Author: Purushottam Nitai Das

Unlimited glories of Mayapur Dham

Devotees of Krishna continuously sing the glories of Mayapur dham. Unable to control their emotions, they dance in joy.  The stars smile seeing the dance of joy. The big trees and the small plants are curiously looking around enjoying the spectacle. The water in the nearby Ganges is resting peacefully. The cool breeze is singing shyly the glories of Mayapur Dham, occasionally touching the sacred river gently and immediately racing to catch up with the devotees who are quickly walking towards the temple. 

Men, women, children walk briskly lest they miss the momentous opportunity.  When clock calls 4:30 a.m., pujari blows the conchshell reverentially and opens the gigantic curtain hurriedly. Hundreds of devotees raise their arms in jubilation when Sri Sri Radha Madhav along with eight gopis and Panca Tattva appears to enjoy the celebration.  Their looks are from the spiritual sky, they are always full of smile, their stunning glance give devotees immense joy.

When Srila Prabhupada, Iskcon founder acharya, cried

The year was 1971, it was the time when Srila Prabhupada still walked on the planet earth. Mayapur is a special land because here is Lord Chaitanya’s sacred home.  Prabhupada had a mega plan – “Let us build a magnificent temple in Mayapur. Let people from all over the world congregate here to chant Krishna’s holy name.”  Muslim Sek brothers with great difficulty finally agreed to offer a piece of land. “Let us not waste even a single moment. Let us all work together to develop Chaitanya’s land. Let us make sure that the glories of Mayapur dham spread all over the world.” Prabhupada’s clarion call spread far and wide. Without any delay devotees marched towards Mayapur. To construct a beautiful world class spiritual center was their vision and to work hard in any situation and condition was their mission.

The initial years were the toughest years. Electricity was a rarity, clean water a luxury, cooking an austerity. Storms and rains often sullied the land. Snakes and scorpions enjoyed the muddy land. Prabhupada appreciated the monumental efforts. He called Bhavananda one night and suddenly began crying to Bhavananda’s surprise. “I know it is difficult for all you Western boys and girls…..I know you cannot even get prasadam. When I think that you cannot even get milk and that you have given up your opulent life to come here and you do not complain, I am very much indebted to all of you.” Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita Chapter 42: Developing Mayapur. But he continued elevating devotees spirit, “Mayapur is so wonderful. You can live on the air and water alone.”

The First Gaur Purnima Festival at Iskcon Mayapur                               

29 Feb, 1972 was a historic day, the first Gaur Purnima festival in the upcoming Iskcon center was celebrated on this auspicious day. Devotees from everywhere had assembled here to participate in this mega fest. The five day festival featured several programs.

Non – stop Hare Krishna song continued day and night, spiritual discourse touched the core of every soul,  devotees danced through the spiritual lanes and stopped at many sacred sites  – they embraced the neem tree under which Mahabrabhu appeared, meditated on the samadhi of Chand Kazi who got Mahaprabhu’s grace, danced in the courtyard of Srivasa Angan where Lord danced dusk to dawn.

Mayapur – the spiritual capital of the world

“Let Mayapur be the spiritual capital of the world,” Prabhupada  boldly declared. Let people far and wide across the ocean across the continents sing in chorus the glories of Chaitanya’s name. Let all land in this holy land to enjoy the bliss of the holy name. “Let us all install here life size deities of Panca tattva,” again Prabhupada demanded. Lest his dream be a wishful thinking devotees began looking for the artisans good enough, devoted enough to carve the deities in their heart.

The search began in 1999, the fortunate artisans of Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, were the gifted souls.  Panca Tattva is about to manifest, the wind carried the news far and wide. With dedication the work began in 2002 and seeing devotees devotion the Lord agreed to manifest in the metal form. The eight metals – copper, brass, tin, lead, iron, gold, silver, steel- were mixed in right proportion so that each of the deity gets their specific complexion. Lord Chaitanya, of course, has golden complexion.

Panca Tattva appears in Mayapur

Devotees numbering thousands, singing the glories of Mayapur Dham, waited with bated breath for the arrival of the deities. At dawn their hopes soured high and at dusk their hopes did not die. They called the name of Gauranga in unison and Mahaprabhu finally arrived to join the celebration. 21st, 22nd and 23rd of Feb 2004 were the most auspicious days.  These 72 hours were the memorable moments.

No one spoke everyone sang. No one walked everyone danced. No one slept everyone wept when the 7 feet tall, magnificent deities each weighing about 3 tons were installed on the majestic altar. The guidelines of pancartrika literature guided Panca tattva installation – the sense organs and the limbs of the deities were invoked, prana pratista ceremony ceremoniously invoked Lord’s divine presence, sacred water with sacred substances relentlessly rained to bathe the Lord during maha – abhishek.

Anxiously everyone inquired, “Where is the Lord?” Suddenly the priest heard the pleas and flung open the gigantic curtain. “The Lord is here.” Everyone cried in chorus. Panca tattva had appeared. Their glance enhanced everyone’s emotion. Devotees failed to hide their devotion. It’s not an exaggeration, devotees danced in utter jubilation. Tears and Krishna’s song complimented the celebration.

Prophecy of Lord Nityananda comes true

Panca Tattva on the altar looks magnificent.  Lord Chaitanya blissfully stands in the middle, with long raised arms he invites anyone and everyone to chant Krishna’s name. Nityananda on his right, Gadadhara on his left welcomes all to the sankirtana land.  Advaita Acharya standing far right is full of compassion and Srivasa Thakura standing far left is paragon of devotion.

Nityananda is not an ordinary soul; he is the plenary expansion of the Supersoul. 500 years back he uttered the auspicious words, “eka adbhuta mandira ei haibe prakasa/gaurangera nitya-seva haibe vikasa.” – An astounding temple will appear and will engage the entire world in the eternal service of Lord Chaitanya. (Sri Navadvipa-Mahatmya, Parikrama Khanda, Chapter 4).

This prediction has now come true. Mayapur has one of the most beautiful temples of the world.  300 foot high upcoming Temple Of Vedic Planetarium (TOVP) which is going to be world’s one of the tallest temple is soon to manifest in Mayapur. TOVP will spread the glories of Mayapur Dham. The beautiful temple will further enhance the beauty of the beautiful land, glories of the glorious land.

Circumambulating the magical land

Millions of devotees from everywhere of different colour and different faith long to come to Mayapur to bathe in the dust of magical land. Navadvipa Mandala Parikrama has become a mega fair.   Celebrated during Gaur Purnima festival, more than 10000 devotees with much expectation come here to cleanse their hearts of all imperfections.

Dawn to dusk they dance through the sacred land, occasionally stop to hear the glories of that specific place and immediately march ahead to next destination.  Night they spend in makeshift tent houses. Throughout the day they walk for several kilometers, in total they cover around 80 km, they continuously sing “Hare Krishna” song accompanied with mridanga and kartal.

Longing to live in Chaitanya’s land

A person without vision cry confidently that stone and diamond are one and same. A person without any devotion cry in confusion, “What is so great about this ordinary land.” Mayapur is not just any land. The glories of Mayapur Dham are unlimited. The dust here has immense potency as it has drunk Chaitanya’s mercy. The wind having witnessed wonderful pastimes sings with joy the song of spiritual sky. Here every word becomes a song and every step a dance. Lord Chaitanya is not a simple soul, he is indeed the Supersoul.  His glories are sung in sacred scriptures. 

Nrsimha Purana declares, “The Supreme Personality of Godhead who in the Satya-Yuga appeared as a half-man, half-lion to cure a terrible disease that had ravaged the daityas, and who in the Treta-Yuga appeared as a person named Rama [Lord Ramachandra], the person who defeated the ten-headed Demon Ravana, and who in the Dvapara-Yuga removed the earth’s burden, and protected the Gopa [cowherd men] people of Vraja-pura, will appear again in the Kali-Yuga. His form will be golden, He will delight in chanting the Lord’s holy names, and His name will be Chaitanya.”

When will the day come when I too will dance in the dust of this magical land, sing Hare Krishna in this mystical land, long to live in Chaitany’s land!

Why all religions should support ban on cow slaughter in India?

Millions of devout Hindus and followers of Vedic scriptures want ban on cow slaughter, especially in India. But if ban on cow slaughter happens across the world, then it would be great. Cow is not just any other animal in India. She is sacred for most of the Indians, so many Indians worship cow. Vedic scriptures glorify cow. Holy Vedas say that we have seven mothers and one of them is a cow.

Cow is one of the seven mothers

ātma-mātā guroḥ patnī
brāhmaṇī rāja-patnikā
dhenur dhātrī tathā pṛthvī
saptaitā mātaraḥ smṛtāḥ

“The seven mothers are: (1) the real mother, (2) the wife of the spiritual master, (3) the wife of a brāhmaṇa, (4) the wife of the king, (5) the cow, (6) the nurse, and (7) the earth.”  https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/7/12/8/

So, people in India especially Hindus call cow as mother cow and worship her. Many devout Hindus voluntarily open goshalas, cow shelter homes, where they selflessly take care of the cows.

But for people of other faiths like Muslims and Christians, cow is just like any other animal.  So, they do not subscribe to the viewpoints of the Hindus that there should be ban on cow slaughter. 

Hindus & Muslims on cow slaughter

So, many times in India, Hindus and especially Muslims are at loggerheads with each other. For Hindus cow is sacred but for Muslims it is not. So, some sections of Muslims want the right to kill and eat cows’ flesh, but Hindus want that the cows should not be slaughtered. Left liberal intellectuals known for loathing Vedic tradition and culture gleefully advocate the killing of holy cows.

Amidst all this cacophony the sufferer is the poor cow.  Cow eats raw grass which is provided abundantly by nature and converts it into milk. Now there would not be any individual who would deny the fact that they have been nourished by cow’s milk and milk products.

Cow serves us selflessly just like our noble mother who throughout her life serves us without any expectations.  So, the Vedic literature asks us to treat cow as our mother. It also asks us to protect cows and care for her just like a child is expected to take care of his mother.

Purpose behind cow protection

In Bhagavad-gita (18.44), Lord Krishna talks about cow protection : kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vaṇijyaṁ vaisya-karma svabhava jam.  Krishna is even called Gopal and Govinda. Gopal means one who takes care of cows and Govinda means one who gives pleasure to the cows.

Now why the Vedas give emphasis to serve the cows and not any other animal. To understand this let us understand the purpose of the holy book. The purpose of sacred Vedas is to help us gradually elevate our consciousness. And so, the holy book assert that as humans we should try to cultivate a sense of gratitude towards those who serves us and care for us.

