1682 -1755

Sri Vijaya dasaru Aradhana [Tirobhava tithi – Disappearance day]

November 24, 2020

Srila Prabhupada:  This verse indicates that oṁkāra, or praṇava, is a direct representation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, if at the time of death, one simply remembers oṁkāra, he remembers the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is therefore immediately transferred to the spiritual world. Oṁkāra is the basic principle of all Vedic mantras, for it is a representation of Lord Kṛṣṇa, understanding of whom is the ultimate goal of the Vedas, as stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ). Māyāvādī philosophers cannot understand these simple facts explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, and yet they are very proud of being Vedāntīs. Sometimes, therefore, we refer to the Vedāntī philosophers as Vidantīs, those who have no teeth (vi means “without,” and dantī means “possessing teeth”). The statements of the Śaṅkara philosophy, which are the teeth of the Māyāvādī philosopher, are always broken by the strong arguments of Vaiṣṇava philosophers such as the great ācāryas, especially Rāmānujācārya. Śrīpāda Rāmānujācārya and Madhvācārya break the teeth of the Māyāvādī philosophers, who can therefore be called Vidantīs, “toothless.”  https://prabhupadabooks.com/cc/adi/7/128

Hare Krsna to all

Over the years we have had hundreds of programs both here on our farm and back in Seattle. I am very grateful and thankful to Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krsna for arranging all these events to take place because without devotee association, this material world is a very miserable place.

Hare Krsna

damaghosa das

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Prabhupada’s lecture – Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.10.4 – Mayapura, June 19, 1973

Now here is very important word, that payasodhasvatīr mudā, udhasvatīr mudā. They were very jolly because they can understand whether they are going to be killed or not. Because they have got, they’re animal, they have got sense. I have seen in your country, almost all cows are crying, crying. Because in the beginning, all the calves are taken away and slaughtered in their presence. Perhaps you know. So what is the position of the cow? I have seen when we purchase cows, the calves are already taken away. The cow was crying, regular tears were gliding down. So they can understand that… Who cannot understand? Suppose if you are taken in the concentrated camp? Just like the Germans did. What is the meaning of concentrated…? That he’ll be killed after some days. So how you can be happy? If you are already informed, condemned to death, and kept in a concentration camp, will you be happy? Similarly, when these people take these cows to the slaughterhouse, animal stock room, go down, they understand. Very recently, about few years ago, some…, that animal stock store was some way or other broken and all the cows began to… Perhaps you know. It was published in the… And they were shot down. Shot to death. They were fleeing like anything, that “We shall save ourselves.”
So if the cows are not happy, if they are always afraid, that “This rascal will kill us at any moment,” then how they can be happy? There was no such thing. Therefore it is said: mudā. Mudā. Happy. And as soon as the cows are happy, you not only get sufficient milk, but the pasturing ground, I mean to say, ground, becomes moist with milk. So much milk supplied. Here it is stated, payasā udhasvatīr mudā. Yes. There is another description. Formerly, Kṛṣṇa’s cows, when they were passing on, the whole road will be moistened with milk. Milk supply was so sufficient. Simply manufacture butter, milk products, dahi… Distribute. Kṛṣṇa was distributing amongst the monkeys even: “Take,” the monkey, “come on.”
So by Kṛṣṇa’s grace if we actually become dharmic, follow Kṛṣṇa, the milk supply will be so profuse that everyone, even the animals can take the butter and yogurt. That is wanted. That is civilization. Produce sufficient quantity of grains, let the milk, cows, supply sufficient quantity of milk. All economic question solved. There is no use of industry. No use of man’s going fifty miles to work. No, there is no need. Simply land and cows. Here is the statement. Kāmaṁ parjanyaḥ, vavarṣa parjanyaḥ sarva-kāma-dughā. Everything you’ll get from the land.Even luxury articles. What can be more luxurious article than the jewels? The jewels are also produced. The medicine is produced, the minerals are produced, gold is produced, diamond is produced from the earth. Sarva-kāma-dughā. You get everything. Make your civilization very perfect, very luxurious simply by satisfying Kṛṣṇa. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
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Prabhupada: So you are being cheated for the last two hundred years, not for thousands of years. So it will be finished. Within another fifty years, everything will be finished.—Morning Walk at Cheviot Hills Golf Course — May 15, 1973

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Adi 10.56—Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu bestows His causeless mercy upon His devotees in three features: His own direct appearance [sākṣāt], His prowess within someone He empowers [āveśa], and His manifestation [āvirbhāva].

