krsna

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India's population: A problem for all?

By Mark Tully

BBC correspondent in Delhi

By 2050, India is predicted to have overtaken China as the world's most populous nation. In an already overcrowded world, richer countries are being asked to share responsibility for the problem of this population explosion, which to a large extent is due to poverty.

India is expected to grow from 1.08bn to 1.63bn people by 2050

Wherever I go when I am in Britain, I find India is known for two things - poverty and population.

This latest report from the Population Reference Bureau is not going to do anything to improve India's reputation.

I say reputation because so many people I meet blame India for having such a large population.

They seem to think that because small families have become the norm in the West, Indians with large families are irresponsible and should be disciplined to ensure they do not have too many children.

"After all," I am told, "China had a one-child family policy. Why can't India?"

Even the most ardent fans of Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India's first prime minister and the founder of the dynasty which still dominates Indian politics, would agree that he did not take population control sufficiently seriously.

Sterilisation scare

But when his daughter, Indira Gandhi, tried to make up for that by pursuing a draconian population control policy, she made matters worse.

During the state of emergency she imposed in the mid-1970s, police and other officials were ordered to enforce family planning - and compulsory sterilisation was the weapon they were given.

Reporting on the election campaign at the end of the emergency in 1977, I met a 70-year-old man who had been sterilised, and heard many more stories like his.

In rural areas, men often told me they hid in the sugar cane when officials visited their villages, for fear of being sterilised.

Government school teachers admitted forcing men to be sterilised, because even they had been given family planning targets they had to achieve.

Indira Gandhi dismissed those stories as rumour-mongering, but the voters did not.

PREDICTED POPULATIONS, 2050

1 India, 1,628m (2)

2 China, 1,437m (1)

3 United States, 420m (3)

4 Indonesia, 308m (4)

5 Nigeria, 307m (9)

Source: PRB (2004 position in brackets)

They threw Indira out in the election at the end of the emergency, humiliating her worst in areas where the compulsory sterilisers had been most active.

As a result, for 20 years no politician dared to suggest family planning might be a good idea.

Now family planning is back on the agenda and the population growth has slowed down, although not enough for Western critics.

But there is a problem: they do not understand.

They are concerned about the growing population because of the strain on global energy resources.

Chinese and Indians are already consuming so much oil that they are having a serious impact on world prices at a time like this, when there are fears of a global shortage.

But the experts of the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute confidently assert: "People usually have as many children as they think they can afford," and scarce energy, they maintain, will mean more expensive energy and so fewer children.

Those American population pundits should - as I did - share a meal with Budh Ram, a landless labourer in the Northern State of Uttar Pradesh.

There were about 17 of us squatting on the sunbaked mud of his small courtyard.

The food was dhal, some watery vegetable especially for the occasion and chapatis.

Family assets

Budh Ram's was a traditional extended family, so by no means everyone was a direct relative, but he insisted on telling me how each person contributed to the family coffers.

Finally he came to a boy of about seven and said: "Even he takes the village cattle out to graze."

But what about those Western critics of India I meet? Are they entirely blameless? I think not

Budh Ram - like millions of Indians - was barely in the cash economy, and for him each child was a potential economic asset.

That Indians are not opposed to family planning on religious or any other cultural grounds is shown by the fact that they take to small families enthusiastically when they are firmly in the cash economy.

The problem lies with those Indians who are not.

India can not escape all the blame for the poverty which produces large families.

The new prime minister, the economist Dr Manmohan Singh, has already said the government must reform what he calls the delivery systems - the civil service and other institutions, which can swallow up as much as 85% of funds allocated for improving the lot of the poor.

Any new money Dr Manmohan Singh has announced for the poor will go down the drain, too, if the bureaucracy, hated by villagers for its arrogance and corruption, still retains its British Raj structure.

But what about those Western critics of India I meet? Are they entirely blameless? I think not. Nor do Indian critics of the West.

They ask what the rich countries are going to do to help.

I believe they can help by accepting that the global economy is skewed in their favour, and appreciating that the gap between those in the cash economy and those outside is their problem too.

If the richer nations do not accept poverty is a global problem, they are never going to get beyond hopeless, helpless, Malthusian hand-wringing.

