krsna

Posted by gHari Prabhu: Here in a Bhagavatam commentary, Srila Prabhupada shows a relationship between 'envy' and 'repulsion to sense objects': The symptoms of rAga and dveSa (attachment and envy) are described in Bhagavad-gItA (3.34): indriyasyendriyasyArthe rAga-dveSau vyavasthitau tayor na vazam Agacchet tau hy asya paripanthinau "Attraction and repulsion for sense objects are felt by embodied beings, but one should not fall under the control of senses and sense objects because they are stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization." ----- Accepting /rejecting is mental platform of life and that Love,(LUST)/Hate for sense enjoymentwill not bring any spiritual fruit. When will I throw away the yoke of sense gratification? Maya das is my present state. A godas,a servant of the senses and not a goswami, master of thesenses and a servant of Krishna When will I realize that-I am an eternal servant of the servant of Lord Sri Krishna ???

(1) 1.Hari he! prapance poriya, agati hoiya, na dekhi upaya ara agatira gati carane sarana tomaya korinu sara 2.karama geyana, kichu nahi mora, sadhana bhajana nai tumi krpa-moya, ami to kangala, ahaituki krpa cai 3.vakya-mano-vega, krodha-jihva-vega, udara-upasta-vega miliya e saba, somsare bhasa’ye diteche paramodvega 4.aneka jatane, se saba damane, chariyachi asa ami anathera natha! daki taba nama ekhona bharasa tumi Translation O Lord Hari, having fallen helplessly into the illusion of this world, I see no other means of deliverance but You. You are the only recourse for the helpless. I accept the shelter of Your lotus feet as essential. I have no knowledge, no background of pious activities, nor any history of strict devotional practice. But You are full of compassion and kindness. Therefore, although I am certainly destitute, I solicit Your causeless mercy. The powerful urges of speech, mind, anger, tongue, belly, and genital have banded together to cast me adrift on the sea of this material world, thus causing me great anxiety and trouble. After great endeavor to subdue these material demands, I have completely given up all hope. O Lord of the destitute, I call upon Your holy name, for now You are my only shelter. (2) 1-2.Hari he! arthera sancaye, bisaya-prayase ano-katha-prajalpane ano-adhikara, niyama agrahe, asat-sanga-samghatane asthira siddhante, rohinu mojiya, hari-bhakti roilo dure e hrdoye matro, para-hamsa, mada, pratistha, sathata sphure 3.e saba agraha, charite narinu, apama dosate mori janama bifala, hoilo amara ekhona ki kori, hari! 4.ami to’ patita, patita-pabana, tomara pabitra nama se sambandha dhori, tomara carane, sarana loinu hama Translation O Lord Hari, I have become absorbed in accumulating wealth and endeavoring for material possessions. I am addicted to speaking of topics apart from You and am always eager to accept practices apart from my own duties. I am in the habit of meeting with worldly men and am absorbed in speculative thinking. Therefore, devotion to You has remained distant from me. In this heart of mine dwells only envy and malice towards others false pride, hippocrisy, deceitfulness, and the desire for fame and honor. I have not been able to give up any of these attachments. Thus my own faults have been my down fall. My birth as a human being has been wasted. O Lord Hari, what am I to do now? I am indeed fallen; but Your holy name is the savior of the fallen. Clinging to that holy name, I have taken shelter at Your lotus feet.

The heart of a Vaisnava is as soft as a rose whereas the heart of a mayavadi is as hard as a thunderbolt. Let us pray at the lotus feet of Thakura Bhktivinoda that by Sri Gouranga's mercy our hearts melt in ecstatic love of God. ---------- Saranagati Bhajan: Both the monist philosophers and those bewildered by worldly affairs live in vain, for both are devoid of devotion to You. I pray at Your lotus feet, O Lord, that I may be spared the company of them both. Yet of the two the worldly man is better. I ask never to have the company of mayavadi. When the worldly man enters into the company of saintly persons within his heart he becomes inspiried by pure devotion through the mercy of those devotees. But woe to him who has known the offensive presence of impersonalist philosophy. Such sophistry makes the heart hard as a thunderbolt . The mayavada philosopher declares that the true form of bhakti, its object (Sri Krishna), and its possessor (the devotee) are all transitory and thus illusory. Fie on his pretense of service to Krishna, of hearing and chanting His glories! His so-called prayers strike the body of Krishna with blows more cruel that a thunderbolt. There is no philosophy as antagonistic to devotional service as mayavada philosophy. Therefore I do not desire the association of the mayavadi. Bhaktivinoda drives away the philosophy of illusionism and sits safely in the society of Vaisnavas under the shelter of the holy name.

PURPORT A person who cannot keep his faith in the words of his spiritual master but acts independently never receives the authority to chant the holy name of the Lord. It is said in the Vedas "Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed." This Vedic injunction is very important... - FOLLOWING the Sri Guru That's it hang onto the Guru's instructions As It Is Without adding substracting or deliberating He speaks directly : Those who are straight not crooked duplicious or conniving My life molded to conform to Sri Guru's words my life and soul I live Guru's Vani My very breath life and soul Without them- I'm asat, a dead man walking Apparently serving, But inside a zombie,a guru aparadhi who has turned his back on Guru's mercy. krsnadas

