirtana newsletter with great relish. Europe and America are in great danger, this Hare Krishna movement is enveloping them. The sankirtana devotees are very, very dear to Krishna. Because they are doing the field work of book distribution, Krishna has immediately recognized them as true servants. Just like during the war time, a farm boy or ordinary clerk who goes out to fight for his country on the front, immediately becomes a national hero for his sincere effort. So Krishna immediately recognizes a preacher of Krishna consciousness who takes all risks to deliver his message.

"It is called dhira bratta—determination. These boys and girls are mahatmas-mahatmanas tu mam partha, daivim prakrtim asritah, bhajanty ananya manaso, jnatva bhutadim avyayam:—'O son of Prtha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.' This verse is applicable here. If these boys were under the material nature they would not take so much risk. They are mahatma, they are real mahatma, not that long beard and saffron cloth mahatma. They are unswerving in their determination, dhira bratta. All glories to the American devotees! "I hope this letter finds you and all the sankirtana devotees well, Your ever well-wisher, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami."

THE MADNESS OF MODERN MORALITY

When the RSPCA decided yesterday to ignore the protestations of her devotee carers and "put down" the ailing Gangotri–a 13 year-old cow living at Bhaktivedanta Manor–they were moved by compassionate considerations. Their spokesperson said, "We do understand and respect religious beliefs but at the heart of our organisation is the belief that animals should not suffer." In their view the pain she felt from "infected sores" was such that the only answer was to kill her by lethal injection, which they duly administered as the horrified devotees looked on.

Though it is claimed to be compassion, killing as a response to suffering is not something readily countenanced when it comes to humans. In Britain at least euthanasia is a crime, even if the suffering person desires his or her own death. Even in cases where the suffering is acute or there is terminal illness, killing is not allowed. Care will be administered to give the patient the best possible quality of life till death naturally occurs.

However, in the case of animals, as the instance of poor Gangotri illustrates, the feelings are different. At some point–in this case on the behest of three vets–death will be decreed. This is more or less universally accepted as the right way to treat animals. Even our beloved pets will be "put to sleep" when we think their pain is too great.

From a moral point of view then we have to ask what it is that distinguishes humans from animals. Why do we treat them differently? As far as Vedic theology is concerned all creatures are spiritual equals, eternal souls occupying different bodies. All life therefore has equal value and is entitled to equal protection under law. If the RSPCA truly did respect religious beliefs then this is the first thing they should have respected. But even if they felt they had the right to impose their own moral imperatives on the devotees, then they and the society that supports them should at least show us the consistent moral case.

But can they? I don't think so. First of all, why do we wish to prolong human life for as a long as possible? Western society as a whole does not function on any overt religious assumptions. It is really just about enjoying life, and if anything we work according to the utilitarian principle of achieving "maximum happiness". All our endeavours are basically about this; increasing our happiness.

But animals also enjoy. They eat, sleep and mate just like us. They enjoy the sunshine and running free in the fields. They play, fight, talk among themselves and have their societies just as we do. Really, if we take away religious sentiment regarding the higher spiritual purpose of life, about which animals have no notion, then we will be hard pressed to find any difference at all between man and beast.

We might argue that animals have no art, science and philosophy, but if these are divorced from spirituality then again they are simply about increasing our enjoyment and happiness. Even if we argue that such things give greater meaning and value to humanity then what about a less intelligent person who cannot appreciate these so called finer aspects of life? Can we treat them like animals? If a man is intellectually challenged in some way then can we kill him when he has painful, infected sores?

If life is all about sensual and mental pleasures then we simply cannot present any clear moral case for distinguishing man and animal. We have to take recourse to the religious argument before we can make any distinction. Which brings us back to the so-called "respect" that the RSPCA, and indeed everyone else are always so quick to declare for others' beliefs. Except when it is time to act on that respect, of course. When those beliefs of other people in some way contradict our own then they can be completely ignored.

And that is exactly how the Krishna devotees are feeling today. Completely disrespected and marginalized. While we can respect the compassion that drives organisations like the RSPCA, do they not think that we too have such feelings? Could they not see that we were caring for Gangotri in such a careful and loving way? Obviously we only wanted her well-being and according to our own belief structure we did not see that killing her would in any way enhance her welfare.

But did anyone bother asking us why? Did anyone ask us why we especially respect the cow, a gentle creature that does nothing but eat grass and provide us with her wonderful milk? A creature that society as a whole sees fit to slaughter in countless millions in order to eat her flesh. Where are the compassionate RSPCA then? When the poor cows are being dragged, crying piteously, to a terrible death at the hands of the butchers? When their baby calves are taken away for slaughter, leaving the griefstricken mothers wailing through the day and the night? Who cares about that suffering? It seems that economics and our liking for roast beef and hamburgers put a swift and convenient end to our so-called "belief that animals should not suffer."

The RSPCA might argue that they do intervene in the meat industry when they see excessive abuse, which is fine, but the level of extreme misery they happily ignore can hardly be compared with the tolerable pain that Gangotri was suffering. She certainly was not howling with tears in her eyes, as we will see animals doing any day of the week in the slaughter house.

Today the devotees at Bhaktivedanta Manor are heartbroken and mortified. When will the madness end? When will we recognise that animals, like us, are eternal parts of God and killing them wantonly for any reason brings in its wake terrible consequences? Our own legal structures may be fallible and ineffective, but God's laws never fail. As Srila Prabhupada writes, "The material world is itself a place always full of anxieties, and by encouraging animal slaughter the whole atmosphere becomes polluted more and more by war, pestilence, famine and many other unwanted calamities."

We would perhaps do well to heed his warning.

Sweets are non-vegetarian

Beasts in my belfry / Maneka Gandhi

In India, by law, every food item has to have a green doton it, if it is vegetarian - and a maroon dot, if it is non-vegetarian. If a manufacturer is found to be cheating by mislabelling his product, the sentence is many years in jail.

So, how have the mithai (sweets) people not been arrested so far? Milk has been treated as vegetarian to appease the powerful dairy lobby, but the silver foil or 'varakh' on each mithai cannot by any stretch of
imagination be considered vegetarian.

'Beauty Without Cruelty', aPune-based NGO that investigates into product ingredients, has produced a remarkable booklet on the varakh industry.
Here is their report on how it is made.

The varakh-makers select animals at the slaughterhouse. Each animal is felt for the softness of its skin before it is killed. This means that a substantial number of goat, sheep and cattle are killed specifically for the industry. Their skins are soaked in filthy, infested vats for 12 days to dehair them. Then, workers peel away the epidermal layer, which they call jhilli, just under the top layer of the skin in a single piece. These layers are soaked for 30 minutes in another decoction to soften them and left to dry on wooden boards.

Once these are dry, the workers cut out square pieces 19 cm by 15 cm. These pieces are made into pouches called auzaar and stacked into booklets. Each booklet has a cover of thick lamb suede called khol. Thin strips of silver called alagaa are placed inside the pouches. Workers now hit the booklet with wooden mallets for three hours to beat the silver inside into the ultra-thin varakh of a thickness less than one micron called '999'. This varakh is then sent to sweet shops.

Here are the statistics that you should know. An animal's skin can make 20-25 pieces/pouches only. Each booklet has 360 pouches. One booklet is used to make 30,000 varakh pieces - less than the daily supply of a single big mithai shop.

About 12,500 animals are killed for one kg of varakh. Every year, 30,000 kg of varakh (30 tonnes) are eaten on mithai. 2.5 crore booklets are made by varakh companies that keep their slaughterhouse connection secret. But the truth is that not only is this industry killing animals furiously, much of the animal tissue that the booklet is made of remains in the varakh.

Each Jain knows in his heart that varakh is non-vegetarian. But they still use these dreadful items of mass destruction to decorate the idols of Jain tirthankars. How amazing that the idols of those that preached and practised strict non-violence to all creatures should now be covered with slaughterhouse derived silver foils. Jains are the biggest buyers of the varakh industry. Many try to bluff themselves by saying that the varakh is machine-made. 'Beauty Without Cruelty' has done a thorough investigation and found that there is not a single machine-made varakh piece in this country (or even the world).

