Author: Purushottam Nitai Das

1st Janmashtami celebrated at Iskcon New Town Kolkata with religious fervour

• 

Hundreds of devotees thronged to Iskcon New Town, Kolkata on 24^th August to celebrate Janmashtami, the appearance day of Lord Krishna. Although it rained almost continuously and heavily throughout the day, but it did not dampen the spirits of the lovers of Krishna. The sky was covered with thick dark clouds and it appeared as if the rain God, Indra, was too eager to do abhishek of Lord Krishna on this auspicious day.  

Devotees since early morning were busy preparing for the celebration in a grand way. The program at the temple began at 4:30 am with Mangal Arati and continued till midnight.  Throughout the day people were coming to the temple to take blessings of the Lord.  Everyone who came got a cupful of prasadam.  Many were fasting since morning without water.

One devotee told me that he was so busy in his service that in the evening he remembered that today he is fasting and have not taken even a drop of water since midnight.  It is verify said that service to Krishna is so pleasing and absorbing that devotees forget even their material needs.

The temple hall was beautifully decorated. In the centre of the temple was the deity of Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani.  The altar was decorated with green leaves and colourful flowers.  Krishna and Srimati Radharani wearing attractive dress and ornaments sat majestically on a throne. It looked as if they both are enjoying their pastimes in the forest groves of Vrindavan. Towards the left of the main altar was the picture of Sri Sri Radha Govinda with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Jagannath, Lord Baladeva and Subhadra Devi. And towards the left of the altar was a huge and beautiful picture of Srila Prabhupada.

Throughout the day devotees recited beautiful verses from Srimad Bhagavatam and discussed about Krishna’s innumerable pastimes. Devotees continuously sang melodious Hare Krishna kirtan and Vaishnav bhajans written by great Vaishnav acharyas.

In the evening there were cultural programs. Traditional dance, drama and specially kids’ programs were liked by all. For the kids there was fancy dress competition, drawing competition and dance performance.  For the fancy dress most of the kids had dressed as Krishna and Radharani and on the stage they looked adorable.

While the other programs were going on devotees led by HG Vrindavan Chari Prabhu were making arrangements for the bathing ceremony (abhishek) of the Lord. Very meticulously all the ingredients required for the ceremony was prepared and put in earthen pots. A nice altar was prepared where abhsihek had to be performed.  The Lord was then invited to come to the abhishek altar and be seated there. Just before the abhishek, devotees dressed Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani in bathing garments.  

The bathing ceremony of the Lord began at around 10 pm and the temple hall got filled with devotees.  Amidst the loud but melodious chanting of Hare Krishna Mahamantra different sacred items were poured from the conch shells on the deities of Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani.  Scented oil, til paste and sandalwood paste was applied on the body of the Lord. Milk, Curd, ghee, honey, sugar candy water, sandalwood paste, coconut water, fruit juices and lots of Ganges water was poured over the Lord.

The ceremony continued for an hour. After the abhishek the Lord was dressed in beautiful garments, ornaments and garlands and placed on the main central altar. Different food items were offered to the Lord.  While the Lord was being dressed devotees in the temple discussed beautiful pastimes of Lord Krishna from Srimad Bhagavatam.

Exactly at 12 midnight the altar was opened. Lord Krishna had appeared. A grand arati of the Lord was performed. Devotees reverentially participated in it and together sang – Yasomati nandana, braja baro nagara/gokula ranjana kana.

After the arati everyone rushed to the prasadam hall to break their fast and enjoy delicious Krishna prasadam comprising of sabudana sweet, cumin rice, paneer sabji, fried potatoes, fruits and sweet lemon juice.

A memorable Janmashtami Celebration

We had a special celebration of Janmashtami along with wonderful residents of our Omni Tulsi society on 23^rd August.

As almost everyone is busy these days, so we hardly get time to interact and know each other. But festivals like these provide an opportunity for all the residents to come together, work together and know each other in a better way.

We are fortunate that here all are extremely friendly and cooperative and are always ready to help others. In many societies we hear that people hardly know even their next-door neighbour and have difficulty in getting along with other members of the society.

In fact, to organize the festival successfully each and everyone contributed to the best of their capacity. Scriptures tell us that Lord Krishna does not see what we offer him or how much we offer him, but he sees with what intention we worship him. In Bhagavad Gita 9.26 Lord Krishna says, “If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it.”  And here the intention, I can say with complete confidence, was pure.