Vyasa-Puja Offering 2000

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by Vishoka Dasa

______________

Dear Srila Prabhupada,

Those who continually associate with you, by hearing your tapes and reading your books, throughout the day, are the most fortunate beings in the universe. The transcendental sound vibration from your lectures and kirtan tapes has the power to liberate even a casual bystander who hears only one word.

Either understanding, or not understanding the purport of the Krsna prema emanating from your lotus lips on your tapes, every listener, whether casual or attentive, are all purified, knowingly or unknowingly. Even if we can’t quite hear what you say, even if we are busy in the asrama and can’t hear every word, or we’re driving the car and the traffic noise drowns out what you say, still your transcendental sound vibration purifies everything, it purifies our hearts and the atmosphere around us, even the walls and furniture. Even if I’m spacing out and thinking about something else, still your transcendental words are purifying my soul. Therefore, we shall always endeavor to hear your tapes in all circumstances, as they are always supremely auspicious for all living entities.

Dear Srila Prabhupada, I love to hear your powerful voice as you smash the rascal scientists in your lectures. I love to hear your mock debates with your disciples, as they play the devil’s advocate, and how you smash their atheistic arguments. Once, a disciple said, ”But you are the only person saying this!” And you immediately countered, “Then I am the ONLY intelligent person!” Everyone roared with laughter. And then you said, “This is a fact!” Yes, Srila Prabhupada, it is a fact, that you, and other Vaisnavas as well, are the only intelligent men in this material world.

I only feel safe and secure, only when I’m hearing your transcendental voice on my tape player. Whenever I start to feel insecure and fearful of this material existence, then I play your tapes, and then my fear will immediately fade away.

I love to hear you tell the glories of Lord Sri Krsna in your original dictation tapes of the Krsna book. I love to hear your transcendental voice recite the prayers of Akrura and King Mucukunda and Lord Brahma and others, as your transcendental voice surcharges the transcendental potency of the great devotee prayers of the Bhagavatam. The sweetness of the Tenth Canto becomes unlimitedly sweeter by your transcendental voice.

I love to hear your transcendental comment about the ice cream truck outside the temple on La Cienega Blvd. You faintly hear a bell outside the window, coming up the street, and you stopped your lecture, and said, “What is that sound?” One disciple said, “It's an ice cream truck, Srila Prabhupada.” You paused for a moment, and then said, “Just see, here is maya!” Everyone laughs. And then you said, “Here is maya, come and take, come and take…” This is so transcendentally humorous, that I can listen to this tape over and over and laugh every time.

I love to hear your classic vintage kirtans, especially the one where there is some bhakta baby who’s crying, who accents your kirtan, as he cries out for Krsna right on beat, exactly when you chant the holy name of Lord Caitanya. I also love your kirtan where you play the gong so loud and transcendentally in time. And your harmonium playing is unparalleled in all the three worlds, and even the Gandarvas are swooning in ecstasy and amazement when you play the harmonium, as every note is divinely inspired by Supersoul.

In all circumstances, may we always hear your tapes and read your books, and thus we will always feel safe and secure in this dangerous material world.

Your servant,

Vishoka Dasa

Sadhu, Sadhu Sadhu !

From Jiva Goswami's Krsna Sandarbha:

"Gokula, the supreme abode and planet, appears like a lotus flower that has a thousand petals. The whorl of that lotus is the abode of the Supreme Lord, Krsna. This lotus-shaped supreme abode is created by the will of Lord Ananta.

The whorl of that transcendental lotus is the realm wherein dwells Krsna. It is a hexagonal figure, the abode of the indwelling predominated and predominating aspect of the Absolute. Like a diamond, the central supporting figure of self-luminous Krsna stands as the transcendental source of all potencies. The holy name consisting of eighteen transcendental letters is manifested in a hexagonal figure with six fold divisions.