"NIMAI" Born Beneath a Nima Tree One day shortly after Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was born, Advaita Acharya's wife, Sitadevi, who is worshipable by the whole world, took her husband's permission and went to see that topmost child with all kinds of gifts and presentations. She brought different kinds of golden ornaments, including bangles for the hand, armlets, necklaces and anklets. There were also tiger nails set in gold, waist decorations of silk and lace, ornaments for the hands and legs, nicely printed silken saris and a child's garment, also made of silk. Many other riches, including gold and silver coins, were also presented to the child. Riding in a palanquin covered with cloth and accompanied by maidservants, Sita Thakurani came to the house of Jagannatha Misra, bringing with her many auspicious articles such as fresh grass, paddy, gorocana, turmeric, kunkuma and sandalwood. All these presentations filled a large basket. When Sita Thakurani came to the house of Sachidevi, bringing with her many kinds of eatables, dresses and other gifts, she was astonished to see the newly born child, for she appreciated that except for a difference in color, the child was directly Krsna of Gokula Himself. Seeing the transcendental bodily effulgence of the child, each of His nicely constructed limbs full of auspicious signs and resembling a form of gold, Sita Thakurani was very much pleased, and because of her maternal affection, she felt as if her heart were melting. She blessed the newly born child by placing fresh grass and paddy on His head and saying, "May You be blessed with a long duration of life." But being afraid of ghosts and witches, she gave the child the name Nimai. Dakini and Sankini are two companions of Lord Shiva and his wife who are supposed to be extremely inauspicious, having been born of ghostly life. It is believed that such inauspicious living creatures cannot go near a nima tree. At least medically it is accepted that nima wood is extremely antiseptic, and formerly it was customary to have a nima tree in front of one's house. On very large roads in India, especially in Uttar Pradesh, there are hundreds and thousands of nima trees. Nima wood is so antiseptic that the Ayurvedic science uses it to cure leprosy. Medical scientists have extracted the active principle of the nima tree, which is called margosic acid. Nima is used for many purposes, especially to brush the teeth. In Indian villages ninety percent of the people use nima twigs for this purpose. Because of all the antiseptic effects of the nima tree and because Lord Caitanya was born beneath a nima tree, Sita Thakurani gave the Lord the name Nimai. Later in His youth He was celebrated as Nimai Pandita, and in the neighborhood villages He was called by that name, although His real name was Visvanbara. (CC Adi-lila 13.111-117) O my Lord, You always dwell in the vision and hearing of Your pure devotees. You also live in their lotuslike hearts, which are purified by devotional service. O my Lord, who are glorified by exalted prayers, You show special favor to Your devotees by manifesting Yourself in the eternal forms in which they welcome You. (Lord Brahma CC Adi-lila 3.111) Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Our Affectionate Guardians: Chapter Five Srila Prabhupada's Regard for Srila Sridhara Maharaja Shortly before he left us in 1977, Srila Prabhupada advised his disciples that they should go to Srila Sridhara Maharaja if they had questions about philosophical matters. This instruction was accepted by the entire GBC at that time and from 1977 until 1981 they did approach Srila Sridhara Maharaja with many important questions. A major portion of this presentation is composed of excerpts from recordings and transcripts from these question and answer sessions with the GBC members. The GBC Guru Position Paper of March 1978, the GBC's official statement published after their initial question and answer session with Srila Sridhara Maharaja is taken directly from Srila Sridhara Maharaja's instructions to the GBC, with a few noteworthy additions and subtractions. That it was actually the instruction of Srila Prabhupada to approach Srila Sridhara Maharaja for spiritual instruction is corroborated by taped statements in our possession of Jayapataka Maharaja, Satsvarupa Maharaja, Bhakti Caru Swami, Tamal Krsna Maharaja and many other GBCs [some of whom later changed their minds regarding the validity of their previous statements], as well as by Tripurari Maharaja who was personally massaging Srila Prabhupada's lotus feet when he heard this instruction directly from Srila Prabhupada. Over the years we have seen various facts mysteriously change overnight, according to the political climate, so we have taken the trouble to substantiate our statements with hard copy, taped transcripts and similar irrefutable evidence. Understandably one may change his opinion regarding certain things, but this does not change the essential facts, the actual truth-satyam param dhimahi. "This word [satyam] means that one should not distort the truth for some personal interest." (Bg. 16.3, purp.) Let us not forget that there is an overseer-hrdi sannivisto (Bg. 15.15) and He witnesses our every activity-upadrastanumanta ca (Bg. 13.23) and will give us our just do-karmana daiva netrena (Bhag. 3.31.1). Better to be daivim prakrtim asritah (Bg. 9.13), under the shelter of His divine embrace. One's position in devotional service is after all classified according to one's faith-sraddha-anusari (Cc. Madhya-lila 22.64) and ones ultimate fate is indeed dependent upon qualifying ourselves for the Lords mercy. Logically speaking, on the basis that this was the last instruction in regards to Srila Sridhara Maharaja and considering that Srila Prabhupada was always very careful, fully aware of what he was doing and that these were his final days with his disciples, this must be regarded as the most authoritative or substantial statement made by Srila Prabhupada in regards to Srila Sridhara Maharaja. Most Highly Competent of My Godbrothers Despite Srila Prabhupada's final and conclusive statements regarding Srila Sridhara Maharaja, some take Srila Prabhupada's letter to Rupanuga in 1974 as the conclusive statement about Srila Sridhara Maharaja. In this well-known letter, Srila Prabhupada said that Srila Sridhara Maharaja was responsible for selecting an acarya who proved to be a failure. Srila Prabhupada then warns not to make the same mistake in ISKCON. Then Srila Prabhupada warns that his disciples must be careful in mixing with his godbrothers. That ISKCON did in fact make the same mistake that Srila Prabhupada warns about in this letter to Rupanuga (unauthorized acarya appointments) has been documented by Ravindra Svarupa, a prominent and respected member of the GBC and initiating guru, [known for being one of the deep thinkers of ISKCON] in his paper, "Under My Order," portions of which are presented below in the section entitled, Is Srila Sridhara Maharaja's Mood different than Prabhupada's. The above mentioned personal instruction of Srila Prabhupada to approach Srila Sridhara Maharaja for philosophy was given three years after the Rupanuga letter was written. This letter of Srila Prabhupada's must be harmonized with the other statements by Srila Prabhupada in order to get an accurate picture of Srila Prabhupada's feelings about Srila Sridhara Maharaja. In addition to Srila Prabhupada's final statements about Srila Sridhara Maharaja (above) there is Srila Prabhupada's letter to Hrsikesa (1969): I can refer you to one who is most highly competent of my godbrothers. This is B. R. Sridhara Maharaja, whom I consider to be even my siksa-guru, so what to speak of the benefit that you can have from his association. Srila Prabhupada repeatedly tried to get Srila Sridhara Maharaja to come to his temple in Mayapur (see letter to Srila Sridhara Maharaja in 1976 and Room Conversation in 1977--excerpts in chapter one). In the 1977 Room Conversation, Srila Prabhupada offers to build Srila Sridhara Maharaja a house at the Mayapur temple so Srila Sridhara Maharaja can preach to Srila Prabhupada's disciples-imploring Sridhara Maharaja six times to please do so. One Important Godbrother, He's Sincere In his July 7, 1975 letter to Bon Maharaja Srila Prabhupada related Srila Sridhara Maharaja's praise, "Sripada Sridhara Maharaja also appreciated my service. He said that 'Caitanya Mahaprabhu's prediction: prthivite ache yata nagaradi-grama, sarvatra pracara hoibe mora nama; would remain a dream only,' but he congratulated me that I 'have done it practically.'" A year and a half earlier, during a morning walk in Los Angeles on December 14, 1973, Srila Prabhupada had also narrated how Srila Sridhara Maharaja has said that he had done the impossible: mukham karoti vacalam pangum langhayate girim. "That one of my important godbrothers says. He's sincere. All others, [not]. He says that, 'In the Caitanya-Caritamrta it is said prthivite ache yata nagaradi-grama. So we were thinking that this is imagination, that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's cult would be spread all over the world, every one will chant. So you have done it.' So, he's appreciating in that way. 'But we are simply thinking that it is not possible, it is simply imagination. But that you have made it possible.' So that is his appreciation." When there is a conflict between opposing statements, they must be reconciled. Since we, the disciples, take the instructions of our Srila Prabhupada as nondifferent from sastra, we may resolve his apparently conflicting statements as Rupa Goswami did for sastra. virodho vakyayor yatra napramanyam tad isyate yathaviruddhata ca syat tatharthah kalpyate tayoh When two scriptural statements contradict each other, one is not taken as inauthentic. One should give the meaning in such a way that the contradiction is removed. (Laghu-bhag. 1.212) To harmonize this in an impartial way, we may consider that in the Rupanuga letter Srila Prabhupada was using the apparent activities of Srila Sridhara Maharaja to make a particular point to us, namely that "to elect an acarya" was not an authorized activity of the Governing Body of the Gaudiya Math and that it was contrary to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura's expressed desire. In Srila Prabhupada's own words, "Therefore we may not commit the same mistake in our ISKCON camp." Srila Prabhupada was also warning us that at least four of his godbrothers had on occasion tried to pollute and steal his disciples, so we must be very careful about them. He made it easier for us by simply saying, "all godbrothers." Although Srila Prabhupada may have in his intense preaching campaign criticized some of his godbrothers, in light of proper sastric vaishnava etiquette, it is improper for his disciples to criticize them, what to speak of publishing criticisms, thereby creating opportunity for repeated vaisnava-aparadha--for which one will be held accountable. Srila Prabhupada also did say that, "the war is over now." Still we see that certain ISKCON devotees have the habit of openly and freely criticizing any and all of Srila Prabhupada's godbrothers as they like. We feel that this is very unhealthy spiritually for them. The overemphasis on Srila Prabhupada's letter to Rupanuga and minimizing of substantial statements to the contrary merely makes Srila Prabhupada out to be duplicitous-to Srila Sridhara Maharaja he showed great respect but behind Srila Sridhara Maharaja's back he really did not trust him. Please refer to chapter one, A Transcendental Friendship, for a detailed account of the long and intimate association of these two great devotees. A Transcendental Friendship was originally published in another form as The Guardian of Devotion. An account of Srila Sridhara Maharaja's activities in the Gaudiya Math has been given in chapter three, A Short History of Srila Sridhara Maharaja and the Gaudiya Math. A careful reading of these documents will greatly help us clarify our understanding of these dealings between godbrothers. When we take into account all of Srila Prabhupada's loving exchanges with his dear godbrother Srila Sridhara Maharaja it becomes evident that this letter to Rupanuga is completely inconsistent with their actual relationship and thus must be seen as a warning only. We point out here that the mistakes made by the leaders of ISKCON were much graver than the alleged apparent mistakes of Srila Sridhara Maharaja [ supposedly incorrect advice and desires to control ISKCON], and they have been forgiven easily whereas Srila Sridhara Maharaja is still to this day maligned. In light of an unbiased look at Srila Prabhupada's letters, room conversations, etc. it can be concluded that Srila Prabhupada did not discourage his disciples from receiving instruction (siksa) from Srila Sridhara Maharaja, on the contrary he encouraged it. Our Swami Maharaja Has Done a Miracle When told of the Rupanuga letter, Srila Sridhara Maharaja replied, Just see the preaching of Swami Maharaja, he has not even spared me, his intimate friend! When we examine the hearts of these two Vaisnavas we see the real intentions of these pure devotees of the Lord, fully absorbed in devotional service. One must examine all the facts impartially, not just make a superficial estimation based on one letter and general statements and pass a decree for all time. Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.25.3 warns us of this sort of thing, that to forcibly justify one's actions by one's strength is in the mode of passion and thus leads to misery. Srila Prabhupada many times mentioned that his godbrothers were envious. A scan of the Srila Prabhupada Folio shows that he mentions the names of certain godbrothers repeatedly as envious, consistently excluding the name of Srila Sridhara Maharaja. That Sridhara Maharaja is nonenvious is self-evident (for example) upon listening to the recording of their meeting in 1973 after Prabhupada's triumphant return to India from his successful preaching in the West: So our Swami Maharaja has done a miracle! Thakura Bhaktivinode conceived and Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura began to translate this conception into action. And we find that through Swami Maharaja, in his last days, it has been fulfilled to such a great extent. We are happy, we are glad, we are proud! In the same conversation Srila Prabhupada revealed his thoughts at the time, Our relationship is very intimate. After the breakdown of the Gaudiya Math, I wanted to organize another organization, making Sridhara Maharaja he head. In the Lilamrta, Vol. 3, page 203, Satsvarupa Maharaja writes of events six years earlier, "In fluent English he [sridhara Maharaja] began praising Prabhupada's preaching in America, repeatedly using Prabhupada's phrase 'Krsna consciousness.' Swamiji's work, he said, was the fulfillment of Lord Caitanya's prophecy that Krsna consciousness would one day spread all over the world. He laughed and smiled and praised the Krsna consciousness movement with no trace of jealousy." [Room Conversation~October 1967]

YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY INTIMATE CONNECTION WITH THEM Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Pradyumna 02/17/68: "Regarding Bhakti Puri Tirtha Maharaja, they are my God-brothers and should be shown respect. But you should not have any intimate connection with them as they have gone against the orders of my Guru Maharaja." NO POSSIBILITY OF COMPROMISE Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Narayana Maharaja 9/30/69: "Regarding the 92 section case against the Gaudiya Math, I don't think there is any possibility of compromise. Both the Bhagbazar Party [sridhar Maharaja's group] and Mayapur party [Tirtha Maharaja's group] have unlawfully usurped the missionary institution of Srila Prabhupada, and whenever they will talk of a compromise, it means another complication." MY FOURTH-CLASS GODBROTHERS Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Hayagriva 9/14/70: "Disturbance is caused by ignorance; where there is no ignorance, there is no disturbance. The four Sannyasis may bark, but still the caravan will pass. There is every evidence that they are influenced by some of my fourth-class Godbrothers." THEY WILL BE ENVIOUS Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Yamuna 11/18/70: "Regarding the Gaudiya Math, our position has nothing to do with them. They cannot do anything and if somebody does something, they will be envious. That is the nature of third class men." MY GODBROTHERS GAVE ME ONLY DEPRESSION Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Gurudasa 8/29/72: "Do not be depressed. All along my godbrothers gave me only depression, repression, compression--but I continued strong in my duty. So never mind there is some discouragement, continue with your work in full enthusiastic Krishna Consciousness attitude of service." THEY HAVE ALL BECOME SUDRAS Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Niranjana 5/21/73: "Our big, big godbrothers in India, they could not preach Lord Gauranga's name all over India. They are simply inclined to criticize me, that my students call me Prabhupada. They could not do anything practical and tangible. They are satisfied with a temple and a few disciples begging alms for the maintenance of the temple. "So, we can understand that they have all become sudras. How can they have interest in Bhagavad-gita. Although some of them have been born in brahmana families, but by quality are all sudras." GAUDIYA MATH BOOKS SHOULD NOT BE CIRCULATED IN OUR SOCIETY Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Sukadeva 11/14/73: "Regarding the Gaudiya Math books being circulated there, who is distributing? Who is sending these books? The Gaudiya Math does not sell our books, why we should sell their books. Who has introduced these books? Let me know. These books should not at all be circulated in our Society. Bhakti Vilas Tirtha is very much antagonistic to our society and he has no clear conception of devotional service. He is contaminated. Anyway, who has introduced these books? You say that you would read only one book if that was all that I had written, so you teach others to do like that. You have very good determination." THIS IS MY INSTRUCTION TO YOU ALL Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Rupanuga 4/28/74: "In the latter days of my Guru Maharaja he was very disgusted. Actually, he left this world earlier, otherwise he would have continued to live for more years. Still he requested his disciples to form a strong Governing body for preaching the cult of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He never recommended anyone to be acarya of the Gaudiya Math. But Sridhara Maharaja is responsible for disobeying this order of Guru Maharaja, and he and others who are already dead unnecessarily thought that there must be one acarya. If Guru Maharaja could have seen someone who was qualified at that time to be acarya he would have mentioned. Because on the night before he passed away he talked of so many things, but never mentioned an acarya. His idea was talked of so many things, but never mentioned an acarya. His idea was acarya was not to be nominated amongst the governing body. He said openly you make a GBC and conduct the mission. So his idea was amongst the members of GBC who would come out successful and self effulgent acarya would be automatically selected. So Sridhara Maharaja and his two associate gentlemen unauthorizedly selected one acarya and later it proved a failure. The result is now everyone is claiming to be acarya even though they may be kanistha adhikari with no ability to preach. In some of the camps the acarya is being changed three times a year. Therefore we may not commit the same mistake in our ISKCON camp. Actually amongst my Godbrothers no one is qualified to become acarya. So it is better not to mix with my Godbrothers very intimately because instead of inspiring our students and disciples they may sometimes pollute them. This attempt was made previously by them, especially Madhava Maharaja and Tirtha Maharaja and Bon Maharaja but somehow or other I saved the situation. This is going on. We shall be very careful about them and not mix with them. This is my instruction to you all. They cannot help us in our movement, but they are very competent to harm our natural progress. So we must be very careful about them." THEIR PROPOSAL FOR COOPERATION IS A MYTH Srila Prabhupada's Letter to aCUTANANDA 6/8/74: "You should not write anything to Madhava Maharaja's camp. You may have talked many things with Mangala Niloy but why write him in black and white. The letter must not be sent. Their policy has been all along to suppress me and take credit for himself. Their proposal for cooperation is a myth. They haven't done anything which is cooperative. You know in a recent article they managed to write in such a way that Madhava is doing the world movement and we are his subordinate. From the beginning that has been their mentality. So there is no possibility of cooperation with them. Rather you should avoid strictly meeting with them. They are not after preaching but material gain and reputation and adoration. Otherwise why they are non cooperating with me? So no cooperation is possible. Do not think or indulge in loose talks. Be careful always. Let us do the duty of propagation sincerely and seriously on our own principles. Krsna and Srila Prabhupada Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura are our only hope and they and helping us. If anything thing has to be done it is to be talked on the higher level between Madhava Maharaja and myself, but I know his mentality is different and there is no possibility of cooperation." SMASHED...ON ACCOUNT OF PERSONAL AMBITIONS Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Karandhara 10/8/74: "In India some of the important members they have collected huge amounts in the name of the Society and spent it luxuriously. I wanted you all my experienced disciples should manage the whole institution very cleverly without any personal ambition like ordinary materialistic men. The Gaudiya Math institution has become smashed, at least stopped its program of preaching work on account of personal ambitions." MY GODBROTHERS ARE CONCERNED WITH POLITICS Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Subala 10/15/74: "My other godbrothers they are concerned with litigations, politics, and diplomacy, so what is the pracara? As far as I am concerned I have the blessings of my guru maharaj. I do not need anything else. That is how I went to your country, just to try to carry out his order. By his blessings it has come out successful." THEY ARE NOT EVEN ORDINARY HUMAN BEING Srila Prabhupada's Room Conversation with a Reporter in Johannesburg 10/16/75: "Krsna sakti vina nahe krsna name pracara: 'Without Krsna's special power of attorney, nobody can preach His name.' Caitanya-caritamrta. So these rascals, Godbrothers, they are envious that... What he has written? Bon Maharaja. Just see what kind of men they are. They are not even ordinary human being. They are envious of me, and what to speak of make a judgment by estimation? They're envious. Enviousness is immediately disqualification of Vaisnava, immediate. He is not a human being. Paramo nirmatsaranam satam. This Bhagavatam is meant for the person who is completely not envious. That is the beginning. Why a Vaisnava should be envious for anyone? Everyone is working according to his karma. He is trying to rectify him, that 'Be out of these clutches of karma. You come to bhakti.' Why he should be envious? Vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca. A Vaisnava should be like ocean of mercy to reclaim the fallen souls. That is Vaisnava's qualification. So Vaisnava should be envious? Just see. So these persons, they are not even human being, what to speak of Vaisnava. Vaisnava cannot be envious. Vaisnava should be: 'Oh, my Lord's name is being broadcast. He is getting, giving so much service to make Krsna known.' That man has appreciated, that 'All these spiritual leaders, they are deriding. You are the only man... You are... It enthuses us, give us more encouragement, that you are keeping intact, love of Krsna.' This is an appreciation. Why he should be envious? He should be, rather, very much enthused that 'This single man is keeping Krsna all over the world.' And everyone is deriding. Even Gandhi is killing Krsna. Dr. Radhakrishnan is killing. Their only business is to kill Krsna. He is also doing that, our, this Bon Maharaja. He never speaks of Krsna. His rascal, that Institute of Indian Philosophy, nobody goes to [pass] urine there. We see practically. And our temple is always filled up, five hundred men. And he is trying for the last forty years. He is simply planning: 'This will be playground. This will be this ground. This will be this ground.' And it is becoming jungle. Still, he is so envious, black snake. So one circular letter should be issued to all our center, that 'Any Bon Maharaja or anyone, his representative, should not be received.' They are envious. Yes. Quoting that. We have got several complaints like that. Satsvarupa also complained. Sometimes our order was cancelled by Bon Maharaja's propaganda." IN THE GAUDIYA MATH POLITICS IS STILL GOING ON Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Gurukrpa, 9/30/75: "Why is there this politics? This is not good. If politics come, then the preaching will be stopped. That is the difficulty. As soon as politics come, everything is spoiled. In the Gaudiya Math the politics is still going on. My Guru Maharaja left in 1936, and now it is 1976, so after 40 years the litigation is still going on. Do not come to this." PLEASE AVOID MY GODBROTHERS Srila Prabhupada's Letter to Visvakarma, 11/9/75: "So I have now issued orders that all my disciples should avoid all of my godbrothers. They should not have any dealings with them nor even correspondence, nor should they give them any of my books or should they purchase any of their books, neither should you visit any of their temples. Please avoid them." THEY ARE DRESSING LIKE VAISNAVA, AND THEY ARE SO ENVIOUS Srila Prabhupada's Room Conversation in Bombay 1/8/77: "There are similarly men also. Unnecessarily they are envious, offensive, unnecessary. They cannot tolerate others' opulence. Just like our Godbrothers. They are envious. What I have done to them? I am doing my business, trying to serve my Guru Maharaja. But they are envious because I am so opulent. I have got so much fame, so many influence, so much influence all over the world. Everyone is praising me about... That is ignorance. And this is regrettable because they are posing themselves as Vaisnava. Ordinary man can do that, but they are dressing like Vaisnava, and they are so envious. That Tirtha Maharaja, unnecessarily he was envious, whole life fighting, fighting, fighting in the court and died. Simply planning." THESE PEOPLE ARE ENVIOUS Srila Prabhupada's Room Conversation in Vrindaban 5/24/77: "If somebody thinks, 'Oh, here is a snake with jewel. Let me embrace him, no, no, no, it is very ferocious. Even it is jewel there, it is ferocious. Similarly, these people are envious. Although they have become so-called Vaisnava, they are ferocious. They have not acquired the qualification of Vaisnava. Simply vesopidin(?), by dress." "[Krishna consciousness] is simple for the simple, but it is very hard for the crooked." (Initiation lecture by Srila Prabhupada, Boston 12/26/69)

