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October 30 2008 – Vrndavana
My humble apologies if you have been logging in and not seen any new entries for the last week or so. I have been traveling to Delhi and now Vrndavana. I have to use a public internet facility so its rather difficult to put up anything substantial. I will be back in Mayapur in two days time, Nov. 1st and normal service will resume.
For those that don’t yet know, you can keep getting updates on Jayapataka Swami’s health at http://www.jpshealth.info/.
Your humble servant, Hari-sauri dasa
Now we have another major crisis with HH Jayapataka Swami in hospital in Mumbai with a severe stroke caused by brain aneurysm. His condition is very critical, and the doctors have admitted that there is not much they can do, and the main thing now is our prayers for Maharaja’s well being.
At this moment I can’t describe my feelings. The apprehension of the loss of this very dear friend is not something I want to contemplate right now. And despite his current crisis, as Ravindra Svarupa prabhu just put to me, Maharaja has more prana than anyone he has ever met. He is a fighter and he has tremendous strength of constitution.
We have clearly entered the era where the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples is going to be a regular affair. That’s the material world, always hankering and lamenting. Our consolation is Srila Prabhupada’s statement that we shall have another ISKCON in the spiritual world and that our spiritual relationships are all eternal.
I was just with Jayapataka Maharaja in Mumbai. We had our MVT meeting in Chowpatty on the 18th. He appeared to be very tired and didn’t look well, but like everyone else, I thought it was simply the symptom of the almost perpetual jeg-lag that Maharaja suffers due to his intense and continuous travels. I thought with a few days in one place he would catch up his rest and be back to his usual energetic self.
It only takes a second and everything changes.
I first saw him in 1975 but I didn’t get to know him until early 1976. Srila Prabhupada had arrived in Mayapur on January 17 and stayed for just over two months. Jayapataka Swami was his stalwart assistant in developing the Mayapur project. I remember one particular incident that nicely summed up their relationship:
[TD 1] January 18, 1976 – Sri Dhama Mayapur
With the festival only six weeks away, Jayapataka expressed doubts how it [the Long building] could be completed in time. Prabhupada told him if they engage at least one hundred men it could be done. Then Bhavananda Maharaja raised the objection that there was no money. Prabhupada told him that if that was the only problem, he would give him the money. But he said they must start immediately. Jayapataka, however, was still apprehensive. He said there was a shortage of bricks. Nevertheless Prabhupada pushed him to begin construction. He told them that they should do whatever they can, but the work must begin immediately.
Leaving the pukkur we hesitated to go down the steep incline of the embankment. Jayapataka, however, had no problem running down, even in his wooden shoes. Srila Prabhupada laughed. “Victorious flag — Jaya-pataka,” he called out, appreciating his disciple’s dexterity.
Since those days Jayapataka Maharaja has been carrying the flag of victory all over the world on behalf of Srila Prabhupada, spreading the glories of Sri Mayapur Dhama far and wide and increasing the family of ISKCON devotees for the pleasure of his spiritual master. Now that seems to be at the end of an era.
We can simply pray that Srila Prabhupada’s victorious flag is not lowered to half mast any time soon.
October 21 2008
This one is from Anuj, who bought a set of my books from me in Atlanta this summer at the Panihati festival.
He’s experiencing a common phenomena that attacks a lot of new devotees:
“For the past few weeks, I have tried to remain fixed in my service to Sri Sri Radha Krsna, but impersonalist thoughts seem to be polluting my mind. I have debated quite extensively with Mayavadi’s online in various religious forums and this has had a negative effect on my spiritual life. My mind seems to be more inclined in accepting Impersonalistic convictions although I am only really satisfied in serving Krsna.
“I keep reminding my self that the great Acharyas including Ramanuja,
Madhva,
Lord Chaitanya
and Srila Prabhupada
all preached against Mayavadism yet the fact that so many people in India and elsewhere are immersed in such impersonalism seems to persuade me that there must be some truth in their philosophy. I really dislike the way in which Mayavadi’s state that the Absolute Truth referred to in the Bhagavad Gita is not actually Krsna in his personal form but rather the Impersonal Absolute within Krsna. I really do want to want to remain fixed in my service to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu but Impersonalism seems to be the stumbling block on my path.”
“Since you were such an intimate servant of Srila Prabhupada, I wanted to ask you how Prabhupada would interact with such impersonalists and the way in which we can best preach to the Mayavadis. Although I have been advised to stay away from impersonalists, I always feel that it is my duty to preach to them. I don’t understand why I get such inclinations but is there any way in which I can remain convinced that Krsna’s personal form is his highest feature?”
Answer:
As you say, impersonalism is a pollution of the mind. It brings no satisfaction to the soul and that’s why all the big mayavadi’s ultimately come down again to the material platform and indulge in altruistic or humanitarian acts. Although they claim the material realm is mithya, illusion, they are very fond of remaining in that illusion.
The natural function of the soul is to love. That means three things-the lover, the beloved and the exhange between them.
Otober 19 2008
Here’s a recent question from Nityananda Priya dasi in the CIS about the famous prediction that within this Kali-yuga there will be a 10,000 year period of grace where people will be able to easily take to the Sankirtana movement and go back home back to Godhead:
“I would like to ask a question, if it is allowed. I am sometimes asked, what are the symptoms of the 10,000 years of the Golden Age? Can we say, it is the possibility to preach and chant the Holy Name all over the world?”
Answer:
I think that is a good summary. By the arrangement of the Lord, the conditions become favorable for preaching and for people to receive the holy names and the message of the Bhagavatam.