Since mother cow serves us by giving milk so we should take care of her. Ideally, we should have loving attitude towards all the children of God including animals and plants but at least we have to begin somewhere. Once we start developing compassion and gratitude for cows then slowly, we will reach a stage where our heart will be filled with love and compassion for all.

A person’s greatness is not measured by how cruel he is. If this would have been the criteria then likes of Hitler and Aurangzeb would have been eulogized today. It is the character of compassions which makes a person really human.  And all the bona fide religions of the world speak the language of peace, brotherhood and most importantly tolerance. Because there can be no peace without tolerance.

Story of the Sage and the scorpion

A sage was taking bath in a river. He saw a scorpion drowning. He picked the scorpion to save its life but the scorpion bit him and fell into the river.  The sage immediately took the scorpion in his hand to save its life. But it bit him again and fell into the river.  The sage again took it out of the water. But the scorpion bit him again and fell into the water. A person who was observing all this was shocked. He thought the sage is insane. So, he asked, “Why don’t you let it die? He is not responding to your generosity”. The sage said, “Scorpion’s character is to bite others and put them in pain. But the dharma of a sage is to protect all and show compassion to all. The scorpion is not ready to give up his nature so why should I?”

Hindus and Muslims have to decide whether they want to be like a scorpion troubling & biting each other or like a sage loving and caring each other.  Muslims will not become lesser Muslims by respecting the religious beliefs of the Hindus and Hindus will not become lesser Hindus by respecting the beliefs of the Muslims.

Eating cow flesh is not mandatory for Muslims or Christians or people of any other faith

Killing cows and eating her flesh is not mandatory or part of the religious practice of Muslims. Cow killing is not compulsory even for Christians or people of any other religion. There is no glory in killing cows and eating her flesh.

Many noble Muslims also support ban on cow slaughter in India. Many have voluntarily given it up.

Leftist scholars try to vitiate religious harmony in India

Hindus and Muslims even try to get along with each other. But in India there is certain class of people who masquerade as intellectuals and these so called intellectuals do not allow both the communities to live peacefully. These left leaning intellectuals always try to demean Hindus religious beliefs. They play a vicious role in fomenting trouble between Hindus and Muslims. They instigate the Muslims against Hindus. 

Muslims should understand that these left liberals are not their well-wisher but in fact are their enemies. If Hindus and Muslims fight then they both suffer. So, it is important that these two communities should accept, respect and tolerate their religious differences.

They should not provoke each other and also not get provoked. Sometimes emotionally surcharged statements like “I love eating beef” or “Muslims will be punished for eating beef” are made. These types of statements vitiate the social fabric of India.

Respect the sentiments of Hindus by supporting ban on cow slaughter

We should create a violence free society where there is no bloodshed, where Hindus & Muslims live together peacefully without hurting and humiliating each other and without killing or maiming each other.  Not just Muslims but even Christians and people of other faith should respect the religious sentiment of the Hindus and should support ban on cow slaughter.

Muslims brothers and sisters and Christian brothers and sisters should understand that for Hindus cows are extremely sacred. Hindus worship cows. Lord Krishna is a lover of cows. So, they should also accept cow as mother and should advocate complete ban on cow slaughter in India.

Does God Exist? Srila Prabhupada, Iskcon founder acharya, says yes.

Does God exist? Most of us might have asked this question at some point of our life. I have come across many people who challenge the existence of God. They say, “If God is there then show me where he is?”

It is true that with our material senses we cannot see God. People think that just as we see the President or Prime Minister of a country, similarly, we should also be able to see God. Truth is that most of the people may not have even seen the President or Prime Minister, they mostly see them on television or read about them in newspapers or magazines.

But nevertheless, it is a fact that we do not see God with our material eyes just like we see other living beings. We do not know what he is doing now or where he is now. So, the question is genuine whether God exist or not?  Or is it that God has been made in the imagination of man?

There are many scholarly articles which gives many proof that God exist and there are also articles which proves that God does not exist. In this world we can counter almost everything just to prove our viewpoint.

I would like to share what were my reasons to believe in God. I arrived at this conclusion before reading any books on whether God exist or not.

Life originated from chemicals – True or False?

I remember the first time I read, most probably in Class VI, that life originated from chemicals and also got introduced to Darwin’s theory. Our science teacher explained in detail that how each cell of our body is made of chemicals and how the environment at the dawn of creation was suitable for the formation of life. And during that time there were multiple chemical reactions and so life originated. I am not going into all the scientific explanations which are given in the science books to prove that life came from chemicals because that is not the purpose of the article.

Although I was just a student but still, I was not able to accept this logic that “I am just made of chemicals.”  I had faith in my science book but “life came from chemicals” appeared unscientific and unreasonable. I was in utter confusion. After coming from school, I went to the terrace in the evening, and I looked into the sky. I saw the evening sun in the blue sky. Near my house was a huge tree. People would say that it is hundred years old. I saw birds chirping on the tree. Since it was evening so many birds were flying back to their nests which they had made in the tree. I saw people laughing and walking. Children running here and there and playing. Soon the stars and moon lit up the night sky.

How I concluded that God Does Exist

I was thinking that are these things happening only because of some chemical reactions? Men, women and children are talking, laughing, joking, walking, playing just because there are some chemical reactions in the body? If I observed any single part of our body, I found that it had remarkable features. For example, my eyes. I was seeing everything through my eyes. Can such eyes be made in any factory of this world? Answer is obvious.

And what about our emotions? When we see our mother, father, brother, sister, friends we feel so happy. Is it just because of chemicals?

If it is so, then why machines which are also made of material elements do not start having feelings or emotions. The more I thought, the more I got confused. By logic it was impossible to deny the existence of God or some higher power.

Next day when I went to school and when I asked this question to my science teacher, she said that “I am teaching you what is in the book, and I also do not completely believe what is in the book.” She further said that “I also believe in a higher power whom we call as God.” I was studying in a convent school, and they all believed in God. Later I found that even many of the great scientists accept that there is some higher power.

There are many things which exists, but we cannot see

One important question which always haunts a believer in God is that if God exists then why can’t we see him? And if we do not see him then why should we believe in him?

To answer this question let us first try to see if it is justified to put so much faith on our ability to see.

There are many things in this world which we cannot see with our eyes but still it exists.  Radio waves, electromagnetic waves, x rays cannot be seen with our naked eyes, but it exists. Our eyes have limitations. We can see things clearly only up to a certain distance. We may see stars which may be millions of light years away, but we do not see it exactly as they are. They appear just like a spot in the sky to us. 

Why to talk about how far our eyes can see? Something which is very close to our eyes, we cannot see that too. With our eyes we cannot see our eyelids, not even our lips or teeth. So, our eyes have many limitations. Now what we discussed was seeing material objects. Although many of these objects we cannot see with our eyes, but we can see them with mechanical instruments or devices.

But there is something which can never be seen, but it exists. And these are our emotions – feelings of joy and sorrow. Can you see it with your eyes or with any mechanical devices? Definitely not.

So, if we cannot see something with our eyes then it does not mean that it does not exist.

It implies that if we cannot see God with our eyes then it does not mean that God does not exist.

Remarkable features of the world

Now, pause for a moment, and try to closely observe the world, your surroundings. You will be struck with wonder to see the beautiful and extraordinary features of this world.  Many times, we may not notice it because we have a habit of taking things for granted. Everything in this world is perfectly managed and governed. However, there are many unscrupulous scholars who deny the existence of God and say that everything is happening in this world just by chance.

Few Examples

Let us see reflect on some of the remarkable phenomenon of the world.  

• All the necessities of our life like food grains, fruits, water, oxygen etc. we are provided to us by nature. These important items are must for our survival and are not manufactured in any man made industries.

• We inhale Oxygen and exhale CO2 which is a waste product.  Plants uses CO2 and through photosynthesis converts it into O2 making it available for us. Such a symbiotic factory wherein the waste product of humans becomes raw material of plants and waste of plant becomes raw material for us is a unique feature.

• Cow eats green grass which is abundantly available everywhere and converts it into white nutritious milk which nourishes the life of millions of people all over the world. Have we been able to build a machine which can transform raw grass into wholesome milk?

• A single tiny seed contains within it the entire banyan tree. And each banyan tree contains hundreds of seeds and each of the seeds again has the capability to produce a huge banyan tree. Have we been even remotely successful in creating any machine which can produce multiple machines on its own?

• Airplanes build by us occasionally crash or lose track or collide with other planes in the air. But the planets which are millions of times bigger than the airplanes floats like swabs of cotton and never crash or lose its trajectory or collide with other planets. 

• Energy emitted by sun/sec is so phenomenal that even if we switch on all the bulbs of the world then also all the bulbs together would not emit even a fraction of the energy which sun can emit.

World is governed by universal laws

Although the non-believers say that everything in this world is happening just by chance but the argument is ridiculous. Can all these natural phenomena happen by chance? I don’t think so.

It clearly shows that there is an intelligent brain behind this wonderful creation. And the universe is being governed by universal laws. If we just analyze ourselves, we will find that our body is a complicated machine and it runs perfectly well without our intervention.

Dr. Tony Buzon. British Psychologist, educator & author says, “The human brain is made of a trillion brain cell….and each one of these is more powerful and sophisticated than most computers around the planet today.”

Our digestive system is so well designed. We do not do anything to digest the food. We just enjoy the food. But our digestive system functions so well that the food gets converted into energy inside our body.

Scientists on Existence of God

This is why the greatest brains on this planet have humbly accepted that there is a God behind this wonderful creation.  

• If you think strongly enough, you will be forced by science to believe in God: Lord Kelvin

• There is a perfect brain behind all the natural physical laws: Albert Einstein

• This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being…This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all, and on account of His dominion He is to be called Lord God, Universal Ruler: Newton

Vedic Scriptures on Existence of God

What about the Vedic scriptures?  If we turn the pages of our ancient Vedic scriptures, we find that it unequivocally says that “God Does Exist.” Vedas not only say that God exist, but it also informs us that everything which exists in this world is created by God.

In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna whom the Vedic literatures describe as the Supreme Lord says,“I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me.” Bhagavad Gita 10.8.

In Bhagavad Gita 7.7, Lord Krishna says, “Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.”

In Brahma Samhita also it is mentioned that Krishna is the Supreme God and he the cause of all the causes i.e. everything what we see comes from him. “Kṛṣṇa who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes.” Brahma Samhita 5.1.

