Author: Purushottam Nitai Das

इस्कॉन न्यू टाउन कोलकाता में गौर पूर्णिमा उत्सव

भगवान कृष्ण के भक्त हमेशा आनंद में रहते हैं। वे साल में कई त्योहार मनाते हैं।  सभी त्योहारों में, गौर पूर्णिमा यानी श्री चैतन्य महाप्रभु का प्रकट दिन ब्रह्म-माधव-गौड़ीय सम्प्रदाय के अनुयायियों के लिए सबसे महत्वपूर्ण है। 

इस शुभ दिन पर, हमें भगवान चैतन्य के जीवन पर एक नाटक करने का अवसर मिला। प्रभु की सेवाओं में सक्रिय भागीदारी हमें भगवान के  करीब ले जाती है। इसलिए, कुछ भक्तों के साथ मिलकर हमने नाटक प्रस्तुत करने के बारे में सोचा। हम में से किसी को भी नाटक में भाग लेने का पूर्व का कोई खास अनुभव नहीं था। लेकिन फिर भी हमने सोचा, ‘हम प्रयास करते हैं और भगवान श्री कृष्ण निश्चित रूप से हमारी मदद करेंगे। ‘ 

हमने चैतन्य महाप्रभु का वह लीला चुना जिसमे वो चाँद काज़ी का ह्रदय परिवर्तित करते हैं।

काजी ने नवद्वीप में संकीर्तन पर प्रतिबंध लगा दिया था और महाप्रभु ने इस फैसले के खिलाफ बड़े पैमाने पर विरोध प्रदर्शन किया था।

ऐसा कहा जाता है कि उस विरोध प्रदर्शन में लगभग 1 लाख लोगों ने भाग लिया था।

वास्तव में, यह भारत का पहला सविनय अवज्ञा आंदोलन था, यहाँ तक की यह दुनिया का पहला सविनय अवज्ञा आंदोलन भी हो सकता है।

हमने स्क्रिप्ट तैयार की। चैतन्य महाप्रभु, नवद्वीप के भक्त, चाँद काज़ी और काज़ी के सैनिकों के चरित्र का चुनाव किया। हमने गौर पूर्णिमा से एक दिन पहले कई बार अभ्यास किया। अगले दिन यानी गौर पूर्णिमा के दिन हमने जल्दी आकर और अभ्यास करने  का फैसला किया।

हमने बैकग्राउंड म्यूजिक और गानों की व्यवस्था की। हमें नाटक के लिए पोशाकें भी मिलीं। एक भक्त ने मशालें भी तैयार की। पहले हमने सोचा था कि हम मशाल जलाएंगे, लेकिन चूंकि कार्यक्रम मंदिर के हॉल के भीतर था, इसलिए मशाल जलाना खतरनाक होता, इसलिए हमने इस विचार को छोड़ दिया।

छोटे बच्चे भी महाप्रभु के जीवन पर नाटक कर रहे थे।

गौर पूर्णिमा कार्यक्रम की शुरुआत गौर निताई के सुंदर विग्रह के अभिषेक से हुई। श्री गौर निताई को गंगा जल, फलों के रस, फूल और अन्य पवित्र वस्तुओं से स्नान कराया गया। अभिषेक के समय सभी भक्त हरे कृष्ण महामंत्र का कीर्तन कर रहे थे।

अभिषेक के तुरंत बाद बच्चों का नाटक था। बच्चों ने शानदार प्रदर्शन किया। रंग–बिरंगे परिधान पहने, उन्होंने महाप्रभु के बचपन के लीलाओं पर नाटक प्रस्तुत किया जो सभी के दिलों को छू गए।

अब हमारी बारी थी।

हमने प्रार्थनाएँ कही और भगवान से आशीर्वाद मांगा ताकि हम भक्तों को निराश न करें।

हमारे नाटक की शुरुआत उस दृस्य से हुई, जिसमें हमने दिखाया कि कैसे भक्त नवद्वीप में भगवान कृष्ण की भक्ति आनंद के साथ कर रहे थे। एक परिवार पवित्र नामों का जाप कर रहा था। महिलाओं का एक समूह प्रभु के लिए माला तैयार कर रहा था। कुछ भक्त शास्त्रों पर चर्चा कर रहे थे।

एक भक्त सभी को आरती के लिए आमंत्रित करने आता है। जब भक्त आरती कर रहे थे, चाँद काज़ी के दो सैनिक प्रवेश करते हैं। वे दर्शकों के पीछे से प्रवेश करते हैं।

ऊंची आवाज में सैनिक सभी को धमकी देते हैं कि वे कृष्ण के नामों का जाप न करें। वे भक्तों के पास आते हैं और उन्हें तुरंत आरती रोकने के लिए कहते हैं। उन्होंने उन्हें चेतावनी भी दी कि यदि वे आदेश की अवहेलना करते हैं तो उन्हें सलाखों के पीछे डाल दिया जाएगा और उन्हें कड़ी सजा दी जाएगी। जाने से पहले उन्होंने एक मृदंग भी तोड़ा।

हमने मृदंग का उपयोग नहीं किया बल्कि मिट्टी के बर्तन का उपयोग किया। मृदंग एक पवित्र वस्तु है और किसी भी परिस्थिति में उसका अनादर नहीं किया जाना चाहिए।

श्रद्धालु एकदम सदमे में थे। भक्तों ने आपस में चर्चा की और निष्कर्ष निकाला, “जीवन का उद्देश्य कृष्ण के पवित्र नामों का जप करना है। अगर हम ऐसा नहीं कर रहे हैं, तो हमारे शरीर का क्या फायदा। हमें अपना जीवन त्याग देना चाहीए। ” सभी दुखी थे।

फिर चैतन्य महाप्रभु प्रवेश करते हैं।

भक्तों को दुखी देखकर वह आश्चर्यचकित हैं। वह उनसे पूछतें हैं, “क्या हुआ? आप सभी इतने दुखी क्यों हैं? ” भक्त अपनी व्यथा सुनाते हैं। आंखों में आंसू के साथ वे कहते हैं, “चूंकि अब हम कृष्ण की भक्ति करने के लिए स्वतंत्र नहीं हैं, इसलिए हमें अनुमति दें ताकि हम खुद को गंगा में डुबाकर अपना जीवन समाप्त कर सकें।“

महाप्रभु भक्तों की विनती सुनकर भावुक हो जाते हैं।

फिर वो कहते हैं, “पूरे ब्रह्मांड में कोई नहीं है जो संकीर्तन को रोक सकता है। संकीर्तन जारी रहेगा। हम आदेश की अवहेलना करेंगे।”

भक्त हर्षित हो जाते हैं लेकिन कुछ भक्त फिर भी पूछते हैं, “क्या यह संभव हो सकता है?”

महाप्रभु कहते हैं, “क्या आपको मेरे शब्दों पर विश्वास नहीं है? क्या आपको मुझ पर भरोसा नहीं है?” सभी भक्त कहते हैं, “महाप्रभु आप हमारे उद्धारकर्ता हैं। आप हमारी जिंदगी हैं। हम आप पर विश्वास करते है। हमें आप पर पूरा भरोसा है।”

महाप्रभु ने उन्हें मशालें तैयार करने, मृदंगों और करताल की व्यवस्था करने को कहा। नवद्वीप के सभी भक्तों को विरोध मार्च में आमंत्रित करने को कहा।”

इसके बाद महाप्रभु जाते हैं। भक्त तैयारी शुरू करते हैं। और बैकग्राउंड में खूबसूरत भजन बजता है।

भज गौरांगा कह गौरांगा लाह गौरांगरा नाम रे

जे जना गौरांग भजे, सेई (होय) अमरा प्राण रे

भक्त फिर विरोध मार्च निकालते हैं। महाप्रभु के नेतृत्व में मशाल और मृदंग और करताल के साथ वे जोर–जोर से नवद्वीप की सड़कों पर संकीर्तन करते हैं और नृत्य करते हैं।

लोग चाँद काज़ी के घर की ओर जाते हैं।

चाँद काज़ी इस बात से अवगत नहीं था कि लोग, जिनमें से कुछ बेहद गुस्से में थे, उसकी घर की ओर मार्च कर रहे हैं।

एक सैनिक उसे खबर देने के लिए दौड़ता हुआ आता है। शुरू में काजी ने उस पर विश्वास नहीं किया। लेकिन फिर वह भारी भीड़ को संकीर्तन करते हुए देखता है। वह दौड़ता है और अपने घर के अंदर छिप जाता है। भक्त अब उसके दरवाजे पर हैं।

महाप्रभु एक भक्त को अंदर भेजते हैं। भक्त घर में प्रवेश करता है और काज़ी को बाहर आने के लिए मजबूर करता है। काजी बेहद भयभीत है। कुछ भक्त चिल्लाते हैं, “इसे दंड दो। इसे सजा दो।“

महाप्रभु उन्हें शांत करते हैं। और काजी से पूछतें हैं, “लगता है आप मुझे देखकर खुश नहीं हैं। आपने मेरा स्वागत नहीं किया। आप अपने घर के अंदर छिप गए।”

काजी लड़खड़ाती आवाज़ में कहता है, “नहीं। नहीं यह सत्य नहीं है। मैंने देखा आप गुस्से में हैं। आपके साथ आने वाले सभी लोग गुस्से में हैं। तो मैंने सोचा कि जब तक आपका गुस्सा कम न हो जाए, मुझे अंदर ही रहना चाहिए। जैसे ही मैंने देखा आप शांत हो गए हैं, मैं आपका स्वागत करने के लिए तुरंत बाहर आ गया।”

फिर काज़ी कहता है, “नीलाम्बर चक्रवर्ती, आपके नाना, मुझे बहुत प्यार करते थे। मैं उन्हें चाचा कहता था और वो मुझे अपने पुत्र की तरह स्नेह करते थे। उस रिश्ते से तो आप मेरे भांजा हुए। और मामा और भांजा आपस में झगड़ा नहीं करते। जब कभी मामा नाराज होता है तो भतीजा उसे शांत करता है। और जब भतीजा नाराज होता है तो मामा बुरा नहीं मानता बल्कि उसे शांत करता है।”

महाप्रभु तब पूछते हैं, “एक मुस्लिम शासक के रूप में आपने कल संकीर्तन को रोकने की कोशिश की थी। लेकिन आज जब लोग सड़कों पर जाप और नृत्य कर रहे थे तब आपने कुछ नहीं किया? “