In the SB 11.5.38-40 it says:
“It is stated in the Visnu-dharma,
kalau krta-yugam tasya
kalis tasya krte yuge
yasya cetasi govindo
hrdaye yasya nacyutah
“For one who has Lord Govinda in his heart, Satya-yuga becomes manifest in the midst of Kali, and conversely even Satya-yuga becomes Kali-yuga for one who does not have the infallible Lord in his heart.”
And in the 12th canto it is stated:
SB 12.3.26
“According to Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura, within each age the other three ages occasionally manifest as sub-ages. Thus even within Satya-yuga a demon in the mode of ignorance may appear, and within the age of Kali the highest religious principles may flourish for some time. As described in Srimad–Bhagavatam, the three modes of nature are present everywhere and in everything, but the predominant mode, or combination of modes, determines the general character of any material phenomenon. In each age, therefore, the three modes are present in varying proportions. The particular age represented by goodness (Satya), passion (Treta), passion and ignorance (Dvapara) or ignorance (Kali) exists within each of the other ages as a subfactor.”
On several occasions during his last tour of the USA Srila Prabhupada specifically told us that this movement would go on for 10,000 years:
Ocotober 18 2008
Here’s a good follow-up to my entry on October 2, “Just in time” regarding inauspicious times to travel and why Srila Prabhupada didn’t travel on Thursday afternoons. These questions come up periodically and the following explanations from Shyamasundara prabhu and Bhanu Swami give the detailed and technical explanations. When in doubt, go to the experts!
[Shyamasundara prabhu is one of the foremost Vedic astrologers and you can find a link to his site on the “Contacts” page.]
From: Shyamasundara (Dasa) ACBSP (Astrologer)
Date: 01-Aug-94
Subject: travel and Muhurta
————————————————————
Mother Urmila requests information about why Srila Prabhupada didn’t travel on Thurday afternoon and asks:
“Is this a general principle or something Prabhupada did because of personal astrological considerations?”
My understanding is that he learned this habit from his association with his own Guru Srila Bhaktisiddhanta who was a renowned astrologer in his purva-ashrama. The reason is that on Thurday afternoon the Rahukalam–the time of Rahu becomes prominent.
(This is mentioned in the philosophy paper.)
The method of calculating when the Rahukalam will take place is as follows. First you must know when the sun rises for each day of the week. Then for each day the Rahukalam starts at a different time after sunrise and lasts for 90 minutes. The start times of the Rahukalam for different weekdays are:
Sunday– 10.5 hours after sunrise
Monday– 1.5 ”
Tuesday- 9 ”
Wednesday 6 ”
Thursday 7.5 ”
Friday 4.5 ”
Saturday 3 ”
If the Sun were to rise at 6:00 AM then the Rahukalam on Thursday would correspond to 1:30-3:00 PM. [From Muhurta by B.V. Raman pg 201.] Needless to say the sun rises at various times at different seasons and at different latitudes. We also see that Rahukalam is not on Thursday only.
If one doesn’t have the facility to calculate the exact planetary positions at the time of a journey then the above calculation would serve as a ready reckoner. But it should be stressed that this is really only for layman.
From astrological texts it is noted that there are numerous flaws which could severely afflict a time for travel. This is especially significant in the case of long or important journeys. No time is perfect.
Here’s where we spent our afternoon.
We means myself, Paras (pictured), Suman, and Gopa Kishore prabhu, who took these photos. Gopa Kishore is the devotee who did all the animations on the Mother Ganga film produced by Bhakti Vaibhava Swami a couple of years ago. At that time he was known as Bhakta Ezequiel Guerisoli, from Spain. He has worked for TV in Spain and he did a lot of visuals for Yadubara prabhu on his excellent Following Srila Prabhupada series.
He is a good photographer and while we were waiting for our hosts, he wandered around shooting a few pics. of the locals including this sequence of a butterfly:
He and I were just introduced yesterday. He is keen to work on the exhibits for the TOVP and put his extensive film making abilities to use for the planetarium.
At the Nehru we were met by Scott Niskach, international sales representative of Evans and Sutherland in India.
E&S are one of the largest manufacturers of planetariums in the world. They were the first company in the world to develop computer graphics, i.e. using computers for drawing pictures, way back in 1968 and made a good living making flight simulators for commercial and military use. They made the first digital planetarium in 1983 so they have extensive experience in the field.
Some of you may recall my blog entry from June 10 describing our exhibits team meeting.
October 14 2008
These two gentlemen are chiefly responsible for the creation and maintenance of this website:
Paras Sharma (left) and Suman Sankar
Suman is one of the bhaktas on the training program here in Chowpatti. He hails originally from S. Africa which is where I met him in 2005. He spent a lot of time and his own money designing and constructing this website. I have had a lot of devotees compliment me on the beautiful design, so now you know who was responsible.
Paras has taken over the maintenance in the last few months, since the launch. Suman was unable to give much time because he joined the temple full time so I advertized for help on Pamho.net. We contacted Paras through another devotee in America, Damodar Nityananda prabhu and although he is not yet a devotee, he provides all his services free.
Paras lives in Bhopal and with Suman and myself scheduled to be in Chowpatti together, Paras thought it would be good to meet both of us personally, since previous contact has always been through email and phone. He travelled 12 hrs. on the train overnight to get here and this is his first visit to an ISKCON temple. He’s a polite, bright young man of 23, and works full time for Reliance industries maintaining their servers.
