# Back to Godhead Magazine #48 *2014 (04)* Back to Godhead Magazine #48-04, 2014 PDF-View ## Welcome Since the 1990s, Hrimati Devī Dāsī, the author of the cover story for this issue, has lived at the expansive Hare Kṛṣṇa temple-complex in Māyāpur, West Bengal. As a follower of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, she knows Māyāpur to be the holiest of holy places, as revealed in confidential parts of the Vedic scriptures. In "Prayag Raj: A Place for Vaisnavas," she tells of the unexpected spiritual inspiration she received while visiting a city not always on the Vaisnava pilgrim's tour list. When devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa think of holy places, the Lower East Side of New York City probably doesn't come quickly to mind either. But as the Vedic scriptures tell us, devotees who carry Kṛṣṇa within their hearts sanctify ordinary places by their presence. So when His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda arrived in the Lower East Side in the mid-sixties, a counterculture paper called *The East Village Other* couldn't help but notice. Satyaraja Dāsa recounts the times in "Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Transcendental ‘Otherness.’ ” His article includes reminiscences by the author of the paper's cover story on Prabhupāda, who graciously granted an interview for the story and left endearing impressions in the minds of the reporter and his accompanying stenographer. 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 *What's Wrong with Commercial Media?* I refer to your reply, in the Letters section of the January/February issue of BTG, on "How to Control the Mind," with specific reference to the following: ". . . keeping good association (even on the Internet) and avoiding commercial media and other materialistic association (very important)." With respect, you do not state *why* commercial idea should be avoided? I ask because I had edited *POST,* a commercial-based community newspaper here in Durban, South Africa, for 21 years, and during my tenure, prior retirement, interacted and promoted the activities of several organizations, among them the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, with headquarters in Chatsworth and Phoenix. Besides regular coverage, we produced special pages on major celebrations, such as the annual Yatra and Janmastami. That aside, we enjoyed a cordial working relationship and met and discussed issues, as and when the need arose. So, I remain a bit perplexed, and would dearly love to know the reason for your call, in an otherwise informative issue, graced with colorful pictures. Brijlall Ramguthee Durban, South Africa *Our reply:* By "commercial media" we meant material presented by commercial media that is not related to Kṛṣṇa. One of the key principles of *bhakti-yoga* is to try to "hear" as much as possible about Kṛṣṇa, devotional service to Kṛṣṇa, and so on, hearing about nonrelated subjects only as much as necessary, such as for one's occupation. Simply put, we recommend staying away from mundane television, movies, websites, radio shows, videos, magazines, books, and so on, especially if one's purpose is simply to pass the time or enjoy oneself. That was the intention behind the phrase "commercial media." Thank you for your support of the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement's activities in South Africa. *Thanks for George* Thank you most dearly for the article on George's songs (BTG, January/February). I love his music and admire his contribution to ISKCON. My family loves *Back to Godhead* too. Praveen Durban, South Africa *Caitanya and Mayavada Sannyasa* Although Caitanya Mahāprabhu was always against Mayavada [impersonalism], He took *sannyasa* from a Mayavadi *guru*. Why? Arpan Via the Internet *Our reply:* Śrīla Prabhupāda discusses this question in his purport to *Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta* (*Ādi* 3.34): During the time of Lord Caitanya, the influence of Sankaracarya in society was very strong. People thought that one could accept *sannyasa* only in the disciplic succession of Sankaracarya. Lord Caitanya could have performed His missionary activities as a householder, but He found householder life an obstruction to His mission. Therefore He decided to accept the renounced order, *sannyasa*. Since His acceptance of *sannyasa* was also designed to attract public attention, Lord Caitanya, not wishing to disturb the social convention, took the renounced order of life from a *sannyasi* in the disciplic succession of Sankaracarya, although *sannyasa* was also sanctioned in the Vaisnava *sampradaya. . . .* Lord Caitanya accepted *sannyasa* from Kesava Bharati. When He first approached Kesava Bharati, He was accepted as a *brahmacari* with the name Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Brahmacari. After He took *sannyasa*, He preferred to keep the name Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. The great authorities in the disciplic succession had not offered to explain why Lord Caitanya refused to take the name Bharati after He took *sannyasa* from a Bharati, until Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Gosvami Mahārāja volunteered the explanation that because a *sannyasi* in the Sankara-sampradaya thinks that he has become the Supreme, Lord Caitanya, wanting to avoid such a misconception, kept the name Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, placing Himself as an eternal servitor. A *brahmacari* is supposed to serve the spiritual master; therefore He did not negate that relationship of servitude to His spiritual master. Accepting such a position is favorable for the relationship between the disciple and the spiritual master. *Wandering Mind* When I start chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra* on my beads, my mind wanders. How should I chant? Govind Ubale Via the Internet *Our reply:* One should not expect to immediately experience a peaceful mind while chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa consciousness develops gradually as one progresses from tender faith to association with advanced devotees, engagement in Kṛṣṇa’s service, and overcoming obstacles, and then on to steadiness, taste, full attachment, bliss, and pure love for Lord Kṛṣṇa. As they say, "Practice makes perfect." We should be joyful to have made contact in this life with Kṛṣṇa’s pure devotees and the process of complete purification in their association. However, it will take some time for our spiritual consciousness to mature and bear fruit. We wish you all the best. Please continue with your sincere chanting, and in time your restless mind will become fully peaceful. *No Access to a Center* We live in small town in Wisconsin and do not have access to a center. How do I start at home, with my children and family, a life of relying on the message of Kṛṣṇa ? I need help explaining Kṛṣṇa consciousness to my two children, who are nine and twelve years old. I want Kṛṣṇa to become one the major things in our family. "bhawibhakti" Via the Interned *Our reply:* The main practice for spiritual realization is serious and sincere chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa *maha-mantra:* Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Chanting can be easily done individually and with your family. It is the core practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and coupled with regularly reading Śrīla Prabhupāda's books can easily form a foundation for the whole family. To the best of your ability take up this practice, and you will certainly progress in spiritual life. Because you are unable to attend a local center, take advantage of web technology to hear lectures online as your time allows. Here are links to articles that provide additional suggestions. http://www.Kṛṣṇa.com/practice-home Founder's Lecture: Everyone Will See God New York, July 31, 1971 By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder-*Acarya* of the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness *Kṛṣṇa is everywhere, and He reveals Himself to each of us according to our relationship with Him.* > eko ’py asau racayitum jagad-anda-kotim > yac-chaktir asti jagad-anda-caya yad-antah > andantara-stha-paramanu-cayantara-stham > govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami "I worship the Personality of Godhead, Govinda, who enters the existence of every universe and every atom by one of His plenary portions and thus manifests His infinite energy throughout the material creation." —*Śrī Brahma-saṁhitā* 5.35 Govinda, Kṛṣṇa, creates the material world by one of His plenary expansions. Not one universe, but billions of universes. As you see, within this universe there are millions and trillions of planets. Similarly, there are millions and trillions of universes. Govinda enters each universe, and then it develops. This is similar to what takes place when a man and a woman combine to create a particle of matter and then the *jiva* soul enters and the body develops. Matter has no power to develop on its own. Govinda enters into matter, and therefore the universe develops. It is very easy to understand. A combination of matter cannot produce any development. The atomic theory, *paramanu vada,* states that this material world is a combination of atoms. But we say that within the atom is Govinda. *Anor aniyan mahato mahiyan:* Govinda is greater than the greatest and smaller than the smallest. We cannot imagine how small Govinda can be. We cannot even see atoms with our naked eyes. According to the Vedic description, one atom is called a *paramanu.* Unless six atoms combine together, we cannot see them. Brahma says *tam aham bhajami:* "I am worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead." We are in disciplic succession from Brahma. Our process is to follow the footsteps of the ***acarya*s*,* the great spiritual masters in our line. That is called the *parampara* system. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* it is said that to make progress in knowledge one has to worship the **acarya*: acaryopasanam.* We accept the teachings of the **acarya*s* in the *parampara* system. We do not bother trying to figure out how Govinda enters into the atom. That is not our business. Our *acarya* Lord Brahma says that Govinda enters, and we accept. That's all. Our business is finished. That is the Vedic way of understanding. We take knowledge from the authority and do not bother unnecessarily speculating. We don't waste our time in that way. Our time is very valuable. Instead of researching how Govinda enters into the atom, we chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and utilize our time in that way. This line of disciplic succession is very nice. All knowledge coming from it is perfect. Take it and be spiritually advanced. We have the example of Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya to show how complete this knowledge is. He was a great Mayavadi scholar, an impersonalist, but Caitanya Mahāprabhu inspired him to surrender unto Him. He became Caitanya Mahāprabhu's admirer and follower after Caitanya Mahāprabhu defeated him in understanding of the *Vedanta-sutra.* That story is there in our *Teachings of Lord Caitanya.* Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya became convinced that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is Kṛṣṇa. He wrote a hundred verses about Caitanya Mahāprabhu, two of which are available in the *Caitanya-caritāmṛta.* He was a very learned scholar. He composed one hundred verses about Caitanya Mahāprabhu and handed them over to Him. In all those verses he admitted, "You are Kṛṣṇa." Caitanya Mahāprabhu, of course, was very pleased that Sarvabhauma Bhatt*acarya* understood, but because He was playing the part of an *acarya* and hiding His identity as Kṛṣṇa, He asked, "Why have you written all these things?" He immediately tore up the verses and threw them away. But the devotees were able to recover two of them. This is the first one: > vairagya-vidya-nija-bhakti-yoga- > siksartham ekah purusah puranah > sri-krsna-caitanya-sarira-dhari > krpambudhir yas tam aham prapadye "Let me take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who has descended in the form of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu to teach us real knowledge, His devotional service, and detachment from whatever does not foster Kṛṣṇa consciousness. He has descended because He is an ocean of transcendental mercy. Let me surrender unto His lotus feet." (*Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya* 6.254) "You are the same Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and You have come to teach us *vairagya-vidya.*" *Vairagya-vidya* means to become unattached to this material world. We are accepting different types of body on account of our attachment. We want to enjoy. That is illusion. We cannot enjoy. We are simply suffering, but we are accepting it as enjoyment. *The Illusory Attempt to Enjoy* The attempt to enjoy is very distinctly visible wherever you go. So many buses and cars are running, and so much luggage is being loaded in the street. It is all great humbug. Prahlada Mahārāja said *maya-sukhaya bharam udvahato vimudhan:* "Foolish people make elaborate plans for material enjoyment." (*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 7.9.43) They are taking so much trouble to load these big, big cases, but because they're getting, say $40 a day, they think, "I am enjoying." Actually a man is working so hard, just like an ass or a hog, day and night, but because he is getting some money and with that money he is gratifying his senses, he thinks "I am happy." This is illusion. He does not for a second know what real happiness is. The illusory happiness of the material world means sex life, that's all. How long does it stay? Minutes. But they're working so hard for that. This is called illusion. Actually the man is being killed, but he thinks, "I am enjoying." This is illusion—taking something to be the opposite of what it actually is. Prahlada Mahārāja was very sympathetic: "I am simply anxious for these rascals who have created a humbug civilization for temporary happiness." They have created *ugra karma,* "horrible work." This is stated in the *Bhagavad-gītā.