The whorl of that eternal realm Gokula is the hexagonal abode of Krsna. Its petals are the abodes of gopas who are part and parcel of Krsna, to Whom they are most lovingly devoted and are similar in essence. The petals shine beautifully like so many walls. The extended leaves of that lotus are the garden-like dhama, i.e. spiritual abode of Sri Radhika, the most beloved of Krsna

After the description of the internal abode of Sri Krsna, which is the whorl of the lotus flower known as Goloka, there is a description of the petals situated about that abode. Those petals are the abodes of the cowherd residents of Goloka, who are all relatives and friends of Sri Krsna...

On this lotus flower of Goloka Vrndavana are many petals known as 'patrani sriyam', the many gardens which are abodes of Srimati Radharani and the gopis. Where these petals join the whorl of the Goloka lotus flower, the paths of Goloka are situated, and the extensions of these petals are the places of the cow-pastures of Goloka. In this way the different parts of the lotus flower of Gokula Vrndavana are described."

A Letter from HH Bhakti-tirtha Maharaja

My heartfelt feelings for Maharaja impelled me to send him an email. I mentioned our service to Srila Prabhupada together on the BBT Library Party in the mid-1970s. I asked him to kindly advise me from his state of heightened realization in Krsna consciousness. This is his well-wishing reply to me.

Dear Suhotra Swami,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.

How wonderful it was to receive your letter. I really like your example of how we were side by side in the womb in our service to Srila Prabhupada. This really shows how much we are spiritual brothers in a very awesome way. So many of these early experiences have created what we presently are. And so many of these early experiences have given us realizations as well as many wounds and scars, but ultimately all of these are opportunities for growth.

First let me apologise for much of my association in those earlier days or during those times. I was so karmakandic, self centered and self righteous. Somehow you seemed to tolerate me most of the time. I feel more thankful, that through all of these years (even though we did not have so much physical association) that you continued to see me as a friend. It was something special recently serving with you on the GBC executive board. It was also special, when you were elected as chairman; and you came around to most of the leaders in such a humble way asking for their blessings and support. Also the short conversation we had at the airport where you informed me that you have been having many great challenges with depression that I could realise even more how sensitive and yes how serious a devotee you are.

I know by now you have analysed your depression in so many ways but I am sure that a major part of your depression is due to how sensitive you are. You are super-intelligent and super sensitive. This is your blessing and your curse. One of the suggestions that I would offer is to see your depression as a blessing. In one sense it is the other side of spiritual ecstacy. When one is really depressed, one is so fully absorbed in the depths of emptiness. This is the extreme intensity of mental culture but it is this extreme intensity of mental culture that is necessary to dive deeper to connecting more internally with Krsna. So you may want to accept a little more that you have been blessed with great intellectual and mental intensity which both can be fantastic assets in connecting deeper with Krsna.

Those of us who understand or have experience with very deep depression can have empathy and compassion for others suffering, far greater than what most people can understand. As preachers we have a duty to reach out, especially to facilitate and educate and uplift, while we help others to minimize their own sufferings. So just like you said in the ending of your letter (“so what can I say” – go for it!). Use all this intensity to connect more internally with so many great beings that are ready to connect with you. And of course use this intensity so that you can connect more with those physically around you who you can help. Krsna and Srila Prabhupada have no favorites. There is a tremendous great need now in the world as well as in our institution. So let us make ourselves available to fulfill that need. Or let us try our best to make ourselves available to fulfill that need.

Yours in the service to Srila Prabhupada.

With Love

Bhakti-Tirtha Swami

A Letter to the Members of the GBC by HH Bhakti-tirtha Maharaja

Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:42 am

Dear Maharajas and Prabhus,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

First let me beg forgiveness for my constant arrogance. Actually, this is the way I cover up so many of my faults. When there is no arrogance in my behavior or letters then you should know, for sure, I am leaving the body. (Smile)

Yesterday, a Godbrother called me. As he spoke he was in tears. He had consulted a reputable devotee astrologer who told him he saw sudden death for me in my astrological chart. He shared that he had placed my picture between his two Silas to offer daily prayers. We both agreed, however, that the "Krsna factor" could maintain or change any situation.

A short time later, I read my e-mails and saw that several devotees had written, sharing how they came so close to death and somehow pulled out of it. I was in awe at the near-death experiences of so many devotees and how so many have such intense faith and devotion. What a wonderful spiritual family we have!