On the web, there is one letter from a person, Jalandhr a, claiming that he has a company which has "fully automatic machines manufactured with German collaboration to beat silver pieces in between a special Indian manufactured paper in a hygienic and controlled atmosphere run round the clock by qualified Engineers and experienced R&D team". Initially, we were importing the special paper from Germany. But when I followed this up, no factory of the given name, or even address, was not found.

The production of varakh is done mainly in north India: Patna, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur and Gaya (which is a&n bsp;Buddhist holy centre) in Bihar; Kanpur, Meerut and Varanasi (the holy city of Hindus) in Uttar Pradesh; and Jaipur, Indore, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The booklets come to them from the slaughterhouses of Delhi, Lucknow, Agra and Ratlam.

Not only is varakh non-vegetarian, it is also very bad for your body - whether you are vegetarian or not. The silver cannot be digested; therefore, there are no benefits from its consumption . A study done in November 2005 by the Industrial Toxicology Research Centre in Lucknow on varakh says that the silver foil available in the market has toxic and carcinogenic metals in the thin silver foil, nickel, lead, chromium and cadmium.

Over half of the analysed silver foils had lower silver purity than the 99.9 per cent purity stipulated by the prevention of food adulteration act of India. When such foil enters into the body, it releases heavy metals that can lead to cancer. The report also details the unhygienic conditions in which workers put silver in small leather bags and beat it into foil in filthy shops.

It is time we refused varakh-covered mithai, fruit or paan. If you want to send booklets to all your sweetshops, you can send a donation to Beauty Without Cruelty, 4 Prince of Wales Drive, Wanowrie, Pune-411040 (Tel: 020-26871166).

As for me, I think that this year, I will take the mithai shops to court for not labelling their products non-vegetarian, before selling them. Let us see how many of them&n bsp;go to jail, or have their business closed down. I suggest you cut out this article and show it to your local sweetshops.

If you study just one flower

"You see the minute fibers on this flower? No other manufacturing process in this world can do this—such small fibers. And how brilliant is the color! If you study only one flower, you will become God conscious."

Srila Prabhupada
New Vrindaban June 1976

Mokshada Ekadasii (Margashirsha-shukla Ekadasii)

Story Source: Brahmanda Purana

Break fast - 21 Dec 2007 Friday Dvadasi - 07:10 - 10:36

Yudhishthira Maharaj said, "O Vishnu, master of all, O delight of the three worlds, O Lord of the entire Universe, O creator of the world, O oldest personality, O best of all beings, I offer my most respectful obeisances unto You.

"O Lord of lords, for the benefit of all living entities, kindly answer some questions that I have. What is the name of the Ekadasii that occurs during the light fortnight of the month of Margashirsha (November-December) and removes all sins? How does one observe it properly, and which Deity is worshipped on that holiest of days? O my Lord please explain this to me in full."

Lord Sri Krishna replied, "O dear Yudhishthira, your enquiry is very auspicious in itself and will bring you fame. Just as I previously explained to you about the dearest Utpannaa Maha-Dwadasi - which occurs during the dark part of the month of Margashirsha, which is the day when Ekadasii-devi appeared from My body to kill the demon Mura, and which benefits everything animate and inanimate in the three worlds - so I shall now relate to you regarding this Ekadasii that occurs during the light part of the month of Margashirsha. This Ekadasii is famous as Mokshadaa because it purifies the faithful devotee of all sinful reactions and bestows liberation upon him. The worshippable Deity of this all-auspicious day is Lord Damodara. With full attention one should worship Him with incense, a ghee lamp, fragrant flowers, and Tulasi manjaris (buds).

"O best of saintly kings, please listen as I narrate to you the ancient and auspicious history of this wonderful Ekadasii. Simply by hearing this history one can attain the merit earned by performing a horse sacrifice. By the influence of this merit, one's forefathers, mothers, sons, and other relatives who have gone to hell can turn around and go to the heavenly kingdom. For this reason alone, O king, you should listen with rapt attention to this narration.
"There once was a beautiful city named Champaka-nagar, which was decorated with devoted Vaishnavas. There the best of saintly kings Maharaj Vaikhaanasa, ruled over his subjects as if they were his very own dear sons and daughters. The brahmanas in that capital city were all expert in four kinds of Vedic knowledge. The king, while ruling properly, had a dream one night in which his father was seen to be suffering the pangs of hellish torture in one of the hellish planets ruled over by the Yamaraj. The king was overwhelmed with compassion for his father and shed tears. The next morning, Maharaj Vaikhaanasa described what he had seen in his dream to his council of twice born learned brahmanas.

" ' O brahmanas,' the king addressed them, 'in a dream last night I saw my father suffering on a hellish planet. He was crying out in anguish, "O son, please deliver me from this torment of this hellish condition!" Now I have no peace in my mind, and even this beautiful kingdom has become unbearable to me. Not even my horses, elephants, and chariots and my vast wealth in my treasury that formerly brought so much pleasure, gives me no pleasure at all.

" 'Everything, O best of the brahmanas, even my own wife and sons, have become a source of unhappiness since I beheld my father suffering the tortures of that hellish condition so. Where can I go, and what can I do, O brahmanas, to alleviate this misery? My body is burning with fear and sorrow! Please tell me what kind of charity, what mode of fasting, what austerity, or what deep meditation, and in service upon which Deity I may have to perform to deliver my father from that agony and bestow upon liberation upon my forefathers. O best among the brahmanas, what is the use of one's being a powerful son if one's father must suffer on a hellish planet? Truly, such a son's life is utterly useless, to him and to his forefathers.

" The twice born brahmanas replied, 'O king, in the mountainous forest not fat from here is the ashram where a great saint Parvata Muni resides. Please go to him, for he is tri-kala-jnan (he knows the past, the present, and the future of everything) and can surely help you in your gaining relief from your misery.'

"Upon hearing this advise, the distressed king immediately set out on a journey to the ashram of the famous sage Parvata Muni. The ashram was indeed very big and housed many learned sages expert in chanting the sacred hymns of the four Vedas (Rg, Yajur, Sama, and Arthava). Approaching the holy ashram, the king beheld Parvata Muni seated among the assembly of sages adorned with hundreds of tilaks (from all the authorised sampradayas) like another Brahmaa or Vyaas.

"Maharaj Vaikhaanasa offered his humble obeisances to the Muni, bowing his head and then prostrating his entire body before him. After the king had seated himself among the assembly Parvata Muni asked him about the welfare of the seven limbs of his extensive kingdom (his ministers, his treasury, his military forces, his allies, the brahmanas, the sacrificial offerings performed, and the needs of his subjects). The Muni also asked him if his kingdom was free of troubles and whether everyone was peaceful, happy and satisfied. To these enquiries the king replied, 'By your mercy O glorious and great sage, all seven limbs of my kingdom are doing very well. Yet there is a problem that has recently arisen, and to solve it I have come to you, O brahmana for your expert help and guidance'.

"Then Parvata Muni, the best of all sages, closed his eyes and meditated on the king's past, present and future. After a few moments he opened his eyes and said, 'Your father is suffering the results of committing a great sin, and I have discovered what it is. In his previous life he quarreled with his wife and forcibly enjoyed her sexually during her menstrual period. She tried to protest and resist his advances and even yelled out, "Someone please save me! Please, O husband, do not interrupt my monthly period in this way!" Still he did not stop or leave her alone. It is on account of this grievous sin that your father now has fallen into such a hellish condition of suffering.'

"King Vaikhaanasa then said, 'O greatest among sages, by what process of fasting or charity may I liberate my dear father from such a condition? Please tell me how I can relieve and remove the burden of his sinful reactions, which are a great obstacle to his progress toward ultimate release (salvation - liberation - going back home).'

"Parvata Muni replied, 'During the light fortnight of the month of Margashirsha there occurs an Ekadasii called Mokshadaa. If you observe this sacred Ekadasii strictly, with a full fast, and give directly to your suffering father the merit you with thus attain/obtain, he will be freed from his pain and instantly liberated'.

