# Back to Godhead Magazine #52 *2018 (02)* Back to Godhead Magazine #52-02, 2018 PDF-View ## A Pause for Prayer Your power of illusion has totally bewildered us, the most exalted knowers of the truth and leaders among the universal creators. Ah, how amazing is the behavior of the Supreme Lord! He covers Himself with His humanlike activities and pretends to be subject to superior control. Indeed, the humanlike pastimes of the Almighty are simply a pretense! Effortlessly, He alone sends forth from His Self this variegated creation, maintains it and then swallows it up again, all without becoming entangled, just as the element earth takes on many names and forms in its various transformations. Nonetheless, at suitable times You assume the pure mode of goodness to protect Your devotees and punish the wicked. Thus You, the Soul of the *varnasrama* social order, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, maintain the eternal path of the *Vedas* by enjoying Your pleasure pastimes. The *Vedas* are Your spotless heart, and through them one can perceive—by means of austerity, study and self-control—the manifest, the unmanifest, and the pure existence transcendental to both. Therefore, O Supreme Brahman, You honor the members of the brahminical community, for they are the perfect agents by which one can realize You through the evidence of the *Vedas*. For that very reason You are the foremost worshiper of the *brahmanas*. Today our birth, education, austerity and vision have all become perfect because we have been able to associate with You, the goal of all saintly persons. Indeed, You Yourself are the ultimate, supreme blessing. —Sages to Lord Kṛṣṇa at Kuruketra on the occasion of the solar eclipse *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 10.84.16–21 See Criticism with a Critical Eye *By Caitanya Carana Dāsa* *How to deal with a cynic, including the one who resides within us.* > jadyam hrimati ganyate vrata-rucau dambhah sucau kaitavam > sure nirghrnata munau vimatita dainyam priyalapini > tejasviny avaliptata mukharata vaktary asaktih sthire > tat ko nama guno bhavet sa guninam yo durjanair nankitah "Some people perceive the gentle as dull, the strict as pretentious, the honest as hypocritical, the brave as cruel, the reticent as foolish, the soft-spoken as bootlickers, the influential as haughty, the eloquent as talkative, and the steady as unambitious. Is there even one virtue of the virtuous that these faultfinders have not maligned?" *—Niti-sataka* of Bhartrhari, Verse 54 Criticism is among the most powerful influencers in our life. It can guide us to become better, but it can also wound our will to become better. When we receive criticism delivered insensitively or immoderately, it can damage our foundational sense of self-worth. If that sense is destroyed, we lose the confidence and the will to improve, just as a building collapses when its foundation is destroyed. Even when people criticize us for faults we actually have, still it can demoralize us. But when people criticize us for faults we don’t have, it can infuriate or even devastate us. And critics sometimes indulge in such unjustified criticism by giving a negative spin to our good qualities. The *Bhagavad-gītā* (18.28) states that expertise in insulting others characterizes those working in the lowest of the three modes of nature—ignorance. Illustrating such perverse expertise, this verse from Bhartrhari, one of the greatest Sanskrit grammarians in Indian history, gives several examples of how critics perceive good qualities negatively. *jadyam hrimati* (The gentle are called dull): Gentleness is a virtue, but habitual critics deride it as lethargy that prevents people from being assertive. *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam*, Canto One, describes how the gentle sage Sukadeva Gosvami wandered about through towns and villages in a spiritual trance, indifferent to his surroundings. Not understanding his transcendental absorption, common people pursued him till he entered an assembly of sages. When that illustrious assembly offered him a seat of honor, the common people shrank back in surprise. *vrata-rucau dambhah* (The strict are called pretentious): Strictness in honoring one’s vows is laudable, but critics deride it as pretentiousness, wherein one wants to attract adulation and praise. *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam*, Canto Eleven, narrates the story of a *brahmana* from a place called Avanti. He had led a distressingly miserly life, and had lost everything in a chain of adversities. That misfortune had inspired within him realization and renunciation. Resolving to focus on spiritual reality, he had taken a vow of silence (*mauna-vrata*). But common people, obsessed with his past stinginess, refused to acknowledge his spiritually evolved state and its concomitant firm determination. They derided his avowed silence as being like that of a crane. According to a traditional parable, a crane that couldn’t catch fish pretended to be a renouncer and stood motionless on the bank of a lake. When some fish, laying down their guard, came near it, the crane immediately devoured them. *sucau kaitavam* (The honest are called hypocritical): Leading a pure principled life is laudable, but critics label it as hypocrisy, insinuating that the virtuous person is concealing a deficiency beneath an apparent adherence to principles. In the *Mahābhārata*, *Sabha-parva*, when the Rajasuya sacrifice was being performed, the demoniac Sisupala was incensed that Kṛṣṇa was accorded the position of the most exalted person in the assembly. In his fury, he lashed out at all those who had advocated Kṛṣṇa’s candidacy. The most influential among those advocates was the venerable grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, Bhisma. Sisupala accused Bhisma, a lifelong celibate, of having adopted renunciation just to conceal his impotency. The accusation was malicious and outrageous—Bhisma, despite having grand-nephews who were in their manhood, was still an embodiment of virility, able to best the best of warriors. *sure nirghrnata* (The brave are called cruel): Valor in overcoming despots is glorious, but critics, acting as blinkered peaceniks, condemn such valor as cruelty. When Kṛṣṇa, despite being a teenage boy, killed the tyrannical demon Kamsa after overpowering an array of murderous wrestlers, His achievement was stupendously heroic. But the demon Jarasandha, a relative of Kamsa, saw His action as cruel. He labeled Kṛṣṇa as the killer of his own maternal uncle. Jarasandha conveniently neglected the reality that Kamsa had not once acted affectionately towards Kṛṣṇa, as behooved a maternal uncle. He had killed Kṛṣṇa’s six brothers, arrested His parents, and sent several demons to murder Him. Surviving all these attacks, Kṛṣṇa had heroically turned the tables on Kamsa. Labeling such heroism as barbarism was an insult to the truth. *munau vimatita* (The reticent are called foolish): Choosing one’s words carefully and speaking sparingly is a good quality, but such reticence is often criticized as foolishness. *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam*, Canto Five, describes the story of the great sage Jada Bharata, who habitually remained silent to avoid getting entangled with materialistic people. When he was conscripted into carrying the palanquin of the king Rahugaa, he still maintained his silence. The king, seeing his unresponsiveness, thought him an ignorant fool. When the sage, not wanting to step on ants, walked haltingly and his jerky movements jolted the palanquin, the king castigated him. Only when Jada Bharata opened his mouth and spoke profound philosophy did the king realize that he had been hugely mistaken in his assessment of the sage. *dainyam priyalapini* (The soft-spoken are called fawners): When considerate people, desiring to avoid confrontation, speak conciliatorily, critics see such overtures as expressions of powerlessness. The *Mahābhārata*, *Udyoga-parva*, describes how Kṛṣṇa acted as a peace envoy on behalf of the Pandavas. He went to the Kauravas to offer them peace on the most accommodating terms. But the Kaurava prince Duryodhana saw Kṛṣṇa’s sweet words of conciliation as signs of weakness and became increasingly adamant and arrogant till finally he tried to arrest Kṛṣṇa. Of course, Kṛṣṇa was more than equal to such tricks—He foiled Duryodhana’s plan by exhibiting His insuperable universal form. *tejasviny avaliptata* (The influential are called haughty): Some people are celebrated because they are talented and dedicated—they have earned their laurels. But instead of giving credit where it is due, critics condemn such luminaries as showoffs. The *Ramayana*, *Yuddha-kana*, describes how Rama accepted as his ally Ravana’s brother Vibhīṣaṇa. To seal their alliance, Rama, using seawater, coronated Vibhīṣaṇa as the king of Lanka, which was currently ruled by Ravana. Instead of seeing the coronation as a warning of things to come, the proud Ravana mocked it as a haughty show by Rama, dismissing it as one pauper installing another pauper as a king. He conveniently neglected the facts: This so-called pauper had single-handedly annihilated his fourteen-thousand-strong demon army led by some of his most formidable commanders; and this pauper’s one monkey-messenger had single-handedly burnt half of Lanka. *mukharata vaktary* (The eloquent are called talkative): Some people can speak fluently and brilliantly, but critics deride them as egotists. *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam*, Canto Ten, describes how Indra, the head of the gods, labeled Kṛṣṇa as talkative when He eruditely instructed the residents of Vrindavan to stop worshiping Indra and instead worship Govardhan Hill. *asaktih sthire* (The steady are called unambitious): People who are steady and content are deemed powerless and apathetic by critics. *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam*, Canto Five, presents the narrative of King Rsabhadeva, an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa who in the later stages of His life renounced His kingdom and lived in utter penury, not even attending to basic bodily needs. Some people mistook Him to be a good-for-nothing, not knowing that just a short while earlier He had competently ruled a huge kingdom. *No Escape from Critics* How critics spare no one is conveyed in this verse by stating that people at both ends of the spectrum are criticized. Those who talk less are criticized, as are those who talk more. Those who are conciliatory are criticized, as are those who are assertive. Those who are content are criticized, as are those who are enterprising. The verse therefore concludes with the rhetorical question: What quality hasn’t been panned by critics? While dealing with such unsparing, unreasonable critics, we need to know that people don't see the world as it is; they see it as they are. Based on their natures, some people get along with others and some don’t—that’s just the way people are. Accordingly, some people may not like us, no matter what we do. Such people will see negatively even the good we do. The only way to deal with them, as implied in the verse’s rhetorical conclusion, is to neglect them. And while we are discussing how to deal with cynics, we need to be aware that one such cynic resides inside us too. That is, we ourselves may, based on our nature, find certain behaviors among others intolerable and criticize others unwarrantedly. The *Gita* (16.2) cautions us against pandering to this inner cynic by reminding us that the godly are characterized by an aversion to faultfinding. Returning to our discussion about outer cynics, neglecting them entirely is difficult because we are social beings. We need a supportive circle that encourages and appreciates us. Our social needs remain even when we start practicing spiritual life. Materialists are usually critical of spiritualists. So, if we are to persevere on the devotional path, we need the association of devotees. When we get a sense of belonging in devotee circles, we can develop the necessary thick skin to endure the inevitable criticisms of materialists. *Different Definitions of Success in Devotion* Soberingly, however, not all devotee association will thicken our skin—some may tear it. Śrīla Rupa Gosvami in the *Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu* (1.2.228) states that we need to associate with likeminded devotees, or more specifically with devotees who have the same purpose as us (*sajatiyasaya-snigdha-*ś*rī-bhagavad-bhakta-sangah*). Put in contemporary idiom, we need the association of devotees who share our definitions of success. If we feel inspired to study scripture deeply but are surrounded by devotees who are inspired to build a temple for Kṛṣṇa, we may find ourselves covertly and overtly criticized for not having a service attitude, for being overly intellectual *jnanis* who don’t do anything practical for Kṛṣṇa. Conversely, if we feel inspired to build a temple for Kṛṣṇa but are surrounded by devotees inspired to study scripture, we may find ourselves criticized for having no appreciation for scripture, for thinking more of the structure of the temple than of the Lord who resides at its heart. These examples are probably extremes, but they illustrate what can happen when neophyte devotees see *bhakti* only in terms of their particular definitions of success. *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* (11.2.47: *na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu*) indicates that neophyte devotees regard only devotees belonging to their group as successful. *Bhakti* is so inclusive that it allows us to serve Kṛṣṇa in various ways, thus accommodating multiple definitions of success. In fact, it doesn’t just accommodate multiple definitions; it endorses them. The *Gita* (18.46) urges us to worship Kṛṣṇa through our own work, and then (18.47) insists that serving according to our own nature is far better than serving according to another’s nature. Despite *bhakti’s* inclusiveness, neophyte devotees sometimes hold that their definition of success in devotion is the only definition of success. Claiming