Śrī Īśopaniṣad, Mantra 1, says, īśāvāsyam idaḿ sarvaṁ/yat kiñca jagatyāṁ jagat. “Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord.”

Srila Prabhupada, Iskcon founder, on Existence of God

In the purport of this verse, Srila Prabhupada, founder acharya of Iskcon, writes, “The Lord’s proprietorship over everything within the universe is confirmed in the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gītā (7.4–5), where parā and aparā prakṛti are discussed. The elements of nature – earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and ego – all belong to the Lord’s inferior, material energy (aparā prakṛti), whereas the living being, the organic energy, is His superior energy (parā prakṛti). Both of these prakṛtis, or energies, are emanations from the Lord, and ultimately He is the controller of everything that exists. There is nothing in the universe that does not belong to either the parā or the aparā prakṛti; therefore everything is the property of the Supreme Being.”

Srila Prabhupada dedicated his life in educating people all over the world that God exists. He would say that if people accept God and start living as per the direction of scriptures then they can live happily in this world.  He established Iskcon and opened temples all over the world. In the temples he established deity worship. He also wrote several books. All this he did so that you and me can get connected to God and establish relationship with God.

Earlier we had discussed that if God is there then why can’t we see him? We cannot see him with our material eyes because our eyes are impure. However, God appears in this world in his deity form. And when we see the deity with our eyes then we are actually seeing God. And once our senses become pure, we develop genuine love for God then we will not just be able to see God but we will be able to talk to him, sing with him, play with him and dance with him.

Conclusion

The whole material world consisting of innumerable planets, stars, the sun, the moon, the gigantic oceans, the mighty wind, the plants, trees, animals, reptiles, you and me are created by God. God Does Exist and he is the supreme cause of all causes. He is the creator, maintainer and destroyer of this world.

Devotee Care Course at Iskcon New Town Kolkata

Iskcon New Town, Kolkata, organized three day “Devotee Care Course” from 26th Nov – 28th Nov 2021.  35 devotees from Iskcon participated in the course. Apart from the devotees of Iskcon New Town, Kolkata there were devotees from Iskcon Panihati, Iskcon Dhanbad and devotees from north-eastern states like Assam and Meghalaya. The total course duration was of 21 hours, and it was completed in 3 days. The class would begin at 10 am and would continue till 6:30 pm. In between there were breaks for lunch and morning and evening snacks.

HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu and HG Damodara Prabhu were the facilitators of the course. HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu is a senior devotee of Iskcon and is known all over the world for his wonderful spiritual discourses on Vedic literatures like Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Chaitanya Charitamrita.

Why the need for Devotee Care Course?

Although devotees were excited about the course, but everyone was wondering why this course is required? In Iskcon devotee are aware and have attended courses/seminars on how to improve japa, how to distribute more number of Prabhupada’s books, how to study Vedic literatures scrutinizingly, how to organize festivals but for the first time many were hearing about Devotee Care Course.

So, HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu at the start of the course briefly addressed this important question – What is Devotee Care and why it is important? However, as the course progressed everyone started understanding the topic and by 3^rd day everyone was convinced that Devotee Care is indeed important and should be implemented withing Iskcon.

Devotees are the most important asset of Iskcon, and nothing can replace it. There have been many unfortunate incidents of devotees leaving Iskcon after practicing Krishna consciousness for many years or may be for many decades because they felt uncared withing the Iskcon community.  Devotees are sentient beings. They have feelings and emotions.  If they do not find their emotional needs getting fulfilled, they get broken hearted and with a heavy heart they disassociate themselves from the association of devotees. This course has been designed keeping in mind that devotees who are extremely dear to Krishna and Srila Prabhupada should be wonderfully taken care in Iskcon so that they never leave Iskcon.

HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu’s commitment for Devotee Care

HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu said that when the first time he attended the course, he got so inspired that he took a commitment that he will travel to any corner of the world to share this wonderful blessing. He said the if this course is taken seriously then it will make Iskcon what Srila Prabhupada actually wanted it to become – a beacon light for the whole world. There is only one problem in the whole world and that is lack of Krishna Consciousness and there is only one solution and that is Krishna Consciousness. And Iskcon is that organization which can give Krishna Consciousness and relieve the world from all sufferings.

One of the important highlights of the course was that everyone was engaged during the course. It was not like regular class where only the speaker speaks, and others just have to listen. There were many group exercises and skits. Everyone participated.

How it started?

Devotee Care course was first proposed in 2014. Top leadership of Iskcon showed interest in the concept. Lots of research was done while preparing the course. Questionaries were sent to leaders of Iskcon. Their inputs were taken into consideration. After due diligence Iskcon designed Devotee Care Course in 2017. A booklet was prepared. The booklet explains the importance of Devotee Care and systematically lays down guidelines as how care should be given. It also has several quotes from the scriptures, from Srila Prabhupada and from current Iskcon leadership which underlines the importance of Devotee Care. In the words of HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu “It is lifeline for devotee care. Each of the words are packed with tremendous wisdom. The more we read, the more we understand the importance of Devotee Care and get inspired to implement it.” All the participants were given the booklet at the start of the course.

Devotee Care course focusses on following four important questions

1. What is devotee care?
2. Why is it important?
3. Who is responsible?
4. How can it be practically applied? (i.e. embedded in Iskcon communities)

If all devotees are focussed on one consensus that devotee care is important then it will bring great result. It can then be widely implemented in Iskcon.

Defining Care & the need for a structure to give care

Care is a virtue. There should be a genuine desire to care for others. Especially the leaders of Iskcon should highlight the importance of giving care to the devotees. Now to give care to others without having a proper system in place is mere a lip service. Also having a system without virtue has no meaning because in that case there is no acceptance within the heart.

Lord Chaitanya cared for everyone, so he took sannyasa.  But he also made structure so that devotees are taken care. He trained devotees, instructed Rupa Goswami and Sanatana Goswami to write books. Similarly, acharyas like Bhaktivinod Thakura and Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura created system so that devotees feel protected and nourished.

Srila Prabhupada focussed so much on taking care of the devotees. He was always concerned about the well-being of the devotees. Just few days before his departure from this material world, he called HH Giriraj Swami Maharaj and asked how the movement will go on. HH Giriraj Swami Maharaj said by chanting and harinam. Srila Prabhupada said chanting and harinam is wonderful, but the movement will grow with proper organization and intelligence.

We see that Srila Prabhupada created a system.  He created GBC so that this Krishna Consciousness movement can grow in an organized way. He created BBT so that the spiritual literatures can be printed and distributed widely in a systematic way.

So, care should be as a virtue but there should also be a system put in place to give care. If any devotee faces any difficulty, they should come and get care.

HH Radhanath Swami says, “Leadership should be always asking question what it will take for each devotee to feel protected, inspired and enthused to remain in Krishna Consciousness till his/her last breath.

Vision & Mission of Devotee Care

Understanding the need of care GBC came out with a mandate for devotee care. It is described in the booklet from Page 10 -16.

The booklet describes the Vision and Mission of Devotee Care:

Vision:

Every devotee is spiritually happy and materially well -situated, positively identifying with ISKCON as a caring Society. Each devotee (a) responsibly looks after his or her diverse needs (b) can easily and successfully seek qualified help within the Society, and (c) wholeheartedly extends that care to others.

Mission:

• Ensure that the Vaishnava virtue of care pervades all aspects of the Iskcon society.
• Support and provide specific care services that enhance the spiritual, emotional, physical and social well – being of all ISKCON members.

HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu explained that vision means to see future and mission means to put efforts to make dreams into a reality. For example, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave a vision – prithvite ache yata nagaradi grama sarvatra prachara haibe mora nama i.e. in each and every town of the world my name will be chanted. And to shape his vision, he gave a mission, yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa, instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Areas and Recipients of Devotee Care

Areas of Devotee Care: 12 areas of Devotee Care have been identified. These are: (1) Spiritual Life, 2(a) Healthcare (Physical), 2(b) Healthcare (Mental/Emotional), 3 Marriage, Sex & Relationships (4) Child – rearing and child – care (5) Education (6) Career and Employment (7) Financial (8) Housing (9) Travel and Immigration (10) Consumer and Lifestyle (11) Legal and Civic (12) Mediation Advice.

And there are 12 recipients of Devotee Care:  1. Women, 2 cows, 3. Brahmanas 4. Children and youth 5. The elderly 6. Brahmachari Community 7. Grihastha Community 8. Vanaprashtas  9. Sannyasis 10. Other Temple Residents 11. Leaders 12. Senior devotees.

It was important to know what the devotees attending the class think about the areas and recipients of devotee care. The class was divided into groups, and they were asked to discuss within the group and find out which are 3 most important areas of devotee care and top three recipients of devotee care. While there were some difference of opinions but everyone agreed that the most important area is Healthcare (Mental/Emotional). Along with this priority was given to spiritual life and education. For top three recipients of Devotee Care there were Children and youth, Grihastha Community and Leaders.

Twelve principles and Values

Devotee Care should permeate every aspect of devotees’ life. And for this it is important that there are principles, guidelines, sets of practices and systems put in place. Each Iskcon temple may have emphasis on different aspects. Some Iskcon centres are run by brahmacharis, some by congregation devotees. Then there are farm communities. But for all the centres the core principle should be the same.

Six principles have been laid down for devotee care. These are – Srila Prabhupada’s teachings and example, Vaishnava Seva, Loving Relationships, Attentive Listening, Positive Sense of belonging, Spirited (PEP) Leadership.

What could be the cause of inadequate devotee care in Iskcon?

It is always better to learn from the past, so that the mistakes can be corrected and not repeated in the future. There have been instances of inadequate devotee care. In their spiritual life many devotees have gone through the experience where they felt that they did not get proper care. There are twenty-one reasons given in the booklet for inadequate devotee care. They arrived at these reasons based on the inputs they received from the worldwide devotee community.

Before going through the reasons given in the booklet, HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu asked devotees to list down the reasons which they feel are the cause of inadequate devotee care.  Interestingly devotees attending the course too agreed with the reasons given in the booklet. The top reasons for inadequate devotee care included self-interest, short – term vision, wrong priorities & lack of individual empowerment.

Devotees also enacted skits to show how inadequate Devotee Care affects them. In the skit devotees showed that how even when they are sick then no one is there to care for them. During the exam times, students are asked to go out and distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books and so on.

Who is responsible for Devotee Care?