We had a few hours this afternoon going over the website discussing ways to improve our services to you the reader. We will be adding a bit of video for downloading soon so please watch out for that. We also want to add streaming video and audio files to this blog and I hope that feature comes shortly.
I am deeply indebted to these young men for their kindness and service. Suman and Paras, many thanks!
October 14 2008
I came to Chowpatti temple early in the morning and will be spending the next week or so here. If Juhu beach temple is Heaven on Earth this place is Vaikuntha. Although small in comparison to the opulent Juhu beach temple, it is like a precious jewelbox, filled with gems and gold.
The Deities of Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha, Gaura Nitai and Nathaji are beautifully decorated and lovingly cared for. They attract many thousands of people every week. On Sundays an attendance of several thousand is standard.
Chowpatti is famous for its Vaisnava culture and etiquette. The devotees are humble, enthusiastic and elevated, following in the footsteps of their leader, HH Radhanatha Swami. Chowpatti has a resident population of over 100 brahmacaris, and many thousands of regular congregational members as well as hundreds of initated householders.
Maharaja is here and today begins the observance of Kartika. After greeting the Deities and guru–puja we sat down to sing the glories of Lord Damodara. Maharaja led us in the chanting of the Damodarastaka, one of my favorite bhajanas.
Throughout the month devotees offer lighted ghee lamps to the Lord and by doing so gain benedictions beyond our scope of appreciation:
Sri Hari-bhakti-vilasa
Sixteenth Vilasa, Volume One
Text 99-168
Please hear the glories of offering a lamp during the month of Karttika, an
offering that is very pleasing to Lord Kesava. O king of brahmanas, a person
who offers a lamp in this way will not take birth again in this world.
October 13 2008
The last two days have been spent in the very pleasant company of their holinesses Lokanatha, Bhakti Vikash and Janananda Swamis, discussing the work of the Kirtan Standards Committee (KSC).
Two other members couldn’t be here, Jagajivan and Aniruddha prabhus. It was formed in 2006 and set the task of trying to define the standards for kirtana and all things connected with that, in ISKCON.
The last two days we saw a bit of progress. We are aiming to make a presentation to the GBC meetings in February 2009. We have divided Srila Prabhupada’s instructions on kirtana into three broad categories- rules, strongly recommended, and general. Then we looked first at kirtana in the temple, with mainly ISKCON devotees. And then from the angle of tunes, instruments, dancing etc.
There are lots of other aspects to be looked at but to make a start these are the topics under current discussion. Sorry, can’t tell you what we came up with yet. You’ll have to wait till February. If it gets passed, it will be released for public consumption.
October 11 2008
I was off-line for a couple of days, traveling to Mumbai. I will be here ’till October 23. I have a series of meetings over the next week or so, some connected with the GBC meetings that are to be held here, and some with the TOVP.
I don’t come to Mumbai much. If I travel out of Mayapur at all (summer excluded), its mainly to Vrndavana. Last time I was here was 2 years ago. They were still constructing the massive extension at that time. Now its finished.
They call the new extensions to Sri Sri Radha Rasabehari’s temple ‘Heaven on Earth’ and it really is. Amazing place.
If you come to India, you must visit Hare Krishna Land Juhu. The guest house is 4 star.
The restaurant is huge and the prasadam served is delicious. Yesterday, Sunday over 50,000 people went through the temple and other facilities. There are so many people they have to keep the line moving so that everyone gets a chance to see the Deities.
That’s regular traffic, on special events days its much, much bigger.
October 9 2008
Speaking of diets, in March of 1977 I left Srila Prabhupada’s party and returned to Australia. Prabhupada made me the GBC there the following month.
Sometime in late April I came down with malaria. It was a reoccurrence of a couple of bouts I had in India in 1976. The medicine I had been given there only suppressed the malaria bug but didn’t flush it out of my system. So I spent five days in the Adelaide tropical diseases hospital with a cracking headache and no appetite. When I came out I was noticeably thinner.
In late May all the GBCs were called to Vrndavana. Srila Prabhupada’s condition had worsened and he had rushed back there from Rishikesh. He wrote his Will on May 23 and the GBCs were told to ask any questions they had and get them clarified. I was out on traveling sankirtana in Australia and didn’t get the message until a few days later.
I immediately flew to Delhi and arrived in Vrndavana on May 29. By that time the immediate crisis had passed and Srila Prabhupada seemed to improve. Some of the GBCs were already leaving by the time I arrived at Krishna Balarama Mandir. Having spent so much money to get there, and naturally keen to have His Divine Grace’s personal association again after two months absence, I decided to remain in Vrndavana for two weeks.
By that time Prabhupada’s daily routine had completely changed from when I was on the party. He needed 24 hour assistance and someone had to be with him at all times. Physically he was drastically debilitated and spent most of the time lying down.
Tamal Krishna Goswami, Upendra prabhu and Ksira-chora Gopinath (who took sannyasa a few days after I arrived and became Bhakti Charu Swami) made a roster, and I was assigned a two hour afternoon spot.
The first day there then I went up onto the back section of the roof where Srila Prabhupada was lying down on a cot resting. When I came by his side Prabhupada glanced over at me.
“In Australia you are reducing?” he asked.
I missed the meaning. “Reducing Srila Prabhupada?”
“Yes, in Australia you are reducing?” he repeated.
Then I understood. He saw that I was noticeably thinner since I had left his party. Despite his own condition he was immediately concerned about my health.
