# Back to Godhead Magazine #39 *2005 (05)* Back to Godhead Magazine #39-05, 2005 PDF-View ## Welcome THIS ISSUE’S cover story takes us to the site of South India’s Vijaynagar empire of the fourteenth century. Today, the ruins on this boulder-strewn landscape, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, attest to the former grandeur of a Vaisnava kingdom noted for its support of Vedic art, music, architecture, and refined culture. The site is also connected to the pastimes of Lord Ramacandra, from a much earlier age. The spiritual heritage of the place still shows in the devoted worship that goes on in some of the old temples. On the other side of the world, a much smaller—but, today, more vibrant—“Kṛṣṇa kingdom” thrives in Los Angeles, at the Hare Kṛṣṇa community known as New Dwarka. In “What Do Hare Kṛṣṇa Women Do?” Karuna Dharini Devī Dāsī shows us what life is like for some women who have put the ideals of a spiritual culture at the center of their lives. An important part of culture is food, and Satyaraja Dāsa introduces us to a new restaurant that offers the best food of any culture—*kṛṣṇa-prasādam*—in one of the world’s most culturally diverse places: New York City. Hare Kṛṣṇa. —*Nagaraja Dāsa, Editor* Our Purposes • To help all people discern reality from illusion, spirit from matter, the eternal from the temporary. • To expose the faults of materialism. • To offer guidance in the Vedic techniques of spiritual life. • To preserve and spread the Vedic culture. • To celebrate the chanting of the holy names of God as taught by Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. • To help every living being remember and serve Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. ## Letters *Vasudeva Dāsa and Kṛṣṇa Consciousness in Fiji* A reader pointed out that the article on the new temple in Suva, Fiji, in the July/August issue contained only a little information about Vasudeva Dāsa, the first ISKCON devotee in Fiji. Along with his wife and brother, Vasudeva opened ISKCON’s first temple in Fiji, the Kaliya Kṛṣṇa Temple in Lautoka. He was also instrumental in the Suva temple: he bought the land, donated it to ISKCON, helped organize the fund raising, and continues to be active in spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness in Fiji. All devotees of Kṛṣṇa in the Fiji islands remain indebted to him for his service. Bir Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Goswami ISKCON’s Governing Body Commissioner for Fiji *Gita: The Best Evidence for God* I am a believer in God, and this is in reference to the “No God” letter in the July/August issue. For me, the best argument for the existence of God is the *Bhagavad-gītā,* other Vedic scriptures, and the history of Vedic civilization. Also, I would say that if even an imaginary God helps a person feel good and gives strength, why does the atheist try to destroy a person’s faith? The atheist’s disbelief in God does not destroy God for the believer. Perhaps it is godlessness that is destroying people. I think that the typical atheist is unaware that God (Kṛṣṇa) was actually present on earth 5,000 years ago so that we could know him as he is. The *Gita* is the best example for the existence of God because he is there, on the battlefield, explaining the science of the self in relationship to himself. I feel the atheists are intellectuals who may just need to see factual proof of Kṛṣṇa. Vedic knowledge is the best help for atheistic members of society. It can make them appreciate that Kṛṣṇa is not imaginary, but an actual being—the Supreme. I am not a disciple, but a lover of God, and the greatest gift I have ever received is *Bhagavad-gītā As It Is* from a devotee. Before that I had only rays of light to perceive. *Jaya* Prabhupāda, as he, by writing his books, has helped me past my own impersonal blockages in life. Rhett Jolliffee Iowa *The Soul and Karma* In *Bhagavad-gītā* 2.20 it is given that the soul is eternal and has no past, no present, and no future, and in other texts it is given that our soul is pure and untouched by any impurities. So how is it that it is touched by our bodily actions, or *karma*? And is it this *karma* that gives the soul its next body? Sirisha Dhaveji Via the Internet *Our reply*: Factually the soul is always transcendental to the material body, but the false ego (*ahankara*) causes us to consider that we have some relationship with the body. We suffer or enjoy because of that imagined relationship. The soul is not touched by our bodily actions, but if we act for our sense enjoyment instead of for the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa, we will have to accept one material body after another (*Bhagavad-gītā* 3.9). *Phi As Evidence of God* In the popular book *The Da Vinci Code*, one of the characters presents *phi* as good proof that there is intelligence behind creation. Is there really a mathematical ratio called *phi*? Or is it just fiction like the rest of the book? Pralambari Dāsa Via the Internet *Our reply*: *Phi* is a real number. It is 1.618... It is derived from the Fibonacci sequence (which I won’t get into here) and is also called the golden mean or golden section. It appears in many places in nature, which is why it is seen as evidence of intelligent design. For example, it is the ratio of one’s height divided by the distance between the floor and one’s navel. It appears in other measurements in the body as well. It has been used in architecture, including the pyramids. Still, the wonderful complexity of a cell—with all those amino acids arranged to form proteins and proteins arranged to form the working components of the cell—seems better evidence than *phi* for the existence of God, the supremely intelligent person and creator of it all. And what to speak of the existence of machines (living organisms) that change size (grow) *while they are operating* and can replicate themselves. Such things cannot happen by chance—even the greatest engineers cannot build the equivalent of a mosquito, what to speak of a human body. *Kṛṣṇa’s Lotus Feet* In Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books we often find the instruction that a devotee should “meditate on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.” How can one do that? Rakesh Via the Internet *Our reply*: When we go to the temple, we can meditate on the feet of the Deity. We can also meditate on Tulasi and other pure devotees, who are always situated at Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. Lord Kapila advises in *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* (3.28.21–22): “The devotee should first concentrate his mind on the Lord’s lotus feet, which are adorned with the marks of a thunderbolt, a goad, a banner, and a lotus. The splendor of their beautiful ruby nails resembles the orbit of the moon and dispels the thick gloom of one’s heart. “The blessed Lord Siva becomes all the more blessed by bearing on his head the holy waters of the Ganges, which has its source in the water that washed the Lord’s lotus feet. The Lord’s feet act like thunderbolts hurled to shatter the mountain of sin stored in the mind of the meditating devotee. One should therefore meditate on the lotus feet of the Lord for a long time.” Kṛṣṇa’s feet have auspicious markings. According to the scriptures, the marks on Kṛṣṇa’s right foot include a lotus, a flag, a disc, an umbrella, four swastikas, a barley corn, a goad, and a thunderbolt. Some of the marks on His left foot are a conch shell, an unstrung bow, a cow’s hoof, a fish, a crescent moon, a triangle, and four water pots. Please write to us at: BTG, P.O. Box 430, Alachua, FL 32616, USA. Email: [email protected]. Replies to the letters were written by Kṛṣṇa-krpa Dāsa. *Correction* The chart accompanying my article *Mahārāja Prataparudra: Humble Servant in Kingly Dress,* in the July/August issue, was mistakenly titled “Suryavamsi Dynasty.” That’s the way it was titled in the historical reference where I found it. But it is unlikely that this is Suryavamsa, which should be a seminal lineage. The list includes Afghans (Muslims) and others who appear to be of a different blood line. I feel confident that the list shows kings in the line of Prataparudra, both before and after him. But I don’t think the line can legitimately be called the Suryavamsa. I apologize for the error. Satyaraja Dāsa Founder’s Lecture: Worshipable by EVERYONE *Nairobi—October 26, 1975* Everyone bows before the power of God, some willingly, some by force. by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda Founder-*Ācārya* of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness > apicya-darsanam sasvat > sarva-loka-namaskrtam > santam vayasi kaisore > bhrtyanugraha-kataram The Lord is eternally very beautiful, and He is worshipable by all the inhabitants of every planet. He is ever youthful and always eager to bestow His blessing upon His devotees. —*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 3.28.17 THIS WORD IS very important: *bhrtyanugraha-kataram. Anugraha* means favor. For example, the father wants to favor the son always. “May my son become very competent to take all my favors.” That is a father’s wish. Every father, even in this material world, and even if he is a very big man, a great man, his desire is “Let my son become bigger than me.” Is that not what we see practically? Kṛṣṇa says, *aham bija-pradah pita:* “I am the original father.” This is not our concoction or simply a conception. No. It is a fact. Kṛṣṇa says, > sarva-yonisu kaunteya > murtayah sambhavanti yah > tasam brahma mahad yonir > aham bija-pradah pita “It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kunti, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.” [*Bhagavad-gītā* 14.4] “I am the seed-giving father of all living entities.” It doesn’t matter which form. He does not say, “I am the father only of the white race and not of the black race.” He makes no such distinction. White, black, European, American, poor, rich, bird, beast, human being—He is always ready to bestow favor as the original father. That is God. Therefore this very word is used, *bhrtyanugraha-kataram:* “eager to bestow favor upon His servant.” “How will this rascal give up his engagement in matter and come to me and take all My favors?” This is God’s desire. And we are so obstinate. We want to take some favor from this minister, that minister, this person, that person. But that will be a failure. Kṛṣṇa says, *suhrdam sarva-bhutanam:* “I am the friend of everyone.” And here the word is *bhrtyanugraha-kataram.* He’s very, very eager to give all His favors, and still people are not becoming Kṛṣṇa conscious. Just see what rascals they are! We say that anyone who is not Kṛṣṇa conscious is a rascal. Is he not a rascal? Kṛṣṇa claims, “I am the seed-giving father of everyone.” *Sarva-yonisu kaunteya:* “in all species of life.” He does not make any discrimination, saying, “I am the seed-giving father only of this class of men or only of the human beings.” No. He says, *sarva-yonisu. Yoni* means “form.” You each have a different form, but that form doesn’t matter. Form is external. Internally we are all the same, as spirit soul. Therefore we are now seeing a new thing in the history of the world, that the Africans and Indians and Americans and Europeans are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and dancing. Don’t be rascals and fools by not understanding the potency of the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra*. If you become a rascal and a fool, if you do not understand, then you are like an animal. Here is a practical example. How has it become possible that the white Americans, Europeans, and other colors, and the black Africans have forgotten everything? When they chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and dance, do they remember that “I am African,” “I am American,” “I am Indian”? No. *Transcendentally Situated* This is the *brahma-bhutah* stage, when one is transcendentally situated. It is practical realization, not “I am Brahman. I am the same God.” Rascals who think this way have spoiled the whole thing. Here is the real *brahma-bhutah* stage—when you forget your material identification and become one in connection with Kṛṣṇa, thinking, “We are all devotees, servants of Kṛṣṇa. Let us enjoy, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and dance.” That is the *brahma-bhutah* stage, not smoking a cigarette and claiming that one has attained *brahma-bhutah*. He is cigarette-*bhutah. Bhuta* and cigarette smoker. How is he *brahma-bhutah*? Rascals speak like that. “I am Brahman.” He is doing all nonsense, and he has become Brahman. He is Brahman—everyone is Brahman—but there is no realization. Nor do they know the method of realization. Everyone is Brahman. There is no doubt about it, because we are all minute parts of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is Brahman, or Parabrahman, and we are minute particles of Brahman. There is no doubt about it. The gold mine and a small particle of gold are qualitatively one. But the gold mine is different from the gold particle. These rascals do not understand this. The gold particle is claiming to become the gold mine. This is Mayavada teaching. And they are making people atheists. They teach the phrase *so ’ham.