"Hearing this, Maharaj Vaikhaanasa profusely thanked the great sage and then returned to his palace to perform his vrata (austere rite). O Yudhishthira, when the light part of the month of Margashirsha at last arrived, Maharaj Vaikhaanasa faithfully waited for the Ekadasii tithi to arrive. He then perfectly and with full faith observed the Ekadasii fast with his wife, children, and other relatives. He dutifully gave the merit from this fast to his father, and as he made the offering, beautiful flower petals showered down from the devas who peered out from behind the clouds in the sky. The king's father was then praised by the messengers of the demigods (devas) and escorted to the celestial region. As he passed his son, as he traversed the lower to middle to higher planets, the father said to the king, 'My dear son, all auspiciousness unto you!'

At last he reached the heavenly realm from where he can again with his newly acquired merit perform devotional service to Krishna or Vishnu and in due course return back to home back to Godhead.

"O son of Pandu, who so ever strictly observes the sacred Mokshadaa Ekadasii, following the established rules and regulations, achieves full and perfect liberation after death. There is no better fasting day than this Ekadasii of the light fortnight of the month of Margashirsha, O Yudhishthira, for it is a crystal-clear and sinless day. Whoever faithfully observes this Ekadasii fast, which is like chintaa-mani (a gem that yields all desires), obtains special merit that is very hard to calculate, for this day can elevate one from hellish life to the heavenly planets, and for one who observes Ekadasii for his own spiritual benefit, this elevates one to go back to Godhead, never to return to this material world."

Thus end the narration of the glories of Mokshada Ekadasii or Margashirsha-shukla Ekadasii taken from the Brahmanda Purana of Srila Krishna Dwaipayana Vedavyasa.

These stories have been summarised and slightly changed or abbreviated from how they are found in the celebrated book, "Ekadasii: The Day of Lord Hari" 1986. H H Krishna Balaram Swami. Bhaktivedanta Institute Press

The Quest Of Life

The Quest Of Life

by Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhardeva Goswami

Excerpt from "Science and Scientist - Inquiring into the Origin of Matter and
Life" October 2007

Download: http://www.scienceandscientist.org/Science_and_Scientist-October_2007.pdf

The first principle of any living being is to live, to save himself. That should be
the starting point of our whole endeavor for progress or knowledge. In the
Upanishads we find asato ma sad gamaya tamaso ma jyotir gamaya mrityor ma amritam
gamaya. This indicates what should be the primary tendency of our quest in three
phases. First, I am transient and mortal, make me eternal. Next, I am ignorant and
in nescience, take me from ignorance to knowledge, from darkness to light. Then, I
am in sorrow and misery, guide me to anandam, joy and a fit life there. These
should be the real goals of life, and any research must begin here only. Sac cid
anandam, satyam shivam sundaram. These should be the subject matter of our
research, the line of our approach to save oneself and save the world, to remove
the darkness of ignorance and get the light of knowledge, and to remove misery and
get the nectar of the sweet, sweet life.

Scientific knowledge which avoids or ignores this is simply false, wild goose-
chasing.

And it is self-destructive or suicidal. At any time atomic researchers can prove
that their science devours itself. The civilization already created by it sucks its
own blood. Modern man is feeding on the flesh of his own friends or of himself.
Material science and knowledge means only this. But this is not knowledge. Real
knowledge must absorb oneself and others in eternal life, full knowledge and
peaceful existence. This is our conception - what the ancient teachers have given
to us. They came to spread this sort of knowledge and we came hankering for that.
Hungrily we felt ourselves looking for such things. Still we are engaged in that
sort of quest, and that should be the real life for one and all in this mundane
world. There should not be any other quest or any other engagement. There should be
nothing of the kind. Then that will be real life.

-------------------------

P.S. This text is a part of the article "Attitudes Toward Reality: Exploitation,
Renunciation, Dedication - by Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhardeva Goswami" published
in "Science and Scientist - Inquiring into the Origin of Matter and Life" October
2007. For the full article "Attitudes Toward Reality: Exploitation, Renunciation,
Dedication" please download the October Issue of Bhaktivedanta Institute Quarterly
online Newsletter "Science and Scientist - Inquiring into the Origin of Matter and
Life" as PDF file at http://www.scienceandscientist.org/October07.html .

Newsletter Homepage: http://www.scienceandscientist.org

Newsletter Subscription:
http://www.scienceandscientist.org/subscribe.html

For comments and questions please write to editorial team:
editors@scienceandscientist.org

Bhaktivedanata Institute
http://www.binstitute.org

Ahovalam - The place of appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva.

Ahovalam

The place of appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva. (by clicking on images you will get three times bigger ones in new window) Ahovalam is 300 km south from Hyderabad, where all eight forms of Sri Nrsimhadev are worshiped. This place was visited by Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and it is located in remote place far away from main roads. Unusually big mridanga (drum) To explore Upper and Lower Ahovalam takes at least two days Catravata Nrsimha Temple Deities in Catravata Nrsimha Temple Radha-raman Prabhu with priests from Ahovalam chanting Visnu-sahasra-nama stotra Priest - his father and grandfather Mandapa for rest Upper Ahobalam - main entrance Garuda stambha Eight forms of Lord Nrsimhadev. Cave Temple of Krodha Narasimha, where Lord Nrsimhadev is worshiped as Varaha Narasimha Varaha Narasimha Deities (Varahadev killed Hiranyakasipu´s brother Hiranyaksa) Self manifested Salagram-sila of Nrsimha Swami in cave temple Rakta-kund ("bloody lake") where Lord Nrsimhadev washed His hands after killing of Hiranyakasipu Ugra-kara Nrsimha Deities If you want to see a place of Lord Nrsimhadeva´s appearance, it is better to take a guide with you. Ugra-stambha (pillar of Hiranyakasipu´s palace, where Sri Nrsimha had appeared) Finally on the top... Place where Prahlada Maharaja had his school. Hundreds of students listened to Prahlada at this place. Yoga-Nrsimha Swami Deities worshiped in cave where Prahlada Maharaja was hiding. In this form Lord Nrsimhadev taught yoga to small Prahlada.

The Advent of Bhagavad Gita

The Advent of Bhagavad Gita - Posted by HG Tusti Mohan prabhu

******************************************************************************

This is the anniversary day commemorating the day that Srimad Bhagavad Gita was spoken by Lord Sri Krishna to His dear most
devotee Arjuna at the place now known as Jyotisar Tirtha amid the warring families of the Kurus and the Pandavas at
Kurukshetra.

If one wishes one can still go and visit that place and see the monument erected there with Krishna as Parthasarati (the chariot driver) and Arjuna the warrior on their chariot. It is claimed by the ashram who maintain the shrine that the tree that is next to Them is a continuum growth of the original tree witness that was there at the actual day of speaking.

Traditionally devotees come to Kurukshetra (Dharmakshetra) and recite Bhagavad Gita from early morning until the next morning, perform arati to Bhagavad Gita and to Krishna and Arjuna upon the chariot, offer lamps 'deep daan' at Brahma Sarovar, shloka recitals, shobha yatras and seminars on the significance of the Gita today. Devotees who cannot get to Jyotisar Tirtha remember the blessed event by reciting Bhagavad Gita, performing Bhagavad Gita ahuti of each verse or selected chapters into the sacred fire, and discussing the subject matter of Bhagavad Gita in the association of devotees. Distribution of Bhagavad Gitas' on this day is also a very auspicious activity to perform.

Remembering the Scene:
The Pandavas army took the western side of the battlefield of Kurukshetra. They were facing the east. Their army was stationed near a lake. A white royal umbrella was seen in the Kauravas army. The soldiers started warning up at the thought of the battle ahead. Blowing of conches raised a great tumult and beating of drums and many other instruments were sounded to announce the readiness for the war. Excitement was building up.

The warriors of both the sides met and settled the rules of the war. Only equals will fight in personal duels. Those who surrender, there lives will be spared, No charioteer, animal, or servants who were not soldiers were to be attacked. These and some other rules that were usual in a Dharma-Yuddha or a righteous war were finalized and both the sides agreed to abide by them.