Today, I spent the morning and evening taking different tests inside of machines. Physicians at the Washington Cancer Center want to look closer at what areas of the body have or have not been affected. During the two hours I spent in the MRI machine I again had such a wonderful meditation. I saw myself being in Mayapur at the GBC meeting and I meditated on each of you, your dedication to Srila Prabhupada, the attacks and challenges each of you encounter, the amazing sacrifices each of you make almost daily, how year after year each of you go on in spite of the confusion, problems, disappointments, sickness, etc. What can I say? By the time I went around the GBC table (in my mind) I was somewhat intoxicated with appreciation and gratitude to have your association. All of you are so empowered.

Two years ago I did this during one of the meetings. I did not want to come to the meetings, so from the first day to the last, I meditated on something special each of you offer to ISKCON. I felt great satisfaction and happiness all during the meetings, especially since I am one of those who do not like meetings that are over one hour long.

Today I found out some devotees are setting up a fund for my medical expenses. Maybe I will get sufficient donations to pay off my Turley case assessments in full. Krsna is so full of tricks and does many things at the same time. (Smile)

I see the surgeon on Thursday, and he will surely recommend amputation, chemotherapy, and a host of other such things. By next week I will inform you of my plan, perhaps where I will go and what I will do. If you want to make Krsna laugh, just tell Him your plans. (Smile)

Yours in Srila Prabhupada's service,

With love,

Bhakti Tirtha Swami

Appreciation of Srimate Shyama dasi

by Radhanath Swami

Posted August 27, 2004

The departure of Srimate Shyama Dasi is certainly a sad loss for the world. She was one of those very special intimate associates of Srila Prabhupada, who showered extraordinary affection upon her. In the early years of ISKCON she assisted her husband Hayagriva Prabhu in editing Srila Prabhupads books. She was an affectionate mother to us in New Vrindaban. She nurtured our hearts with faith as she expressed her love for Srila Prabhupada. With a most sweet enthusiasm she loved to speak of Srila Prabhupadas merciful qualities. Her selfless service as a mother and disciple was a source of great inspiration. Her natural devotional qualities were foundational in the beginning years of Lord Chaitanyas movement in the west. As an offering of love to Srila Prabhupada she and Hayagriva Prabhu gave birth to two wonderful sons, Samba and Hari Prasad.

On the day of San Francisco Ratha Yatra she eagerly anticipated attending. While in this state of enthusiasm to serve and see Lord Jagannath, she was taken by the Lord and her merciful Guru Maharaja.

I gratefully worship the remembrance of this of this special soul.

Why we enjoy telling people off

It is linked to the area of the brain associated with enjoyment

People genuinely enjoy telling others off if they have done something wrong, according to scientists.

Researchers from the University of Zurich in Switzerland tested seven pairs of men as they played a game.

The game involved money changing hands. If one player failed to play fairly, he tended to be punished by the other.

Writing in Science, the researchers said telling someone off activated a part of the brain which is linked to enjoyment and satisfaction.

The researchers said it may explain why many people choose to reprimand others if they break the rules or abuse their trust.

Game playing

The men playing the game were unable to see each other. They were each given 10 units of money and told they could increase their winnings if they trusted each other.

The first player was given the option of keeping all his money or giving it to his opponent.

Psychologically this makes sense

Dr Mike Isaac,

Consultant psychiatrist

If he kept his money, he did not make anything extra. But if he gave it all to his opponent, the opponent's winnings would quadruple.

The second player would then be asked whether he wanted to keep the money or share it with his opponent.

If he failed to share it, the first player would be asked whether or not his opponent should be punished. They were given one minute to make their decision.

In six out of the seven cases, they chose to reprimand them. During the time, it took them to make their decision, scientists monitored their brain.

They found that deciding to impose a penalty activated the dorsal striatum region of the brain. This region is known to be involved in feelings of enjoyment and satisfaction.

The researchers said the findings suggest that people genuinely enjoy reprimanding others if they break normal rules.

"Our findings support the hypothesis that people derive satisfaction from punishing norm violations," they wrote.