काज़ी कुछ कहना चाहता है। वह महाप्रभु से पूछता है कि क्या हम अंदर जाकर बात सकते हैं। एक भक्त क्रोधित स्वर में कहता है, “नहीं। सारी चर्चा यहीं होगी।”

महाप्रभु कहते हैं, “ये भक्त अपने हैं। आप इनके सामने सब कुछ कह सकतें हैं।”

काज़ी कहता है, “कल, मेरे जीवन में कुछ अविश्वसनीय हुआ। सपने में मैंने एक अध्भुत जीव देखा। मैं समझ नहीं पा रहा था कि वह कौन है। वह आकार में बहुत बड़ा था। उसका आधा शरीर शेर का था और आधा आदमी का था। वो मेरे शरीर के ऊपर बैठा था और अपने बड़े और तीखे नाखूनों से मेरी छाती को चीरने की कोशिश कर रहा था। उसके बड़े नुकीले दांत थे। उसके मुँह से आग निकल रही थी। वह गर्जना कर रहा था और चिल्ला रहा था, ‘तुमने नवद्वीप में संकीर्तन को रोकने की हिम्मत की। तुम्हारी हिम्मत कैसे हुए एक मृदंग को तोड़ने की। यदि तुम ऐसा फिर से करते हो, तो मैं तुम्हें  चीर दूंगा। मैं तुम्हें ही नहीं बल्कि तुम्हारे परिवार के सभी सदस्यों को भी मिटा दूंगा। ऐसा फिर कभी करने की कोशिश नहीं करना।’  उसके नाखूनों के निशान अभी भी मेरी छाती पर हैं। “

महाप्रभु फिर पूछते हैं, “इसके अलावा भी कुछ हुआ?” काज़ी कहता है, “हाँ। कल जब मेरा एक सैनिक संकीर्तन को रोकने के लिए एक घर में गया, तब कहीं से आग की लपटें आ गयी जिससे उसका दाढ़ी और चेहरा जल गया।”

काजी महाप्रभु से भक्तों को परेशान करने के लिए क्षमा मांगता है।

आंखों में आंसू के साथ वो कहता है, “वेद में भगवान नारायण की महिमा का गुणगान किया गया है। सभी हिंदू उस नारायण की पूजा करते हैं और उसे हरि भी कहते हैं। अब मैं समझ गया हूँ कि आप वही हरि हैं। आप परमपिता परमात्मा हैं। आप गौरहरि हैं।”

काजी गौरहरि के चरणों में गिर जाता है। गौरहरि प्यार से उसे उठातें हैं और कहतें हैं, “आप बहुत भाग्यशाली हैं। आपने हरि, कृष्ण और नारायण के नामों का जप किया। आपके सभी पाप समाप्त हो गए। अब आप शुद्ध हैं।”

महाप्रभु काज़ी से कहते हैं, “मैं एक निवेदन करना चाहता हूँ। आप वादा करें कि आप इस संकीर्तन को कभी नहीं रोकेंगे।”

अपने गलती के लिए माफी मांगते हुए काज़ी कहता है “अब से कोई भी नवद्वीप के इस पवित्र धाम में कभी भी संकीर्तन को नहीं रोकेगा। भविष्य में मेरे वंशज भी नहीं। हम सभी मिलकर संकीर्तन में भाग लेंगे।”

भक्त हर्षपूर्वक बोलते हैं, ‘हरिबोल! हरिबोल! जय गौरांगा’

अंत में “हरी हराये नमः कृष्ण यादवया नमः यादवया माधवाय केसवाया नमः” का संगीत बजता है और सभी आनंद में नृत्य करते हैं ।

नाटक के बाद श्री चैतन्य महाप्रभु के जीवन और शिक्षाओं पर एक विशेष कथा होती है। कथा के बाद आरती और अंत में सभी भक्त प्रसाद का आनंद लेते हैं।

A Memorable Gaur Purnima Celebration at Iskcon New Town Kolkata

Devotees of Lord Krishna are always joyful. They always have reasons to celebrate. There are so many festivals and so many events.  Amongst all the festivals, Gaur Purnima i.e. the appearance day of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is one of the most important festivals for the followers of Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya.

On this auspicious day, we had an opportunity to do a drama on one of the most important pastimes of Lord Chaitanya.  Active involvement in the services of the Lord helps a lot in becoming serious in devotional life. So, with a group of few devotees, we thought of presenting the drama. Many had no previous experience in participating in any drama. But still, we thought, ‘Let us give it a try. Krishna will surely help us.’

We choose to do drama on the pastime of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with Chand Kazi. 

The Kazi had banned sankirtana in Navadwip (Navadvipa) and Mahaprabhu had organized a massive protest against this decision.

It is said that around 1 lakh people participated in that protest. 

In fact, it is said to be the first Civil Disobedience movement of India or maybe of the world.

We prepared the script and devotees got their respective roles and dialogues.  We decided on the character of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, devotees of Navadwip (Navadvipa), Chand Kazi and Kazi’s soldiers. We practiced many times a day before the festival. The next day i.e. on the Gaur Purnima day we decided to come early to practice a few more times before the final performance.

We arranged for background music and songs. By the mercy of Krishna, we got costumes too.  The costumes were perfect. Torches were also prepared. Initially, we thought that we will light the torches but since the program was within the temple hall so lighting the torch would have been dangerous, so we gave up the idea.  We even practiced with costumes and music.

Small children were also performing drama on childhood pastimes of Mahaprabhu. 

Gaur Purnima program began with the abhishek of beautiful deities of Gaur Nitai.  Amidst the melodious chant of Hare Krishna Mahamantra, the deities were bathed with Ganges water, fruit juices, flowers, and other sanctified items.  

Immediately after the abhishek was the drama of the kids.  Children performed wonderfully.  Wearing colorful costumes, they delivered dialogues in broken languages which touched the hearts of all.

Now it was our turn.

We said our prayers and sought the blessings of the lord so that we do not disappoint the assembled devotees.

Our drama started with the scene where we showed how the devotees were happily engaged in practicing devotion to Lord Krishna in Navadvipa. One family was chanting the holy names. One group of ladies were preparing garland for the Lord. Few devotees were discussing Krishna Conscious philosophy. 

One devotee then comes to invite all for arati.  While the devotees were performing arati, two soldiers of Chand Kazi enter. They enter from behind the audience.

In a loud voice, the soldiers come threatening all not to engage in chanting the names of Krishna. They come near the devotees who were doing arati and asked them to stop immediately. They even warned them that if they defy the order they will be put behind bars and will be severely punished.  Before leaving they even broke a mridanga.

We did not use mridanga but a clay pot. Mridanga is sacred paraphernalia and in no circumstances should be disrespected.  

The devotees were in utter shock. In the background played sad music. The devotees discussed amongst themselves and concluded, “The life’s purpose is to chant the holy names of Krishna. If we are not doing so then what is the use of our living and maintaining this body. Let this body rot and die.” All were sad.

And then enters Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. 

Seeing the devotees sad he is surprised. He asks them, “What happened? Why you all are so sad?” Devotees narrate their ordeal.  With tears in their eyes, they say, “Since we are now not free to practice devotion to Krishna so give us permission so that we can end our lives by drowning ourselves in the Ganges.”

Mahaprabhu is moved to hear the pleas of the devotees.

In an authoritative tone, he says, “There is no one in the entire universe who has the power to stop the sankirtana.  Sankirtana will continue. We will defy the order.”

Devotees become joyful but some are doubtful. So some ask, “Can this be possible?”  

Mahaprabhu says, “Don’t you have faith in my words. Don’t you trust me.” Devotees unanimously say, “Mahaprabhu you are our savior. You are our life. We believe in you. We trust in you.” 

Mahaprabhu asks them to prepare torches, arrange for mridangas and kartals and inform all the devotees of Navadvipa to come for the protest march.” 

After this Mahaprabhu leaves.  Devotees begin the preparation. And in the background plays the beautiful song

bhaja gauranga kaha gauranga laha gaurangera nama re
je jan gauranga bhaje, sei (hoy) amara praṇa re 

Devotees then take out the protest march. Carrying torchlights and mrindangas and kartals under the leadership of Mahaprabhu they loudly chant and dance on the streets of Navadvipa.

The scene now moves to the house of Chand Kazi.

He is not aware that tens of thousands of people, some of them extremely angry, are marching towards his house. 

A soldier comes running to give him the news. Initially, the Kazi did not believe him. But then he sees the huge crowd doing sankirtana. He runs and hides inside his house. Thousands of devotees now are at his doorstep.    

Mahaprabhu asks one devotee to go inside and inform Kazi about his arrival. A devotee enters the house and compels him to come out.  Kazi is extremely fearful. Some devotees shout, “Punish him.  Punish him.”

Mahaprabhu pacifies them. And asks the Kazi, “Seems you are not happy seeing me. You did not welcome me. You hid inside your house.”

Kazi in a faltering voice says, “No. No. It is not true. I saw you are angry. All the people coming with you are angry. So I thought let me be inside till your anger subsides.  As soon as I saw you are in a good mood. I came out immediately to welcome you.”

He then says, “Nilambar Chakravarti, your maternal grandfather, loved me a lot. I called him uncle and he treated me like his son. With that relationship, you are my nephew. And maternal uncle and nephew do not quarrel with each other. Sometime when the uncle is angry, nephew calms him down. And when nephew is upset then uncle do not mind and pacifies him.”

Mahaprabhu then asks, “As a Muslim ruler, you tried to stop sankirtana yesterday. But today when thousands were chanting and dancing on the streets then you did nothing?”  

Kazi wants to say something. He asks Mahaprabhu that can we go inside and speak. Immediately one of the devotees in angry tone says, “No. All discussion will happen here only.” 

Mahaprabhu says, “These devotees are his own. He can say everything in front of them.”   

Kazi then says, “Yesterday, something unbelievable happened in my life. In the dream came a being. I could not understand who he was. He was massive in size. Half his body was of a lion and the other half was of a man. He was sitting on top of my body and with his big and sharp nails was trying to tear apart my chest. He had sharp-pointed big teeth. Fire was emanating from his mouth.  He was roaring and was shouting, ‘How dare you tried to stop sankirtana in Navadvipa. How dare you broke a mridanga. If you do it again, I will tear you apart. I will not just kill you but all your family members. Never try to do it again.’ See the marks of his fingernails are still on my chest.” 