Ideally every devotee in Iskcon is responsible for Devotee Care but the leaders have to play the most important role. “Many researchers (and previously philosophers) have taught that the responsibility for embedding value in an organization rest with leaders, including administrators.” Devotee Care Education, Course Material, Page 28. Within Iskcon there are two types of leaders (a) the direct care-giver (b) the caring administrator. These two types of leaders should have proper skill set so that they can give proper care.

So, it is important that the leaders are properly trained and educated. Even in corporate world we see that one is first trained before one becomes a leader.  So, training and education is required for Iskcon leaders as well. Iskcon leaders play a significant role in embedding the culture of care within the devotee community.

HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu gave the example of HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj. He said that when HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj is away from Iskcon Chowpatty, Mumbai for a long period of time then upon returning back the first question he asks is – Are all the devotees happy? Are all the children happy?

Earlier at Iskcon Chowpatty there were differences among grihastas and brahmacharis but Maharaj made sure that both the ashramas develop genuine love and respect for each other, they value each other’s contribution.

One of the most important qualities of a leader is that he respects everyone’s opinion. So, he listens to all. Lord Rama before giving shelter to Vibhishana had a meeting with all the vanara leaders. He heard everyone, everyone felt happy and valued. So, when he decided to give shelter to Vibhishana everyone agreed.

Emphatic and Reflective Listening

For one and a half day HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu covered multiple aspects of Devotee Care. On the 2nd day after lunch, HG Damodara Prabhu took over. He helped in revising the whole subject. He spoke on the importance of developing right listening skill.  This concept he explained through a skit.

Skit on Emphatic listening

One devotee took the role of a manger of the temple. A devotee came to him with his grievances. Initially it was shown that the manager was not showing much interest in hearing the devotee’s problem. So, the devotee felt unwanted and uncared. But later when the manager heard the devotee emphatically and encouraged him and appreciated him for the services he is doing then he felt happy and cared.

People’s Emotional Vacuum

After the skit, HG Damodara Prabhu explained the importance of empathic listening.  He said that empathy means feeling other’s pain i.e para-dukha-dukhi. If we have to correct others, then first we have to connect with them. Lord Chaitanya first connected with Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya and then corrected his wrong concepts and made him a devotee. If someone feels that he has been understood, then that person is going to completely get connected with us.

People have emotional vacuum and if we take care of the emotional need of a devotee by listening attentively then many problems will get resolved. He further said that where you have to give affection do not give instruction because by this problem will not get solved but will aggravate. If someone feels that someone understands him then 50% of the problem gets solved. We have two ears which are always open and a mouth which is always shut. So, let us listen with our two ears and with open hearts.

Caregivers should be cautious

The caregivers should be willing to listen and address other devotees need. They should not start giving opinion immediately and should also respect other’s opinion. Also, it is important that care givers should not micromanage a person, show partiality in dealing, be insensitive to others needs and should not get attached emotionally and physically especially with opposite gender.

After this HG Damodara Prabhu explained in detail that how devotees have to prepare Presentation on Devotee Care.

Team Presentations on Developing Devotee Care System

It was important that there should be proper assessment to ascertain that the devotees attending the course have properly understood the importance of Devotee Care. And if given an opportunity, how are they going to create a structure to implement it. To demonstrate their devotee care skill, devotees were required to make presentation on topics of their interest.  To create a system, a team is required. So, first teams were made. To prepare the team the entire class was divided into four groups and each group was given a spiritual name – Jagannath, Baladeva, Subhadra and Sudarshana.

Class divided into groups

Teams were made in such a way that they can relate with a common area of interest. For example, all the grihasthas and devotees engaged in congregation preaching were in one group, devotees involved in youth preaching were in one group and so on.

For presentation, following four components were required.

1. Defining Devotee Care
2. Importance of Devotee Care
3. Leadership Roles in implementing Devotee Care
4. Strategic Planning

For strategic planning, devotees had to have a vision statement, key result areas, annual goals, foreseeable challenges and means of evaluation. They also had to do SWOT analysis while preparing strategic planning.

Although each of the teams choose their own topic for presentation but HG Damodara Prabhu was actively helping devotees in writing their vision statement, in making strategic planning and in SWOT analysis.

Each team had 20 minutes for presentation. It was followed by questions from the audience and evaluators. Needless to say, HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu and HG Damodara Prabhu were the evaluators.

The Four team made presentation on following topics:

• Jagannath group: Mental & Emotional need of Iskcon leader 
• Baladeva group:  Career and Employment for Youth
• Subhadra group: Taking care of Mental/Emotional Needs of Grihastha Communities
• Sudarshan group: Temple Grihastha Development committee

After the presentation, the audience asked questions to the teams. Later the evaluators too asked questions and gave their feedback. One interesting thing was that each team selected their topic by keeping in mind that they will try their best to implement it.

Conclusion & Certificate Distribution

After the presentation devotees were requested to speak about their experience about the course. Without fail everyone felt satisfied and grateful to Iskcon GBC for formulating this course. They shared their personal viewpoint, and all agreed that they will implement it in whatever way it’s possible. HG Acharya Ratan Prabhu said that he will work on forming a Devotee Care Team in Iskcon New Town Kolkata. Everyone thanked HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu and HG Damodara Prabhu for conducting the course in a planned and strategic way and giving their time and invaluable association to all.  HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu thanked all for taking up Devotee Care Course and requested all to apply this knowledge in their devotional life. 

At the end devotees got certificate for participating and completing Devotee Care Course. Certificates were first offered to Srila Prabhupada by HG Acharya Ratan Prabhu. And then each participant received certificate from HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu. During certificate distribution devotees were beautifully singing Hare Krishna kirtan.  And finally, there was a group photograph of all the devotees with HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu.

Reference:  Devotee Care Education, Course Material, Student Handbook

Why Bhagavad Gita is the best book in the entire world?

Bhagavad Gita is not just the oldest but also the best book of the world. The sublime message of Bhagavad Gita has been guiding humanity since ages. Bhagavad Gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to Arjuna. It was spoken around 5000 years ago just before the start of the Mahabharat war.  It was spoken at Jyotisar, Kurukshetra.

Just before fighting the most important battle of his life, Arjuna got completely bewildered. He wanted to run away from the battlefield. At that time Lord Krishna came to Arjuna’s rescue. After hearing Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna’s consciousness completely changed. He understood who he was and the purpose of his life.

He picked up his bow and arrow and decided to do his prescribed duty of fighting. But after hearing Gita, he was not fighting for himself but he was fighting for Krishna to establish dharma.  And since he was fighting for Krishna and Krishna was with him so Arjuna emerged victorious.  

Bhagavad Gita is the best book, so is called king of all knowledge

The Gita is called Raja Vidya – the king of all knowledge. If all the Vedic literatures are cows then Bhagavad – Gita is the milk of the cow i.e. it is the essence of all the Vedic literatures. Krishna is the milkman, Arjuna is the calf who drinks the milk, and the same milk has been made available to us in the written form by the great sage, Vyasa – Dev.

This beautiful literature has impacted the conscience of humankind for ages. The glories of the Gita stems from the fact that it transcends all the artificial boundaries of caste, creed, religions, race, nation, gender etc.

Bhagavad Gita is not just 5000 years old

Bhagavad – Gita is not just 5000 years old.  It has been in existence since the dawn of creation. Krishna informs Arjuna that “I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku” Bhagavad Gita. 4.1. Since the knowledge got lost by the influence of time so Krishna again spoke it to Arjuna for the benefit of all of us.

The Gita very vividly talks about Isavara (God), Jivatma (Soul), Kala (Time), Karma (actions) and Prakriti (Nature). It gives us spiritual intelligence to march towards the righteous path. The fundamental question of who am I, who is God, what is my relationship with Him and what is the purpose of this human life is very systematically, logically and pragmatically espoused.

Gita is for everyone

The Gita wasn’t spoken for Hindus or Indians. In fact, it is for the entire humanity. Great scholars throughout the ages have sought refuge in this transcendental literature when confronted with challenges. It has inspired the world fame leaders like Gandhi, Churchill, Einstein, Newton and several others.  

After reading Bhagavad Gita a Hindu will become a better Hindu, a Muslim a better Muslim, a Christian a better Christian and a Jew a better Jew. This is why Bhagavad Gita is the best spiritual book because it makes the world a better place to live.

Why “Bhagavad Gita As it Is” is the best translation & commentary on Bhagavad Gita book today?

Unfortunately many mundane academic – scholars presented their own interpretation of Bhagavad – gita, thus misleading the masses. The most important message of the Gita is to know Krishna and to return back to the spiritual world. Srila Prabhupada was very much concerned about the misinterpretation of Krishna’s original message. He therefore decided to translate the original Sanskrit text into English language and named the book as Bhagavad Gita As It Is.

The word “As It Is” stresses the fact that the book is an unadulterated translation of the original Sanskrit text. In his translation there is meaning of each Sanskrit word, translation of entire verse and purport with various scriptural references like Srimad – Bhagavatam, Brahma Samhita, Isopanisad, Puranas etc.

At present this is the largest selling translation of the Gita all over the world. The book has been further translated into more than 70 languages.  Bhagavad Gita As It Is has transformed the lives of millions of people all over the planet. This is why “Bhagavad Gita As it Is” is considered to be the best translation & commentary on Bhagavad Gita book today?

Gita teaches us to connect to Krishna

The main focus of the Gita is to make us understand that if we want to lead a happy life then we need to connect ourselves to Krishna. Krishna is not imposing his will but is trying to show us the right path. It’s like a father trying to persuade his unruly son to give up suicidal path and return back to his own home where he will get lots of love and care.

Krishna is too accommodative, every living being has different level of consciousness and so He suggests various paths through which one can perfect their life. He speaks about karma – yoga, jnana yoga, astanga yoga and bhakti yoga. Bhakti Yoga is the topmost but everyone may not be able to immediately practice Bhakti Yoga. So, Krishna also explains about Karma  Yoga, Jnana  Yoga and Astanga Yoga.

Conclusion of Bhagavad Gita

Arjuna was in utter confusion at the start of the war. But he got enlightened after hearing Gita.  Arjuna reveals his heart to Krishna, “My dear Krishna, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.” Bhagavad Gita 18.73

Like Arjuna we also face many challenges in our life. And like Arjuna, if we understand the teachings of Bhagavad Gita, we will also get knowledge to decide what is best for us. Knowledge itself is not sufficient. After gaining knowledge, with determination we should act as per that knowledge.  We should say to Krishna, “I am prepared to act according to Your instructions”.