“Oh, yes. I had a bout of malaria recently,” I explained, “But I am also eating less as well.” I added the last bit because I thought he would be pleased to hear that I was cutting down on my eating.
For good reason. On November 27, 1976 on this very same spot, I had made the biggest mistake of my life:
It happens in middle age. The signs of decline, loss of energy, failing eyesight and hearing, inefficient metabolism, and increasing waist line even though you’re not eating more than usual.
Since my mid-50s I have been putting on a bit of weight
so I have decided its time to do a bit of dieting. Not for appearance but for health. I just had my horoscope done and my astrologer told me that from my 58th year for four years I can expect poor health. That begins next month. He advised diet and exercise to help offset the adverse effects.
I am one of those people who have been fortunate enough to never really experience poor health. At least not serious bad health. I have a robust constitution and apart from some specific diseases-malaria, typhoid-I rarely get colds, headaches, or suffer much physical difficulty.
So I have never paid much attention to physical maintenance. I am generally pretty lazy and I hate exercise. But all the signs are pointing to a new era in personal health care.
It all started when I hit my fifties. In 2001-02 I had some problems with pronounced muscle ache and tiredness. It was like having a constant ‘flu but without the cold. Finally I went to the doctor. He was young guy and new out of college. He convinced himself I was suffering from depression and wanted to give me some magic pills to feel better. No way!
I knew it was a physical problem and I insisted on a blood test. The results came back and showed a severe depletion of B12, commonly called pernicious anaemia (although its not technically anaemia). Normal levels should be 140 but mine was down to 41, so I had to have ten booster shots to bring it back up. I was also supposed to have a booster every three months but I haven’t bothered. (Maybe I should get a check!)
I also started eating a couple of spoonfuls of granulated bee pollen a day which is rich in B12.
It seems this type of anaemia is a common problem with vegetarians because the main source of B12 is animal. Anyway the shots immediately improved things and all the aches went away and I felt my normal energy levels return.
I also had problems due to a sluggish liver. I had a spell a few years back when I would fall asleep immediately after eating something, not even a meal, and I had to literally force myself to stay awake. It was a bit disconcerting to start nodding out even while I was in the middle of a conversation. Sometimes I would just feel like curling up on the floor and having a snooze. I couldn’t concentrate properly, my brain responded about as fast as a dead slug and I felt tired alot of the time.
It wasn’t due to a lack of sleep. Something wasn’t working properly and finally I went to an Ayurvedic doctor in Sydney. He gave me a liver cleanser/tonic and a specific diet. After a month I had improved about 80%.
Srila Prabhupada advised us to keep up our health so that we can keep doing our service. He set the example. He took not less than 3-4 hours a day just for maintaining his body.
Wherever he was in the world, he would always go for a one hour morning walk
and every day around noon he would have a one and half hours full body massage
and another 1/2 – 1 hour massage in the evening. Apart from that, he also regularly adjusted his diet in response to his bodily needs. Had he not done this, its very doubtful that he could have travelled all over the world for 11 years while writing, lecturing, corresponding and constantly meeting with anyone who could help with his mission.
Now with the astrologer’s warning I have decided its time to officially go on a diet. Or die-ate. Tyaga-bhoga. Its not so hard. No, really. Honestly.
Ocotober 5 2008
Grey as a mouse,
Big as a house,
Nose like a snake,
I make the earth shake,
As I tramp through the grass;
Biggest of all,
Huge, old and tall.
If ever’d you meet me,
You wouldn’t forget me.
If you never do,
You won’t think I’m true;
But old Oliphaunt am I,
And I never lie.
— Sam Gamgee, Lord of the Rings
There was a time when elephants were held in awe and reverence, but it seems that time has passed:
Here in Mayapur at least, there’s still a home for at least a couple of India’s pachyderms.
Here’s a few more photos of Visnupriya, just delivered to my by Hrmati mataji. As you can see, at about 3 years old, she’s really cute.
October 4 2008
Health is always a topic. If you have a material body, jara and vyadhi are part and parcel.
I just got this letter from my godbrother Dhruva Maharaja prabhu (who by the way runs an excellent website called www.sadhusanga.com where you can download heaps of wonderful audio stuff, e-books etc.)
“A few years ago doctors prescribed some high blood pressure medicine, which I’ve been taking regularly. Although my numbers are now okay, there’s a substance in blood called triglycerides – and mine are high.
“The allopathic remedy for this is nasty – I’ve tried it and it doesn’t suit me. I’ve also tried garlic pills, but they didn’t do much. Now the doctor is saying either take the allopathic or the other remedy – fish oil….yuukkk!
“You’re the walking, talking, emailing database for Srila Prabhupada pastimes…..so I’m wondering if there’s some instance you can refer to that will answer the question what to do in this case?”
Answer:
I can’t recall much that Srila Prabhupada said about treating high blood pressure. He did have continual problems with it while I was his servant:
[TD 1] December 21st, 1975- Bombay
There was no morning walk today. Missing Prabhupada on the beach, Dr. Patel arrived at his apartment with his son. He took a cardiograph reading and gave Prabhupada some pills. His diagnosis is high blood pressure.
Prabhupada rested. He didn’t take breakfast, and then ate only a morsel at lunch, complaining of dizziness from the medicine. He remarked that modern drugs are medicines for the demons. Prabhupada rarely goes to a doctor, although if by some arrangement one comes to him, he doesn’t refuse their help. Disease has to be treated, of course, but as far as he is concerned, chanting Hare Krsna is the best cure.