The arrangement was made in the community hall of the society which was decorated with flowers, colourful birthday balloons and lovely Rangolis.  A gorgeous looking altar was prepared for the Lord.  A huge and beautiful picture of Srimati Radharani and Lord Krishna was placed.  On the same altar table arrangement was made to do abhishek of Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani.  Nine earthen lamps were lit on the table.

All the items required for the abhishek was prepared and kept in small earthen pots on a side table.  The items used were – scented oil, til paste, milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar candy water, rice powder, water mixed with cow dung and cow urine, rose water, sandalwood paste, coconut water and several pots of Ganges water.

HG Anant Bhagavan Prabhu and HG Sri Madhav Prabhu had also come from the Iskcon temple for the festival.  Sri Madhav Prabhu sang melodious kirtan while Anant Bhagavan Prabhu did the abhishek. The abhishek items were first poured from the earthen pots to the conch shell and from the conch shell the sacred items were poured on the deity. After the abhishek Anant Bhagavan Prabhu spoke briefly about the importance of celebrating Janmashtami. And then we all chanted together one round of Hare Krishna Mahamantra. 

And at the end there was delicious Krishna prasadam for all.  Prasadam comprising of khichdi, aloo dum and halwa was brought from the Iskcon temple and the quantity was good enough and every one of us relished it to our hearts content. We also enjoyed charanamrita.

The celebration which began at around 8:30 p.m continued till midnight. It was one of the best ways to celebrate Janmashtami, the appearance day of Lord Krishna. It was a memorable and joyful event. 

Hope next year too we celebrate Janmashtami with same enthusiasm at Omni Tulsi.

Do devotees suffer?

A thief while committing crime knows he will be punished if caught. And when he is caught and punished, he promises to himself and to the judge in the court that henceforth he will never steal. But as soon as he is out of jail he again begins stealing.

A student knows if he does not study, he will fail. An employee knows if he does not work sincerely, he will be fired. Many a times we take a vow to not indulge in an act which may negatively impact us. But still we do it and we suffer.

We may wonder, “Why a person despite being punished for his actions commit the same mistake (or crime) again and again?” 

Maharaja Parikshit had similar doubt so he asked SukhdevaGoswami, “One may know that sinful activity is injurious for him because he actually sees that a criminal is punished by the government and rebuked by people in general and because he hears from scriptures and learned scholars that one is thrown into hellish conditions in the next life for committing sinful acts. Nevertheless, in spite of such knowledge, one is forced to commit sins again and again, even after performing acts of atonement. Therefore, what is the value of such atonement?”  Srimad Bhagavatam 6.1.9

Scriptures explain that as long as our senses are impure and uncontrolled it will compel us to indulge in sinful activities.

In Bhagavad Gita 2.67 Krishna says, “As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man’s intelligence.”

Even if we practice mantra meditation like chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra but continue committing forbidden activities hoping that chanting will nullify it then it won’t work.  “Committing sinful activities on the strength of the chanting of the holy names of the Lord” is one of the offenses against the chanting of Krishna’s holy names. 

A serious spiritual practitioner knows well that his uncontrolled senses and mind are his biggest enemy and cause of miseries, so he carefully employs his senses in executing any activity.  Unless and until we completely give up all sinful activities there is no chance that we can free ourselves from sufferings.

Similarly, certain Christians commit sins throughout the week but go to church every weekend to confess their sins thinking that mere confession will absolve them from weekly sins.  But such atonement will never provide any relief to the practitioners.

Once an alcoholic suffering from heart disease went to a doctor. The doctor gave him medicine and asked him to consume milk and fruit juices and instructed him not to again drink liquor. But the patient pleaded saying that he will take all the medicine on time, drink lots of fruit juices and milk but he should be allowed to consume liquor. The doctor said that if you continue consuming liquor then the medicine will not be of much help and you will have to suffer and die.

Similarly, if a devotee continues committing sins he will suffer, and his devotional journey will never be blissful.

So, a devotee needs to take a vow not to get carried away by the whimsically desires of the mind and senses.   If we want a healthy body, we will have to take healthy food and also not expose ourselves to contaminated environment so that we may not fall sick.

Similarly, to have a healthy mind and senses we need to be extremely careful about what we are feeding to our mind and senses. Mind is like a blotting paper, it absorbs anything and everything with which it comes in contact with.  So we need to be extremely careful when we are exposing ourselves to external environment.