Mahaprabhu then asks, “Anything else happened?”  Kazi says, “Yes. Yesterday when one of my soldiers went to a house to stop sankirtana then from nowhere flames appeared which burned his beard and half face.” 

Kazi seeks forgiveness from Mahaprabhu for disturbing the devotees. 

With tears in his eyes, he says, “The Vedas talk about the Supreme God, Narayana. Hindus worship that Narayana and also call him Hari. Now I have understood that you are the same, Hari. You are the Supreme Lord. You are Gaurhari.”

The Kazi falls at the feet of Gaurhari. Gaurhari lovingly picks him up and says, “You are so fortunate. You chanted the names of Hari, Krishna, and Narayana. Your all sins are nullified. You are supremely pure now.”

Mahaprabhu tells Kazi, “I have come to make one request. You must promise that you will never ever stop this sankirtana.”

Kazi seeking forgiveness for his deeds declares that “From now onwards no one will ever stop sankirtana in this holy Dham of Navadvipa. Not even my descendants in the future.  We all will together participate in sankirtana.”

Devotees joyfully chant, “Haribol! Haribol! Jai Gauranga!.

In the end, everyone sings and dances on the song Hari Haraye Namah Krishna Yadavaya Namah…

After the drama was a special class on the pastimes and teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu which was followed by arati and delicious prasadam.

It was a wonderful way to celebrate the Gaur Purnima festival.

चैतन्य महाप्रभु ने भारत के पहले सविनय अवज्ञा (सिविल डिसओबेडिएंस) आंदोलन का नेतृत्व किया

भारत को हमेशा उस भूमि के रूप में महिमा मंडित किया जाता है जहां पवित्र नदियाँ प्रवाहित होती हैं और स्थानो को पवित्र करती हैं। पर्वतों के राजा, हिमालय, उसके मुकुट के रूप में उसकी महिमा गाते हैं। यह वह भूमि है जहाँ भगवान राम और भगवान कृष्ण ने कई लीला किए| वे इस धरती पर चलते थे, वे नाचते थे, वे गाते थे और इस धन्य भूमि में खेलते थे।

लेकिन दुख की बात यह है कि हमारे इस महान राष्ट्र का धीरे-धीरे पतन होने लगा| शास्त्र बताते हैं कि कलयुग में , जिसमें हम वर्तमान में रह रहे हैं, अधर्म को प्रमुखता मिलती है| तो यह आश्चर्य की बात नहीं है कि भारतीय समाज जिसकी जड़ें आध्यात्मिकता में है उसकी संस्कृति और मूल्यों में गिरावट होनी शुरू हो गयी|

कई विदेशी आक्रमणकारियों ने देश पर धन-दौलत लूटने के लिए हमला करना शुरू कर दिया। हजारों मंदिरों को उजाड़ दिया गया, और हजारों लोगों को अपना धर्म छोड़ने के लिए मजबूर किया गया।

भले ही लोगों ने धार्मिक प्रथाओं को जारी रखा लेकिन वे हमेशा सताए जाने से डरते रहे।

सिर्फ विदेशी आक्रमणकारी ही नहीं जिनसे लोग डरते थे बल्कि वे जातिगत ब्राह्मणों से भी डरते थे। क्योंकि अयोग्य ब्राह्मण लोगों का शोषण कर रहे थे।

लोग चेतना के उत्थान या प्रभु के साथ संबंध विकसित करने के लिए धर्म का पालन नहीं कर रहे थे। इसके बजाय, वेदों की भावना के खिलाफ होने वाले अनुष्ठानों को प्रमुखता मिली। लोग पूरी तरह से भौतिकवादी हो गए थे।

एक क्रांतिकारी सुधारक का जन्म

चैतन्य महाप्रभु उस दौरान प्रकट हुए जब भारत भीतर और बाहर से पीड़ित था। उन्होंने १४८६ में मायापुर, नवद्वीप, पश्चिम बंगाल में जन्म लिया।

अपने उपदेशों के माध्यम से, उन्होंने अयोग्य ब्राह्मणों के एकाधिकार को समाप्त कर दिया जिन्होंने एक कठोर वंशानुगत जाति व्यवस्था की स्थापना की थी। यह जाति व्यवस्था वेदों की शिक्षाओं के विरुद्ध थी।

जाति ब्राह्मणों के नियमों के अनुसार सामान्य जन को देवताओं की पूजा करने, वैदिक शास्त्रों को पढ़ने, कोई भी अनुष्ठान करने और किसी भी मंत्र का जाप करने की मनाही थी। उन्होंने स्वयं को ईश्वर के प्रतिनिधि के रूप में नियुक्त किया था|  उनके माध्यम से ही कोई भगवान से कोई आशीर्वाद प्राप्त कर सकता था|

शास्त्र कभी किसी को दूसरों के साथ भेदभाव करने के लिए नहीं कहता है। वेद जिस सामाजिक विभाजन की बात करता है, वह समाज के सुचारू संचालन के लिए है। यह विभाजन जन्म पर नहीं बल्कि किसी के काम पर आधारित है। (भगवद गीता ४.१३)

चैतन्य महाप्रभु वेदों की सच्ची शिक्षाओं को फिर से स्थापित करने के लिए आए थे। महाप्रभु ने अन्यायपूर्ण जाति व्यवस्था की बेड़ियों को तोड़ दिया और सभी को भगवान की भक्ति करने का समान अवसर दिया।

संकीर्तन आंदोलन का जन्म

उन्होंने संकीर्तन आंदोलन की शुरुआत की। संकीर्तन का अर्थ है हरे कृष्ण महामंत्र का सामूहिक जप।

श्रीमद-भागवतम (१२.३.५१) का हवाला देते हुए उन्होंने कहा कि हरे कृष्ण का जप ही एकमात्र प्रभावी तरीका है जिसके द्वारा कलियुग में मोक्ष प्राप्त होता है।

हरे कृष्ण महामंत्र कोई नया मंत्र नहीं था। जप करना कोई नई प्रक्रिया नहीं थी। वास्तव में हरे कृष्ण महामंत्र का जप अनंत काल से चला आ रहा है। सिर्फ धरती पर ही नहीं बल्कि स्वर्गीय ग्रहों पर भी इस मंत्र का जप किया जाता है।

लेकिन दुर्भाग्य से, लोग भूल गए थे और इसलिए पीड़ित थे। जप व्यक्तिगत रूप से किया जा सकता है और जब एक साथ कई लोगों के साथ किया जाता है, तो यह संकीर्तन बन जाता है।

सभी भगवान के नामों का जप करने के पात्र थे। तथाकथित ऊंची जाति और निम्न जाति, पुरुष और महिलाएं, अमीर और गरीब, हिंदू और गैर-हिंदू सभी जप करने के योग्य थे। अपने जीवन में पहली बार वे भगवान के साथ एक गहरे संबंध का अनुभव करने लगे।

लाखों लोग जप करने लगे

नवद्वीप के लगभग हर घर में लोग कृष्ण के नाम का जप कर रहे थे। और जिन दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण लोगों ने जप करने से इनकार कर दिया, उन्होंने हमेशा कृष्ण का नाम सुना। यह जंगल की आग की तरह फैल गया।

इस आग ने जाति ब्राह्मणों के आधिपत्य को भी नष्ट करना शुरू कर दिया। वे बेहद गुस्से में थे।

मुस्लिम शासकों को डर था कि जप सभी हिंदुओं को एकजुट कर देगा| और एकजुट हिंदू हमें उखाड़ फेंकेंगे। उन्होंने कई गैर-हिंदुओं को संकीर्तन मंडली में भाग लेते देखा, जो बहुत चिंता का कारण था।

जाति ब्राह्मणों ने मुस्लिम शासकों से संपर्क किया। उन्होंने मिलकर संकीर्तन आंदोलन को रोकने की योजना तैयार की।नवद्वीप के तत्कालीन मजिस्ट्रेट चाँद काजी ने एक आदेश जारी किया।

‘तुरंत जप बंद करो। आदेश की अवहेलना करने वाले को कड़ी से कड़ी सजा दी जाएगी।’

उनके सैनिक जप के खिलाफ लोगों को चेतावनी देते हुए घरों में गए। उन्होंने श्रीवास ठाकुर के घर पर एक मृदंग को भी तोड़ दिया, जो चैतन्य महाप्रभु के प्रमुख अनुयायियों में से एक थे।

सभी पुरुष और महिलाएं जो भगवान के नामों का जप आनंद के साथ कर रहे थे, बहुत भयभीत हो गए।

उन्हें अब अपने धर्म का पालन करने की कोई स्वतंत्रता नहीं थी।

उनके पास अब केवल दो विकल्प थे।

यदि वे रहते थे तो वे जप बंद करना चाहते थे।

लेकिन अगर वे जप करना चाहते थे तो उन्हें अपनी जान देनी पड़ती है।

विरोध करने के लिए लाखों लोग सड़क पर आ गए

उन्होंने चैतन्य महाप्रभु से संपर्क किया जो उनके नेता थे। उन्हें अपने अनुयायियों की जान बचानी थी।

‘भगवान के नाम का जप कोई नहीं रोक सकता। किसी को भी भय में नहीं रहना चाहिए। हम भेदभावपूर्ण आदेश की विरोध करेंगे।“

चैतन्य महाप्रभु के स्पष्ट आह्वान ने सभी को बहुत आशा दी। उन्हें चैतन्य महाप्रभु के नेतृत्व में पूरा विश्वास था।महाप्रभु ने हजारों अनुयायियों के साथ सविनय अवज्ञा आंदोलन शुरू किया। सैकड़ों साल बाद गांधीजी ने इसे ब्रिटिश शासन को उखाड़ फेंकने के लिए एक हथियार के रूप में इस्तेमाल किया।

हजारों मृदंगों और करताल को लेकर एक लाख लोग निर्भय होकर सड़क पर आ गए। उन्होंने जोर से हरे कृष्ण महामन्त्र का जाप किया। उन्होंने गाया और उन्होंने नवद्वीप की सड़कों पर नृत्य किया।हरे कृष्ण महामंत्र को हर जगह सुना जा सकता था |