* That is a Vedic statement. That’s all right. It means “What God is, I am also the same thing.” But “the same thing” does not mean that I am as powerful as God. No. You are qualitatively the same thing. That’s all right. But if you claim that you are as powerful as Kṛṣṇa, then you are mistaken. When Kṛṣṇa was seven years old He lifted a mountain. At seven years old you cannot lift even seven kilos. So you cannot compare Kṛṣṇa’s potencies with your potency. We must come to the real *brahma-bhutah* platform by giving up our material designations. What are these designations? “I am Hindu,” “I am Muslim,” “I am Christian,” “I am African,” “I am Indian,” “I am European,” “I am a woman,” “I am a man”—so many designations. You have to give these up. “But if I’ll not remain African, then I’ll become Indian?” No, that is also a designation. “I am a Hindu. Should I become a Muslim?” No, that is also a designation. You have to become purified. You have to give up all designations. “I am Hindu,” “I am Muslim,” “I am Christian,” “I am African.” No. No designation. Simply become pure Brahman. Not that “I remain a Christian,” “I remain a Hindu,” “I remain black,” “I am white,” and “I am Brahman.” No, not that. You have to give up your designation. That requires practice. And that practice means this: *param vijayate sri-krsna-sankirtanam* [“All glory to the chanting of Kṛṣṇa’s names.”] Simply by chanting you’ll be purified. *Ceto-darpana-marjanam* [“(Chanting) cleanses the mirror of the heart.”]. Go on chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. And the beginning will be *ceto-darpana-marjanam.* Everyone—each of us living entities—has a heart full of dirty things. That means we are thinking, “I am this, I am that, I am that, I am that.” We have to cleanse these dirty things. “I am European,” “I am American,” “I am Hindu,” “I am Muslim,” “I am this,” “I am that.” These are all dirty things. You have to simply think, “I am an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa” *jivera ‘svarupa’ haya—krsnera ‘nitya-dasa.’* [*Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā* 20.108] When you think like that—“I am an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa”—then all these dirty things will automatically vanish. The *brahma-bhutah* stage is attained as soon as you become a realized soul and think, “My position is that I am an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa.” If one becomes Kṛṣṇa’s servant, then one can really serve everyone else. That is the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Why are we trying to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world? Because we have accepted this principle: “I am Kṛṣṇa’s servant. Kṛṣṇa wants to deliver these rascals from this misconception of life, so let me do something for Kṛṣṇa.” This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And if you actually realize that you are a servant of Kṛṣṇa, then you have to do something on behalf of Kṛṣṇa, what Kṛṣṇa wants. The first-class servant serves the master without the master having to ask. He understands, “Master is now in need of this thing,” and he brings it. He’s a first-class servant because he knows the master wants it. *“Why shall I surrender?”* Kṛṣṇa wanted that “All these rascals may give up their foolish engagements and surrender unto me.”*Sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam* [Bg 18.66]. That was Kṛṣṇa’s last word in the *Bhagavad-gītā.* Kṛṣṇa wants this: “These rascals are suffering in the material condition of life, and still they are such rascals that they do not come to their senses. They want to remain servants of *maya.* So let Me directly say, ‘You rascal, give up all this engagement. Surrender unto Me.’ ” That is Kṛṣṇa. But they will not do it. “Why shall I surrender? I have so many things. I have my nation, I have my family, I have my this and that. Why shall I surrender to You? Give up everything?” Such a rascal cannot be convinced in any way. Everyone in the whole world is the servant of somebody, but he declines to become the servant of Kṛṣṇa. This is the material disease. He will remain the servant of thousands and millions of establishments and persons, but he will not agree to be the servant of Kṛṣṇa. As soon as Kṛṣṇa says, “Give up. Become My servant,” he replies, “No, no. How can I? Why shall I do that?” This is how the materialist thinks. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa came as Kṛṣṇa’s servant—as Caitanya Mahāprabhu. > namo maha-vadanyaya > kṛṣṇa-prema-pradaya te > krsnaya krsna-caitanya- > namne gaura-tvise namah “O most munificent incarnation! You are Kṛṣṇa himself appearing as Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī, and You are widely distributing pure love of Kṛṣṇa. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You. [*Cc Madhya* 19.53]. Rupa Gosvami understood. When he first saw Caitanya Mahāprabhu he offered his respect in this way, *namo maha-vadanyaya:* “the most munificent, charitably disposed incarnation.” Why? *Kṛṣṇa-prema-pradaya te:* “People cannot understand Kṛṣṇa, but You are so merciful You are giving direct love of Kṛṣṇa.” When is there love? Unless I understand you fully—what kind of man you are, what is your position—and you understand me, then there is no possibility of love. People do not understand Kṛṣṇa. So how will they love Kṛṣṇa? It is not possible. *Manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati siddhaye* [Bg 7.3]. Out of many, many millions of persons, somebody may try to become perfect. Most people do not know how to become perfect. They remain like cats and dogs, simply engaged in eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. That’s all. They are cats and dogs. They are not human beings. What is the difference between cats and dogs and human beings? As long as this body is there, we are interested in eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. But that is not our main business. Our main business is to understand God and love Him. That is our main business. > sa vai pumsam paro dharmo > yato bhaktir adhoksaje > ahaituky apratihata > yayatma suprasidati “The supreme occupation [*dharma*] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self.” [*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 1.2.6] This is the business of life. We are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, this, that. But these are all third-class, cheating religions. What is real religion? That which teaches how to love God. That is first-class religion. It doesn’t matter whether it is the Hindu religion, the Muslim religion, or the Christian religion. If it teaches how to become a lover of God, then it is first class. And this love is *ahaituki:* “without any cause.” People love somebody else to get some return. But real love is *ahaituki:* “without any expectation of return.” *Love Without Motive* These European, American, or African boys who have joined this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement have not come here for some material progress. No. They are not poor. They have enough money. Why are they after Kṛṣṇa consciousness, after me? I am not a rich man. Their attraction to Kṛṣṇa consciousness is *ahaituki,* without any motive. “Kṛṣṇa is lovable, worshipable. I shall worship Kṛṣṇa.” That attitude is wanted. *Ahaituki apratihata.* And if you have got the intention that “Kṛṣṇa is my Lord. I must love Kṛṣṇa. I must learn how to love Him,” then *apratihata*—no material condition can check it. Whether you are American or African, black or white, or this or that, nothing can check you. You can go on—if it is motiveless. This is wanted. I am very glad that you are trying to capture what is real Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And this is the only process: > man-mana bhava mad-bhakto > mad-yaji mam namaskuru > mam evaisyasi satyam te > pratijane priyo ‘si me “Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me, and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.” [Bg 18.65] Think always, “Kṛṣṇa is my Lord.” That thinking should always be there. It doesn’t cost anything. If you think, “Here is Kṛṣṇa, and he is My Lord,” what does it cost? And where is the loss? There is no loss, but the gain is enormous if you simply think of Kṛṣṇa. *Man-mana bhava mad-bhaktah.* And who will engage his mind in Kṛṣṇa unless he is a devotee? How do you become a devotee? Simply hear about Kṛṣṇa, chant about Kṛṣṇa. Then you automatically become a devotee. You don’t require any education. Simply sit down and hear about Kṛṣṇa, not other subjects. Visnu or Kṛṣṇa. Even if you do not understand, if you simply hear the chanting you become pious. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the simplest method to make life sublime and superb. And here it is said, *apicya-darsanam sasvat sarva-loka-namaskrtam. Sarva-loka-namaskrtam.* It is not that Kṛṣṇa is worshipable only by the devotees. He is worshipable by the nondevotees also. But how is Kṛṣṇa worshiped by the nondevotees? They do not want to worship Kṛṣṇa, but nature will oblige them to worship Him. How can you escape the laws of nature? Kṛṣṇa will come before you as death, and you will have to worship Him. Kṛṣṇa says, *mrtyuh sarva-haras caham:* “I am all-devouring death.” [Bg 10.34]. If you do not take advantage of worshiping Kṛṣṇa within your lifetime, Kṛṣṇa will come, just as Nrsimhadeva came to Hiranyakasipu: “You rascal, now do you think that you are independent?” Immediately finished, within a second. If you don’t worship Kṛṣṇa during your lifetime, then you will have to worship Him at the time of your death, and he will take away all your possessions. Therefore He is worshipable by everyone, devotee and nondevotee. The devotees take advantage of this life and worship Him, and the rascals, fools, and demons are forced to worship Kṛṣṇa at the time of death. Therefore it is said *sarva-loka-namaskrtam.* You have to worship Him. You cannot escape, you rascal. If you escape, then the time will come—He will take you. He’ll take everything, all your possessions, and nature will give you the body of a dog. Just go on barking for so many years. That is the law of nature. You cannot stop it. It is not possible. You’d better take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and worship as a sane man, as a nice gentleman. Then your life is successful. Thank you very much. ## Karma’s Flawless Justice Though the word “*karma*” is now part of the language of popular culture, few people understand its full implications. *By Caitanya Carana Dāsa* WHY ME! What did I do to deserve this?” cries the outraged person who feels unfairly singled out by cruel providence. Why bad things happen to good people is a question that may haunt us when we see virtuous people victimized by painful reverses in life. The “problem of evil” has been the bane of Western theologians and thinkers for centuries. Simply stated, the problem is, Why does evil exist in the world despite the presence of an almighty God? The Vedic scriptures give a clear understanding of the problem of evil. They explain that evil comes upon us because of our own bad acts. That’s called *karma*. But when our due suffering reaches us, we’ve forgotten the wrongs we did in the past. Hence the indignant outburst, “Why me?” *Karma: Not So Unfamiliar* Ralph walks into his house and sees an ugly burn on his father’s right hand. Shocked, he cries out, “Dad, what happened?” Early one morning, Mrs. Choy calls her family physician. “Doctor, my stomach really hurts.” The doctor promptly asks, “What did you have for dinner last night?” Rahul is having respiratory problems. After examining him, the doctor asks, “At what age did you start smoking?” These simple, everyday incidents imply acceptance of an idea similar to the concept of *karma*. On seeing a particular effect, we want to know its cause. This is what the law of *karma* is about: for every action there is a reaction. The law of *karma* is similar to Newton’s third law, except that it involves, not the physical level, but subtler concepts like higher powers and cosmic justice. Nonetheless, just as Newton’s law is not a belief but a principle of physical science, the law of *karma* is a principle of higher-dimensional science. *The Mystery of the World* Karma is a simple, logical, and satisfactory explanation for suffering, but often our observations don’t seem to confirm it. Corrupt politicians amass fortunes without being punished; criminal rogues live in style as underworld dons; shady businessmen who earn millions illegally are considered the success stories of the times. On the other hand, the upright crusaders of truth are sidelined, the innocent are punished, and the honest languish in poverty. Where is justice? *Reincarnation: The Basis of a Perfect Justice* Reincarnation forms an integral part of the Vedic explanation for the seeming contradictions in *karma*. The first point to understand is that we’re eternal; our life doesn’t begin with birth or end with death. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* that just as a person gives up old and worn out clothes and puts on new ones, we souls give up old and worn out bodies and accept new ones at the time of death. That’s reincarnation. We souls, as the active principle in the body, are responsible for all our good and bad acts. Therefore, we have to reap the fruits, either in this life or in a subsequent one. So an apparently virtuous person suffering greatly is reaping the effects of bad activities performed in this or previous lives. Conversely, a bad person may enjoy temporary prosperity now because of past good acts. An analogy may help clarify the workings of the law of *karma*. In villages, grain is often stored in huge vertical containers; fresh grain is poured into the top, and old stored grain is taken out from the bottom. A farmer may have produced poor quality grain of, say, brand Z for the past four years and stocked it in his container. This year he produces high quality grain of, say, brand A and stores it at the top. He is therefore exasperated when he finds grain of brand Z coming out from the bottom. This illustrates how seemingly innocent people suffer in this life. They’re getting results from earlier acts. *Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?* What makes the workings of *karma* difficult to appreciate is that most people have a karmic record that is neither white nor black, but shades of gray. That mixed record leads to reactions that often appear arbitrary. A question that vexes many when they see bad things happening to good people is, If these people were really so bad in their earlier lives as to deserve a severe reversal in this life, then wouldn’t they have continued with their lower nature from their previous life into this one? If they were sinful in their past lives, how could they have been virtuous in this life for so long? There are several possible answers. We often see even upright people occasionally succumbing to temptation and perpetrating abominable misdeeds. Of course, their virtuous nature rectifies them quickly, but still the fact remains that they did commit a greatly sinful act and are therefore liable for a reaction. So the wrongdoing, like an ugly black spot on their otherwise clean karmic slate, will result in a severe reaction in an otherwise happy future life. Shift this scenario one lifetime backwards and we have the answer to the above question. The harsh affliction coming to a good person may thus be due to an occasional but grave transgression in the previous life. Also, one’s behavior in this life is not determined only by one’s tendencies in the previous life; upbringing and association in this life also play a significant role. So if a person with bad inclinations is born into a good family because of some good *karma*, his congenial upbringing and surroundings may empower him to shed his baggage of sinful propensities. Thus he may become a moral person in this life, but his sins from his previous lives will make him suffer despite his rectified conduct now. Moreover, most sinful desires and tendencies manifest in adolescence, when lust starts making its presence felt. So a child may appear innocent in this life, but may have a very dark *karmic* record in the previous life. And the consequent sinful proclivities, though strong, may remain dormant in seed form in the heart till the teenage years. Owing to the past sins, the seemingly innocent child may even undergo a traumatic victimization, which may appear totally unwarranted from the limited perspective of this life, but which is not undue when seen from the perspective of the total *karmic* account. (This does not, of course, absolve their abusers of guilt. Just because the child is due to suffer does not give the perpetrators the right to take the *karmic* law into their own hands. They too are accountable for their actions and so will have to suffer grievously for victimizing the child.) Thus the principles of reincarnation allow us to view life with a much broader perspective—not from the standpoint of one brief lifetime, which is nothing more than a flash in time, but from the standpoint of eternity. With this broader vision we can understand how each of us souls is alone responsible for our own *karma*. Understanding this universal and infallible system of justice is the basis of lasting peace and real happiness. The writer W. Somerset Maugham got it right when he wrote in *The Razor’s Edge,* “Has it occurred to you that transmigration is at once an explanation and a justification of the evil of the world? If the evils we suffer are the result of sins committed in our past lives, we can bear them with resignation and hope that if in this one we strive towards virtue, our future lives will be less afflicted.” *Ignorance Is No Excuse* Implicit in the above discussion is the idea that certain things are wrong because they’re against God’s rules and that doing them gives bad reactions. But people sometimes ask, “What if I didn’t know they were wrong when I did them? Why should I suffer now for doing what I didn’t know was wrong?” In the court of divine justice, a human being cannot claim innocence on the grounds of ignorance. The laws of nature are impartial and inescapable. Fire is going to burn anyone who puts his hand into it, even an ignorant child. Consider this story: Once a traveler going through a forest saw a light a short distance away. When he reached there, he found, to his pleasant surprise, a magnificent palace. As no one seemed to be around, he ventured inside. He found himself in an elegant hall with furniture, cushions, fans, and other luxuries. He also saw a dining table full of delicacies. Seeing no one around, he ate, relaxed on the sofa under the fan, and had a good time. One doesn’t have to be an expert moralist to figure out that the traveler was not doing the right thing. The amenities were not his to enjoy. Although the owner might not be immediately visible, it was the traveler’s duty to find out about the owner and act according to whatever rules the owner might have formulated for visitors. The owner has every right to punish a trespasser. Similarly the world we live in is like the palace: all our needs—air, water, heat, light, and so on—are provided for. So before using these gifts, every human being must inquire about the maker and the owner of the world—God—and the rules according to which He expects the inhabitants of the world to operate. Action without such basic common sense invites trouble. A human being cannot exploit everything around him, harm others for his own selfish interests, and then claim protection from the law of *karma* on the grounds of ignorance. Moreover, our being ignorant about the laws of *karma* is not accidental or arbitrary; it is a result of past bad acts. We may be born in an environment where we get little or no opportunity or encouragement to know about God, and so we may be ignorant about *karma*. But we may get such a birth because in our previous life we had the chance to hear about God but we didn’t care. Therefore, in response to our past desire to avoid God, we are now born into a situation where we don’t have to hear about him. Still, irrespective of our past acts, God does not want us to be victimized by ignorance. Therefore He gives us scriptures, which are like the manual for life, and He sends His devotees to spread awareness about the scriptural principles. Kṛṣṇa explains in the *Gita* (15.10–11) that the transmigration of the soul under the laws of *karma* is visible for the wise, who see with the vision of scriptural knowledge, but is invisible for the deluded, who insist on seeing with material vision. “Of course I believe in *karma*,” someone may say. “But I don’t bother myself with doubtful sectarian religious concepts like God. I just believe in being good and doing good to others, in living honestly and not harming others. I don’t deserve to be punished.” Here’s another story: Once a gang of thieves robbed a bank and fled to the forest, where their leader turned to the others and spoke with utmost gravity, “We should all be honest, principled gentlemen. So let’s not try to cheat each other, but share this money equally among ourselves.” Obviously, such honesty among thieves has no value. Similarly, we have not created even one of the things in the world we reside in, not even the bodies we live in. The *Īśopaniṣad* (Mantra 1) asserts, “Everything animate and inanimate within the universe is owned and controlled by the Supreme Lord.” So when we neglect God, claim His property as our own, and decide to be “good” among ourselves without even acknowledging God, how are we better than the “honest” thieves? In the eyes of the universal government, we are thieves and will be penalized by the inexorable law of *karma*. Thus goodness without God will not save us from the clutches of karmic reactions. It is important to understand the definition of sin in this connection. Sin is more than just activity that harms others. From the absolute standpoint, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains, “the root of sin is deliberate disobedience of the laws of nature through disregarding the proprietorship of the Lord.” (*Īśopaniṣad,* Mantra 1, Purport) So even goodness without God is sinful. *Beyond Karma* One might correctly conclude at this point, “Okay, I’ll learn all of God’s rules, follow them strictly, and guarantee myself a future with no suffering.” Well, that’s easier said than done. There are so many rules that it’s impossible to not break any of them. For example, Kṛṣṇa doesn’t want us to kill any living being. But just by walking, driving, chewing—living!—we end up killing germs, insects, and other living beings. And even if we manage to live a largely sinless life, we still have to suffer the inevitable miseries of material existence: birth, death, old age, and disease. So what’s the solution? We have to act only for Kṛṣṇa, under the guidance of a genuine spiritual master. That not only frees us from *karmic* reactions, but it gradually awakens our innate love for Kṛṣṇa. We are all His beloved children, and when we learn to love Him we become entitled to live an eternal, enlightened, and joyful life in His abode, the kingdom of God. And that’s the real goal of life, not trying to make ourselves comfortable through repeated births in the material world. Therefore Kṛṣṇa concludes the *Gita* (18.65–66) by urging us to go beyond ordinary good acts to pure devotion and assuring us that we will then not only be saved from all sinful reactions, but will also return to Him to live happily forever. *Caitanya Carana Dāsa is a disciple of His Holiness Rādhānatha Swami. He holds a degree in electronics and telecommunications engineering and serves full-time at ISKCON Pune. He runs a free cyber magazine,* The Spiritual Scientist, *which gives a scientific presentation of Kṛṣṇa conscious philosophy. To receive new issues as they come out, write to [email protected].* ## Śrīla Prabhupāda Speaks Out *Disunited Nations* This conversation between His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda and Dr. Inger, a UNESCO worker, took place in Paris on August 10, 1973. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Suppose I ask the United Nations, as an organization, to explain the purpose of this cosmic manifestation. I am created a man, another is created an elephant, and another is created an ant. Why is this? The sun is rising on time, the moon is rising on time, seasons are changing. What is the purpose behind all this? Dr. Inger: I think the United Nations would be at a loss to tell you. Śrīla Prabhupāda: So, people have become very dull in spite of their so-called education. Dr. Inger: Oh, yes. Education today is merely book knowledge. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Such so-called knowledge is described in the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* as simply a waste of time. Although a person may execute his duties perfectly, if he doesn’t understand the purpose of creation—if he doesn’t awaken his Kṛṣṇa consciousness—then whatever he has done is simply a waste of time. So our point is that the United Nations is only wasting time. Even from the practical point of view, they are unable to accomplish anything. The original idea was to stop war. But there have been so many wars, and they cannot stop them. They call themselves the United Nations, but actually they are becoming disunited more and more. According to the *Bhagavad-gītā,* if they actually want peace they must know that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the supreme enjoyer, *bhokta*, that He is the supreme proprietor, *sarva-loka-mahesvaram,* and that He is the friend of everyone, *suhrdam sarva-bhutanam.