Movie Review: The Passion of the Christ By Michelle Anderson Feb 29, 2004, 17:31 Email this article Printer friendly page But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. -- Isaiah 53:5 Having read the book a few times, I was compelled to see the movie despite the pronouncements that it was graphically violent and that it would reinforce anti-Semitism. So I steeled myself and, along with my family, went off to see it on opening night. "The Passion of the Christ" was not a movie about His resurrection, or even the vast majority of His ministry. It was about the extent of His torment for the last twelve hours of His life. It did not make me hate Jews...or anyone else, for that matter. It has, however, forever changed the way I think of the Crucifixion and the sacrifice Christ willingly made. It made me want to be a better Christian. It made me realize yet again that His love for all mankind is infinite and incomprehensible. The movie begins with Jesus praying in the garden. Satan appears, trying to convince Jesus that the burden is too heavy for any one man to bear. Gibson's androgynous Satan has a serene face which is beautiful and without wrinkle or blemish, the way Satan -- and indeed temptation -- always appears to be. Thereafter, he haunts the worst scenes in the movie. Those who ended up cheering for His crucifixion were, in large part, the same people who laid palm leaves and cloaks at His feet less than a week earlier. There is but one explanation as to how this could have happened: Satan was indeed present. The portrayal of Judas, constantly antagonized by demons, was excellent, and the depiction of those demons was chilling. Gibson is, it turns out, a master at knowing just when to stop. Every time I thought I could not bear to see one more thing, he flashes back to earlier, calmer, times; never for long, but just long enough to allow the audience to breathe again. He takes the audience right the very edge, then grabs their collective hand and yanks them back from the precipice. For me, His near-unrelenting agony was not as disturbing as the sudden realization that I have focused almost entirely on the agony of the crucifixion itself and have, until now, never given a lot of thought to the misery He suffered in the hours prior to that time. Anyone who believes that this movie was anti-Semitic misses the entire point of not only the movie, but of Jesus's entire mission here on earth. This movie was about the love, forgiveness, and sacrifice Jesus has for us –- all of us. Those who didn't like the movie probably didn't like the book, either. © Copyright 2003 by Magic City Morning Star

Hinduism And India "Cool" http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/programmes/wtwtgod/3490394.stm LONDON, ENGLAND, February 29, 2004: Indian youth has a new relationship with religion, according to this BBC report. Bachia Karkaria, The Times of India Associate Editor, writes about contemporary attitudes of faith and in particular Hinduism. God has a new incarnation in India--cool, user-friendly, results-oriented and upwardly mobile, says this article. Like the sitar, guru shirts and transcendental meditation in the Beatles-era, India Cool has discovered nirvana, yoga, joss-sticks and Vastu Shastra, the Hindu equivalent of Feng Shui, via the West. The computer geek is quite likely to decorate his desktop with stickers of both Garfield and Ganesha, the popular God of auspicious beginnings. The mystic word Om once had an exclusively religious context. But it has acquired a universality, courtesy of Madonna and pop culture. Young Indian men and women sport Hinduism's most potent symbol as a fashion accessory. Designer Om pendants dangle from throats and jangle on charm bracelets.