However, Dr Mike Isaac, a consultant psychiatrist and senior lecturer at the Maudsley Hospital in London, said the jury was still out.

"Psychologically this makes sense," he told BBC News Online. "We do like to tell each other off. It gives us a pleasing sense of superiority.

"But to say that this can be traced to a particular part of the brain is wrong. We simply cannot say that looking at images of the brain."

Sri Krsna-bhakti-ratna-prakasa

by Srila Raghava Gosvami

Their forms are not composed of material elements. Their forms are full of bliss. They are the single Supreme Spirit, manifested as two for the knowledge of the devotees.

The wise know that as a spark is one with the fire, so the potency and the master of potencies are one...

This is also described in the Govinda-Vrndavana-sastra, where Lord Krsna says to Balarama:

"My beloved Radhika is the form of My three transcendental potencies. As I am beyond the touch of matter, so is She, whose form is My potency.

Manifest in three forms, I am spiritual, My form is beyond the touch of the three modes of matter. I am the master of everything, and She is the mistress of this master of everything. She is said to be the kriya-sakti. She has the same sweetness as the other two saktis."

That Radha is manifested from half of Lord Krsna’s form, and that She is the personification of all transcendental potencies is described in the Sammohana-tantra, where Narada Muni prays:

"O wonderfully opulent one, O one even Brahma, Siva, and all the demigods can approach, who are You? You never touch the path of the great yogis meditation.

"The potencies iccha-sakti, jnana-sakti and kriya-sakti, are tiny parts of parts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

"Whatever inconceivable potencies are the property of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu, the handsome master of all potencies, they are all the expansions of your expansions."

In this way it may be concluded that all potencies of the Lord are manifested from Sri Radha

Durga is identical to Krishna, as told by Jiva Goswami

Durga is also described in Narada-pancaratra, in the following conversation of Sruti and Vidya:

Durga is the supreme goddess. She is an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. She is the transcendental potency of the Lord. She is manifested from the form of Lord Maha-Vishnu.

Simply by understanding her one immediately attains the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is not otherwise.

Durga is the personal potency of Lord Krishna, and therefore she is Lord Krishna Himself. For this reason Durga should not be considered manifested from a portion of the Lord's illusory potency Maya. This fact is confirmed by the following statement of the Nirukti:

Even is one continually worships her, Durga is still difficult to understand.

In the Sammohana Tantra, Durga herself declares:

I am Durga. I possess all virtues. I am not different from Sri Radha, the eternal, supreme goddess of fortune.

She is identical with Gokula's queen Sri Radha, who possesses a great treasure of love for Krishna. By her grace the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all living entities, is easily understood.

Sometimes Goddess Durga is also described as the supreme controller. This is also correct because there is no difference between the potencies and Lord Krishna, the master of all potencies.

This is confirmed by the following words of the Gautamiya Tantra:

Krishna is Durga. Durga is Krishna. One who sees that they are different will not become liberated from the cycle of repeated birth and death."

Quote:

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If you develop krsna-bhakti all of your duties and obligations are finished. You are thinking, "This is my duty, my responsibility, to look after the maintenance of

my family, my wife and my children. But it is said, krsne bhakti kaile sarva-karma krta haya - "All of your work is finished." Everyone says this, but they are only speaking from the lips. In their heart, 99.9% people have no faith. Therefore Gauranga Mahaprabhu has said, ucca sankirtane kari sraddhara pracara - "Chant loudly:

hare krsna hare krsna

krsna krsna hare hare

hare rama hare rama

rama rama hare hare.

Inculcate sraddha, faith, unto those people who have not developed sraddha."

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Kübler-Ross dead at 78

Author of 'On Death and Dying' forever changed how society viewed and treated the terminally ill

BY JAMIE TALAN

STAFF WRITER

August 26, 2004

Two days ago, surrounded by children, grandchildren and two close friends, the woman who made it acceptable and imperative to talk openly about death and dying was asked whether she was ready to "transition."

"Not yet," said Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, 78, who started the discussions on the death process more than 35 years ago.