* When they know this, Kṛṣṇa says, then there will be peace. Otherwise, their big conferences in big offices will never be successful. Dr. Inger: That means everything belongs to God. That’s the one fact they want to avoid. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes, that is their nonsense. The United Nations is simply an association of the cheaters and the cheated. Someone wants to cheat, and someone is being cheated. That is our opinion. So how can an association of cheaters and cheated do any good for human society? They are cheaters. They do not know how to attain peace, but they are trying for peace in their own way. Therefore they are cheaters. Dr. Inger: Well, many people will say that the only things that matter are those that can be rationally explained. Anything that is beyond reason . . . Śrīla Prabhupāda: But our argument is quite reasonable. Everything in this room is created, is it not? Dr. Inger: Yes. Śrīla Prabhupāda: The table is created, the light is created—everything is created by someone. So how can you deny the fact that someone has created the whole universe? If you say it has come about automatically, that is rascaldom. Someone has created it. But who is that someone? We are not the creators—not the Americans, not the Englishmen. So we can understand that someone else has created this world. And then we have to ask, “Who is the proprietor? Shall I be the proprietor or shall the creator be the proprietor?” Dr. Inger: The creator, of course. Śrīla Prabhupāda: So why are they claiming, “This is my country”? Dr. Inger: Are you saying that the United States, for instance, doesn’t belong to the Americans? Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. It doesn’t belong to them. Yet these rascals are claiming, “This is mine. This is my flag.” Therefore, they are all cheaters. And they are combining and trying to cheat others. The Americans are thinking, “How can I cheat the Russians?” And the Russians are thinking, “How can I cheat the Americans?” Is that civilization—to become cheaters and waste time in so-called conferences? Is that civilization? Dr. Inger: No, not at all. Śrīla Prabhupāda: In America they cheated the Red Indians. They got the land, and now they are claiming, “It is mine.” Well, where did you get this land? You cheated the Red Indians, and you claim it is your land. All over the world this is going on. Napoleon thought, “France is mine.” So, France is there, but where is Napoleon? Where is he living now? In France or in hell or in heaven? There are so many places and so many forms of life. In this body, in this life, I may be working as a nationalist—as a Napoleon or as a Gandhi or as someone fighting in the United Nations. But as soon as this body is finished, I’ll get another body. So the whole duration of my previous life is simply wasted. They are simply wasting time. They don’t have perfect knowledge—simply some utopian ideas. And they are passing as advanced civilization. They should know what the purpose of life is—what our relationship is with this cosmic manifestation. There must be a creator. So who is that creator? What is my relationship with Him? But they are neglecting all these things and still passing as world leaders. Dr. Inger: That’s the worst kind of government. It seems that their standard is just as you’ve said: every nation for itself. Śrīla Prabhupāda: But a human being can get out of this illusion. There is sufficient knowledge, especially in the Vedic literature. So why don’t they take advantage of this knowledge and make their lives successful? That is my proposal. We are spreading this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement only for this purpose. These people are missing the point and unnecessarily wasting their lives in illusion. So we are trying to save them—that is our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. ## Spiritual Places *Hampi—Crown of a Glorious Empire* Mostly in ruins today, this area was the site of scenes from the Ramayana and the jewel of the Vijaynagar kingdom. *By Adbhuta Hari Dāsa* HAMPI IS mentioned in the *Mahābhārata,* the *Ramayana,* and many *Puranas* as Pampa Kshetra or Kishkinda. Located in the Indian state of Karnataka, it was once the seat of the vast, prosperous Vijaynagar empire (A.D. 1336–1565), which included at least the current states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh. In 1565, while under the rule of Ramaraja, the 26-square-kilometer Hampi area was sacked by the combined armies of five neighboring Muslim rulers. The flourishing city of architectural wonders was evacuated, never to fully recover its former glory. *Day One* Govinda Bhakta Dāsa and I started our visit in the early morning on a motorbike from Hospet, ten kilometers southwest of Hampi. On the road to Hampi the first impressive temple we stopped at was a temple built by Krishnadeva Raya (reign: 1509–29) in 1515 to enshrine a Deity of Kṛṣṇa he had brought back from a military campaign in Orissa. The Deity—child Kṛṣṇa holding butter in his right hand—now rests in a government museum in Chennai. Just twenty meters down the road we came upon a twenty-two-foot-tall Lord Narasimha, hewn out of a single boulder during the rule of Krishnadeva Raya. No longer worshiped, Narasimha sits out in the open, nearly everything around him having been destroyed by invaders. He is seated on the coils of Sesa Naga, who rises behind him with seven hoods, which serve as a canopy. To the left is a ten-foot-tall Siva-linga, named Badavi-linga. Traveling up the road we stopped at two Ganesa temples before reaching the top of Hemakuta Hill. From there we had a beautiful view, to the south, of the Kṛṣṇa temple and the Narasimha Deity, and to the north, of the Tungabhadra River, the Hampi Bazaar, and the Virupaksha Temple. The Virupaksha Temple, at the western end of Hampi Bazaar, has a ten-story entry gate, decorated with many sculptures. The main Deity is a self-manifested Siva-linga made of stone. The temple is situated at the feet of Hemakuta Hill, where Lord Siva is said to have performed penance and burnt Kamadeva to ashes. There are also the shrines dedicated to Padmavati, the wife of Lord Siva, and to the Bhuvanesvari, or Laksmi, worshiped by the brothers Harihara and Bukka, who founded Vijaynagar in 1336. The architectural style of the Laksmi shrine indicates that it existed before the Vijaynagar kingdom. In the basement is a shrine where the Deity of Lord Visnu holds a scale to compare the merits of two holy places: Pampa Kshetra wins over Kashi. At noon we witnessed a small ceremony performed by the temple elephant, and then we came out onto Hampi Bazar, about 700 meters long and 30 meters wide. Many Chinese, Arab, and Portuguese merchants came to trade here, where gems were sold in abundance. Domingo Paes, a Portuguese traveler who visited Hampi during the reign of Krishnadeva Raya, described the market: “Broad and beautiful street full of rows of *mantaps* [open pavilions] and beautiful houses with balconies and arcades. On this street live many merchants, and there you will find all sorts of rubies and diamonds and emeralds and pearls and clothes and every other sort of thing there is on earth and that you wish to buy.” The street is now used for the temple Rathayatra, or chariot festival. As we passed through the street, many children approached us selling postcards. There are several restaurants and many shops selling fruit, books, cloth, ornaments, and religious supplies. We then climb the steep path over rocks to the top of Matanga Hill and the Durga temple, which also contains a black stone image of Visnu as Parasurama. From the roof of the temple the view was breathtaking and worth the climb in the hot sun. Clearly visible were the royal complex, Hampi Bazar, the Tungabadra River, the Vitthala Temple, Kishkinda, and emerald rice fields with innumerable palm and banana trees. This hill is mentioned in the *Ramayana* as Rishyamukha Mountain. Stepping carefully, we descended to the Acyutaraya Temple (built by King Acyutaraya), a large temple situated in a double-wall enclosure with great gateways. The doorways are carved with the symbols of Lord Visnu and small figures of Kṛṣṇa. From there we went towards the Tungabhadra River, passing through a pillared hall and reaching the Varaha Temple, on whose inner walls is carved the boar incarnation of Lord Visnu standing before a drawn sword, with the sun and moon represented above the figure. This was the crest of the Vijaynagar kings. As we continued toward the Tungabhadra River, we came to the ruins of an old bridge. From there we could see Kishkinda on the other side of the river, as well as the mountain on which Hanuman was born. Following the river upstream, we arrived in front of Sugriva’s cave, clearly marked with red and white vertical lines. Here the monkey king Sugriva kept jewels that Sita had dropped while being carried away by Ravana. Near Sugriva’s cave is the Kodanda Rama Temple (“bow-bearing Rama”), containing beautiful Deities of Sita-Rama, Laksmana, and Hanuman carved in black stone. Above the temple, in a cave, is a temple of Hanuman called the Yantrodara Anjaneya Temple. The very kind priest Shamacar, who daily comes from a nearby village to perform the worship of Hanuman, told us that at this place the *acarya* Vyasa Tirtha was meditating, and after eleven days Hanuman appeared to him. He requested Vyasa Tirtha to install him on the rock in a bas-relief form because this was the rock where he had first seen Lord Rama and Laksmana sitting. The place where he first met them is twenty meters below the hill, in a place called Chakra Tirtha, now covered by the Tungabhadra River. Following the stone-paved pathway winding among huge rocks by the edge of the river, we returned to Hampi Bazaar. *Day Two* The next day we used a motorbike to visit the Malayavanta Raghunatha Temple, on Malayavanta Hill on the road to Kampli. At this place Rama and Laksmana spent four months of the rainy season after installing Sugriva on the throne. In the main temple, Deities of Rama and Laksmana are sitting, Sita is standing next to Them, and a kneeling Hanuman is carved on a boulder on Their right side. The priest of the temple told us that these are the only Deities of Rama and Laksmana in a sitting posture; they’re worrying about the kidnapped Sita. We drove down the hill and came to Madhuvan. After finding Sita, the monkeys stopped here and enjoyed royal gardens full of honey and fruit. Today there is a small Hanuman temple here. The priests invited us for lunch, so we gladly accepted, enjoying delicacies from the Madhuvan garden. From Madhuvan we rode to the famous Vitthala Temple, a most splendid building where every pillar has its own musical sound. The detail of the temple carvings is fascinating. The temple construction started during the reign of Krishnadeva Raya, but it was never finished, due to the destruction of Hampi. In front of the temple is a hall with numerous pillars carved with scenes from the *Ramayana.* Awed by the beautiful pillars, we next drove to the Tungabhadra River and crossed it in round basket boats. While Hampi is a popular tourist destination, few cross the river, because the greatness of the temples on the other side is the devotion to the Deities rather than the architecture, which most tourists have come to see. After crossing a bridge we came to Anegundi village, the original Kishkinda. Worship is still going on in the old Ranganatha Temple in the village. Nearby is the *samadhi* (memorial tomb) of Narahari Tirtha, a direct disciple of Madhvacarya. Driving through Kishkinda we came to *Pampa* Lake, filled with lotus flowers. (From *Pampa* the word *Hampi* was derived.) It is mentioned in the *Caitanya-caritāmṛta* (*Madhya* 9.316) that Caitanya Mahāprabhu bathed in *Pampa* Lake. Here Rama and Laksmana met Shabari, an old woman performing penance. She offered them delicious fruit and directed them towards Rishyamukha Mountain. On the hill above *Pampa* Lake is a cave where Shabari lived and the *Pampa* Ambika temple. Five minutes’ drive from Pampa, on the highest hill of Kishkinda, is Hanuman’s birthplace. To reach the top of the hill we had to climb six hundred steps. On the way we visited Kesharitirtha, a cave where Keshari, Hanuman’s father, lived. In the temple the Deity of Hanuman is carved in a huge boulder and painted red. In the opposite shrine is a Deity of Anjana, Hanuman’s mother. A few sages stay on the top of the hill and perform the worship. Praying for the blessings of Hanuman, we descended the hill. Before it got dark, we again crossed the river in a small basket boat and drove back to Hospet. *Day Three* On the third day we visited the royal enclosure, where we saw ruins suggestive of the greatness of the Vijaynagara empire. Among the many temples the most splendid is the Hazara Rama Temple. Surrounded by a wall and carefully maintained garden, the temple contains a large number of *Ramayana* bas-reliefs carved in great detail. Under the rule of Krishnadeva Raya, the Vijaynagara empire reached the zenith of its power. He was a disciple of Vyasa Tirtha in the Madhvacayra disciplic succession and ruled in the name of his *guru* and Kṛṣṇa. He was a poet, and he patronized literature and the building of temples. Historical records describe him as an expert administrator and able, brave statesman who led his armies in person. He had a noble presence, a gentle and generous character, attractive manners, and a strong influence over those around him. Having seen just a spark of the original Kishkinda and Vijaynagara empires, we could only lament for not being able to witness their full splendor under the reigns of the saintly kings Sugriva and Krishnadeva Raya. They ruled in the name of the Supreme Lord—Rama and Kṛṣṇa—perfectly satisfying their citizens materially and spiritually in this unique and charming place. *Adbhuta Hari Dāsa joined ISKCON in 1994 in Croatia.