The members of our family, the colleagues in our offices, the friends with whom we spend our time, the books we read, the movies we watch, the websites we browse, the time we spent on social media all have great influence in our life. It shapes our desires, our behaviour and our thought process. 

The moment we put ourselves in unrighteous environment that very moment we sow the seed of unrighteous thought in our mind.  And if we continue to be in such an atmosphere the seed fructifies and by the time we realize our mistake we begin doing horrendous things which once we may not have even thought of indulging in.  

But on the other hand, if we associate with righteous people especially saintly people then their presence can immediately purify our senses and elevate our consciousness. In Srimad Bhagavatam 11.2.30 it is mentioned, “Even half a moment’s association with pure devotees within this world of birth and death is a priceless treasure for any man.”

For example, the hippies in the western world were indulging in all sorts of abominable activities but when they got the association of Srila Prabhupada they gradually gave up their sinful way of living. Almost all of them used to consume drugs, liquor and non-vegetarian food. They indulged wantonly with opposite sex.

But Srila Prabhupada’s presence and teachings transformed their hearts, purified their intelligence and gave them determination using which they not just controlled their mind and senses but also utilized it in practicing devotion to Krishna. They started getting up early in the morning at 4:30 am to attend Mangal Arati, started chanting Hare Krishna Mahamantra, spent their days in reading Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavad Gita and other Vedic books, sang bhajans, took only prasad, and also started preaching others about Krishna. Many of them became sannyasis and many others responsible grihastas.

Mrugari, the cruel hunter, who used to half kill animals so that he can enjoy seeing them die became so transformed after getting the association of sage Narada that he would walk cautiously so that he may not step over an ant.

Srila Prabhupada in Nectar of Instructions (purport Verse 1) explains that  “if one is fortunate enough to get the association of a pure devotee, he can easily surpass all the practices for controlling the mind by the mystic yoga process simply by following the regulative principles of Kṛṣṇa consciousness – refraining from illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling – and by engaging in the service of the Supreme Lord under the direction of the bona fide spiritual master.”

So we should proactively put in our best efforts to cleanse our senses and mind of all impurities and simultaneously take precautionary steps so that no impurity again enters in our hearts. Once our senses and mind get purified it won’t force us to indulge in sinful activities.  We won’t be then subjected to any suffering and we will always be blissful by happily serving Krishna.

1st Janmashtami to be celebrated at Iskcon New Town Centre in Kolkata

Iskcon is all geared up to celebrate its 1st Sri Krishna Janmashtami festival at the recently opened centre at New Town Kolkata.

The new center has a prayer hall which can accommodate around 200 devotees. It also has an ashram for the monks, goshala (which has around 20 cows), organic farm and garden.  One can experience abundant natural beauty in the temple complex.

The centre has brought great excitement among the people staying in New Town, Rajarhat which is an IT hub. Earlier the devotees staying here had to go to Iskcon’s Minto Park temple which is quite far from here. So now the devotees of New Town can come frequently to the new temple and participate in the festivals enthusiastically.

The 1st Janmashtami will be celebrated in a grand way and it is expected that large number of devotees will participate.  

The festival will be celebrated throughout the day. It will begin in the morning at 4:30 am with Mangal Arati and will continue till 12 midnight. The program will include abhishek of the Lord, drama, Krishna Katha, melodious kirtan and Kids carnival.

At 12 midnight when Krishna appears there will be prasadam for all.

Opportunity is there for everyone to serve the Lord. Those who want to donate money for the pleasure of the Lord for them different options have been made available.  

• Kalash Abhishek Seva: Rs 2001
• Prasad (100 plates): Rs 2000
• Prasad (250 plates): Rs 5000
• Prasad (500 plates): Rs 10000

Kids Carnival at Iskcon Kolkata during Janmashtami 2019

Iskcon is celebrating the first Janmashtami festival at New Town on 24^th August 2019. Iskcon is organizing many cultural programs during the festival which also includes Kids carnival.

Iskcon has been playing a pivotal role in disseminating the message of Indian culture and traditions all over the world. Children who would be participating in such an event would get an opportunity to learn about India’s rich cultural heritage.  The more they get exposed to such an atmosphere their love for their country would increase and they will be able to enrich their life by imbibing India’s rich value system.

Iskcon is requesting the parents and school authorities to encourage the children to participate overwhelmingly in upcoming Janmashtami festival.

Program highlights:

1. Fancy Dress Competition
2. Drawing Competition
3. Dance Competition

Attractive prizes will be there for the winners.  There will be two separate groups for each competition.  