Since 1995, she had suffered a series of strokes that left her partially paralyzed and found herself working through the very stages of dying she outlined in the 1969 book, "On Death and Dying." She told friends and family she experienced them all: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

"When will you know that you are ready?" her close friend, Brookes Cohen, asked at her bedside at an assisted-living facility in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"I will know it from my head to toe," she answered.

As hours passed, she lost the ability to talk, so her readiness went unacknowledged. She died Tuesday evening as her grandchildren played and the television blared in her room.

As word spread of her declining state, scores of family and friends had come to say good-bye. And they reported that, in the end, the small woman with the powerful message that became synonymous with her name met the good death.

"Elisabeth had always said that you die in character and die authentically," said David Kessler, a grief and loss therapist who co-wrote "Life Lessons" with Kübler-Ross and who was summoned to her bedside over the weekend. Kessler and Kübler-Ross closed the last chapter of her work life two weeks ago when she ordered him to send their editor a manuscript for their next book, "Grief and Grieving.Turn it in," she told Kessler. But he told her it needed further revisions. "We're done," she added.

After her health began to decline, she told him that "people love my stages. They just don't want me to be in one."

Kübler-Ross was born in 1926 in Switzerland. After graduating medical school at the University of Zurich in 1957, she headed to the United States. She quickly became "appalled by the standard treatment of dying patients" in New York, she wrote. Kübler-Ross had a rotating internship at Community Hospital in Glen Cove in 1958 and 1959.

But Kessler said that the roots of her experience were actually in her childhood: At age 8, she shared a hospital room with a girl who died alone in a bleak, sterile environment. Two years later, she traveled with her parents to visit a dying friend awash in flowers and visitors, surrounded by a large bay window. "That, she said, was her idea of a good death," Kessler added.

In 1968, she taught a then-novel course on death and dying for medical students at the University of Chicago. Through a one-way mirror, faculty and students would watch as she talked with a dying patient.

Dennis Klass, professor of religious studies at Webster University in St. Louis, assisted her during the course. "The subject was threatening in a culture where people had lost their way around dying," he said. "Death became the enemy in modern medical technology. The physician sitting and comforting the patient at the bedside was over. [instead] they were there trying to save them." Kübler-Ross wanted doctors to see that dying people can teach something. "Death is part of life" was her refrain.

Through the years, a spiritual message emerged from her teachings: As Klass explained it, "If we accept death, people can more meaningfully get in touch with their purpose in the world."

At the time, the approach "was rather revolutionary," said Stephen Connor, vice president of National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Doctors thought it was all right not to tell patients about a fatal diagnosis.

"On Death and Dying" opened the door to the new movement that had begun in England. There are now more than 3,000 places where hospice care is delivered in the United States. Kübler-Ross went on to write 19 other books. "She was a guru," added retired Arizona State University professor Robert Kastenbaum, who worked in bereavement.

Kessler watched his mentor fight the effects of stroke, and wished death would end her suffering - even as she managed to write two more books. "Dying is nothing to fear," Kubler-Ross wrote. "It can be the most wonderful experience of your life. It all depends on how you lived."

Kübler-Ross was divorced though she remained close to her former husband, Emanuel, until the end of his life in 1992. She is survived by two children, Ken and Barbara Ross, and two grandchildren. Kübler-Ross was a triplet and is survived by her sister Eva Bacher-Kübler. Another sister, Erika Faust-Kübler, died in 2002.

The five stagesof grief, from Kübler-Ross' book, "On Death and Dying":

Denial --"Ain't gonna happen to me.Only happens to other folks."

Anger --"Damn it.God must be doin'a BIG mistake!"

Bargaining --" Hey God,let me live long enough to see my granchildren grow up,will ya?"

Depression--"Kill me now God.Don't let me live another moment."

Acceptance--"OK God Thy will be done."

"Srila Bhaktsiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura says that a devotee does not care about his own happiness or distress; he is simply interested in seeing that Krishna is happy, and for that purpose he engages in various activities. A pure devotee has no way of sensing happiness except by seeing that Krishna is happy in every respect. <font color="red"> If Krishna becomes happy by giving him distress, such a devotee accepts that unhappiness as the greatest of all happiness. </font color> Those who are materialistic, however, who are proud of material wealth and have no spiritual knowledge, like the prakrta-sahajiyas, regard their own happiness as the aim of life. Some of them aspire to enjoy themselves by sharing the happiness of Krishna. This is the mentality of the fruitive workers who want to enjoy sense gratification by making a show of service to Krishna."

