Kavicandra Swami

There was a long line of devotees bringing all the prepartaions to the temple for offering to Srila Prabhupada, and a large crowd to hear the billsful glorifications fo Srila Prabhupada.

We heard from Bhima Prabhu, Mr.Desumuhk Gupta ( the chairman of the committee that built the new Heaven On Earth addition to the temple), PL Setty, (the son of Mr Setty who helped greatly with securing the land and having Srila Prabhupada stay at his home. ), Devakinanda Prabhu, Vishuna Priya Mataji (who was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in the early days of the preaching here, and others. More will speak tonight in Srila Prabhupada’s room. Narada Rsi Prabhu did a nice job of MCing the event. By that time of the puspanjali the temple and the courtyard was packed full As were many venues for serving prasadam after the arotika.

I recalled that when Srila Prabhupada ended his lila with us I was shocked. We kept thinking it would never really happen. I just went into the temple room and started singing Je Anilo Prema Dhana and the devotees joined. We did not have talk about everyone knew. We just chanted that song over and over and cried.
Later I just went to the airport to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. That was always one service where I was convinced that Srila Prabhupada was pleased. I felt his presence very strongly and was peaceful. I was thinking that for me it did not make much difference since my service was always in separation. Then I was thinking that for our ISKCON society was going to be much different. Who was going to settle disputes and rescue us from our mistakes?
We had read in SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM:

“Whenever an acarya comes, following the superior orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His representative, he establishes the principles of religion, as enunciated in Bhagavad-gita. Religion means abiding by the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Religious principles begin from the time one surrenders to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is the acarya’s duty to spread a bona fide religious system and induce everyone to bow down before the Supreme Lord. One executes the religious principles by rendering devotional service, specifically the nine items like hearing, chanting and remembering. Unfortunately, when the acarya disappears, rogues and nondevotees take advantage and immediately begin to introduce unauthorized principles in the name of so-called svamis, yogis, philanthropists, welfare workers and so on.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 4.28.48

I thought that I was ready for that. Little did I know how much chaos could occur. In spite of all the events somehow or other we are still intact. I hope that I can always remember to stay fixed in following Srila Prabhupada and distributing his mercy.

Srila Prabhupada’s genius has organized, gueided and inspired us so expertly that if we follow we carry carry with his mission. Bhima Prabhu mentioned that Srila Prabhupada taught us that the disappearnce means that appearance. The acarya goes somewhere else to carry on his service to Lord CAITANYA’S mission. I wonder if he will allow me to join him and try to imporve my service attitude?

Prabhupada: That I was explaining. Because you have a little desire to know, so that we have to take, a small fire, and we have to fan it. Then it will come, blazing fire. Kali-yuga means actually there is no brahmana, but whenever there is a little tendency of becoming brahmana, we take it, accept. Otherwise there is no question of pushing on this movement. Wherever there is little chance, we take advantage. That is our process. [break] Initiation means just to see, “Here is a little chance. He is coming forward. Take it, accept him, and fan it.” This is initiation, not that “Now I am initiated, I become perfect.”

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Morning Walk — June 23, 1975, Los Angeles

The following is from Srila Prabhupada’s conversion with the Canadian Ambassador to Iran on March 13, 1975.

“Prabhupada: And Caitanya Mahaprabhu gives very shortcut formula that “You sit together, chant Hare Krsna, and everything will be solved.” Very simple thing: “Sit together and chant Hare Krsna.” That also they will not do. There is no loss. Let us make an experiment — that also we are not executing. What is the loss? If we sit together and chant Hare Krsna we are not losing anything. If there is some gain, why not make an experiment? So if you propose this to the United Nation, he’ll think of me, “A crazy fellow.”
Ambassador: Like we did together in Delhi.
Prabhupada: Yes, yes. You have seen it. They were very much eager. They were very much eager: “Swamiji continue.” And the others, like Communist and others, they became upset. I have seen many big, big officers. They were chanting, returning from the office in the office dress, and they were chanting and dancing. And you have seen the crowd, twenty thousand, thirty thousand people. The same thing happened in Calcutta. Now the government did not give us again that land. Yes. Last time when we held that conference in Delhi…
Paramahamsa: On the LIC Grounds?
Prabhupada: No, no, no. They gave us that Tal Kotara Park, you know? That is in the jungle. Nobody could reach there, and they gave us place there. (Ambassador laughs) Still, there were not less ten thousand people. It was not easily approachable. The motorcar cannot go. You have to leave your car three miles away to come there.
Ambassador: I know the place.
Prabhupada: Yes. You know very well. You are (were?) in Delhi.
Ambassador: It is a difficult thing to get to.
Prabhupada: Yes. And they gave us place. At the last moment they rejected. First of all they gave. Then, at the last moment, the municipality said, “No, this land cannot be given to any religious function.” Rejected. And offered, “If you like, you can take this place.” So we had no other alternative to accept it. We advertised that “We are going to hold this ceremony,” and the authority rejected at the eleventh hour and offered the Tal Kotara place. We had to accept it. And the government indirectly giving us so many hindrances in India. Yes. They do not like. One of the important member of the cabinet, he frankly said that “We do not want that your movement will increase very fast in India.” Because they know it, Indira Gandhi and company, that India is naturally inclined to Krsna. And if the selected people of the world, combined together, they push this movement in India, then the whole program of the modern leaders will collapse. That’s a fact. And that was my idea. I wanted to start this movement from India. But nobody cooperated. So then I decided to come to America. And my plan was successful.
Room Conversation with Canadian Ambassador to Iran — March 13, 1975, Iran