In the evening he felt better and ate some guava, three parathas, and a sabji Harikesa cooked for him.
As part of his cure Prabhupada told us that for at least one week he wants to be free of appointments and visitors. Harikesa is doubtful that we will be able to enforce this rule. Prabhupada is too enthusiastic to stop preaching and too kind to turn away unexpected visitors.”
[TD 4] September 11th, 1976 – Sri Vrndavana-dhama
Prabhupada’s health is not very good. He has been suffering from high blood pressure for several days, and today he has toothache. Indeed, he seems to be suffering a general decline in health and strength. At this time last year he was striding strongly down the road every morning for at least one hour and seemed quite full of vigor. Now he rarely takes such walks.
September 12th, 1976
Srila Prabhupada’s Srimad-Bhagavatam class was shorter than usual. He is still suffering from high blood pressure and speaking gives him a headache.
September 13th, 1976
Hansaduta Maharaja has asked Srila Prabhupada if he can record him singing some bhajanas. He wants to make a record for sankirtana distribution. Prabhupada has agreed, despite the fact that he has great difficulty speaking very much at the moment due to his high blood pressure. So at about 6:00 a.m. this morning, Hansaduta set up some simple recording equipment in Srila Prabhupada’s bedroom. His Divine Grace played the harmonium and recorded Hari Hari Biphale. Harikesa Swami accompanied him on mrdanga and I played the karatalas.
* * *
Prabhupada’s classes are becoming noticeably shorter. His high blood pressure makes it a strain for him to speak for an extended period. Still, long or short, his speaking is imbued with the same depth and power, and his realizations illuminate the text and the hearts of the devotees.
September 17th, 1976
Srila Prabhupada told Hansaduta Swami that this morning’s recording session would be the last. Prabhupada wants to oblige Hansaduta, but he said the singing is too much strain because of his high blood pressure.
September 18th, 1976
Srila Prabhupada is not feeling well again and could hardly speak this morning due to his high blood pressure, which is affecting his head and giving him massive headaches. He gave only a short class and afterwards, in his room, he said he will stop public lecturing for a while as it is a great strain.
September 19th, 1976
Srila Prabhupada didn’t give a class this morning. He rested until 9 a.m. and then followed his usual routine for the rest of the day.
His high blood pressure has become such a problem that after giving his usual evening darsana in the temple, he sat in his room and had me massage his head and temples for twenty minutes with Brahmi oil. After this, I soaked a new gamcha in cold water, folded it into a strip about six inches wide, and Prabhupada then sat with it draped over his head for about an hour. The treatment seemed to give him some relief.
September 30th, 1976
I mentioned to Tamopaha that Prabhupada was having high blood pressure problems and he suggested that Prabhupada take the pulp from the cactus-like aloe vera plant, a common treatment for heart complaints in Hawaii. He said it helps clear the arteries and is also excellent when applied externally, for curing burns and skin ailments. I discussed it with Srila Prabhupada and he agreed to try it. Accordingly, I have located some plants growing in a nearby asrama and it is being added to his diet.
October 1st, 1976
At 7:00 p.m. as arati begins, Prabhupada returns to his quarters. Most evenings he does not talk much with anyone because his high blood pressure is persistent and he gets a big headache almost as soon as he talks. Apart from his managers, only Bhagatji comes in the late evening. He chats with Prabhupada from about 8:30 p.m. until Prabhupada takes his milk and retires.
—————–
You can see from this that his blood pressure problem was persistent. He did try the aloe vera remedy but to not much effect:
[TD 5] October 9th 1976 – Aligarh (at the house of Mr. Saigal)
Aligarh reception, Mr. Saigal at far right — (see photo gallery for more Aligarh photos)
Surendra Saigal came in to Prabhupada’s room to find out what he wanted for breakfast. Prabhupada mentioned apples and milk. Since Mr. Saigal had made some suggestions to Srila Prabhupada for helping with his health, I asked him if he could get some ghrita-kumari, aloe vera. Arjuna and Tamopaha prabhus suggested it last week as a good remedy for high blood pressure and for cleaning the arteries. Mr. Saigal happily informed us that he had it growing in his garden. His wife takes it regularly, stuffed in chapatis or parathas, and finds it quite efficacious for relieving pains in her knees. Mr. Saigal though, suggested that garlic was the best for relieving high blood pressure.
Prabhupada wrinkled his nose and grimaced slightly. “Garlic.”
Mr. Saigal smiled at his reaction. “Garlic. You don’t want it,” and they laughed together.
“Garlic, onions, prohibited,” Prabhupada told him.
So it was settled that his wife would cook aloe vera chapatis for breakfast. Prabhupada asked Gaurasundara prabhu if he knew of it, and he confirmed they had it in Hawaii. He added that it can be used externally for skin diseases, burns, and cuts.
As Mr. Saigal left the room to prepare for breakfast, Prabhupada concluded, “Body is simply troublesome.”
Srila Prabhupada did say a lot of things about devotees taking care of their health.
October 4 2008
By the grace of Her Grace Hrmati mataji, here’s a couple of photos of our (hopefully) new elephant Visnupriya. She’s a lovely little lady of about 4 years old.
When she is old enough, Visnupriya will be trained as the carrier of the Deities in our winter weekend hati processions around Mayapur, carrying chota Radha Madhava on her back.
October 2 2008
Here’s an interesting question from Vishal Gauranga prabhu. He’s been reading Kurma prabhu’s excellent book The Great Transcendental Adventure (If you haven’t read it, beg, borrow or steal it; its as good as his cooking).