that one’s way is the only way is the doorway to fanaticism. To steer clear of such fanaticism, we need to recognize that amidst differences in the practice of devotion, the pertinent question is not what is right or wrong, but what is right for me. To understand what definition of devotional success is right for us, we need guidance and introspection: guidance of our venerable spiritual mentors, and introspection for understanding our nature. And once we have dedicated ourselves to pursuing a particular form of devotional service, to sustain our commitment we absolutely need the association of likeminded devotees. In such association, both encouragement and criticism spur us to improve. Encouragement inspires us to move ahead faster, and criticism inspires us to do the necessary course correction. When we feel accepted, valued, and loved by our spiritual friends and guides, then criticism coming from them, far from disheartening us, inspires us to improve. *Constructive Criticism from Caring Guides* And criticism is sometimes necessary. Even Bhartrhari’s examples of criticism can be true. That is, some aggressive people may be cruel, for example. But he refers here to unjustified critics, or cynics. Far different from such cynicism is constructive criticism. The *bhakti* tradition compares the cutting words of sages to a surgeon’s scalpel. Just as the scalpel cuts off unhealthy tissue, so too do the corrective words of our trustworthy spiritual guides destroy our misconceptions. Just as avoiding surgery can worsen the disease, so too can fleeing from corrections aggravate our illusions. Therefore, when we get constructive criticism from our well-wishing mentors, we need to humbly and honestly introspect and improve. At the same time, the mentors too have the responsibility to offer criticism judiciously. For the scalpel to heal, it needs to be operated by an expert—and be expertly operated. Just because one is a surgeon doesn’t mean that any cut will be therapeutic. Similarly, for criticism to do good, it needs to be offered by spiritual experts who accurately perceive the problem and the solution. And they need to deliver it sensitively so that those corrected feel valued and encouraged, not devalued and disheartened. The biggest danger from criticism is that it may extinguish our inner fire, our drive to do something worthwhile in Kṛṣṇa’s service. When criticism starts extinguishing our devotional desire, we need to step away from its source physically and turn away from it emotionally. Ultimately, to sustain our devotion amidst criticism, we need to connect spiritually with the one who has given us our gifts and for whom we are striving to develop them. Our relationship with Kṛṣṇa established through prayer, meditation, and worship provides us an inner sanctuary beyond the reach of critics. By finding affirmation and inspiration in His loving remembrance, we access inexhaustible inner empowerment for persevering despite the world's criticism. *Caitanya Carana Dāsa*,* a disciple of His Holiness Rādhānath Swami*,* serves full time at ISKCON Mumbai. He is a BTG associate editor and the author of eighteen books. To read his other articles or to receive his daily reflection on the* Bhagavad-gītā*,* "Gita-Daily*,**" visit thespiritualscientist.com.* ## Welcome This issue coincides with the annual celebration of the appearance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa who, 532 years ago in Bengal, introduced the chanting of the holy names of God as the religion for the current age. The five-thousand-year-old *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* predicted Lord Caitanya's appearance, and books about His life and teachings, drawn from eyewitness accounts by His closest associates, grace us with unparalleled information about God and His extraordinary love for His devotees. In this issue Satyaraja Dāsa writes about s*ad-bhuja*, a six-armed form displayed by Lord Caitanya that shows that He, Lord Kṛṣṇa, and Lord Ramacandra are all the same Supreme Personality of Godhead. Also in this issue we commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the opening of ISKCON's grand temple at Hare Kṛṣṇa Land in Mumbai. Lokanath Swami was there in the early days of ISKCON in that city, and he witnessed Śrīla Prabhupāda's determined struggle to make the temple, for which he formally laid the cornerstone, a reality. We present an excerpt from Lokanath Swami's just-published book *Bombay Is My Office*, as well as an overview by Parijata Devī Dāsī of ISKCON's other temples and projects in greater Mumbai. Hare Kṛṣṇa. —*Nāgarāja Dāsa, Editor* From the Editor *Being with God to Be with God* Because the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a comprehensive worldview, it naturally covers a wide range of topics. I often mention to others how difficult it is to describe in a brief exchange what Hare Kṛṣṇa is all about. Despite that challenge, one concept, among many other possible ones, I'm sure, goes to the heart of what we're up to: Kṛṣṇa consciousness means becoming godly by absorbing one's mind in God. There's a lot packed into those eleven words. First are the assumptions that there is a God and that it's a good idea to become godly ("conforming to the laws and wishes of God," the dictionary says). Many of us now practicing *bhakti-yoga* (Kṛṣṇa consciousness) didn't have these assumptions before Śrīla Prabhupāda and his representatives came into our lives. Prabhupāda spoke and wrote hundreds of thousands of words to convince us that God is real—and that He is Kṛṣṇa. Equally important, he convinced us that we have an eternal loving relationship with Kṛṣṇa that's now essentially lost to us. The loss of our connection with Kṛṣṇa has caused all our suffering, and regaining that connection is the key to the boundless happiness that defines our natural, pure state as spirit souls. In its truest sense, to become godly means to become qualified to be with God. What I've just stated is the philosophy in which the practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is rooted. Once we're convinced that we must revive our relationship with Kṛṣṇa, how do we go about it? The answer, as a scientist might say, is elegant: We do everything we can to keep ourselves in Kṛṣṇa's company right now. Fortunately for us, that's easy to do, in theory at least, because everything *about* Kṛṣṇa *is* Kṛṣṇa. When we chant Kṛṣṇa's name, read books *about* Kṛṣṇa, hear classes *about* Kṛṣṇa, and so on, we're with Kṛṣṇa directly because, being absolute, He's identical to everything related to Him. We're trying to live with God—Kṛṣṇa—constantly so that we become qualified to be with Him eternally. That's what Hare Kṛṣṇa *is* all *about*. As Prabhupāda would put it, we need to try to keep our mind absorbed in Kṛṣṇa. We have many ways of doing that because "Kṛṣṇa" here includes everything about Him—His name, His teachings, His friends and family, His mission in this world, His guidance passed down to us through His representatives, and so on. Besides regularly reading Śrīla Prabhupāda's books, I like to listen to recordings of his lectures. One of his persistent entreaties, spoken with a deep sense of urgency, is that those who have taken to Kṛṣṇa consciousness should not waste a moment doing something disconnected from Kṛṣṇa. If you have a spare moment, he would say, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa or read the *Bhagavad-gītā*—always be engaged in some Kṛṣṇa conscious activity. Granted, for most of you reading this, your occupation and other responsibilities make "all Kṛṣṇa all the time" a seemingly impossible proposal. Still, it's important to understand that the more we take the medicine of Kṛṣṇa's association in various forms, the quicker we'll be cured of the disease of separation from Him. That point explains everything we do as practicing Hare Kṛṣṇa devotees. Hare Kṛṣṇa. —*Nāgarāja Dāsa, Editor* ## A Tale of Two Disciples *by Kanandini Devī Dāsī* *An example of what to do in the service of one's guru, and of what not to do.* On the spiritual path, initiation by a qualified *guru* is of paramount importance. From the *Bhagavad-gītā* and other authorized scriptures we learn that accepting a *guru* is necessary for getting an advanced connection with the Lord and going beyond the limitations of material nature. Lord Kṛṣṇa advises Arjuna (and all of us), “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth." (*Gita* 4.34) A serious student should carefully and prayerfully choose a spiritual master and then serve that person with dedication. Just how one serves the *guru* and becomes eligible to see the truth is reflected in the story of Isvara Puri. And how one’s service to the *guru* can be problematic, keeping one from the truth, is seen in the story of his godbrother Ramacandra Puri. *Of the Same Master* In *Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta,* the illustrious multi-volume study of the life, precepts, and followers of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, we find the tale of two distinctly different disciples, both initiated into the science of *bhakti-yoga* by Madhavendra Puri, a self-realized spiritual master and the *parama-*guru** (grand-*guru*) of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The stories of the two disciples Isvara Puri and Ramacandra Puri are instructive for anyone who wants to progress in spiritual life. One is an example of what to do in the service of one’s *guru*, and the other an example of what not to do. Since Ramacandra Puri was a disciple of Madhavendra Puri, Lord Caitanya regarded Ramacandra Puri as an elder, His spiritual uncle, almost on the level of His own *guru*, Isvara Puri. Although Isvara Puri and Ramacandra Puri had the same *guru*, Ramacandra Puri associated closely with persons cultivating *jnana*, or dry speculative knowledge, and was attracted to doctrines that oppose pure devotional service, whereas Isvara Puri was always enamored by devotional topics. By the arrangement of providence, Madhavendra Puri became incapacitated in his old age, unable to move or even to attend to the call of nature. With great humility and gratitude, Isvara Puri devotedly and patiently cared for his beloved *guru*, bathing him and cleaning the wastes from his body. Isvara Puri saturated the environment around his *guru* with the chanting of the holy names of God and enlivened his *guru* by speaking about the pastimes and divine qualities of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. Later, Isvara Puri showed humility when he met another great devotee, Śrī Advaita Ācārya, one of Lord Caitanya's closest associates. Despite being a Vaisnava *sannyasi* himself, Isvara Puri introduced himself to Śrī Advaita by saying, “I am a *sudra*, a member of the lowest class.” If we contrast this with the arrogance of his godbrother Ramacandra Puri, we see a vast difference between the two disciples. Because of Isvara Puri's dedication to his *guru* and his exemplary humility, the Supreme Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted Isvara Puri as His own *guru* as an example to the world. *But Not of the Same Mind* On his deathbed, Madhavendra Puri felt intense separation from Kṛṣṇa, crying in the mood of Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī after Kṛṣṇa left Vrindavan. He kept repeating this verse: > ayi dīna-dayārdra nātha he > mathurā-nātha kadāvalokyase > hṛdayaṁ tvad-aloka-kātaraṁ > dayita bhrāmyati kiṁ karomy aham "O My Lord! O most merciful master! O master of Mathura! When shall I see You again? Because of My not seeing You, My agitated heart has become unsteady. O most beloved one, what shall I do now?" (*Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya* 4.197) Both Isvara Puri and Ramacandra Puri were with him at the end. The latter chided his *guru*. "If you are in full transcendental bliss,” he said, “you should now remember only Brahman. Why are you crying?” (*Antya* 8.21) Exasperated, Madhavendra Puri responded, "Get out, you sinful rascal! O my Lord Kṛṣṇa, I could not reach You, nor could I reach Your abode, Mathura. I am dying in my unhappiness, and now this rascal has come to give me more pain. Don’t show your face to me! Go anywhere else you like. If I die seeing your face, I shall not achieve the destination of my life. I am dying without achieving the shelter of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore I am greatly unhappy. Now this condemned foolish rascal has come to instruct me about Brahman.” (*Antya* 8.22–25) The Supreme Personality of Godhead is realized in three phases: as Brahman, all-pervading spirit; as Paramatma, the localized form of the Lord as the Supersoul in the heart of every living being and in every atom; and finally as Kṛṣṇa, the unique Supreme Person. The highest realization is of God as the supreme pure, beautiful, unlimited person. Madhavendra Puri had the highest realization of the Lord as the ultimate blissful person, Bhagavan Śrī Kṛṣṇa. So Brahman realization was not at all appealing to him. Two things were wrong with Ramacandra Puri’s behavior here: he corrected his *guru*, and he recommended that his *guru* focus on Brahman instead of his beloved Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Because of this offensive behavior, Ramacandra Puri’s devotional mood diminished and he later even criticized Lord Caitanya. This caused him to lose all good material and spiritual fortune. On the other hand, Isvara Puri, due to his humble service attitude, could understand his *guru*’s heart and so was able to console him and go deeper in spiritual realization. "Isvara Puri received the blessing of Madhavendra Puri, whereas Ramacandra Puri received a rebuke from him. Therefore these two persons, Isvara Puri and Ramacandra Puri, are examples of the objects of a great personality’s benediction and punishment. Madhavendra Puri instructed the entire world by presenting these two examples." (*Antya* 8.32) As a consequence of offending his *guru*, Ramacandra Puri acquired the tendency to criticize and find fault with others. He lost his taste for devotional ecstasy and would instruct people in dry philosophical speculation. This is the unfortunate terrible result of *guru* *aparadha* (offense to the *guru*) and Vaisnava *aparadha* (offense to devotees). *Ramacandra Puri, a Fault-finder* Later at Jagannātha Purī*,* where Caitanya Mahāprabhu was residing*,* Jagadananda Pandita*,* an associate of Caitanya Mahāprabhu*,* saw the Lord with two other devotees*,* Paramananda Puri and Ramacandra Puri*,* talking*,* embracing*,* and offering obeisances. Jagadananda invited them all to eat at his home*,* arranging for sumptuous Jagannatha *prasada* to be brought. After they had eaten*,* Ramacandra Puri requested Jagadananda to eat*,* and served him himself. After Jagadananda had finished his meal, however, Ramacandra Puri criticized Lord Caitanya and his followers. “I have heard,” he said, “that the followers of Caitanya Mahāprabhu eat more than necessary. Now I have directly seen that this is true. Feeding a *sannyasi* too much breaks his regulative principles, for when a *sannyasi* eats too much, his renunciation is destroyed.” (*Antya* 8.15–16). Because of Ramacandra Puri's criticism, Lord Caitanya reduced His eating, much to the dismay of His devotees. Ramacandra’s faultfinding increased, and although the devotees condemned him, Caitanya Mahāprabhu restrained them, and later Ramacandra Puri suffered immensely both materially and spiritually for his offenses. *Lessons from Ramacandra Puri's Example* What important lessons do we learn from Ramacandra Puri’s interactions with his highly advanced *guru*? First, a sincere aspiring devotee should avoid finding fault with devotees and criticizing them, particularly the *guru*. This is a poisonous action. Finding fault with Kṛṣṇa and His dedicated servants is extremely detrimental to one’s spiritual advancement. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati, Śrīla Prabhupāda's *guru*, advised that aspiring devotees consider and work on their own faults rather than those of others. The following verse from Mahāprabhu’s teachings to Rupa Gosvami highlights the results of the “mad-elephant offense”: > yadi vaiṣṇava-aparādha uṭhe hātī mātā > upāḍe vā chiṇḍe, tāra śukhi’ yāya pātā “If the devotee commits an offense at the feet of a Vaisnava while cultivating the creeper of devotional service in the material world, his offense is compared to a mad elephant that uproots the creeper and breaks it. In this way the leaves of the creeper are dried up.” (*Madhya* 19.156) Śrīla Prabhupāda explains this further: If a person derides a pure devotee, he is never recognized by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, the Supreme Lord never excuses one who offends a pure devotee. There are many examples of this in history. A great mystic yogi, Durvasa Muni, offended the great devotee Ambarisa Mahārāja. The great sage Durvasa was to be chastised by the Sudarsana *cakra* of the Lord. Even though the great mystic directly approached the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he was never excused. Those on the path of liberation should be very careful not to offend a pure devotee. (*Bhagavatam* 4.31.21, Purport) Disrespecting one’s spiritual master and other Vaisnavas has a pernicious effect on one’s spiritual life. Unfortunately, sometimes some disciples, influenced by *maya*, the illusory energy, become proud of their so-called spiritual status and knowledge and try to correct or instruct their *guru* or other advanced Vaisnavas. *Maya* tricks such offensive disciples into thinking that they are more spiritually advanced than they actually are and that they are acting with proper knowledge, when the opposite is true. Second, all disciples are not equal. They may take initiation at the same time, but their levels of sincerity, surrender, obedience, desire, and respect differ. As the representative of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the *guru* is the instrument of both blessings and rebukes. Lord Kṛṣṇa says, “As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Prtha." (*Gita* 4.11) So a disciple receives the *guru*’s mercy according to his or her degree of sincerity and seriousness. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “It is said that by the grace of Kṛṣṇa one gets a *guru*, or a spiritual master, and by the grace of the spiritual master, one gets Kṛṣṇa." (Matchless Gifts, chapter 6) When disciples serve their *guru* with love, respect, and humility, the *guru* rewards them with spiritual insight and deeper connection to the Lord. When they disrespect or neglect the *guru*, however, considering the *guru* an ordinary person and acting with disdain or arrogance, neglecting the spiritual master’s instructions, then they don't make any real spiritual progress and may even lose their material status. Third, the tender plant of devotion can be destroyed quickly by offending one’s *guru*. Such an offense offends the Supreme Lord. "If one’s spiritual master rejects him, one becomes so fallen that he, like Ramacandra Puri, commits offenses even to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not consider the offenses of Ramacandra Puri, for the Lord considered him His spiritual master. However, his character instructed everyone about the result of offending the spiritual master." (*Antya* 8.99–100) Fourth, when a devotee offends another devotee, especially his or her *guru*, and doesn’t repent or rectify the offense, the door is opened for more and greater offenses. Fifth, we should associate with persons dedicated to Kṛṣṇa and devotional service. Such persons try to serve others with humility and kindness, and their company is beneficial, drawing out similar qualities in us. Sixth, a disciple should thoughtfully and carefully respect his or her **guru*’s* godbrothers and godsisters, who are as venerable as the *guru*. Even if a disciple thinks that their instructions are improper, the disciple should show Vaisnava etiquette and not criticize them. Lord Caitanya emphasized this point by His tolerant and carefully considered response to the obnoxious behavior of his spiritual uncle, Ramacandra Puri. A disciple who finds that instructions from the **guru*’s* godsiblings are improper should respectfully and confidentially inquire about what to do from the *guru* or other mature, caring, practical devotees. *Lessons from Isvara Puri's Example* What blessed lessons are to be learned from the example of Isvara Puri? First, the disciple should care for the *guru* like a menial servant. This attitude guarantees success in spiritual life. The disciple should carefully serve the *guru*'s *vani* (instructions) and, if the opportunity arises, the *guru*'s *vapu* (body). Second, the full blessings of the Lord come to a fully surrendered disciple. That is, whatever sincere service one performs for the *guru* (whether *diksa-*guru** or *siksa-*guru**) gives personal satisfaction to the Supreme Lord because the *guru* is His representative. Third, humility is the key to achieving pure, uninterrupted love for Kṛṣṇa. As Lord Caitanya wrote, "One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly." (*Sikastaka* 3) Fourth, only to one who has complete faith in both Kṛṣṇa and *guru*, like Isvara Puri, are the true imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed. All of these lessons are true if one’s *guru* remains qualified; however, if a *guru* repeatedly acts contrary to *sastra* and the previous spiritual masters in the line, the disciple can disconnect from such an unqualified person. This must be done according to Vaisnava etiquette. More information on this topic can be found in the *Kṛṣṇa Bhajanamta*, by Narahari Sarakara Ṭhākura, a dear associate of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Additionally, disciples in ISKCON who have concerns about the behavior or conduct of their *guru* may contact the *Guru* Services Committee of the Governing Body Commission. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, "According to *sastra*, the duty of the *guru* is to take the disciple back home, back to Godhead. If he is unable to do so and instead hinders the disciple in going back to Godhead, he should not be a *guru*. *Guru*r na sa syat (*Bhag*. 5.5.18). One should not become a *guru* if he cannot enable his disciple to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.” (*Bhag*avatam 8.20.1, Purport) *The Guru as Kṛṣṇa’s Grace* To get the opportunity to take initiation from a qualified spiritual preceptor is a great fortune, a wonderful expression of God’s grace. Dr. Graham Schweig (Garua Dāsa) puts it this way: God and the soul combine in their own ways within the archetype of the spiritual guide. For both, the spiritual master is a type of extraordinary confluence of divinity and humanity, as each tradition exalts ways in which the guide becomes directly and effectively the grace of God in the flesh. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati explains that the ceremony of *diksha* (initiation) in Gaudiya Vaishnavism, is that "by which the spiritual preceptor admits one to the status of a neophyte on the path of spiritual endeavor."* What initiates do after the initiation—the quality of service they render to their *guru*—is a barometer of their spiritual progress. For one who disrespects the *guru*, considers the *guru* an ordinary human being, or neglects the *guru*'s instructions, the result is very dangerous. For those who follow the Lord’s instructions by serving the *guru* submissively and asking relevant questions humbly, the path to success is guaranteed. * “Vishvanatha’s Gurvashtaka and the Understanding of *Guru* in Caitanyaite Vaishnavism,” *Journal of Vaishnava Studies*, Vol. 12, No. 1 / Fall 2003, pp. 124–125. *Krsnandini Devī Dāsī, a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, is a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE), a licensed minister of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the state of Ohio, president of ISKCON’s Grihastha Vision Team, and co-director, along with her husband, Tariq Saleem Ziyad, of the Dasi-Ziyad Family Institute in Cleveland, Ohio.* ## Letters *Life Balance* How should I maintain balance between my work life and spiritual life? Shivam Khanna Via the Internet *Our reply*: This is a very relevant and common question. In material life we are generally driven to accumulate many things, thinking they will make us happy, or at least happier. Because we are looking for many things, we work very hard. In the end we realize that we have many things but have neglected our relationships and, most important, our relationship with God. We are not able to take even one thing with us to our next destination; therefore our entire life has been wasted. Finding the balance will be much easier if we keep these points in mind and consciously simplify our lives. It is easier to find time to do spiritual things and keep things in proper perspective if we keep our material wants to a minimum. So the first thing in life balance is to understand what is most important to us and make sure that goes into our day first, if at all possible. We never forget to eat or sleep, and even if we do, that forgetfulness will not last long because eating and sleeping mean so much to our health and happiness. If our spiritual life is important to our happiness and we are aware of the limitations of material life, then we will not neglect the spiritual part of our lives. It will go into our day at the very beginning so that there will be less chance of leaving it out. Also, we can consider that spiritual life is like spicing in cooking. A relatively small amount of spicing, if done nicely, can change a bland preparation into something wonderful. Even a small amount of spiritual practice can change a materialistic day into a transcendental endeavor. If we sharpen our consciousness by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa and reading literature about Kṛṣṇa at the beginning of our day, the rest of the day will be more focused and happier. Besides that, your work can and should be devotional. Don't separate the two as if they had nothing to do with each other. Everything a devotee does should be done for Kṛṣṇa. The fruits of work, either in money or skills, can be offered in Kṛṣṇa's service. Also, taking care of your family, especially if they are devotees, is a very important service, and so using the fruit of your work for that purpose is a valuable offering to God. Mostly it is the consciousness that turns something from being material to being spiritual. We want to focus our consciousness on Lord Kṛṣṇa, thanking Him for whatever we have, and accepting His plan in our lives. So no matter what we are doing, we can make it an offering to Him. *Happy Sinful Celebrities* It has been seen in this world that people who do not believe in God and never bow down to God live a happy, well-settled life compared to devotees. They keep on doing sinful activities like animal killing, and nothing happens to them, There are many such examples in today's society, like all the famous TV superstars. How can we understand why God is doing nothing to them? JSK Via the Internet *Our reply*: First you should understand that you are only seeing the outer shell of these people. Actors, movie stars, those in the limelight—they have a very high suicide rate, they are often drunkards and drug addicts due to severe depression, and they have one divorce after another. These are certainly not the symptoms of someone living a happy life. Everyone in the material world puts on a happy face, but you can't really understand their suffering. If you read the news you will see how vicious and miserable people really are. There is more to happiness than wealth, beauty, and fame. Inner satisfaction and freedom from fear are the real marks of a peaceful person. The material world tricks us into thinking that happiness can be measured in things or situations that make others envy us. But beneath the facade of someone who has these is a person fearful of losing his or her position, always trying to please others, always trying to maintain a false appearance of satisfaction while in reality striving constantly for more and more, fearing loss, and ultimately fearing death. There is never satisfaction. To