On the eve of the war, sage Vyasa visited the palace of Dhritarastra, who was his son, now the terrible days are in store. All your sons and the kings will be killed soon. This is settled by fate. It is ordained so, do not be sorry. I shall grant you your eyesight so that you may witness the war. Dhritarastra was shaken by the stark words of the sage. He said, 'My lord, I have been blind all my life. I do not want to see my sons dying in the battlefield. If someone can give me an account of the war as it unfolds, I shall be happy. Vyasa said, Sanjaya would get the power to see everything that happens in the war. He will be able to see during the day as well as in the night. He shall be even able to know the thoughts of the persons engaged in the war. He shall not be tired or exhausted.

The omens are all against the Kauravas." Saying this the great sage departed. (After this the entire account of the war is as related by Sanjaya to the blind king Dhritarastra) Duryodhana was busy arranging his troops in a battle array. He told Dussashan, 'take care to protect our grandsire, Bhishma. All the chariots and warriors should be placed in such a position to Bhishma. He alone is capable of destroying the entire army of the Pandavas led by Dhristadhyumna. We should pay special attentions to kill Shikhandi. He could be a
source of danger to Bhishma.

Then (one Akshauhini of Army comprises of 21870 chariots, 21870 elephants, 65610 horses and 109350 men.) akshauhinis of the Kauravas army was arranged in Vyuha (battle array) and one akshauhini was under the direct control of Bhishma. Bhishma chariot was white-silver colored, it was driven by white horses and his flag was golden, bearing his personal insignia. The Sun was rising in a golden dawn. Bhishma spoke to his soldiers, "Today is a very auspicious day. The gates of heavens are open to all the Kshatriyas who will be fortunate to die in the battle. It is not beckoning of a Kshatriya to die in bed or of sickness. Battlefield is the only glorious place to die. Without thinking about tomorrow do your best to win the war. Karna was the only warrior who had not joined the war. Bhishma chief body guard was Ashwathama, who was supported by seven more warriors. Salya and Bhurishrava were among them. Duryodhana's banner was proudly fixed a top his chariot. Looking at the vast army of the Kauravas, Yudhisthira said to Arjuna. Their army is so huge. They have eleven akshauhinis against them we have only seven. How best can be arrange our army in battle formation.
Bhishma is quite formidable. Arjuna said, that he would arrange the army in a 'Vyuha' named 'Vajra'. This was the favorite arrangement of lord Indra. Dhristadhyumna was in the centre of the army. Bhima, Yudhisthira, protected him and Arjuna supported Shikhandi. The most prominent banner in the Pandava side was that of Arjuna, having lord Hanumana himself on it, driven by Krishna, having white horses. All those who knew the reality, saluted Krishna. Krishna said to Arjuna, 'See the army of the Kauravas, led by your old grandsire. The lion among the Kaurava heroes, is your first victim.

What is the Bhagavad Gita?

The Bhagavad Gita(BG) was spoken by Sri Krishna to His friend and disciple, Arjuna at the beginning of the epic war, Mahabharata. BG provides the concise conclusion of the millions of verses in all the Vedic scriptures. In just eighteen chapters containing seven hundred verse, Sri Krishna answers all questions about the duty of the living entity. In glorifying the BG, Lord Shiva says in the Gita Mahatmya (Padma Purana) that it is sufficient to lead one to liberation.

How should one read the BG?

The BG should be studied in the same mood as it was heard by Arjuna. Sri Krishna declares that He is revealing this most confidential knowledge to Arjuna because is not envious and He is a friend. So one must read and understand the BG in the mood of at least theoretically accepting the position of Krishna as God. This knowledge is never revealed to one who reads it in a challenging and speculative mood. Owing to the universal message in the BG, many people take to it instinctively. Unfortunately its importance has also given rise to many people speculating and misinterpreting it. In order to protect the trusting people from this kind of cheating, Sri Krishna stresses the importance of Paramapara (disciplic succession) and Guru (spiritual master) in receiving the knowledge of the BG.

Who should read the BG?

The BG is often referred to as the "Handbook for humanity". Never in the BG has Sri Krishna restricted the scope of the BG to Hindus
or Indians. It is completely non-denominational, meant for any one inquiring about his reason for existence. Indeed many people following Christianity or Islam get a much better perspective of their own religion after reading the BG and are able t o follow their religions with greater conviction.

What is Purpose of the BG?
The BG was spoken to guide the conditioned soul on the path of the spiritual advancement. It is presented as principle and details. The dominating principle of the BG is to develop God consciousness. In the details, Sri Krishna explains three primary ways of doing this and then further expands on these paths. He then relates them to each other and brings forth the single most effective path
for returning back to God .

What are the three paths?

These paths are explained as yoga. The Sanskrit word "yoga" means connecting to the absolute, and it is in this context that the word yoga is used in the BG. The three paths given by Sri Krishna are Karma yoga, Jnana yoga and Bhakti yoga. The first six chapters primarily discuss Karma yoga, liberation by performing prescribed activities. The last six chapters primarily talk about Jnana yoga, liberation by worshipping the Lord through one's intelligence. Ensconced between these two "protective" covers, like a pearl in the oyster, in the middle six chapters, Krishna reveals the most confidential of all knowledge, Bhakti yoga, the path of pure, unalloyed devotional service. He declares this to be the highest, the easiest and the fastest path to Him, and for one who is fortunate to
embark on it, the binding illusions of Maya are dispelled in no time.

What is Karma yoga?

A person situated in Karma yoga executes one's prescribed duties. These duties are as prescribed by the Varnashrama system created By Krishna through the Vedas. According to one's ability and inclination, a person may acquires a particular varna. He may become a Brahaman (teacher, guide), Ksatriya (administrator, warrior), Vaishya (merchant, farmer) or Sudra (worker). According to his
situation he lives in one of the four ashrams: Brahamacari (student), Grahastha (married), Vanaprastha (retired) and Sannyasa (detached). The eight fold Varnashram system is created to allow one to be aware of his prescribed duties and execute them properly. It is important to note here is that the BG stresses that a varna is acquired by one's ability and inclination, never by birth. So in the BG, there is no support of the "caste-system" prevalent in India. The Varnashram system appears naturally in all societies over the world. Performing prescribed duties will earn a person much pious credit, but it will also continue to bind him to the material world. So Karma can be "sakarma" (done in anticipation of enjoying its fruits) or "nishkarma" (detached from the results). In both cases a person is attached to performing the activity. However, when a person performs activities only for the pleasure of the Lord, he has reached the stage of Bhakti. For instance Sadhna (japa, arati, kirtan) are activities performed with no material motives, simply to glorify or remember the Lord. Thus Karma yoga can be used to elevate one self to the position of Bhakti yoga by first performing prescribed activities, then renouncing the fruits of the activities to Krishna and finally by renouncing the activity in itself to
Krishna.

What is Bhakti yoga?

The path of devotion is described as the most confidential path back to Godhead. It is described as the "elevator" approach to Krishna as opposed to all the other "staircase" paths. The essence of the Bhakti yoga is summarized by Sri Krishna in Chapter 9, Verse 34, as follows: "Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me." This verse, often considered to be the summary verse of the entire BG, contains the essence of the existence of a spirit soul. In the material world, trapped in the illusory sense of identifying with the body and its extensions, a spirit soul remains forever bewildered by the duality of existence. However by simply surrendering to Krishna, understanding Him to be the original, primeval cause of all causes and thus worshipping Him without any desires of material benefit, one can easily go back to Him. Bhakti yoga does not mean inactivity. Indeed a bhakta is most active, for he sees all his activities now in relation to the Supreme. But he is detached from the activity and the fruits of the activity, neither happy in success nor
distressed in failure, understanding that all this is ultimately for Krishna and coming from Him only.