Respected Kurma prabhu,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada, all glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga.
I was going through this passage as mentioned below ..
“Srila Prabhupada had been booked on a flight to Honolulu via Fiji that was scheduled to leave that afternoon. After deliberation, however, considering travel on Thursday afternoons to be inauspicious, Srila Prabhupada decided to extend his stay in Melbourne for an extra day.
“Madhudvisa Swami requested Srila Prabhupada, since the devotees and congregation were so eager to be with him, that he allow them a special darsana before he left for overseas. Prabhupada agreed on an afternoon meeting in his room. Such an open darsana would be the first of its kind in Australia, and the devotees eagerly looked forward to the special event.”
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I would like to know what this inauspicious time here means?? Travelling on Thursday afternoons?
It may certainly not be “Rahu kala “ since that time falls between 1:30 to 3PM (on thursday’s). It’s bit confusing for me to understand this one as we all know that Srila Prabhupada is transcendental, how can these things affect HDG?.
Did Srila Prabhupada followed “rahukala” times through out his world travel? If not, why only in Melbourne? Sorry prabhu for taking your time, I appreciate very much in advance your time taken for answering this one ..
PS: Marking HG Harisauri prabhu just in case he has any add on to this scenario…
ys, Vishal Gauranga das
Kurma prabhu provided a good reply. (see his blog http://www.iskcon.net.au/kurma/)
He confirmed the inauspicious time as Thursday afternoon and commented:
“Why ‘it may certainly not be Rahu Kalam?'”
“According to my understanding, there are different calculations of Rahu Kalam. Some talk about a fixed time, others talk of a different calculation, which is calculated in connection to sunrise: Rahu Kalam on a Thursday falls 7.5 hours after sunrise. So if we calculated Rahu Kalam for Thursday in mid-summer, it would be at a very different time to mid-winter.
“As I said, this is my limited understanding of a vastly complex system. Shyamasundara dasa ACBSP the Astrologer has a lot to say on the topic of auspicious and inauspicious times, and in comparison to him, I know little more than what I have just said, so I will keep my mouth shut.
“By the way, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati also did not like to travel on Thursday afternoons.
“One could extend your question and say that if he was ‘transcendental’, why bother to look after the body at all? So why did Srila Prabhupada take medicine, take massage, and go on morning walks?
“I’ll pass this one over to Hari Sauri, because I know he’s itching to answer ;)”
So on the request of my dear Godbrother, here’s my ‘two cents’:
“I have forwarded your comments to Shyamasundar prabhu for his insights. He knows a lot of the technical details on this topic.
> By the way, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati also did not like to travel on
> Thursday afternoons.
So much so that if he absolutely had to travel on Thursday, he would have a suitcase placed at the door on a Wednesday and that was considered an indication that the journey had started.
Your answer is fine Kurma prabhu. Pure devotees still work within the general laws of material nature. Otherwise why do their bodies grow old, get diseases and become subject to the same physical laws as everyone elses?
The main reason is that they exhibit their pastimes within the framework of the conditioned souls. If they didn’t, noone would follow their teachings. If we had an acarya that could leap over skyscraper buildings in defiance of ‘gravity’ a la Superman mode, it might attract a big following, but who would bother to pay attention to his teachings? Then you get a great personality like Jesus who is made into an icon and a bunch of followers who say, “Only Jesus can walk on water. Only Jesus can multiply the loaves and five fishes. Only Jesus can die on the cross and be resurrected. Only Jesus can be pure. We don’t need to do anything because noone can be like Jesus.”
In this regard I recall Hayagriva prabhu’s dream at Dr. Misra’s asrama in 1966:
October 1 2008
“How much money does a man need in order to be happy?”
“Just a little more!” — Nelson Rockefeller
Nowadays the Indian economic ‘miracle’ is all the rage. Just this year alone entrepreneurs are building over 100 new malls in the major cities around the country. A few days ago the newspapers reported that India is making more new millionaires per year than any other country in the world. India is in a get-more-money fever it has never witnessed before. Lust for money is spreading like meningitis in the minds of India’s citizens and the government is proud of touting its new found wealth and opportunities and its consumer society.
Like the legendary lemmings, its populace is being urged to pursue a suicidal course — literally.
It is now witnessing its first financial suicides:
Kolkata Telegraph: The stock market crash claimed its first victims when Abhishek Banka, a sub-broker, committed suicide and, unable to bear the loss, his wife Sona threw herself from a highrise.
The bloated body of 22-year-old Abhishek, missing since Wednesday, was today found floating along the bank of the Hooghly.
Six hours later, Sona jumped to her death from her parents’ ninth floor apartment on Russel Street.
Police said Abhishek appeared to have been driven to suicide after suffering losses of Rs 86 lakh in the stock market collapse since the budget. They said the sub-broker with Suresh Kumar Fogla & Associates blamed himself for the losses.” -[end quote]
And on the land, scores of farmers kill themselves every week. Unable to cope with the changes in the markets they have no control over, many get into overwhelming debt and the meagre earnings from cash crops fails to cover their repayments.
Kolkata Telegraph:
Kadegaon/Tasgaon (Sangli in western Maharashtra), Jan. 30: The scourge of traditional agriculture has spread to new-age crops with at least 86 debt-hit grape farmers killing themselves in Sangli and Solapur districts of western Maharashtra since January 2005.
In Sangli district, 400km from Mumbai, there have been 61 cases of suicide by farmers growing table grapes, a capital-intensive fruit, since 2003.