Symptoms of the success.
Last year 75% of the world’s book distribution was in INDIA
All the temples are getting so many guests.
Chopati RADHA GOPINATHA MANDIRA has 160 brahmacaris, all graduates.
So many Jaganatha Ratha Yatra festivals.

ETC< ETC

I suppose their offerings of clothes pins could be said to be “spontaneous”. It surely was not their duty nor were they forced.

I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Nrsimhadeva, the source of all power. O my Lord who possesses nails and teeth just like thunderbolts, kindly vanquish our demonlike desires for fruitive activity in this material world. Please appear in our hearts and drive away our ignorance so that by Your mercy we may become fearless in the struggle for existence in this material world.
PURPORT
In Srimad-Bhagavatam (4.22.39) Sanat-kumara speaks the following words to Maharaja Prthu:
yat-pada-pankaja-palasa-vilasa-bhaktya
karmasayam grathitam udgrathayanti santah
tadvan na rikta-matayo yatayo ‘pi ruddha-
srotoganas tam aranam bhaja vasudevam
“Devotees always engaged in the service of the toes of the Lord’s lotus feet can very easily become free from hard-knotted desires for fruitive activities. Because this is very difficult, the nondevotees — the jnanis and yogis — cannot stop the waves of sense gratification, although they try to do so. Therefore you are advised to engage in the devotional service of Krsna, the son of Vasudeva.”
Every living being within this material world has a strong desire to enjoy matter to his fullest satisfaction. For this purpose, the conditioned soul must accept one body after another, and thus his strongly fixed fruitive desires continue. One cannot stop the repetition of birth and death without being completely desireless. Therefore Srila Rupa Gosvami describes pure bhakti (devotional service) as follows:
anyabhilasita-sunyam
jnana-karmady-anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanu-
silanam bhaktir uttama
[Cc. Madhya 19.167]
“One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Krsna favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.” Unless one is completely freed of all material desires, which are caused by the dense darkness of ignorance, one cannot fully engage in the devotional service of the Lord. Therefore we should always offer our prayers to Lord Nrsimhadeva, who killed Hiranyakasipu, the personification of material desire. Hiranya means “gold,” and kasipu means “a soft cushion or bed.” Materialistic persons always desire to make the body comfortable, and for this they require huge amounts of gold. Thus Hiranyakasipu was the perfect representative of materialistic life. He was therefore the cause of great disturbance to the topmost devotee, Prahlada Maharaja, until Lord Nrsimhadeva killed him. Any devotee aspiring to be free of material desires should offer his respectful prayers to Nrsimhadeva as Prahlada Maharaja did in this verse.
SB 5.18.9