And once we act according to the instructions of Krishna as given in Bhagavad Gita then success is guaranteed.

The last verse of the Gita says, “Wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality.” Bhagavad Gita 18.78

Like Arjuna if we befriend Krishna and always follow the instructions of Krishna then we will attain the same destiny as of Arjuna. It means that we will always be victorious in our life.

Once we take shelter of Krishna, Krishna takes charge of our life, and he protects us in all situations and circumstances. Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of godhead says, “Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.” Bhagavad Gita 18.66

Bhagavad Gita is the best among all the books of the world because it teaches us how to happily live by taking shelter of Krishna.

71st Vyasa Puja Offering to HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj

I consider myself fortunate that I am writing an offering to HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj, my spiritual master, on the occasion of his 71^st Vyasa Puja.  HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj is one of the most prominent spiritual leaders of the world today.  He is inspiring thousands of people all over the world to become devotees of Krishna.

Devotees across the world are giving heartfelt offerings to HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj on his 71st Vyasa Puja. In my little way I am also trying to give my offering by sharing Maharaj’s qualities. Although Maharaj has unlimited qualities but below I am sharing 7 wonderful qualities of Maharaj which inspires me a lot.

Below I discuss 7 wonderful qualities of HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj which makes him today one of the most influential spiritual leaders of the world.

1) Perfect disciple of Srila Prabhupada  

A perfect disciple assimilates the instructions of his guru in his heart and in spite of challenging circumstances continues carrying forward that instruction of his guru without any selfish desire.  HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj is one of the best examples of an ideal disciple.

As a 19 year old teenager Maharaj left his home in USA in search for truth.  Like rest of the youngsters of his age, he did not just want to have good career, make money, get married, produce children and finish his life.  He desperately wanted to understand the meaning and purpose of his life. So, he came to India.

India is a land of sadhus and yogis. It is the land where the holy rivers like the Ganges and the Yamuna flows and where the sages and saints renounce their material attachments and spend every moment of their life in remembering the Supreme Lord. And most importantly Lord Krishna and Lord Rama appeared in this glorious country to perform many beautiful pastimes.

In spiritual India, Maharaj performed penance in Himalayas. He went to the places of pilgrimage, meditated on the Supreme Lord. And earnestly prayed to the Lord to show him the right path. Seeing the sincerity of an American boy many spiritual leaders of that time residing in India got impressed. Many of them wanted him to join their monastery. Maharaja was so grateful to them. But still within his heart he found there was something which he was looking for which he was not able to get. 

He continued with his spiritual quest. He continued praying to the Lord for that spiritual path which is the summum bonum of all the spiritual paths. Pleased by his sincere devotion, Lord Krishna, the Supreme Lord, directed him to Srila Prabhupada, a great devotee of Lord Krishna. 

HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj meets Srila Prabhupada

The very first time Maharaj met Srila Prabhupada he felt deep inner connection with him. Like a son meeting his father after a long period of time. He experienced satisfaction, great inner joy and felt protected. He got convinced that his search for truth is now over because he has found that great personality who knows “who is that Supreme Truth.”

Srila Prabhupada is the ambassador from the spiritual world. He had come to distribute love of Krishna to the people of this world. Maharaj begged Srila Prabhupada to accept him as his disciple. And Srila Prabhupada, the world acharya, happily accepted him and embraced him in his heart just like a father embraces his child.

Maharaj decided to dedicate his life to his spiritual father, Srila Prabhupada. And from the day he met him and accepted him as his guru, he has been following each and every instruction of Srila Prabhupada as it is without any compromise.

2) Dedicated Devotee of Krishna

As per the wish of Srila Prabhupada, HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj dedicated his life to serve Krishna. And he is always ready to serve Krishna in all circumstances. As a young brahmachari, celibate monk, when he was staying in Iskcon New Vrindavan, West Virginia, he was given the responsibility of doing deity worship. At that time New Vrindavan was a secluded place with almost no facility. He was taking care of the deities almost all alone.

To worship the deity, he had to take bath several times in a day. It was too cold there. There was no facility for hot water. In fact, the temperature would be so low that water would turn into ice. And he would break the ice and take ice water bath. He did it without any complain and without any grudge. His purpose was to just serve Krishna in all situations. He did not ever think about his physical comforts.

Later when he was given the responsibility of sharing Krishna Conscious messages to the world, he took that service with great sense of responsibility. For last several decades, he has been speaking Krishna Conscious philosophy all over the world. His lectures have inspired thousands of people to become sincere devotees of Krishna.  

3) Visionary

A visionary has the intelligence to understand the future and with determination and careful planning he shapes the future. Understanding the need of the society Maharaj inspired a group of doctors who were devotees of Krishna to open Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai.  No one would have imagined that a hospital whose primary purpose is to cure the disease of a person will also become a place to make devotees of Krishna.

Today, Bhaktivedanta Hospital not just relieves the physical pain of a sick person, but it also unites all the spiritually sick souls to the Supreme Soul, Krishna. The spiritual care wing of the hospital is playing a great role in helping the distraught patients and their well-wishing care takers to take shelter of Krishna and get relief from all the present and future sufferings.

Under his leadership students of many prestigious colleges and universities study Bhagavad Gita and other Vedic literatures. It helps them to understand the importance of leading a Krishna Conscious life. After hearing Bhagavad Gita from Krishna, Arjuna did not give up his duty of fighting, similarly after studying Bhagavad Gita the students do not give up their studies. Like Arjuna they do take care of their material responsibilities but while doing so they always keep Krishna in the centre. They become a selfless servant of Krishna and contribute constructively to the society.

Not just the students but many working professionals, housewives have also got inspired from Maharaj. And they have become devotees of Krishna.  Maharaj has special love for children. Children have specific needs and those must be addressed. So, Maharaj has trained devotees so that they properly take care of children so that the kids spontaneously get attracted to Krishna Conscious lifestyle and become devotees of Krishna.

4) Great communicator

HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj is gifted with the ability of sharing the pristine message of Vedic literatures like Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Chaitanya Charitamrita in a way that the audience can understand it, appreciate it and apply it in their life. He communicates with his audience who are from diverse background in their language.

He is an expert in cross cultural communication. Whether he is speaking to the top bankers at HSBC, London or to the top technocrats of the world at Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Intel, Oracle or to the university students at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford, he is able to make everyone understand the need and importance of inculcating spiritual values of love, selflessness, gratitude, compassion in their life.

And when he is speaking to the devotees in the temple or in his famous Kartik yatra then through his mellifluous words he shows the glimpse of the spiritual world to us. His Krishna Conscious lectures are so engaging and so inspiring that it quickly connects our heart to Krishna. While hearing him, we just feel that let his class never end. Let his transcendental message penetrate our hearts and let the glories of Krishna permeate the whole world.

5) Full of compassion

It is because of his compassion that he wants every soul of this world to get connected to Krishna. Because once we become devotees of Krishna then all the miseries of our life will come to an end.  To give Krishna to others, Maharaj applies different strategies.

For example, through the Midday Meal program today thousands of kids from humble background can eat Krishna prasadam. The spiritual food is nourishing their body and also their soul. Maharaj organizes free eye camp in Barsana where thousands of villagers who are residents of Vrindavan and Barsana get free eye treatment. It is a great way of serving the residents of dhams.

6) Team building and promoting teamwork

Under his able guidance devotees from different backgrounds come together and engage in the service of Krishna. Devotees forego all their material designations, they forget their caste, creed, colour, nationality, gender because everyone understand that they have only one identity – that they are eternal servants of Krishna. And the purpose of their life is to live for the pleasure of Krishna. 

Today Iskcon Chowpatty, Mumbai has become a model temple which inspires devotees from all over the world. Because at Iskcon Chowpatty everyone feels the camaraderie among all the devotees; grihasthas and brahmacharis come together to serve together and have great love and respect for each other. Maharaj has inspired scores of devotees to lead various projects which is helping in the growth of Iskcon.

7) Creating spiritual leaders

Srila Prabhupada, one of the most prominent spiritual leaders of modern times, trained his disciples so that they too become great leaders. Following the mood of Srila Prabhupada, Maharaj has created so many leaders in Iskcon today. Under his guidance they are playing a pivotal role in spreading Krishna Consciousness all over the world. This was also the desire of Srila Prabhupada. There are so many of them.

HH Bhakti Rasamrita Swami Maharaj, HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu, HG Krishnananda Prabhu, HG Radheshyam Prabhu, HG Gauranga Prabhu, HG Gaur Gopal Prabhu and there are many such great devotees. HG Radheshyam Prabhu is playing an extraordinary role in spreading Krishna Consciousness especially amongst the youth. HG Gaur Gopal Prabhu is today one of the most famous motivational speakers of the world. His talks are based on spiritual literatures like Bhagavad Gita.  

I do not have sufficient qualification to give Vyasa Puja offering to HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj. As an offering to him, I have just underlined his 7 extraordinary qualities. With my limited intelligence I have tried to describe those qualities. But his qualities are unlimited and cannot be quantified. Also, I do not have wisdom to know and understand all the qualities of Maharaj who is a pure devotee of Krishna.

Seeking shelter of HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj on his 71st Vyasa Puja

On the auspicious occasion of HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj’s 71^st Vyasa Puja, I beg Maharaj to give me shelter at his lotus feet and bless me so that I can become serious and sincere in my Krishna Conscious life. I beg Maharaj to give me knowledge, intelligence and determination so that I give up all types of sense gratification, give up all the anarthas and develop great attachment to chant the holy names of Krishna, read Srila Prabhupada books and serve the devotees.

What did Chaitanya Mahaprabhu do to spread Krishna Consciousness?

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a major proponent of Vaisnava philosophy, played a significant role in spreading Krishna Consciousness. He inundated entire India in the 16th century with the chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra – Hare Krsna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

Birth of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu

Caitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Mayapur, West Bengal, India on 18th Feb 1486. His father’s name was Jagannātha Miśra and mother’s name was Śacī-devī. During his childhood he was called as Gaurahari owing to his golden complexion. However, his mother called him Nimai because he was born near a neem tree. At the age of 5 he was admitted to a pathasala, school. By the age of 14 or 15 he became one of the most renowned and erudite scholars of Sanskrit and nyaya philosophy.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu initiation

At the age of 16 or 17 he took spiritual initiation from a great Vaisnava Sannyasi, Isvara Puri. After initiation he became a religious preacher, his teachings transformed the hearts of many. Some of his intimate and sincere followers were Nityanand Prabhu, Haridas Thakura, Murari Gupta, Advaita Prabhu and Srivasa Pandita. In fact, numerous preachers of Vainavism started to flock to Nadia to meet Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Mahaprabhu’s teachings

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wrote Siksastakam which comprises of eight verses. In the first verse he glorifies sankirtana i.e. the congregational chanting of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra.