• Group 1: Up to Class 3.
• Group 2: Class 4 to Class 6.

Students can call/sms/whatsapp at 9748612948/9836362050 to register.  Once the students register, they will be informed about the theme of Fancy Dress, Drawing and Dance competition.

Program Schedule:

• Date: 24^th August 2019.
• Time: 7 pm to 8 pm.
• Venue: ISKCON New Town, Near Shapoorji Sukhobristi Complex, opp. Rabindra Bharti Global School, Kolkata – 700135

Janmashtami celebration at New Town, Kolkata

Hundreds of lovers of Krishna congregated at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre, New Town, Kolkata, to celebrate Janmashtami on 18^th August.  The program began in the evening at 4 pm and continued till around 7:30 pm.  The auditorium reverberated with the chant of “Hare Krishna” and all the assembled guests thoroughly enjoyed the devotional fervour.

One of the most important highlights of the festival was the participation of kids in cultural programs in large numbers which made the event colourful and lively. The kids of New Town were practicing for several weeks and they performed perfectly on the stage and instantly won the applause and hearts of everyone.  Dance drama, Krishna Conch Dance, the three ladies drama, the sounds of divine where kids recited verses from Brahma Samhita were enjoyed by all.  The underlining message of the cultural programs was that we all can enrich and enjoy our life if we live as per the teaching of Krishna. 

A motivation talk was given by HG Sri Nitai Prabhu on the topic “What Google does not know?”  HG Sri Nitai Prabhu is an IIT graduate and currently serving as a monk at Iskcon Kolkata temple. In the talk he explained how Google can provide us tons of information, but it cannot tell us how to apply that information constructively in our life.  It also cannot teach us how to love and how to show compassion to others.

A beautiful abhishek, bathing ceremony, of Lord Krishna, Srimati Radharani and Laddu Gopal was performed. Different ingredients such as milk, curd, ghee, honey, misri (rock sugar) water, rose water, sarv aushadhi, 7 types of fruit juices, coconut water, Ganges water was used to bath the Lord.  Amidst the melodious chant of Hare Krishna Mahamantra, the sacred items were poured on the Lord using conch shells and earthen pots.  At the end of the abhishek hundreds of flower petals were showered on the Lord.

After the abhishek Lord Krishna, Srimati Radharani and Laddu gopal were decorated with colourful clothes and ornaments. 108 food items which were prepared by the devotees were offered to the deities in earthen plates.  Small kids colourfully dressed as gopis and gopas performed dandiya dance in front of the Lord on the song nand ghar anand bhayo jay kanaya lal ki.

Dinner Prasadam (sanctified vegetarian food) was there for all. Everyone enjoyed the festival. In the core of their hearts all felt deep joy, their love for Krishna had increased.

With a broom in his hand Radhanath Maharaj teaches an important lesson

Once His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj visited a temple and he saw that the brahmachari ashram (monastery) was in complete mess. The brahmacharis’ (monks) clothes were scattered, the floor had thick layer of dirt, the walls and the ceilings had cobwebs, plates and glasses were everywhere, the bathroom was unclean.

Maharaj during the class spoke about the importance of cleanliness. He explained them how Srila Prabhupada used to say that cleanliness is next to godliness. Everyone heard him, appreciated the class, accepted their mistake and decided to do something about it.

After few days Maharaj again came to the brahmachari ashram and found that nothing has changed. It is still unclean and in mess. Maharaj did not say anything, he gave class.  As usual everyone was happy after the class. It was lunch time so all the brahmacharis took their plates and rushed to the prasadam (dining) hall.  One of the monks had gone to washroom and when he came out, he heard some noise in the ashram. He was surprised because he knew that at the lunch time the ashram is always empty.

When he tried to figure out from where the noise is coming, he saw that Maharaj has taken a broom, a bucket of water and was cleaning the ashram.  He was shocked. He frantically dialed the number of the senior monk and told him what is going on in the ashram. As soon as the message went all the monks ran towards the ashram.

But Maharaj requested all of them to stay out.  No one was allowed to enter inside. The monks begged forgiveness and said that they will themselves clean the ashram. But Maharaj politely declined and said that now it is his turn to do the service.

All the monks were feeling terrible because their spiritual father and one of the most prominent sannyasis of the Krishna conscious movement who have thousands of disciples all over the world was cleaning their dirt.  But they were helpless.

Everyone learnt a very important lesson about the importance of cleanliness that day which they would never ever forget in their life. This is not just applicable for the monks but for all of us too.