TRANSLATION
May there be good fortune throughout the universe, and may all envious persons be pacified. May all living entities become calm by practicing bhakti-yoga, for by accepting devotional service they will think of each other’s welfare. Therefore let us all engage in the service of the supreme transcendence, Lord Sri Krsna, and always remain absorbed in thought of Him.
PURPORT
The following verse describes a Vaisnava:
vancha-kalpa-tarubhyas ca
krpa-sindhubhya eva ca
patitanam pavanebhyo
vaisnavebhyo namo namah
Just like a desire tree, a Vaisnava can fulfill all the desires of anyone who takes shelter of his lotus feet. Prahlada Maharaja is a typical Vaisnava. He prays not for himself, but for all living entities — the gentle, the envious and the mischievous. He always thought of the welfare of mischievous persons like his father, Hiranyakasipu. Prahlada Maharaja did not ask for anything for himself; rather, he prayed for the Lord to excuse his demoniac father. This is the attitude of a Vaisnava, who always thinks of the welfare of the entire universe.
Srimad-Bhagavatam and bhagavata-dharma are meant for persons who are completely free of envy (parama-nirmatsaranam). Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays in this verse, khalah prasidatam: “May all the envious persons be pacified.” The material world is full of envious persons, but if one frees himself of envy, he becomes liberal in his social dealings and can think of others’ welfare. Anyone who takes up Krsna consciousness and engages himself completely in the service of the Lord cleanses his mind of all envy (manas ca bhadram bhajatad adhoksaje). Therefore we should pray to Lord Nrsimhadeva to sit in our hearts. We should pray, bahir nrsimho hrdaye nrsimhah: “Let Lord Nrsimhadeva sit in the core of my heart, killing all my bad propensities. Let my mind become clean so that I may peacefully worship the Lord and bring peace to the entire world.”
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has given us a very fine purport in this regard. Whenever one offers a prayer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one always requests some benediction from Him. Even pure (niskama) devotees pray for some benediction, as instructed by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in His Siksastaka:
ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram
patitam mam visame bhavambudhau
krpaya tava pada-pankaja-
sthita-dhuli-sadrsam vicintaya
[Cc. Antya 20.32, Siksastaka 5]
“O son of Maharaja Nanda [Krsna], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick Me up from the ocean of death and place Me as one of the atoms at Your lotus feet.” In another prayer Lord Caitanya says, mama janmani janmanisvare bhavatad bhaktir ahaituki tvayi: [Cc. Antya 20.29, Siksastaka 4] “Life after life, kindly let Me have unalloyed love and devotion at Your Lordship’s lotus feet.” When Prahlada Maharaja chants om namo bhagavate narasimhaya, he prays for a benediction from the Lord, but because he is also an exalted Vaisnava, he wants nothing for his personal sense gratification. The first desire expressed in his prayer is svasty astu visvasya: “Let there be good fortune throughout the entire universe.” Prahlada Maharaja thus requested the Lord to be merciful to everyone, including his father, a most envious person. According to Canakya Pandita, there are two kinds of envious living entities: one is a snake, and the other is the man like Hiranyakasipu, who is by nature envious of everyone, even of his father or son. Hiranyakasipu was envious of his little son Prahlada, but Prahlada Maharaja asked a benediction for the benefit of his father. Hiranyakasipu was very envious of devotees, but Prahlada wished that his father and other demons like him would give up their envious nature by the grace of the Lord and stop harassing the devotees (khalah prasidatam). The difficulty is that the khala (envious living entity) is rarely pacified. One kind of khala, the snake, can be pacified simply by mantras or by the action of a particular herb (mantrausadhi-vasah sarpah khalakena nivaryate). An envious person, however, cannot be pacified by any means. Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays that all envious persons may undergo a change of heart and think of the welfare of others.
If the Krsna consciousness movement spreads all over the world, and if by the grace of Krsna everyone accepts it, the thinking of envious people will change. Everyone will think of the welfare of others. Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays, sivam mitho dhiya. In material activities, everyone is envious of others, but in Krsna consciousness, no one is envious of anyone else; everyone thinks of the welfare of others. Therefore Prahlada Maharaja prays that everyone’s mind may become gentle by being fixed at the lotus feet of Krsna (bhajatad adhoksaje). As indicated elsewhere in Srimad-Bhagavatam (sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayoh [SB 9.4.18]) and as advised by Lord Krsna in Bhagavad-gita (18.65), man-mana bhava mad-bhaktah, one should constantly think of the lotus feet of Lord Krsna. Then one’s mind will certainly be cleansed (ceto-darpana-marjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12]). Materialists always think of sense gratification, but Prahlada Maharaja prays that the Lord’s mercy will change their minds and they will stop thinking of sense gratification. If they think of Krsna always, everything will be all right. Some people argue that if everyone thought of Krsna in that way, the whole universe would be vacated because everyone would go back home, back to Godhead. However, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that this is impossible because the living entities are innumerable. If one set of living entities is actually delivered by the Krsna consciousness movement, another set will fill the entire universe.
SB 5.18.10
TEXT 10
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord, we pray that we may never feel attraction for the prison of family life, consisting of home, wife, children, friends, bank balance, relatives and so on. If we do have some attachment, let it be for devotees, whose only dear friend is Krsna. A person who is actually self-realized and who has controlled his mind is perfectly satisfied with the bare necessities of life. He does not try to gratify his senses. Such a person quickly advances in Krsna consciousness, whereas others, who are too attached to material things, find advancement very difficult.