* BTG *has run several of his articles on Indian holy places, as well as one on Angkor Wat.* ## Rādhā’s Cuisine - A Restaurateur’s Dream *“A few chance encounters with devotees of Kṛṣṇa made him think twice about his course in life—and about the type of courses he was serving in his restaurants.”* *By Satyaraja Dāsa* IT WOULD NOT be a stretch to say that Rādhārāṇī—Lord Kṛṣṇa’s eternal consort, the essence of spiritual energy, the original goddess—tangibly manifested in New York City for the first time when Śrīla Prabhupāda opened the first Hare Kṛṣṇa temple at 26 Second Avenue on the Lower East Side in 1966. Similarly, it would not be inappropriate to say that Śrī Rādhā now lives only a few blocks away. This time She greets us in the form of a trendy East Village restaurant—in the artsy, up-and-coming area now associated with the hip youth culture of New York. Her presence here is largely the work of one devotee, Kaliya Kṛṣṇa Dāsa. His story begins in 1970, when he was born to a Muslim father and a Greek Orthodox mother in Lebanon. “We would go to the mosque on Friday,” he says with a smile, “and church on Sundays. This pluralistic way of life served me well when I came to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. I could really appreciate its non-sectarianism.” Due to his father’s work as an IBM representative for the Middle East, the family moved much, bringing young Khalil, as he was then known, to Athens, Paris, London, and elsewhere. As a result, he became something of a polyglot, with fluency in Arabic, French, Spanish, Greek, and English. Not that he was a scholar, but he learned the languages as a matter of course. He is a jovial, down-to-earth, friendly sort, with an affable personality and a natural interest in people. All of this was to come in handy when, living in New York City, he decided to invest in a restaurant with some high school friends and acquaintances. With little money and a lot of gumption, the young entrepreneurs chose the posh SoHo/West Village district, where wealthy trendsetters live and visit from around the world. This was their first attempt, and that’s how the now historic Le Zoo restaurant was born—a high-end, classy enterprise that pioneered the mid-nineties restaurant scene in lower Manhattan. Success led to the opening of a second project in 1997—the hip Belgian brasserie Waterloo. Both places called for a cosmopolitan manager who could accommodate a wide variety of customers—people from various quarters of the world, speaking many tongues. Khalil was the man for the job. *Changing Course* His exciting life of clubs and restaurants was soon to get even more exciting, but in a different way. A few chance encounters with devotees of Kṛṣṇa made him think twice about his course in life—and about the type of courses he was serving in his restaurants. Meat and liquor were a staple in places like these, but Khalil was developing a spiritual sensibility, and he longed to transform his establishments into more of a mode-of-goodness kind of venue, with vegetarian options and limitations on the liquor. He tolerated the harsh reactions of his business partners and customers. Soon he met Romapada Swami, whom he accepted as his spiritual master, and the die was cast. He *needed* to change the essential structure of his business, or to give it up altogether. A developing friendship with Yajna Purusa Dāsa, one of New York’s most active Hare Kṛṣṇa preachers, instilled in Khalil, now Kaliya Kṛṣṇa Dāsa, a desire to morph his restaurants into *prasādam* establishments. He now wanted to emphasize healthy vegetarian cuisine, but, more important, he wanted to serve customers food first offered to Kṛṣṇa. Since only *prasādam* would truly help the diners of New York, he would never again serve anything else. “*Prasadam* will purify all who eat it because it’s spiritually identical to Kṛṣṇa,” says Kaliya. “It’s pure spirit. New Yorkers can sure use that kind of purification—great-tasting food that takes them to the spiritual world. I wanted to make sure that’s exactly what they’d get.” But first, things really had to change, and when his partners revealed their plan to go in the opposite direction—to change the restaurants into nightclubs, emphasizing the three d’s of “dancing and drinking in a dark atmosphere”—he decided it was time to get out. He sold them his share of the pie and settled down to the life of a *brahmacari* at the Brooklyn Hare Kṛṣṇa temple. This life was not for him, however, and he soon met with Romapada Swami, Yajna Purusa, and other local devotees to talk about opening a unique *prasādam* restaurant on *New York*’s trendy Lower East Side. He hit the streets, looking for just the right location. His contacts from previous endeavors bore fruit. He eventually found the ideal spot, and he used the last of his savings, going into debt, to hire contractors, carpenters, painters—you name it—to bring the place up to speed. His experience in the restaurant business paid off, not only in these initial stages, which he oversaw every step of the way, but when it finally opened: The major city newspapers and magazines—from *New York* magazine to the *New York* Times—covered the story as soon as the buzz reached their ears. They knew of Khalil Houri from his two successful restaurants and were eager to be the first to explore his third, though this, obviously, was different from the others. Rādhā Vegetarian Restaurant, his latest venture, draws fully on his many-faceted life, including his Greek Lebanese origin, his experience living in India and amongst Hare Kṛṣṇa devotees, and his French education in New York City. Nestled in the heart of Manhattan’s famous Ludlow Street, this forty-seat restaurant is a multicultural extravaganza of organic vegetarian cuisine, boasting a menu that is eighty-five percent vegan. This is important among New York’s hip youth, who are often extreme in their vegetarianism. That being said, the preps are mouth-wateringly delicious. Favorites include “Asian Temptation,” a deep bowl of stir-fried vegetables with grilled tempeh (a protein-rich soy product that simulates the taste of meat), topped with sweet & sour Teriyaki sauce, served with soba buckwheat noodles or organic brown rice. Or there is “Mediterranean Delight,” a spaghetti pasta with savory *kofta* balls made of delicately spiced grated cauliflower topped with homemade marinara sauce. The distinguishing quality of Rādhā restaurant, however, is the *prasādam* factor: Each day all of the sumptuous dishes are lovingly offered to Kṛṣṇa by Apurva Dāsa, a cook renowned throughout ISKCON as a chef supreme. *The Right Cook for the Job* Apurva joined the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement in 1971 and has been cooking in award-winning ISKCON restaurants ever since. Yajna called and asked if he’d be interested in working in New York with Kaliya’s new restaurant. Realizing that there hasn’t been an ISKCON restaurant in the Big Apple for almost twenty-five years, he quickly agreed. As Kaliya and Yajna conveyed their plan, Apurva recalled something an early devotee once told him—that Śrīla Prabhupāda had envisioned New York City being “conquered” by *prasādam* distribution. In addition, there was an element of serendipity. Apurva had recently closed his restaurant in North Carolina. So he was free to devote himself to this one. “When I saw how Kaliya personally worked from morning to night to ready the place,” says Apurva, “I knew this would be a success. This is the kind of dedication needed to make a New York restaurant happen.” Apurva was also impressed with the neighborhood and the tasteful decor of the place, lovingly arranged and designed by Kaliya. “When I say that the ambiance and decor are awesome, the energy of the place, everything first class, I mean it. When I first walked in, I knew I was home. I just *had* to be part of this. I was also enlivened by the up-and-coming neighborhood.” When you walk in, you see Śrī Rādhā’s picture on the wall, beautifully framed and in a modern 3D format. If you pick up the menu, you read, right on the cover: “Śrī Rādhā is known as the Queen of Love and Devotion. She is wonderfully fragrant and enchantingly beautiful. Her bodily hue is golden, as glorious as the full moon. She is the personification of compassion and kindness to all living beings.” If that doesn’t tempt you to taste Her cooking, nothing will. *Satyaraja Dāsa, a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, is a BTG associate editor. He has written over twenty books. He lives with his wife and daughter near New York City.* ## Kṛṣṇa’s Dance of Divine Love *Śrīla Prabhupāda’s disciple presents to the academic world the Gaudiya Vaisnava understanding of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s most intimate pastime.* *By Krishna Kanta Dasi* A SOCIETY CAN be judged by the kind of education it deems valuable. In ancient Vedic times, the intellectual class was composed of *brahmanas,* or those whose scholarship was dedicated to understanding the supreme reality, Brahman. Today’s intellectual class prides itself on teaching secular knowledge. And while most universities offer courses on religion, they tend to be slanted and incomplete. Śrīla Prabhupāda taught that the ideal university would educate students in knowledge of the divinity. He wrote, “Presently many people are interested in receiving degrees from big universities, but education without God consciousness is simply an expansion of *maya’s* influence. Because knowledge is taken away by illusion, the universities are simply presenting impediments on the path of God consciousness.” (*Teachings of Lord Kapila,* Chapter 12) Prabhupāda wanted to continue the scholarly diffusion of the philosophy of *bhakti* begun by his predecessors, especially Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura and Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura. So Prabhupāda encouraged some of his disciples to present Kṛṣṇa consciousness in universities and correct misconstrued perspectives of God. Recently, I interviewed Prabhupāda’s disciple Garuda Dāsa (known in the academic arena as Dr. Graham Schweig), who holds a doctorate from Harvard University in comparative religion and has been a professor of world religions specializing in Indic studies, teaching both college and graduate students in the university setting. With the academic training of a scholar and the devotional vision of a *bhakta,* he presents the real Kṛṣṇa to the intellectual world. His recently released book, *Dance of Divine Love: The Rasa Lila of Krishna from the Bhagavata Purana* (published by Princeton University Press), tackles a subject that scholars have often misunderstood, as the erotic tone of the work can appear to introduce an unethical element. Or scholars simply have not appreciated its depth and rich theological presentation. I asked Garuda Dāsa how he had come to write about the *rasa-līlā,* the story of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s sacred dance with the cowherd maidens of Vraja, known as the *gopis.