Yajnavalkya dasa

I realize that I have certainly offended others, knowingly or unknowingly, through thoughts, words and deeds, through action or inaction. I sincerely apologize and regret my impudence. I beg forgiveness, although I am not worthy of forgiveness. My only solace is in the prayer: vancha-kalpatarubhyas ca krpa-sindhubhya eva ca patitanam pavanebhyo vaisnavebhyo namo namah "I offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaisnava devotees of the Lord. They are just like desire trees who can fulfill the desires of everyone, and they are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls."

Thank you for the information! It is abominable that calves are killed for this purpose. It looks like I'll have to get the Balarama mrdunga.

I want to purchase a mrdunga, but I noticed that all (except the Balarama Mrdunga) use leather. And the Balarama mrdunga, as far as I can tell, is almost out of production, save for a small 20 inch version. So where do the leather in mrdungas come from? If the mrdunga is made in India, can I assume the leather was from a cow that died naturally or accidentally? Any and all advice and opinions, insights, revelations and reveries in the matter are welcomed! If anyone knows of a source for the larger Balarama mrdungas, that would be appreciated. Or, if anyone here has an older, larger Balarama mrdunga, and want to sell it, I am interested. Thank you!

I thought Krishna Tulasi has purplish leaves and Sri or Lakshmi Tulasi (also known as Rama Tulasi) has the green leaves? Thus sayeth Wikipedia, anyway.

The seeds were sent to a bhakta in Manchester, UK. So I have no more.

I have acquired viable Tulasi seeds. I only wanted one Tulasi plant, and planted only one tiny seed. She has appeared. But I sure don't want to hoard the other seeds. If anyone wants the other seeds, please let me know (please email me. There is no charge, I will even pay the postage. I feel it is inappropriate to ask for money of any kind. First come, first served, since I only have one packet of seeds.

I agree. It was the "counterculture", that is, the "Beat Generation" ("beatniks") of the 1950's and the "hippies" of the 1960's that opened up possibilities for "Eastern Thought", including Hare Krishna. Early beatniks like Allen Ginsberg directly helped Prabhupada. The time was right.

Krishna says (Bhagavad-gita 18:66), "surrender unto Me and I will protect you from all sinful reaction. Do not doubt this". So why are you worried about "bad karma"? Do you doubt Krishna? Even if you are obsessed with "bad" or "good" karma, the very act of refusing to vote has karmic implications. Arjuna wanted to withdraw from the battle and go to the forest. Remember? Krishna says, "do your duty". "No good man is entirely good. No bad man is entirely bad", says Krishna in the Mahabharata. So no candidate will be perfect. You have to choose the better (or the less worse) of the two. Krishna also says in the Bhagavad-gita (chapter 12, verses 8 through 12), "if you can't do this, then do this... and if you can't do that, then try this". Some things are better than others, and we all have choices. We have to do the right thing. At every single moment of our lives we have only two choices: "does this action support dharma, or does it detract from it?" Sticking your head in the sand like an ostrich is nonsense: pretending non-action is the same as good action is nonsense! This is covered in the first few chapters of the Gita. There are no commandments in the Bhagavad-gita. There is no "thou shalt" or "thou must not" sayings. Krishna shows us different paths, and how to attain them. The bottom line is chapter 18, verse 63, "yatha icchasi tatha kuru": "do what you wish to do". The choice is ours.

Obama grew up in Indonesia. Although a mostly Muslim country, it is a far more tolerant brand of Islam that we see in the Middle East. Indonesia has a large Hindu population; in fact, Bali, an island of Indonesia, is predominantly Hindu. One of Obama's "good luck charms" he always carries with him sure appears to be an image of Hanuman. Google this: "obama hanuman" and judge for yourself. Arjuna's flag was marked with the image of Hanuman. Is this how Obama also attained victory? Bottom line: he has been exposed to a wide variety of cultures. He also knows what it is like to be an underdog. He is likely to be far more tolerant of other religions than someone who clings to their vision as to how America should be (i.e., white, European and Christian). About abortion: Many Hindus think the Republicans are the ones to support, because they claim to oppose abortion. But do they, really? They have had a Republican President for 8 years, a conservative majority in the Supreme Court for most of that time, and a Republican majority in the Congress for much of that time. But have they taken any action at all during this time to eliminate abortion? No. Why not? It is because they (the upper echelon of the Republican Party) rely on their outraged anti-abortion base of supporters to win elections. If abortion were to be finally made illegal, they would lose a large part of their base. They would be left only with racists, gun nuts and hunters, millionaires and Bible-thumpers (who would ban any religion except their own) to be their core supporters. It is my opinion that the Republicans do not care about abortion, but use the issue to "fire up" their minions. As a recent example, witness the ranting of Sarah Palin. Republicans are also opposed to anything that disrupts their "Norman Rockwell" worldview: anything other than Mom, church, the flag and apple pie is bad. "Vegetarianism, 'animal rights', 'idol worship', 'new fangled religions', 'dot-heads', 'environmentalism and ecology' are not welcome in America" could be their motto. Conversely, the Democrats have always shown to have been far more supportive of other cultures, religions and ideas. Of inclusivism as opposed to exclusivism. Conclusion: the election of Barack Obama is very "good news" to Hindus.