PURPORT
When Sri Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu was requested to explain the duty of a Vaisnava, a Krsna conscious person, He immediately said, asat-sanga-tyaga-ei vaisnava-acara [Cc. Madhya 22.87]. The first business of a Vaisnava is to give up the association of persons who are not devotees of Krsna and who are too attached to material things — wife, children, bank balance and so on. Prahlada Maharaja also prays to the Personality of Godhead that he may avoid the association of nondevotees attached to the materialistic way of life. If he must be attached to someone, he prays to be attached only to a devotee.
A devotee is not interested in unnecessarily increasing the demands of the senses for gratification. Of course, as long as one is in this material world, one must have a material body, and it must be maintained for executing devotional service. The body can be maintained very easily by eating krsna-prasada. As Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita (9.26):
patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam
asnami prayatatmanah
“If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.” Why should the menu be unnecessarily increased for the satisfaction of the tongue? Devotees should eat as simply as possible. Otherwise, attachment for material things will gradually increase, and the senses, being very strong, will soon require more and more material enjoyment. Then the real business of life — to advance in Krsna consciousness — will stop.
SB 5.18.11
TEXT 11
TRANSLATION
By associating with persons for whom the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Mukunda, is the all in all, one can hear of His powerful activities and soon come to understand them. The activities of Mukunda are so potent that simply by hearing of them one immediately associates with the Lord. For a person who constantly and very eagerly hears narrations of the Lord’s powerful activities, the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead in the form of sound vibrations, enters within his heart and cleanses it of all contamination. On the other hand, although bathing in the Ganges diminishes bodily contaminations and infections, this process and the process of visiting holy places can cleanse the heart only after a long time. Therefore who is the sane man who will not associate with devotees to quickly perfect his life?
PURPORT
Bathing in the Ganges can certainly cure one of many infectious diseases, but it cannot cleanse one’s materially attached mind, which creates all kinds of contaminations in material existence. However, one who directly associates with the Supreme Lord by hearing of His activities cleanses the dirt from his mind and very soon comes to Krsna consciousness. Suta Gosvami confirms this in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17):
srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah-stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrt-satam
The Supreme Lord within everyone’s heart becomes very pleased when a person hears narrations of His activities, and He personally cleanses the dirt from the mind of the listener. Hrdy antah-stho hy abhadrani vidhunoti: He washes off all dirt from the mind. Material existence is caused by dirty things within the mind. If one can cleanse his mind, he immediately comes to his original position of Krsna consciousness, and thus his life becomes successful. Therefore all the great saints in the devotional line very strongly recommend the process of hearing. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu introduced the congregational chanting of the Hare Krsna mantra to give everyone a chance to hear Krsna’s holy name, for simply by hearing Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, one becomes purified (ceto-darpana-marjanam [Cc. Antya 20.12]). Therefore our Krsna consciousness movement is chiefly engaged in chanting the Hare Krsna mantra all over the world.
After one’s mind becomes cleansed by chanting Hare Krsna, one gradually comes to the platform of Krsna consciousness and then reads books like Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Caitanya-caritamrta and The Nectar of Devotion. In this way, one becomes more and more purified of material contamination. As stated in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.18):
nasta-prayesv abhadresu
nityam bhagavata-sevaya
bhagavaty uttama-sloke
bhaktir bhavati naisthiki
“By regularly hearing the Bhagavatam and rendering service unto the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is practically destroyed, and loving service unto the glorious Lord, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.” In this way, simply by hearing of the powerful activities of the Lord, the devotee’s heart becomes almost completely cleansed of material contamination, and thus his original position as an eternal servant who is part and parcel of the Lord becomes manifest. While the devotee engages in devotional service, the passionate and ignorant modes of material nature are gradually vanquished, and then he acts only in the mode of goodness. At that time he becomes happy and gradually advances in Krsna consciousness.
All the great acaryas strongly recommend that people be given a chance to hear about the Supreme Lord. Then success is assured. The more we cleanse the dirt of material attachment from our hearts, the more we will be attracted by Krsna’s name, form, qualities, paraphernalia and activities. This is the sum and substance of the Krsna consciousness movement.
SB 5.18.12

>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 5.18.12

This is from a book “Forgivenss–The Ultimate Miracle”

What forgiveness is NOT:
APPROVAL
FORGETTING
JUSTIFYING
AN OBLIGATION
GIVING IN
RECONCILIATION (FESTORATION)
RE- HIRING
TRUST
GETTING EVEN

WHAT FORGIVENSS IS:

ACKNOWLEDGING THE HURT
KEEPING THE EYeS OPEN
SHOWING MERCY
KEEPING NO RECORD OF THE WRONG
LIVING FREE FROM BITTERNESS
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
BEING HONEST ABOUT REALITY
AN ATTITUDE
A LIFESTYLE