from Sri Chaitanya Bhagavat, Madhya Lila, Chapter Nine by Sri Vrindavan Das Thakur: Lord Sri Gaura Chandra is the Controller of the Universe. He descended and appeared on earth as the beloved son of Sachi and Jagannatha Mishra. As a young man He accepted the garb of a sannyasi and travelled from place to place telling everyone He met to chant the Holy Name and to live a pious life. He has come into this world not for His own sake but for everyone's benefit. All glory to the son of Jagannatha Misra and Mother Sachi, and all glory to His sankirtana movement All glory to Lord Gauranga, the very Life of Lord Nityananda and Gadadhara Pandit. He is the most beloved by Advaita and Srivasa Pandit, Jagadananda Pandit and Haridas Thakur, Vakreswara Pandit and Pundarika Vidyamidhi, Vasudeva and Srigarbha. Be merciful O Lord! Look upon every living entity graciously. May the Lord and all His associates be glorified for by hearing about the pastimes of Lord Gauranga someone immediately attains the supreme goal of Bhakti, or love of God. Please listen intently to the narration in Madhya lila because they depict pastimes of Lord Gauranga. Now hear the descriptions of Lord Gauranga's "Mahaprakasa" lila or great revelation, for this fulfills the desire of all Vaishnavas. The Lord manifested the glorious "Sat Praharia bhava" or the "pastime of the twenty one hour display of devotional emotions". In this pastime He wonderfully showed the devotees His Divine Form and revealed His different incarnations, freely giving away to the gathered devotees His gift of pure love of Godhead. And all the Vaishnavas honored the Lord in a grand bathing ceremony known as "Raja Rajeswar" which can be offered only for the most powerful King of the Universe. One day Lord Gaurasundar came to Srinivas Pandit's house accompanied by Lord Nityananda, who was beside Himself with joy. Gradually all the Vaishnavas assembled there. Lord Gaurasundara was fully immersed in meditation within Himself. He looked about Him - as a kingly Personality surveys His surroundings with intensely powerful glances. The devotees could perceive the Lord's mood and immediately they started loud kirtana. On other days the Lord would dance in the ecstasy of a devotee servant of the Supreme Lord, then, changing that mood for a moment, He would reveal His identity as Avatara of this age of Kali and the Omnipotent Supreme Lord Sri Krishna. Then again, that mood would then also would quickly change and he would again revert back to the mood of a devotee. But today, to the good fortune of the assembled devotees, the Lord stood up as if to dance as usual, but instead sat on the throne of Lord Visnu in the temple of Srivas Pandit's house. On previous occasions the Lord would sit on Lord Visnu's throne immersed in devotional ecstasy, as if unaware of His own conduct. No so today. Today He did not hide His real identity with the cloak of His internal energy but instead He sat on the throne continuously for twenty one hours. The devotees stood in front of Him with folded hands and hearts bubbling with joy. It was a wonderful sight the devotees were fully overjoyed. During the proceedings that occurred on that day, the devotees spontaneously expressed that they felt they were in Vaikuntha - the kingdom of God. And so it was, the Lord Sri Gaurachandra sat amidst all the devotees, as the Lord of Vaikuntha appearing on Earth for the benefit of the souls in this world, and everyone present became totally free from the influence of the illusory material potency that covers souls in this world. Lord Gauranga said, "Sing that bathing song". The devotees were very pleased and they began to sing. The Lord gently swayed His head sideways in time with the song and cast His merciful glances towards the devotees. The devotees now could serve the Lord's mood. They realized He had decided to fulfil their inner desire and allow them to perform the `abhisek' or bathing ceremony for the Deity. The devotees brought water from the Ganga. First they strained the Ganges water through a cloth. Then they added musk, sandal pasted, saffron and camphor to the water, preparing everything with ecstatic love of the Lord. They began the ceremony with jubilant shouts and were all chanting appropriate mantras. Lord Nityananda was the first to pour water on the Lord's head. He constantly repeated the word "Jaya, jaya" as He bathed the Deity (Sri Gauranga) with great pleasure. Other devotees like Adviata Acarya and Srivasa Pandita bathed the Lord, chanting the famous "Purusa Sukta" prayers. The devotees of Lord Gauranga, all well versed in the scriptures and of chanting Vedic hymns, poured water onto the body of the Lord to the accompanyment of Vedic mantras. Mukunda and others were sweetly singing the bathing ceremony song, while other devotees wept or danced with overwhelming happiness. The wives of Advaita and Srivas and other chaste ladies present there were uluating with joy. The entire assembly was immersed in an ocean of bliss. The Lord of Vaikuntha Lord Gauranga remained seated, and the devotees one by one poured water on His head, bathing the Lord. Even the demigods came there, not wanting to miss the opportunity to worship the Lord Narayana who was now appearing on Earth in His most merciful incarnation as Kali-yuga-pavana Sri Gaurahari. The gods came there disguised as humans, so as not to be recognized. Generally, whereever even a drop of water is offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, that also even in meditation, it is sufficient to ward off the punishment given out by the God of death. So what can be said about the good fortune of the people who were able to bathe the Lord directly and who were present there in Nabadwip in person for the maha-abhiseka ceremony of Sri Gauranga. All the servants and maid servants in Srivasa Pandit's house were busily bringing water for the Lord. One of the maid servants, a pious woman named "Dukkhi" (whose name means "sad"), was one of the water carriers. The Lord saw her enthusiastically engaged in this service and told her, "Bring more, bring more." The lady became filled with joy and Lord was so impressed with her devotional service attitude that He changed her name at that moment to `Sukhi' or happy. He gave her the indication that He had taken away forever all of her distress. Having bathed the Lord, accompanied with the chanting of the Vedic mantras, the devotees dried the Lord's body. They dressed Him in fresh new clothes and smeared His transcendental and exquisite body with fragrant sandal wood paste. They cleaned Lord Visnu's throne and arranged everything properly, then the Lord sat back down on the throne which was truly His. Sri Nityananda Prabhu held the umbrella over the Lord's head, while one of the more fortunate devotees began to whisk the Lord with the `camara' (cow tail whisk). While this was happening, the other devotees collected paraphernalia for offering puja or worship to the Lord. The the puja ceremony began and the assembled devotees began to fully worship Him. The offering tray was packed with caranamrita, fruits, acamani, incence, fragrant oil, a lamp, new clothing, a brahmana's thread etc. As is customary they worshiped Him with sixteen ingredients. Applying sandal wood paste on Tulasi manjari flowers they offered it at His lotus feet. The Gopala mantra consisting of ten syllables was chanted while they offered worship, following strictly the rules of worship. While the puja ceremony was going on, all the devotees were offering their heart felt prayers to Sri Gauranga. Senior associates of the Lord like Advaita Acarya Prabhu fell before the Lord's feet like sticks and offered full obeisances to Him. All the devotees were experiencing a moment of extreme spiritual love for the Supreme Lord. The tears cascading down their cheeks mingled and flowed like a river. They constantly chanted verses describing the glories of the Lord Gauranga, who is the origin of the Lord Vaikuthapati Narayana Himself, and the Lord heard everything with great satisfaction. They prayed "All glory to the Lord of the Universe. Oh Lord, kindly direct Your merciful glance on this world now ablaze with the three fold suffering (birth, death, disease). All glory to the Original cause of everything, the Maintainer of everyone. You have advented in this Kali-yuga age to inaugurate the congregational chanting to the holy name, the yuga-dharma (religious ceremonial practice for the age). You establish the Sanatan Dharma of the Vedas and You are the Protector of the pious people, and You have reappeared on earth in order to protect the pious people. You are the Original Soul named Vishnu who pervades all the fourteen worlds. All glory to Lord Gauranga for He is the redeemer of the most fallen souls. He is an ocean of transcendental qualities. He is the Supreme Shelter of the meek and poor. All glory to Lord Gauranga who is Vrajendra nandana Krishna Himself, and who expands to Lord Visnu and lies on the ocean of milk as Ksirodakasayi Vishnu. In his form of Ksirodakasayi Vishnu the Lord expands His presence and appears in the heart of every being as the Monitor and conscience of the living beings. All glory to Lord Gauranga who is the Original and Absolute Truth, Who is the inconceivable, unpreceivable Truth (Brahma). He is always transcendentally situated. He is the compassionate Supreme Person. All glory to Sri Gauranga, who was born in a family of Brahmanas and Who is the crown jewel of the brahmana class of people, and Who came into this world with the mission of liberating the entire brahmana section within society. Sri Gauranga is the origin of the Vedic religion, and He is the life and soul of every living entity. All glory to Lord Gauranga who is Krishna Himself, Who saved Arjuna from an inglorious death and gave liberation to the demoness Putana. All glory to Lord Gauranga who never sees the faults of the living entities living in this world of Maya. He is the eternal Lord and husband of Lakshmi the Goddess of fortune." With such chosen words the devotees praised the Lord. The Lord's servitors were floating in an ocean of bliss when they were seeing Lord Gauranga manifest this extraordinary mood. At other times the Lord acted as if He were a devotee of Krishna and the devotees were compelled to respond and reciprocate this mood, treating Him as if He were a devotee. But on this special day the Lord mercifully removed the veil of Yoga-maya (divine illusory spell) from everyone's heart, and instead He allowed the devotees to worship His lotus feet. Some devotees brought sweetly perfumed oil and smeared it on the Lord's lotus feet, other's worshiped Him with an offering of tender tulasi leaves. Again, more devotees came offering precious gems, gold and silver ornaments, and they all paid obeisances at His feet. Many valuable gifts were offered to the Lord. White, blue and bright yellow silken clothes were offered. A gift of precious metal containers were placed in offering at the lotus feet of the Lord. The jewels and gold that were offered and filled the jewel-boxes was amazing to see. All the household servants in Srivas Pandita's house by dint of serving that pure Vaishnava Srivasa could now directly serve Lord Gaura Chandra's lotus feet. Even Lord Brahma, Lord Siva and Laksmidevi aspire for the opportunity to serve the Lord's holy feet. They offered many items of worship to the Lord without fear or hesitation, for the Lord was merciful to them and He had removed the sense of reverence from the hearts of the devotees and supplanted that reverence with a mood of intimacy and affection. The devotees brought unhusked rice, tulasi, durba grass, musk, saffron, camphor and many kinds of fruits and fragrant blossoms, as well as sandalwood paste, and they placed these things at His lotus feet. Each devotee worshiped the Lord according to his or her heart's inclination, following different rules of worship. Then Lord Gauranga Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Lord of Vaikuntha, exhibited another of His extra ordinary pastimes. He said to the devotees, "Get Me something, for I want to eat" - then He held out His hand. Whatever the devotees offered He ate it. The different Vaishnavas brought different foods for Him to eat. Banana, mung dhal, yogurt, sweet condensed milk, butter, milk. They placed these foods into the Lord's hands and He ate everything. Some of the devotees hurried to the market and rushed back with choice delicacies. They offered the Lord coconuts, milk sweets in huge quantities, blackberries, green melons and sugar cane. Some even brought water from the Ganga. The Lord ate everything. Seeing the Lord happily eating everything they offered, they gave more helpings of other delicious foods again and again. Hundreds of devotees had now gathered, and they brought hundreds of containers of Ganges water to the Lord. The Lord, Who is the Greatest of the Mystics, drank all this water. The Lord ate hundreds of barrels of yogurt, sweet condensed milk, fresh milk, together with hundreds of bunches of bananas. He ate huge amounts of `mung dhal' and heaps of milk sweet preparations, camphor and betel. Like Krishna in His pastime of Giriraj Goverdhan, where Krishna ate mountains of food, Lord Gauranga ate all the food brought by the devotees, eating fruits and nuts and everythings else instantly, to the amazement of the gathered devotees. The Lord contentedly ate everything offered to Him and in turn He revealed to the devotees all the details of their devotees past life. When the devotees heard their individual stories they remembered their earlier days and fell to the ground in ecstasy. The Lord addressed Srivasa Pandit, "Do you remember, you used to hear lectures on the Srimad Bhagavatam at Devananda Pandita's house. Every line of the Bhagavatam is saturated with the nectar of divine love of Godhead, and so your heart melted on hearing those recitations of Bhagavatam. You cried loudly and one day you fell unconscious onto the ground. The ignorant students there, not understanding that you were in a trace, and not knowledgeable in the matters of "Bhakti yoga", could not understand the reason for your extraordinary behavior. You were engrossed within Yourself in the ecstasy of love of Krishna, oblivious of the external world, so you did not know that they had lifted you carried you out of their house. Devananda Pandita, their teacher, witnessed the entire happening without dissuading his students from carrying you outside. Since he himself was inexperienced in the science of Krishna consciousness, it is to be expected that his students will also be like him. On waking and finding yourself outside on the street you picked yourself up and returned home feeling sad. Your sadness persisted and so you preferred to be alone. You desired to read the Bhagavatam again. Seeing your sorrowful state I descended from Vaikuntha into your heart and made you weep with the ecstatic emotions of your love for Me. You experienced happiness again reading the Bhagavatam and were showering the place where you were sitting with your tears". When Srivasa Pandita heard this he was overcome with emotion and he fell to the ground crying and breathing fast and heavily. In this way the Lord spoke to Advaita Acarya Prabhu and different devotees and brought to them recollections of their earlier days. He submerged the devotees in an ocean of bliss while He sat on His throne chewing betel. The devotees danced and performed kirtan singing, "Jaya Sachinananda", or "all glory to the son of Mother Sachi". Seeing that some of his devotees in Nabadwip district were absent from that gathering, the Lord called for them to be brought before Him. He put His hand out and would say to every devotee, "Give Me something to eat", and then He ate it all. The Lord said to one devotee, "Do you remember that night I came to you, while a doctor sat next to you on your bed. It was I who had cured your fever". On hearing this from the Lord the devotee fell down overwhelmed by uncontrolled spiritual emotions. Seeing Gangadas the Lord said, "Can your remember that night you were escaping from the Muslim king fearing that he would capture you? Your whole family was with you and when you arrived at the ferry wharf there were no boats. You were in a great dilemma. The night was ending and dawn was coming, and still no boats were in sight. You began weeping in anxiety. You shuddered at the thought that the Muslims might molest the ladies in your family in your presence, and were considering that it might be better for all of you to drown yourselved in the Ganges. Your spirits lifted, seeing an approaching boat. Then you spoke to Me, the boatman with affection saying, "My dear brother, please take me across, I surrender my body, wealth, life, everything to you. I solely depend upon you. Here is a couple of rupees for your endeavor, take me and my family to safety. Then I ferried you and your family across, and afterwards returned to My eternal Vaikuntha abode in the spiritual sky. Gangadas was lifted up on waves of bliss and ecstasy when he heard this from the Lord. Such are the wonderful pastimes of Lord Gaurasundara. The Lord continued, "Do you recall that incident Gangadas. You were so worried. So worried. And I came to your rescue and brought you across". Gangadas, unable to contain himself further, fell to the ground rolling in ecstasy. Lord Gauranga, the golden Lord of Vaikuntha, was sitting on His throne. His body was covered with sandalwood paste and was beautifully decorated with fragrant flower garlands. One of His dear servants was fanning Him. Another is arranging His hair. Some other devotee is preparing betel and offering it to Him, and many of them were dancing in ecstasy all around Him. How the entire day passed and how the darkness of night time came along no-one noticed. Realizing that it was night, the devotees became busy lighting lamps which they offered in worship at the Lord's lotus feet. They began to perform kirtana playing kartal, gongo, conch shell, the mrdanga drum and different string instruments. The Lord remained sitting. He was in a benevolent mood but He remained silent in spite of the devotees excitement and activities. Devotees offered different kinds of flowers at His lotus feet and they prostrated themselves before Him saying, `O Lord protect me'. Some devotees prayed to the Lord with great humility while others were singing loudly in praise of the Lord. The sound of jubilant shouts and cries was the only thing anyone could hear. Everyone present experienced such an indescribable and wonderfully elated feeling that everyone joining in that assembly felt as if they had entered into the Vaikunthas. In this way the Lord exhibited a mood of Supreme opulence while all the devotees stood circling the Lord with folded hands in reverence. Lord Gaurasundara behaved in a casual manner with His disciples were taking placing His lotus feet and placing His feet on their heads. In this manner He performed His transcendental pastimes at Nabadwip Dham, in the assembly of the many gods who had been born on earth as brahmanas and Vaishnavas. Lord Gaurasundara was in His most generous mood. He was ready to give boons and blessings to His devotees, and to spread the glories of Hari-Nama sankirtan throughout the world. The devotees remained surrounding Him with folded hands. The Lord showered His causeless mercy on everyone as He performed this pastime of twenty one hour ecstasy, or Mahaprakasa-lila.