What is Jnana yoga?
In the Jnana section Krishna elaborates about the five factors of existence: Isavara (God), Jivatma (Soul), Kala (Time), Karma (actions) and Prakriti (Nature). He explains that while Kala, Prakriti, Jiva and Isavara are eternal, Karama is not. As long as one is involved in fruitive activities, the cycle of Karma, performed in one of the three modes of material Nature (goodness, passion, ignorance) is binding. For every action, good or bad, there is a reaction. This cycle can only be broken by performing devotional service, since that does not have any reactions, good or bad. In this stage the person transcends the material plane of existence and enters into the spiritual realm. When Krishna explains the path of spiritual advancement by knowledge, Arjuna gets confused between the Karma (action) and Jnana (inaction). Krishna explains that one must strive for activities performed in knowledge of Him, which will ultimately lead to Bhakti. Philosophy without faith is speculation, and faith without philosophy is rituals. The two must complement each other. Thus, Krishna once again stresses that the ultimate goal of all transcendentalists is Him. They may reach Him directly by Bhakti or first reach Bhakti through Karma or Jnana.

Why has Krishna given alternatives?

A confusing aspect of the BG is the fact that while acknowledging the superiority of Bhakti yoga. Krishna spends considerable time talking about Jnana and Karma yoga. He even speaks briefly about the eight fold astanga yoga process followed by the mystics. For many people this is very confusing if not apparently contradictory. In reality. Krishna is offering some thing for every one according to their levels of advancement and inclination. As God, He does not interfere with the free will of a living entity. But as the most
compassionate well wisher He wants every one to leave this material world of misery and return to the original spiritual abode. So, for a person attracted to action, there is Karma yoga. For the intellectual there is Jnana yoga. For the mystic there is astanga yoga. The BG meets the person at the level they are in and gradually elevates them to the platform where they become qualified to execute Bhakti yoga, pure devotional service. A very few fortunate souls, by the causeless mercy of Krishna and His devotees, are able to take directly to Bhakti, and for them the way back to Godhead is quick and easy. Conclusion We hope that these points address your interests and motivate you to read the Bhagavad Gita As It Is.

Becoming mature in Krsna consciousness

It's time to become mature - high time. All around us the signs are clear.Crystal clear. The winter of kali-yuga is increasing its intensity. If we do not become mature soon, our life will freeze on the the banyan tree of this world.What exactly does it mean to become mature?Immediately two answers come to mind:1. to develop a new set of desires and a new orientation in life2. to become enjoyable for others.Let us consider the example of a young immature boy or girl. When they become physically mature, they see each other in a different light.Previously they had thought any member of the opposite sex as foolish,uninteresting and not good to play with. Upon physical maturity they develop different outlook - they become attracted, even infatuated. And new, previously unknown desires arise in them.The same is true for a devotee who becomes mature. He or she will find new or previously unknown desires enter his or her mind. "Oh, I wish to really serve Krsna! Oh, I really wish to satisfy Him and when, oh when will I develop my relationship, my loving fulfilling relationship with the Lord."Often Krsna helps His devotee to mature by sending him a challenging situation which all of a sudden changes his perspective on life. At such a time new perspectives and desires arise in the mind. A little while ago I received the following very inspiring letter by a nice devotee who wrote a prayer to Krsna one day before a risky operation. As you will see the prayer is highly inspired by his reading the Saranagati of Bhaktivinodha Thakura:"I beg you, Krsna, when will the day come when I will stop committing offenses and Your holy name finally enters into my heart? When will I genuinely pray for the mercy of the vaisnavas?When will the tide of divine love overflow my heart?Because of my offenses, bad character and attachment to the opposite sex, this body has become an abode of pain and suffering.But even if through the operation I should get rid of the pain, as long as my soul is covered by impurities I will continue to act improperly and suffer the reactions.Oh, My Lord, when oh when will I get rid of my enjoying mentality? I am desperate, my body is exhausted from drinking the deadly poison of material desires.My mind is also exhausted. Dressed in the ropes of lust, I am expecting Your holy name to break through my layers and enter my heart. When will this cheater put down all his disguises and become your servant?When will the attachment for the beautiful members of the opposite sex turn into the swan of love for you?
Oh, Krsna, I know that You are here beside me, even in this hospital.But again and again I forget You and repeat my best story - cheating myself and others.But please don't forget this fool that is still floating in the ocean of his material desires and emotions. I do not know if I will live the next morning.Please if I have to leave this body during the long night of pain (the writer refers to his operation), please give me the opportunity to remember You one more time."In this little article I would like to concentrate on another aspect of maturity: To become pleasing for others. Let us consider the example of a fruit which matures. Previously it was hard and sour, but upon maturation it becomes sweet and enjoyable for others.The same holds true for a devotee. He or she becomes the source of encouragement and inspiration for others and ultimately very pleasing for Krsna because of his or her service attitude.

Not long ago, people in America wanted to find out who is actually happy in this world. The result was astonishing for them: They found out that those who serve others are the happiest people in the world.To illustrate this point, please allow me to present a little story which I wrote being inspired by a sufi story*Lessons From A Tea Cup - A True Story:

Once there was a young man, rather immature in his life, but ready to learn. He had a strong liking for antique things and was happy to visit different antique stores in all European countries he went to for holidays. Over the time he developed a strong interest in antique pottery and especially in tea cups. He felt - they all had their unique stories to tell.Once while he was in an old fortress in Serbia which had been partiallytransformed into a museum, he spotted an exceptional tea cup in a dusty antique store which clearly had Turkish influences. He asked the bespectaled seller:"May I see that exceptionally beautiful tea cup over there? It seems to come from Turkey..."

As the man handed him the tea cup, our young man suddenly heard the tea cup speak up:"You don't understand," it said, "I have not always been a tea cup. There was a time when I had no idea what service meant. I was just a dumb lump of red clay. Let me tell you my story, you will learn from it. I've lived for many, many thousands of years. I've witnessed wars and peace coming and going. Whole civilizations rolled over me as I sat there waiting... For what I don't know."Then one day my master came. He took me, brought me home, rolled and pounded me on a wooden table. Again and again, he poked his fingers into me until finally I yelled out: ,Don't do that!' Imagine someone would take you like this. ,Leave me alone!' But he only smiled and gently said: ,Not yet!"The tea cup became more and more alive as he spoke to the shocked young man:"Then, whoommmm! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly spun around and around and around until I lost all my sense of direction: ,Stop it,don't you see that I'm getting sick? Quickly, take me from the spinning wheel!' But the master only nodded in understanding and quietly said: ,Not yet!' He only bent me in and out of shape to suit his plan with me and then..."Then he placed me carefully into an oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door: ,It is hotter than hell - I'm burning to ashes. Please get me out of here before it is too late.' I could see him through a tiny hole. I could only read his lips as he shook his head from side to side and silently pronounced ,Not yet!'

When I thought I could not bear the heat for another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on a shelf where I began to cool. It felt so good to be left alone."But more was going to come. After I had cooled down he carefully picked me up, looked at me and brushed some dust away. Then ... he brought the colours! And something transparent - the glaze. The fumes were horrible! I thought I would gag! ,Please,... you have no mercy! Don't you understand my misery? Please, please give up on me! Please! Stop it!'But he only shook his head and said: ,Not yet, you're not yet ready!' "Then unexpectedly and very quickly he put me back into the oven. Only it was about twice or trice as hot as the first time - this was the most intense. From the beginning I felt... this is my death... I begged... I pleaded ... I threatened ... I screamed ... Finally, I cried without tears. Not even hot tears. I was convinced I will never make it. I was ready to give up."Just then - in the last second as I was slowly fainting, the door opened and he took me out. And again placed me on the shelf - where I cooled and waited... and waited ... and waited."What was going to be next? An hour or later he came back and placed a mirror before me and said: ,Look at yourself!' And I did.

"What I saw, amazed me. It is what you see now. ,That's not me!' I said.That cannot be me... It is too beautiful, too ...""With a very compassionate voice he spoke: ,This is what you are meant to be.', and then he explained: ,I know it hurt you when I rolled and kneaded you on the table. But if I had not gotten the air out of you, you would have broken.'"I knew you must have lost all your sense of orientation when I was spinning you. But without this you would never have come into this form. I know the fumes of the colours in the glaze were intolerable when I painted you all over. But if I had not done that, you would not have had any colour in your life and you would not have hardened. And when I placed you in the second oven I knew that this would be the most severe part. But without it you would have broken very easily when the realities of life would have come. Believe me, all I did was for your good. Now you are what I had in mind when I first saw you on the ground. Now you are a finished product."With this the tea cup stopped speaking - but there was a tear of gratefulness coming from its beautiful rim.