* They are working, working in the huge factory, day and night melting iron. They get some money and they're happy. They do not know how they're wasting their valuable life. This is called *maya,* illusion. Why so much work? Why are you working so hard? Do you think that if you get a hundred dollars per day you can eat more *chapatis* than me? The rascal does not know that he will eat the same number of *chapatis*, four or five or six, but he'll work so hard. We Kṛṣṇa devotees are the best intelligent class. We don't work but we get our *chapatis*. Let the rascals work, but we get our *chapatis*. People sometimes envy us. Gargamuni was telling me that in Los Angeles some neighbors were asking, "How do you get money? You are living in such a nice place, and you are eating so nicely. Where do you get money?" They are envious. So I told Gargamuni, "Why don't you ask them to come and join? You can say, 'Then you can also eat and dance like us. Why are you working so hard?'" But they will not do that. This is *maya.* My Guru Mahārāja used to say, "Let the whole city or the whole country—everyone—come here. I shall provide them with food." But they will not do that. *Suffering Because of Ignorance* In the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* Sukadeva Gosvami explains that material happiness is due to pious activities. Unless you are pious, you cannot be happy, even materially. Rupa Gosvami has analyzed—you will read in *The Nectar of Devotion*—that distress is due to ignorance, simply ignorance. You can see that those who are not educated cannot get a good job. Therefore their distress is due to a lack of knowledge. So actually our distress is due to ignorance, and in ignorance only we commit sinful activities. We devotees of Kṛṣṇa are trying to remove the ignorance of the people. Therefore we are giving the best service to human society. We are trying to polish or cleanse their hearts, which are contaminated with the thinking that "I am American," "I am Indian," "I am this," "I am that," "I have to work," "I have got my business." Cleansing your heart means to bring you to the understanding that you have nothing to do with these things; you are simply the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. Engage yourself as the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa and become happy. Because we are ignorant of our constitutional position, we have created all these problems. Actually there is no problem. For example, at night in dreams we create so many problems, but actually there are no problems. But I am dreaming that I am in such and such position: I am being harassed, somebody is taking my money, somebody is pinching me, I am in front of a tiger, there is a ghost—so many things. Actually there is no problem, but by dreaming I am creating them mentally. *Asango hy ayam *purusa*h.* The *Vedas* says that the *purusa*—the *atma,* the soul—has no connection with all these things. But we have created, by material concoction, so many problems. The process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is for removing this dreaming condition of life. That is possible. As Sukadeva Gosvami explains in the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam,* the process generally begins with atonement. This is for the *karmis,* persons who are grossly ignorant and unnecessarily working very hard for some material result. For them the recommendation is "You have done this mistake; all right, atone for it." But they'll commit the mistake again. Those who are a little advanced in knowledge think, "I am making atonement but then again committing the same thing. I am getting medicine from the physician, and again I am being infected by the same disease. How long will this business go on?" When one comes to this discussion within himself, then he's a little further advanced than the rascal *karmis.* He's a *jnani.* Above both of them are the **bhakta*s,* Kṛṣṇa’s devotees. *Yogis* come to the *jnani* platform. Karmi, *jnani*, yogi, and **bhakta*.* Only a *bhakta* can be peaceful; others cannot. The *karmis* cannot be peaceful, the *jnani*s cannot be peaceful, the *yogis* cannot be peaceful; only the *bhakta*s can be peaceful. Why? Because everyone except the Suddha-*bhakta*, the pure devotee, has desires. *Inclined to Love Kṛṣṇa* *Suddha-bhaktas* have no desire but to serve Kṛṣṇa. They are simply happy by serving Kṛṣṇa. They do not want to know Kṛṣṇa even. They don't bother to know whether Kṛṣṇa is God or not. They want to love Kṛṣṇa, that's all, whatever Kṛṣṇa may be. They don't love Him because He is God, the omnipotent, the all-pervasive Narayana. No, no. In Vrindavan the cowherd boys and girls do not know whether Kṛṣṇa is God or something else, but they are so much inclined to love Kṛṣṇa. That's all. That is their position. They are not Vedantists, they are not *yogis*, they are not *karmis;* they are village girls and boys. They want to see Kṛṣṇa happy, that's all. That is their position. *Yogis* and *jnanis* are trying to understand God, but they do not know they are in illusion. The *karmis* are in illusion because they are working so hard for a moment of illusory happiness. Therefore, they are rascal number one. How can they have peace? There is no question of peace for them. And the *jnanis* want to get relief from the hard work of this material world. *Brahma satyam jagan mithya.* They reject the material world as *mithya,* false. That is a little higher than the *karmis*, because the *karmis* have taken this material world as everything. "Here we shall be happy." Their *dharma* is to always think how they shall live peacefully here in the material world. That is their *dharma*, their religion. I've talked with many so-called religious people, and their religion means to make a peaceful atmosphere within this material world. But the rascals do not know that people have been trying for millions of years to make this world peaceful. It has never happened, and it will never happen. *Kicked Out* How can it happen? This place is meant for giving you troubles and miseries. Kṛṣṇa, the creator, says, *duhkhalayam asasvatam:* this is a place simply for suffering, and it is also temporary. (*Gita* 8.15) You cannot make an agreement: "All right, let me suffer the three-fold miseries, but I will stay here." That will not be allowed. You cannot stay. You will be kicked out. Make your good bank balance, skyscraper house, wife, children, cigarette, wine, liquor, and think "I am living very peacefully." That's all right, but one day comes—"Please get out." "Why? It is my house. I have my bank balance, I have my factory, I have everything. Why shall I get out?" "Yes, get out. Don't talk. Get out." That day he sees God. "I did not believe in God. Now here is God, making everything finished." Everything finished. *Sarva-haras caham.* Kṛṣṇa says, "I am God for the demons when I take away everything from them at the time of death." (*Gita* 10.34) "You do not believe in God? All right, here I am. Today I am here. I have come to you to take away everything, whatever you have. Now get out!" They will see God on that day. So why not see God here? Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa as Lord Nrsimha comes to kill the devotee Prahlada's demoniac father, Prahlada is seeing God: "Oh, here is my Lord." And his father, Hiranyakasipu, is seeing God as death. Those who are challenging, "Show me God," will see God as Hiranyakasipu saw Him: as death. Everyone will see God. One who is sane knows "I am eternally related with Kṛṣṇa, God. He loves me, and my duty is to love Him. He is so kind that even though I do not love Him, still He gives me food. He gives me fruits, flowers, grains, whatever I want." God is supplying everything. You cannot manufacture anything. Kṛṣṇa, God, is so kind that He is supplying food to the atheist also. But the atheist has no knowledge to even ask, "Where am I getting my foodstuff from?" That is ignorance. They are committing so many sinful activities. It is due to ignorance, nothing but ignorance. Atheist means in gross ignorance, that's all. Otherwise, any person who is honest can see God everywhere, always. *Seeing Kṛṣṇa Everywhere* Kṛṣṇa says, "Try to understand Me. Try to see Me everywhere." How? First of all He says, *raso ’ham apsu kaunteya:* "I am the taste of water." (*Gita* 7.8) When you are thirsty, you require a glass of water. Drink it, and when you feel happy you can understand that the quenching power of the water is Kṛṣṇa. That is Kṛṣṇa realization. *Prabhasmi sasi-suryayoh.* As soon as there is sunrise you see Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, "I am the sunshine; I am the moonshine." (*Gita* 7.8) So why don't you try to see Kṛṣṇa ? In the *Bhagavad-gītā* there is a big list. For example, Kṛṣṇa says, "I am the lion amongst the animals." He took the shape of a lion to kill Hiranyakasipu. "I am the banyan tree." Kṛṣṇa has described so many ways to see Him. In the beginning, if one is not fortunate enough to see Kṛṣṇa although He is sitting in this temple, let him see Kṛṣṇa in these other ways. If he's not fortunate to come here and to see Kṛṣṇa, take *prasada,* and dance in ecstasy, then let his unfortunate condition be diminished by seeing Kṛṣṇa in water, in sunshine, in moonshine, in this and that. Kṛṣṇa is visible, but Kṛṣṇa is visible only to the devotees. *Naham prakasah sarvasya yoga-maya-samavrtah:* "I am not exposed to everyone; I am covered by the curtain of *yoga-maya.*" (*Gita* 7.25) One who has developed love of Kṛṣṇa can see Kṛṣṇa within his heart twenty-four hours a day. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a very nice proposition. Please take to it. We are canvassing. We are sending our devotees to the street, begging, "Please come to our temple; be Kṛṣṇa conscious." That is our business. Caitanya Mahāprabhu wanted it. Go door to door, even at the risk of life, and ask these rascals to come to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. They're thinking, "Oh, we are very happy." That is illusion. The happiness will be finished within a second. As soon as death will come, finished. But someone can say, "Death will come to you also." "Yes, that's all right." "Then why do you distinguish my death and your death?" "Because you do not know where you are going, but I know where I am going. That is the difference." "How do you know?" "Kṛṣṇa says." "What does He say?" "*Tyaktva deham punar janma naiti:* one who has understood Kṛṣṇa, who has served Kṛṣṇa sincerely and seriously, is not going to come again to take any material body." "Then where does he go?" "Oh—'*Mam eti:* he comes to Me.' " (*Gita* 4.9) How can you go to Kṛṣṇa unless you have a body like Kṛṣṇa ? Yes, that is the position. You cannot enter into fire without being fire. Similarly, the next life for the devotees is *sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah,* eternal body, blissful life, dancing with Kṛṣṇa in the *rasa* dance. You have seen the paintings of the cowherd boys and girls. Sukadeva Gosvami says that these boys who are playing with Kṛṣṇa in Vrindavan accumulated the results of their pious activities for many millions of years. The *Bhagavad-gītā* (7.28) also says, > yesam tv anta-gatam papam > jananam punya-karmanam > te dvandva-moha-nirmukta > bhajante mam drdha-vratah "Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life and whose sinful actions are completely eradicated are freed from the dualities of delusion, and they engage themselves in My service with determination." Sinful activity cannot touch those who are simply engaged in pious activities. That is natural. If you are engaged in some type of activity, then you are not engaged in other activities. Similarly, if you simply engage yourself in pious activities, the reaction of sinful activities cannot touch you. Then you are released from duality. You are all engaged in that business. There is no scope for sinful reaction in your life, provided you follow the four principles: no intoxication, no meat-eating, no illicit sex, no gambling. And chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, sixteen rounds. Is it very difficult? So do it, rigidly, and be happy. Thank you very much. Śrīla Prabhupāda Speaks Out Social Body Without a Brain *The following is a continuation of a conversation that took place between His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda and Mr. C. Hennis of the United Nations International Labor Organization on May 31, 1974, in Geneva.* Śrīla Prabhupāda: The social body should have a class of men who act as the brain and guide everyone so that everyone can become happy. That is the purpose of our movement. Mr. Hennis: That's a valid point, because it has always been affirmed in every society that there is a need for a priestly class or a class of philosophical leaders. Śrīla Prabhupāda: But now the so-called priestly class are amending the biblical injunctions according to their whims. For instance, the Bible enjoins, "Thou shalt not kill." But the priestly class is like the other classes—sanctioning slaughterhouses. So how can they guide? Mr. Hennis: But the animal world is entirely composed of beings who eat one another. I suppose that the justification that people have for maintaining slaughterhouses is that it is just a cleaner way of killing than for a lion to jump on the back of an antelope. Śrīla Prabhupāda: But as a human being you should have discrimination. You should be guided by your brain, and society should be guided by the "brain class" of priestly, thoughtful men. Nature has given human beings fruits, vegetables, grains, milk, which all have great nutritional value, and human beings should be satisfied with these wholesome foods. Why should they maintain slaughterhouses? And how can they think they will be happy by being sinful, by not following God's commandments? This means society has no brain. Mr. Hennis: My organization isn't directly concerned with giving people brains. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Your organization may not be directly concerned. But if human society is brainless, then no matter how much you may try to organize, society can never become happy. That is my point. Mr. Hennis: My organization is concerned with taking away the obstacles that prevent people from attaining a proper brain. One of the obstacles is just plain poverty. Śrīla Prabhupāda: No. The main thing is, society must learn to discriminate between pious and sinful activities. Human beings must engage in pious activities, not sinful activities. Otherwise, they have no brain. They are no better than animals. And from the moral point of view, do you like sending your mother to the slaughterhouse? You are drinking the milk of the cow—so she is your mother—and after that you are sending her to the slaughterhouse. That is why we ask. Where is society's brain? Mr. Hennis: Of course, when you speak of the distinctions that are made between pious activities and sinful activities. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Today practically no one is making this distinction. We are making it, and we have introduced these ideas by establishing farm communities and protecting our cows. And our cows are winning awards for giving the most milk, because they are so jubilant. They know, "These people will not kill me." They know it, so they are very happy. Nor do we kill their calves. At other farms, soon after the cow gives birth to a calf, they pull her calf away for slaughter. You see? This means society has no brain. You may create hundreds of organizations, but society will never be happy. That is the verdict. Mr. Hennis: Well, we can't be accused of engaging in sinful activities when we don't think what we are doing is sinful. Śrīla Prabhupāda: [*Laughing*] Oh? You don't think you can be accused of breaking the state law—just because you don't know what the state law is? The point is, if your priestly class have no knowledge of what is sinful, they may instruct you, "Don't do anything sinful"—but what good is that? You must have a priestly class who know what is sinful, so that they can teach you. And then you must give your sinful activities up. When these young people came to me, I told them, "Flesh-eating, illicit sex, gambling, and intoxication—these things are sinful. You must give them up." If we do not give up these sinful activities, nature punishes us. So we must know the laws of nature, what nature wants. At the very least, nature wants that we human beings stop our sinful activities. If we do not, then we must be punished. Mr. Hennis: We are just trying to give people a fair share of the material things of life: proper wages, decent homes, decent opportunities for leisure. Śrīla Prabhupāda: That is all right, but people must know what is sinful and what is pious. Mr. Hennis: Yes, but I don't think you can properly expect to indoctrinate people. At least, you can't expect an international organization to indoctrinate people. Śrīla Prabhupāda: As an international organization for peace and well-being, the United Nations should maintain a class of men who can act as society's brain. Then everything will be all right. Simply legs and hands working without any direction, without any brain—that is not very good. The United Nations was organized for the total benefit of human society, but it has no department that can actually be called the brain organization. Mr. Hennis: That's true. That's true. They are servants of the membership, servants of the various states of the world. We are only the servants of these people. What we try and do is let them get together and help them understand their problems. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes, help them understand. At the very least, help them understand what they should do and what they should not do. At least do this much. Mr. Hennis: This we do try to do to the extent that it is possible for the secretariat to shape and evolve a philosophy. We try to do it. But of course, we can't adopt a completely radical approach. We do what we can, in the manner of a good servant and the manner of a good steward, to try and hope the leaders are on the right path and the right direction. Śrīla Prabhupāda: If society does not know what is sinful and what is pious, it is all useless. If your body has no brain, then your body is dead. And if the social body has no brain, then it is dead. ## Ghosts Demystified *by Caitanya Carana Dāsa* *Despite the disapproval of scientists, many people believe in ghosts. What does the Vedic literature have to say on the subject?* Do ghosts exist? "Yes" would be the answer of many people across history and geography. Nearly universal in human experience are reports of people seeing, hearing, or perceiving in some other way disembodied, ghostly beings that seem to act in mysterious and frightening ways. In our scientific times, many of us may tend to dismiss the whole idea of ghosts as unscientific folk fantasy. However, several eminent scientists have taken ghosts quite seriously. Prominent among ghost-believing scientists was the English naturalist scientist Alfred Wallace, the cofounder of the theory of evolution. In his autobiography, *My Life: A Record of Events and Opinions,* he outlines how the evidence forced him to give up his anti-ghost bias: The majority of people today have been brought up in the belief that miracles, ghosts, and the whole series of strange phenomena here described cannot exist; that they are contrary to the laws of nature; that they are the superstitions of a bygone age; and that therefore they are necessarily either impostures or delusions. There is no place in the fabric of their thought into which such facts can be fitted. When I first began this inquiry it was the same with myself. The facts did not fit into my then existing fabric of thought. All my preconceptions, all my knowledge, all my belief in the supremacy of science and of natural law were against the possibility of such phenomena. And even when, one by one, the facts were forced upon me without possibility of escape from them, still . . . every other possible solution was tried and rejected. . . . We ask our readers not for belief, but for doubt of their own infallibility on this question; we ask for inquiry and patient experiment before hastily concluding that we are, all of us, mere dupes and idiots as regards a subject to which we have devoted our best mental faculties and powers of observation for many years. Another eminent scientist convinced by the evidence was the reputed American psychologist William James: “So when I turn to the rest of the evidence, ghosts and all, I cannot carry with me the irreversibly negative bias of the 'rigorously scientific' mind, with its presumption as to what the true order of nature ought to be.” (*William James on Psychical Research,* edited by Gardner Murphy and Robert Ballou) The evidence weighs more than ever before nowadays as many well-documented books report evidence accumulated using rigorous scientific procedures by several paranormal researchers. Paralleling this significant evidence, and possibly boosted by it, is the substantial public belief in the existence of ghosts. A Gallup survey conducted in 1990 showed that: * 29 percent of Americans believed in ghosts haunting houses * 10 percent of Americans claim to have seen or been in the presence of a ghost Despite the increase in documented evidence and popular acceptance, the concept of ghosts remains unacceptable for most scientists. A primary reason for this is that modern materialist science has no conceptual structure within which to account for the existence of ghosts. This limitation is not intrinsic to science per se, though it may be essential to materialist science. But there is no scientific reason to assume that all science has to be materialist, because there is no scientific evidence that all of reality exists only at the material level. For those open-minded and adventurous enough to explore nonmaterialist worldviews, Vedic wisdom offers a systematic explanatory framework for understanding the existence of ghosts. *Three Levels of Being* To aid our understanding of ghosts, let’s first familiarize ourselves with the three levels of existence as explained by Vedic wisdom. 1. The gross material level: This level comprises the physical reality we can perceive with our senses and with instruments like microscopes that extend the capacities of our senses. Mainstream materialist science focuses on this gross material level of reality primarily, if not exclusively. 2. The subtle material level: This level comprises the mind, the intelligence, and the ego, or, more accurately, what the Vedic literature refers to as the false ego, our sense of identification with the physical body and materially conditioned mind. For the sake of brevity, I will sometimes refer to this entire level as the level of the mind or the mental level. 3. The spiritual level: The soul, the source of consciousness and true ego, exists at this nonmaterial level. Germane to our discussion of ghosts is the difference between the mind and the soul. The mind, though invisible, is not spiritual; it is material, though made of a subtle material substance that renders it imperceptible to our gross senses. The mind, being material, is not conscious; the soul alone is conscious. The mind belongs to the subtle level between the spiritual and the gross material. From this intermediate position the mind acts as the conduit for the consciousness of the soul to interact with the gross body. Functionally, the mind becomes a storehouse of impressions acquired from interacting with the gross material level. These impressions comprise, among other things, memories of the past and desires for the future. With this grounding in basic Vedic ontology, let’s now understand how and why some people become ghosts. *The Disembodied and Distressed* At the time of death the soul accompanied by the subtle body leaves the gross body. Normally, the soul gets a new gross body according to its *karma*. But in exceptional cases when the soul does not get a new gross body, then it stays in a disembodied state. Souls living this disembodied existence are called ghosts. Of course, ghosts are not entirely disembodied; they still have a subtle body. But because in general parlance the word “body” connotes a gross body, the state of existence without that body is called “disembodied.” Why don’t these ghosts get a physical body? 1. *Suicide*: People who destroy their physical body through suicide prematurely, that is, before they have become entitled by their *karmic* destiny to receive a new body, sentence themselves to a disembodied existence as ghosts till they are allocated a new physical body. Śrīla Prabhupāda states, “Ghosts are bereft of a physical body because of their grievously sinful acts, such as suicide.” Thus, frustrated people who imagine that death is the end of existence and so commit suicide to become free from misery find themselves in an even more miserable existence as a ghost. 2. *Extreme attachment*: Those who die with extreme attachment to their physical body, environment, or possessions may also become ghosts. During such deaths, the excessive and intensive obsession of the mind with the past may prevent the soul from moving on and thereby keep it disembodied. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains, “Those who are very sinful and attached to their family, house, village, or country do not receive a gross body made of material elements but remain in a subtle body, composed of mind, ego, and intelligence. Those who live in such subtle bodies are called ghosts.” *Frustrating and Terrifying Predicament* The anomalous disembodied condition of the ghosts is agonizing for them and terrifying for others. Let’s see why. 1. *Agonizing for themselves:* Ghosts have a mind just as all of us have. Their mind, like ours, is filled with memories and desires developed from their indulgences in their past embodied existences. But they, unlike us, have no gross body with which to fulfill those desires. Thus, for example, their memories may stimulate their desire for a favorite delicacy. And, as the subtle body contains subtle senses, they may even perceive others—embodied people—enjoying that delicacy, thereby aggravating their own desire. But as the ghosts have no physical tongue with which to enjoy that delicacy themselves, their desire remains perpetually unfulfilled. Their situation is like that of sick people who have to be on a strictly regulated diet while watching others feast. For the sick, such a predicament may last for a few days, but for ghosts it lasts for the entire duration of their ghostly existence. As if this were not bad enough, this frustration befalls almost every desire of theirs. No wonder they find their own existence agonizing. Śrīla Prabhupāda underscores the cause of their agony when he states, “The ghost, being devoid of a body, suffers terribly because he is unable to satisfy his senses.” 