find real happiness one must seek the eternal. The soul is eternal and cannot find real happiness in anything temporary. Since the body itself is temporary, anything connected with it will be destroyed, either now or later. Old age and death will rob these foolish people of their wealth, beauty, and fame, and their illusion of fearlessness and pride will disappear as soon as old age and disease appear and they have no ability to stop them. When you want to consider true happiness, you should know that it must come from the eternal—that which goes on when the body is finished. It can only be from the soul's relationship with Kṛṣṇa, or God. That loving relationship is the only true source of pleasure and the only eternal thing. People get wealth or fame or beauty due to past good deeds, but if these are not used wisely and lead to sinful activities like meat-eating and intoxication, then eventually suffering increases and material assets disappear. The bank robber seems rich until the police catch him and put him in jail. No one can escape the laws of material nature. Everyone gets his *karma*. Some *karma* looks good, and some looks bad, but "bad" *karma* often helps one understand that the material world is not our source of happiness. Poor people are often humble, kind, caring, and God consciousness, while rich and famous people are often angry, spoiled, vindictive, arrogant, and self-centered. All the decorations of the body are temporary, and people who have them live in fear that they will be taken away. Good and bad *karma* is all bad because ultimately it will cause one to take birth again in another temporary body, and a human birth is not guaranteed. So don't be fooled. Look to your loving connection with Śrī Kṛṣṇa, accept what is eternal as your source of true pleasure, and you will never be disappointed. *In Touch with Kṛṣṇa* How can I feel Kṛṣṇa? Parth Panchal Via the Internet *Our reply*: Lord Kṛṣṇa is a person, so to get to know Him you will have to make the effort to chant His name and listen to the sound vibration. He is also present in the form of the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam*, and you can get to know Him by reading as well. As for feeling Him, that too is possible, because one can sense His presence in many ways even in the material world. The vastness of the sky, the tremendous power of nature, and the regularity of the cycles of life are all ways to feel Kṛṣṇa's presence. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* He lists many ways to sense His presence—through the taste of water, the fragrance of the earth, and the light of the sun, for example. If you are looking for Kṛṣṇa, you will come to sense His presence all around you; if you are not looking for Him, He will remain unnoticed. Your eyes need to be trained to see the spiritual energy behind and within everything in the material world. It is the driving force of everything, and it is coming from Lord Kṛṣṇa. By chanting and learning more about Kṛṣṇa, you can see and sense Him everywhere. *Replies were written by Krishna.com Live Help volunteers. Please write to us at: BTG, P.O. Box 430, Alachua, Florida 32616, USA. Email: [email protected].* Book Excerpt *Bombay Is My Office* Śrīla Prabhupāda's Bombay Office *By Lokanath Swami* *Disciples' memories of the first seven years in Bombay with Śrīla Prabhupāda.* The question generally arises why Śrīla Prabhupāda chose Bombay as his office. An office is a business organization’s headquarters, and unarguably the best place for a business is a big city. In this regard, he followed his predecessor’s precedent: Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta said that temples should be in the cities as bases for preaching to the mass of people. A beautiful temple in this metropolis, Prabhupāda hoped, would interest the Bombayites in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and give them the opportunity to make their lives successful. In the course of opening more than a hundred centers and temples worldwide, he wanted a fine temple in Bombay. Strategically, it was in Bombay that Prabhupāda arranged to go to New York to start the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement. He booked his passage there, and there he shipped his books to Cochin during the summer of 1965, for pickup by the ship he would travel on. In early August, he started his long journey from Bombay, by taking a train to Calcutta to board the *Jaladuta*. His *Jaladuta* Diary mentions the date and train number. He was in transit in Calcutta for ten days and visited Māyāpur. Prabhupāda went to New York, the most populated American city, which exerts considerable influence on media, commerce, research, technology, education, entertainment, and many other fields. After starting his movement there, Prabhupāda, with a similar motive, returned to Bombay, in 1970–71, to launch it in India. Bombay is India’s largest city. Being a port, it has at times experienced unconstrained economic growth, with much foreign influence, and has been most susceptible to change. The population in the early 1970s was six million, and by 2015, twenty-two million. In Śrīla Prabhupāda’s twelve years of worldwide traveling and preaching, nowhere else did he spend as much time as Bombay, though he passed large amounts of time in Vrindavan, Māyāpur, New York, and Los Angeles. Bombay was his Indian headquarters. He was heard to say, “What Bombay does, the rest of India follows.” Prabhupāda’s main motive was preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness in India and the rest of the world. In the business of preaching worldwide and across India, Prabhupāda excelled as much as an astute businessman, not forgetting for a moment that his business was for Kṛṣṇa. He carefully planned that Bombay become his office. When Prabhupāda was in Juhu in the early 1960s to see his patron Śrīmati Sumati Morarji, the director of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company, about two blocks away from her home he noticed a large plot of land and prayed to Kṛṣṇa, “If you ever give me this land, I will build a wonderful temple for You.” He devoted time and made determined efforts to secure this land in Juhu and build a temple for Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Rasabihari. On Prabhupāda’s behalf, Kṛṣṇa tolerated staying in a crude shack just to fulfill His pure devotee’s promise. It was as though Kṛṣṇa had signed a contract with Prabhupāda to let his dream become a reality. The Juhu temple will always remain the symbol of struggle and triumph—in many respects, a Prabhupāda institution in and of itself. The land acquisition in Juhu was for the purpose of allowing Bombayites to engage in a Kṛṣṇa conscious way of life. In his epic struggle for the land, Prabhupāda demonstrated his leadership as a businessman. He was undaunted, uncompromising, and perseverant to the end. As a businessman fighting for Kṛṣṇa and not himself, he stood firm always. To get the Juhu property for Kṛṣṇa, Prabhupāda displayed a warlike, defiant mood after atrocities perpetrated by Mr. Nair, the property owner, and his wife. Yet when Mrs. Nair came to surrender the land to him after her husband’s fatal heart attack, Prabhupāda accepted her as a daughter. Politeness, humility, tolerance, and determination were Śrīla Prabhupāda’s leadership trademarks. He was a perfect gentleman, a true friend, and everyone’s well-wisher. *Earlier in Bombay* As early as 1935, Śrīla Prabhupāda had a presence in Bombay. Three years earlier, he had been initiated and given his spiritual name, Abhay Charanaravinda. *Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmta* describes how he then moved to Bombay on business and met his godbrothers there and assisted them in finding a better center. In July of 1935 Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati arrived in Bombay to establish the Deity worship. While expressing pleasure at the work done by his disciples, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta was informed that Abhay had tirelessly raised funds and done much of the work. Abhay was not present at this moment. He was very involved as a householder and did not live at the center, but someone suggested that he become the president of the temple. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati responded, “It is better that he is living outside your company. He will do. When the time comes, he will do everything himself. You do not have to recommend him.” Bombay was home to many important industrialists, some of whom Prabhupāda met before going to America. He sold his *Bhagavatams* to them, confident that if he succeeded in America, then they would willingly give him more substantial support. This was his plan all along: to bring Western Vaisnavas to India to inspire the Indians to take the movement of Lord Caitanya more seriously. How and why Śrīla Prabhupāda successfully established Bombay as his office is perfectly captured by Satsvarupa Dāsa Goswami in his biography of Prabhupāda: “He had incorporated ISKCON in India with the main branch in Bombay. All other branches of ISKCON in India, therefore, were legally part of the Bombay incorporation. In Bombay, Prabhupāda had cultivated more lawyers and businessmen as life members and earned more friends of his Society than in any other city in India. So whenever he was in Bombay, he often sought legal advice, not just about the Bombay center but also about his other affairs in India. Since Bombay was a modern city with professional and office facilities on a level with many Western cities, Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted to locate the Indian division of his Bhaktivedanta Book Trust there, for printing Hindi translations of his books as well as English versions for the Indian market. Bombay, unlike Vrindavan and Māyāpur, was not a holy place but a bustling, wealthy city. ISKCON’s biggest donors lived there. Although Śrīla Prabhupāda’s demeanor was entirely transcendental in Bombay, and his activities were often the same as elsewhere—speaking on *Bhagavad-gītā* and *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* and worshiping the Deity—nevertheless, Prabhupāda called it his office. And although it was his office, he wanted a temple there.” *Setting up the Office* Madhudvia, a devotee from America, was the temple president in the beginning. He recalled, “Prabhupāda was right into the negotiations for the buildings, telling me how much to offer the builders. When you saw him lecture, you would just see a saint on the platform, but he was much more than that. He showed us how to deal with business matters and practical things. One thing in Bombay was the importance of steady management. Giriraja was a steady manager who would do anything.” Śrīla Prabhupāda definitely saw Giriraja, also from America, as a committed disciple and appreciated him, and that really gave Giriraja a lot of energy and the reassurance to develop as a leader. He made a lot of life members and eventually became the temple president. In his 1972 homage to Prabhupāda, Giriraja wrote, “I sometimes experienced chastisement by Śrīla Prabhupāda, and sometimes my mind and senses revolted, but he would pacify me with his clear explanations, such as in this letter to me: ‘It is the duty of the spiritual master to find fault with his students so that they may make progress, not that he should always be praising them. So if you find some criticism, kindly accept it in that spirit. I am only interested in that you, along with all my other students, should become Kṛṣṇa conscious.’” Śrīdhara Swami, from Canada, recalled his own attachment to Bombay: “I think I was in Bombay longer than anyone. Even after becoming a *sannyasi*, I came here every year for at least three or four months. It was Śrīla Prabhupāda’s office, and I was an office boy. It was also my office, and I could do things. In the 1980s, I set up the Food for Life program and the Bhima donor program. Although I visited several cities in India, in Bombay I was in my element.” Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Bombay office in its earliest years was not an architectural wonder for managerial and administrative work. There was no suitable structure at the beginning, yet he referred to that place, with the bare minimum of modern equipment, as his office. Prabhupāda was a spiritual ambassador, and his office was a spiritual embassy set up for his mission. From the sacred space he called his office, he was devoted to directing and coordinating its activities. Aditya Dasi, a disciple from Bombay, served as his typist, and she recalled: “The electricity was unreliable and poorly wired. Sometimes we got a shock when plugging in the typewriter, and sometimes the typewriter short-circuited. At first, we had several offices at a flat in the Chand Society building. One room was for both the typist (me) and the accountant; one room was for the president; and the third room was for Tamala Kṛṣṇa Goswami, our Governing Body Commissioner in India. Later, at Hare Kṛṣṇa Land, the *brahmacari* accountant and I shared an office in the middle of the *brahmacari* asrama on the roof. Within India, Bombay was the legal office for all the temples. It worked with the Income Tax Department and handled the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) transactions. It was both the legal headquarters for ISKCON India and the BBT headquarters.” When the mother of seventeen-year-old Kudhi Dāsa came to Bombay to take Kudhi back to America, Prabhupāda heard that she was a big corporate lawyer. He got her involved in assisting him with the legalities pertaining especially to BBT matters. Gurudasa described how Śrīla Prabhupāda had him register ISKCON in Bombay, because he had done that in London: “We got a lawyer. I went to the clerk to register the deed and later told him we needed to make one change. He requested a bribe, but I threatened to have him declared incompetent, so he adjusted the deed.” Once Prabhupāda had ISKCON registered and was committed to the land, he began to unfold his vision for a grand project in Bombay. He was determined to establish Hare Kṛṣṇa Land in Bombay and did not adopt a mendicant’s withdrawn attitude. He was taking responsibility for thousands of disciples across the world. And while devotees around the world were attracted to hear of Prabhupāda’s plan for the Bombay center, devotees who had already been experiencing the austerities and challenges in Juhu received the news with mixed feelings. For some, to envision a temple and a hotel emerging from the bush strip was inconceivable. I recall that when I endeavored to collect rice for the *prasada*-distribution program by going from door to door, I carried a drawing of a fourteen-story building in my preaching kit. I showed this drawing whenever someone would welcome or listen to me. I said that we were planning to build a tall hotel and guesthouse. This seemed an extremely ambitious plan even to the more enthusiastic listeners. Of course, it turned out that the twin towers of ISKCON’s guesthouse ended up being five stories high. It was from Bombay that Prabhupāda envisioned spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness in India during the first years the Western devotees were there, even though precise and exact details were yet to be arranged. It was in or through Bombay that invitations were received and accepted and Prabhupāda subsequently sent or accompanied his devotees to specific destinations. Malati, a devotee from America, recalled: “It was not like he said, ‘OK, you are going here.’ We didn’t know where we were going to go, and I don’t think Prabhupāda knew. We depended on invitations. Once there was an invitation from Surat, and it turned out to be a fantastic experience. We were going to Surat, and we only vaguely knew the name of the town. Of course, after we were there, we never forgot Surat. At the time, we were going somewhere every so often, and we didn’t even know where the places were. We would just get on a train, and when it was time to get off, we got off.” Yadubara, from America, remembered doing a lot of service for Prabhupāda’s sake: “I was making life members, cooking, doing Deity worship. I was doing many, many different things. I was totally engaged—that is probably my strongest memory. I was sleeping only four or five hours a night. When all the devotees went to Vrindavan for the *Nectar of Devotion* lectures, I had to stay back and keep the temple together. I lamented that I didn’t get to go, but I was actually happy to serve Śrīla Prabhupāda in separation. I sacrificed to stay in Bombay, and he expressed his appreciation later, when I met him in Calcutta.” A devotee who often conversed with Prabhupāda about the Bombay project was Surabhi. Originally from Holland, where he saw Prabhupāda on a Dutch TV show, he recalled searching for the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa temple in Bombay the first time he went to India. He was an inexperienced architect, but Prabhupāda told him that Kṛṣṇa had sent him to design temples and he could start right now. Prabhupāda provided a pencil and paper, and Surabhi sat down in the next room and began to draw. Surabhi said, “Every so often Śrīla Prabhupāda would come out of his room, look over my shoulders, and nod. He would say, ‘That is nice. Nice.’ For me, this was the beginning of the Juhu Beach temple.” Although the Rādhā-Rasabihari temple opened in January of 1978, two months after Śrīla Prabhupāda left this world, he did spend time living in his spacious rooms atop one of the two hotel towers. Seeing the progress, he felt happy that the truly palatial temple was almost ready. *Activities at the Bombay Office* With the help of others, I've compiled a timeline of the recorded activities that took place at the Bombay office. Alongside his ongoing translation of books, Śrīla Prabhupāda delivered or took part in 433 lectures, morning walks, and conversations. Prabhupāda spent some 477 days in Bombay. It is usual for the CEO of an organization to be in his office. As an astute transcendental businessman, he oversaw considerable numbers of national and international affairs from his office. “Holding all of this activity together is Prabhupāda,” wrote Professor Thomas J. Hopkins in a Foreword to Hari Sauri’s *Transcendenal Diary*, “an 80-year-old Indian *guru* with declining physical strength but unbounded spiritual and intellectual energy, summoning his resources—or, as he would say, Kṛṣṇa’s resources—to meet the daily needs of his disciples and, more broadly, the needs of a world in spiritual crisis. He deals with his disciples, with correspondence from abroad, with curious and mainly uninformed reporters, with visiting scholars, with fellow Indians, and with a succession of issues and problems that emerge from day to day.” [Excerpted from *Bombay Is My Office: Memorable Days with Śrīla Prabhupāda in Bombay*, a memoir. Copyright 2018 by Padayatra Press. Available from Amazon.in.] *Lokanath Swami is ISKCON's Padayatra minister, the author of ten books, and a longtime contributor to* Back to Godhead*. He was one of the first young Indians in Bombay to respond to Śrīla Prabhupāda's call to India's youth to join ISKCON.* ## Lord Buddha: Making the Faithless Faithful *By Māyāpur-sasi Dāsa* *Reflections on an article written by Śrīla Prabhupāda in 1956 and on how we as Vaisnavas should think of Lord Buddha today.* In the May 5, 1956, issue of *Back to Godhead*, Śrīla Prabhupāda published his article “Lord Buddha: The Emblem of Theism.” The opening paragraph informs us of the transcendental poet Śrī Jayadeva Ācārya’s worship of Lord Buddha. Śrīla Prabhupāda then quotes the poet’s Sanskrit prayer to the ten incarnations of the Personality of Godhead Kesava (Śrī Kṛṣṇa), and then gives this translation: "O my Lord, the Personality of Godhead Kesava! All glory unto You because You have accepted the body of Lord Buddha, who spoke ill constantly of the animal sacrifices in pursuance of the rites of the Vedic literature." Śrīla Prabhupāda writes in the purport to the verse that animal sacrifices are sometimes recommended in the *Vedas* under specific religious rites. He illustrates this point with the story of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s discussion with Maulana Chand Kazi, the city magistrate of Nabadwip (in Bengal). This occurred in the sixteenth century, two thousand years after Shakyamuni Buddha’s earthly existence. Mahāprabhu asked the Kazi why Muslims kill cows. The learned Kazi replied that cow sacrifice is recommended even in the *Vedas*, to which Lord Caitanya responded that the recommendations in the *Vedas* were not for killing, but for giving an elderly cow a new lease on life with perfect health. This was done to demonstrate the powerful Vedic *mantras*, which when perfectly chanted could perform such wonders. Lord Caitanya then explained that in Kali-yuga this was impossible and therefore cow and horse sacrifices must be avoided. Before Lord Buddha arrived 2,500 years ago, the sections of the *Vedas* in which animal sacrifice is discussed were grossly misused, and their performers, Śrīla Prabhupāda comments, “were indulged in an unrestricted extravagance.” *Incarnation Foretold* As stated in the *Bhagavad-gītā*, the Supreme Personality of Godhead incarnates when He sees that false teaching needs to be rectified, or when irreligious behavior becomes intolerable. Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore appeared as Shakyamuni Buddha to correct the *brahmanas'* fallacious teachings about sacrifice. The Buddha’s incarnation is foretold in the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* (1.3.24): > tataḥ kalau sampravṛtte > sammohāya sura-dviṣām > buddho nāmnāñjana-sutaḥ > kīkaṭeṣu bhaviṣyati "Then, in the beginning of Kali-yuga, the Lord will appear as Lord Buddha, the son of Anjana, in the province of Gaya, just for the purpose of deluding those who are envious of the faithful theists." In the first part of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s purport to this verse, he explains: Lord Buddha, a powerful incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, appeared in the province of Gaya (Bihar) as the son of Anjana, and he preached his own conception of nonviolence and deprecated even the animal sacrifices sanctioned in the Vedas. At the time when Lord Buddha appeared, the people in general were atheistic and preferred animal flesh to anything else. On the plea of Vedic sacrifice, every place was practically turned into a slaughterhouse, and animal-killing was indulged in unrestrictedly. Lord Buddha preached nonviolence, taking pity on the poor animals. He preached that he did not believe in the tenets of the Vedas and stressed the adverse psychological effects incurred by animal-killing. According to Buddhist scriptures, Aṣjana was a king of the Koliya dynasty. He had two sons and two daughters. One of the daughters was called Maya, and Maya gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama (Shakyamuni) Buddha in Lumbini, in present-day Nepal. His father’s name was Suddhodana. Gautama Buddha achieved enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in the state of Bihar. Śrīla Prabhupāda continues: Less intelligent men of the age of Kali, who had no faith in God, followed his principle, and for the time being they were trained in moral discipline and nonviolence, the preliminary steps for proceeding further on the path of God realization. He deluded the atheists because such atheists who followed his principles did not believe in God, but they kept their absolute faith in Lord Buddha, who himself was the incarnation of God. Thus the faithless people were made to believe in God in the form of Lord Buddha. That was the mercy of Lord Buddha: he made the faithless faithful to him. Buddhist philosophy appears to be atheistic because there is no acceptance of the Supreme Lord. And yet, as discussed above, Shakyamuni Buddha was in fact an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains this dichotomy later in his purport to this verse (and in his 1956 article): Technically Lord Buddha's philosophy is called atheistic because there is no acceptance of the Supreme Lord and because that system of philosophy denied the authority of the Vedas. But that is an act of camouflage by the Lord. Lord Buddha is the incarnation of Godhead. As such, he is the original propounder of Vedic knowledge. He therefore cannot reject Vedic philosophy. But he rejected it outwardly because the sura-dvia, or the demons who are always envious of the devotees of Godhead, try to support cow-killing or animal-killing from the pages of the Vedas, and this is now being done by the modernized sannyasis. Lord Buddha had to reject the authority of the Vedas altogether. This is simply technical, and had it not been so he would not have been so accepted as the incarnation of Godhead. Nor would he have been worshiped in the transcendental songs of the poet Jayadeva, who is a Vaisnava acarya. Lord Buddha preached the preliminary principles of the Vedas in a manner suitable for the time, and so also did Sankaracarya to establish the authority of the Vedas. Therefore both Lord Buddha and Ācārya Sakara paved the path of theism, and Vaisnava acaryas, specifically Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, led the people on the path towards a realization of going back to Godhead. Interestingly, Śrīla Prabhupāda adds in the same purport: We are glad that people are taking interest in the nonviolent movement of Lord Buddha. But will they take the matter very seriously and close the animal slaughterhouses altogether? If not, there is no meaning to the ahimsa cult. There are of course different schools of Buddhism. The three main ones are Mahayana (Great Vehicle), Theravada (or Hinayana), Vajrayana (Tibetan/Himalayan, part of the wider Mahayana group). Within those three main groups are many subsects, and the Buddhist cannon is complex, vast, and beyond the scope of this short article. *Buddhists and Meat-eating* Different schools of Buddhism have different views about meat-eating, with pure Mahayana Buddhists being the strictest and completely in line with Vaisnava principles. While slaughterhouses exist in countries with large Buddhist populations, it would be disingenuous to suggest that Buddhists are to blame, as no slaughterhouses exist specifically for Buddhists—because no practicing Buddhist may cause an animal’s death. This is clear in Buddha’s teaching. It may be fairly argued, however, that those Buddhists who do eat meat are unjustifiably and inexcusably hiding under the various regulations about not being “directly” responsible for animals’ deaths, as surely they are still creating the demand for animals to be killed, and this cannot be justified in any form of Buddhism. *Slaughter in the Name of Religion* Tragically we must remember that some countries have persisted in animal slaughter in the name of religious practice—even Nepal, the country of Buddha’s birth. When I lived in Nepal (2008–2011), reportedly five million Hindus from both India and Nepal attended the barbaric slaughter at the Gadhimai festival in 2009. This is held every five years in Bariyarpur, near the border with India. More than twenty thousand buffaloes were sacrificed on the first day alone, and the reader can imagine what a heartbreaking, horrifying, hell-like scene that was. An estimated 250,000 animals were sacrificed during the Gadhimai festival that year, in the most horrific circumstances. Animal-rights campaigners (some Hindus from India, but others not necessarily connected to any religion, and from all over the world) have strenuously campaigned against this atrocity, but still it continued in 2014 with five thousand buffaloes and a hundred thousand birds and other animals slaughtered, and with hundreds of thousands of Hindus, if not millions, supporting it from both sides of the border. In 2015 the authority overseeing the festival said that these animal sacrifices would cease in the future. We can only hope and pray that this will be so, as these atrocities are exactly what Shakyamuni Buddha was attempting to stamp out. There is therefore still a great and ongoing need for Buddhists and Vaisnavas alike to continue to preach nonviolence, including towards animals, and