वे काजी के घर तक मार्च करने लगे। काजी के शक्तिशाली सैनिक असहाय थे, वे भाग गए।

चैतन्य महाप्रभु आदेश को चुनौती देना चाहते थे| उन्होंने काजी से मिलने का फैसला किया। विशाल भीड़ मीलों तक फैली थी। काज़ी ने अपने घर के भीतरी कक्षों में खुद को छिपा लिया। वह अनिच्छा से बाहर आया।

चैतन्य महाप्रभु ने अन्यायी शासक से लंबी बातचीत की।महाप्रभु उनके साथ कठोर नहीं थे। वह उसे नुकसान पहुंचाने के लिए वहां नहीं थे| उन्होंने विनम्रता से लेकिन तार्किक रूप से बात की। उनके तर्क का बहुत प्रभाव पड़ा। काजी को अपनी गलती समझ में आ गई। उसका हृदय अब परिवर्तित हो गया था।

उसकी आंखों में आंसू थे। उन्होंने कहा, “कोई भी इस संकीर्तन आंदोलन को कभी नहीं रोकेगा। मेरे वंशज भी इसे नहीं रोकेंगे।” चैतन्य चरितामृत, पाठ २२२।

भक्त खुश थे। वे अब कृष्ण की भक्ति करने के लिए स्वतंत्र थे।चैतन्य महाप्रभु एक क्रांतिकारी समाज सुधारक थे। उन्होंने विश्वव्यापी संकीर्तन आंदोलन की नींव रखी। वेदों में उनके आगमन की भविष्यवाणी की गई है – श्रीमद्भागवतम् ११.५.३२, महाभारत, आदि पुराण, नारद पुराण, पद्म पुराण।

संकीर्तन आंदोलन दुनिया भर में फैल गया है

इस्कॉन के संस्थापक आचार्य श्रील प्रभुपाद ने संकीर्तन आंदोलन को आगे बढ़ाने में महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभाई है।वह श्री चैतन्य महाप्रभु के सबसे बड़े अनुयायियों में से एक हैं।

उन्होंने अथक परिश्रम किया ताकि इस दुनिया के लाखों लोगों को चैतन्य महाप्रभु की कृपा मिले। आज हम हजारों भक्तों को दुनिया के प्रमुख शहरों में हरे कृष्ण महामंत्र का आनंदपूर्वक जप करते देखते हैं। लंदन हो या न्यूयॉर्क, मॉस्को हो या केप टाउन, मुंबई हो या सिडनी हर जगह आपको कृष्ण के भक्त दिखते हैं।

नवद्वीप में लगभग 500 साल पहले श्री चैतन्य महाप्रभु द्वारा शुरू किया गया संकीर्तन आंदोलन दुनिया भर में फैल चुका है और लाखों लोग अब इसमें भाग ले रहे हैं।

श्री चैतन्य महाप्रभु हमें सिखाने आए कि हम सभी एक ही ईश्वर की संतान हैं। इसलिए जाति, पंथ, धर्म, लिंग या आर्थिक स्थिति के आधार पर किसी के साथ भेदभाव नहीं किया जाना चाहिए।

साथ ही साधकों को निर्भय होकर कृष्ण की भक्ति करनी चाहिए। और पूर्ण विश्वास होना चाहिए कि महाप्रभु किसी भी कठिन परिस्थिति में हमारी रक्षा करेंगे।

The most important places to see inside Jagannath Puri temple

Jagannath Puri is the abode of Lord Jagannath, the Lord of the universe. It is one of the most important holy places. Whenever I get a chance, I always try to be in Puri. So, when devotees were planning to visit this sacred place then I was excited. I too wanted to go. 

You can visit the temple an unlimited number of times but still, you want to be there again and again.  

We decided to go by Howrah Puri express. We boarded the train from Kolkata on Friday night at 8:55 pm and reached Puri the next day, Saturday, at around 6 am. We had booked our accommodation in Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math.

The math is around 3 km from the railway station. We took a 10-seater vehicle to Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math. It cost us Rs 220. It was a prepaid auto.

We decided to stay there because of two reasons and both the reasons are equally important. This math is near to the Jagannath Temple and it is also the birthplace of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, spiritual master of Srila Prabhupada, the founder acharya of Iskcon. The Jagannath temple is just 5 minutes’ walking distance from the math. And from the terrace of the math, the famous Chakra of Lord Jagannath is clearly visible.

The temple has three altars. The middle altar has the deity of Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani along with Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The deity name is Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Radha Nayanmani. The left altar has the deity of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva, and Subhadra Devi. And in the right altar deity of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura is present.

Once we reached the math, we decided to get ready as soon as possible so that we can immediately go to the temple.

As we were going to the temple, we saw a huge security arrangement. It looked like some important dignitary is present there or is going to come. 

And soon we saw Amit Shah, the Home Minister of India, and other members of Narendra Modi Cabinet like Dharmendra Pradhan and few others.

Amit Shah was sitting in an SUV and we were standing very close to his vehicle. Some devotees greeted him, and he responded too.

Similarly, other cabinet ministers passed. It seems they all had come to take darshan of the Lord.

Entering the temple from Simha Dwara:

We entered the temple from Simha Dwara. It is also called Lion’s Gate or Eastern Gate.  It was around 9 am when we went inside the temple. Already hundreds of devotees were there inside the temple hall. But the darshan was closed. Some said it will open at 9:30 am. We had to wait. I somehow managed to get near the Garuda stambh.

The Garuda stambh

Anyone who comes to take darshan of the Lord should bow to Garuda stambh first. If one stands near Garuda stambh then one can see the three Lord’s directly from there. 

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would always take darshan of the Lord from Garuda stambh. He thought himself to be too fallen to go near the Lord. By his own example, the Lord is teaching us that we should never have any superiority complex. But we should think that we are unworthy, and it is because of the Lord’s causeless mercy he is giving us his darshan and in fact even allowing us to come inside his temple. So, Garuda stambh is very dear to the followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

I bowed to Garuda Stambh and embraced it with both my hands. Other devotees were also reverentially touching it and embracing it.

The lamps at Garuda stambh is always lit. I saw Pujaris pouring ghee (or it could be oil) into the big lamp so that it continues to burn. Above the stamb are many metallic lamps. At that time, one lamp was lit. May be during the festival time all the lamps are lit.

Inside the temple hall of Lord Jagannath

I stood beside the Garuda stambh. The darshan was to open after 30 min. In between someone from the crowd would shout ‘Jay Jagannath’. And everyone would respond by chanting ‘Jay Jagannath.’ Sometime someone would say ‘Haribol’ and the entire crowd would say ‘Haribol.’ As soon as anyone heard ‘Jay Jagannath’ and ‘Haribol’ everyone would look expectedly thinking that the darshan has opened.

We waited for around 40 minutes and I liked it. Because this gave an opportunity to be in the temple hall of Lord Jagannath and chant the holy names of Krishna standing beside the Garuda stambh. Many people were standing, and many were sitting waiting for darshan to open.

Taking darshan of Lord Jagannath

And finally, the darshan opened. One young boy lifted one young girl (I am not sure about their relationship), so that she could see the Lord. And they both were asked not to do so. In fact, the Pujaris got angry too. It’s a traditional temple and the expectation is that everyone follows the traditional code of conduct and not the one which is shown in Bollywood movies.

Several hundred devotees were there.  The crowd was moving slowly but steadily.  Finally, I got near to the place where I could see the Lord. I was apprehensive that I may be pushed by the people and will not be able to properly see the Lord. So, I was praying to the Lord.

And finally, I saw a glimpse of Lord Jagannath, then Subhadra Devi and then Lord Baladeva.

I wanted to go near to the barricade so that I can closely see the Lord. Also, I wanted to offer some Lakshmi (money) to the three deities.

I came near the Pujari. Since he was in front of Lord Jagannath, so I believe he was the priest of Lord Jagannath. I offered Rs 100. And then I came to the Pujari who was in front of Subhadra Devi. I gave Rs 100.

And the Pujari started putting a yellow cloth of the Lord around my neck.

He asked me to give Rs 100 more which I happily gave. He gave me offered Tulasi of the Lord. I stood there for a few minutes. Then moved back in such a way that I continue taking darshan of the Lord. Fortunately, by Lord Jagannath’s grace even security was not asking me to move. I was able to take darshan for several minutes and then decided to come out. I thought I should not take undue advantage of the security personnel’s leniency. Then I came out of the Lord Jagannath temple hall.

Other devotees of our group had already taken darshan and were outside. 

Lord Narasimhadeva temple

From there we went to the temple of Lord Narasimhadeva. One has to climb flights of stairs to reach the temple of Lord Narasimhadeva. Already many devotees were in queue. I also stood in the queue. When I was allowed to go, I was able to properly take darshan of the Lord.

Earlier times the pujari of Lord Narasimhadeva would not allow to touch the lotus feet of the Lord. This time the Pujari had come out.  And I was the only person in front of the Lord.

I not just touched the lotus feet of the Lord but also put my head on the Lord’s lotus feet. I also touched the lotus feet of Prahlad Maharaj.

While standing in the queue and during taking the darshan of the Lord I sang Namaste Narasimhaya prayers.

Anand Bazar – the pleasure market

It was already 10 am. We had not taken breakfast. So, we decided to go to Anand Bazar to take breakfast and after breakfast we thought to return back to again take darshan of other deities within the temple premise.  

In Anand Bazar the Mahaprasad of Lord Jagannath is always available. In this market you get only prasad and nothing else. No outside food is allowed.

We got full plate prasadam for Rs 50. Rice, Dal and three different sabzis were there. It was mixture of sweet and sour taste. Some also enjoyed Malpua. But it was night prasadam.

The morning prasadam which is offered to the Lord comes in Anand Bazaar around 12 noon. So those who want hot rice, hot dal and everything hot should try to take prasad around 12 or 1 pm.

But the prasad of the Lord is transcendental so we relished it.

Snana Bedi – The place where Snana Yatra is celebrated

We then went to Snana Bedi. It is the place where Snana Yatra of Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva and Subhadra Devi is performed. This is just beside Anand Bazaar. After Snana Yatra i.e. the bathing ceremony, the Lord gets sick and remains confined in sick room for 15 days. During this period there is no darshan of the Lord. The Lord is given special food preparation to cure his sickness. After Lord recuperates, we have the world-famous Rath Yatra festival.  

Lord Chaitanya’s footprints

We came out of Anand Bazar. Little ahead from Anand Bazar is the temple where the footprints of Lord Chaitanya are present. We paid obeisances there. Lord Chaitanya during his stay in Puri would always visit Jagannath Puri temple.