2. *Terrifying for others*: Many people are terrified of ghosts because they find the whole concept of ghosts incomprehensible—and frighteningly, eerily incomprehensible. They start getting chills at the very thought of doors opening suddenly without anybody in the vicinity or of strange noises coming from an area without any source evident nearby. Few things turn off prospective house buyers as much as the rumor—be it true or false—that the house is haunted. For most people, the possibility of encountering a ghost is scary enough, but the prospect of being possessed by one is bloodcurdling. Possession refers to the disconcerting phenomenon in which a ghost enters someone's body, takes control of it, and uses it as an instrument to fulfill its own desires. The person thus possessed often speaks and acts in ways that differ markedly from his or her normal ways of speech and behavior because the normal personality has become suppressed or dormant due to the domination of the personality of the ghost. This alteration of personality frequently perplexes and perturbs the relatives of the possessed person. Anecdotal accounts of such possessions escalate the fear of ghosts in the minds of the public. *Evaporating the Haze of Eeriness* Vedic wisdom can evaporate this haze of eeriness surrounding ghosts. It demystifies the nature of ghostly existence and helps us see ghosts not so much as malevolent beings but as miserable beings. Of course, some ghosts may be malevolent, especially towards people who have wronged them in their past embodied existence. But in general ghosts are primarily miserable because of the unfulfillable cravings endemic to their disembodied existence. The pressure of these frustrations often turns them towards violence and sometimes malevolence. The Vedic triadic vision of reality—gross matter, subtle matter, and spirit—helps us make sense of the seemingly mysterious behaviors of ghosts that defy the laws of materialist science, laws postulated primarily on the basis of observing and analyzing the behavior of gross matter. As the mind is a subtle material element, it can act on the gross material level in ways not limited to these laws of materialist science. No wonder then that ghosts, existing as they do on the mental plane, can act in ways that baffle and unnerve people who have been taught to believe that everything in nature follows the laws of materialist science. The uncanny power of ghosts is indicated in the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* (5.5.21–22), which places ghosts above humans in the universal hierarchy of living beings: “Superior to human beings are ghosts because they have no material bodies.” The Vedic texts explain that ghosts thrive in conditions of ignorance and illusion. So people who habitually keep themselves in such conditions by, say, intoxication are more likely to have a weakened or crippled mind that can be easily attacked and possessed by ghosts. Śrīla Prabhupāda states, “Being haunted by ghosts takes place in an unclean state of existence.” We can make ourselves largely invulnerable to such incorporeal attacks by adopting the enlightened mode of living. Vedic wisdom recommends such a mode of living primarily for spiritual advancement, life’s foremost goal. Nonetheless, a mode of living that steers clear of self-defeating indulgences like intoxication offers the fringe benefit of protection from attacks by ghostly creatures. For dealing with attacks by ghosts, Vedic wisdom equips us with not only preventive but also curative insights. Devotional activities like collective recitation of sacred *mantras* can exorcise haunted places and possessed people. Śrīla Prabhupāda endorses this in a letter while answering the question of a disciple: “The best way to remove them [ghosts] is to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa very loudly and have jubilant *kirtana* until they leave. In England, on Mr. John Lennon's house where I was staying in 1969, there was one ghost. But as soon as the devotees began chanting very loudly, he went away immediately.” (December 1971) *Going Beyond All Miseries* Significantly, though Vedic wisdom acknowledges the existence of ghosts, it doesn’t uncritically place the blame for all seemingly strange behavior on them. Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote in a letter to a disciple who had enquired whether his mental problems were caused by ghosts: “With regard to the offenses you are hearing it is not ghosts as you say, but they are creations of your mind. The mind is indeed wretched as you say. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that for the endeavoring transcendentalist he must first control the mind, and then by controlling the mind he will have peace.” (November 1974) Disciplining the mind by practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the most effective way to deal with all the problems of material existence—including becoming ghosts ourselves, being haunted by ghosts, being tormented by the troubles of the mind that some might ascribe to ghosts, and all other problems that are ultimately the *karmic* reactions for misdeeds impelled by the uncontrolled mind. That’s why, despite explaining the existence of ghosts and declaring the exorcising potency of the holy name, Vedic wisdom doesn’t give much importance to either. It asserts that human life is meant for a far more important purpose than preoccupation with ghosts, be it in the form of a morbid fascination, a paranoid fear, or a dogmatic denial. Human life holds the glorious potential of granting us immortality if we use it to redirect our love from the ephemeral to the eternal, from matter to Kṛṣṇa. Restoring to us our lost right to immorality as spiritual beings is the ultimate treasure of Vedic wisdom. The explanatory expertise of Vedic wisdom in accounting coherently for phenomena like ghosts—phenomena that baffle materialist science and compel it to live in perpetual denial—can serve as a faith booster for us as we explore its higher spiritual insights and relish its devotional gifts. *Caitanya Carana Dāsa is a disciple of His Holiness Rādhānatha Swami. He holds a degree in electronic and telecommunications engineering and serves full time at ISKCON Pune. He is the author of eleven books. To read his other articles or to receive his daily reflection on the* Bhagavad-gītā, "Gita-daily," *visit thespiritualscientist.com.* ## Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Transcendental “Otherness” *By Satyaraja Dāsa* *How a local newspaper helped ignite the explosive growth of the worldwide Hare Kṛṣṇa movement.* I recently spoke to Peter Leggieri. The name might not mean much to most readers of *Back to Godhead*, but, in fact, Peter was engaged by Kṛṣṇa to help establish the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement in the West. When Śrīla Prabhupāda first came to America in 1965, he was, from all appearances, an unknown monk, accepting the graciousness of his sponsors in Butler, Pennsylvania, and then of hippie followers on the Lower East Side of New York. Of course, all those who helped him were actually helped *by him*: through his association, they came closer and closer to Kṛṣṇa, and by serving his purposes, their spiritual lives began to blossom. Almost from the beginning, Prabhupāda received significant coverage in the news. Even while in Butler, shortly after he arrived from India, *The Butler Eagle* told of his journey and mission (September 22, 1965). Then, after a brief period in New York, *The Village Voice* ran an article on him, too (June 1966). A *New York Post* article followed toward summer’s end (September 1), along with *The New York Times* (October 10), in the fall. And *The East Village Other* (October 15–November 1) followed soon thereafter. This article is about how Prabhupāda’s story ended up in *The Other*. Peter Leggieri was one of the newspaper’s founding editors, and he maintained that position until 1969 (the paper folded in 1972). Years later he operated a sculptor’s supply shop on East 12th Street, which lasted until 2006. His wife, Melissa (Missy), who was his girlfriend back in the 60s, also worked at *The Other*. Neither of them knew what was in store when they received the assignment: go and interview the Swami on the Lower East Side. According to Kṛṣṇa’s design, *The O*the*r* began in 1965, just as Prabhupāda arrived in *the* States. It catered to *the* younger generation. With its dayglo psychedelic design and trippy layout, it included essays by everyone from Buckminster Fuller to Timothy Leary, from Robert Crumb to Allen Ginsberg, with stories covering *the* big names in *the* news: Lenny Bruce, *the* Beatles, Bob Dylan, Baba Ram Das, Jerry Rubin, and o*the*rs. It was considered *the* hip paper by *the* counterculture of New York, and among *the* City’s youth, its popularity rivaled *The Times*. One day in the fall of 1966, Walter Bowart, the founder of *The Other*, happened into Tompkins Square Park. He was high on LSD at the time, but his visionary experience that afternoon was not chemically induced: he saw a real live Swami chanting by a tree, with a large crowd around him, following along in ecstasy. As Leggieri tells it: "[It was] the Hare Kṛṣṇa leader Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, dressed in golden robes and sitting in a lotus position under the giant tree that now bears his name. Bowart hurried back to the office in a 'STOP THE PRESSES' fit, and began insisting that we immediately do a story about the 'holy man he had seen." Somehow, Bowart knew that the few editors, artists, and writers working in his offices were not up to the task. After all, they were basically hippies, with a good working knowledge of contemporary America and the issues that were of interest to their peers, but they knew little of India and Eastern spirituality. But there was a new guy who was a little different, someone who had just bought shares of the paper and was now part owner, part editor: Peter Leggieri. He seemed the right guy for the job. For one thing, he had theological training. He had just completed four years at Siena College in Loudonville, New York, where he learned the fundamentals of religious philosophy from Franciscan monks, and he was now in law school. Also, he was the only employee without a penchant for getting high. It just wasn’t his nature. In other words, he was an educated, sober person who might really understand what the Swami had to say. Besides, everyone else was otherwise engaged at the time. Says Leggieri: When Katzman [poet and publisher of *The Other*] pointed out that everyone was already working on an assignment, John Wilcock [editor and columnist] interjected, “Peter, you’re the only one with any theology. You do it.” I refused by pointing out that I was extremely busy and knew nothing about swamis. [They] ganged up on me and, very reluctantly, I went off to meet the holy man. I did not like what I wrote and pleaded for time to do a rewrite. The three editors turned me down and the story went to press. Despite his reservations, Leggieri’s piece had substance, unlike *The New York Times* article that had come out a week earlier. Although it was written in the jargon of the day, one could detect that the author understood something of Prabhupāda’s teaching. Perhaps it was because of his theological training at the Catholic seminary. Or maybe it was because he met Prabhupāda and spoke with him for over two hours. He and Missy went down to meet Prabhupāda several days after Bowart, Katzman, and Wilcock had requested him to do so. I interviewed Peter and Missy last year, asking them about their meeting with Śrīla Prabhupāda: Satyaraja: It was difficult to find you, since the article byline is “Irving Shushnick.” Peter: Yes, many of us wrote under that *nom de plume*, for various reasons. I wasn’t allowed to work and go to school at the same time. Some legality. So I opted for our in-house pen name. Satyaraja: Tell me, you actually met Prabhupāda? He gave you the basic information that enabled you to write that article? Peter: That’s right. Missy and I went down to the storefront at 26 Second Avenue. This would be early October, 1966. We attended the services, which were quite enjoyable. And then the Swami invited us up to his apartment in the back. It was just him and a few of his close followers, and me and Missy. She came along as my stenographer. I was talking with him and she was taking extensive notes. We also ate. He made sure that we all had that delicious Indian food. Satyaraja: *Prasadam*, yes. Did you like it? Peter: I remember it was something special. Remember, this is 1966. There were no Indian restaurants in New York, and very few Indians, period. So this was a new experience. But we enjoyed the food and our time with the Swami. Satyaraja: What were your initial impressions of him? Peter: I was immediately impressed by his learning and his humility. And, you know what? I was amazed by his vitality and youthfulness, too. I was a young man at the time, and he was 71. That’s what he told me. But I found it hard to believe. He was so alert and alive and enthusiastic. I am 71 now, and I don’t have a fraction of the liveliness he embodied. It was really something to see. And I was struck by his sincerity and strength of purpose. But I remember, as he spoke, thinking that he had a huge mountain to climb. He was speaking about such an alien culture, something so high, and something that would be so difficult to give others, especially because people in America don’t have the background, the training. But then it hit me, and it gave me chills: Here he was in the East Village. By divine providence, he was brought to this area where he would actually have a chance. Nowhere else, and in no other time, really, could this work. But, now, in the East Village, there was a possibility. And I immediately envisioned him as a surfer—he got on the wave and he rode it. The wave was hippiedom, and Eastern thought and mysticism were part of it: we were all interested in it. So, he was brought here, where people would be anxious to hear what he had to say. What serendipity, I thought. Stoned-out Bowart stumbled into the park and saw him. And because it was the East Village, and it was the 60s, it was perfect. And Bowart knew that this was major, and that it *had* to be covered. Meanwhile, there I was, having just studied religious philosophy. So it all just worked; it fell into place. Amazing. Melissa: That hit me, too. But what hit me more was that he was up to the task, without doubt. He was a really nice person, and that spoke loudest to me. I mean, in addition to all his other qualities, that Peter just mentioned, he was really accommodating, soft-spoken, and pleasant. You know, he embodied his teaching. That’s rare. He spoke the talk but also walked the walk. You could see it in his person. Here was someone with so many good qualities that you had to wonder about the path he was on. It made you naturally curious—whatever made him this way is something that is desirable. It made you want to embrace his teaching, his lifestyle. It was very sweet breaking bread with him and just talking, in a simple way. I have a great memory of that day. Satyaraja: Peter? How would you sum up? Peter: It wasn’t until some thirty-five years later that I learned [that my] article is magnificently reproduced in the Hare Kṛṣṇa’s main temple in India.