The young man purchased the tea cup and only used it when he offered something to God. He never forgot the lesson he received from it. And whenever he himself was in a difficult situation and he felt like calling out ,Stop it! Leave me alone!', he remembered the words of the tea cup-maker: "Not yet...!" However, he also became grateful - for he knew that everything that happened was designed by the Lord to make him what he was meant to become: a pleasing servant.And he had trust. God knows what He is doing for each of us. He is the potter and we are the clay. He will mold us and make us ready. And He will expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we will become a perfect piece of His liking.

Double Blessings for Christmas

If I wrote a newsletter telling you how to double your money in ten days, would you be interested? Of course you would. Well if I knew how I'd tell you. But I don't, so sorry.

But I can tell you something better. I can tell you how to double your blessings in ten days. Are you as interested? I hope so. After all, the more blessings the merrier, right? So read on and learn how to have a doubly blessed Christmas and thus make Christmas really, really merry.

May you always think of Krsna.

By Mahatma Das

Our Most Dear Possession

The Nectar of Devotion states that we should offer Krsna things
that are dear to us. Certainly the body is most dear to us and we can be quite
particular how we use it in Krsna's service. Consequently, we may be reluctant
to do services which cause us anxiety, inconvenience, trouble, or difficulty.
Or we may be reluctant do services that seem to be beyond the limits of what
we think is possible for us ("I could never do that").

We are all well aware of things we'd be reluctant to do for
Krsna? Yet doing many of those things would be good for us. We might overcome
a fear or an attachment and we'd probably pray a lot more. Plus, we'd get the
special taste that comes by doing something for Krsna that is difficult or uncomfortable
for us.

The Great Motivators

It is our nature to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Isn't fear or reluctance
to do something really just the anticipation of the pain that activity will
cause? Of the two, the desire to avoid pain is stronger. If you had the choice
between having a really great time today and avoiding a major operation, which
would you choose? The problem is that fear often holds us back from doing what
we know is best. ("I know I should do that but………..") Yet "suffering" for Krsna
is purifying, and anything we do that is purifying brings us closer to Krsna.
Coming closer to Krsna is what you and I want. This is why we do devotional
service. And coming closer to Krsna awakens transcendental bliss. So it is not
really suffering; it is transcendental suffering.

I have noticed in my life that the pain of feeling guilty
for not doing something I know I should do is often greater than the "pain"
caused by doing the very thing I am reluctant to do. I guess I have my fears
backwards.

What's On Your List?

So where am I going with this? Since this is December, the month of the Christmas
book distribution marathon, I wanted to look at some of the reasons you and
I may be reluctant to get very involved in book distribution this season (or
get involved at all). Some reasons may be:

I've never done it.

I don't know how to do it.

I could never do it.

I don't have the time to do it.

I am afraid to do it.

It's too troublesome to do it.

I am not a good salesperson.

I am too shy.

I don't like to do it

I am not compassionate

I hate to do it

I am too busy to take time out to do it

It's too difficult to do it.

People don't appreciate it

I am embarrassed to do it.

It's too humiliating

I am not concerned enough about other people.

I am afraid I will fail

I am too old to do it.

I am too young to do it.

I am too ___________ to do it.

I don't practice what the books teach.

Nobody is interested in the books.

Most people don't read the books.

Most people don't understand the books.

There are better ways to preach.

It's Good For You

Is book distribution actually painful, difficult, the cause of anxiety, etc.?
I must admit that I have felt all these and other negative emotions while on
book distribution, usually when I'd first go out or when I'd be having a rough
day. Time and again, however, those negative emotions were replaced by bliss,
enthusiasm, and satisfaction. Plus, by sticking it out I would get a dose of
massive purification. And this had nothing to do with how many books I distributed.
So don't even worry about how many books you will distribute. The effort alone
is so purifying that you will receive oceans of mercy for making the attempt.
Look at book distribution as you look at other devotional practices; it is done
for your purification and to please Krsna. Make the effort and leave the results
to Krsna.

If you make the effort to distribute books, Krsna takes note.
And that goes to your eternal benefit.

Some Ways You Can Distribute Books

There are many ways to distribute books. Here are some suggestions.

1. Buy books and give them to friends, relatives, co-workers, business
   associates, etc.
2. Buy books and give them to a book distributor to give out to people.
3. Buy books and place them in libraries or have them placed in libraries
   by other devotees.
4. Give money to you local temple to pay for books that they will
   arrange to distribute.
5. Convince those sympathetic to Krsna consciousness to sponsor book
   distribution.
6. Convince hotel owners to buy one Bhagavad-gita for each room in
   their hotel.
7. Set up a book table at a college, shopping center, or on the street.
8. Go to a public place and distribute books.
9. Buy books and leave them in stores for free distribution.
10. Send books to a friends and relatives
11. Inspire others to distribute books.
12. Talk to your temple president, nama hatta leader, or other devotees
    in your area about how you can distribute books.
13. Put a book display in a store.

Prabhupada's Mission

Srila Prabhupada's main service to his spiritual master,
and indeed his essential mission, was to write, publish and distribute books.
When Srila Prabhupada separately incorporated his
book publishing company, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT), the lawyer asked
why he was incorporating the BBT separately from Iskcon. Prabhupada said, "I
want to make sure the book publication continues even if Iskcon doesn't."

Double Mercy For Christmas

Even when Srila Prabhupada was a grhastha he was publishing
Back To Godhead magazine and was personally selling them. And when he
retired and published the first canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam , he was
personally selling those books. So this is our family business. Because this
was his main service to his spiritual master, Prabhupada said that not only
would we receive his blessings if we distributed his books, we would also receive
the blessings of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and thus be "doubly blessed."

So if you take part in book
distribution you will get double blessings for Christmas? That's the best Christmas
gift you could ever get!

The Back Burner

When I lived in Los Angeles in the 70's, during the ten days
before Christmas everything else in the community took a back burner to book
distribution. All other projects were either minimized or put on hold in order
to free more devotees distribute books or do support services for book distribution.
You might think those projects suffered somewhat because of this. No. The devotees
who participated in the marathon became so enlivened that they came back to
their services with new found energy and enthusiasm. Thus their services expanded.

How Will You Take Part?

So here's what I am suggesting you do. Write down the way(s)
in which you will take part in book distribution from now till Christmas. Even
if it means just giving a small donation for book distribution, leaving a few
free books at a store, whatever, write it down (if you are already doing book
distribution this Christmas, think of at least one way in which you can increase
your book distribution). Remember, you want double mercy, don't' you?

If you are reluctant to take part you will be missing a great opportunity to
make advancement. Why? Because you have the chance to offer Krsna something
dear to you (your time, comfort, peace of mind, money, ego, etc.) and thus experience
the special taste that comes from this kind of surrender. Actually, the more
reluctant you are the more mercy you will get. So write something on that list.

And I would like to make a money back guarantee. If you take
part in book distribution and don't find that it helped you, I'll offer you
108 apologies for forcing you to do it.

One last thing. Inspire other devotees to take part in book
distribution. Prabhupada told me to always enthuse devotees in book distribution.
That order wasn't just for me; it was for all of us. So get the word out. And
if you think this letter will help other devotees, pass it on.

Supreme Controller of Senses

Lord Shiva, the Mahabhagavat, addresses the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Srimad Bhagavatam (SB 4.24.34) as follows:

namah pankaja-naabhaaya / bhuta-sukshmendriyaatmane
vaasudevaya shaantaaya / kuta-sthaaya sva-rocishe

"My Lord, You are the origin of the creation by virtue of the lotus flower which sprouts from Your navel. You are the supreme controller of the senses and the sense objects, and You are also the all-pervading Vaasudeva. You are most peaceful, and because of Your self-illuminated existence, You are not disturbed by the six kinds of transformations."