Mahalakshmi Temple

From there we went to the temple of Goddess Lakshmi. Where the Supreme Lord Jagannath is there, there will be his eternal consort, Lakshmidevi. There is always a big queue in front of Lakshmidevi temple. Priests inside the temple generally ask for some donation to worship Goddess Lakshmi who provides wealth.

But if we serve the Supreme Lord Jagannath with love then it will automatically please Lakshmidevi and she will happily provide lots of wealth to the devotees of Lord Jagannath. We prayed to her and sought her blessings. 

Pure devotees of the Lord teach us that we should not pray for wealth, but we should always pray to the Lord to always engage us in his service.

Bimala (Vimala) Devi Temple

Then we went to the temple of Bimala ‎(Vimala) Devi.

Bimala Devi is another name of Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva.

There is a famous pastime associate with her. Once Parvati had become extremely angry because she did not get Mahaprasad of Lord Vishnu. So, to pacify her Lord Vishnu declared that “In Jagannath Puri the bhoga which will be offered to me will first go to Bimala Devi and then only it will be distributed to others.”  

This instruction of the Lord is still followed. The bhoga which is offered to Lord Jagannath first goes to Bimala Devi and then after being offered to Bimala Devi it goes to Anand Bazaar for distribution to the devotees.

Rohini Kund

Then we took darshan of Rohini Kund. This kund is near Bimala Devi temple. It’s a very small kund but it has great spiritual significance.  

The Purushottama Kshetra Mahatmya of Skanda Purana tells the story of a crow who fell in the Rohini Kund and immediately got four-handed forms similar to Lord Vishnu and went to the spiritual world.

This kind of liberation is called sarupya mukti i.e. the devotees have form similar to Lord Narayana and live with the Lord in the Vaikuntha planets.

Kalpabata – The desire fulfilling tree

From there we went to take darshan of the famous Kalpabata – The desire fulfilling tree.

This banyan tree is existing since time immemorial.

It is a very sacred tree.  It is said that during the devastation of the material universe this tree remains unaffected.

It was on the leaf of this Kalpabata tree that sage Markandeya saw the beautiful child form of Krishna.

Little Krishna was licking his own toe and relishing it. The tree fulfills all the desires if asked with a pure heart.  But the devotees never ask for any material desire but they only desire to love and serve Krishna. We bowed to the tree and tried to embrace it. Many devotees were there praying to the tree for their desires.

Around this sacred tree are the deities of Bata Krishna, Bata Balamukunda, Bata Madhava, Bata Jagannath, Bateswar Mahadeva, Bata Ganesh, Bata Mangala, and Bata Markandeya.

There are many other small temples within the temple premise. We took darshan of Sakshi Gopal, Kshira Chor Gopinath, and Kanchi Ganesh.  Deities of many demigods are also inside the temple. If one wants to take darshan of each one of them then it will take several hours, almost the entire day.

If one wants, then one can see all the places inside the temple complex but the places we visited are the most important places inside the temple and one must always visit these places.

The most important activity in the Jagannath temple is to pray to the Lord again and again to remove all impurities from our hearts so that we develop unmotivated and unconditional love for him.

We spent around 4-5 hours inside the temple. In fact, one can spend an entire day inside the temple. The temple is always crowded with thousands of devotees who are very eager to see the Lord.

They continuously pray to the Lord, sing devotional songs, chant his beautiful names, meditate on his beautiful form and enjoy discussing various pastimes of the Lord.

And when they feel hungry, they go to Anand Bazar to relish delicious prasad of Lord Jagannath!

One should visit this temple again and again.

Iskcon opens world’s largest Pujari floor in Mayapur

Iskcon opened the world’s largest Pujari floor on 17^th Feb 2020 in Mayapur on the auspicious occasion of the appearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura.  

The Pujari floor is part of the Temple of Vedic Planetarium (TOVP).

Spread over 2.5 acres, the Pujari floor will have 69 rooms.

This is the largest facility in the world to serve the Lord.

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The plan is to open TOVP by 2022. It will be the tallest temple in the whole world.

HG Braj Vilas Prabhu who coordinated the whole event in his opening address said, “Every Vaisnava acharya has been trying their best to serve Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Srila Bhakti Vinod Thakura built the Yogapita and for that, he collected Re 1 from each house. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura established 64 Gaudiya Maths with its headquarter, Chaitanya Math, in Mayapur. Srila Prabhupada wanted to build TOVP as his personal offering to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He would encourage all to come together to build this magnificent temple for the prince of Mayapur.”

This auspicious occasion was graced by many Iskcon sannyasis, Iskcon leaders, Srila Prabhupada’s disciples and thousands of devotees who congregated in Mayapur to witness this wonderful event.

The first speaker was HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaj without whom Mayapur is incomplete.

HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaj said:

“Lord Nityananda had said, “Ek Adhbut Mandir hoibe prakash, Gauranga Nitya seva hoibe vikas.” A wonderful temple will be built which will broadcast the message of Lord Chaitanya all over the world. TOVP is that ‘Adbhut Mandir.’

This is a special service to Prabhupada. Someone asked Prabhupada why Lord Chaitanya or Lord Nityananda did not preach all over the world. Prabhupada said that because they gave me the service to spread Krishna Consciousness all over the world.

Prabhupada once called all his godbrothers and said that we all should come together to satisfy our spiritual master, HDG Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. But unfortunately, it did not work out. We are still trying to unite. In the evening we are inviting devotees from Gaudiya Maths.

I want to thank all. I like to see opening of the temple. Krishna has blessed me. I am still here. I hope to be there when temple will be opened.”

Ambarish Prabhu, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, is the chairman of TOVP. He is the great-grandson of Henry Ford. It is because of his efforts that this magnificent temple, an architectural marvel, is wonderfully manifesting.  In his address, HG Ambarish Prabhu thanked all the devotees who have been putting their best efforts to build the temple. He welcomed all the devotee community for enthusiastically participating in the Pujari room opening event.

Ambarish Prabhu said:

“Srila Prabhupada had planted the seed of this temple in my heart in 1976.  In 1976, Srila Prabhupada was discussing the TOVP model with many of his disciples. I was also present during that conversation.

After describing how TOVP should look, Prabhupada looked towards me and asked, “So Ambarish Maharaj what do you think about it.” 

He would lovingly call me Ambarish Maharaj!

I said the idea sounds nice.  

And Srila Prabhupada immediately said, “If you like the idea then why don’t you help us fund it.” 

At that time, I had no idea of Mayapur and where is Mayapur in India. But these immortal words of Prabhupada got imprinted in my heart and since then I am trying to help build TOVP. 

As the communist regime in West Bengal was making difficult to build the temple so there was a plan to build it in Jagannath Puri.

But in 2005 -06, I had a dream and, in the dream, Prabhupada asked me to build TOVP in Mayapur.

I thank Sadbhuja Prabhu who worked with gammon on the idea of building a magnificent dome for the TOVP.

When a wealthy person plans to move to his summer home then before his arrival all the arrangements are made for his comfort. Radha Madhav is the richest couple of the universe so before they move to TOVP in 2022 efforts are being made to make all the arrangements so that they can be served magnificently.

I thank HG Srinathji Prabhu who helped a lot financially to build the temple. HG Srinathji Prabhu left this world a few years back. But his wife and children are carrying his dream and helping TOVP.  Many devotees have come forward to fund this great project.  There are devotees who are contributing 20 dollars because this is what they can afford and there are devotees who are contributing a million dollars. 

I thank each one of them and request more devotees to come forward and contribute in building this adbhut (astounding) temple for the Lord.

HG Swaha Mataji is the wife of HG Ambarish Prabhu. They both are teaching by their personal example that how husband and wife should cooperate with each other to serve the Lord. Mataji while speaking remembered that in 2018 how all had gathered for the installation of Lord’s cakras. And today (13^th Feb 2020) on the most auspicious occasion of the appearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura all gathered for the opening of the beautiful pujari room for the Lord.

HG Swaha Mataji said:

“Lord Nityananda Prabhu had predicted that an adbhut (astounding) temple for the Lord will come up in Mayapur 500 years ago and it is by his mercy only TOVP is wonderfully manifesting.

Lord Nityananda Prabhu expands as dham and also as Lord’s paraphernalia. And currently, the Lord Nityananda’s padukas are travelling all over the world inspiring all to help build this magnificent temple.  

The spiritual world is always expanding and services to the Lord are also expanding. So this new palace is required so that Sri Sri Radha Madhava and Asta Sakhis, Lord Narasimhadev, Pancha Tattva,  and Srila Prabhupada and all the Vaisnava acharyas can be served magnificently.

From Nityananda Charitamrta she told a pastime:  

Once Lord Nityananda brought 40kg of very fine white rice from Bengal and gave it to Gadadhar Pandit. He also brought a beautiful coloured cloth for Lord Gopinath.

Gadadhar Pandit was so pleased to see the beautiful dress and fine quality rice for the Lord. He plucked some spinach and the tender leaf of tamarind from the Tota Gopinath temple in Jagannath Puri and prepared a nice preparation of rice.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu smelled the aroma of the rice and came running to Tota Gopinath temple and said how can you celebrate a festival without me.

And then the three Lords enjoyed the simple preparation of white rice. Mahaprabhu glorified Gadadhar Pandit’s culinary ability. Gadadhar Pandit knew how to prepare a wonderful thing for the Lord and offer him by love.

Similarly, Srila Prabhupada, an intimate associate of Lord Nityananda, knows how to offer wonderful things to the Lord.

This TOVP is an offering of Srila Prabhupada to his spiritual master and all the great acharyas and we are fortunate that he left it for us to manifest his dream. For this, we are eternally grateful.

I thank GBC and all senior leaders who are actively working to help the project.”

HH Gopal Krishna Goswami, Chairman of Indian bureau, said: 

“TOVP was very dear to Srila Prabhupada. Once HH Giriraj Swami asked Prabhupada what will please him the most. Then he himself said, “I think if we distribute your books and build TOVP you will be so happy.”

And Prabhupada said, yes. Prabhupada wanted this temple because it was the desire of Lord Nityananda that an adbhut (astounding) temple comes up.

Prabhupada wanted to make temple like Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal is so famous and people from all over the world come to visit it. Similarly, TOVP should be built so attractively that people from all over the world come here.