* The cover story was transformed into a life-size diorama that includes Walter Bredel’s photos. Apparently, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda always credited EVO for the great success of his ministry in this world. To the best of my knowledge, *The East Village Other* is the only newspaper in the history of newspapers to be enshrined in a religious temple. Satyaraja: And in fact the article had a big effect. I know of at least two important instances of people who saw that article. One is a prominent scholar, Thomas J. Hopkins, who went down to meet Prabhupāda as a result of reading your piece. Also, Allan Kallman, who produced Prabhupāda’s *Happening* album—that too came about through your article. Peter: I am just happy that I could play a small role in the way that I did. * The enlarged cover of that issue of EVO is on display in the Prabhupāda museum across from Prabhupāda's Samadhi at the Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma Temple in Vrindavan. The scene depicted on the cover is reproduced as a diorama in Prabhupāda's Samadhi in Māyāpur. *Satyaraja Dāsa, a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, is a BTG associate editor and founding editor of the* Journal of Vaishnava Studies. *He has written more than thirty books on Kṛṣṇa consciousness and lives near New York City.* *This article combines the author's interview with Peter Leggieri and Melissa along with some excerpts from Peter’s online article about* The East Village Other *(http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/peter-leggieri’s-east-village-other/)* ## Save Earth Now!! *by Irving Shushnick (Peter Leggieri)* *The East Village Other (Vol 1, No. 22, Oct 15–Nov 1, 1966 issue). Reprinted by permission.* Once upon a time, a bunch of theologians jumped a poor old man in a darkened church, bashed his head in, and left him for dead. The next morning, the press was running long obituaries which identified the corpse as being that of the late, beloved God. Some people, however, didn't believe the story so they went to the graveyard, secretly exhumed the corpse and, to their relief, found that it had all been a case of mistaken identity. For, reposing in glorious decomposition in the golden casket was not the body of God, but that of his PR man: organized religion. At once, the good tidings swept across the wide world. "GOD LIVES!" became household words in the palaces of Popes and Presidents; politicians repromised Him to the poor. The Vatican Council, after having just recovered from the death of Christ, breathed a sigh of relief. Priests and ministers withdrew their resignations. Someone started a war. Everything was gonna be groovy again. But where was God? No one could find Him. They chased a rumor to Argentina but found only six Dachau dykes selling Torahs in a jungle village. A full page ad in the New York Times, offering a reward for information leading to the discovery of the whereabouts of God, and signed by Martin Luther King and Ronald Reagan, brought no response. People began to worry and wonder again. "God," said some people, "lives in a sugar cube." Others whispered that the sacred secret was in a cigarette. But while this was all going on, an old man, one year past his allotted three-score-and-ten, wandered into New York's East Village and set about to prove to the world that he knew where God could be found. In only three months, the man, Swami A.C. Bhaktivedanta, succeeded in convincing the world's toughest audience—bohemians, acidheads, potheads and hippies—that he knew the Way to God: Turn Off, Sing Out and Fall In. This new brand of holy man, with all due deference to Dr. Leary, has come forth with a brand of "Consciousness Expansion" that's sweeter than acid, cheaper than pot and non-bustable by fuzz. How is this all possible? "Through Kṛṣṇa," the Swami says. For the cynical New Yorker, living, visible, tangible proof of this can be found at 26 Second Avenue (between 1st and 2nd Streets) any Monday, Wednesday and Friday night between 7 and 9 p.m. when the sounds of cymbals, drums, bells, voices, harmonium and the innards of an old piano waft across the slums of the East Village like incense. One glance through the storefront window reveals the Swami seated on his dais leading "Kirtan" surrounded by some 30 young barefoot disciples who sing, dance, chant and listen to his lectures on the Gita, the principal scripture of Hinduism handed down some 5,000 years ago by Śrī Kṛṣṇa, an incarnation of God. Sitting cross-legged in his golden robes, the swarthy complexioned Swami tells his followers in a soft voice that "Kṛṣṇa is everything". "We see now His maya," he says, "His illusory energy which is the entire material universe, Kṛṣṇa is behind this. He supports everything. But this material universe is full of suffering. Let us return to Kṛṣṇa's true abode, His spiritual universe. It is His spiritual kingdom that is eternal." Many of the Swami's new disciples, who include Allen Ginsberg, feel that the Swami's greatest contribution is the "Kirtan," form of meditation which leads to consciousness expansion. The uniqueness of the "Kirtan" lies in the fact that it is a rhythmic, hypnotic 16-word chant ("Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare Hare") sung for hours on end to the accompaniment of hand clapping, cymbals and bells. "The Kirtan," says the Swami, "is as natural as the cry of a child for his mother. It is a meditation of body and spirit through the senses. It is feeling the presence of God and crying out to Him for help." One of the Swami's disciples confessed, "I started chanting to myself, like the Swami said, when I was walking down the street: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare Hare over and over, and suddenly everything started looking so beautiful, the kids, the old men and women . . . even the creeps looked beautiful . . . to say nothing of the trees and flowers. It was like I'd taken a dozen doses of LSD. But I knew there was a difference. There's no coming down from this. I can always do this, anytime, anywhere. It's always with you. "Everybody's trying to get high and stay there," another young disciple stated. "Everybody's looking for an exalted state of consciousness, a way to flip out and stay out. But there's something bringing you back to the old miserable routine. Not with this. This has a snowballing effect. You can chant your way right into eternity." "Into eternity . . . and beyond," the Swami adds. The cosmic or expanded consciousness, called "Kṛṣṇa consciousness" by the Swami, is an awareness of a soul present within the body. "It is also," he preaches, "the same awareness of life as when taking LSD. It is partly the constant awareness of the Lord living in all things—in the insects, and animals, in the earth, in buildings and sidewalks, cars and machinery, and in men, and in the sun and boundless universe. It is the state of bliss and of love in all life." After Turning Off and Singing Out his disciples in this way, the Swami makes everyone Fall In to a special diet which forbids the ingestion of coffee, tea, meat, eggs and cigarettes to say nothing of marijuana, LSD, alcohol and illicit sex. The energetic old man maintains that the human body requires only natural, healthy food products, such as grains, fruits, vegetables and milk. His students seem to agree. The Swami met his first *guru* (teacher) in India in 1922 and was instructed to spread the way of Kṛṣṇa in the Western world. Last year he came to America and, after a stay in the Philadelphia area, he traveled to New York and succeeded in establishing his society called The International Society for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In addition to handling the affairs of the Society, lecturing, and conducting meetings, he works on a mammoth project involving an English translation of the *Bhagavad-Gita*, the principal scripture of Hinduism, and a proposed 60-volume edition of the *Śrīmad* *Bhagavatam*. These, in addition to his newspaper "Back to Godhead," establish the Swami as a leading exponent of the philosophy of Personalism, which holds that one God is a person but that His form is spiritual. "Since man is part and parcel of the Supreme," says the Swami, "he can come to know something of God through self-knowledge. It is like gaining knowledge of the ocean by inspection of one drop of its water. The Swami, whose title means one who is master of the senses, is quick to point out that his Society is not a religion seeking converts. "There is one God," stated the Swami, "and I bring my students here not to convert them to Him, but simply to convince them. I do not seek to change any man's religious practice." In order to convince more people that the Way is through Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the Swami and his followers have begun to sing the "Kirtan" in Tompkins Square Park every Sunday afternoon. There, in the shadow of Hoving's Hill, God lives in trance-like dance and chant. ## Hare Kṛṣṇa People–An Inspiration for Devotees of All Ages *Though she never learned to read, Sarva Kanti Devī Dāsī is dedicated to giving others the opportunity to read Śrīla Prabhupāda's books.* *By Vrndadevi Dasi* Sarva Kanti Devī Dāsī beams with pleasure as she hands over change to the man who just bought a *Bhagavad-gītā As It Is* from the temple’s book table. Despite her advanced age and poor health, she loves spending most of her time at the Hare Kṛṣṇa temple in Phoenix, Mauritius, welcoming guests and handing out transcendental literature and devotional gifts to visitors. Before coming to Kṛṣṇa consciousness some twenty years ago, Sarva Kanti, then known as Saraswati, was a pious Hindu lady who was widowed at the age of thirty-five. Not considering remarriage an option, she singlehandedly raised her eight children and painstakingly ensured that they received an education and did not end up illiterate like her. In the summer of 1988 one of Saraswati’s daughters, Sunayna, came in touch with the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement in Mauritius. Shortly thereafter, Sunayna went on a vacation to England, where she spent considerable time with devotees at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the headquarters of ISKCON U.K. The visit was a major turning point for Sunayna, and when she returned to her native country, she made a firm decision to dedicate her life to serving Kṛṣṇa. She consequently joined the temple as a resident devotee, despite her mother’s disapproval. Sunayna had recently graduated from university, and her rejection of a promising future to pursue a spiritual path as a missionary distressed Saraswati. She could not understand why her daughter had to forsake a career and could not live at home and practice spiritual life at the same time. A verbal tug-of-war began between mother and daughter. Saraswati came repeatedly to the temple to try to convince her daughter to come back home. Sunayna, on the other hand, did her best to gently impart the message of Kṛṣṇa consciousness to her distraught mother and make her understand that this was her calling in life. Both their attempts were proving unsuccessful, as each staunchly stood her ground, set in her convictions. Hailing from a Hindu background, Saraswati was already familiar with Lord Kṛṣṇa. She and her husband used to argue sometimes about who was Supreme. Saraswati’s husband believed that Lord Siva was superior, while she always maintained that Lord Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme, although she could not articulate why. Somehow Saraswati had faith in Kṛṣṇa, but she lacked knowledge to substantiate it. Influenced by common family traditions, however, she continued worshiping the demigods together with Kṛṣṇa and took part in rites and rituals that were the norm for most Hindus. With time, however, subtle transformations began taking place in Saraswati. She gradually and imperceptibly started becoming more favorably inclined towards Kṛṣṇa consciousness. She found the devotees respectful and welcoming whenever she visited the temple to meet Sunayna. She felt happy when her daughter came to visit her, and she even started buying Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books from Sunayna to give them as gifts to relatives. If she happened to bump into her daughter distributing books in town, she would walk up to her and buy one. Out of affection for her daughter, by these simple acts she was unknowingly performing devotional service, and Kṛṣṇa was reciprocating by slowly relieving her of her apprehension and misgivings. Soon she started visiting the temple regularly, not to coax Sunayna back home but to spend more time with the devotees. *Deepening Conviction* What Saraswati previously knew at heart—that Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead—she now began to understand in truth. It became clear to her that all other Deities are subordinate to Kṛṣṇa and should be offered due respect but not considered on the same level as Him. Furthermore, she understood that the supreme religious practice for this age is the simple chanting of the *maha-mantra:* Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Gradually she began chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa *maha-mantra,* and since then she has not looked back. As she became more