PURPORT-The sākṣāt feature of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is His personal presence. Āveśa refers to invested power, like that invested in Nakula Brahmacārī. Āvirbhāva is a manifestation of the Lord that appears even though He is personally not present. For example, Śrī Śacīmātā offered food at home to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu although He was far away in Jagannātha Purī, and when she opened her eyes after offering the food she saw that it had actually been eaten by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Similarly, when Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura performed saṅkīrtana, everyone felt the presence of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, even in His absence. This is another example of āvirbhāva. Link to this page: https://prabhupadabooks.com/cc/adi/10/56

Adi 10.60––Śrīla Śivānanda Sena experienced the three features sākṣāt, āveśa and āvirbhāva. Later I shall vividly describe this transcendentally blissful subject.

PURPORT–Śrīla Śivānanda Sena has been described by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Mahārāja as follows: He was a resident of Kumārahaṭṭa, which is also known as Hālisahara, and was a great devotee of the Lord. About one and a half miles from Kumārahaṭṭa is another village, known as Kāṅcaḍāpāḍā, in which there are Gaura-Gopāla Deities installed by Śivānanda Sena, who also established a temple of Kṛṣṇarāya that is still existing. Śivānanda Sena was the father of Paramānanda Sena, who was also known as Purī dāsa or Kavi-karṇapūra. Paramānanda Sena wrote in his Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā (176) that two of the gopīs of Vṛndāvana, whose former names were Vīrā and Dūtī, combined to become his father. Śrīla Śivānanda Sena guided all the devotees of Lord Caitanya who went from Bengal to Jagannātha Purī, and he personally bore all the expenses for their journey. This is described in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā, Chapter Sixteen, verses 19 through 27. Śrīla Śivānanda Sena had three sons, named Caitanya dāsa, Rāmadāsa and Paramānanda. This last son later became Kavi-karṇapūra, and he is the author of Gaura-gaṇoddeśa-dīpikā. His spiritual master was Śrīnātha Paṇḍita, who was Śivānanda Sena’s priest. Due to Vāsudeva Datta’s lavish spending, Śivānanda Sena was engaged to supervise his expenditures.Śrī Śivānanda Sena actually experienced Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s features of sākṣat, āveśa and āvirbhāva. He once picked up a dog while on his way to Jagannātha Purī, and it is described in the Antya-līlā, First Chapter, that this dog later attained salvation by his association. When Śrīla Raghunātha dāsa, who later became Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, fled his paternal home to join Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, his father wrote a letter to Śivānanda Sena to get information about him. Śivānanda Sena supplied him the details for which he asked, and later Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī’s father sent some servants and money to Śivānanda Sena to take care of Raghunātha dāsa Gosvāmī. Once Śrī Śivānanda Sena invited Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu to his home and fed Him so sumptuously that the Lord felt indigestion and was somewhat sick. This became known to Śivānanda Sena’s son, who gave the Lord the kinds of food that would help His digestion, and thus Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very pleased. This is described in the Antya-līlā, Tenth Chapter, verses 142 through 151.Once while going to Jagannātha Purī all the devotees had to stay underneath a tree, without the shelter of a house or even a shed, and Nityānanda Prabhu became very angry, as if He were greatly disturbed by hunger. Thus He cursed Śivānanda’s sons to die. Śivānanda’s wife was very much aggrieved at this, and she began to cry. She very seriously thought that since her sons had been cursed by Nityānanda Prabhu, certainly they would die. When Śivānanda later returned and saw his wife crying, he said, “Why are you crying? Let us all die if Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu desires.” When Śivānanda Sena returned and Śrīla Nityānanda Prabhu saw him, the Lord kicked him severely, complaining that He was very hungry, and asked why he did not arrange for His food. Such is the behavior of the Lord with His devotees. Śrīla Nityānanda Prabhu behaved like an ordinary hungry man, as if completely dependent on the arrangements of Śivānanda Sena.There was a nephew of Śivānanda Sena’s named Śrīkānta who left the company in protest of Nityānanda Prabhu’s curse and went directly to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu at Jagannātha Purī, where the Lord pacified him. 

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“Regarding the parampara system: there is nothing to wonder for big gaps. We have to pick up the prominent acarya and follow from him.” (12 April, 1968, Letter) [This quote clarifies everything about the “living guru ” issue, a true Guru is eternally present with his sincere disciples, hence leaving no doubts that Srila Prabhupada is the prominent acarya and all should follow him.]
“If you have understood this Krishna philosophy and if you have decided that you will take Krishna consciousness seriously and preach the philosophy to others; that is your initiation. My touch is simply a formality. It is your determination that is initiation.” (Back To Godhead Article, ‘Search for the Divine’)
Reporter: Who will succeed you when you die?Srila Prabhupada: I will never die. I will live forever from my books and you will utilize. (1975, Berkley, Interview)