He wanted this temple be built from the support of all the people of the world. 

Lord Krishna can build the temples on his own, but he has given us an opportunity to build the temple for our own purification.

We should endeavour sincerely and go from house to house to collect funds for this temple.

There are more than 60 pujari rooms. The purpose of opening Pujari rooms is also to make everyone especially donors aware that we are making progress. We should work together. TOVP will enhance Srila Prabhupada’s reputation. It will attract the whole world.”

HH Shivram Maharaj gave valuable inputs in designing the kitchen. Initially, he was not satisfied with the Kitchen look. He said that this is Radharani’s kitchen and so it should be shining and beautiful. He arranged for 10,00,00 dollars to make sure that the kitchen looks beautiful. In his address, he emphasized the importance of deity service.

HH Shivram Maharaj said:

In my experience of traveling to different temples, I found that deity worship is a struggle. Srila Prabhupada wanted to establish deity worship on the level probably not seen for a long time and we should continue with that standard.

I thank HG Jananivas Prabhu and HG Pankajangriya Prabhu for maintaining a high standard of deity worship in Mayapur.

TOVP will set a standard of service to Krishna and will make wave of Krishna Consciousness.

I thank Ambarish Prabhu, his wife, and Braj Vilas Prabhu for their efforts. This is one project where everyone contributes. This shows that Iskcon is an international organization. We should come together. No doubt Lord Chaitanya and Srila Prabhupada will give us the ability to complete TOVP.

HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj

In his address, HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj explained that Pujari room is Krishna’s personal room. And this pujari room also has kitchens and kitchen is Srimati Radharani’s favorite room. Pujari room will have Krishna’s personal belongings and from here Krishna will be given personal services.

He further said that in 1977 Srila Prabhupada was in his last week at Krishna Balarama temple in Vrindavan. Devotees were performing soft kirtan.

In the middle of the night, Srila Prabhupada whispered in the ear of Brahmananda Prabhu and asked where the Pujari is.

In those days, devotees were coming from all over the world, so no one knew where the Pujari is. But fortunately, he was in veranda, sleeping. Brahmananda Prabhu woke him up and gave the message that Srila Prabhupada wants to see him.

It was middle of the night. The Pujari was in shock. He was thinking what is so urgent. What happened?

He got up from the floor and ran to Prabhupada. He put his ear close to Prabhupada’s mouth so that he can hear clearly.

Prabhupada said, “Pujari is the most fortunate because he is always close to Krishna.”

And that’s all Prabhupada said and asked him to go. So, pujari rooms and pujaris are very special. 

Maharaj further said: In 2022 we are planning to open the TOVP temple.

2022 is the 100th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada receiving the instruction from his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura to preach all over the world. That instruction is the seed of the root of Iskcon.

And 2022 is also the 50^th anniversary when HG Jananivas Prabhu and HG Pankajanghri Prabhu began the worship (puja) of Sri Sri Radha Madhav in Mayapur.

So the year is so special. Let us all come together to complete the temple.

HH Loknath Swami Maharaj, the Kirtan Samrat of Iskcon, in his address said:

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura gave instruction to Srila Prabhupada, “You seem to be intelligent. You should propagate Bhagavat Dharma in the western world in English language.”

The two Lords – Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda – were speaking through Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura to Abhay.

Srila Prabhupada took the instruction very seriously.

He fulfilled the instruction of both the Lords.

Gauranga Mahaprabhu’s instruction was – pṛthivīte āche yata nagarādi grāma/ sarvatra pracāra haibe mora nāma. “In every town and village, the chanting of My name will be heard.” Prabhupada travelled 14 times all over the world. He went to different countries, cities, towns and villages to spread the names of Lord Chaitanya. He made that prediction true.

And then Lord Nityananda also made a prediction. Lord Nityananda was taking Jiva Goswamu for Nabadwip Mandal parikrama. On the first day of parikrama he told Jiva Goswam in Bengali – Ek Adhbut Mandir hoibe Prakash. There will be an astounding temple around here. He pointed in a direction. And then he said, “Gauranga Nitya seva hoibe vikas.” The eternal service to Lord Gauranga will be propagated from that temple all over the world. And that temple is this TOVP temple. So Prabhupada is making the prediction of Lord Nityananda also true by establishing TOVP.

Prabhupada received instruction in 1922 from his spiritual master.

1972 i.e. on the 50^th anniversary of receiving that instruction he organized first Mayapur festival.

At that time there was just a little piece of land. Not many followers were there. Only 40 – 50 devotees were there but it was considered that so many devotees have come.

Prabhupada immediately got into action. Groundbreaking ceremony was performed. Ananta sesa was installed. Temple opening proceeding was inaugurated.

Prabhupada started the temple in 1972 and it is taking us 50 years to open the temple in 2022.

Ambarish Prabhu said how Srila Prabhupada planted a seed in his heart in 1976 in Detroit.

Once the seed is planted, it has to be watered. From seed comes the tree. From that seed is springing up the tallest temple on the planet.

Ambarish Prabhu is playing the role of Hanuman. Hanuman helped in building the bridge from Ramesvaram to Lanka. He was bringing big boulders, mountains, and trees for the bridge.

But also, there was a little squirrel who was assisting. He was rolling on the sand, picking some particles of mud or sand, climbing on mountains of big boulders and was throwing the sand between the boulders to fill the gap.

So ultimately it was a team effort.

We do not want this temple to be known as Alfred Ford temple. Like in India we have Birla temple.

In fact, Ambarish Prabhu also does not want it. Of course, he will always be remembered for his herculean task.

We little squirrels have also to play our role. So, let us join the effort.

I was thinking why the opening of the temple floor is happening. We have heard many reasons. Pujari floor opening is also a confidence-building measure.

We older folks have been doubting whether we are going to see the temple completed. Now Ambarish Prabhu, Braj Vilas Prabhu and the immediate core group working with him is giving us confidence. When VIPs come, they will see the Pujari floor opened. Then next is Sri Sri Radha Madhav, Pancha Tattva, Lord Narsimhadeva, Prahlad Maharaj and parampara. It will happen.

So just keep backing up, supporting, contributing.

Lot more has happened. Lot more has to happen. We should dedicate our life and heart in this temple.

HH Bhakti Purusottama Swami Maharaj in his brief address said:

We are opening the Pujari floor. HH Shivram Mahraj was saying it should be named as the deity floor. But before deity comes Pujari, so Pujari floor. And here the Pujari is HG Jananivas Prabhu. He was given the service of serving the deity in Mayapur by Srila Prabhupada. So, it should be Jananivas floor.

We are opening Pujari floor 2 years before the temple is opened because so many preparations are required to serve the deities. When I went to see the Pujari room, I found in different rooms vast preparations are being made to serve the deity.

This should become a museum.

People should take tickets and come and see how wonderful facilities have been created to serve the Lord. In fact, the whole world will see how important it is to serve the deity.

HG Jananivas Prabhu said:

This is Gauranga’s temple so it has to be the best. Lord Nityananda while revealing the dham to Jiva Goswami said that the temple will come by the desire of Lord Chaitanya. So this temple is coming by the desire of Mahaprabhu, the Supreme Lord.

Once in Mayapur Bhavananda Prabhu had asked Srila Prabhupada, “We are now sitting in a rice field. There is nothing here. You want us to build a beautiful temple, a city. But from where the money will come.”

Prabhupada said, “O Bhavananda, you are always worried about money. But here we have Sri Sri Radha Madhav. Madhav means the husband of the goddess of fortune. Serve Madhava nicely and the money will come.”

Prediction is that Gauranga’s service will spread all over the world from Mayapur. 

What is that service? Mahaprabhu has come to give braj prem (love), Krishna prem (love) which is very rare in the form of service to the Lord. How can you love without service? By serving the Lord we express our love. Without service, you cannot love. Mahaprabhu is giving us the service and we should take it up.

At present, the most important service is to finish the temple by 2022. This is the ideal way to service. “

TOVP team has been receiving help from all over the world and it was time to thank all those who have been contributing in building the tallest temples of the world.  A Memento, a replica of TOVP, was presented to the donors and all those who have been serving sincerely.  After the gifts, it was time to light the fire and perform yagna. It was followed by melodious kirtan.

And then the Pujari floor was thrown open to the world to come and see how wonderfully devotees are working hard to serve the Supreme Lord.

All are now waiting for 2022 when the deities will move to TOVP.

Pic Courtesy: www.tovp.org

For Complete video of the Celebration please visit: www.tovp.org

Bilvamangala Thakura: Blinded by Lust liberated by Love

Bilvamangala Thakura was a wealthy south Indian Brahmin and belonged to a cultured family. But he got attracted to a prostitute named Cintamani. The attraction soon became an attachment. And as it happens when we get attached to worldly enjoyment, we lose our intelligence and subsequently our dignity.

The fire of lust was so intense that he was not at all moved when his father died; in fact, standing near the pyre of his father he was engrossed in the thought of Cintamani. The body of his dead father did not bring tears to his eyes, but his eyes were eager to see the physical beauty of the lady.

Overwhelmed with the desire to be with her he ran from the funeral pyre of his father towards her house. Cintamani lived on the other side of the river. That day was full of grief; thunderstorms, lightning, and heavy rain had created chaos and had over flooded the river.

Determined Bilvamangala Thakura hurriedly came near the bank of the river and asked the boatmen to ferry him across the river. The boatmen fearing for their life refused to take him in spite of the lure of money.

But just like a moth get attracted to the deadly fire and gets burned ultimately, similarly Bilvamangala Thakura jumped into the deadly river risking his life.

Struggling for his life in the river, he got hold of a floating object and desperately grabbed it. It was a putrefied dead body of a person. Using it as the support he successfully crossed the river.

Cintamani’s house was locked, so he decided to climb the wall and enter through the window.

He saw a rope hanging on the wall, it wasn’t a rope it was a snake!

Blinded by lust, he grabbed it and reached to the window and jumped through it falling on Cintamin’s feet.

He had succeeded in his mission to be with his beloved on that dreadful night.

Seeing an uninvited guest jumping through the window in such an hour of the night Cintamani was frightened.

Bilvamangala Thakura had hoped that seeing him she will be happy but in fact, the lady was disgusted seeing a stinking lusty man who had come to meet her on the day when his father had died.