convinced about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, she became increasingly inspired to give back what she had learned. She thus decided to take up book distribution herself. Young devotees selling transcendental literature in public were a common sight, but it was almost unheard of to see an elderly lady in a widow’s white *sari* with a book bag enthusiastically distributing books on the streets and door to door. She would also visit relatives, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances to tell them about Lord Kṛṣṇa and appeal to them to buy a book. Although she could not read the books herself, she had firm faith in their potency. She understood the good fortune and happiness they could bring to peoples’ lives if they read them and took to the practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. She would also unhesitatingly visit professionals like doctors and lawyers and was effective in influencing them. She lived up to the meaning of the traditional verse > mukam karoti vacalam > pangum langhayate girim > yat-krpa tam aham vande > sri-gurum dina-taranam “I offer my respectful obeisances to my spiritual master, by whose mercy a dumb man can become a great speaker and a lame man can cross mountains.” With time many of the people whose lives she touched with Śrīla Prabhupāda’s message took to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Because of the impact of Saraswati’s example and preaching, many others who had looked at the movement as a new cult and who had been wary of its followers changed their impression and started showing appreciation for ISKCON and the devotees. *Finding Her Guru* Soon Saraswati began to understand that to make spiritual progress one had to accept the shelter of a spiritual master. After listening to and meeting various spiritual teachers, she decided to accept His Holiness Giriraja Swami as her spiritual master. Deeply inspired by him and attracted to his humble disposition, she resolved to request him for spiritual initiation. In 1992 Saraswati became Sarva Kanti Devī Dāsī in a ceremony proudly attended by her whole family, including her daughter Sunayna, who was now Satyabhama Devī Dāsī. After initiation, to follow her *guru’s* instruction to continue preaching, Sarva Kanti became even more earnest in her efforts to enlighten others through book distribution and preaching. Almost every day, after quickly finishing her household duties she would go out by public transport or by foot to visit people, spend time with them, and leave them the gift of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. For many years she steadily maintained this pace. She participated with full energy in the intense Maha Shivaratri book-distribution marathon, which lasts for four trying days on the island of Mauritius. During the festival, held at Ganga Talav, a sacred lake for the 630,000 Hindus on the island, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims throng to the site to offer worship to Lord Siva. Hare Kṛṣṇa devotees usually take this opportunity to flood Ganga Talav with transcendental literature. Despite her advanced age, Sarva Kanti would display uncommon zest and blissfully relish the chance to meet as many people as she could to offer them Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. Sometimes the younger devotees would feel the strain and succumb to exhaustion, but Sarva Kanti would inspire them by her example and enthusiasm. Along with book distribution Sarva Kanti has also been engaged in worshiping and cooking for Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Golokananda, the presiding Deities at ISKCON Phoenix. She loves making breakfast for the devotees too. She sometimes brings *prasada* for them from home or invites them to her house and serves them *prasada* of her beloved Gaura-Nitai Deities. She is a mother figure for all devotees and is very affectionate to everyone. *Motivated by Gratitude* When asked what motivates her staunch faith in distributing Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, she responds, “Śrīla Prabhupāda’s lectures and books have changed so many peoples’ lives, including my own in such a significant way. The only minute way I can express my gratitude towards him is to do what he requested us to do: distribute Kṛṣṇa consciousness to others through his books. Also, my Guru Mahārāja has requested me to preach, so I am trying to follow his instruction the best I can.” Her daughter Satyabhama Dasi, a top book distributor in Mauritius, says, “My mother is an inspiration to me. A devotee once advised me not to exert myself because I will not be able to continue book distribution when I get older. When I heard this, I thought of my mother, who was still distributing books in her advanced age, and this thought made me persevere. "Once, when I was ill, my mother came to see me at the temple, and when she was leaving, she said, 'I pray that you get better soon so that you can continue your book distribution.'” Ajaya Caitanya Dāsa, co–temple-president of ISKCON Phoenix, says, “Sarva Kanti is an inspiration to all. I have seen her going out door to door at 6:00 P.M., and also distributing books at a book table when her health was bad. She is very caring and treats everyone like her child. If someone is leaving without *prasada,* she calls after them and makes sure they get some.” *Persevering in Old Age* Sarva Kanti is now eighty-one, and her health is deteriorating, but she continues to be an example to others by her determination to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Although it is a struggle for her to walk or move about, she perseveres in going to the temple almost every day to take care of the book table. The story of how she took to Kṛṣṇa consciousness and how she has dedicated her entire later life to sharing it is wonderful. Her eagerness and love to share what she has learned and realized will always be a part of the history of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in Mauritius. *Vrndadevi Dasi, a disciple of Giriraja Swami, lives with her husband and two children in Rugby, England. She has written a few books for children, published in Mauritius.* ## A Pause for Prayer My dear Lord, You are the only worshipable Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore I offer my humble obeisances and prayers just to please You. O son of the king of the cowherds, Your transcendental body is dark blue like a new cloud, Your garment is brilliant like lightning, and the beauty of Your face is enhanced by Your *gunja* earrings and the peacock feather on Your head. Wearing garlands of various forest flowers and leaves, and equipped with a herding stick, a buffalo horn, and a flute, You stand beautifully with a morsel of food in Your hand. Lord Brahma *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 10.14.1 ## Prayag Raj: A Place for Vaisnavas *by Hrimati Devī Dāsī* *What was supposed to be a brief, casual trip to accept an invitation from an old friend turned out to be a wonderful, purifying, spiritual journey.* Two of the holiest places we in the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement hold dear, Vrindavan and Māyāpur, are sites where the Supreme Personality of Godhead—Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Caitanya Mahāprabhu respectively—made Their transcendental appearances. But there is another very spiritual place we don't hear enough about. Only a few of us know much about this gem, where Lord Rama stopped twice: to rest on His way to exile, and to perform *puja* (worship) for purification on His way back; where Lord Caitanya went to the temple of Veni Madhava and danced day and night; where He instructed Śrīla Rupa Gosvami in the Vaisnava philosophy; and where the founder-*ācārya* of ISKCON lived with his family and received spiritual initiation. This place is called Allahabad, also known as Prayag Raj. Thirty-seven years ago, 1977, in Mumbai (then Bombay), I saw my spiritual master, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, for the last time. With my two-year-old son Raghunatha holding onto my *sari* and my six-month-old daughter Nandini in my arms, I waved farewell to him as he drove off in his maroon Ambassador to attend the Maha Kumbha Mela in Allahabad, which occurs every twelve years. Vrindavan lies in northwest India, near the river Yamuna, while Māyāpur is located near the Ganga, in the eastern state of West Bengal. Allahabad, UP, lies in the heart of India. Though nearly three thousand kilometers wide, India has only one time zone, and clocks across the country are set to the time in Allahabad. Just as the city is the heart of India's time, it is also the heart of India's spirituality. It is where millions of people come every year for a holy dip in the Triveni Sangam, the confluence of the three rivers Yamuna, Ganga, and Saraswati. Advaita Ācārya Dāsa, a family friend from Māyāpur, requested me several times to visit the ISKCON temple in Allahabad, where he serves as the temple president. How could I refuse to visit this holy city, where every year many millions of pilgrims flock to find spiritual peace? Also, knowing that Allahabad has a lot of history connected with the Lord's pastimes, as well as with my spiritual master, I finally made the journey. *First Impressions and Some Temple History* After a twelve-hour train-ride from Kolkata, I hire a private auto ricksha from Allahabad Junction station to Balua Ghat, where the ISKCON temple is located. This being Allahabad—"the city of Allah"—many of the shops I pass display Arabic signboards. The Moghul emperor Akbar gave the city its current name in 1575. As the ricksha arrives near Balua Ghat on the Yamuna River, I hear loudspeakers broadcasting chants of “*Jaya Gange Mata!*” ("All glories to Mother Ganga!") “*Yamuna-mayi ki jaya!*” ("All glories to Mother Yamuna!") and “*Jaya Hanuman!*” ("All glories to Hanuman!") —mixed with the names of many other demigods and demigoddesses. The ricksha drops me off in front of the palace of the late king Dr. Vibhuti Narayan Singh (1927–2000), just next to the ISKCON Śrī Śrī Rādhā–Veni-Madhava Mandir. As I walk through the beautiful arched entrance to the temple property, Advaita Ācārya Dāsa gives me a warm welcome. After I've settled in, he tells a brief history of the temple. In 1989 a group of devotees headed by Madhai Dāsa arrived in Allahabad to start an ISKCON center. In the beginning they stayed as paying guests at the house of Mr. S. D. Sinha. Then in 1991 they rented a house at 403, Baghambari Housing Scheme, Allahapur, with Madhai Dāsa as the temple president. They struggled for quite a while to obtain land to start the center. Eventually they met Mr. B. N. Rama Roy, whose son owned Hotel Elchio and who was a close friend of the popular king of Kashi, His Highness Mahārāja Dr. Vibhuti Narayan Singh. On Mr. Roy's suggestion, the devotees traveled 125 km to Varanasi and asked the king for land. He agreed, but did not pay immediate attention to the matter, and in time the devotees grew anxious. Unexpectedly, Mr. A. K. Chadda, a school organizer, offered to donate two acres of land near the airport. The devotees accepted the offer and started conducting programs on the land. Hearing this, the king sent his lawyer to inform the devotees that he was ready to donate his land immediately. Finally, after a prolonged struggle, the devotees took possession of the property, next to the king’s palace by the bank of the Yamuna in Allahabad. The leased property was officially registered in the name of ISKCON in March 1997. But the struggle did not end there. Although the devotees had received a written consent order from the king in 1995, some servants of the king and other tenants gave the devotees a lot of trouble and refused to vacate the property, although they eventually left after some time. The property was a jungle, however, wild with vegetation and infested with snakes. The devotees cleared the land and made it fit for the Lord’s residence, along with a garden and a *goshala* (cow sanctuary). Seeing the property, I could never have guessed at all the struggles the devotees went through to make it look like it does today, with beautifully manicured flower and vegetable gardens. Being an animal lover, I immediately want to see the cows. Narahari Dāsa Brahmacari introduces me to about twenty extremely friendly cows and bulls, many of them curiously sniffing me. I am taken by how clean they are. The devotees themselves are looking after the cows with much love and affection under the leadership of Acintya Balai Dāsa Brahmacari. *Organic Vegetables, Flowers, and Grass* Next to the cow barn extends the large temple garden. Sidhu Dadu, the head gardener, is very dedicated and makes it a personal affair to look after the garden. He planted beautiful symmetrical rows of cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, eggplant, and other vegetables for the Lord, along with Nepier grass for the cows. On the opposite side of the footpath you can find beautiful scented flowers and a big area of *tulasi,* the sacred plant used profusely in the worship of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The flowers, vegetables, and fodder for the cows are grown organically with only cow manure used as fertilizer, which is derived from the slurry coming from the big *gobar*-gas tank, where biogas is produced by mixing cow dung (*gobar*) and water. The biogas is then channeled through a pipe into the main and used for cooking the much-loved *chapatis*. The Lord’s cook, Sarvajaya Kṛṣṇa Dāsa, lets me have a glimpse into the smaller Deity kitchen while he's cooking for the Deities. I observe harmony in ISKCON Allahabad, where the devotees are peaceful and devoted in everything they do for the presiding Deities, Their Lordships Śrī Śrī Rādhā–Veni-Madhava, installed in November 2003. Their Lordships are gorgeously decorated and smiling at you. Their temporary temple building was formally inaugurated in August 2003, and the temple