“Just like Krishna can be present simultaneously in millions of places, similarly the spiritual master also can be present wherever the disciple wants. A spiritual master is the principle, not the body.” (28 May, 1968, Letter)
Tamala Krishna: Can a Christian in this age, without a Spiritual Master, but by reading the Bible, and following Jesus’ words, reach the…
Srila Prabhupada: When you read the Bible, you follow the Spiritual Master. How can you say without? As soon as you read the Bible, that means you are following the instruction of Lord Jesus Christ. That means that you are following the Spiritual Master. So where is the opportunity of being without Spiritual Master?”
Madhudvisa: I was referring to a living Spiritual Master.
Srila Prabhupada: Spiritual Master is not question of…Spiritual Master is eternal…so your question is ‘without Spiritual Master’. Without Spiritual Master you cannot be at any stage of your life. You may accept this Spiritual Master or that Spiritual Master. That is a different thing. But you have to accept. As you say that ‘by reading Bible’, when you read Bible that means you are following the Spiritual Master represented by some priest or some clergyman in the line of Lord Jesus Christ.(21 July, 1975, Room Conversation)

by Ishan das

Krishna Consciousness, a Transcendental Apprenticeship Program

In 1972-73 Srila Prabhupada arranged for some professional mridanga makers to make drums right on our newly acquired land in Sridham Mayapur. He felt that it was a dying art and he wanted some of our boys to learn the process. When I saw that airmail letter on the desk of the temple president in Toronto, Canada, my first thought was, “That’s for me.” A few months later I was crossing the Jalangi River on my way to Sridham Mayapur.

The mridangas are made by two different men. The potter who makes all varieties of clay utensils, makes the shells; and another man does the leather work. In India, learning these processes was an apprenticeship program. This means one has to become the humble servant of the master; there is no other way. Also there’s a very heart-centered aspect of the process; the exchange of knowledge and service is an exchange of love. As the apprentice serves the master with feelings of affection and respect, the master is moved to share the knowledge of his craft, knowledge that has been cultivated for generations.

Serving these men meant doing the most basic of chores, such as digging clay out of the earth and removing every grain of sand by hand, and staking out freshly removed cow hides in the field, and scraping the skins.

The mridanga hut was a bamboo structure, about 10 feet square, set on a slightly raised structure with an earthen floor. I was not the only western boy there with the desire to learn the art; there were some half dozen others. But there was a difference. Whereas I was on the inside of the hut scraping skins, the other boys sat outside with clipboards and note pads, making notes. With the help of a Bengali interpreter they would put their questions to the mridanga mistri (mechanic).

Boy with clipboard: “Why does he do such and such part of the process in that way? Why does he not do it……etc, etc.?” There is a silence as everyone waits for his answer. “My father did it this way.”, he says quietly, and continues his work.

In this way the learning process continues. The clipboard team make their notes. And I do whatever little task that is given to me by our teacher, like a hungry dog that is thrown scraps from the table. And then one day, our teacher pauses. Hunched over in squat position, leather-cutting knife in hand, he looks up from his work. With a very quiet and calm voice, he points his knife, one by one, at the boys on the clipboard team, and in a quiet and calm voice, he says, “Mridanga mistri nay. Mridanga mistri nay. Mridanga mistri nay.” There is a stillness in the hut. And then our teacher points his knife at me, and says with a gentle smile on his lips, “Ishan Prabhu, mridanga mistry.” Then, knife in hand, he draws a map of the world on the dirt floor of the hut indicating that my drums would one day be all over the planet.

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Adi 9.51—The great gardener, Lord Caitanya, personally eats this fruit, and as a result He constantly remains mad, as if helpless and bewildered.

PURPORTIt is the mission of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to act Himself and teach the people. He says, āpani ācari’ bhakti karila pracāra (Cc. Ādi 4.41). One must first act himself and then teach. This is the function of a real teacher. Unless one is able to understand the philosophy that he speaks, it will not be effective. Therefore one should not only understand the philosophy of the Caitanya cult but also implement it practically in one’s life.While chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sometimes fainted and remained unconscious for many hours. He prays in His Śikṣāṣṭaka (7):yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṇa cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṇa me”O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from My eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.” This is the perfectional stage of chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and eating the fruit of love of Godhead, as exhibited by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. One should not artificially imitate this stage, but if one is serious and sincerely follows the regulative principles and chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, the time will come when these symptoms will appear. Tears will fill his eyes, he will be unable to chant distinctly the mahā-mantra, and his heart will throb in ecstasy. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu says that one should not imitate this, but a devotee should long for the day to come when such symptoms of trance will automatically appear in his body.

Adi 9.53—Persons who had formerly criticized Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, calling Him a drunkard, also ate the fruit and began to dance, saying, “Very good! Very good!”