The three important words seen in this verse are – "bhuta-sukshma — the sense objects", "indriya — the senses", "aatmane — the origin". Lord Krishna is the Supreme controller of the senses and the sense objects. Many people in this world thinks that they are the controller of their senses. But they do not understand that this is absolutely wrong. In the purport Srila Prabhupada explains - " The Supreme Lord is also known as Hrsikesa, master of the senses, which indicates that our senses and sense objects are formed by the Supreme Lord. As such, He can control our senses and out of His mercy engage them in the service of the master of the senses. "

Srila Prabhupada further elaborates, "The words shaantaaya kuta-sthaaya sva-rocishe are very significant. Although the Lord is within this material world, He is not disturbed by the waves of material existence. However, conditioned souls are agitated by following six kinds of transformations:

They become agitated,

1. When they are hungry
2. When they are thirsty
3. When they are aggrieved
4. When they are illusioned
5. When they grow old and
6. When they are on the deathbed.

Although conditioned souls become very easily illusioned by these conditions in the material world, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as the Supersoul, Vasudeva, is never agitated by these transformations. Therefore He is addressed as shaantaaya (always peaceful) and kuta-sthaaya (fixed). But we are neither peaceful nor fixed and we are always agitated even at the slightest disturbance because we are always in the bodily conception of life in this world thinking always about "me" and "mine", thinking, "this is mine, that is mine, I have done this, and that; I have earned so much money and purchased so many properties etc". Nothing is in our hands. We are conditioned souls and everything is controlled by Vasudeva. We are very tiny in front of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is sarva-loka-maheshwaram.

The Supreme Lord is described herein as sva-rocishe, indicating that He is illuminated by His own transcendental position. When the tiny soul falls down he enters into material, conditional life. The Lord, however, is not subject to such conditioning; therefore He is described as self-illuminated.

Here, we must understand that we must always remain under the protection of Vasudeva to get rid of all the agitations and this is possible only by devotional service unto Him through continuous chanting of His holy name.

LORD SHREE KRISHNA

LORD SHREE KRISHNA

DEMIGODS SEEK HELP FROM KRISHNA:

In the Vedic mantras, there is a particular type of prayer called Purusa Sukta. Generally, the demigods offer their obeisances unto Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by chanting the Purusa Sukta. It is understood herein that the predominating deity of every planet can see the Lord of this universe, Brahma, whenever there is some disturbance in his planet. And Brahma can approach the Supreme Lord Visnu, not by seeing Him directly, but by standing on the shore of the ocean of milk. Purusa Sukta is the standard prayer, which the demigods recite to appease the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Ksirodakasayi Visnu.

Once when the world was overburdened by demons, Brahma went with all demigods and offered Purusa Sukta prayers. They apparently heard no response. Then Lord Brahma personally sat in meditation, and there was a message transmission from Lord Visnu to Brahma. Brahma then broadcast the message to the demigods. That is the system of receiving Vedic knowledge.

The message was: The Supreme Personality of Godhead will appear on the earth very soon along with His supreme powerful potencies, and as long as He remains on the earth planet to execute His mission of annihilating the demons and establishing the devotees, the demigods should also remain there to assist Him. They should all immediately take birth in the family of the Yadu dynasty, wherein the Lord will also appear in due course of time.

When Devaki was pregnant, Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, accompanied by great sages like Narada and followed by many other demigods, invisibly appeared in the house of Kamsa. They began to pray for the Supreme Personality of Godhead in select prayers which are very pleasing to the devotees and which award fulfillment of their desires. The first word they spoke acclaimed that the Lord is true to His vow. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna descends in this material world just to protect the pious and destroy the impious. That is His vow. The demigods could understand that the Lord had taken His residence within the womb of Devaki in order to fulfill this vow.

"Our dear Lord", the demigods prayed," it is very difficult to understand Your eternal form of personality. People in general are unable to understand Your actual form; therefore You are personally descending to exhibit Your original eternal form. Somehow people can understand the different incarnations of Your Lordship, but they are puzzled to understand the eternal form of Krishna with two hands, moving among human beings exactly like one of them. This eternal form of Your Lordship is ever increasing in transcendental pleasure for the devotees. But for the non-devotees, this form is very dangerous".

To be continued… lesson 10.3: EVEN DEMIGODS ARE BEWILDERED ABOUT KRISHNA'S SUPREMACY:

INDRA, THE KING OF HEAVENS IS BEWILDERED

INDRA, THE KING OF HEAVENS IS BEWILDERED:

Once Krishna and Balaram saw that the cowherd men were preparing a sacrifice in order to pacify Indra, the king of heaven, who is responsible for supplying water. Krishna enquired His father, Nanda Maharaj the need of sacrifice. Nanda Maharaj explain Him, "My dear boy, this ceremonial performance is more or less traditional. Because the rainfall is due to the mercy of King Indra and clouds are his representatives and because water is so important for our living, we must show some gratitude to the controller of rainfall, King Indra".

Krishna spoke to His father and all cowherd men of Vrindavana, in a way as to make Indra very angry. He suggested that they forego the sacrifice. His reasons were twofold:

· First, as stated in the B.G. there is no need to worship the demigods for any material advancement; all results derived from worshipping the demigods are simply temporary, and only those who are less intelligent are interested in temporary results.

·

· Secondly, whatever temporary result one derives from worshipping the demigods is actually granted by the permission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and no one can bestow any benefit upon others without His permission.

But sometimes the demigods become puffed up by the influence of material nature; thinking themselves as all in all, they try to forget the supremacy and controllership of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In the Srimad Bhagavatam, it is clearly stated that in this instance Krishna wanted to make King Indra angry. Krishna's advent was especially meant for the annihilation of the demons and protection of the devotees. King Indra was certainly a devotee, not a demon, but because he was puffed up, Krishna wanted to teach him a lesson. He first tried to make Indra angry by stopping the Indra Puja which was arranged by the cowherd men in Vrindavana.

Nanda Maharaj and cowherd men were always so captivated by the sweet words and beauty of Krishna that they were ready to do anything and everything that Krishna wanted them to do for His pleasure. They asked Him to whom should they perform sacrifice. Krishna asked them to prepare nice foodstuffs from the grains and ghee collected for the yajna. He asked them to prepare rice, dahi, halva, pakora, puri, sandesa, rasagulla, laddu etc and offer them all to Govardhana Hill.

So the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, therefore advised the cowherd men to stop the Indra-yajna and begin the Govardhana Puja in order to chastise Indra who was very much puffed up at being the supreme controller of the heavenly planets. The honest and simple cowherd men headed by Nanda Maharaja accepted Krishna's proposal and executed in detail everything He advised. They performed Govardhana Puja and circumambulation of the hill.

When Indra understood that the sacrifice offered by the cowherd men in Vrindavana was stopped by Krishna, he became angry. As the director of different kinds of clouds, Indra called for the samvartaka clouds, which are needed only at the time of devastation of entire cosmic manifestation. The samvartaka was ordered by Indra to go over Vrindavana and inundate the whole area with an extensive flood. Demonically, Indra thought himself to be the all-powerful supreme personality. When demons become very powerful, they defy the Supreme Controller, Personality of Godhead. Indra, though not a demon, was puffed up by his material position, and he wanted to challenge the supreme controller. He thought himself, at least for the time being, as powerful as Krishna. Indra declared," These cowherd men in Vrindavana have neglected my authority on the advice of this talkative boy who is known as Krishna. He is nothing but a child, and by believing this child, they have enraged me. The men of Vrindavana have become too puffed up over their material opulence and their confidence in the presence of their tiny friend, Krishna. I have ordered the Samvartaka cloud to go there and inundate the place. They should be destroyed with their cows".

Ordered by King Indra, all the dangerous clouds appeared above Vrindavana and began to pour water incessantly, with all their strength and power. There was constant lightening and thunder, blowing of severe wind and incessant falling of rain. The rainfall was accompanied by great winds, and every living creature in Vrindavana began to tremble from the severe cold. Unable to find any other source of deliverance, they all approached Govinda to take shelter at His lotus feet. At that time all the inhabitants of Vrindavana began to pray to Lord Krishna. "Dear Krishna", they prayed," You are all-powerful, and You are very affectionate to Your devotees. Now please protect us who have been much harassed by angry Indra".