services have been carried out regularly ever since. Festivals such as Kṛṣṇa Janmastami, Rama Navami, Gaura Purnima, and Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vyasa-puja are celebrated annually in grand fashion. Advaita Ācārya has plans for a large permanent temple. After touring the temple grounds, I take a holy and refreshing dip in the river Yamuna at the Prabhupāda Ghat, which descends directly from the back gate of the temple property. In the evening, after honoring dinner *prasada,* I offer a ghee lamp to Śrī Śrī Rādhā–Veni-Madhava and retire for the night at the ISKCON Allahabad guesthouse. *Śrīla Prabhupāda in Allahabad* Allahabad, or Prayag Raj, has a lot of history connected with the Lord's pastimes, as well as with ISKCON’s founder-*ācārya:* His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. At the Allahabad Gaudiya Matha in 1933, Śrīla Prabhupāda, then known as Abhay Charan De, received Vaisnava initiation from his spiritual master, Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura, and received the spiritual name Abhaya Caranaravinda Dāsa. At their very first meeting, in Calcutta, 1922, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati had instructed Abhay Charan De to spread the gospel of Śrī Caitanya to the English-speaking people of the world. After that first meeting, Abhay moved to Allahabad and ran his own business, Prayag Pharmacy, for thirteen years. The building that housed the pharmacy can still be seen today. During this period as a family man, Abhay helped establish the Allahabad Gaudiya Matha for his spiritual master's mission. *Pilgrimage Sites* On my second day in Allahabad it is time for *parikrama,* or pilgrimage to the holy places. Our first stop is the ancient temple of Śrī Śrī Veni-Madhava, the presiding Deity of Prayag. According to the history painted on the walls of the temple, there was once an evil entity named Gajakarna who troubled all the demigods. On the request of Lord Indra, the king of heaven, the great sage Narada Muni sought an audience with Gajakarna to find out his weakness and discovered that he suffered from a skin infection on his leg. Narada told Gajakarna to bathe where the three rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati meet—the Triveni Sangam at Prayag Raj—which Gajakarna proceeded to do. Amazed at finding himself cured, and wanting to possess the three great rivers that had cured him, he drank them. When the rivers pleaded with Lord Visnu, He arrived in the form of Veni-Madhava, killed Gajakarna, and restored the rivers to their rightful place. According to oral history, Lord Ramacandra, Sita Devi, and Laksmana visited the Veni Madhava temple during their fourteen-year exile many centuries ago in a previous age, Treta-yuga. And we learn from *Caitanya-caritāmṛta* that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, while visiting Prayag Raj about five hundred years ago, chanted the holy names and danced here every day. After returning from the USA, Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda visited this temple and found it in a dilapidated state. He encouraged the temple authorities to renovate this important temple, which they did, and ever since his visit the temple has flourished. Recently, the *mahant* (head priest) expressed a desire to install a *murti* (carved form) of Śrīla Prabhupāda in the temple. Not far from the Veni-Madhava temple, at Dashashwamedha Ghat, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught the essential principles of devotional service to Rupa Gosvami for ten days. Here the nectar flowed from Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mouth into the ears of Rupa Gosvami. A sign marks the historic meeting place: "Rupa Shikshsthali" ("The Site Where Rupa Received Instruction"). How can I describe my emotions when I fall down and offer my obeisances at the plaque bearing the lotus footprints of Caitanya Mahāprabhu? Having been a follower of Caitanya Mahāprabhu since my childhood forty-one years ago, I feel surcharged with a mixture of spiritual energy and emotions. Based on the discourse that took place here between Śrīla Rupa Gosvami and the Lord, Śrīla Rupa Gosvami gave us the Vaisnava culture as we still practice it today. References to their meeting can be found in *Caitanya-caritāmṛta:* Śrī Rupa Gosvami and Anupama Mallika went to Prayaga, and they were very pleased to hear the news that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was there. At Prayaga, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to see the temple of Bindu [Veni] Madhava, and many hundreds of thousands of people followed Him to meet Him. . . (*Madhya* 19.37–38) Due to the great crowds in Prayaga, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to a place called Dāsasvamedha-ghata. It was there that the Lord instructed Śrī Rupa Gosvami and empowered him in the philosophy of devotional service. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught Śrīla Rupa Gosvami the ultimate limit of the truth about Lord Kṛṣṇa, the truth about devotional service, and the truth about transcendental mellows, culminating in conjugal love between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Finally He told Rupa Gosvami about the ultimate conclusions of *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam.* Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu taught Rupa Gosvami all the conclusions He had heard from Ramananda Raya and duly empowered him so that he could understand them. By entering the heart of Rupa Gosvami, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu empowered him to ascertain properly the conclusions of all truths. He made him an experienced devotee whose decisions correctly agreed with the verdicts of the disciplic succession. Thus Śrī Rupa Gosvami was personally empowered by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In his book *Caitanya-candrodaya,* Kavi-karnapura, the son of Sivananda Sena, has elaborately described the meeting between Śrī Rupa Gosvami and Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (*Madhya* 19.114–118) At the beginning of creation, Lord Brahma conducted the first (*pra*) ten sacrifices (*yaga*) at Dashashwamedha Ghat. He referred to Prayag as *tirtha-raja,* "the king of all pilgrimage sites." Confluences of major rivers are commonly referred to as *prayagas,* of which there are fourteen on the Ganga, with Prayag Raj, the king of confluences, being the most important. The *Puranas,* the *Ramayana,* and the *Mahābhārata* contain references to its sanctity. Today, Prayag is an important religious center, with hundreds of temples. It is this ancient spirituality of Prayag that you can really feel when you go there. Next, our pilgrimage leads us to the Allahabad Fort, built in 1583 by the Mughal emperor Akbar. It was the largest fort he built and one of the best garrisons of the Mughal Empire. Presently the Indian Army occupies the fort, and only part of it is open to visitors. Lord Ramacandra, with Sita and Laksmana, came to this site on their way to His exile and here performed His father's *sraddha* ceremony (for one's departed ancestor). For three days Rama, Sita, and Laksmana stayed underneath a banyan tree, now known as Akshaya-vat. At the entrance to the fort we pay our respects to Deities of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and Sita-Rama, Laksmana, and Hanuman. Inside the fort we view the much-revered Akshaya-vat, or "immortal banyan tree." In the *Padma Purana,* Lord Narayana says, > prayage vaisnava ksetre > madadhara virajate > vrkso ’ksaya vatastatra > vaikunthad adhikam mama "Prayaga is a place of Vaisnavas where an *aksaya vata* exists. That is my residence; for Me it is better than Vaikuntha." (*Prayaga-mahatmya* 12.16) It is said that the Akshaya-vat used to extend all the way up to the Yamuna River, a few hundred meters away. Before leaving the fort, our guide, Advaita Ācārya Dāsa, takes us to the underground Patalpuri temple, one of the oldest temples in India. Being underground, we also get to see the roots of the Akshaya-vat. Our *parikrama* would not be complete without a holy dip at the *Tri**veni* Sangam Tirtha. *Tri* means "three," *veni* means "braid," and *sangam* means "confluence." The invisible Saraswati is said to flow underground and join the two other rivers from below. The muddy pale-yellow water of the Ganga merges with the blue water of the Yamuna. The water is about forty feet deep near the point of their nexus, after which the Ganga continues on until it meets the sea at the Bay of Bengal (Ganga Sagar). The *Padma Purana* (41.16–17) states: > satyavadi jita-krodho > ahimsa paramam sthitah > dharmanusari tattvajno > go-brahmana-hite ratah > ganga-yamunayor madhye > snato mucyeta kilbisat > manasa cintitan kaman > samyak prapnoti puskalan "Those who are truthful, who have conquered anger, who are non-envious, religious, mature in scriptural knowledge, and engaged in the well-being of the cows and *brahmanas,* take bath in the middle of the Ganga and Yamuna. They become freed from all types of sins, and they achieve all types of enjoyment to the fullest extent." We ride on a boat out to the Sangam to take our holy bath from a wooden platform connecting two other boats. The ride out provides a picturesque view of the confluence and many migratory birds. With the onset of winter, these birds migrate to this holy spot all the way from Siberia. During Kumbha Mela, in the cold month of January, it is said that all the demigods come in human form to take a dip at the Sangam. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that people should take advantage of the association of the many highly learned saintly persons who assemble during Kumbha Mela: Kumbha-melā is *sat-sanga.* If you go to Kumbha-melā to find a man of knowledge, then your Kumbha-melā is right. Otherwise, *yat-tirtha-buddhih salile na karhicit . . . sa eva go-khara.* If one thinks that this *salīlā,* the water—that just to take bath in the water is Kumbha-melā, then he's a *go-khara,* a cow or an ass. But if he thinks, "Now there is an assembly of so many saintly persons; let me take advantage of their knowledge," then he is intelligent. (Conversation, January 8, 1977, Bombay) On our way back to the ISKCON temple, we pass by the old Prayag Pharmacy building where Śrīla Prabhupāda had his business as a young family man. *A Grateful Visitor* Back at the temple, paying my humble obeisance to Śrī Śrī Rādhā–Veni-Madhava and then offering Them a ghee lamp, I meditate on my great fortune in receiving Their *darsana,* and I pray They may engage me in Their service. Only after going to this spiritual city Prayag Raj and seeing and experiencing it myself did I open a new fresh connection with my spiritual master and his Lord. It never occurred to me before why Śrīla Prabhupāda, even in his old age, had insisted on going to Allahabad on that day in 1977 when I last saw him. Now I have a better sense of the spiritual allure of this special place. I encourage devotees visiting India to make Prayag Raj part of their itinerary.* The beautiful smiling faces of Śrī Śrī Rādhā–Veni-Madhava will surely capture your heart, as They have mine. *Hrimati Devī Dāsī, originally from Germany, was initiated in 1973. She raised six sons and one daughter. She moved to India in 1996. At ISKCON Māyāpur she manages the temple elephants, cares for cows, and under the devotee care department helps sick and terminally ill devotees. She also runs her own cottage industry, Gopal Soft Toys.* *Advaita Ācārya Dāsa Brahmacari contributed to the writing of this article.* **Pilgrimage places within 150 kilometers of Allahabad include Chitrakoot, where Lord Rama went to the forest for twelve years; Ayodhya, Rama's birthplace and capital; and Naimisharanya, where Śrīla Suta Gosvami recited* Śrīmad-Bhagavatam. ## Life's Most Important Moment *by Rasa Purusa Dāsa* *Biographies from the Vedic literature teach us what determines our destination after life in the human form.