RADHA BHAVA KANTI "Covered by the Sentiment and Luster of Srimati Radharani" Once Lord Krsna considered within His heart,"Everyone says that I am complete bliss, full of all rasas. All the world derives pleasure from Me. Is there anyone who can give Me pleasure? One who has a hundred times more qualities than Me could give pleasure to My mind. One more qualified than Me is impossible to find in the world. But in Radha alone I feel the presence of one who can give Me pleasure. "Although My beauty defeats the beauty of ten million Cupids, although it is unequaled and unsurpassed and although it gives pleasure to the three worlds, seeing Radharani gives pleasure to My eyes. The vibration of My transcendental flute attracts the three worlds, but My ears are enchanted by the sweet words of Srimati Radharani. Although My body lends fragrance to the entire creation, the scent of Radharani's limbs captivates My mind and heart. Although the entire creation is full of different tastes because of Me, I am charmed by the nectarean taste of the lips of Srimati Radharani. And although My touch is cooler than ten million moons, I am refreshed by the touch of Srimati Radhika. "Considering this, I can understand that some unknown mellow in Me controls the entire existence of My captivator, Srimati Radharani. I am always eager to taste the joy that Radharani derives from Me. In spite of various efforts, I have not been able to taste it. But My desire to relish that pleasure increases as I smell its sweetness. I have appeared in the world to taste mellows. I shall taste the mellows of pure love in various ways. I shall teach devotional service, which springs from the spontaneous love of the devotees, by demonstrating it Myself with My pastimes. But these three desires have not been satisfied, for one cannot enjoy them in a contrary position. Unless I accept the luster of the ecstatic love of Sri Radhika, these three desires cannot be fulfilled. Therefore, assuming Radharani's sentiments and bodily complexion, I shall descend to fulfill these three desires." In this way Lord Krsna came to a decision. Simultaneously, the time came for the incarnation of the age. At that time Sri Advaita was earnestly worshiping Him. Advaita attracted Him with His loud calls. First Lord Krsna made His parents and elders appear. Then Krsna Himself, with the sentiments and complexion of Radhika, appeared in NavadvIpa, like the full moon, from the womb of mother Sachi, which is like an ocean of pure milk. Lord Caitanya's heart was full of the feelings of Srimati Radharani, and His appearance resembled Hers. Svarupa Damodara has explained His attitude as radha-bhava-murti, the attitude of Radharani. One who engages in sense gratification on the material platform can hardly understand radha-bhava, but one who is freed from the demands of sense gratification can understand it. (CC Adi-lila 4. 238-273) Lord Krsna desired to taste the limitless nectarean mellows of the love of one of His multitude of loving damsels [sri Radha], and so He has assumed the form of Lord Caitanya. He has tasted that love while hiding His own dark complexion with Her effulgent yellow color. May that Lord Caitanya confer upon us His grace. (Srila Rupa Goswami's Stava-mala 2.3) Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Indian-American Youth Keep Traditions Alive http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/02/ 28balancingbetwee.html DELAWARE, U.S.A., February 28, 2004: When 18-year-old Nikhil Neelkantan of Newark got his driver's license, the first place he drove was the Hindu Temple in Hockessin for reflection and prayer, begins this article. Since then, he has gone to the temple every week, surprising his father, Neel, who emigrated from India 35 years ago. "When we grew up in India, the first thing you did when you got something was you go and pray," said Neel Neelkantan, who said he didn't expect his son to do the same in the United States. Nikhil Neelkantan is one of thousands of young Indian-Americans in Delaware trying to balance the customs of their South Asian homeland with the vastly different modern culture of America. While many young Indian-Americans were once quick to shed time-honored traditions of India for American ways, more are now increasingly achieving a balance between their two worlds, in large part because of the recent explosion of Indian pop culture in America. The British film "Bend It Like Beckham," which showcased an Indian family's struggle between tradition and acceptance, scored big with American audiences. And Indian movies such as "Laagan" and "Monsoon Wedding" have been hits in the U.S. Artists such as Jaz-Z and Missy Elliott have combined their hip-hop styles with Indian beats to make Top 40 music that is striking a chord. Suddenly, being Indian is "hip," teens and experts said. S. Mitra Kalita, author of "Suburban Sahibs," a book examining the impact of Indian immigration on New Jersey, said the desire of young Indian-Americans to connect with their Indian culture has a lot to do with Indian influences in American pop culture. "It's not a coincidence that being Indian is suddenly en vogue," Kalita said. Indian-Americans are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the country, increasing from 800,000 in 1990 to roughly 1.9 million today.