The suicides were not triggered by one failed crop: they were a result of five years of crop failure; unscrupulous middlemen who have kept the purchase price static at Rs 10 per kg; a prolonged period of rising input costs; and unremunerative prices for the produce.” [end quote]
Monetary despair is not just happening in the countryside either:
Kolkata Telegraph: Aasra, a Mumbai-based suicide prevention NGO, claims to have recorded a 30 per cent increase in 10 years in the number of people who call because they are in a monetary mess and are contemplating suicide. Most of these people are young, ambitious, high spending and impatient to get rich, says Johnson Thomas, director, Aasra. “As the avenues for spending increase, most young Indians have started living beyond their means. This leads to debt, depression and suicide,” says Thomas. [end quote]
Srila Prabhupada was never enamoured by ‘economic advancement’. He always told us it was an illusion that would end in distress.
In December 1975 Prabhupada was visiting Sananda in Gujarat. On his first morning there he took a walk through the fields in the local district:
September 30 2008
These two bright young men are Narayan and his brother Madhusudan. They are two of the 500+ students who attend our Bhaktivedanta National School (BNS) here in Mayapur.
Their father Advaita prabhu came to see me early this year asking if I could find someone to help sponsor them to attend the school. He was struggling to find the necessary fees for them. Life for a lot of our local devotees is not easy and even a few rupees a month can make a huge difference.
Their combined schools fees are only Rs. 500 a month so I decided to sponsor them myself. Its a very satisfying feeling to be able to help these young devotees get a good education while growing up in the holy dhama. The school has a regular curriculum but is run by our ISKCON devotees and they have a solid spiritual component. Whenever we have festivals the kids from the BNS put on devotional dramas and music.
In France in 1976 Srila Prabhupada took special delight in seeing the gurukula children. Each morning they would eagerly line up to see him and on one occasion they had a special darsana in his rooms. He told us how easy it is to make advancement in Krsna consciousness:
[TD3] August 2, 1976 – New Mayapur [room conversation]
Lamenting the horrible condition of modern society, Prabhupada said, “This meat-eating, chicken juice, tea — these things are unknown to India. No, why India? By nature, you say that you refused meat, although you were born of a father and mother meat-eaters, still. What a horrible civilization they have made. He’s human being born, making him animal by culture. Instead of making him more cultured toward the spiritual life, making him redirected again to animal life. This is the Western civilization.”
He told us how fortunate our children are, and in doing so revealed his own innocent nature. “Yesterday I was astonished how these children were receiving just like friend, laughing and something saying. You have seen it? As an old friend. Their mother pushes, they would not come. But they were very glad to see me.”
My remark that everyone was glad to see him did not infringe on Prabhupada’s humble mood. “I was astonished, that how these children take me as friend.”
“I don’t think that’s too difficult. You’re the best friend for everyone,” I said.
“No, but after all, they are children. How they can take it as it is? So they are fortunate children, and their parents and everyone should take care of them. A very difficult age [Kali].”
I said, “You always said they’re our asset for the future.”
* * *
About twenty-five or thirty gurukula children and some of their parents had a special half hour darsana with Prabhupada in his room this afternoon. One by one the children filed in to offer their dandavats in front of his desk. They then settled in a semicircle, facing him, on the opposite side of the room.
He had them chant the maha-mantra loudly for about fifteen minutes. It wasn’t singing and it wasn’t japa, but a rythmic chant in unison that grew in pace and volume. They began to clap in time, getting caught up in a swell of enthusiasm for Krsna’s holy name and His pure devotee. The bright faced children were eager to reciprocate Prabhupada’s smiles of encouragement, and Prabhupada’s pleasure at seeing their innocence and purity being nurtured by the lifestyle he has given them was clear to all.
Read the rest of this entry »
September 29 2008
Here’s a bit of nectar from the forthcoming Volume 6 of Transcendental Diary:
As Prabhupada took his massage, Kuladri prabhu, the president of the Buffalo temple, arrived. He is on a shopping and business trip for New Vrindaban. Prabhupada was very happy to see him and when Kuladri gave him a large batch of milk sweets from the New Vrindaban kitchens, he was delighted. “These sweets mean that our mission is successful,” he declared with alacrity.
He immediately began to glorify the pleasantries of farm life and as Kuladri sat down to relish the opportunity to be once more in his spiritual master’s presence, Srila Prabhupada spoke for some time how even all the animals become happy and peaceful if treated well.
He told us that even tigers and lions in the jungle become the pets of great saintly persons. He said he personally knew a sadhu who was living in the jungle. Everyday the saint would put some milk at a distance and call a she-tiger to come and eat. He would ask her, “Please take this milk and kindly do not eat any men.” The tigress would sometimes come and leave her cubs with him while she went off hunting into the jungle for the day.
On her return in the evening she would bring some fruit, deposit it there and take her cubs back again. To our smiles of amazement Prabhupada said the farms are our future hope for living. [end quote]
It reminded me of the story in the Caitanya Caritamrta describing the great devotee Murari Caitanya:
CC Adi 11.20
“There were many extraordinary activities performed by Murari, a great devotee of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sometimes in his ecstasy he would slap the cheek of a tiger, and sometimes he would play with a venomous snake.”