* “When proposing a dissertation topic for my doctoral work at Harvard,” he told me, “it was never my plan to concentrate on this most sacred and very often misunderstood theme. After I’d spent a year pursuing several topics, my doctoral advisor guided me to focus on the meaning of the *rasa-līlā* for the Caitanya school of Vaisnavism, since the *rasa-līlā* had received very little scholarly treatment despite its fame.” Presenting the *rasa-*līlā** is a challenge because this *līlā* (pastime) of Kṛṣṇa’s reveals God’s most intimate exchanges with his devotees. Furthermore, Kṛṣṇa’s role in the *rasa-*līlā** could be viewed as immoral to the uninformed. In the Introduction to his book, Garuda Dāsa summarizes the five chapters of *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* that describe the *rasa-līlā:* One special evening, the rising moon reached its fullness with a resplendent glow. Its reddish rays lit up the forest as night-blooming lotus flowers began to unfold. The forest during those nights was decorated profusely with delicate starlike jasmine flowers, resembling the flowing dark hair of goddesses adorned with flower blossoms. So rapturous was this setting that the supreme Lord himself, as Krishna, the eternally youthful cowherd, was compelled to play captivating music on his flute. Moved by this beauteous scene, Krishna was inspired toward love. Upon hearing the alluring flute music, the cowherd maidens, known as the Gopis, who were already in love with Krishna, abruptly left their homes, families and domestic duties. They ran off to join him in the moonlit forest. Krishna and the Gopis met and played on the banks of the Yamuna River. When the maidens became proud of his loving attention, however, their beloved Lord suddenly vanished from their sight. The Gopis searched everywhere for Krishna. Discovering that he had run off with one special maiden, they soon found that she too had been deserted by him. As darkness engulfed the forest, the cowherd maidens gave up their search, singing sweet songs of hope and despair, longing for his return. Then Krishna cleverly reappeared and spoke to them on the nature of love. The story culminates in the commencement of the Rasa dance. The Gopis link arms together, forming a great circle. By divine arrangement, Krishna dances with every cowherd maiden at once, yet each one thinks she is dancing with him alone. Supreme love has now reached its perfect fulfillment and expression through joyous dancing and singing long into the night, in the divine circle of the Rasa. Retiring from the vigorous dancing, Krishna and the Gopis refresh themselves by bathing in the river. Then reluctantly, the cowherd maidens return to their homes. The *rasa-līlā* event is spiritual, and the exchanges between God himself as Kṛṣṇa and those closest to him constitute a pure spiritual love. To ensure that his approach to this sacred text would be authoritative, Garuda Dāsa drew exclusively from the works of great saints in the disciplic succession of Lord Caitanya. He wanted to present readers with an enchanting and detailed picture of what Lord Kṛṣṇa, the reservoir of all pleasure, finds most pleasurable. To me, his translations and illuminations on the Supreme Lord’s most intimate pastimes succeed in delivering the reader into those realms where pure love abounds. Garuda Dāsa said, “I begin by acquainting the reader with sacred love stories across cultures and their function in expressing passionate love for God. The Song of Solomon has inspired followers of the Jewish and Christian mystical traditions in the West to open their hearts to the intimate dimensions of God. Similarly, the Puranic literature contains the *rasa-līlā,* which Śrīla Visvanatha Cakravarti Ṭhākura, a saintly philosopher of the tradition, has called ‘the crown jewel of all acts of God.’ “Within such sacred love stories, religious traditions emphasize a specific phase of divine love as a model for their worship. I point out that eight of these phases of supreme love are exhibited by the *gopis:* awakening, anticipation, meeting, conflict, separation, loss, reunion, and rejoicing in the triumph of love. For Caitanya Vaisnavas the spiritual phase most honored is that of separation and loss, or *vipralambha-seva,* which finds its voice in the *Gopi Gita* (‘Song of the Gopis’), in the central act of the *rasa-līlā.* “Another saintly philosopher, Jiva Gosvami, presents insights into the **gopis*’* intense feelings of separation for Kṛṣṇa that are wonderfully illuminating to me. He wrote, for example, that the purpose of Kṛṣṇa’s separation from the *gopis* is to increase their love for Him. The verses of the *Gopi Gita* receive the most attention from Lord Caitanya’s followers, as they depict *viraha bhakti,* or the soul’s love in separation from God and the divine madness that characterizes it. This madness of the cowherd maidens, as described in the *Bhagavatam,* in turn becomes the model for Lord Caitanya, whose life is famous for his ecstatic madness in devotion to Kṛṣṇa.” *Poetic Translation* Garuda Dāsa spoke of the great challenges of translating this centerpiece of the Bhagavatam’s tenth book, what his former teacher of Sanskrit at Harvard called “the most enchanting poem ever written.” “I discovered that the *rasa-līlā* Sanskrit texts not only possess some of the ornaments of beautiful Sanskrit poetry (*kavya*), but in many ways also conform to the conventions of classical Sanskrit drama (*natya*). For example, the very first verse possesses many elements from these traditions, and I labored long over its translation: Even the Beloved Lord, seeing those nights in autumn filled with blooming jasmine flowers, Turned His mind toward love’s delights, fully taking refuge in Yogamaya’s illusive powers. “Here I attempt to convey some of the dramatic poetic beauty of the original while maintaining a very literal translation. Many pages of the book have been devoted to appreciating the literary and theological power of this first verse.” The erotic flavor of the *rasa-*līlā** has both allured and intimidated thinkers throughout history. The irresistible lure lies in the **gopis*’* spontaneous and selfless outpourings of love for Kṛṣṇa. The *gopis* are the perfect models for all who are progressing on the path of *bhakti-yoga,* through which souls attain God through devotional love. I asked Garuda Dāsa to tell me how this esoteric *līlā* is relevant to the modern-day Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. “Although the **rasa*-līlā* represents the loftiest vision of supreme love that the Vaisnava traditions possess,” he replied, “it is surprisingly relevant to essential practices in an aspirant’s life of devotion. For example, the *maha-*mantra**—the widely known sacred thirty-two syllable *mantra* of *Hare* *Kṛṣṇa*, *Hare* *Kṛṣṇa*, *Kṛṣṇa* *Kṛṣṇa*, *Hare* *Hare*/ *Hare* *Rama*, *Hare* *Rama*, *Rama* *Rama*, *Hare* *Hare*—is the sonic ‘reenactment’ of the *rasa* dance. As I suggest in the book, ‘The patterned movement of eight pairs of feminine [*Hare*] and masculine [*Kṛṣṇa* and *Rama*] names of the divine can be observed in the *mantra*. . . . When practitioners recite the *mantra* over and over, the divine names form a circular pattern imitative of the exchange between the feminine and masculine partners in the Rasa dance [the many cowherd maidens with the many duplicated *Kṛṣṇa*s].’ And I continue: ‘The *mantra* begins and ends with feminine names, enclosing the masculine names, just as the Gopis engulf Krishna when they encircle him during the commencement of the Rasa dance.’ “Other themes I discuss are also relevant to the modern-day Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, such as ‘Devotional Yoga Transcends Death,’ ‘Ethical Boundaries and Boundless Love,’ and the distinction between worldly love and passionate love for God in the section called ‘The Vision of Devotional Love.’ “One of the major messages of the text is that pride and love don’t mix. When souls become tainted by pride, God disappears. When we place ourselves as somehow greater than others, when we compare ourselves to others and judge them, God disappears from us, as He does with the *gopis* by the end of the first chapter of the *rasa* story. This message on pride is again emphasized in the second chapter when Kṛṣṇa deserts His favorite *gopi,* identified as Rādhā, when She too exhibits pride. Although the *gopis*’ love for Kṛṣṇa is exalted, this pride is exhibited as a lesson for all souls striving for pure love of God. The message here is very clear: There is simply no room for pride in pure, unremitting selfless love.” *Religious Unity* My talks with Garuda Dāsa can remind us of the interreligious tensions that plague the world. Members of the world’s religious traditions exclude God when they let pride interfere with pure love and understanding and make exclusive claims on divine truth, condemning all others. Contrary to such a parochial view, Śrīla Prabhupāda delighted in how ISKCON’s membership consists of people coming from all religious traditions, uniting together to love God: “We can select our own religion and be Hindu, Moslem, Buddhist, Christian, or whatever, as long as we know the real purpose of religion. Indeed, *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* does not recommend that we give up our present religion, but it does hint at the purpose of religion. That purpose is love of Godhead, and that religion which teaches us best how to love the Supreme Lord is the best religion.” (*Elevation to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness*) At the end of the book, Garuda Dāsa leaves his readers with the same profound understanding of theology that Śrīla Prabhupāda describes here. While *Dance of Divine Love* presents the *rasa-līlā* as an actually occurring transcendent exchange between Kṛṣṇa and His most intimate devotees, those outside of the Vaisnava tradition could at the very least see the *rasa-līlā* as speaking to them as a compelling symbol of genuine religious pluralism. ”The divine circle of the Rasa dance,” Garuda writes, “could be seen as symbolizing a genuine religious pluralism in which human beings of different faiths can love God . . . in joyous harmony, and individually, as each soul receives God’s singular and superlative attention. . . . Thus, it is only after devoted souls come together to surround the divinity in a great circle, their arms linked in affectionate fellowship, that the Deity agrees to connect personally with each soul—implying that God is indebted toward those who bond with other souls for the purpose of honoring, serving, and loving him.” Garuda Das adds to this by expressing the following: “Certainly the world could learn something very valuable from the *rasa-līlā:* how to have that exclusive love and grace from God for which Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike so often long, and yet simultaneously achieve a world unity for which Eastern traditions so often long. The world is desperately in need of this blend of both inclusivistic and exclusivistic religious stances.” Garuda Dāsa is confident that this message about love, presented in the **rasa-līlā*’s* exalted vision of the supreme, can be received by intellectuals and others in the Western world. The dance with God in the *rasa-līlā* is open to all souls who qualify themselves. Furthermore, Garuda Dāsa writes, there’s help: “The hearts of those who are already a part of the dance, for whom passionate and exclusive intimacy with God is already attained, melt with compassion for those who have not yet arrived, and yearn for all to delight in the dance of divine love.” From these words it is evident that saintly souls, great devotees, hold the key for the rest of us to enter these lofty regions of supreme love. I think it’s safe to say that the book *Dance of Divine Love*, with its careful portrayal of God’s confidential exchanges, allows scholars as well as others to enter into an understanding of the true meanings and messages of the *rasa-līlā,* while also assisting in fulfilling the desires of those who yearn for the spiritual progress of all souls. *Krishna Kanta Dasi joined ISKCON in 1988 and now lives in Alachua, Florida, with her husband and two sons.