Upon hearing their prayer, Krishna could also understand that Indra, being bereft of his sacrificial honor, was pouring down rain that was accompanied by heavy pieces of ice and strong winds, although all this was out of season. Krishna understood that this was a deliberate exhibition of anger by Indra. He therefore concluded," The demigods are My devotees, and therefore it is not possible for them to forget My supremacy, but somehow or other he has become puffed up with material power and thus is now maddened. I shall act in such a way to relieve him of this false prestige. I shall give protection to My pure devotees in Vrindavana by My mystic power".

Thinking in this way, Lord Krishna immediately picked up Govardhana Hill with one hand, exactly as a child picks up a mushroom from the ground. He invited all residents of Vrindavana with their property and animals to take shelter under this hill. The inhabitants of Vrindavana and their animals remained there for one week without being disturbed by hunger, thirst or any other discomforts. They were simply astonished to see how Krishna was holding up the mountain with the little finger of His left hand. Seeing the extraordinary mystic power of Krishna, Indra, the King of heaven, was thunderstruck and baffled in his determination. He immediately called for the clouds and asked them to desist. When the sky became completely cleared of all clouds and there was sunrise again, the strong winds stopped. The demigods poured flowers from the heavens. All vrajavasis returned home happily singing the glorious pastimes of Lord Krishna.

After this incident, a Surabhi cow from Goloka Vrindavana, as well King Indra from the heavenly planet appeared before Him. Indra was conscious of his offence before Krishna. He immediately fell down at the lotus feet of Krishna. Indra knew about the exalted position of Krishna because Krishna is the master of Indra, but he could not believe that Krishna could come down and live in Vrindavana among the cowherd men. When Krishna defied the authority of Indra, Indra became angry because he thought that he was all in all within this universe and that no one was as powerful as he. But after this incident, his false puffed up prestige was destroyed.

Indra offered many many prayers glorifying Krishna and asked for forgiveness. Krishna, smiling beautifully, then said," My dead Indra, I have stopped your sacrifice just to show My causeless mercy and to revive your memory that I am your eternal master. I am not only your master, but I am the master of all the other demigods as well. You should always remember that all your material opulence's are due to My mercy. Everyone should always remember that I am the Supreme Lord. If I find someone overpowered by false pride, in order to show him My causeless mercy, I withdraw all his opulence's".

Sometimes it is seen that a person is very opulent materially, but due to his devotional service to the Lord, he may be reduced to poverty. One should not think, however, that because he worshiped the Supreme Lord he became poverty-stricken. The real purport is that when a person is a pure devotee, but at the same time, by miscalculation, he wants to lord it over material nature, the Lord shows His special mercy by taking away all material opulence's until at last he surrenders unto the Supreme Lord.

After this, the heavenly king Indra, along with Surabhi cows and all other demigods worshiped Lord Krishna by bathing Him with Ganges water through the trunk of Iravati, carrier elephant and the milk of the Surabhis. Lord Krishna was pleased with all of them.

Lord Krishna asked Indra to return to his kingdom in the heavenly planet and to remember always that he is never the supreme but is always subordinate to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He also advised him to remain as King of heaven, but to be careful of false pride.

To be continued… lesson 10.6: KRISHNA - SUPREME CONTROLLER:

Bathing and Cleanliness

Bathing and Cleanliness


After waking, evacuating, and appropriate cleansing, you should brush your
teeth and then take bath. The Kurma Purana says that without taking the
pratah-snana [bath before sunrise] one remains impure and cannot perform any
of the daily activities a civilised person must perform such as japa, homa,
and Deity worship. If a person eats without having bathed, he is said to be
eating only filth, for everything he touches becomes as impure as he. The
Padma Purana declares that one who does not bathe in the morning is a sinner
Fit to suffer on lower planets. Pratah-snana is compulsory for all, except
those who are ill. In Vedic culture bathing is considered a sacred act to be
accompanied by meditation on the Lord and recitation of prayer.

The scriptures describe the benefits of taking a cold bath early in the
morning. Such a bath can purify even a sinner, for it has the power to wash
away all external and internal contamination. Whereas a warm water bath
cleanses physically, cold water revitalises the subtle body, removing the
influence of sleep and dreams as well as of evil-minded persons. The cold
bath also gives strength, sensitivity, longevity, effulgence and purity.
Taking an early morning cold bath increases one`s knowledge and
determination and affords peace of mind. It removes unhappiness,
lamentation, degradation, and bad thoughts. In short, it counteracts all the
ill effects of sin.

At night the nine holes of the body become filled with waste products, which
are continuously produced. The early morning bath most effectively removes
all of this dirt so that the body can begin its daily activities in a fresh
state. In this way the early morning bath has positive physical, mental and
spiritual effects, and is therefore highly glorified in the scriptures.

The Story of The Cobbler and The Brahmana

The Story of The Cobbler and The Brahmana

There is a story of Narada Muni, who was once asked by a brahmana: "Oh, you are going to meet the Superme Lord? Will you please ask Him when I'm going to get my salvation?"

"All right," Narada agreed. "I shall ask Him."

As Narada proceeded, he met a cobbler who was sitting under a tree mending shoes, and the cobbler similarly asked Narada, "Oh, you are going to see God? Will you please inquire of Him when my salvation will come?"

When Narada Muni went to the Vaikuntha planets, he fulfilled their request and asked Krsna (God) about the salvation of the brahmana and the cobbler, and Krsna replied, "After leaving this body, the cobbler shall come here to me."

"What about the brahmana?" Narada asked.

"He will have to remain there for a number of births. I do not know when he is coming."
Narada Muni was astonished, and he finally said, "I can't understand the mystery of this."

"That you will see," Krsna said. "When they ask you what I am doing in My abode, tell them that I am threading the eye of a needle with an elephant."

When Narada returned to earth and approached the brahmana, the brahmana said, "Oh, you have seen the Lord? What was He doing?"

"He was threading an elephant through the eye of a needle," Narada answered.

"I don't believe such nonsense," the brahmana replied. Narada could immediately understand that the man had no faith and that he was simply a reader of books.

Narada then left and went on to the cobbler, who asked him, "Oh, you have seen the Lord? Tell me, what was He doing?"

"He was threading an elephant through the eye of a needle," Narada replied.

The cobbler began to weep, "Oh, my Lord is so wonderful, He can do anything."

"Do you really believe that the Lord can push an elephant through the hole of a needle?" Narada asked.

"Why not?" the cobbler said, "Of course I believe it."

"How is that?"

You can see that I am sitting under this banyan tree," the cobbler answered, "and you can see that so many fruits are falling daily, and in each seed and in each seed there is a banyan tree like this one. If, within a small seed there can be a big tree like this, is it difficult to accept that the Lord is pushing an elephant through the eye of a needle?"

So this is called faith. It is not a question of blindly believing. There is reason behind the belief. If Krsna can put a large tree within so many little seeds, is it so astounding that He is keeping all the planetary systems floating in space through His energy?

Although scientists may think that the planets are being held in space simply by nature alone, behind nature there is the Supreme Lord. Nature is acting under His guidance. As Sri Krsna states:


mayadhyaksena prakrtih
suyate sa-caracaram
hetunanena kaunteya
jagad viparivartate

"This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is being created and annihilated again and again." (Bg. 9.10)

Mayadhyaksena means "under My supervision." Material nature cannot act so wonderfully unless the Lord's hand is behind it. We cannot give any example of material things automatically working. Matter is inert, and without the spiritual touch there is no possibility of its acting. Matter cannot act independently or automatically. Machines may be very wonderfully constructed, but unless a man touches that machine, it cannot work. And what is that man? He is a spiritual spark. Without spiritual touch, nothing can move; therefore everything is resting on Krsna's impersonal energy. Krsna's energy is impersonal, but He is a person. We often hear of persons performing wonderful actions, yet despite their energetic accomplishments, they still remain persons. If this is possible for human beings, why isn't it possible for the Supreme Lord? We are all persons, but we are all dependent upon Krsna, the Supreme Person.
We have often seen pictures of Atlas, a stout man bearing a large planet on his shoulders and struggling very hard to hold it up. We may think that because Krsna is maintaining the universe, He is struggling under its burden like Atlas. But this is not the case.