April 28 2009

This is just in from Daria prabhu, who has just taken up the service of being my new translator on Krishna.ru

“My son Ganesha das and I have met with you in Mayapur last year in November, you even wrote  my son’s name “Ganesha prabhu” in the book “Diary” that you wrote and published. My son is 11 years old and you wrote him “prabhu” – it was first time in his life 🙂

Answer:

“Certainly he is our prabhu. These great souls are the future hope of the Krsna consciousness movement, and the fact that they have been given the opportunity to take up Krsna consciousness right from the very beginning of their lives is an indication that they were advanced devotees in their last lives. So they may well be far more advanced than we are and are thus worthy of being addressed as prabhu.”

October 28 1976 – Vrindavana

[TD5-SB class]

Prabhupada’s attempt to provide the best possible opportunity to those pious souls who have been given the connection to Krsna through birth is displayed in his ongoing concern for the development of the gurukula. Surveying the young boys sitting attentively before him, he explained: “[They are] ringing the karatalas, chanting, dancing, offering obeisances to the Lord–temple atmosphere. Don’t think it is ordinary opportunity. It is very great opportunity. From the very beginning of life they are getting impression, bhakti yoga. Vasudeve bhagavati bhakti yoga. These are not going in vain. Even a child is playing karatala, imitation. Not imitation. He’s given the chance. He was previously Vaisnava. Somehow or other, he could not make his life perfect. Therefore he is given again chance. So naturally he has got tendency to play the karatala, to offer flower here, to offer obeisances. They take pleasure. It is due to previous life, yoga. But it was not perfectly done, so somehow or other they are getting chance from the very beginning of life.”

OK, I digress. Here’s the actual question:
Daria: I consider it an honour to try and translate your answers and questions of our people to you.

Here is the first question. It’s from Seva (male).

“Usually the sense of love and thankfulness rises within me towards people who give from their heart freely. For example if I see some devotees who sacrifices their own wishes to Krishna or to other beings, I feel sympathy for these devotees and I really wish to give something good to them. How can I love Krishna if all He is doing is always taking pleasure and nothing more?”

Answer:

I think Seva prabhu has yet to understand the real nature of love. It is apparent that he is setting conditions on the activities of those he wants to give his love to, and if those persons do not meet his personal requirements or standards, he does not feel inclined to love them. This is not love, this is Seva prabhu’s sense gratification. He wants everyone to be subordinate to his so-called love.

As far as Krsna goes, what can we say about the statement “How can I love Krishna if all He is doing is always taking pleasure and nothing more?” Does Seva prabhu seriously think this is all Krsna is doing?

Krsna’s position is perfectly described in Bhagavad Gita Bg 5.29:

bhoktaram yajna-tapasam
sarva-loka-mahesvaram
suhrdam sarva-bhutanam
jnatva mam santim rcchati

TRANSLATION
“A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.”

Krsna is described as the bhokta, the ultimate enjoyer. Why? Because He alone is the source of all the lokas, or planets and universes. He pervades the creation in his form as Supersoul, supplying all the necessities of life to every living being (not just humans). He provides the air we breathe, the water we drink, the earth we eat in the form of foodstuffs, the rainfall, the sunshine and every other aspect of our lives. The entire creation is simply a transformation of Krsna’s energies. Krsna is quite literally everything.

Everything and everyone is subordinate to Krsna’s will. He is second to none, the creator, maintainer and destroyer of all things, and He is the master of time. We are simply insignificant, infinitesimal particles of His existence. Without Krsna, we do not exist.

Even in ordinary logic we see that one who owns something, controls it. If you don’t own something, how can you control it? And one who controls something, has the right to enjoy it. If you don’t own something, and if you have no control over it, how can you enjoy it?

Read the rest of this entry »

  Read/Write Comments ( 0 )

December 28 2008

These bright young things are my daughter Rasarani-priya and her best friend, Tara. Two effulgent young sixteen years old devotees who are eager to take advantage of their fortunate births and increase their devotional service.  Rasarani is already initiated by HH Indradyumna Swami and currently doing the three month Bhakti Shastri course at the Mayapur Institute for Higher Education and Training (MIHET). She spent two months this year on the Polish Festival of India Tour and is planning to repeat the experience again next year.

Tara is Australian and has been living in Mayapur for the past  four years with her mother Siddhi dasi, and two brothers, Jahnu and Radha Raman. She is also an aspiring disciple of Indradyumna Maharaja and she would love to also go on the two month Polish tour next year with Rasarani.

This is where you dear reader, can help. Due to circumstances beyond her control Tara doesn’t have the funds to get to Poland and back.  If anyone has a desire to help and encourage this fine young lady to develop her devotional creeper, you can do no better than offering to partly or wholey sponsor her trip. Its a wonderful way to encourage our youth to become Krsna conscious and to give Krsna consciousness to others. Anyone who helps is sure to get the blessings of Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya.

If anyone is interested, please contact myself anytime between now and April.

  Read/Write Comments ( 0 )

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 »

  Read/Write Comments ( 0 )