* ## Hare Kṛṣṇa People *There’s No Place Like Home* Raised in the early days of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, Balarāma Dāsa took a long detour before returning to the life he knew was right. *By Arcana Siddhi Devī Dāsī* LIKE MANY small children, Balarāma Dāsa was very active and adventurous. Once, he disappeared from the San Francisco ISKCON temple. His mother and father, Sasikala Devī Dāsī and Vatsala Dāsa, frantically searched for their lost boy, and after some time found him in a local tavern. With a shaved head, *tilaka* on his forehead, and wearing a *dhoti*, Balarāma sat on a bar stool comfortably conversing with the early-morning customers. He was a confident child who made friends easily with both devotees and nondevotees. He had a particular affinity and attraction for Jayananda Dāsa,* who reciprocated with his affection. Now thirty-four, Balarāma fondly recalls his special moments with Jayananda. With a broad grin on his face, Balarāma narrates a time at Rathayatra when Jayananda summoned him onto the stage. He lifted Balarāma over his head and onto his shoulders and started to dance. In sheer delight, Balarāma bounced around on Jayananda’s tall frame, chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Balarāma’s memories of his early childhood include the good fortune of seeing Śrīla Prabhupāda. Aside from the fun of receiving special sweets directly from Prabhupāda hand, Balarāma also recalls a time in Dallas when he accidentally stepped on Prabhupāda’s foot. Prabhupāda responded by lightly tapping Balarāma with his cane. And then in an instructive moment to all the devotees present, Prabhupāda, with folded hands, apologized to little Balarāma, saying he should not have hit him. *A Long Detour* Like many of the first children raised in the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, Balarāma was subjected to the mistakes and immaturity of young and inexperienced adults in charge of the children as parents, teachers, and administrators. [See the sidebar “Strengthening ISKCON’s Families.”] These children were part of both the unprecedented enthusiasm of the early days and the lack of qualified caretakers. As a result many of these children took a major detour off the spiritual path during adolescence. Balarāma was not an exception. His faith in Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa’s devotees became covered, and he plunged into the depths of materialistic life. His gave up his lifelong habit of listening to tapes of stories from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s book *Kṛṣṇa,* along with chanting and dancing before the Lord in the temple. For many years Balarāma lived without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, working and trying to enjoy the pleasures offered by the material energy. But as explained in the *Bhagavada-gita,* the pleasure from satisfying our senses seems wonderful in the beginning but later becomes stale and tasteless, leaving us feeling empty and miserable. One who has felt the joy of serving Kṛṣṇa and his devotees will know that material life has little to offer. At thirty years old, and looking for a way out of the rat race, Balarāma left a lucrative woodworking job in Los Angeles and moved to Hawaii. At first he found solace in the ocean on a surfboard. Rising at 4:00 AM, he communed with nature and felt affection for God’s creation. Before long he found himself chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa to the seals, dolphins, and pelicans. That familiar sound vibration enlivened Balarāma, and he was soon chanting on beads again and venturing to the temple. One particular morning, Balarāma went to the beach, and despite signs warning people to stay out of the water, he went in with his surfboard. The waves were fierce. Trying to catch the surf, Balarāma misjudged his timing. A breaker came down on him with so much force that it snapped his surfboard in two. Held under water, he thought he was going to drown. At that instant he realized his mortality. This defining moment helped to solidify his renewed commitment to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Balarāma increased his spiritual practices, attending the temple programs and chanting a minimum of seventeen rounds on his beads each day, a practice he has kept up. The extra rounds were (and still are) Balarāma’s effort to make up for the years when he didn’t chant. Now Balarāma does regular service at the Honolulu temple. He values working hard in devotional service and has helped renovate the temple. And he’s listening to tapes from the book *Kṛṣṇa* again. One of his favorites tells of Sudama Vipra. This story of a poor *brahmana’s* going to visit Lord *Kṛṣṇa*, his friend and former classmate, brings tears to Balarāma’s eyes as he contemplates the depth of Sudama’s surrendered attitude and his love for *Kṛṣṇa*. Balarāma aspires for such devotion. Looking back on his past, Balarāma is grateful for everything that has happened in his life. Free of the anger he carried through adolescence, he can see how all the pieces of his life brought him to where he is today, back home with Śrīla Prabhupāda and the devotees. He is indebted to his parents for being committed devotees. Even during his most difficult times, floundering in the material energy, his parents continued to have faith in his dormant Kṛṣṇa conscious nature. Balarāma has been deeply touched by the kindness he has received from devotees who have helped him to return to the spiritual path. He feels particularly grateful to his fiancī, Visakha Devī Dāsī, who has given him so much encouragement to make spiritual progress. Balarāma wants to see that the past mistakes in Prabhupāda’s movement are rectified and that the lessons will serve to strengthen and support our families and children. Seeing our first generation of children coming back to the shelter of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet gives me so much faith that Kṛṣṇa never lets His devotees go. Whatever service and hardships they endured will never be forgotten. With their help we can avoid repeating our mistakes and create a healthy, wholesome spiritual society. Balarāma has some advice for kids growing up in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. “When times get tough, remember Kṛṣṇa. When no one else is there, He’ll always be there, and so will Prabhupāda. And there’s no place like home.” *Arcana Siddhi Devī Dāsī was initiated by Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1976. She lives with her husband and son in Sandy Ridge, North Carolina, where she works as a family therapist. She is a frequent contributor to* Back to Godhead. *Jayananda Dāsa was a prominent disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda much revered in ISKCON. He passed away in 1977, and the anniversary of his passing is an ISKCON holy day. ## Strengthening Families OVER THE PAST three decades, many ISKCON devotees have gotten professional training in education, counseling, and child rearing. This knowledge and expertise is now being harnessed by such efforts as the North American Grhastha Vision Team. The GVT is a grassroots effort by professional educators and counselors to help strengthen and support marriages and families in Prabhupāda’s Society. Since the GVT’s inception two years ago, its members have developed a Grhastha Training Course, in which devotees are taught a variety of skills for improved relationships, parenting, and conflict resolution. They have also developed a training course for mentor couples. (A mentor couple must have a strong marriage of at least eight years and a desire to help other couples in their community.) The GVT has developed a web site (vaisnavafamilyresources.org) to provide information and resources for families and anyone working with children. The GVT compiled a directory of trained counselors in North America and distributed it to all ISKCON temple leaders in North America. This can also be found on the web site, along with brochures addressing various relationship topics. The GVT strongly recommends that temple leaders sign an agreement stating that before they will give their blessings to the marriage of any couple in their community, the couple will have had a certain amount of premarital counseling. Efforts like these are proactive measures to help ensure the future success of the *grhastha asrama* in ISKCON. Strengthening marriages and families is the best way to ensure our children’s healthy psychological development and to protect them from abuse both inside and outside of the home. This will help provide the optimum conditions for children to flourish in their spiritual lives. ## What Do Hare Kṛṣṇa Women Do? *A glimpse into the lives of some of the women living in New Dwarka, the Hare Kṛṣṇa community in Los Angeles.* *By Karuna Dharini Devī Dāsī* I’VE LIVED IN a Hare Kṛṣṇa community for twenty-five years, devoting my life to activities and projects for my temple. From time to time I’m asked, “What is life like for Hare Kṛṣṇa women? What do they do?” The people asking may be thinking of Hare Kṛṣṇa men, with robes and shaved heads, dancing in the street and playing drums. They can’t quite fit the ladies into that mental image. Yet the women in the community where I live accomplish the same solid service to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mission as do their fellow male devotees. So I’d like to tell about some of them, both to shed some light on what Hare Kṛṣṇa women do and to benefit myself by honoring my Godsisters. Also, this is for Mom. Thousands of women follow the Hare Kṛṣṇa teachings and practices in every country, all over the world. Some live near temples and some don’t, so their lives vary accordingly. In India alone, millions of women maintain an altar in their home as they tend to their families. I live in Los Angeles, where the ISKCON temple community is called New Dwarka. I’ll write about how some women here lead Kṛṣṇa conscious lives. Gunavati Devī Dāsī designs the clothes for the temple Deities (Rukmini-Dvarakadhisa, Gaura-Nitai, Jagannatha, Baladeva, and Subhadra), and she organizes a team of ladies who sew for the Deities and dress them. For seven temple festivals during the year, the Deities are offered beautiful new silk-embroidered clothing. Gunavati dresses the Deities and cooks for them as well. She has been sewing for the Deities for twenty-seven years. Tadit Devī Dāsī is manager of the successful Govinda’s Gift Shop at the temple. Since she began the purchasing and managing in 1986, the income from the store has more than quadrupled and has financed many temple projects. Many celebrities and designers visit the store. To meet the demand for the many kinds of devotional items and clothing the store offers, Tadit travels to India five times a year. She holds a degree in fashion design and is the wife of the temple president, Svavasa Dāsa. Kriya Sakti Devī Dāsī has taken on the service of caring for the rooms where Śrīla Prabhupāda lived at the Los Angeles temple. She has increased the collection of his personal items and improved their preservation. She gives inspiring tours of his quarters and arranges meetings there on festival days. She also lectures in the temple and is the manager of the single-women’s ashram. Narayani Devī Dāsī joined the Los Angeles temple in 1980, and every day since then she has designed the color scheme and arranged the assembling of some thirty-two garlands used in the daily temple worship. She is the hostess for the Life Membership guest rooms at the temple. You’ll always see Narayani wearing a sari with the same colors the Deities are wearing, a practice she says helps her remember them throughout the day. Divya Drsti Devī Dāsī manages the Sunday School at New Dwarka, attended by forty eager devotee children in four levels of instruction. Every year she obtains all of the necessary permits for putting on the Venice Beach Rathayatra. She and her husband, Bhagavata Akincina Dāsa, have managed the Rathayatra parade and festival for almost twenty years. Divya Drsti is also a practicing nurse midwife who has helped deliver over two hundred babies. Several of the children she delivered now attend the Sunday School. Rambhoru Devī Dāsī is a Ph.D. candidate at Claremont Graduate School of Religion. She is doing a comparative study of Vaisnavism and Christianity. She has hosted internationally known scholars of Vaisnavism and their students at our temple. Recently a group of Jesuit novitiates from the Los Angeles archdiocese came with Dr. Francis X. Clooney, S. J., a priest and professor at Boston College. From 2001 through 2004 Dr. Clooney worked with ISKCON devotees as academic director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. One of the world’s leading comparative-theology scholars, this past summer Dr. Clooney became the Parkman Professor of Divinity and Professor of Comparative Theology at Harvard Divinity School. Also with the group was Dr. Christopher Key Chapple, director of the department of religion at Loyola Marymount University and author of several well-known books on Hinduism. Rambhoru says that being at the university challenges her to think more clearly about Prabhupāda’s message and how to present it to people so they can understand it and make it practical in their lives. Isanah Devī Dāsī takes care of *tulasi,* the favorite plant of Lord Kṛṣṇa, whose leaves and flowers are used extensively in his worship. She holds a Ph.D. in botany and has written a book entitled *The Art of Caring for Śrīmati Tulasi Devi.* Isanah makes amazing flower-covered garments for the Deities to wear on festival days. She helps her husband, Ratna Bhusana Dāsa, cook the Sunday Feast. Isanah helped to arrange for the carving and installation of a beautiful new Deity of Vrnda Devi in the ISKCON temple at Vrinda Kund, near Vṛndāvana, India. Vaijayanti Devī Dāsī holds a degree in Sanskrit. She helped with the new edition of Prabhupāda’s *Bhagavad-gītā As It Is,* published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Theresa, nearly seventy years old, has for fifteen years made the bouquet of flowers that is placed in the hand of the temple Deity Rukmini Devi. She selects every flower to match the colors of Rukmini Devi’s dress. Because the Deities are dressed in fresh clothes every morning and afternoon, she makes fourteen bouquets each week. Mahalaksmi Devī Dāsī is the lead singer for New Dwarka’s Temple Bhajan Band. The band performs every weekend at *yoga* studios, trade shows, interfaith conferences, film festivals and other festivals, and even for birthdays and anniversaries. Nandarani Devī Dāsī works the register at Govinda’s Buffet and sews garlands. Some of the single women living in the ashram go out to distribute Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, especially at colleges. They set up a book table on campus, and students stop by to hear about topics such as *bhakti-yoga* and reincarnation. The ladies enjoy explaining Kṛṣṇa’s philosophy to them, and many students are eager to learn more. A number of dedicated women have dressed the Deities, offered them *arati,* and cooked for them for many years, including Vidya, Deva Didhiti, Navina, Paurnamasi, and Parijata. This has been only a glimpse of what some women in the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement do. For the most part, the women I have described serve Kṛṣṇa within the temple community. But service to Kṛṣṇa is not limited to temple-related activities. Thousands of women all over the world, while engaged in their professions and occupations, serve the Lord, keeping Kṛṣṇa as the center of their lives. Many of these women—both inside and outside the temple community—are great examples by which I am able to understand pure devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa. *Karuna Dharini Devī Dāsī, a disciple of His Grace Virabahu Dāsa, serves the Deities in New Dwarka, where she joined ISKCON in 1979. She lives with her husband and daughter.