(CC Ant 20.52)

Narayana Maharaja said :

" I also had so many obligations – to my mother, father, newly married wife (15 years old) and children. But I became maddened with a desire to serve our Gurudeva, and forgot that there were any responsibilities in this world. I secretly left home on the day of Amavasya at midnight, when my little children slept deeply........"

It is said, therefore, by Vaisnava authorities that even the most intelligent person cannot understand the plans and activities of a pure devotee. The exact words are vaisnavera kriyä mudrä vijne nä bhujhayä [Caitanya-bhägavata]. A person who is thus always engaged in the service of the Lord or is always thinking and planning how to serve the Lord is to be considered completely liberated at present and in the future. <font color="red"> His going home, back to Godhead, is guaranteed. </font color> He is above all materialistic criticism, just as Krsna is above all criticism.

[bhagavad-gita As It Is, 9.28 P]

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Ecclisiastical councils,church bishops,popular opinion....?

KRISHNA DID NOT DESCEND TO VRINDAVAN

Srila Viswanath Chakravarti Thakur Purport to Bhag. 10.1.28:

All perfect Krishna is eternally present in His spiritual form in Mathura in the material world. It is there that Krishna appears and becomes visible to the people of the world. Krishna does not descend from Vaikuntha. But when Krishna appears, His expansions from Vaikuntha and Swetadwip do descend and unite with Him. After the pastimes are over, these expansions return to their respective abodes. <font color="red">That these expansions descend from Vaikuntha and later return is mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam 3.2.15: paravareso mahad-amsa-yukto </font color> .

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YASODA HAD TWINS

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Srila Viswanath Chakravarti Thakur discusses that Krishna appeared simultaneously as the son of Devaki, and along with the spiritual energy Yogamaya as the son of Yasoda. As the son of Devaki He first appeared as Vishnu, and because Vasudev was not in the position of pure affection for Krishna, Vasudev worshiped his son as Lord Vishnu. Yasoda, however, pleased her son Krishna without understanding His Godhood. This is the difference between Krishna as the son of Yasoda and as the son of Devaki. This is explained by Viswanath Chakravarti on the au-thority of Hari-vam&#347;a.

— Purport to Bh&#257;g. 10.3.47.

Sanskrit Alphabet's Scientific Arrangement

http://www.hindu.com/2004/08/20/stories/2004082002710300.htm

MYSORE, INDIA, August 19, 2004: Recalling sage Panini's 2,000-year-old

contribution to acoustics, the former Vice-Chancellor of Hyderabad

University, B.S. Ramakrishna, on Thursday said the sage's

well-researched arrangement of the alphabet of Devanagiri script was a

unique effort. Inaugurating a national workshop on "Acoustic analysis

of speech" here, Prof. Ramakrishna said the scientific arrangement of

alphabets of Devanagiri script was in accordance with the pronunciation

of sounds. "This is not found in any other language in the world,"

Prof. Ramakrishna said. Prof. Ramakrishna described Panini as the first

researcher in the field of acoustics.

awesome quote by Srila Prabhupada:

In 1977 May 17 ar.VRN Conversations:

Prabhupada: " So I cannot speak. I am feeling very weak. I was to go to other places like Chandigarh program, but I cancelled the program because the condition of my health is very deteriorating. So I preferred to come to Vrndavana. If death takes place, let it take here. So there is nothing to be said new. Whatever I have to speak, I have spoken in my books. Now you try to understand it and continue your endeavor. Whether I am present or not present, it doesn't matter. As Krsna is living eternally, similarly, living being also lives eternally. But KIRTIR YASYA SA JIVATI: "ONE WHO HAS DONE SERVICE TO THE LORD LIVES FOREVER." So you have been taught to serve Krsna, and with Krsna we'll live eternally. Our life is eternal. Na hanyate hanyamane sarire. A temporary disappearance of this body, it doesn't matter. Body is meant for disappearance. Tatha dehantara-praptih. So live forever by serving Krsna. Thank you very much."