PURPORT
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura writes in his Anubhasya, “Murari Caitanya dasa was born in the village of Sar-vrndavana-pura, which is situated about two miles from the Galasi station on the Burdwan line. When Murari Caitanya dasa came to Navadvipa, he settled in the village of Modadruma, or Mamagachi-grama. At that time he became known as Sarnga or Saranga Murari Caitanya dasa. The descendants of his family still reside in Sarer Pada. In the Caitanya-bhagavata, Antya-khanda, Chapter Five, there is the following statement: ‘Murari Caitanya dasa had no material bodily features, for he was completely spiritual. Thus he would sometimes chase after tigers in the jungle and treat them just like cats and dogs. He would slap the cheek of a tiger and take a venomous snake on his lap. He had no fear for his external body, of which he was completely forgetful. He could spend all twenty-four hours of the day chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra or speaking about Lord Caitanya and Nityananda. Sometimes he would remain submerged in water for two or three days, but he would feel no bodily inconvenience. Thus he behaved almost like stone or wood, but he always used his energy in chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra. No one can describe his specific characteristics, but it is understood that wherever Murari Caitanya dasa passed, whoever was present would be enlightened in Krsna consciousness simply by the atmosphere he created.'”
Such is the power of a spiritually advanced person. Of course we see animals in zoos that become domesticated due to their complete reliance on their human wardens
whoops! Sorry, wrong tiger…
but to hear about wild tigers behaving in such a way was quite surprising.
If you are interested to see a modern example of a lion that was brought up as a pet and later released into the wild but remained friendly to its human mentors go to this link:
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=btuxO-C2IzE&feature=related
September 28 2008
This history of this world, and especially in Kali-yuga is war. There is always some war going on somewhere. If we are fortunate we may escape its withering shadow–or not. Even if we do, are we any better off?
How do devotees view war and how do they deal with it?
Here’s a fairly frequently asked question from Samatma Gour das in the CIS:
“Did Shrila Prabhupada ever speak of possible global military conflicts and cataclysms etc. What were his recommendations to the devotees, if any, in relation to this? Thank you in advance and special thanks for your Transcendental Diary!”
Answer:
Among the many smaller wars-civil wars, cold wars, hot wars, holy wars-that are always going on, the last century saw two ‘world wars’.
With the development of atomic and nuclear capabilites, its easy to think in apocalyptic terms
With the A-bomb it seemed that for the first time in history man had the capability of destroying the whole planet.
Srila Prabhupada did speak about a possible third world war and there are several conversations from 1974 on this, as well as some letters. You can read the conversation from May 27, 1974 in Rome.
The talk of a possible war sparked some speculation among the devotees and some wrote to Srila Prabhupada because they were concerned about the future. Here are some replies Srila Prabhupada made:
Letter to: Makhanlal — 22 June, 1973
“You have asked about whether nuclear devastation on this planet would effect the Sankirtana Movement. No, there is nothing that can stop the Sankirtana Movement because it is the will of God Himself, Lord Caitanya, that His Holy Name be heard in every town and village. Neither can the demons devastate this planet independent of the will of Krsna. Nothing happens without His sanction. If Krsna wants to kill someone no one can save Him, and if Krsna wants to save someone no one can kill him. For our parts we should just be determined to carry out our mission against all opposition, demons, nuclear war, whatever. The whole universe is finally subject to certain annihilation by the will of Krsna, but devotional service is eternal and is the only certain way one can save himself from devastation. We can preach all over the world that the only way to be saved from collective and individual devastation is to take to the chanting of Hare Krsna. In short, this material world is a very precarious place therefore we should always chant Hare Krsna and seek Krsna’s protection.”
Letter to Sukadeva das 24 November 1974:
“I am glad to learn that you are having nice college programs. Regarding there going to be depression and atomic war, who said that? This is all false propaganda. I never said this.
Letter to: Radhavallabha: — 21 August, 1975
“Do not worry, in spite of war, Srimad-Bhagavatam will be distributed. We don’t care for war. Our preaching business will go on.”
In one conversation a devotee asked Srila Prabhupada “If there is war, will devotees also die?” Srila Prabhupada replied that of course they will. And someone also asked what should the devotees do if there is a war. Srila Prabhupada said he should look up at the bomb coming down and say
“This is Krsna!”
On another occasion Srila Prabhupada reminded us that Krsna is always favorably disposed to His devotees: MW conversation, June 16, 1975 Hawaii:
Prabhupada: That will take place. Otherwise, how they will be killed?
Ambarisa: They’re calling it a limited nuclear war.
Prabhupada: They are accumulated so much sinful load that must be killed. That is sure. [break] …the massacre. That will take place.
Harikesa: The sinless people will survive?
Prabhupada: Yes.
Devotee (3): Who is that?
Prabhupada: We. [break] There was an artificial famine in India and I particularly inquired from all devotees whether they have got any problem in this famine. They said, “No, we haven’t got.” I have taken the statistics. In 1942 the artificial famine created by government… So there were big earthquake in Bihar. At that time one of my godbrother, he was government auditor. So I inquired. In that earthquake only his house was saved. I have seen it many times. Kaunteya pratijanihi na me bhaktah pranasyati [Bg. 9.31]. That is the only….
samasrita ye pada-pallava-plavam
mahat-padam punya-yaso murareh
bhavambudhir vatsa-padam param padam
padam padam yad vipadam na tesam
[SB 10.14.58]
Padam padam yad vipadam na tesam. It is not meant for them, all these dangerous condition.”
Whatever happens, Krsna is behind it. Sometimes it seems that some powerful man or men are in control and with their inventions they may kill us all. But this is not the case. I remember an amusing but striking story Srila Prabhupada told us about Churchill, Hitler and World War 2:
