Gaura Purnima 08 @ ISKCON Pune

Gauranga Jayate

Yadi Gaura na haite, tabe ki haite…..this song by Srila Bhakti Vinoda Thakur vocalizes my sentiments this Gaura Purnima. The very thought of Sri Gaura Chandra not being there is frightening. I had fallen deeply into the ditch of this illusionary world and saw no hope of ever coming out. It was dark, lonely and miserable. Trying to satisfy my never ending desires by various means and then getting frustrated by not achieving them the way I wanted it. It was very hopeless. Wandering from one sense enjoyment to other, hoping of quenching my thirst, but all I encountered were mirages. Oh! Mahaprabhu! You so mercifully took me into your care and gave me some respite. I had no qualification, no desire to be rightfully situated in association of devotees and chanting of holy name. But you being the most merciful person ever introduced me to this movement of your pure devotee: Srila Prabhupada. Mahaprabhu! Perhaps my fallen condition was the only qualification by which I deserved your mercy. If you are the wellwisher and purifier of fallen souls then I’ve got a doctorate in Sinful activities. I was and still am engaged in such abominable activities by speech, mind and body. Fallen soul like me made Krishna appear as Sri Gaura Raya on the auspicious full moon night of phalgun, from the womb of mother Sachi. Sachinandana is non other than Sri Sri Radha Krishna who appeared to bestow Vrajabhakti to undeserving people alike. Nimai born under the neem tree established the principle of chanting of the holyname.

I observed the Gaura Purnima Festival in pune this year. It started the day before. I packed my stuff and reached the temple at 8:30 pm. To my frustration of which I was quite ashamed later on, there was no dinner prasadam left. And the thought of fasting sent me out looking for some satvic food item on MG Road. Well, by the time I came back to temple, poha prasadam was prepared which all devotees were relishing. If only I had paitently depended on Krishna. Foolish me.

AGP was in his uniform and on duty, that included overseeing and helping out in almost any activity related to deities throughout the night. Pritam Prabhu, Deepesh Prabhu, Amit Prabhu, Cp all were staying back for the mangala arotik. We finally slept and woke jp on the auspicious day when the moon of Sri Gaura Raya appeared in Nadiya, Mayapur.

Sri Sri Gaura Nitai were so effulgently beautiful. Their beauty was dumbfounding and startling. The pujaris at Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari had done a great job. The altar was bedecked with stunning floral arrangements. HG Radhe Shyama Prabhu sang the Guruvashtaka prayers. All the devotees were feeling immense joy in taking darshans of their lordships Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari.

After the morning program, the japa session commenced. And today was nirjal fasting till moonrise. It was to be a difficult day ahead. Chanting with dry mouth and throat. Ahem!! It’s gonna be tough.

Finally the awaited moment arrived and the lordships were ready to give darshans to the exited crowd of devotees. The pujari came out and blew the conch 3 times, making the heartbeats of the devotees race in excitement. The curtains opened and the altar was filled with white smoke creating a mystic ambiance. The altar also sported a water fountain. Their lordships were dresses in a mauve outfit and decorated with flowers and jewellery. Gaura Nitai were bestowing their causeless mercy to whoever wanted it that day. Lord was welcomed with the Govindam Adi Purusham Prayers and then the SachiSuta – Ashtaka Prayers were sung to glorify the most benevolent Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu – the beautiful son of Mother Sachi. We’d been singing this prayer every morning the whole month.

Thereafter was a lecture by HG RadheShyama Prabhu on the appearance and childhood pastimes of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. It went on from 9 to 10:30. As it was complete fasting, so series of lectures and kirtans were scheduled for the day. At 11 there was a lecture by HG Sri Guru Charan Prabhu and then in temple hall by HG Gaura Lila Prabhu. In the meanwhile I was busy fighting thirst and endeavoring to somehow complete 25 rounds of chanting. I finally got to do 32. The afternoon was difficult to pass. Temple devotees were engaged in preparing for the evening’s festivals. A magnificent altar was prepared for doing abhisheka. Two beautiful peacocks were also made by devotees themselves which augmented the magnificence of the stage.

Somehow I made it to 5 pm, by partly sleeping and chanting. Took a bath and felt really fresh. Also many of the devotees including HG Jugal Kishor Prabhu and HG Sachinandan prabhu were not there as they had gone to Mayapur yatra with HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja. Finally the time arrived when their lordships arrived at the stage for the pleasure of their devotees and to show a never seen before pastime to the newcomers. The deities changed hues as the abhisheka progressed. HG Sundarvar Prabhu so kindly agreed to take pics from upclose on the altar. Devotees are so nice and so understanding. The abhisheka concluded by giving their lordships a water shower. After which HG Murari Prabhu gave a lecture.

I was backstage most of the time. Do not misunderstand that I was doing any seva or anything. So I got an opportunity to go inside the deity backroom to keep utensils used for the abhisheka. Broke my fast there with hot honey-ginger water. It felt like nectar. Never had I experienced such a fulfilling experience. The thirst was quenched.

Then I got busy with attending to the big guest list I’d invited for the event. Varun, Nipun, Anil, Dilip, Nupur, Krunal, Anand, Rinkesh, and most importantly Himanshu Bhaiya and bhabhi. Then sat down to feast on the wonderful ekadasi prasadam while talking as usual to AGP, Krunal, Amt Prabhu et al.

After seeing them off, I went to Muralidhar. For tomorrow again I had to get up early to attend the glorious mangala arotik on the Jagannath Mishra Festival Day.

Raj Bhoga @ Pune

The Pune saga is coming to an end. And so is the wonderful association of devotees that I have been getting. Apurva Gopal Prabhu (AGP) and many more. To commemorate this we prepared a feast for the lord and enjoyed ourselves very much. I had already shifted half of my baggage to the temple where I was to stay from 2nd April onwards till 9th April. So I’d come back to my flat to courier the rest to Delhi. Chakravarti Prabhu(CP) called and announced that we are having a rajbhoga today and that I should get free as soon as possible. AGP and Ankit Prabhu came to my place from where well went to CP’s place to do some serious cooking stuff.

Ankit Prabhu is from Mumbai and was on a long yatra to Mayapur during the gaura purnima festival and then to Vrindavan where he accompanied CP when he was there getting association from his guru maharaj. AP is a Hotel Mgmt Grad with an experience of working as a chef at Govinda’s, Chowpatty Temple, Mumbai. He’s a great person to meet with. Amiable, Unassuming, A person you can talk to.

So we went in an overly crowded bus to Viman Nagar and did some feast shopping which took quite some time of ours. Reaching CP’s home, he was already there with Amit Prabhu. So we took a 15 mins rest and then got down to preparing a seemingly impossible to prepare feast in the given time constraint. This led to shedding off of some major menu items including ‘cheese potato balls’ (…..aaarghhhh!!) Cp was busy preparing for his exam tomorrow, which didn’t go well by the way. Amit Prabhu was engrossed in the highest of service that’s chanting. So AGP, AP and me did most of the peeling and cutting vegetables. And yes! In the course of events I did acquire some culinary skills including kneeding dough for chapattis or samosa crusts. Yeah!

After hours of efforts, the raj bhoga was offered to the supreme lord with love n devotion.
And then we feasted like we were starving since days.

The final menu included:
Layered biryani (with Paneer n Sak Gravy)
Paneer
Grape Juice
Khaja
Lentil Soup (Dal).
Yes that was it. After so much of work this is all we could prepare. But it was worth it. As usual we got very late. We left Cp’s place at some where around 11 pm n headed for temple, where we were to sleep at night and attend mangala arotik thenext morning. The day was good and got to meet a new devotee, interesting devotee!!

Hope these raj bhoga sessions keep appearing again and again.

Pushpa Abhisheka @ ISKCON Pune

Jan 22, 2008.
Sri Sri Radha KunjaBihari , ISKCON Pune
PausyaAbhiseka Festival was celebrated in ISKCON Pune.
The program began with joyous kirtan followed by a lecture by HG Krishnananda Prabhu. He explained the meaning of Pushpa Abhisheka. Krishna is the master of the whole universe and a mere flower doesn’t do him much good. Just like when we offer Ganges water 3 times back in to Ganges, it is not flooded. Similarly no matter what we offer to Krishna, it is negligible in front of his opulences. Even if we offer the whole earth to Krishna, it is nothing as Krishna in form of Maha Vishnu, emanates innumerable universes..

But in Bhagwad Gita, Krishna states “ Patram Puspam Phalam Toyam……”. What does this mean then? In the same verse Krishna uses the word “bhakti” twice. Krishna is also known as “Bhavagrahi Janardana”. It’s the devotional attitude that Krishna is looking forward to. There are many pastimes where Krishna used to snatch morsels from the hands of his Gopa Sakhas, and ate broken rice from his friend Sudama. Similarly in Gaura Lila, Mahaprabhu ate bad smelling broken rice which Raghunath Dasa Goswami had gathered for his prasadam. No matter how fragrant and opulent flowers we offer to Krishna, if they are not offered with devotional attitude, they are no more fragrant, but smell bad.

Similarly when we chant 16 rounds of mahamantra daily, they are like flower offerings to Krishna only. So we should put in our mind and our intelligence in this process. We should offer our best chanting possible. This would please Krishna. The best flower that Krishna likes is chanting of the holy names by his devotees. We are not purified enough for our offerings to be accepted by Krishna. But we should still offer whatever small we can to Krishna, praying that “ O Krishna, though this offering is not fit for you because it is coming from me, but please be merciful upon this servant, and make this offering fit for your pleasure.” Thus by this process we can purify our offerings and our heart.

In this festival, Srimati Radha Rani and Sri Kunjabihari were showered with lots of flower petals. The abhisheka went on for about 30-35 minutes with yellow, orange and pink flowers. And as always the festival was followed by sumptuous feast prasadam.

Harry Potter Mania

Harry Potter, a series of 7 books, which created frenzy in the literary world with its entry. Millions of children have taken to a long forgotten habit of reading, perhaps a sigh of relief for the few intellects. Older children read it through out the day and for the smaller kids, their parents read them as bedtime stories, and continue long after the child was asleep.


"J.K.Rowling deserves all the plaudits that are being heaped upon her. For once, the word phenomenon is an understatement." -- Scotland on Sunday.

"The Harry Potter books are that rare thing, aseries of stories adored by parents and children alike." -- The Daily Telegraph

Such is the power of Harry Potter. The story about an orphan who feels uncared for and turns out to be the most popular wizard in an alternate world, captivated every child’s mind and heart. The trials and tribulations that Harry experiences seem familiar, that he immediately became a hero. Children like to dress up like Harry; their daily lingo has adapted words from the movie’s esoteric phrases and characters. It so happens that children especially in west do not get to spend much time with their parents and feel neglected and thus connect with Harry personally. And when they see this hapless guy turning into a hero in the other world of witchcraft and wizardry, their joy finds no bound.

No doubt, the book revived the reading habit in children in today’s age of Television and Computer. But the downside of all this is that the book has exposed and encouraged children towards escapism rather than enlightenment. Children see magic as an alternative to facing the reality. But what exactly is magic? Magic is something which someone can do, but I can’t. What good is it bringing about by making them read about witchcraft and wizardry? One thing for sure it encourages is the ghastly and cruel treatment of animals by sacrificing them at the altars of illusion.

Why someone watches movies, serials or reads books? Because life is boring and frustrating and people need to get an outlet, a means to temporarily forget their real life. If we survey the lives of the rich and the filthy rich, 5% of their time goes into their daily chores, the rest 95% time they try to escape from boredom, and that’s why they go to movies, theatres, join clubs, societies so that even if its for sometime, they get a relief. Because these people don’t know what to do with their lives, they indulge in these activities.

It would be surprising and yet very understandable the reasons behind the universality of the story. Parallels can be drawn with Krishna lila. The prophecy that a special child will be bornand would bring about an end to the evil king is the prevalent theme in both; Harry Potter v/s Lord Voldermort and Krishna v/s Kamsa. Harry’s escapades and learnings at Hogwarts can be compared to Krishna & Balarama’s stay at Sandipani muni’s ashram. The principle element of the story remains the same. In childhood itself, Krishna performs feats like killing big demons and protecting the vrajavasis from Indra’s anger by uplifting the Goverdhana hill.

Inspite of parallels there remains a huge difference - difference between Virtual Heroism and Eternal Heroism.

The diagram clarifies the rationale. Real life is at the level of Real Zeroism, where it is filled with boredom and lack of happiness and motivation. On the other hands these movies and books take us to the fictional world of Virtual Heroism. Where some virtual character does some magic or extra ordinary feat and plunges people in general into a further illusion or imagination.

On the other end of the spectrum lie the real and the eternal heroism. Who is a real hero? Krishna is great and so are his devotees. The story of Arjuna viz Brihanalla (in the garb of a eunuch) and the attack on Virata kingdom by kauravas illustrates just that. Krishna’s devotees are real heroes. Like Arjuna, Bhima, Dhruva and others. Apart from them, Krishna himself is the original, eternal hero. He is the hero of Vraja, the enchanter of gopis, protector of the citizens of Vraja, the destroyer of the immoral and the life of his friend. He has all the elements of a hero, and thus the stature of the eternal hero. And by associating with this hero brings an end to the meaningless and frustrated life and exposes one to the world of transcendence, where every gait is a dance step, every word is a song, and the atmosphere is filled with happiness and jubilation. In that world, Krishna is the central theme of every one’s life. Krishna holds the position of being their very soul and their lives.

The reason for the success of Harry Potter is one, people are in general ignorant of the goal of their lives and two, they want to escape the constant void in their lives. Stories like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia give people hope, a shelter from the daily anxieties of lives. But viewed objectively, it is a false hope. Ultimately it would benefit no one. Also the attraction to the supernatural indicate to our innate character, that in reality there must be some super natural being to which we are all attracted. Its just that we haven’t find that person yet. So instead of Harry Potter, lets idolize Lord HARI, the POTTER. The very name suggests that he steals the hearts of his devotees with his pastimes and steals their, miseries and sufferings. He is the supreme potter, he carefully makes the universes which are perfect in everyway to help us achieve our goal and thus help us in shaping our lives.

Book Review on Bhagwad Gita

The following is a book review I recently presented in my college as a part of our communication practice curriculum.

The book that I am going to speak about today is based on real life incidents that happened 5000 years ago. The book is considered to be one of the great literary works in both oriental and western worlds. It was written in Sanskrit by Sri Vyasadeva, the compiler of the vedic literature. The author is said to have written texts like the 4 vedas, 18 puranas and 108 upanishadas that encompass all the vedic knowledge. The book is known as “The song of the God” in the western countries and for us it’s the much known Bhagwad Gita.



Gita is a part of the epic Mahabharata. It contains 700 verses spread over 18 chapters. Its background is set in ancient India, almost 5000 years back, when the dispute among the two related clans – the pandavas and the kauravas led to the cataclysmic battle of Kurukshetra – The Mahabharata.

The book has been written in a style that is seen in most of the contemporary literary work, i.e. question – answer based. There are primarily 4 characters, King Dhritrashtra, His Assistant Sanjaya, Prince Arjuna and Sri Krishna. The story begins when King Dhritrashtra - the blind father of the immoral Kauravas enquires from his assistant Sanjaya about the activites of his sons and that of Pandu’s sons in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Sanjaya has been given this special vision to see activities in distant locations. He starts narrating whatever he is seeing in the battlefield. The first chapter basically describes the arrangement of the two armies and how Duryodhana – The kaurava prince tactfully praises his seniors and commands their confidence.

On the other hand Arjuna, one of the 5 Pandava brothers asks his chariot driver Sri Krishna to drive the chariot to the middle of the battlefield to view the enemy’s arrangement. However on seeing his relatives, teachers and his grandfathers he is overcome by grief and pity, he fails in strength and his mind becomes bewildered Consequently he presents various arguments to Krishna for not fighting.

The character of Arjuna – the hero of Mahabharata has been painted very realistically as he has been shown to have the same weaknesses as any other human being. He feels incapable of confronting his relatives and thus decides not to fight. He uses the intricacies of dharma to support his decision. Just like we find loopholes in the system to get away with our own whims and fancies. But later as we find out he turns out to be intelligent as he surrenders to Krishna – the most intelligent and asks for guidance. His surrender is not mere blind faith but based on rational conclusions.

Next we see how Krishna clarifies Arjuna’s doubts and induces him to fight and emerge victorious. These instructions are highly practical and quite executable. He reminds Arjuna about the goal of his life. And to know one’s goal, one needs to know one’s identity. So, it is told that all living entities are spiritual souls where as the gross bodies are nothing but inert matter. This inactive matter becomes active only once it gets in contact with the active spiritual particle. We come across quite interesting facts about soul, i.e. the living entity in the sense that we are the soul and not the body, just like a driver is different from the car and in reality he is the one that moves it, similarly our soul drives this body. Unlike Lord Voldermort’s soul, which is split into six, the size of the soul is 10,000th part of the tip of one hair and hence it is not further divisible. It is indestructible.

Krishna further explains the three ways leading unto the ultimate goal of life vide the karma yoga, dhyana yoga, and the bhakti yoga. The karma yoga entails the action in knowledge. This is the part that we mostly come across as those summary pamphlets. That how for every action, one has to suffer a reaction, good or bad. And how piety and sin both are chains of the material struggle.

Next is described the mechanical meditative process of controlling one’s senses – the dhyana yoga. Arjuna stating it to be impractical for a person in a position like his rejects this method. So here we see that Arjuna’s trust on his master is not based on blind faith but true inquisitiveness.

As a consequence Krishna reveals the Bhakti Yoga – the devotional service which he states to be the most confidential, simple and preferable way to attain one’s goal of life.


This knowledge that’s presented in the book was nothing new but in fact been given to Sun God by Krishna millions of years ago, however due to the breaking of the disciplic succession, Krishna had to descent and establish the dharma himself.


Krishna then describes how all wondrous phenomena showing power, beauty, and grandeur are but partial manifestations of Krishna’s divine energies and opulence. Lord Krishna grants Arjuna with divine vision and reveals His spectacular unlimited form as the cosmic universe. Thus he conclusively establishes his divinity.

It is said that all embodied souls are under the control of three modes, or qualities of material nature: goodness, passion and ignorance. They act upon us and bind us in the laws of karma. But by following the suitable methods suggested by Krishna, one can transcend them and achieve a blissful state.

The instructions conclude with Krishna explaining the glories of Bhagwad Gita, and then suggesting Arjuna that the highest perfection of life is unconditional loving surrender unto Krishna, which frees one from all sins, brings one to complete enlightenment and enables one to return to one’s original consciousness. Hearing all this Arjuna is convinced and leaves all this miserliness and grief and he prepares to fight.
he dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna gives a profound insight inside Indian spirituality. The book is not religious but deeply philosophical and rational. It gives a new perspective to the life and helps solves questions that many of us ask, but never bother to inquire about. Reading this book is highly recommended for all the people and should be a subject of study for those seeking a balance in their life and those who have lost all hope. Krishna revives the hope by assuring us the bliss, which we have a constitutional right to experience once we surrender to him.

Bangalore To Tirupati

This week got a chance to have the darshans of the richest deity of world - Lord Tirupati Balaji This temple is located at Tirumala Hill in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.

All thanks to my friend Arpit (my college friend), who was more than enthusiastic to accompany me to the auspicious dham। We booked a 1-day Tirupati Package. It is hassle-free, comfortable and economical at the same time. Just 750 bucks.

So we boarded the bus at 10:00 p.m. the bus was AC and had superb reclining chairs, making the journey all the more comfortable. We reached Tirupati by 02:30 a.m. and got tickets for the darshan. The ticketing system is highly IT-enabled, for it took a digital photo and a fingerprint of every pilgrim. Anyways we got the reporting time of 01:00 p.m the same day itself.

We were then taken to a hotel for getting fresh. We were to report in the lounge by 04:30 am. But as usual we were late. But coming down, we saw the lounge was empty and there was no one in the bus either. Then an old couple came and on enquiry got to know that reporting time was 05:00 a.m.. So I decided to listen to some kirtan on my i-pod, while Arpit went outside to feel the fresh air. Just then he saw our bus pass by. It dawned upon us that the bus standing outside was not ours but of a different group and their reporting time was 5:00 am, not ours. But the problem was resolved as both the buses belonged to the same tour agency.

So then we visited Padmavati temple. The temple is located in the heart of city. No electronic item is allowed inside the temple. To facilitate pilgrims, there is a locker facility where a police man registers the person and keeps their mobiles safely. There's a ticket for darshan that costs 25/- per individual.

Then we came back to the same hotel. Our original bus was standing there. We rushed for the breakfast, as our bus passengers had already done away with theirs. We boarded the governmen run bus which takes us uphill to Tirumala Devasthanam. The journey was scenic and a bit too taxing for my poor companion. He always get sick while travelling in bus. On the way we discussed some philosophy. Now he is a Jain by religion, but he knows somethings about hindu culture too. The fact that he was excited to visit Tirupati, says it all. We talked about Buddhist philosphy, that how Lord Buddha tricked people away from vedic culture which was totally polluted down the ages and how Shankaracharya brought people back to vedic culture. The whole situation can be compared to formatting a pc when it's files get corrupted and then re-installing the OS.

Reached uphill within an hour or so. Then our guide asked us to assemble back at the bus drop point by 9:00 AM, so we had 1 hour to our discretion. Did some shopping for my friend Priyanka.

Later we proceeded for the waiting area, where we sat till 12:30 pm to get to the queue. Mind you this waiting is to join the queue, then it takes more time. Finally we got to the temple compound after long 3 hours. Mind you the queue is not 1 person wide , but a corridor. So there is a lot of pushing, crushing and suffocating. Be prepared for a minor discomfort.

The temple is so constructed that at every turn you'll feel that now you'll see the divine form of Lord Venkateshvara, but you keep on moving. Different queues keep on joining, like tributaries join a river.

The sanctum sanctorum is all gold। It seems so. And the moment you enter the door and take a turn left, there HE is. The dark one, wearing glittering dresses and a big white tilak. People cry out his name "Govinda" in love and devotion. The moment you see him, all the effort put in seems worth it.

Then we were pushed out after being inside for about 30 seconds or so. Outside on the walls the whole pastime of Lord Tirupati is described. Through the big glass window, you can see the counting going on. Huge sacks filled with notes and coins are emptied and many people are sitting there to count them.

I also met one ISKCON devotee. Lord knew my desire and fulfilled it. He was from Hyderabad and had been to this place many times. He had attended the Mangala Arotik at Radha Govind & Ashtasakhi Temple and then came up here. He filled me in on a tip that its best to stay at ISKCON dormitory and come up with the book distributing party. They people have good contacts with Tirupati Management. We then parted our ways and proceeded towards the exit. Arpit & me also got parted at the entrance as i had a bag which needed to be passed through security systems. We got together after having darshans separately. Then we got two complementary Laddoos. They were big, full of dry-fruits and delectable. (Tirupati Mahaprasadam ki Jai).

We then boarded our bus and journeyed back to the hotel. Had our at approximately 4:30 pm. Then we boarded our comfortable bus back for Bangalore. I slept through most of the journey.

It was a great experience. Thank you krishna for getting me to Bangalore and giving me this chance.

Narasimha caturdasi @ Jagannath Temple, Bangalore

Hare Krishna,

Yesterday was the auspicious appearance day of Sri Narsimha deva.

Had the fortune of being a part of an ecstatic celebration at Jagannath Temple, ISKCON, Bangalore.

The temple is small, but with a strong and devoted congregation. The devotees thronged the temple's main hall, kitchen, yard and the entrance. Everyone was involved in some service. At one side matajis were working with flowers and prabhujis were involved in cutting vegetables, decorating the entrance and Srila Prabhupada's altar.

Jagannath's altar was already decorated beautifully with flowers and leaves.

At around 6:15, the program started with tulasi arotik, followed by Gaura Arotik. Then after much wait, the deity of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha were brought out and were welcomed with loud chantings of Hari bol!.

Then the usual process of abhisheka started, with conches blowing, and devotees reading the Brahma Sanhita verses. All in all the environment was really charged up.

Then we chanted 108 times the following mantra:

ugram veeram mahavishnum
jvalantham sarvatho mukham
narasimham bheeshanam bhadram
mrityor mrityum namamyaham

After that prabhuji announced that all the devotees dressed in Vaishnava attire can also have the most blissful opportunity of doing milk abhisheka of the deity. And by mercy of Mayapur Sashi prabhu, I learnt how to wear a dhoti a month back only. And as a result I was also dressed in vaishnava attire. It was a great experience to bath the lord.

Then the fragrant oil abhisheka of the deity started. Narasimha deva would sometime turn green sometime red and sometime yellow as if expressing different moods. The scene was really beautiful.

Finally the abhisheka ended after long 2 hours. Then bhoga was offered to Sri jagannatha Sri Baladeva and Srimati Subhadra. In the meanwhile Prabhupada's purports of SB Canto 7, Chapter 7 were read which descriped the Hiranyakashipu and Prahlad Maharaja's conversation concluding in appearance of the most magnificient and effulgent form of lord - half lion, half man.
Then the darshans opened, kirtana was ecstatic. Some one announced that it was Mayapur Style Kirtan. offering arotik to the lord. We all proceeded towards prasadam feast. It was very relishing and very hot too.

Yesterday was an eventful day when I got to see the enthusiasm and devotion of Bangalore devotees. The community is small but yet very much involved. It felt like being a part of a big family.

May this day come again and again.

Hari bol!

Depend upon whom ?

With heavy heart I accepted HIS decision. So it was sure that I would have to spend 2 months in Bangalore, a strange south Indian city. Not so strange to people though, being the Silicon Valley of India. Tried many things, pursuing our placement team and even the HR to give Gurgaon as the location of my summer internship. But, all my hardships failed.

My favorite one liner being "If you make god wanna laugh, tell him your plans" manifested in my own life. I had been wondering all these times that whenever I leave a decision on Krishna, its always that the thing i want to happen happens, How will I feel, if someday the other thing happened. And it happened. Superficially I reiterated " hari ichhaa" but deep inside I could not accept the fact, that I won't spend 2 months in the comfort of my home but rather in a forsaken city where I know no one. It was unbelievable of his cruelty.

So I landed at Bangalore's HAL Terminal, went straight to Ashish' house (a relative related to me in a complex way). The next day had to go for induction @IBM, which was a pleasant experience. Then the following week passed in confusion regarding our location in Bangalore, consequently could not decide where to shift. The weekend came and I was on the verge of crying. Nothing seemed right. Had no local number to call from. Had to pay huge auto fares. Didn't get a place to stay, didn't get a local number. It was infuriating.

The subsequent Monday was the ultimate test of my Krishna conscious patience. It took me 4-1/2 hours to reach IBM's outskirt campus. And while going back, my cousin said, he would be late and that I would have to wait for him outside his house. I was just about to get all complaining, when a very beautiful thought dawned. We have been reading all this while in Prabhupada's books that this material nature is temporary and could not be depended upon. But only if we depend on him, fully taking to his shelter then there would be no danger. So here I was in a strange land where people speak a different language. Its dark, have no place to call my own.

Who could I depend on ?

My friends ? No they were no there.

My intelligence ? It was failing me.

My family? My parents? They were not there.

Who could I depend on. Yes the answer was very crystal clear. KRISHNA, my sweet lord gopala, the thief of butter and radha's heart.

The wonderful feeling that I am in a situation created by him felt like I was sitting on his lap and that he was caressing me and making me better in every which way. Oh! Shyamsundara, how I had forgotten to depend on you, my only dear friend. My lord, how could I stop even for a second to doubt your shelter.

So all this while it was his own sweet pastime to keep me engaged in the material distress and finally conclude that nothing is better but the nectarine bhakti rasa that bestows strength, courage and bliss to face any situation. Krishna is so personal that he personally takes care of his fallen devotees( like me) to regain their faith and enthusiasm. But I, being the most fallen soul of this time, still don't get straight with my act. I remain the greedy, lusty person I am.

Today read a wonderful blog of a young guy my age who belongs to the caretaker family of Sri Radha-Ramana temple. He stated the same fact that "our bhava rises only in distress, in normal times, its lakshmi bhava". In illness we'll take time out to do our devotional practice, but in normal times, meetings and appointments, and TV shows grab a priority to the service of lord. Such is the mystic potency of maya devi. But he is the mystic lord Jagannatha. If he comes on our side, victory is ours. "param vijayate sri krsna sankirtanam"

Hare Krishna

The ULTIMATE Dance Party

mahaprabho kirtana-nrtya-gita-
vaditra-madyan-manaso rasena
romanca -kampashru-taranga-bhajo
vande guro shri-caranaravindam

We sing this verse every morning during the mangala arotik. This verse means

Chanting the holy name, dancing in ecstasy, singing, and playing musical instruments, the spiritual master is always gladdened by the sankirtana movement of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Because he is relishing the mellows of pure devotion within his mind, sometimes his hair stands on end, he feels quivering in his body, and tears flow from his eyes like waves. I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master.

Dancing and singing, these two activities are the central beam of Mahaprabhu’s movement. He’s made the process of self-realization so easy. All we have to do is just sing and dance to the tune of holy names of the lord Krishna – The mahamantra. Can there be something easier than that? And over that it is not difficult to dance as the mridangas, the kartalas, the shankhas and other instruments produce such transcendental vibrations that it becomes difficult to stop rocking feet from one side to another.

That day while coming down from college to back home, I was hearing “Nadiya Godhrume Nityananda Mahajana” on my i-pod. It was difficult to walk straight as this particular kirtan is really rocking. Especially if one visualizes the video clip in which hoards of vaishnava jana are following the big deities of their lordships – the Panchatatva. The whole crowd seems to be dancing in ecstasy. Then I thought where are they going dancing on the way? To the temple hall where the deities would be installed. During the installation there is even more ecstatic kirtana, more jubilations more dancing.

And the festivities would begin at Mayapur Chandrodaya Temple. And on all these festivities there would be singing and dancing. Where will this process stop ?

Seeing devotees dancing like madmen, people in general will also leave their shyness behind and dance a bit, and slowly they’ll be immersed into the ever-increasing pleasure of sankirtana movement. Dancing will lead to more dancing and singing would lead to even louder singing. Resonance Effect or Inductive Effect…whatever…?

Then one day at the end of the road of life, which was not walked by but danced by in divine love for Sri Krishna, the reservoir of pleasure the devotee would enter the ULTIMATE DANCE PARTY. After living a life as instructed by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a living entity would enter into the spiritual abode, which is the transcendental abode of Sri govinda, the giver of pleasure to cows and gopas.

That supreme place known as Goloka dham, where each word is a song and each step is a dance step. In this material world while dancing and singing we feel breathlessness and tired. But up there, nothing of this sort exists. There is eternal uninterrupted dance of emotions, eyes, limbs going on. Each and every particle of that pure place dances in love of Sri Krishna. And whats best is that He, himself dances with his eternal consort Srimati Radha Rani. He dances with all his gopis. He plays with his gopa friends, dances with them, jokes with them.

So all in all it is an unending dance party going on which will never be interrupted, never be stopped. Such is the magnanimity of Mahaprabhu, who makes us expert in our eternal function on this earth only for he knows that this is what we’ll ultimately do after reaching our original home.

All those people who are mad after dance parties, rock shows. Whose life starts with the late night parties and ends with them, I request them to take to this way of life, take to Krishna Conscious way of life. For they will attain a place where there will only be a party, a blissful gathering of expert dancers and rockers and singers – the lead performer being Sri Krishna himself.

Hare Krishna.

H.H. GopalKrishna Maharaja in Pune

On Dec 17, 2006, HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja graced the city of Pune with his srimad Bhagwatam lecture. Like every year in the month of gita marathon, maharja visits Pune ISKCON to inspire devotees to sistribute books with more enthusiasm.

He gave a lecture on SB 1.8.37, where Maharani Kunti is praying to Lord Krishna, saying that "now that we have no one else to protect us and we have enemies all around, you are leaving for dwarka" He told that all the devotees shd aspire for this kind of surrender. Even after winning the battle and having so much, Kunti devi still remain dependent on madhusudan for protection. Like this we should also not falsely think that our money, power or relatives will save us from dangers. We should be under only one protection and that is under the feet of Lord Mukunda. But at the same time we should not be lazy to remain dependent on Krishna for our daily livelihood. Like pandavas we should fight.

After this powerful lecture, Bhima Prabhu, another senior disciple of Prabhupada talked about the glory of book distribution.

Then Maharaja was presented with a gift which was a Gita Cover. Made with red clothe and beautifully embroidered it is perhaps the best thing to come up in this trancendental month.

Then maharaja sang the hare krishna mantra, which led to a a great dancing kirtan for 15-20 minutes. All the devotees danced and danced like anything.

After this all the devotees honored a sumptuous feast prasadam.

May this day come again and again.

Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaj Ki jai.

Where has it all gone ?

Coming to pune, back to college. One could understand my plight. Now that I was completely out of regular social activities, I was forced to witness some and be a part of some. The whole batch is young, most of them out of their safe protective houses for the first time and many who already learnt the art of staying away from family. The newly found freedom mixed with pune's youthful life. Life @ SITM was bustling with enthusiasm and hopes. Hopes for a better....(nah!).....romantic...(nah!)....pleasurable future.

New faces, clean new slates to start with, forging new friendships, developing new crushes with same old gut wrenching feelings. Life was usual. We had many outings arranges to which i didn't wish to be a part of. Singhad Fort, Manas Resort and A night out at Fire n Ice. The pics were bubbling with fun and enjoyment. It seemed life took a pleasuarable turn for a group of 98-99 people, for they were finding the life too good to be true. Finding good friends in such a competitive course as SITM, it was a miracle. So sweet, so nice and so short sighted.

It wasn't long since the regular life started taking a toll on all the goodie goodie stuff, everyone dreams about. 90%boys were broken hearted as it came to their surprise, that 95% of the gals were engaged or commited. The crushes developed into more intense crushes, raising expectations to the next level, where most people are not able to stand. Committee work having an effect of its own, friendships becoming more and more bitter. People turning negative, jealous, indifferent and aggressive.

where has it all gone?
The FUN ?
Where has it all gone,
the FRIVOLITY
Where has it all gone,
the FRIENDSHIP
Where has it all gone,
the FREAKINESS.
Where has it gone...?

Then came the final hour of test. Examining our understanding (They people think they can really do that...!) Spending hours trying to finish the course and then to mug it all up. People shifting their base camps to people where they got a more conducive environment. People stayed with newer groups so as to avoid bitterness with old friends.

Then we went to MRA....agin the spirit of enjoyment surged like a phoenix rises from its ashes. But this was short term, almost 4 days and 3 nights long. It was a fad, practical manifestation of a recently learnt concept in marketing. Fad - short term fashion.. The relations got strained, friends got more professional, more distant, more diplomatic, more intolerable. And life continues at SITM.

So much so for the background. The sum total of all this has been succintly stated by Sri Krishna in Bhagwad Gita as " dukhalayam, asaswatam".........That this world is ,first, full of miseries and second, temporary. So no no matter how much we try, and how much we endeavor for happiness, we'll only get is more misery, hopelessness and suffering. For there is no such thing as happiness in this world. Its an illusion, that people run after. And even if someone is happy, very soon his illusionary happiness would leave him. Who can describe a creation better than the creator. And if Krishna is calling it that, it has to be that.

The only real happiness is in.....guess what.....surrendering to this very same person, lord Mukunda, the Vrajendranandana, the Radha kanta. For he is the most magnanimous, merciful and big hearted. He is welcoming all of us to his opulent house to enjoy with him. So LET'S GO, Lets go back to GODHEAD.

Rare Opportunity

Its been almost 1 year since I started associating with ISKCON. It was these very days since I had been initiated into the most sublime method to purify oneself and live a perfect life by constant chanting of the holy names of the lord.

I remembered the winter mornings when I was in middle school and got ready for the school. My mother used to play a very nice cassette. It had a hymn as follows:

Sri Krsna Chaitanya Prabhu Nityananda
Sri Advaita Gadadhara, Srivasa Adi Gaura Bhakta Vrinda

Taking it to be a hymn in praise of Lord Visnu, I memorized it and over the years forgot it. Then when I entered ISKCON Delhi for the first time, the sound of kirtan hit me like shock waves. I was disoriented for a few seconds. I have a very hazy picture of what I could see around, the sound was so blaring loud. I felt as if something awakened inside me. The kirtan was so ecstatic and nice, that I could feel my hair standing and I nearly cried. Though now that I know the importance of these mptoms, they are totally absent.

So here I heard the hymn again and gradually got to know its real meaning. Some devotees say that I had already connected to the movement of Sri Chaitanya in childhood, it was just a matter of time to actually physically associate. Mahaprabhu had already showered his mercy.

I downloaded gaura arotik, heard it over and over and memorized it too. I loved all the kirtans and arotiks so much that it was a matter of time, I learnt all of them.

Deep inside I had this urge to sing the glories of my beautiful lord. When I closed my eyes and sang, I used to imagine a group of people sitting and listening to what I was singing and the kirtan would be so potent that people would not be able to stop themselves from going into the sweet trance of love for govinda.

Got to know that no matter how well you sing or how many orchestras u take, if it doesn’t pleases Krishna it won’t please any devotee. So our service is to attract Krishna, not the crowd by our singing.

Then in Pune, the fortunate day: 25^th of November came, I visited temple. Gaura Arotik went nicely. We all danced. Then what happened next was so exhilarating, that I could not stop and take a toll of what was going on in my head. I was asked to sing Narsimha Pranaam. Yes, Narsimha Arotik, that too alone. I took the service and started singing. I felt good about thinking the wonderful opportunity I got to sing for my thakurji. So its true, that only a devotee can show true mercy to a beginner, and I sincerely thank that prabhuji to give me that rare opportunity.

I hope I will get such chances again and next time, I will concentrate more on pleasing HIM rather than myself.

Beginning @ Pune

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Blessed by Sri Krsna, I am in the city of Pune...perhaps the eastern oxford in contemporary times.
Devotees say, its a rare opportunity to associate with ISKCON, Pune. Spearheaded by H.G. RadheShyam Prabhu, the youth preaching movement of ISKCON has inundated Pune with the sweetness of Krishna Consciousness.
I remember the last day at Radha Parthasarthi Temple in delhi, when Mayapur Shashi prabhu advised me to take full advantage of my stay at Pune.

With mixed emotions I arrived at Pune. Having known that my room mates booze as well as eat non-veg added to my fears. First few weeks were pretty hectic, with all the assignments, classes and informal sessions. After 15-20 days or so I called up one Prabhu, whose number I had taken from NandGopal Jivan prabhu. Taking directions from him, I went to temple in the evening.

Pune's temple is built on a big land and is not as opulent as the ones in Vrindavan and Delhi. Met Vipul prabhu near the shoe-stand. Introduced myself and requested him to show me around the temple and intoduce me to some one. Its stated in Bhagwatam that only devotees can help fallen souls take to the Krsna Consciousness. By their mere association, people in general learn the process of bhakti yoga. So here I was at his discretion.

He showed me around, the main temple hall, with the beautiful deities of Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari & Sri Sri Gaur Nitai. We also moved around the prasadam hall, brahmchari ashram, bace, library, balaji's altar. And then he introduced me to Jai Nitai Prabhu.

Attended the Gaura Arotik, danced to my heart's content. Then attended the bhaktivriksa under the supervision of Jai Nitai Prabhu and Sri Kesava Prabhu.
There's a lot more to be told......

Prelude to Pune

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada

I still remember the day when I was on my way to Pune Airport to catch a flight to Delhi. I had come to appear for GD & PI process for SITM. I was thinking about what made me come all the way to Pune all alone for the process and whats makin me think that i'll be shifting to Pune in case I get through. I was a bit afraid and felt uncomfortable.
Then I thought, that there's a hand behind all this. I've done my work, now its upto Krishna to decide my fate. If he wants me here in Pune, he'll make arrangements and if he doesn't, probably i will stay in Delhi.It was February.

Three and a half months later I found myself at the Syamsundara altar in Vrindavan, ferverently praying to not to let me fall down and forget him. Rather he should keep me calling back to have the darshan of his trancendental beauty.

I asked him to take care of me, while I would for the first time in my life step out of the (false) sense of security that my home provides. I was scared.

3 days later I boarded down at Pune Station, experiencing a sense of wonder, excitement and fear. It was a pleasant day as it had rained the whole morning. I was in Pune to explore the new realities, to expand my horizon, to test my faith and to test my strengths. I was at the mercy of Lord Sri Krishna's lotus feet. Relying upon him for shelter and protection.

Dancing

Hare Krishna,

People say we devotees dont enjoy life. Who says so?

Most of the parties, the so called night long parties generally end at 4 A.M. From where they end we begin. For dancing to the ecstatic singing of mahamantra at Mangala Arati is not a new thing. Does any party starts in the morning before even sunrise. Our does, and that too everyday.

The bliss that devotees feel when singing and dancing in the temple for the entertainment of their lordships Sri Sri Radha Parthasarthi is inexplicable and can only be experienced personally.

The revelation happened when I inititally started visiting ISKCON. The loud kirtan hit me like a shock wave. I felt a change in my consciousness. My vision was blurred and could partially see the divine couple of Radha Rani and Parthasarthi. Standing there with folded hands I felt too shy to even look around and enjoy the dancing. People in general were enjoying themselves. Guys my age were involved with the saffron clad devotees in a friendly dance competition. This was new to me, but still I was never alien to this singing and dancing thing unlike many.

I generally preferred to stand close to the altar, thinking of myself as a high level devotee who would personally want to enjoy the transcendental beauty of the lord's form. From there I could hear the fastening mridanga beats and the excited shoutings of hari nam by devotees. I felt in love with the idea that Krishna, our very own syamsundara is makin people dance like mad men. Oh! I ached to join the bandwagon but couldn't because of my inhibitions.

Srila Prabhupada says all that Hare Krishna's devotees have to do is Sing, Dance and Feast. Where's the difficult part ?
Its so natural that one's hands go up in surrender and the feet start rocking at the perception of harinam. I personally feel it to be a blessing by God. For the mridanga and kartalas create such a charged up atmosphere that it becomes difficult to not to dance. The natural tendency, our Krishna consciousness revives when we dance at the harinama sankrtana.

Ever seen the vaishnavas in perfect vaishnava attire of a dhoti kurta, kanthi and tilak dancing in ecstacy of love for supreme personality of godhead: KRSNA. Just try it. I promise you wont be able to restrain yourself from dancing.