A great leader teaches not just by his words but also by his examples.

(The article is based on a class given by HG Radheshyam Prabhu at Iskcon Goshala in Kolkata)

Ayodhya Case: There cannot be a mosque which has pillars with the images of Hindu Gods

CS Vaidyanathan, the lawyer who is representing the deity Ram Lalla Virajman, told the five-judge bench of Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that there cannot be a mosque where the images of Hindu Gods are present.

He put before the Supreme Court the 1950 report of Faizabad’s Commissioner. The report states that at the disputed site of Ayodhya there were 14 pillars with inscription of Hindu Gods. The image of Lord Shiva was there on one of the pillars.

The map found at Ayodhya which provides detail of the images inscribed on the pillars and the album containing the pictures of the deities were submitted to the bench.

The counsel also argued that Muslims offering prayers at the disputed site does not make it a mosque just like Muslims offering prayers on the road does not mean that they own the road.

It is almost an undisputed fact that Babri Mosque was built on the ruins of the temple of Lord Ram. According to one version it was Babar who demolished the temple whereas according to second version the temple was brought down by Aurangzeb.

The Supreme Court is holding daily hearing of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case.

Murder convict chooses the electric chair to die

A murder convict in the US state of Tennessee at the 11^th hour chose to die by electrocution than by lethal injection.

Stephen West was convicted of rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl and her mother around 30 years back. On Wednesday his clemency plea was rejected by Tennessee’s Governor Bill Lee.

He was electrocuted on Thursday and declared dead at 7:27 pm local time (00:27 GMT). He was the 11^th person to be executed in United States this year.  In 29 US states death penalty is legal.

Several people in US are against death sentence. Many countries have abolished the practice and, in the countries, where the practice is still legal it is rarely being applied.

The critics say that, “Since we are not God and we cannot give life so why should we have the right to take other person’s life?”

But the counter argument is, “What to do with the people who commit heinous crimes? If the death sentence is abolished, then the criminals would not shy away from killing or raping others as they would know that the punishment would be mild.”

How to control the uncontrolled senses?

The lady in the golden flame looks pretty to the moth.  Her fiery smile makes him dance in joy. Its not that she is smiling just at him but at all. But the moth believes her smile is only for him. And so he without wasting any moment runs desperately to be with her. As he inches closer the golden lady looks much prettier and he becomes desperate to embrace her. 

The lady looking bright yellow spreads her arms for him and the moth with a hope to enjoy unlimited pleasure jumps into her arms. But immediately his hope turns into nightmare, happiness into deep agony. His beautiful wings which allowed him to play with the wind and jump from one plant to another to play with the colorful flowers is now in fire.

Soon he realizes his efforts will go in vain and so slowly he surrenders himself to her and allows himself to be devoured by her.

We all may feel for the moth or may even pity him for his foolishness but his story and our story is not much different. This material world too looks extremely attractive externally and provides us a hope of unlimited enjoyment.   It promises that the thirst of all our senses will be quenched forever once we fully surrender to her. 

But just like the ocean which is filled with water cannot satisfy a thirsty man similarly the vast resources of this material world cannot provide any pleasure to us.

The material energy binds us in this material world by our senses. The more we try hard to enjoy here our senses becomes wild and strong.  And instead of we being in control of our senses our uncontrolled senses take control of our lives. Like a puppet the senses make us dance as per its whims.

Just like the moth we suffer terribly and find it extremely difficult to free ourselves from the grip of uncontrolled senses.

But since we are humans and not a moth, an insect, we have an opportunity to free ourselves from the clutches of the senses.  The sacred literatures advise us that since we have a human form of life we should act intelligently and not waste our time and life in pursuing worldly pleasures. 

“An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses.” Bhagavad Gita 5.22

With this knowledge we should try our best to restrain our senses from acting whimsically.   But to act against our senses and win the battle is almost impossible. However if we seek protection of Krishna, the Supreme Lord, then he being our best friend and well-wisher immediately comes to our rescue. 

If we muster courage and say no to the demands of our senses and engage it in practicing devotion to Krishna with determination then sooner or later our senses get purified. Krishna also gives us strength so that we can take control of our senses and use it cautiously.

Initially the senses may resist but if we continue engaging it in Krishna Conscious activities then slowly it starts enjoying being in service of Krishna. In such a state, scriptures tell us, we attain independence from material miseries and enjoy unlimited transcendental bliss.