Does Krishna ,in other words ,punish pride with envy? 'as though Krsna uses envy to temper pride.'

these letters taken from SP letters archives

I posted to illustrate the isideous disease of envy Srila Prabhupada is Sri Guru,pure devotee and as such he elicits green envy from snakes. This is the truth. I agree with your points: Whoever wrote that letter simply ridiculed himself. I can see not giving the author's name in order to avoid it becoming a personality issue rather than a simple demonstration that even Prabhupada had his critics among those who should have been his supporters. It seems we all have critics among those who should be our supporters. But then, of course, that heightens our absolute dependence and focus on Sri Krsna. It is all Krsna's mercy; perhaps Prabhupada saw it like that as he had opportunity to reflect late in Vrindavan.

That's the feeling To just shut myself up with no more dealing with the nasty world of duplicity,falseness and hypocrisy. I want to go to Krishna His ,the Lord's association via the pure devotee's medium. Nothing small or mean but true and simple That soothing balm on the heart that association which edifies,enlightens and with grace and compassion bring me to want to offer myself completely at the Lotus feet of Sri Guru and Sri Gouranga. krsnadas

I find it so painful to associate with other people devotee and non-devotee alike. It's just that I don't want to keep up appearances anymore. I amm suffering in this material world and I want to get out of the mess I'm in so I don't want to waste time I simply want to fix my mind on Guru and Krishna and leave my body in trance. I've had enough of -How do you do?-type of questions and asociation When the end of this body is staring me in the face every morning...

Srila Prabhupada's most acute controversy was not with smarta-brahmanas, Mayavadis or Saivites, but with some of his own Godbrothers who wrote Prabhupada this letter: Reverend Swamiji, I listened to your discourse on Bhakti at Rajiswari Kalayana Mandapam on the 12th instant. I am filled with doubts on the following: Your disciples dance with Hare Krishna mantram, are they really God-intoxicated as Lord Chaitanya? Have you Swamiji really got free of your ego? If so, why you said, "I challenge", and why are words like "I" and "my" always on your lips? Why do you use a cushion unlike a real yogi -- Did Lord Chaitanya use cushions? Why do you wear ring and a wrist gold watch? Are you not free from material attachment? Did you visit Lord Chaitanya Krishna Temple at Gaudiya Matha? If not, why not -- The purest Vaishnava cult is indwelling there with pious Swamijis with Lord Krishna dwelling therein. Melodious sound from your throat is absent but a jarceing undivine comes out. Is there any divinity in your person? I doubt. One disgusted on hearing your speech. (SPL V5, P63) Or take Srila Prabhupadas "keep-on-smiling" while hearing from another real nice Vaishnava of Gaudiya-Matha, whom we all sincerely should include into our prayers, as he suggested: "Swami Maharaja happened to have a temperament suited to mixing with lower-class Western youth!" (SPL 4/266/267)

Srila Prabhupada (Hawaii, 1975): There should be ideal life, at least the leaders, the president, the GBC. They will show the example, and they (the mass of devotees) will follow. Then it is beneficial. And all of them are fools? Then it is fool's paradise. At least, in the blind association, at least if one man has got eyes, then he can lead all the blind men. But if all of them are blind, then it is fool's paradise. So somehow or other, we have got now a position. People like us. So we should not spoil by personal sense gratification. That is my request.

The following speech was given by Abhay Charan Das (His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) before the members of the Sri Gaudiya Math in Bombay, in February 1935, on the appearance anniversary of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. : saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya vande guroh sri caranaravindam "In the revealed scriptures it is declared that the spiritual master should be worshiped like the Supreme Personality of Godhead and this injunction is obeyed by pure devotees of the Lord. The spiritual master is the most confidential servant of the Lord. Thus let us offer our respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of our spiritual master." Gentlemen, on behalf of the members of the Bombay branch of the Gaudiya Math, let me welcome you all because you have so kindly joined us tonight in our congregational offerings of homage to the lotus feet of the world teacher, acaryadeva, who is the founder of this Gaudiya Mission and is the President-acarya of Sri Sri Visva Vaisnava Raja Sabha -- I mean my eternal divine master, Om Visnupada Paramahamsa Parivrajakacarya Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaja. Sixty-two years ago, on this auspicious day, the acaryadeva made his appearance by the call of Thakura Bhaktivinoda at Sri Ksetra, Jagannatha Dhama at Puri. Gentlemen, the offering of such an homage as has been arranged this evening to the acaryadeva is not a sectarian concern, for when we speak of the fundamental principle of gurudeva or acaryadeva, we speak of something that is of universal application. There does not arise any question of discriminating my guru from yours or anyone else's. There is only one guru, who appears in an infinity of forms to teach you, me and all others. In the Mundaka Upanisad (1.2.12) it is said: tad-vijnartham sa gurum evabhigacchet samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham "In order to learn the transcendental science, one must approach the bona fide spiritual master in disciplic succession, who is fixed in the Absolute Truth." Thus it has been enjoined herewith that in order to receive that transcendental knowledge, one must approach the guru. Therefore, if the Absolute Truth is one, about which we think there is no difference of opinion, the guru cannot be two. The acaryadeva to whom we have assembled tonight to offer our humble homage is not the guru of a sectarian institution or one out of many differing exponents of the truth. On the contrary, he is the jagad-guru, or the guru of all of us, the only difference is that some obey him wholeheartedly, while others do not obey him directly. In the Srimad- Bhagavatam (11.17.27) it is said: acaryam mam vijaniyan / navamanyeta karhicit na martya-buddhyasuyeta / sarva-deva-mayo gurun "One should understand the spiritual master to be as good as I am," said the Blessed Lord. "Nobody should be jealous of the spiritual master or think of him as an ordinary man, because the spiritual master is the sum total of all demigods." That is, the acarya has been identified with God Himself. He has nothing to do with the affairs of this mundane world. He appears before us to reveal the light of the Vedas and to bestow upon us the blessing of full-fledged freedom, after which we should hanker at every step of our life's journey.

Devotee: So we should be able to see the quality of man we are preaching to. Prabhupada: Yes, you have to make him intelligent. Everyone within this material world is supposed to be a fool. Because everyone is thinking, “I am this body.” So he’s fool. A cat is thinking, “I’m cat.” A dog is thinking, “I am dog.” So if somebody thinks in relationship with the body, “I am Frenchman,” “I am Englishman,” “I am...”, then where is the difference between him and the dog? He’s thinking himself as this body. Therefore at least in this modern world, the so-called nationalism, everyone is thinking, “I am Englishman,” “I am Frenchman,” “I am Indian,” “I am this,” “black,” “white.” He’s thinking in a way what he is not. Therefore he’s a fool. All these big, big political leaders, Napoleon, Hitler, Churchill, they fought with this consciousness, “I am Englishman,” “I am German,” “I am Frenchman.” That’s all. Even the big, big leaders, they are fools. And what to speak of common men? Devotee: In the United States, there are something called minority groups. Minority group means like the Irish or the Negroes, the Jews... Prabhupada: They’re also fools. They’re minority fools. Devotee: Minority fools? Prabhupada: Yes. Because he’s thinking, “I am Irishman.” Devotee: Yes, but their point is that “Even if we are spirit soul, we are still being exploited because we are a small number. So we must band together to protect ourselves.” Prabhupada: You are exploited always. Why do you blame this man or that man? You are being exploited by maya. Where is your position of freedom? Devotee: They say, “Well, maya we cannot fight, but we can fight the government.” Prabhupada: Why should you fight? Can you fight with death? Maya has imposed upon you death. So fight with maya, then there will be no death. That you cannot do. So you are always defeated. That is your position. So the best thing is surrender to Krsna for protection. That is wanted. We don’t think, “minority.” How many Hare Krsna people are there in Paris? Devotee: Seventy, eighty. Prabhupada: Insignificant. But we are not sorry. Minority, majority, all these are foolishness. The whole platform is mistaken. Rupa Goswami was a minister. He was in the majority. His associates were big, big zamindars, big businessmen, politicians. But he preferred to resign that post and become a minority, to live alone in Vrndavana underneath a tree. Why he preferred this? By remaining there alone, he has given you the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu. So we have to see how much service we are going to give Krsna. This minority, majority, these are all material conceptions of life. If you can give major service to Krsna, that is your success of life. I started this movement alone, minority. Is it not? Devotee: Yes, one. Prabhupada: One only, less than minority! (laughter) The minority, majority, these are material conceptions. And spiritual is how much you are giving service to Krsna. That is considered. That is to be taken into consideration. Krsna says Himself, “Out of millions and millions of people, one may understand Me.” So if I have turned so many people to understand Krsna, that is service. At least, they are trying to understand Krsna. (Morning walk June 11,1974)

Media Alert: Don't Mess with God By April Shenandoah March 1, 2004 The network and cable stations are showing their ignorance and Godless agenda's by spewing Biblical opinion without reading the scriptures. They also have gone out of their way to find and televise Rabbis' and Priests' who are willing to claim inaccuracies and speak negative of Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ." These men are being used and circulated from news room to news room. The unrelenting name calling and screaming on dozens of TV and radio shows, calling the film dangerously inaccurate, is an attempt to dissuade and discredit. The anti-Semitic charges are laughable at best, yet this subject is continually hammered (ratings at any cost). How do you media folks who are spouting your arrogant, destructive, verbiage, against your once beloved fair-haired movie-star filmmaker, sleep at night? For clarity -- it was our sins that crucified Jesus and it was by God's own hand. Jesus went to His death willingly, knowing the Father was using Him as a sacrifice for the world. My Jewish brethren, there is no reason to be offended when in fact it was God's ultimate plan. Jesus is Jewish, therefore Christians worship a Jew. Seven hundred years before Christ was born Isaiah had a vision of the Lord, seeing His destiny. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, and there was no deceit in His mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise Him; he has put Him to grief; when He makes Himself an offering for sin... ISAIAH 53: 5-10 (King James) Violence? Yes! Jesus was marred, beyond human semblance! Isaiah 52:14 When one hears Andy Rooney, who professes not to have any faith at all, call Mel Gibson a wacko, it is profoundly sad. But then again, the Bible says that unbelievers will think Believers are crazy. So there you go! Then we have Paul Harvey's heartfelt synopsis of the film, which makes us wonder if Rooney and Harvey are referring to the same film. Bill Press was extremely disturbing to listen to as he accused Gibson as being one of the biggest hucksters to ever come along. He could barely contain his anger as he said," Mel Gibson suckered us all into talking about this film for the last six months." CNN's Aaron Brown commented that The Passion is the most brilliantly marketed film he has ever seen. With all due respect, you're not getting it guys! It's a God thing! Gibson is only going with the flow (suffering for God). It is God and God alone who marketed this movie (10 million in advance sales). What this film is doing and what it will do for years to come is unprecedented. Those who are appalled because Gibson said the Holy Spirit directed him to make this movie, have obviously not had that experience. One innocent but grave mistake many annalists are making is dismissing this epic as just a movie. The Passion has been blessed (anointed) by God. Therefore, the human spirit is being moved to see it, and touched as if they were seeing Jesus himself. Those who are not stirred emotionally, most likely have never had their spirit awakened. Thousands of people have an intellectual understanding of God but do not know Him in their hearts. It is no coincidence that on February 25 (Ash Wednesday) most every newspaper in the country headlined two distinct hot button issues -- The Passion of the Christ and Gay Marriages. Our nation is morally divided more than anytime in the history of the United States. Did we not learn anything from the downfall of the Roman Empire? For three thousand years marriage has been between a man and woman, as God ordained it. Today's societal mores have desensitized the spiritual man. It has been prophesied that in the future we will be seeing celebrities having sex on TV, plus bestiality. Sodom and Gomorrah is rapidly approaching our cities - and the mainstream media has the nerve to criticize Mel Gibson for producing a realistic crucifixion of Jesus (who died for the sins of all mankind). The Good News is that God is all about Faith, Hope, Love - and Forgiveness!

McMaster Students Collaborate to Open a New Vegetarian Cafeteria on Campus The Hamilton Spectator HAMILTON, ONTARIO, February 11, 2004: McMaster University campus should have a cafeteria where vegans and vegetarians will be able to dine by the fall of 2004. The idea for the cafeteria was first promoted by Aaron Orkin, a third-year arts and science student, who along with a friend, wanted to open a kitchen where Jewish, Hindu and Muslim students could have a place to eat where their dietary needs would be served. Orkin says, "The cafe is not just another option for lunch but a welcoming open space where cultural and religious festivities could be held, where students from different backgrounds could sit and talk, where the menu is another symbol of tolerance and understanding." The University's administration has agreed to the idea and has offered the student's involved a space known as the RAT, a campus bar that was closed two years ago, but the space has the necessary kitchen, serving areas and refrigeration facilities. Holding their first public meeting in February, Orkin and Noah Zion Gano, a second-year commerce student, want this student-driven project to succeed and have received input about the menu and redecorating the space to cover up the orange walls. Gary Warner, arts and science director and chair of a committee called Strengthening Hamilton's Community Initiative, attended the public meeting and comments, "It's about food, but it's also about intercultural understanding. It's about creating a space that allows people to interact in a way that in itself is a message."

Envy, malice and spite seem to be all pervasive,afflicting everyone in all levels of society. Why?

Wow ,this will really rouse up the faithful. Hari Hari