* For more on the Los Angeles temple community, go to krishna.com/394 ## Yasoda Binds Lord Kṛṣṇa Based on Śrīla Prabhupāda’s translations of *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam*, 10.9.1–21. *By Kalakantha Dāsa* One day as all her servants were engaged with other chores, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s mother saw the butter churn had been ignored. So she collected yogurt to make butter for the day, and as she churned she sang a song describing Kṛṣṇa’s play. She loved to make up Kṛṣṇa songs to memorize and sing so she could think of Kṛṣṇa as she did most anything. She sang and pulled the churning rope, her yellow sari moist from breast-milk born of love she felt just thinking of her boy. Her bangles bounced and sang along. Her earrings danced in time. Her body shook from labor and her temperature climbed. As beads of perspiration broke across her lovely brow, the flowers from her hair swirled down like petals from a bough. Into the room Lord Kṛṣṇa toddled; he’d just woken up. He snatched His mother’s churning rod and tried to interrupt, for He was feeling hungry after such a lengthy nap. His mother then embraced the Lord and sat Him on her lap. When Yasoda saw Kṛṣṇa’s face, milk poured out from her breasts. Her son desired nursing, and she granted His request. The two were sitting happily within a calm alcove when Yasoda remembered she’d left milk upon the stove. She dashed to move the milk, and Kṛṣṇa gave an angry squeal, upset to be disrupted in the middle of His meal. He bit His lips with baby teeth, picked up a nearby rock, and broke apart the butter pot by giving it a knock. He reached inside and took out all the butter, freshly churned, and quickly slipped outside before His mother could return. On seeing all the chaos, Yasoda was mildly irked, and quickly realized the mess was Kṛṣṇa’s handiwork. While sitting on an upturned mortar meant for grinding spice, Lord Kṛṣṇa felt quite satisfied. He easily enticed delighted village monkeys to eat butter from His hand, though now and then He’d glance about in fear of reprimand. While Kṛṣṇa went on feeding all the monkeys for some time, He did not see His mother creep up softly from behind. The crows who’d come to watch the fun saw trouble on the way. As Yasoda drew nearer, they jumped up and flew away. The startled Kṛṣṇa turned and saw His mother and her stick. He ran, His butter-laden footsteps falling short and quick. His mother ran behind and tried to capture God Himself, though He eludes great *yogis* and most everybody else. Her heavy breasts were burdensome upon her slender waist, and as she ran behind her son her hair fell out of place. Because she loved her Kṛṣṇa, Yasoda did not complain, and very soon she captured Him and asked Him to explain. The fearful Kṛṣṇa soon confessed and then began to cry. His tears mixed with the blackish ointment worn beneath His eyes, creating tainted teardrops that He rubbed across His face. His mother smiled but held His hand so He could not escape. Absorbed in motherly affection, Yasoda could not see God Himself had left behind that broken butter pot. Observing Kṛṣṇa’s fearful face and all the tears He shed, she tossed aside her whipping stick and tied Him up instead. Now Kṛṣṇa has no start or end, no front or back or side; He’s everywhere and everything—and still personified. Both time and *karma* come from Him, so He’s beyond their scope, yet Yasoda thought she could tie up Kṛṣṇa with a rope. By love alone does Kṛṣṇa ever let Himself be bound. When Yasoda picked up the rope and tried, she quickly found that it was just a little short. She tied on more, and then she found the lengthened rope was just a little short again. She added on another rope. Too short. She tried another, yet Kṛṣṇa’s tiny hands were still too large for His poor mother. The *gopis* in the neighborhood all giggled at the fun, and Yasoda laughed too, though all this puzzled everyone. While Yasoda was trying hard to check her naughty son, her body was perspiring and her hair had come undone. On seeing that His mother’s strength was quickly running down, Lord Kṛṣṇa felt compassionate and let Himself be bound. Though Lord Brahma, Lord Siva, and such great, exalted souls who rule the very universe are under His control, Govinda has a feature that’s exceptionally sublime: He’s bound by His devotees’ love, as He showed at this time. A million goddesses of fortune dance to Kṛṣṇa’s flute, yet He steals butter as if He were poor and destitute. The god of death, the dread of all, fears Kṛṣṇa’s slight command, yet Kṛṣṇa fears His mother with a whipping stick in hand. The mercy shown to Yasoda, whose selfless love was pure, surpasses all Brahma, Siva, or Laksmi could secure. Ascetics, speculators, or the ordinary man cannot reach God as easily as pure devotees can. ## In Memoriam - Bhakti Tirtha Swami On June 27 His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami passed away at ISKCON’s Gita Nagari community in Pennsylvania. Initiated by Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1973 as Ghanasyama Dāsa, he received the name Bhakti Tirtha Swami when he accepted *sannyasa,* the renounced order of life, in 1979. In the mid 1970s he inspired special gratitude from Śrīla Prabhupāda for his courage and success in distributing books on Kṛṣṇa consciousness to libraries behind the Iron Curtain. He became a member of ISKCON’s governing body in 1982. His duties took him to Africa, where he was widely accepted as an authentic, charismatic religious leader. He became an advisor to African leaders, as well as to leaders and celebrities elsewhere, including former boxer Muhammed Ali. In 1985 Bhakti Tirtha Swami increased his responsibilities by becoming an initiating spiritual master, guiding hundreds of dedicated disciples throughout the world. He worked tirelessly both to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness and to strengthen the bonds of love between devotees of Kṛṣṇa. He passed away in an ideal spiritual setting. A feature photo-article on his life will appear in the next issue. ## From The Editor *Responsible for Our Faith* Inquirer: If God exists, why should He hold people responsible for their beliefs? It doesn’t seem that we can choose our beliefs. Some people believe in God, and some don’t. That’s just the way they are. Most people keep the basic beliefs they grew up with. Kṛṣṇa Devotee: I agree that most people don’t come by their beliefs through cold, detached analysis. Our nature and upbringing have a lot to do with what we believe. INQ: That’s right. So, if there’s a God, why should He punish someone who doesn’t believe in Him because of being born in a family of atheists? KD: That’s a question many religious people can’t answer. Obviously, some people are more inclined and better situated to accept God than others. INQ: Yes. And if we’re all expected to obey God’s laws or face punishment, then how’s that fair? I mean, some poor kid raised to distrust religion is obviously at a disadvantage. He shouldn’t be punished for not believing in God. KD: Assuming he’s not responsible—but we *are* responsible for our faith. INQ: I disagree. I don’t think I could believe in God even if I wanted to. KD: Do you think you might want to? INQ: Well, it seems safer to believe in God and obey Him—just in case. So if I really believed in God and the scriptures, I’d be happy to do what God wants. KD: That makes sense. But thinking you can’t change doesn’t. INQ: Why not? KD: Because we do things all the time that change us. None of us believes *everything* we believed as kids. As we learned more, our beliefs changed. Our friends, what we read—many things have changed us. The same goes for spiritual faith. The more you learn about God and keep company with His devotees, the more natural it is to believe in Him and, eventually, to really love Him. INQ: Okay, but some people just have no spiritual inclination at all. The idea that there’s more to life than matter never dawns on them. That’s not their fault. KD: So we’re back to God’s apparent injustice. But there is no injustice. Our choices make us who we are. We see how that happens in this life, so it’s reasonable to assume that our choices *before this life* created the inclinations we were born with. The Vedic teachings on *karma* and reincarnation explain why we can’t get off the hook by saying ‘I don’t believe in God.’ If I was born without faith and spiritual opportunities, that’s because of choices I made in my last life. I can’t blame God for being unfair. He’s giving me what I wanted. INQ: The idea of a past life does seem to solve the problem. But isn’t it just a theory? KD: If you improve your perception, you’ll understand that it’s more than a theory*.* It’s the truth*.* Faith in God and other subtle aspects of reality need not be blind*.* We can qualify ourselves to directly perceive spiritual reality*.* Many people perceive God where others don’t, just as a mathematician can see the correctness of a complex equation when all I can see are numbers*.* In the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we recommend the time-tested process of *bhakti-yoga* as an effective way to sharpen our spiritual perceptions—and deepen our faith in what’s really there but still beyond our view*.* —*Nagaraja Dāsa* ## Vedic Thoughts The sufferings of humanity are due to forgetfulness of Kṛṣṇa as the supreme enjoyer, the supreme proprietor, and the supreme friend. Therefore, to act to revive this consciousness within the entire human society is the highest welfare work. One cannot be engaged in such first-class welfare work without being liberated in the Supreme. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda *Bhagavad-gītā* 5.25, Purport The Supreme Truth exists outside and inside of all living beings, the moving and the nonmoving. Because He is subtle, He is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know. Although far, far away, He is also near to all. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa *Bhagavad-gītā* 13.16 The pious results derived from chanting the thousand names of Lord Visnu three times can be attained by only one recitation of the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. Brahmanda Purana, *Śrī Kṛṣṇastottara-sata-nama-stotra* Those in this world who understand Lord Kṛṣṇa as He is see all things, whether stationary or moving, as manifest forms of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such enlightened persons recognize no reality apart from the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa. Sukadeva Gosvami *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 10.14.56 Engaged constantly in chanting and hearing about Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the *sadhus* do not suffer from material miseries because they are always filled with thoughts of My pastimes and activities. Lord Kapila *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 3.25.23 By understanding the truth of the Supreme Lord, one can slip the bonds of material life and get free from the miseries of repeated birth and death. Liberated from the gross and subtle material bodies, as an associate of the Supreme Lord in His transcendental abode he attains an eternal divine form and realizes his heart’s desires. *Svetasvatara Upanisad* 1.11 Innumerable waves splash within the great ocean, and in the same way countless spirit souls exist within the Supreme Brahman. A single wave can never become the ocean. O individual spirit soul, how do you think you will become the Supreme Brahman? Śrīla Madhvacarya *Tattva-muktavali* 1.10 O handsome Lord Govinda, we happily bow down to offer our respects to You. Please be kind and give us a drop of the pure love that completely eclipses the moon of nondevotional philosophy. Śrīla Rupa Gosvami *Stava-mala* 5.27