PURPORT-When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu started the saṅkīrtana movement, even He was unnecessarily criticized by Māyāvādīs, atheists and fools. Naturally we are also criticized by such men. They will always remain and will always criticize anything that is actually good for human society. But the preachers of the saṅkīrtana movement should not be deterred by such criticism. Our method should be to convert such fools gradually by asking them to come and take prasāda and chant and dance with us. This should be our policy. Anyone who comes to join us, of course, must be sincere and serious regarding spiritual advancement in life; then such a person, simply by joining us, chanting with us, dancing with us and taking prasāda with us, will gradually also come to say that this movement is very good. But one who joins with an ulterior purpose, to get material benefit or personal gratification, will never be able to grasp the philosophy of this movement.

Sept 21 1970 letter to Isana...In my books I have tried to explain clearly this simultaneously one and different philosophy acinta beda beda tattva propounded by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. But sometimes it happens that this philosophy is given a self-interested interpretation. As soon as personal motivation comes in it is not possible for one to understand our Krishna Consciousness philosophy

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720629rc.sd Conversations331292/530501
Prabhupada: The villagers, they have cows and land. That is sufficient
for their economic problem. But the industrialists, they are alluring
them, “To get more money, come here.” So they are going to the cities.
And the food production in the village is neglected. And therefore the
food grain price is rising. Actually, everyone should be engaged to
produce food, but the modern set-up of civilization is that few people
are engaged in producing food, and others are eating. They are
offering… They are artificially getting money. So they are offering
paper, “Here is ten dollars.” Although it is a paper, cheating. And
they are captivated by cheating. They, they are thinking, “I have got
now hundred dollars.” What is this hundred dollars? It is paper. So some people are cheating and some people are being cheated. This is
the society.
Mother: Yes. But I think one has to be clever enough not to let people
cheat you.
Prabhupada: Clever means that he must stay in his own land. He should
not be cheated by the paper and go to the city.

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Dec 16 1976 Hyderabad

Dr. Ramachandra: I only want that your movement should utilize my services because I believe service to mankind is service to God.

Prabhupāda: No, no, service to God is service to mankind.If you pour water in the root, then it is service to the tree. And if you pour water on the leaf, then nobody is served. Everything will be dry, that’s all. That is imperfect service. If you have got realization of God, why should you give only human being service? Why not tiger? He is also… Kṛṣṇa says, “They are also My sons.” That means you discriminate. That is not that… Father will be satisfied when all the sons are given, not partial, not partial. Suppose I have got five children. If you give service to one children, so I’ll ask that “Why not other children?” Naturally.

Dr. Ramachandra: Discrimination comes.

Prabhupāda: Discrimination comes. So if you have realized God, then you must be learned. Paṇḍitāḥ sama-darśinaḥ [Bg. 5.18].

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Prabhupada’s lecture –  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.8.47 – Māyāpura, October 27, 1974
So the so-called sneha, if it is not properly done… Nature’s regulation is so strict that you cannot avoid the consequence. That is not possible. These are practical. I have seen another practical… In front of our residence there was another neighbor. So the old man had his daughter-in-law. So she was beating her one child. So I inquired through my servant, “Why this young woman is beating her child?” Now, then the servant brought me the news that this boy gave paraṭā to his elder brother who is suffering from typhoid. The typhoid… In typhoid fever, solid food is forbidden strictly, but the boy did not know.He asked his younger brother that “If you steal one paraṭā and if you give me, I am very much hungry.” So he became very sympathetic to his brother, and he gave the paraṭā. And the boy was ill; he aggravated the illness. So as soon as the mother heard that he gave a paraṭā to him, he (she) began to beat: “Why did you give?” Now, it was charity, it was affection and sympathetic, but the result was beating with shoes. So if we do not know where charity should be given, then, where affection should be there, then we are under the laws of nature; we shall be punished if it is not properly done. There is punishment.

March 14 1976 conversations

If someone gives to a person for spiritual…, consciously for spiritual improvement…
Prabhupāda: There is no question of…

Acyutānanda: …and the person misuses the money, does he benefit?Prabhupāda: Eh?

Acyutānanda: If a man says, “I am giving you this donation because it is a spiritual organization,” but if the money is misused, does that man benefit?

Prabhupāda: If money is misused, then both of them become implicated. If it is not used for Kṛṣṇa, then both of them becomes under the laws of karma.

Acyutānanda: But that man is sincere.

Prabhupāda: Well, this word sincere, there is no meaning unless he is a devotee. Ei bala ei manda sab mano dharma: “These are all mental concoction.” There is no meaning. “This man is good. This man is sincere. This man is bad. This man is…” They are all mental concoction. Only good is he who is Kṛṣṇa conscious. Others all rascals.

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