Rebuking him she said, 
“What a shame that you have so much attraction for my physical body which is made of flesh, bones, blood, mucus, stool and other such obnoxious substances. This body rots every day and ultimately becomes food for the worms. Your attraction for this temporary body is not going to do any good to you. Instead, if you have the same attachment for Krishna then your life would be successful; it will deliver you from all the miseries of material existence and give you an opportunity to join Krishna in his eternal abode thus giving you eternal happiness.”

Being rebuked, humiliated and thrown out from her house, he came to his senses. He understood the futility of attachment for flesh which weakens one’s heart.

He took a decision to devote his life to Krishna and take shelter of his lotus feet.

Remembering and chanting the names of the Supreme Lord he marched towards Vrindavan. But as it is said that old habits die hard and sinful tendencies are not easy to give up.

Bilvamangala Thakura’s weakness was lust and so Maya attacked him again in the form of a woman.

On his way to Vrindavan, he saw a woman and got captivated by her beauty.

Shackled by lust he followed her to her house. He knocked at the door; a very sober man came out.

Seeing a guest donning a devotee’s attire pleased him, he thought his guest to be a chaste devotee of the Lord and so he wanted to serve him at any cost.

When the pious and gentle man inquired from him as to how can he serve him, Bilvamangala Thakura took a promise from him that he would fulfill his desire.

Eager to serve a devotee of the Lord he gave his word but to his utter shock, disbelief, and dismay Bilvamangala Thakura asked him to leave him alone with his wife.

Bound by his words and with tears in his eyes, he told his wife about the nefarious proposal of his guest disguised as a devotee.

Bilvamangala was left alone in the room with the lady.

With a choking voice, Bilvamangala said, “Mother, can I have your hairpin.”

He took the hairpin and to the lady’s utter shock, he immediately gouged both his eyes using the hairpin.

Falling at the feet of the lady and her husband, he begged for forgiveness.

He plucked his eyes to make sure that for the rest of his life he will never be seeing and nor getting enticed towards any form of the opposite sex.

Bilvamangala Thakura was now although physically blind but was spiritually awakened.

Life’s experience had taught him that lust can never be satiated but this disease aggravates as soon as one makes an endeavour to give in to lusty desires and thoughts.

From there he went to Vrindavan without getting distracted anymore. He had become so sincere in his devotion that life’s each moment he used in worshipping the Supreme Lord.

His genuine devotion attracted Krishna.

In fact, Krishna as a cowherd boy would come to meet him regularly carrying a glass of milk which he would give to him.

Bilvamangala Thakura did not know that the Supreme Lord was personally coming to see him. They both would speak with each other for hours.

Once when Krishna played his flute Bilvamangala Thakura was captivated by it and he wanted to embrace Krishna.

Krishna playfully escaped his embrace.

The great devotee of the Lord said you can escape from my hold but not from my heart.

Once Bilvamangala Thakura’s heart was flooded with lusty desires but with his determined devotion, he had cleansed his heart and had now enthroned Krishna in his heart.

Although his past wasn’t glorious, Krishna wasn’t bothered about his previous background.

In this world, once a person is caught doing something abominable, he is condemned and abandoned by all forever.

But Krishna is magnanimous and forgiving and is least interested in unearthing our previous sins.

As soon as he sees that our intentions are pure, and we are genuinely striving to purify our life he is eager to accept us and take us back to the spiritual world.

In Gita 16.21 and 16.22, Krishna tells that lust is a gateway to hell and those who can escape from it attains Supreme Destination.

Lust binds us to this material world but love for the Lord liberates us.

Bilvamangala Thakura was able to achieve Krishna only after his heart got thoroughly cleansed of all lusty desires.

So, to attain love of Krishna it is essential that we guard ourselves against the onslaught of lust and do not succumb to it.

(Published in Dandavats and ISKCON Desire Tree)

The Unique Position of Lord Shiva

Lord Shiva has a very unique and significant position in the cosmic manifestation. In fact Lord Shiva is the most powerful, second only to Lord Vishnu. Shiva is an expansion of Lord Krishna.

Revealed scriptures explain that Krishna has 64 qualities. 

Lord Brahma posses 78% of these qualities and Lord Shiva possesses 84% of these qualities.

Since living entities are also like Brahma so they also possess 78% of these qualities but in a lesser extent.

None of them possess all 100%. 

Srila Prabhupada explains, “The living being can never possess attributes like Shiva, Vishnu or Lord Krishna. A living being can become godly by developing the seventy-eight-percent transcendental attributes in fullness, but he can never become a God like Shiva, Vishnu or Krishna. He can become a Brahma in due course: – Srimad Bhagavatam 1.3.28 purport”

Lord Shiva has connection with the material nature but Lord Vishnu (or Lord Krishna) is transcendental to material nature. The position of Lord Shiva is very beautiful explained in Brahma – Samhita (Verse 45), “Just as milk is transformed into curd by the action of acids, but yet the effect curd is neither same as, nor different from, its cause, viz., milk, so I adore the primeval Lord Govinda of whom the state of Shambhu is a transformation for the performance of the work of destruction.”

The scriptures like Srimad – Bhagavatam, Brahma – samhita, Padma – Purana etc. explains the position of Lord Shiva in this universe.

• Srimad – Bhagavatam (S.B) (12.13.16) states vaisnavanam yatha sambhu i.e.Lord Shiva is the best of the Vaishnavas, the devotee of Lord Krishna.

• S.B (6.3.20) informs us that Lord Shiva is one of the 12 Mahajanas, the authorities on Vaisnava philosophy.

• In S.B 4.24.76, Lord Shiva states that if anyone reads his Rudra Geeta prayer then he will invoke the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna.

• Lord Shiva tells his wife that he drank hala hala, the poison which came out during the churning of the ocean, to please Lord Vishnu.(S.B. 8.7.40)

• In Padma Purana Shiva tells his wife Sati,”sri rama rama rameti rame rame manorame sahasra namah tat tulyam rama nama varanane.” Lord Shiva clearly speaks here that he relishes chanting the names of Lord Rama.

• Lord Shiva got bewildered when he saw the female form of Lord Vishnu, Mohini Murti. Lord Shiva later reveals that he is unable to completely understand the illusory energy of Lord Krishna. This is stated in S.B. (8.12.10).

• When Krishna displayed his Universal form then Arjuna said: “My dear Lord Krishna, I see assembled in Your body, all the demigods and various other living entities. I see Brahma sitting on the lotus flower, as well as Lord Shiva and all the sages and divine serpents.” Bhagavad-gita (11.15).

•  During Lord Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavan, Lord Shiva wanted to participate in the rasa – lila dance along with the cowherd damsels and he desired to become a gopi.

(Reference: Self – Manager by H.G. Radheshyam Das, President Iskcon Pune)

Braham Samhita (verse 10) clearly establishes that Lord Shiva derives his power from Lord Vishnu,

“The person embodying the material causal principle, viz., the great lord of this mundane world [Maheshvara] Shambhu, in the form of the male generating organ, is joined to his female consort, the limited energy [Maya] as the efficient causal principle. The Lord of the world Maha-Vishnu is manifest in him by His subjective portion in the form of His glance.”

Lord Shiva is neither an avatara nor avesha and is also not in between them. Lord Shiva is the greatest demigod, even greater than Lord Brahma. He is the spiritual master of the entire universe. He has his own spiritual line (sampradaya) called the Rudra – sampradaya.

At present this sampradaya is represented by Vishnusvami-sampradaya, or the Vallabha-sampradaya.

Published in Dandavats

A day with HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj at Iskcon New Town, Kolkata

Srimad Bhagavatam 4.30.34 says that a moment of association with a pure devotee is so valuable that it cannot be compared to anything in this entire material universe. It is more valuable than meeting a movie star, sports star, singers, politicians or any famous person in this world.

Just like the rays of the sun immediately dispels darkness similarly the pure devotees of the Lord by their grace dispels the darkness of ignorance from the hearts of the people.

So when I came to know that HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and a renowned sannyasi, is going to be in Iskcon New Town temple, Kolkata on 10^th Feb, Monday, I kept aside all my important work and decided to be in the temple so that I get an opportunity to be with Maharaj. 

And I prayed to the Lord too because unless and until Lord’s mercy is there our plan will not work.

But Lord and Lord’s devotees are always compassionate towards all the unfortunate souls who are unfortunately struggling hard for survival in this world.

So finally, Lord permitted me, and I did not get occupied with any other emergencies and was able to come to the temple.

Maharaj was to come by noon, but I came much before that. Few working devotees had taken off from their work just to be with Maharaj.

When I came, I saw devotees working hard to clean the temple and the surrounding. Everyone was putting their best efforts to beautify the temple to please Maharaj.

Maharaj was in Kolkata for the last three days. He had given a class on the day of Nityananda Trayodasi, 7^th Feb, and an evening class at Iskcon House, Gurusaday Road on 8^th Feb.

The New Town temple visit was not a public program, so few devotees were there, so chances were high to be close with Maharaj.

It was a rare opportunity, and no one wanted to miss it.

As soon as devotees came to know that Maharaj is about to reach, they began kirtan. All were waiting eagerly.

And when Maharaj’s car came inside the temple complex Kirtan reached its crescendo.

Everyone was joyful. We all paid our respectful obeisances to him.

Maharaj had a big smile on his face. He was so happy to be with all of us. And we were so fortunate to be present there.

In Bhagavad Gita 2.54 Arjuna asks Krishna about the symptoms of a pure devotee. How does he speak, and what is his language? How does he sit, and how does he walk?

And Lord Krishna had given an opportunity to us to be with a pure devotee!

Maharaj speaks politely, humbly and softly. He is so busy but never in a hurry. He is calm and in complete control of himself. His activities are not mere rituals or done because of social obligation. Whatever he does, he puts his complete heart into it. He speaks from the depth of his heart. When he speaks, we feel he is speaking to each one of us.

He entered the temple hall and closely looked towards each corner of the temple. He admired the beautiful paintings hung on the walls which depict various pastimes of Lord Krishna and Lord Chaitanya.

He went to the beautiful picture of Srila Prabhupada and immediately folded his hands and paid his respectful obeisances to his spiritual master. Then he turned towards the altar where Sri Sri Radha Govinda and Sri Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra Devi is present. He paid obeisances to them.

He offered arati to the Lord while the melodious tune of Govindam Adi Purusam played.

He thanked a few devotees who had contributed a large amount of money for the construction of the new temple hall.

He then addressed all the assembled devotees. 