“Glory to the Sri Krishna Sankirtana, which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. This sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.” Sri Siksastakam

Through his life and teachings, he has underlined the importance of chanting the names of Krishna.

In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that the only reason why people like you and me suffer in this world is because we have disassociated ourselves with Krishna. And the only way by which we can free ourselves from all our miseries is by reassociating with Krishna.

So, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is an incarnation of Krishna says that if we just chant the names of Krishna then we will be able to reunite with Krishna. Chanting will also cleanse our hearts of lust, greed, pride, anger, envy and illusion. These are the vices because of which we indulge in sins which eventually becomes the cause of our suffering. But once we chant then holy name of Krishna, we will get freedom from these vices.  And once our heart becomes pure, it will automatically get attracted to Krishna. Just like a rust-free iron bar get attracted to a magnet.   

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu spreads Krishna Consciousness

Mahaprabhu was full of compassion. So, he wanted to spread the holy name of Krishna in every nook and corner of the world. He instructed Prabhu Nityananda and Haridas to go to the streets, knock at every door and plead the inhabitants to chant the name of Lord Krishna.

suno suno nityananda, suno haridas sarvatra amar ajna koroho parkas

[Sri Caitanya-Bhagavata, Madhya-Khanda 13.8-10]

Denizens of Nadia were pleasantly surprised when Jagai and Madhai’s hearts were transformed. They were the most notorious and abominable figure of Nadia. But by the mercy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu they became pure and devotees of Krishna. Mahaprabhu’s followers started increasing. Almost everyone in Nadia became devotees of Krishna, they all began chanting the names of Krishna.

When Chand Kazi, the chief magistrate of Navadvipa, tried to stop Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan movement then Mahaprabhu led a huge procession of the devotees to the residence of Chand Kazi. Mahaprabhu divided his Sankirtan into 14 groups; each devotee had a torch in his hand. Upon reaching Kazi’s house Mahaprabhu had a philosophical discussion with him. And finally Mahaprabhu was able to inculcate the Vaisnava philosophy in the heart of Kazi. Kazi lamented bitterly upon realizing his grave mistake and he himself decided to join the sankirtan party.

Why Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyasa?

Mahaprabhu although a soft-hearted person was very strong in principles. Mahaprabhu’s preaching and his ever-increasing influence aroused jealously among some of the lowly minded brahmanas who decided to oppose Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu was of the belief that party feelings and sectarianism are the two biggest enemies of progress. He thought that as long as He will continue to identify Himself to a certain city (Nadia), and certain family His mission of spreading the message of Krishna will not succeed.

He no longer wanted to identify himself to certain city, certain family, caste and creed. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu thought that by taking sannyasa, he will be able to freely spread Krishna Consciousness. Therefore, at the age of 24 he decided to take sanyasa. After taking sanyasa Mahaprabhu travelled through entire India. He preached Vaisnavism and nama-sankirtan throughout the journey. On his way he preached pure bhakti and instilled Krishna Prema in the hearts of several people. And in this way thousands of people became devotees of Krishna.

Mahāprabhu’s spiritual ecstasy

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would exhibit transcendental ecstasy remembering Krishna. These spiritual emotions are not of this material world. So, it cannot be understood by everyone. Only those who have love for Krishna and those who are trying to become devotees of Krishna can comprehend such spiritual ecstasies.

And this is the reason that mundane historians and scholars say that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was suffering from epilepsy. Those who have never uttered the name of Krishna with love cannot understand someone who was madly in love with Krishna. It is their spiritual ignorance.

Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī, the author of Chaitanya Charitamrita, knew that the mundane scholar will fail miserably to understand Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s devotional ecstasies.  So, writes, “When transcendental love of Kṛṣṇa awakens in someone’s heart, even a learned scholar cannot comprehend his activities. The activities and symptoms of that exalted personality in whose heart love of Godhead has awakened cannot be understood even by the most learned scholar.” Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Antya-līlā, 19.104 – 105

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu although Krishna appeared as a devotee of Krishna to spread Krishna Consciousness. And so to understand him one has to become a devotee of Krishna.

Mahaprabhu came to Puri at the age of 31. And he continued to live there till his disappearance at the age of 48.

Nava Vidha Bhakti & the Examples of Devotees who Perfected Their Life by practicing Nava Vidha Bhakti

In Srimad Bhagvatam, Prahlad explains about the nine processes of pure devotional service which is called nava vidha bhakti.

śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ
smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
sakhyam ātma-nivedanam

“Hearing and chanting about the transcendental holy name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and pastimes of Lord Viṣṇu, remembering them, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering the Lord respectful worship with sixteen types of paraphernalia, offering prayers to the Lord, becoming His servant, considering the Lord one’s best friend, and surrendering everything unto Him (in other words, serving Him with the body, mind and words) — these nine processes are accepted as pure devotional service.” Srimad Bhagavatam 7.5.23-24

Scriptures explain that just by practicing one of the principles of nava vidha bhakti one can attain complete perfection and return back to the spiritual world. Srila Rupa Goswami in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.2.265) gives the examples of devotees who attained salvation just by practicing one of the processes of nava vidha bhakti.

śrī-viṣṇoḥ śravaṇe parīkṣid abhavad vaiyāsakiḥ kīrtane
prahlādaḥ smaraṇe tad-aṅghri-bhajane lakṣmīḥ pṛthuḥ pūjane
akrūras tv abhivandane kapi-patir dāsye ’tha sakhye ’rjunaḥ
sarvasvātma-nivedane balir abhūt kṛṣṇāptir eṣāṁ param

Examples of nava vidha bhakti given by Srila Rupa Goswami

Let us understand in detail:

śravaṇaṁ (hearing):  

śravaṇaṁ or hearing is one of the most important devotional activities. Parīkṣit Mahārāja attained complete perfection by hearing Srimad Bhagavatam continuously for seven days from Sukadeva Gosvāmī.

kīrtanaṁ (chanting):  

Sukadeva Gosvāmī attained perfection by reciting i.e. by chanting(kīrtanaṁ) Srimad Bhagavatam for seven days to king Parikshit.

smaraṇaṁ (remembering):  

Prahlāda Mahārāja always remembered (smaraṇaṁ) the Lord. He never forgot the Lord even for a moment.

pāda-sevanam (serving the feet of the Lord):

Lakṣmīdevī , the goddess of fortune, is always busy serving the lotus feet of the Lord.

arcanaṁ (offering worship):  

Pṛthu Mahārāja worshipped the deity of the Lord and perfected his life.

vandanaṁ (offering prayers):

Akrūra while entering Vrindavan offered prayers to Lord Krishna. He thus pleased Krishna by his beautiful prayers and attained salvation.

dāsyaṁ (becoming the servant):

Hanumān, the great devotee of Lord Rama, was always eager to serve the orders of Lord Rama. Like a humble and loyal servant, he loved to serve the Lord and thus he attained mercy of Lord Rama and ultimate perfection.

Sakhyam (becoming the best friend):

Arjuna became a dear friend of Lord Krishna and attained salvation.

ātma-nivedanam(surrendering everything, whatever one has):  

Bali Mahārāja surrendered everything including his own self to Lord Vamana and attained the mercy of Lord.

All the nine processes of nava vidha bhakti was practiced by King Ambarish.

Examples of nava vidha bhakti from Ramayana

The devotees who participated in the pastimes of Lord Rama also practiced nava vidha bhakti. This was revealed by HG Radha Gopinath Prabhu in one of his Srimad Bhagavatam class at Iskcon New Town Kolkata temple. Let us see the examples which he discussed from Ramayana of the devotees who perfected their life by practicing one of the processes of nava vidha bhakti.

Sravanam (hearing):

Hanuman is the best example of a devotee in Ramayana who perfected his life by sravanam. Wherever there is Rama Katha, Hanuman is present. He delights in hearing the glory of Lord Rama. He has attained complete perfection by being engaged in hearing the wonderful pastimes of Lord Rama. We also see that he is always engaged in serving the instructions of Lord Rama.

While comparing with different devotees Rupa Goswami has said that Hanuman perfected his life by being a humble and obedient servant of Lord Rama. But if we just focus on the devotees in Ramayana then it is said that Hanuman is the best among all the devotees who always liked to hear Rama Katha.

Hanuman is so great devotee that he does not want anything in return from the Lord. Once Lord Rama said to Hanuman, “You have served me so much, I will always be indebted to you. Let me know what you want, and I will grant you that benediction.” For few moments Hanuman did not say anything. He then folded his hands and with tears in his eyes, he humbly said, “My dear Lord I want nothing from you. I just want to be yours forever.” Lord Rama was overwhelmed with joy. He dd not say anything. He just embraced him.

kīrtanaṁ (chanting):  

Sage Valmiki perfected his life by writing Ramayana. In Ramayana he has sung (kirtanam) the glories of Lord Rama and Mother Sita.  He got boon from Brahma that he will be able to know all the minute details of the pastimes of Lord Rama and based on that he will be able to write in detail about Lord Rama’s different activities in this world. Ramayana is the only book sage Valmiki wrote and he attained eternal glory and eternal mercy of Lord Rama.

There have been many wonderful books written on the glorious pastimes of Lord Rama but Valmiki’s Ramayan standout amongst them. It is the first authoritative book on Lord Rama and any book which is written is based on Valmiki’s Ramayana. Sage Valmiki has captured each and every detail in his book. Lav Kush, the twin sons of Lord Rama and Mother Sita heard Ramayana from sage Valmiki and then recited it with great feeling of love and reverence.

An interesting pastime related to Ramayana

There is one interesting pastime related to Ramayana which is discussed amongst the devotees of Lord Rama. Once Valmiki was narrating Ramayana. So, Hanuman also came. Because wherever Lord Rama’s pastimes are discussed Hanuman is there. But he was sitting behind. Valmiki did not notice him. While narrating Ramayana, Valmiki said that when Hanuman entered Ashok Vatika in Lanka then there were white flowers in the garden.