awesome quote by Srila Prabhupada:

In 1977 May 17 ar.VRN Conversations:

Prabhupada: " So I cannot speak. I am feeling very weak. I was to go to other places like Chandigarh program, but I cancelled the program because the condition of my health is very deteriorating. So I preferred to come to Vrndavana. If death takes place, let it take here. So there is nothing to be said new. Whatever I have to speak, I have spoken in my books. Now you try to understand it and continue your endeavor. Whether I am present or not present, it doesn't matter. As Krsna is living eternally, similarly, living being also lives eternally. But KIRTIR YASYA SA JIVATI: "ONE WHO HAS DONE SERVICE TO THE LORD LIVES FOREVER." So you have been taught to serve Krsna, and with Krsna we'll live eternally. Our life is eternal. Na hanyate hanyamane sarire. A temporary disappearance of this body, it doesn't matter. Body is meant for disappearance. Tatha dehantara-praptih. So live forever by serving Krsna. Thank you very much."

awesome quote by Srila Prabhupada:

In 1977 May 17 ar.VRN Conversations:

Prabhupada: " So I cannot speak. I am feeling very weak. I was to go to other places like Chandigarh program, but I cancelled the program because the condition of my health is very deteriorating. So I preferred to come to Vrndavana. If death takes place, let it take here. So there is nothing to be said new. Whatever I have to speak, I have spoken in my books. Now you try to understand it and continue your endeavor. Whether I am present or not present, it doesn't matter. As Krsna is living eternally, similarly, living being also lives eternally. But KIRTIR YASYA SA JIVATI: "ONE WHO HAS DONE SERVICE TO THE LORD LIVES FOREVER." So you have been taught to serve Krsna, and with Krsna we'll live eternally. Our life is eternal. Na hanyate hanyamane sarire. A temporary disappearance of this body, it doesn't matter. Body is meant for disappearance. Tatha dehantara-praptih. So live forever by serving Krsna. Thank you very much."

"Michael Jackson - Wanting to be Krsna"

It's hard to avoid being inundated these days by the extraordinary media exposure of the pop personality known as Michael Jackson. Those of us who have received the benediction of Vedic knowledge can see clearly how Jackson is the personification of the Vedic perception on why the conditioned souls have been placed in this material world on account of their desire to be God rather than serve God.

Here in the material world we observe that the embodied being is constantly in the dilemma of aspiring to be God, who is known as Krsna, the All Attractive, while simultaneously wanting to fulfill their natural constitutional position as being the servant of God. Jackson is not only trying to look like the ever-youthful Krsna, he has also obtained a relative degree of opulence in wealth, talent and beauty.

But as we know, the further one evolves away from their natural position of being the servant of God, the weirder one becomes. As Jackson illustrates, material wealth can quickly become a burden of debt, physical beauty can become grotesque, and talent can turn into madness and suffering. Krsna says 'Time I Am, the Destroyer of all things'. In the end, Krsna destroys everything through his influence as Kala, the time factor. Old age and disease will eventually strike down all the Krsna pretenders.

We are now witnessing the painful demise of Michael Jackson, who has been busily engaged in trying to act out the eternal pastimes of Krsna. He has created a world where he is the cynosure of all eyes. Surrounded by his 'cowherd boys', he is playing in his eternal Kingdom, which is aptly called Neverland. By remaining there, he'll never get to Vaikuntha.

In this material world there's a constant competition to be Krsna. Those who appear to manifest God-like qualities like fame, wealth and talent are also the targets of all the enviousness that is directed towards Krsna by those who want to be God. Michael Jackson is now constantly harassed by those who are envious of him and want to see him fall. Jackson remains so enamored by his own God-like status that he preaches as if his pastimes are transcendental, beyond the scrutiny of mundane man. He tries to explain to the press about his concept of morals and ethics, frustrated that they can't understand that his motives are completely void of any lust, anger or greed. Of course, we all know this is not possible. Such a state of existence is available only to those who are highly advanced spiritually. Beneath the veneer, Michael Jackson is just a sad pretender.

Rocana das