He asked each one of us to serve in the mood of the servant of the servant. 

Srila Prabhupada explains in one of his lectures, “You cannot seek favor of Bhagavān directly. That is another foolishness. You must go through the servant of Kṛṣṇa. Gopī-bhartur pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ. This is our process. We don’t approach Kṛṣṇa directly. We must begin our service to the Kṛṣṇa’s servant. And who is Kṛṣṇa’s servant? One who has become the servant of another Kṛṣṇa’s servant. This is called dāsa-dāsānudāsa. Nobody can be independently servant of Kṛṣṇa. That is another foolishness. Kṛṣṇa never accepts anyone’s service directly. No. That is not possible. You must come through the servant of the servant (CC Madhya 13.80).” Lecture on SB 7.9.42 — Mayapur, March 22, 1976

Maharaj always expects that each devotee develops a humble mood.  In almost all of his talks, he emphasizes that “we all should become humble than a blade of grass, tolerant than a tree, there should not be any hankering for prestige and we should always be ready to give all respects to others and expect none for us.”

This is the consciousness of the residents of the spiritual world. If we want to qualify ourselves to become part of the spiritual world then we must put in our best efforts to develop these attributes.

Maharaj wants to have a magnificent temple for the Lord in Kolkata, the birthplace of Srila Prabhupada.  When devotees showed to Maharaj the temple plan then he was so pleased and encouraged all to work hard together to build a beautiful temple to glorify the Supreme Lord Krishna and his dear devotee, Srila Prabhupada.

Maharaj wants that the devotee should do service in the right mood. There should not be any desire for power and position. And most importantly all devotees should have a wonderful relationship with each other and should always try to serve others selflessly. 

This is the consciousness of the residents of the spiritual world.

If we want to qualify ourselves to become part of the spiritual world then we have to give up the desire for name and fame. We have to give up arrogance. We have to give up personal motives.

If we fail to do so we will fail to go back to the abode of Krishna. And we will always remain frustrated in this world even though we may succeed in achieving name and fame, power and position.

And Maharaj very much wants us to be happy.

He wants that we should clean our hearts of all impurities. We should sin no more. We should always take shelter of the holy name of Krishna. And whatever we do we should do for the pleasure of Krishna and his devotees.

Maharaj stayed for two hours. He discussed the new temple project with the temple management devotees. He also had lunch. He has no special preference for food.

He takes anything which is offered to Krishna with love. 

HH Radhanath Swami Maharaj has thousands of disciples all over the world.  Tens of thousands of people look up to him for guidance.  But he lives a simple life. He always maintains a humble mood. 

He is teaching us by his immortal words and also by his personal example.

Before leaving he again encouraged all of us to practice devotional life sincerely. And then he left for Mayapur, the abode of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Fun Filled Spiritual Picnic

Devotees pray hard and party hard. They like to celebrate. They sing, they dance, they laugh, they joke and they enjoy delicious prasadam (sanctified vegetarian food).

Of course, everything is done by keeping Lord Krishna in the centre and as per his guidelines given in the holy books.

Devotees of New Town (Jalvayu, Greenfield, Alka Awasan, Omni Tulsi society), Kolkata have been practicing devotion to Lord Krishna sincerely.

They celebrate all the festivals and every weekend come together to meditate on the holy names of Krishna and discuss from scriptures like Bhagavad Gita. 

But devotees also had a desire to go for an outing. So, we all decided to go for a spiritual picnic. Everyone happily agreed.

Eco Park is today one of the most famous parks in Kolkata. People from far off places come to enjoy here.

So, we decided to have our picnic at Eco Park. It is near New Town, so it was convenient for all. 

We decided to go on a picnic on Saturday, 1^st Feb.

Everyone was enthusiastic to join. The weather god was merciful. Not too cold not too hot. No cloud. No rain.

The park looked beautiful.

We choose to assemble in the Japanese forest of Eco Park. It is filled with greenery and was full of colourful flowers.

We were supposed to reach by 2 pm. But following Indian Standard Time we reached by 3 pm ?

We chose a spot overlooking a small pond and pagoda as our picnic spot.   

We decided to begin our picnic by chanting the holy names of Krishna.

Before chanting we recited verses from Sistastakam and discussed the meaning of the first verse.

In the first verse Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu explains that chanting the holy names of Krishna cleanses our hearts of all impurities and fills it with love for Krishna.

After the verse recitation, we began chanting on the beads which many of us had carried. Those who did not carry beads we provided them the beads. Devotees were trying their best to chant with sincerity.

Since it’s a public place so slight distraction was expected. Few people were walking through that place.

Since Arijit Singh, one of the famous Bollywood singers, was having a concert the next day (Sunday,3rd Feb) so the sound system was being tested. So intermittently the technicians used to play some movie track.

But fortunately, it used to last for not more than a few seconds.

In spite of these minor distractions, we all tried our best to absorb ourselves in the holy names of Krishna for more than half an hour.

Children were thoroughly engaged too. When parents chanted, they were busy in drawing beautiful pictures and colouring them.

They learned moral lessons from Ramayana on the topic – let us build a bridge for Lord Rama.

They also attended a short talk on the subject – Environment Preservation & Go Green. 

Chanting was followed by short and soft kirtan. It was good enough to set the mood.

All – parents & children – were eagerly waiting for the next activity to start.

It was fun time now.

In spiritual life, one of the most important requirements is to have good and healthy relationships amongst the devotees.

So our first activity was “Know the devotee.”

We wrote the names of each devotee on a piece of paper, collected all the pieces and shuffled it.

Each devotee had to come and pick a piece of paper. 

Now the paper they got had the name of a devotee and their task was to introduce that devotee in an interesting way.

During the introduction focus was on devotee’s qualities, their devotional journey and how their presence is an inspiration to all.

5 minutes were given for preparation. After that, each devotee came forward to introduce their partner.

During the introduction focus was on devotee’s qualities, their devotional journey and how their presence is an inspiration to all.

Each devotee has some unique spiritual qualities and these qualities should be appreciated.

Snacks Time

After the introduction it was time for evening snacks and herbal coffee.

We had prepared jhalmoori and herbal coffee.

Jhaalmori is always loved by all.

But everyone liked hot herbal coffee too although they were tasting it for the first time.

Anything offered to Krishna becomes enjoyable!

Evening refreshments was followed by games. For games, devotees were divided into two groups.

Journey to Goloka Vrindavan

For ‘Journey to Goloka Vrindavan’ game, a seven-layer hurdle was created.

Each hurdle was named after the anarthas (vices) – lust, greed, pride, anger, envy, illusion, false ego – which are impediments in our spiritual journey.

One of the devotees of a group was blindfolded. He had to pass through the obstacles to reach the final destination which was Goloka Vrindavan.

The blindfolded devotee had to be guided by his group members.

It was not just the hurdles that he had to pass through but during his journey the other group members were tasked to distract the devotee and he had to be cautious to identify who is the genuine guide and who is the fake guide. 

In our spiritual life too, we have to identify our genuine friend and well-wisher who takes us on the right path and be cautious of those who may misguide us.

Everyone including the children enjoyed the game.

Churning the ocean

As demons and demigods had come to churn the ocean.

So, the devotees divided themselves into two groups for ‘Churning the ocean’ game.

One group became the demons and other demigods.

We did not have Vasuki the gigantic serpent which was used to churn the ocean.

But instead, we had a rope and the demigods with the chant of Hare Krishna tried to pull the demons.

Demons too held the rope tightly and with all their might pulled the demigods. 

And the rope broke ?.

Well built devotees had to move out and only children and few ladies then participated.

Everyone enjoyed but it was becoming late. So, we decided to windup.

Dinner Time

Dinner prasadam was for all – Veg Pulav, aloo gobi sabji and Jalebi.

It was a fun-filled Krishna Conscious picnic. Children also got gifts.

Hiranyakasipu: The Supreme ruler who lived miserably and died pitifully

Hiranyakashipu had all the riches of the world but still, it wasn’t sufficient enough to buy him happiness. He was the most powerful person in the universe, but he was always insecure.  Everyone feared him but still, he lived in fear.

He had conquered all the worlds, but he always lived under the control of his two masters – his mind and his senses.  

His cunning mind had convinced him that he can attain immortality and enjoy in this world unlimitedly for eternity. The greedy senses always forced Hiranyakasipu to acquire more and more material opulence.  

It was not only Hiranyakasipu who became a victim of his mind and senses. All the great conquerors of this world have been its victim too. And we too are always driven by the desires and demands of our mind and senses. 

But history is testimony to the fact that no one has ever lived here forever and enjoyed here forever.

Senses like venomous serpents are always a threat to our existence. The more we try to feed them the more deadly they become. And no matter how much we feed them their hunger never subsides. We work hard day and night to buy things to our senses hoping that they will be pleased with us.  But it never happens.

Hiranyakasipu had performed austerities for several thousand years and acquired everything of the universe but still, his senses and mind were never satisfied, they never allowed him to live peacefully, they made his life hell.

Srila Prabhupada explains “if one wants to go to hell he must endeavor very much, but if he wants to return home, back to Godhead, there is no difficult endeavor.” Srimad Bhagavatam 7.7.38 Purport

Our uncontrolled mind and unchaste senses force us to work very hard throughout our life. No matter how much we try our mind and senses keep on demanding more and more and never gives us any pleasure.  

But becoming a devotee of the Lord is easy. And practicing devotion is so simple. We just have to chant the names of the Lord like Hare Krishna Mahamantra and live as per the guidelines of the holy scriptures. 

If with determination we utilize our mind and senses in practicing devotion to the Lord then the Supreme Lord who is also known as Hrisikesa, the master of the senses, takes control of our mind and senses and purifies them.

Our mind and senses then no longer become the cause of our misery but instead gives us great joy. 

Hiranyakasipu, the supreme ruler, with all his material positions and possessions never succeeded in satisfying his senses.

He lived miserably and died pitifully.  

Prahlada, his son, utilized his mind and senses in chanting and singing the glories of the Supreme Lord and he lived happily in this world and went to the abode of the Supreme Lord after leaving this world.

So instead of becoming the devoted servants of our whimsical mind and senses, we should become a devotee of the Supreme Lord. 

If we follow the footsteps of Hiranyakasipu we will suffer for sure. If we follow the footsteps of Prahlada we will enjoy for sure.

Choice is ours!

Published in ISKCON News