From behind Hanuman said that the flowers were red in colour. Valmiki said that it was white. Again, Hanuman said that it was red. Valmiki who had not seen Hanuman said how can you say that the flowers were red. Hanuman then said because I am Hanuman and I was the one who entered Ashoka Vatika. Valmiki said I agree that you entered the Ashok Vatika but the flowers there were white and not red. You saw the flowers red because you were angry at that time.

smaraṇaṁ (remembering):

Mother Sita always remembered Lord Rama. This is the reason that while entering into fire she said that if even for a moment I have thought of anyone else other than Lord Rama then let me burn to ashes. She was completely absorbed thinking about Lord Rama.

pāda-sevanam (serving the feet of the Lord):

The best example is of Bharath. He is the personification of pada sevanam. For 14 years he served the paduka of Lord Rama.

arcanaṁ (offering worship):

Sabari is the best example. She offered half eaten berry to Lord Rama with great love. Rama, the Supreme Lord, was so pleased with her service, with her love that he ate the remnants of Sabari. Her purity, her humility, her sincerity and her great devotion attracted Lord Rama’s heart. She perfected her life by serving Lord Rama.  In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says that he is hungry for our love and not for anything else. So, if someone offers him even the simplest thing with love, he accepts it.

“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it.” Bhagavad Gita 9.26

vandanaṁ (offering prayers):

The sages of Dandakaranya offered beautiful prayers to Lord Rama when Lord Rama visited them in the forest. Because of their prayers they pleased the Lord. And when the Supreme Lord appeared as Lord Krishna in Vrindavan then these sages too appeared as gopis and got an opportunity to associate with Lord Krishna and serve Lord Krishna.

dāsyaṁ (becoming the servant):

In Ramayana Lakshman was the perfect servant of Lord Rama. He was the shadow of Lord Rama. It is said that when Lord Rama was in exile for 14 years then Lakshman did not sleep even for a moment because he was serving Lord Rama and Mother Sita each moment. Not just he served Rama and Sita in the forest but throughout his life he served Rama. He was given many thankless tasks but he did it because he always wanted to follow the instructions of Lord Rama.

Sakhyam (becoming the best friend):

In Ramayana Sugriva perfected his life by becoming the best friend of Lord Rama.

ātma-nivedanam(surrendering everything, whatever one has):

Vibhishana and Jatayu are the best examples of atma nivedanam in Ramayana. They both completely surrendered to Lord Rama. Jatayu sacrificed his life for the Lord and Vibhisan completely gave up everything to be with Lord Rama. 

The devotee who practiced all the 9 processes of devotional life and perfected his life was Maharaj Guhu.

What is true religion according to Bhagavad Gita?

Vedic scriptures like Bhagavad Gita explains what true religion is. A practitioner of true religion is the most compassionate person in the world. He will not indulge in any activity which brings miseries to others. Those who are spreading terror in the name of religion are not practicing true religion. They are not lover of God, but they are enemies of humanity. They are religious extremists, fanatics who have no knowledge about God.

Religious fanatics are human viruses. They are as deadly as Coronavirus, sometimes even more lethal.  These misguided people can kill anyone because they believe that people of other faith do not have right to live. They consider their religious doctrines to be supreme. In the garb of religion, they spread terror in the world. Infants, children, women, elderly people, men, they can harm anyone because for them no one’s life is sacred. But that is not true religion. It is fanaticism.

You cannot say you love God and kill all

Practice of true religion makes one saintly. It removes the impurities from the hearts of the practitioners and make them a civilized human being. He develops love for God, and he sees everyone as children of same God. Such an enlightened person lives and let others also to live.

But if people start considering irreligion to be religion, then irreligious people in the garb of religion indulge in irreligious and impious activities. This is what is happening at many places in the world today. It is the responsibility of the leaders to control the religious or rather irreligious extremists and put them behind bars.

It is also equally important that teachings of bona fide religious literatures like Bhagavad Gita is spread far and wide. When people start reading these authentic books then they get to know what it means to be religious and what it means to love God. You cannot say you love God and kill children of God.

This is why spiritual leaders like Bhaktivinod Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, Srila Prabhupada worked extremely hard to spread the teachings of Vedic scriptures like Bhagavad Gita.

It is because of Srila Prabhupada’s vigorous preaching that today millions of people all over the world have understood the transcendental teachings of scriptures like Bhagavad Gita. Their life has got transformed.

Children of same God

Every student of Gita understands that every living being in this world is children of same God. So, they love all, serve all. They do not inflict pain on others. And they do not discriminate people because of caste, creed, gender, religion, nationality. For them rich and poor, black and white, men and women, Hindus and non-Hindus, Indians and non-Indians all are same.

You go to any Iskcon temple or Iskcon centre in any part of the world, no one will ask you about your caste, your religion. No one is going to discriminate you because you are black or white, men or women, rich or poor. You will be treated equally. During the kirtan devotees hold each other’s hand and dance together. Of course, men and women dance separately because in civilized spiritual society men and women are given equal respects, but they do not mix freely.

Devotee has no enemy

In Bhagavad Gita 11.55, Lord Krishna says that one of the important qualities of a devotee is that he is nirvairaḥ i.e. “without an enemy.” A devotee does not have any enemy because he is friendly to everyone. He does not harm anyone not even in his thoughts. He always tries to serve others and always prays for others happiness.  We see that Hiranyakasipu gave so much suffering to Prahlada but little Prahlada prayed to Lord Nrsimhadeva to forgive his father of all the sins and give him benediction.  Srila Prabhupada risked his life to make people devotees of Krishna. The devotees of the Lord always look for ways to serve the humanity. And the best way to serve others is by connecting them to Krishna, the Supreme God.

Once a person becomes a devotee of God, he develops godly qualities. Developing godly qualities does not mean that a person becomes God. It means that a devotee of the Lord, like Lord becomes best well-wishing friend of all.

Qualities of a devotee according to Bhagavad Gita

In Bhagavad Gita 12.13-12.19, Lord Krishna explains in detail about the qualities of a devotee.

• One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor and is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress, who is tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind and intelligence fixed on Me – such a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me. Bhagavad Gita 12.13-12.14

• He by whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me. Bhagavad Gita 12.15

• My devotee who is not dependent on the ordinary course of activities, who is pure, expert, without cares, free from all pains, and not striving for some result, is very dear to Me. Bhagavad Gita 12.16

• One who neither rejoices nor grieves, who neither laments nor desires, and who renounces both auspicious and inauspicious things – such a devotee is very dear to Me. Bhagavad Gita 12.17

• One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from contaminating association, always silent and satisfied with anything, who doesn’t care for any residence, who is fixed in knowledge and who is engaged in devotional service – such a person is very dear to Me. Bhagavad Gita 12.18-12.19

True religion means to spread peace and bliss everywhere

According to Bhagavad Gita, true religion is that which teaches the followers to develop above attributes. True religion means to spread peace and bliss everywhere.

While the government of the world should take care of the law and order situation, the devotees of Krishna should try their best to make this world a better place by transforming the hearts of people by sharing the transcendental teachings of Bhagavad Gita.

Once people understand Bhagavad Gita, they will understand what true religion is. It will save the humanity from gliding towards the path of degradation and self-annihilation.  

We should also beg Krishna to give sanity to the insane people who are killing people in the name of religion.  

ISKCON & A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s contribution in spreading Jagannath worship & Rath Yatra all over the world

Srila Prabhupada, the founder acharya of Iskcon, has played a significant role in spreading Jagannath Rath Yatra and Jagannath worship all over the world. Let us explore some interesting facts about the Rath Yatra festival and how Prabhupada helped to spread it across the globe.

Friar Odoric was a Franciscan missionary. In early 14th century he visited India. In India, he saw a huge deity of Lord Jagannath on an enormous chariot in the streets of Puri. Thousands of people were pulling the chariot with a rope. He carried the story of Jagannath deity riding on a huge chariot to Europe. The story spread throughout Europe. By 19th century Europeans started using the word juggernaut, although they meant Jagannath.  Any enormous object which had crushing capability was called juggernaut.

Little did the Europeans knew that the same massive chariots whose story had fascinated them would one day ride through the streets of Europe. Name any major cities of the world and you will see it celebrating Rath Yatra festival. The festival is celebrated in the same way as it is traditionally celebrated in Puri, India.  The massive chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva and Subhadra Devi travels majestically and is pulled by hundreds of people.

Hundreds of men and women watch in amazement and even participate in pulling the ropes. Men and women, young and old, rich and poor, Hindus and non-Hindus, black and white all participate. Caste, colour, race, gender discrimination ceases to exist when everyone come together to pull the chariot of Jagannath.

Srila Prabhupada’s love for Jagannath

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder acharya of Iskcon, established the worship of Jagannath outside India in a prominent way and made Rath Yatra global. He was fondly called “Srila Prabhupada.” He would say that Jagannath is Lord (nath) of the Universe (jagat), so why not give everyone, irrespective of caste, creed, religion and nationality, the opportunity to worship Jagannath.  Srila Prabhupada was one of the most influential spiritual leaders of India post- independence. He played a crucial role in spreading Vaisnavism throughout the world. And he has made Jagannath Rath Yatra hugely popular.  

Prabhupada was attracted to Jagannath since his childhood days. He was born in Kolkata in 1896. His parents, Gour Mohan De and Rajani De, gave him the name Abhay.  Abhay means one who is fearless having taken shelter of the Lord.   As a child he was fascinated by Rath Yatra festival. He always wanted to visit Puri to take darshan of Jagannath and participate in Rath Yatra.  He would constantly look the train timetable to find out the trains for Puri. Especially he wanted to go during the Rath Yatra period and wanted to pull Jagannath’s chariot. But for little Abhay, it was not possible to go to Puri alone.

So, once he thought why not have my own Rath Yatra at home. His father bought him a small cart. He beautifully decorated it and invited his sisters and neighbourhood kids to join him in the Rath Yatra procession.  Small deities of Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra was placed on the chariot. Seeing the enthusiasm of Abhay, his parents and neighbourhood elders too decided to participate. His mother cooked nice food items to offer to Lord. And on the Rath Yatra day little Abhay with his little friends organized a successful Rath Yatra. Everyone enjoyed the festival.

Prabhupada meets his spiritual master

When Abhay was a young man. He met Srila Bhaktisidhanta Saraswati Thakura, a renowned Vaisnav saint, scholar and founder of Gaudiya Math. The first meeting itself transformed Abhya’s life.   

“You are an English educated young man. Why don’t you use your intellect and talent in enlightening the western world with the teachings of Krishna and Chaitanya? Indians are blindly imitating the west. They are forgetting their culture. So, if people in the west starts appreciating Indian wisdom and culture then the Indians will start valuing them too.”