* Whenever I read or hear about someone's death, I wonder what that person was thinking of at the moment of passing from the body. Because most people today are ignorant of the science of God, the soul, reincarnation, and so on, they have no idea of the importance of our thoughts during the final moments before death. In fact, those thoughts determine our next destination. Life in the spiritual world is eternal, whereas life in the material world is transient, entailing a chain of birth and death in 8,400,000 species, including plants, aquatics, reptiles, birds, beasts, and humans. Out of all forms, the human form is the most precious as it offers a splendid opportunity to get out of the miserable cycle of life and death and go back home, back to Godhead, just by remembering Lord Kṛṣṇa at the time of death. Because human life is fragile and can end in an instant, we must live each moment as if it were the last—because it might well be. *Three Illustrative Histories* The *Bhagavata Purana* (*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam*) and the *Visnu Purana* relate the story of a saintly king who on being informed that he had only a moment to live made the most of that last moment granted to him. This saintly king, named Khatvanga, was born in the dynasty in which Lord Ramacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, would later appear. King Khatvanga was invincible in battle. Once, at the request of the demigods (*devatas*), he joined them in a combat against the demons (*asuras*), and the demigods came out victorious. Being highly pleased, the demigods wanted to reward King Khatvanga by blessing him with material enjoyment. Because he was aware of his prime duty in life, however, he asked the demigods how much longer he would live. He was more anxious to prepare himself for the next life than to accumulate a material benediction from the demigods. On being informed that he would live for only a moment more, the king immediately left the heavenly kingdom and came down to his home on earth. Using his mental agility, he freed himself at once from all material activities, took shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and achieved eternal liberation in the spiritual world—the supreme destination of human life. Another saintly king of yore, named Bharata, was a topmost devotee of the Lord. He ruled the earth so competently that this planet, formerly known as Ajanabha-varsa, became known Bharata-varsa after his rule. He was not as fortunate as the saintly King Khatvanga, because he could not recollect the Lord during the last moment of his life. He had renounced his kingdom and was living as a sage in the forest. But when his soul left the body, his mind, instead of being intent upon the Supreme Lord, was absorbed in thought of his beloved pet deer. As a result, he was born as a deer in his next life. Fortunately *bhakti,* or devotional service to the Lord, is never lost, and all the devotional service Bharata had performed as a king and as a sage bore fruit. Even though he was in the body of a deer, he was a *jati-smara,* one who remembers his past birth. He continuously went apart from his companions and was instinctively drawn to grazing near hermitages where sages offered oblations to the Lord and recited Vedic hymns. After living the usual life span of a deer, he died and was born as a human in a rich *brahmana* family. In that life he also remembered his past lives, and he lived like a sluggish and weak-witted person just to ward off entanglement in worldly affairs. His thoughts were engrossed in the Supreme Lord, and he attained spiritual perfection. The *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* and other Vedic books also relate the history of Ajamila, who overcame death by loudly uttering “Narayana” at the last moment of his life. A *brahmana* by birth, in his early youth Ajamila was good and devout, but he fell from grace by association with a prostitute. He begot ten sons in her womb, and the youngest was named Narayana. At the time of Ajamila's death, three ugly, fearsome agents of Yamaraja, the king of death, appeared with ropes before him, intending to drag him away to a hellish planet for punishment. Ajamila became extremely terrified. Because of his affection for his son, he called him loudly by name. Thus with tears in his eyes, somehow or other he chanted the holy name of Narayana. Immediately upon hearing the name of their master from the mouth of the dying Ajamila, four agents of Lord Visnu arrived at the scene. A lengthy debate ensued between the agents of Lord Visnu and those of Yamaraja, and consequently Ajamila was rescued. The above trilogy confirms that at the time of departure from the body, our mental makeup forms the basis of the next body. In the last moment of his life, King Khatvanga thought of Kṛṣṇa and got a spiritual body in the spiritual world; King Bharata thought of a deer and got the body of a deer in the material world; and Ajamila, a sinful reprobate, just by calling the name of God inadvertently but without offense, was saved from slipping into hellish conditions. *Teachings of Bhagavad-gītā* Some five thousand years ago, at the conjunction of two ages, Lord Kṛṣṇa, playing as a charioteer for His devotee friend Arjuna, imparted supreme teachings immortalized as the **Bhagavad-gītā*.* Arjuna was not the first recipient of this supreme knowledge; Lord Kṛṣṇa instructed the sun-god 120 million years ago, and hence this knowledge was in vogue in the days of yore. The teachings in verses 8.5 and 8.6 of the *Bhagavad-gītā* signify the utility of remembering Kṛṣṇa at the last moment of a human life, and the futility of not remembering Him. > anta-kale ca mam eva > smaran muktva kalevaram > yah prayati sa mad-bhavam > yati nasty atra samsayah “And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body remembering Me alone at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.” (*Gita* 8.5) This verse emphasizes the importance of exclusive remembrance of the Supreme Lord at the last moment of life. The Supreme Lord is *sac-cid-ananda* (eternal existence, knowledge, and bliss), and Kṛṣṇa guarantees that one who leaves the body remembering Him attains to that same spiritual nature. King Khatvanga, after learning that he would live for only a moment more, immediately transferred himself to earth, and just by remembering the Lord in that very last moment attained the supreme destination. At the time of his anticipated death, Ajamila, just by loudly calling "Narayana"—the name of his son—unintentionally chanted the holy name of the Lord in a helpless condition, and without offense, and thereby not only liberated himself from sinful reactions but also conquered his scheduled death. A further example is Bhisma, the granduncle of the Pandavas. Being a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and having been blessed to die at the time of his own choosing, he had fallen during the Battle of Kurukshetra. His body riddled with arrows, he was waiting to depart his body at the auspicious occasion of the return of the sun to the northern hemisphere. Merciful Lord Kṛṣṇa arrived at Bhisma's side at the last moment of his life, enabling Bhisma to fix his mind and eyes on Him and thereby regain his original position in the spiritual world. > yam yam vapi smaran bhavam > tyajaty ante kalevaram > tam tam evaiti kaunteya > sada tad-bhava-bhavitah “Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kunti, that state he will attain without fail.” (*Gita* 8.6) In this verse the words “state of being” are very significant. If one is engaged in a state of being other than Kṛṣṇa consciousness in his last moment, he will get a new body in accordance with that engagement, assures Lord Kṛṣṇa. In his last moment King Bharata was fixed in deer consciousness because he had focused his mind on his pet deer. He was thus transferred into the body of a deer in his next life. *How to Remember Kṛṣṇa* The *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* (2.1.6) exhorts us to remember the Lord at the end of life: *ante narayana-smrtih*. One should fix his mind on Lord Kṛṣṇa and utter “Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa ” at the last moment of his life. Better still, one should audibly chant the **maha-*mantra**:* Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself, magnanimously propagated the *maha-*mantra** in the current age of Kali. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda so strongly emphasized the chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra* *at all stages of life* that the International Society of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, which he founded, is known as "the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement" the world over. *Make Your Moments Count* The highest perfection of human life is to remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, at the last moment. Hence, we should mold our life in such a way that we can easily remember the Supreme Lord in all places, in all circumstances, and at all times so that our remembrance of the Lord at the crucial last moment is not impeded. The moments of our life that have been expended without the flavor of Kṛṣṇa consciousness are a sheer waste, beyond recoup; but we can salvage the un-expended moments. Blend every remaining moment of your life exclusively with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Make every residual moment of your life count by treating it as if it were the last. *Rasa Purusa Dāsa, a disciple of His Holiness Gopala Kṛṣṇa Goswami, is a chartered civil engineer retired from the government of Haryana. Now living in Mumbai, in the late sixties and seventies he was instrumental in the design and construction of the latest sacred Brahma Sarovar at Kurukshetra.* ## From the Editor *The Guru and the Miraculous* > mukam karoti vacalam > pangum langhayate girim > yat-krpa tam aham vande > sri-gurum dina-taranam “I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, the deliverer of the fallen souls. His mercy turns the dumb into eloquent speakers and enables the lame to cross mountains.” This traditional prayer, often quoted by followers of Śrīla Prabhupāda in eulogies to him, praises the *guru* for possessing the ability to perform miracles. Does the genuine *guru* have such power? The prayer as quoted here is a revision of the original, written by Śrīla Śrīdhara Svami in the fourteenth century*.* The last line, which as revised refers to the *guru*, originally reads *paramananda-madhavam:* "the transcendentally blissful Personality of Godhead, Madhava*.*" God, or course, can make the dumb speak and the lame walk*.* Was the reviser of the last line justified in ascribing the same power to the Vaisnava *guru*? Lord Kṛṣṇa in the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* (11.17.27) says that the genuine Vaisnava *guru* is *sarva-deva-maya,* "the representative of all the demigods." With their backing, then, the *guru* can possess their nearly limitless power, including the ability to grant speech to the dumb and steps to the lame. Generally, however, disciples of Vaisnava **guru*s* attribute the *guru*'s power not to the *devas* but to Lord Kṛṣṇa, the source of the *devas*' powers. Ascribing miraculous abilities to the *guru* is easy to justify, therefore, because Lord Kṛṣṇa can empower His pure representative to do anything. People sometimes ask whether Śrīla Prabhupāda performed miracles. First one should understand that Vaisnava **guru*s*, though possessing extraordinary powers, do not generally display them. One reason is that such performances tend to attract what Prabhupāda called "cheap followers." The Vaisnava *guru* wants disciples who understand the importance of spiritual life and are ready to undertake the strict discipline required to progress steadily on the spiritual path. Once, in India, Śrīla Prabhupāda was asked if he performed miracles. Pointing to his non-Indian disciples, he said, "This is my miracle." Surely turning large numbers of culturally disadvantaged (to put it mildly) people all over the world into lovers of Kṛṣṇa was miraculous, especially when one considers that Prabhupāda arrived in America essentially penniless. Here's another way to look at the prayer. The Vedic scriptures tell us that the only true speech is *kṛṣṇa-katha*—words by and about Kṛṣṇa, His devotees, His service, and so on. From that perspective, anyone who, because of Śrīla Prabhupāda, chants Kṛṣṇa’s holy names, discusses His activities and teachings, speaks to others about Him, or engages in *kṛṣṇa-katha* in any number of ways has been transformed from muteness to eloquence. Like many disciples and grand-disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda, I often lecture at length about Kṛṣṇa. Before hearing from Prabhupāda, I was speechless on the subject. As for the lame, the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* says that legs that don't travel to holy places are no better than tree trunks. By Śrīla Prabhupāda's miraculous power, my former tree-trunk legs now carry me daily to Lord Kṛṣṇa’s temple. To say that the inability to speak about Kṛṣṇa or walk to His places constitutes dumbness and lameness is reasonable because, as we learn from the *Bhagavad-gītā* (2.16), material words and steps have no real substance. Only the spiritual, the eternal, can truly be said to exist. For the amusement of my friends who know of my impatience with amateurish poetry, here's something I wrote more than thirty years ago: "O miracle-worker Prabhupāda!/ Who can compare with you?/ Made monkeys dance with peacock steps,/ Gave dead men life anew." —Nagaraja Dāsa ## Vedic Thoughts The almighty Personality of Godhead, by His causeless mercy, descends to the earth and manifests activities almost on the line of the worldly men, but at the same time extraordinarily, because He is almighty. He does so for the benefit of all conditioned souls so that they can turn their attention to transcendence. By doing so, the conditioned soul will gradually be promoted to the transcendental position and easily cross the ocean of nescience, the source of all miseries. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 1.6.34, Purport O best of kings, one who is faithful, who is always hearing the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is always engaged in the culture of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and in hearing of the Lord’s activities, very soon becomes eligible to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face. Śrīla Sukadeva Gosvami *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 4.29.38 The wise inhabitants of the heavenly regions know that the perfection of the head is to offer prostrate obeisances to the Supreme Lord, the perfection of the life-breath is to worship the Lord, the perfection of the mind is to ponder the details of His transcendental qualities, and the perfection of speech is to chant the glories of His qualities. King Kulasekhara *Mukunda-mala-stotra* 46 Material association is the cause of lust, anger, confusion, forgetfulness, loss of intelligence, and total calamity. Rising like waves from material association, these bad effects mass into a great ocean of misery. Who can cross beyond illusion? One who abandons material association, serves the sages, and becomes selfless. Śrī Narada Muni *Narada-bhakti-sutra* 44–46 O my tongue, you are fond of sweet things and are of discriminating taste; I tell you the highest truth, which is also the most beneficial. Please just recite these sweet syllables: "Govinda," "Damodara," and "Madhava." Śrīla Bilvamangala Ṭhākura *Govinda-damodara-stotra* 40 After passing beyond all the species of life, all the planetary systems, and all the limits of space in all directions, one approaches the original Soul of immortality. Then one receives the opportunity to enter permanently into His domain and worship Him with personal service. The *Vajasaneyi-samhita* (32.11) Of the *White Yajur Veda*