These words of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura deeply touched Abhay.  He decided to follow the sagely advice and requested Srila Bhaktisidhanta Saraswati Thakura to accept him his disciple. Srila Bhaktisidhanta Saraswati Thakura accepted him and initiated him in 1932 in Gaudiya-Vaishnava tradition.

Preaching in the western world

Prabhupada was working hard to fulfil the order of his guru. He took sannyasa, renounced order of life, in 1959 to dedicate his life completely in preaching Krishna Consciousness. Prabhupada wrote several books and tried his best to preach. He was also looking for an opportunity to go to west.   Finally, he got the chance in 1965 to go to USA. Although he was 69 years old by that time but still he had burning desire to carry the message of Lord Krishna and Lord Chaitanya to the western world.

During his initial months in USA, he struggled hard to preach. But he did not give up. Slowly young American boys and girls started getting influenced by his preaching. His sincerity, simplicity and deep devotion to Krishna started attracting people. And slowly many started taking up devotion to Krishna. They became disciples of Prabhupada. Prabhupada engaged them in chanting Hare Krishna Mahamantra and also taught them how to worship the deity of Radha and Krishna.

In 1967 in San Francisco, Jagannath deity miraculously came to Prabhupada. And Prabhupada decided to establish the worship of Jagannath in Iskcon and planned to celebrate Rath yatra festival in different countries of the world.

Lord Jagannath appears in San Francisco

One day Malati, a female disciple of Srila Prabhupada, brought a unique looking wooden doll. She placed it in front of Srila Prabhupada. As soon as Prabhupada saw the wooden doll, he immediately folded his hands in reverence and paid obeisances. All the assembled students were amazed. What is so special about this doll? They wanted to know. They looked at Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada had a big smile on his face. He looked so happy. It seemed that he was meeting his age-old friend after a long time. Prabhupada looked towards his young curious American disciples and said, “This is Jagannath, the Lord of the Universe. He looks different but he is Krishna.”  

His American students had just begun learning about the Indian Vedic culture. They had started chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra on beads. They had begun donning Indian dress. Men would wear dhoti and kurta and women saris. Just like the devotees of Krishna in India, they would apply sandalwood tilak on their body. On the forehead they would put tilak in the shape of Krishna’s lotus feet and make a Tulasi leaf from the paste on the upper part of their nose touching Krishna’s feet. They looked perfect Vaishnavs. But still they had to know a lot about Indian culture, Indian tradition and the way the Indians worshipped the deities.

Devotees excited to know about Jagannath

Srila Prabhupada was their friend, philosopher, and guide. He would always encourage his disciples to go deep in spiritual life.  He thanked Malati for bringing Jagannath. She had never thought that this wooden doll would please her spiritual master to such an extent.  Everyone except Srila Prabhupada had heard the name “Jagannath” for the first time. In fact, majority of the Americans would not have known about Jagannath.  Srila Prabhupada explained them in detail about the worship of Jagannath in India especially in Puri. He spoke about the grand rath yatra festival at Puri. When he said that thousands of people irrespective of caste, creed and gender come to pull the ropes of the chariot, everyone was mesmerised.  

Srila Prabhupada explained them that Jagannath is none other than Krishna. He is worshipped along with his brother, Balarama, and little sister, Subhadra. Malati excitedly said that two similar looking dolls were also there in the shop.

“From where did you get this?” Prabhupada asked.

“From an import store at Cost Plus,” Malati said.

“Why don’t you get the other two dolls as well – of Balarama and Subhadra.” Prabhupada asked.  

Installing the deity of Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra in San Francisco

She hurried back to the store with her husband, Syamasundara, and brought Balarama and Subhadra.  Prabhupada was eagerly waiting for them. As soon as Balarama and Subhadra arrived, Prabhupada properly placed them – Jagannath to the right, little Subhadra in the centre and Balarama to the left. Srila Prabhupada loved Jagannath.  Seeing him, he got a desire to start the worship of Jagannath in the western country in a grand way.   

He wanted to spread the worship of Jagannath all over the world.  Lord Jagannath had appeared in San Francisco by his own will.  He wanted to establish the worship of Jagannath in San Francisco. For this to happen, a big wooden deity of Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra had to be built.  He expressed his desire. His disciples were always eager to fulfil their guru’s wish. Syamasundara knew carpentry. He took the responsibility of carving the deities from the wood.

Srila Prabhupada explained him the shape, size, width and height of the deities. He took a pen and paper and wrote down all the details. He further said, “Jagannath should be painted black, Baladeva should be white, and Subhadra should be yellow.” Syamasundara began his work.

Jagannath deity was installed on Gaura Purnima

March 26 was Gaura Purnima, the appearance day of Lord Chaitanya. Prabhupada decided to install the deity of Lord Jagannath on that auspicious day. Lord Chaitanya had played a crucial role in spreading sankirtana – devotion to Krishna by congregational chanting of Hare Krishna Mahamantra – in India in 15^th century.  

After taking sannyasa, renounced order of life, Lord Chaitanya lived in Puri near the famous Jagannath temple. He visited the temple daily for darshan and stood for hours in front of Jagannath.  Srila Prabhupada had gone to west to spread the teachings of Lord Chaitanya. So, the appearance day of Lord Chaitanya was the perfect day to install the deity of Lord Jagannath.   A beautiful wooden altar from the redwood tree was built for the deities.

The deity installation day

On the installation day, which was also the Gaur Purnima day, Prabhupada said that entire day they all will read about Lord Chaitanya and his teachings, chant the Hare Krishna Mahamantra and sing kirtana.  Everybody will fast the entire day. The much-awaited installation ceremony will be in the evening followed by big feast.  Throughout the day devotees absorbed themselves in chanting the names of Krishna and hearing the pastimes of Chaitanya. Some of the devotees were also busy making arrangements for the evening.  In the evening the temple room was full. Many people from the neighbourhood also came to see the installation ceremony.

Newly carved wooden deities of Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra were placed on the beautifully decorated wooden altar. A yellow canopy gave the altar a majestic look.  Prabhupada led the kirtan and the disciples and assembled guests began offering lamp to the three deities. Blue, red and yellow lights on the altar glittered when devotees were offering the lamp. The deities looked beautiful and colourful. It was a festive atmosphere. Lamp offering was followed by big feast. 

The installation ceremony was simple but devotional. Everyone present felt attracted to Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra.  Prabhupada taught them the prayer which they should chant for Jagannath – jagannathaḥ svami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me, O Lord of the Universe, please be visible to me. Prabhupada said that Jagannath has chosen to appear in San Francisco, so, let us call San Francisco as “New Jagannath Puri.”

Jagannath goes to Golden Gate Park

Devotees were happy. Next day some of the devotees took the deity of Jagannath from the altar to the nearby Golden Gate Park. They would often go out to do kirtan. So, they decided to even take Jagannath with them.  Hundreds of Americans were excited to see Jagannath in the park. Devotees chanted the Hare Krishna Mahamantra and danced around Jagannath for several hours.

Meanwhile when Prabhupada saw the deity missing from the altar he was upset. Jagannath deity does not leave the altar except on one especially day. And that is called Rath Yatra.  He said, “If you all really want to take the deities outside then organize a Rath Yatra festival.” His young American disciples got excited to hear this. Prabhupada said, “Let us have Rath Yatra in San Francisco.” Everyone agreed.

First Rath Yatra celebration in San Francisco on 9^th July 1967

Prabhupada wanted to celebrate Rath Yatra festival the way it is celebrated in Jagannath Puri. Three different chariots for the three deities and devotees pulling the chariots with ropes. But he knew that it was not possible to arrange such big chariots in America. His disciples were not trained to build chariots. And to get it in a foreign land where Rath Yatra would be celebrated for the first time was not possible.  

So, it was decided that a flatbed truck would be converted into a chariot. And in future devotees can plan for big chariots. They choose a yellow flatbed truck and decorated it in a way so that it looks like a chariot. Devotees made five-foot columns on the truck and a colourful cloth canopy. On the day of Rath Yatra they took the deities from the altar and placed it on the chariot under the canopy. Jagannath faced towards the right side of the truck, Baladeva towards the left and Subhadra towards the rear.

First Jagannath Rath year begins

The three deities rode on the streets of San Francisco on the yellow chariot. People on the road were amazed and excited to see this. The chariot moved slowly. Devotees sang the Hare Krishna Mahamantra and danced in front of Lord Jagannath. Hundreds of people participated in the procession.  Police tried to finish the procession quickly. But so many people were in front of the chariot that they could not do anything. In fact, they too liked the devotional spirit.

Meanwhile devotees were distributing prasadam – oranges, apples and bananas were being given. From the chariot they were throwing flowers on the crowds, and people loved it. They were also releasing dozens of Rath Yatra ballons. It was a festive atmosphere. Devotees enjoyed their first Rath Yatra festival. Those who participated in the procession too loved it. Prabhupada was immensely pleased and satisfied. He had taken an arduous journey in his old age to the west to spread Krishna Consciousness. And it seemed he was succeeding.

Jagannath worship and Rath Yatra festival has spread all over the world

Today Jagannath worship and Rath Yatra celebration takes place in almost all the major countries of the world like USA, UK, Canada, Russia, Germany South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia and even in Islamic countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh.  One can see massive Rath Yatra chariots rolling through the streets of San Francisco, New York, Washington, London, Berlin, Moscow, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Dhaka.  In India Iskcon organizes Rath Yatra in all the major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Guwahati, Mayapur, Vrindavan and many more.

Iskcon organizes world’s first virtual Rath Yatra during Covid

During Covid Pandemic it was not possible to celebrate Rath Yatra on streets. So, Iskcon organized world’s first digital Rath Yatra which covered six continents. The festival was named as “Mercy on Wheels.” There were 108 rathas (chariots) and thousands of people from all over the world participated virtually.

References:

• Srīla Prabhupada-lilamrta Volume 1, Chapter TWENTY-FOUR, New Jagannātha Purī

Link: https://vedabase.io/en/library/spl/1/24/

• Srīla Prabhupada-lilamrta Volume 1, CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX, Swamiji’s Departure

Link: https://vedabase.io/en/library/spl/1/26/

• Definition of juggernaut: Merriam Webster

Link: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/juggernaut

• ISKCON plans world’s first virtual Rath Yatra across 6 continents amid Covid-19 pandemic: Hindustan Times

Link: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/iskcon-plans-world-s-first-virtual-rath-yatra-across-six-continents-during-covid-19-pandemic/story-FC3iY13U9xUpgxsdbOUEfO.html