to maintain a strictly vegetarian diet. *Other Contributions* It is hard, if not impossible, not to agree that the Buddha contributed greatly to religious practice throughout the world, even to this day. It was primarily due to him that animal sacrifices were greatly reduced, and in many places abolished altogether. Nonviolence, charity, and love and care for other sentient beings were inculcated into the belief of the people, and selfish desires were greatly reduced. Also, Lord Buddha’s establishment of celibate orders of monks was echoed across Indian religion. Fifty to a hundred years before Shakyamuni Buddha’s time there were already groups of hermits in India living together in what might be called ashrams, but evidence suggests that many more groups did not necessarily follow any unifying communal (monastic) law. It would be true to claim that the Jains had the first true monastic communities, such as the followers of Mahavira in the sixth century. Nevertheless, it seems the flourishing of such communities, with strict monastic laws and common practices, occurred after the establishment of Buddhist monasteries. In closing, it is also worth noting a few sentences from Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport to *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 2.7.37: Lord Buddha incarnates at a time when the people are most materialistic and preaches common-sense religious principles. Such *ahimsa* is not a religious principle itself, but it is an important quality for persons who are actually religious. It is a common-sense religion because one is advised to do no harm to any other animal or living being because such harmful actions are equally harmful to he who does the harm. But before learning these principles of nonviolence one has to learn two other principles, namely to be humble and to be prideless. Unless one is humble and prideless, one cannot be harmless and nonviolent. It is beholden on us all therefore to be honest in our reflections about ourselves, and to be genuinely and deeply humble and prideless, no matter what our position in life may be—certainly key qualities that Buddhists and Vaisnavas should share. As Vaisnavas we would say that these are but steppingstones to the great bliss of knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and the amazing and wonderful personal relationship we can find with Him as we turn our lives to His service, wholeheartedly, humbly, without ego or pride. The subject of Lord Buddha and how we as Vaisnavas should consider him is a deep, highly complex subject, and the very complexity and depth of Buddhist teaching makes it impossible to discuss in detail in an article of this length. Suffice to say that Lord Buddha, as an incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu, played a major part in the reformation of religious thought in India 2,500 years ago, and thereafter across the world. When we view him in the light of his being an incarnation of Kṛṣṇa, working in mysterious and complex ways to restore the Vedic teaching while seeming to refute it, we can only be left in wonder and awe at the Lord’s incredibly wondrous ways. *Māyāpur-sasi Dāsa was a British army officer and a Buddhist for thirty-three years. He was the most senior rank Buddhist in the British Armed Forces. An initiated disciple of His Holiness Kesava Bharati Dāsa Goswami, he is retired, living in Taiwan, painting and writing. He is currently writing three books, two of which are directly in service to his spiritual master.* ISKCON's Presence in Greater Mumbai *By Parijata Devī Dāsī* *A brief look at temples and other projects by which devotees are spreading Kṛṣṇa consciousness in this leading metropolis.* *The Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Rasabihari Temple* In the 1970s, Śrīla Prabhupāda struggled against all odds to build a temple at Juhu Beach, firmly believing it would provide wonderful opportunities for the citizens of Mumbai to develop their Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Forty years later, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Rasabihari daily attract thousands to Their magnificent marble temple, a spiritual oasis for the city’s residents and tourists alike. The initial project included a temple, restaurant, and guesthouse. Since 2005, it has included the Heaven on Earth building, with multipurpose halls for spiritual education and Vedic ceremonies, a library, a larger restaurant, and an underground parking area. Nowadays, at least a million people a year attend the temple’s splendid festivals, take seminars on the *Bhagavad-gītā*, and relish free *prasada* meals. There are now more than 38,000 life patrons, 115 celibate priests living at the temple, and over 8,000 youth and congregation members who regularly visit and offer services. *Nilachal Dham* ISKCON Juhu manages the Nilachal Dham farm, seventy-five miles north of Mumbai. It is a spiritual retreat and a source of fresh cow’s milk, fruits, vegetables, and flowers for Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Rasabihari. *Bhaktivedanta Swami Mission School* With more than nine hundred children, the Bhaktivedanta Swami Mission School, founded in 1988 at ISKCON Juhu, is now located in a nearby huge housing complex. Its quality education system offers the future generation a unique opportunity for social, intellectual, and spiritual development. *The Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Gopinatha Temple* The Hare Kṛṣṇa movement over the years has flourished in other parts of Mumbai. The development of ISKCON Chowpatty in south Bombay was a fulfillment of a prophecy Śrīla Prabhupāda made. On October 18, 1973, he attended a conference at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and gave the keynote address. His secretary at the time, Syamasundara Dāsa, recalls: “After the lecture, Prabhupāda stood on the steps of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, pointed down the street, and said, 'We should have a temple here.' By the inconceivable power of his merciful glance and desire, at that spot there is now the splendid sandstone temple of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Gopinatha, with its thousands of guests and members.” Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Gopinatha were installed there on July 18, 1988, and the temple has grown to house 200 resident college-educated monks, who serve a congregation of 3,000 people. ISKCON Chowpatty manages Tulasi Books; Bhaktivedanta Hospital, which opened in 1998 on Mira Road; and Govardhan Ecovillage, an award-winning eighty-acre model farm community and retreat center seventy miles north of Mumbai. *The Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Giridhari Temple* On September 14, 1986, Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Giridhari were installed by a group of congregation devotees in an apartment in Bhayander, a northern suburb, and later moved to a temporary temple on nearby Mira Road. Almost exactly twenty-nine years later, thanks to the sincere endeavors of more than 1,500 congregation devotees, a large new marble temple on the property opened for the Deities on September 26, 2015. The temple is a short walk from Bhaktivedanta Hospital. *The Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Madanmohanji Temple* Since 2009, in Navi Mumbai (northeast of Mumbai), ISKCON Khargar has been developing the Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Madanmohanji Temple and The Glory of Maharashtra project. Spread over nine acres, this will include a college, a guesthouse, an auditorium, an *Ayurveda* center, and a home for the elderly. *Parijata Devī Dāsī is the director of communications for the Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Rasabihari Temple.* ## Lust Blinds, Love Liberates *by Puruottama Nitai Dāsa* *While we must not imitate this great devotee's extreme measure in the battle against lust, we can learn from his determination.* During our devotional journey, we spiritual practitioners encounter many challenges that may make us believe that attaining love of God is an impossible feat. But studying the lives of great devotees fills our life with hope by assuring us that determined devotion always attracts Kṛṣṇa’s attention. Bilvamangala Ṭhākura is one celebrated devotee whose life teaches us that Kṛṣṇa’s love for us is unconditional; He overlooks all our past transgressions and is ever ready to shower His affection on us. *Bilvamagala's Deadly Lust* Bilvamangala Ṭhākura was a wealthy South Indian *brahmana* from a cultured family, but he got attracted to a prostitute named Cintamani. The attraction soon became attachment. When we get attached to worldly enjoyment, we lose our intelligence and subsequently our dignity. For Bilvamangala the fire of lust was so intense that he was not at all moved when his father died; in fact, standing near the funeral pyre, he was engrossed in thought of Cintamani. The body of his dead father did not bring tears to his eyes, but his eyes were eager to see Cintamani's beauty. Overwhelmed with the desire to be with her, he ran from the funeral pyre towards her house. Cintamani lived on the other side of a river, and thunder, lightning, and heavy rain had created chaos and flooding. Unable to find a boat to ferry him across, Bilvamangala jumped into the deadly river, risking his life. Struggling to survive, he desperately grabbed on to a floating object—which happened to be a human corpse. Using it as a support, he crossed the river. *Cintamani Rebukes Bilvamangala* Cintamani’s gate was locked, so he decided to climb over the wall. He saw what seemed to be a rope hanging on the wall, but it turned out to be a snake. Still, blinded by lust, he grabbed it, made it over the wall, and knocked at Cintamani’s door. Seeing the uninvited guest arriving at that late hour, Cintamani was surprised. Bilvamangala Ṭhākura had hoped she would be happy to see him, but she was disgusted. Rebuking him, Cintamani said, “What a shame that you have so much attraction for my body of flesh, bones, blood, mucus, stool, and other obnoxious substances. This body rots every day and ultimately becomes food for worms. Your attraction to this temporary body is not going to do you any good. But if you could get the same attachment to Kṛṣṇa, then your life would be successful. That attachment would deliver you from all the miseries of material existence and give you an opportunity to join Kṛṣṇa in His eternal abode. You would achieve eternal happiness.” *Love for Kṛṣṇa Awakens* Cintamani’s rebuke made Bilvamangala realize he was wasting his precious human birth by pursuing the ephemeral pleasure of this world. He was grateful to Cintamani for the sage advice, and he decided to devote his life to serving Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that Bilvamangala Ṭhākura in his previous life had been elevated to *bhava*, the stage of devotion just prior to *prema*-*bhakti*, the highest platform of devotional service, but he fell down from that exalted state. Because of his devotion to the Supreme Lord, however, in his next life he was born into a rich *brahmana* family, but sadly he became attached to a prostitute. Then, at the right moment, his spiritual master spoke through Cintamani to make him realize the ultimate truth. *Blind Bilvamangala* Sometime after his transformation, Bilvamangala decided to go to Vrindavan. Old habits die hard, and sinful tendencies are not so easy to give up. Bilvamagala's weakness was lust, and so *maya*, the illusory energy of the Supreme Lord, attacked him again in the form of a woman. On his way to Vrindavan, he was captivated by the beauty of a woman he saw. Impelled by lust, he followed her to her house. When he knocked at the door, the woman's husband, a wealthy merchant, answered. Having learned from his wife that a man had been following her, the merchant still invited him in and asked what service he could offer. Bilvamangala Ṭhākura asked to be left alone with his wife, and the merchant obliged. Alone with her in the room, Bilvamangala asked, “Mother, can I have your hairpin?” He took the hairpin and, to the woman’s utter shock, gouged both his eyes. Falling at the feet of the couple, he begged for forgiveness. Bilvamangala Ṭhākura blinded himself to make sure that for the rest of his life he would avoid enticement by never seeing a woman. He took an extreme step, but we can learn from this extraordinary and frightful incident the necessity of reining in our senses. The example is not to be emulated; neither the scriptures nor the *acaryas* recommend that anyone take such an extreme step. But the holy books and the holy sages continuously remind us that the senses are very strong and unless controlled they can destroy our devotional life, just as a mad elephant destroys a beautiful garden. We all are afflicted with the disease of material consciousness, and the scriptures prescribe treatment for our ailment. To get the right vision, a person suffering from a cataract does not have to get his eyes plucked out but just has to remove the cataract. Similarly, our senses are currently afflicted with material disease, and the best solution is to treat the disease and spiritualize the senses through the medicine of the holy name. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, “If one wants to enjoy real sense enjoyment, then one must get free of the entanglement of material existence. In spiritual life we can enjoy sense enjoyment which has no end. The difference between material and spiritual enjoyment is that material enjoyment is limited. Even if a man engages in material sex enjoyment, he cannot enjoy it for long. But when the sex enjoyment is given up, then one can enter spiritual life, which is unending.” (*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 3.20.35, Purport) *In Vrindavan with Kṛṣṇa* Although physically blind, Bilvamangala Ṭhākura was now spiritually awakened. Life’s experience had taught him that lust can never be satiated. Rather, this disease worsens as soon as one gives in to lusty desires and thoughts. Bilvamangala then proceeded to Vrindavan without delay. He was so sincere in his devotion that he used every moment in worshiping the Supreme Lord. His genuine devotion attracted Kṛṣṇa, who as a cowherd boy would come to meet him regularly, carrying a glass of milk for him. Bilvamangala Ṭhākura did not know that the Supreme Lord was personally coming to see him. They would speak with each other for hours. Once when Kṛṣṇa played His flute, Bilvamangala Ṭhākura was captivated by it and wanted to embrace Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa playfully escaped his embrace. The great devotee of the Lord said, "You can escape from my hold but not from my heart." Bilvamangala Ṭhākura’s heart had previously been flooded with lusty desires, but with determined devotion he had cleansed his heart and enthroned Kṛṣṇa there. He wrote *Kṛṣṇa-karamrta*, which glorifies Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī and beautifully reveals the esoteric relationship between Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā. Lord Caitanya found this book during His South India trip and loved to hear its recitation regularly. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, “He [Bilvamangala Ṭhākura] intensely desired to enter into the eternal pastimes of the Lord, and he lived at Vṛndāvana for seven hundred years in the vicinity of Brahma-kua, a still-existing bathing tank in Vṛndāvana. The history of Bilvamangala Ṭhākura is given in a book called *Śrī-vallabha-digvijaya*. He appeared in the eighth century of the Saka Era in the province of Dravia and was the chief disciple of Viṣṇu Svami. In a list of temples and monasteries kept in Sankaracarya’s monastery in Dvaraka, Bilvamangala is mentioned as the founder of the Dvarakadhisa temple there.” (*Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Ādi* 1.57, Purport) *The Supreme Destination* Although Bilvamangala Ṭhākura’s past wasn’t glorious, Kṛṣṇa wasn’t bothered by that. Often a person caught doing something abominable is condemned and abandoned. But Kṛṣṇa is magnanimous, forgiving, and uninterested in unearthing our previous sins. As soon as He sees that our intentions are pure and we are genuinely striving to purify our life, He is eager to accept us and take us back to the spiritual world. In *Bhagavad-gītā* 16.21–22, Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna that lust is a gateway to hell and those who can escape from it attain the supreme destination. Lust binds us to this material world, but love for the Lord liberates us. Bilvamangala Ṭhākura was able to achieve Kṛṣṇa only after his heart was thoroughly cleansed of all lusty desires. To attain love of Kṛṣṇa, therefore, we must guard ourselves against the onslaught of lust and not succumb to its allure. *Puruottama Nitai Dāsa, a member of the congregation of ISKCON Kolkata, is an advisory consultant at IBM. He blogs at http://krishnamagic.blogspot.in/.* ## The Heart of Bilvamangala Ṭhākura *Some expressions of* bhakti *by Bilvamangala Ṭhākura found in Śrīla Prabhupāda's books.* O my Lord, if one engages in Your pure devotional service with determination, You become visible in Your original transcendental youthful form as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As far as liberation is concerned, she stands before the devotee with folded hands waiting to render service. Religion, economic development, and sense gratification are all automatically attained without separate endeavor. *Kṛṣṇa-karnamrta* 107 Quoted in *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, *Madhya* 22.21, Purport O My Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, O friend of the helpless! You are the only ocean of mercy! Because I have not met You, My inauspicious days and nights have become unbearable. I do not know how I shall pass the time. *Kṛṣṇa-karnamrta* 41 Quoted in *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, *Madhya* 2.58 (Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is quoting Śrīmati Rādhārāṇī) O Kṛṣṇa, O flute-player, the sweetness of Your early age is wonderful within these three worlds. You know my unsteadiness, and I know Yours. No one else knows about this. I want to see Your beautiful attractive face somewhere in a solitary place, but how can this be accomplished? *Kṛṣṇa-karamrta* 32 Quoted in *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, *Madhya* 2.61 Although I was worshiped by those on the path of monism and initiated into self-realization through the *yoga* system, I have nonetheless been forcibly turned into a maidservant by some cunning boy who is always joking with the *gopis*. Quoted in *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, *Madhya* 10.178 The anklets on the damsels of Vraja-bhumi are made of *Cintamani* stone. The trees are wish-fulfilling trees, and they produce flowers with which the *gopis* decorate themselves. There are also wish-fulfilling cows [*kama-dhenus*], which deliver unlimited quantities of milk. These cows constitute the wealth of Vṛndāvana. Thus Vṛndāvana’s opulence is blissfully exhibited. Quoted in *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, *Madhya* 14.228 There may be many all-auspicious incarnations of the Personality of Godhead, but who other than Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa can bestow love of God upon the surrendered souls? Quoted in *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, *Antya* 7.15 O my Lord, the transcendental body of Kṛṣṇa is very sweet, and His face is even sweeter than His body. But His soft smile, which has the fragrance of honey, is sweeter still. *Kṛṣṇa-karamrta* 92 Quoted in *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, *Madhya* 21.136 I am eagerly waiting to see that boy of Vṛndāvana whose bodily beauty is captivating the whole universe, whose eyes are always bounded by black eyebrows and expanded like lotus petals, and who is always eagerly glancing over His devotees and therefore moving slightly here and there. His eyes are always moist, His lips are colored like copper, and through those lips there comes a sound vibration which drives one madder than a mad elephant. I want so much to see Him at Vṛndāvana! *The Nectar of Devotion*, Chapter 18 My dear Kṛṣṇa, You are leaving me, forcibly getting out of my clutches. But I shall be impressed by Your strength only when You can go forcibly from the core of my heart. *The Nectar of Devotion*, Chapter 29 My dear Lord, Your naughtiness in boyhood is the most wonderful thing in the three worlds. And You Yourself know what this naughtiness is. As such, You can very easily understand my flickering mind. This is known to You and me. Therefore, I am simply yearning to know how I can fix my mind on Your lotus feet. *The Nectar of Devotion*, Chapter 38 ## Ṣaḍ-bhūja-mūrti: Śrī Caitanya’s Six-Armed Form *By Satyaraja Dāsa* *Anthropomorphism fails as an explanation for the many-armed divine forms described in the Vedic literature.* When I joined the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, something in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books intrigued me: God’s unlimited nature went beyond merely having innumerable forms; these forms, I was amazed to learn, often have numerous arms as well. India’s wisdom texts, in fact, describe a wonderland of beatific multiarmed beings. There is four-armed Viṣṇu and His consort, eight-armed Laksmi; the ten-armed Goddess Kali; and an astoundingly ferocious, breathtakingly beautiful, thousand-armed, lion-headed Deity named Nrsimha. All these and many more reside in a multidimensional transcendent realm that the tradition says is our real home, the realm of Godhead, the abode of our heart’s delight. Why, I wondered, do God or His expansions need multiple hands? Won’t two do the trick? I thought of the old song “He's Got the Whole World in His Hands.” Yes, I thought, He’s got the whole world in His hands—and maybe, as this tradition says, He's got more than two. After all, why should God conform to human physiognomy? If He does, might He not also then conform to human limitation? Why try to make God like us? The Greek philosopher Xenophanes spoke of religion’s Deities as a form of projection. He said *we* envision God in human terms because *we* are human. Had *we* been plants or animals and able to think deeply about the nature of God, *we* would likely have envisioned Him as a plant or an animal. The Vedic conception can’t be accused of that. There we find the supreme divinity manifesting Himself in all species of life—as a boar, as a fish, as a tortoise, even as a man-lion. So Vedic conceptions of God are not simply a projection of our own form. Thus we can counter Xenophanes as follows: The Vedic conception of God is not manmade, or at least it can’t be accused as such for the usual reasons, for it’s a conception that is not constricted or defined by the human form. The way I see it, an extension of this idea is found in the multiplicity of arms under discussion—the Vedic conception of Deity is not limited to our usual two-armed anatomy. *But, Still, Why All the Hands?* Usually, each form of God holds in His hands some objects that symbolize or represent the various qualities of that particular Deity. The same is often true of other divine personalities as well. Sometimes their hands are empty, but the position of the fingers and the palms signify their mood and character. For example, traditional Bharata Natyam hand gestures, derived from the *Naya-sastra*, often give information: If the dancer's fingers point toward the ground, it means this particular divinity is of a charitable disposition; if they point upward, it means this Deity is in the mood of a protector. These gestures, also known as *mudras*, indicate a given Deity’s individual powers and differentiate one from the other. Among all Deities, the *Viṣṇu-dharmottara Purana* tells us, Viṣṇu is supreme, and His four hands express dominion over the four directions of space. This harkens back to what His name means: “the all-pervading one.” The same *Purana* also explains that Vishnu's arms symbolize the four aims (*puru*artha*s*) of human life: (a) duty and virtue (*dharma*); (b) the pursuit of material goods, wealth, and success (*artha*); (c) pleasure, sexuality, and sense enjoyment (*kama*); and (d) liberation (*moksa*), the chief form of which is not simply going to heaven but developing love for God. This is the real goal of human existence. Most importantly, Lord Viṣṇu holds implements in His hands that tell us much about His person: a conchshell, a discus, a lotus, and a mace. I remembered from my earlier studies in Eastern philosophy that the conch symbolizes creativity and victory; the *cakra* (or discus) symbolizes the powers of the mind (it is also a weapon with which Viṣṇu kills demons and slays misconceptions and doubts); the mace, with which He evokes fear in the unrighteous, symbolizes strength; and the lotus symbolizes liberation and the ability to rise beyond the material world. There are innumerable Viṣṇu expansions of Kṛṣṇa in the spiritual and material worlds. In His instructions to Sanatana Gosvami in the *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, Lord Caitanya quotes descriptions from *Siddhartha-samhita* of twenty-four forms of Viṣṇu distinguished by the placement of the four symbols in Their four hands. He also lists other Viṣṇu forms, mentioned in the *Hayasirsa Pancaratra*. *The Six-Armed Form* When I think back to my initial interest in God's having multiple arms, I remember that I was particularly attracted to a form called the ṣaḍ-bhūja-mūrti, or the six-armed form of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. While I was a bit taken aback by the awe-inspiring thousand-armed universal form, which Kṛṣṇa showed Arjuna, and the ferocious ten-armed Nrsimhadeva, I found Mahāprabhu’s six-armed form alluring, and I continue to have a special affection for it to this day. In fact, I collect paintings and photographs of the ṣaḍ-bhūja-mūrti, some of which accompany this article. I remember my initial reading of Prabhupāda’s description of this form: “Sad-bhuja, the six-armed Lord Gaurasundara [Caitanya], is a representation of three incarnations. The form of Śrī Ramacandra is symbolized by a bow in one hand and an arrow in another, the form of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is symbolized by a stick and a flute like those generally held by a cowherd boy, and Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu is symbolized by a *sannyāsa-daṇḍa* and a *kamaṇḍalu,* or waterpot.” (*Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, *Ādi* 17.12, Purport) “Wow,” I thought, “all the most important incarnations of Kṛṣṇa in one form!” I loved the idea, and as I learned more, I noticed that Prabhupāda also saw this form as special: Lord Śrī Ramacandra is so kind and merciful to His devotees that He is very easily satisfied by a little service rendered by anyone, human or not. This is the special advantage of worshiping Lord Ramacandra, and there is the same advantage in worshiping Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Ramacandra, in the manner of *ksatriyas*, sometimes showed Their mercy by killing *asuras* [demons], but Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu awarded love of God without difficulty even to the *asuras*. All the incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead—but especially Lord Ramacandra, Lord Kṛṣṇa and, later, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu—delivered many of the living entities present before Them, indeed almost all of them. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is therefore represented in the six-armed form of ṣaḍ-bhūja-mūrti, which is a combination of Lord Ramacandra, Lord Kṛṣṇa, and Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The best purpose of human life can be fulfilled by worshiping the ṣaḍ-bhūja-mūrti, the form of the Lord with six arms—two arms of Ramacandra, two arms of Kṛṣṇa, and two arms of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. (*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 5.19.8–9, Purport) I found that the earliest artistic depiction of this form seems to be in the Oriyan style, painted on the walls of the Jagannatha temple and the Gangamata Math in Jagannath Puri, Orissa. On the southeastern side of the main temple building in Puri, one can see a Deity of Śrī Caitanya in His six-armed form. This is because Mahāprabhu revealed this form to both King Prataparudra and his court *paita*, Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya, both of whom resided in Puri. Thus the King had this form painted on the outside of the temple tower and on the ceiling of the Nat Mandir, as well as in a room near the southern gate. Śrī Caitanya also showed this form to His intimate associate Nityānanda Prabhu, as described in the *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*. Over the centuries, many artists have depicted this form, but my favorite renderings are the ones done by ISKCON artists that have appeared in *Back to Godhead*. *Historical Revelation and Inner Meaning* According to Śrī Caitanya’s authorized biographies, then, ṣaḍ-bhūja-mūrti was revealed three times, in the following order: 1. To Nityānanda Prabhu in Śrīvasa Ṭhākura’s house in Māyāpur. This occurred during the Vyasa-puja celebration (worship of Vyasadeva), the day after Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda met for the first time. (See *Caitanya-bhagavata*, *Madhya* 5.92; *Śrī Caitanya-candrodaya*, Act II, text 75; and **Caitanya-caritāmṛta*,* *Ādi* 17.12.) Incidentally, according to both the *Śrī Caitanya-candrodaya*, Act II, text 77, and the *Caitanya-caritāmṛta* reference cited above, Nityānanda saw a different version of the six-armed form, with hands holding conch, disc, club, lotus, bow, and flute. 2. To Sarvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya in his house in Puri, soon after the Lord first arrived there. (See *Caitanya-bhagavata*, *Antya* 3.100–105, and Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport to *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, *Ādi* 10.130, as well as his *Teachings of Lord Caitanya,* chapter 26.) 3. To Mahārāja Prataparudra, two years after the Sarvabhauma revelation, when the Lord returned from His South Indian tour. (See Murari Gupta’s *Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-carita-mahakavya* 4.16.14–20 and Locana Dāsa’s *Caitanya-mangala*, *Sesa-kanda*, Song 12, Texts 113–115.) In Locana Dāsa Ṭhākura’s *Caitanya-magala* we find the following verses, which give us a deeper understanding of the six-armed form.* They depict a scene that occurs just after Śrī Caitanya takes *sannyasa*, the renounced order of life. At that time, the Lord offers a prayer to His *danda* (renunciant's staff), saying that it is essentially identical to His bow and arrow and flute: > ami se sakala chadi karinu sannyasa > tumi na chadile more janme janme vamsha > rama avatare tumi dhanuka haiya > rahile amara hathe dushtera lagiya > Kṛṣṇa avatare vamshi hana mora kare > mohita karile saba akhila samsare > ibe danda hana mora aila karete > kali-yuge pashanda-dalana hetu rupe "O My *danda*! Although I have given up everything by becoming a *sannyasi*, still you have not given Me up. You stay by My side, accompanying Me life after life. When I was traveling in the forest as Rama, you were always in My hand as My bow and arrow. During My pastimes as Kṛṣṇa, you were always there in My hand as My flute, captivating the entire world with divine love. And now after I have abandoned everything as a *sannyasi*, still you remain with Me as My *danda* in order to vanquish the nonbelievers in Kali-yuga." (*Śrī Śrī Chaitanya-mangala* [in Śrī Locana dasa *krita padavali saha*], 2nd edition, edited by Śrī Mrinalakanti Ghosha, Gaurabda 444 [1930 or 1931 CE], *Madhya-khanda*, p. 66) This prayer brings to light a little-known dimension of the six-armed form, showing a spiritual connection between the items the Lord holds in His hands, particularly when He descends as Rama, Kṛṣṇa, and Caitanya. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s *guru*, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Ṭhākura, gives us yet another inner meaning of this form: By showing His associates this divine manifestation, Lord Chaitanya is bringing to light His teaching of *achintya-bhedabheda*, or the inconceivable and simultaneous oneness and difference between the Lord and His various forms and energies. “The *prakasha*, or expansion, the *avatara*, or incarnation, the shaktis, or energies, and the *bhaktas*, or devotees, are not separate from the *svayam-rupa*, or original Personality of Godhead,” writes Śrīla Sarasvati Ṭhākura. “Within Kṛṣṇa Chaitanya all of them are individually included with simultaneously distinct characteristics. To exhibit this *achintya-bhedabheda* philosophy in His *Gaura-līlā*, the Lord displayed His six-armed form to Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu.” (Commentary on *Śrī Chaitanya-bhagavata, Madhya* 5.105) In conventional Vaishnava discourse, the philosophy of *acintya-bhedabheda* pertains to the Lord’s essential nature in relation to His energy—it explains how He is both one with and different from everything that emanates from Him. However, in this instance, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta extends its meaning to include the Lord’s many direct manifestations as well. That is to say, He is both one with and different from His incarnations and expansions. The *shad-bhuja-murti*, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta tells us, is an exhibition of this truth. According to Radhe Govinda Dāsa, who is writing a book about *shad-bhuja-murti*, the threefold form represents *maryada-purushottama*, *līlā-purushottama*, and *prema-purushottama*. *Purushottama* means "Supreme Person." “Rama is the supreme,” Radhe Govinda writes, “in terms of formality, or rules and regulations (*maryada*), allowing us to reach the concept of God Almighty. Now, Kṛṣṇa is Lord of play (*līlā*), or the Supreme who manifests beautiful pastimes for the pleasure of His devotees. And Mahāprabhu gives us divine love (*prema*) in an unprecedented way. Together, these three aspects of Godhead are seen in *shad-bhuja-murti*, a very special manifestation of the Supreme.” Indradyumna Swami, a leading ISKCON preacher, has summarized this as follows: “*Shad-bhuja-murti* means *dharma*, *ananda*, and *prema*—Rama represents proper action in the material world (*dharma*), Kṛṣṇa’s divine pastimes give bliss (*ananda*), and Mahāprabhu brought us divine love (*prema*). *Hands and Heart* The conclusion is that God can have innumerable hands, one hand, or even no hands. The Vedic literature is replete with descriptions of God’s many divine forms—and their hands. But the important part of God, those same sacred texts tell us, is not His hands at all, but His heart, His love. While His hands may exist in an infinite variety of forms, with diverse symbolism and attributes based on His purpose and meaning, His heart is one. His love for us is single-minded. That is certain. For me, Prabhupāda sums it up best, showing how God’s many arms basically serve two functions, which can especially be seen in the four-armed Viṣṇu: He has two hands to address the negativity of the demoniac, and two for the pleasure of the devotees: So when Kṛṣṇa comes, He has got two businesses: *paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām*—for giving protection to the devotees, to the faithful, and for killing the demons. So Kṛṣṇa, when He was present, He exhibited these two things. Perhaps you have seen our picture of Nārāyaṇa, or Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu has got four hands. In two hands He has got a lotus flower and a conchshell, and in the other two hands He has got a club and a disc. The disc and club are meant for *vinashaya cha dushkritam*, for killing the demons and the miscreants. And the conchshell and the lotus flower are meant for giving benediction and blessings to the devotees. (Lecture at a Christian Monastery, Melbourne, April 6, 1972) In Kavi Karnapura’s classic sixteenth-century work, the Śrī Chaitanya-candrodaya (Act II, text 82), the author expresses a similar idea, specifically in terms of the *shad-bhuja-murti*: "Some say that with these six arms You kill the six enemies of the world. O fulfiller of desires, I say that with these arms You give devotional service, love of God, and the four goals of life."** Indeed, Lord Rama’s bow and arrow bring fear to the hearts of the demoniac, while Kṛṣṇa’s two flute-holding hands inspire devotion in those so inclined. And Śrī Caitanya’s arms? They provide the highest love, *prema*, for all who adopt the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Mahāprabhu’s two arms take the devotees beyond all dimensions of the material world and situate them in the embrace of transcendence. *Among the various Bengali versions of *Śrī Caitanya-mangala,* some omit these verses. I've chosen to include them because they pertain to our understanding of the Lord's six-armed feature. *The six enemies of the world are lust, anger, greed, madness, illusion, and envy. The four goals of life are religiosity, economic development, sense gratification, and liberation. My special thanks to Mahā Laksmi Devī Dāsī and Rādhe Govinda Dāsa for the use of their photos and the fruits of their research. Their Facebook page dedicated to Śrī Sad-bhuja East and West *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.* Founder's Lecture: The Supreme *Yogi* Founder-*Acarya* of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness Bombay, November 2, 1974 *A yogi may be able to walk on water, but God can float planets in space.* > na hy asya varṣmaṇaḥ puṁsāṁ > varimṇaḥ sarva-yoginām > viśrutau śruta-devasya > bhūri tṛpyanti me 'savaḥ Saunaka continued: There is no one who knows more than the Lord Himself. No one is more worshipable or more mature a *yogi* than He. He is therefore the master of the *Vedas*, and to hear about Him always is the actual pleasure of the senses. —*Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* 3.25.2 In the previous verse the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Devahuti-putra Kapiladeva has been explained as **bhaga**van* atma-mayaya*. The word *bhaga* means "opulence," and *van* means "one who possesses." All the opulences of the creation are present in Bhaga*van*. As stated in the *Vedas* (*Kantha Upanisad* 2.2.13): > nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām > eko bahūnāṁ yo vidadhāti kāmān "Both the Supreme Lord and the individual living entities are eternal (*nitya*) and cognizant (*cetana*), but the Supreme Lord is maintaining all the living entities." *Nitya*—Bhagavan—is the singular, and *nitya*nam are the plural *jivas*, or living beings. Nityo *nitya*nam: we are many, but God is one. There is no limit to the *jivas*; no one can count them. The word *ananta* means that they are without limit. All these *jivas*, living entities, are being maintained by the Supreme One. We cannot conceive how many living entities are being maintained by the Supreme Lord. All the great elephants, all the small ants, all the 8,400,000 species of life are maintained by Bhagavan. Why do we worry that He will not maintain us? Those who are devotees of the Lord and have taken shelter at His lotus feet, leaving everything aside simply to render service unto Him, will certainly be cared for. In our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement we have over a hundred centers, and Kṛṣṇa is maintaining them all. None of our devotees are employed for independent incomes, yet they are all being maintained. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* Kṛṣṇa never says, "Do this or that, and I will then maintain you." Rather, He states that not only will He maintain us, but He will also protect us from the results of sin, from sinful *karma* (*Gita* 18.66). All of this assurance is there. In the *Śrīmad-Bhagavatam* (1.5.18) it is said, *tasyaiva heto prayateta *kovida* . . .* The word *kovida* means "intelligent." An intelligent person should try to attain shelter at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Human life is actually meant for getting in touch with the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. That should be our only business. The word *upari*, in this same verse, indicates the higher planetary systems. There are seven higher planetary systems, and we are in the middle system, in Bhurloka. Within this one universe there are fourteen planetary systems, and the living entities are wandering in different bodily forms on different planets. According to *karma*, the living entity sometimes goes up and sometimes goes down. He wanders in this way, thinking how he can become materially happy and satisfy his senses. The *sastras*, or Vedic scriptures, say that we should not do this, that we should endeavor to understand Kṛṣṇa. We should not worry about eating and sleeping, for the needs of the body are already arranged. We do not have to work independently to maintain the body. Our actual endeavor should be to attain happiness; that is our real struggle for existence. *Tal labhyate *dukhavat*.* The word *dukhavat* indicates that although we do not want misery, misery comes anyway. We don't have to endeavor separately for misery. No one says, "Let there be a fire in my house" or "Let my child die." No one aspires after these things, yet they happen. Everyone is thinking, "May my child live happily" or "May I get so much money." We do not ask or pray for catastrophes, yet they come without invitation. Similarly, whatever happiness is there for our enjoyment will also come without our asking for it. The conclusion is that we should not endeavor for so-called happiness or distress, but should try to attain that position whereby we can understand Kṛṣṇa and get shelter at His lotus feet. This should be the real human endeavor. Caitanya Mahāprabhu said to Rupa Gosvami, > brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva > guru-kṛṣṇa-prasāde pāya bhakti-latā-bīja "The living entity is wandering up and down, from one planet to another, and he is very fortunate if by the mercy of the spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa Himself he can get the seed of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa." (*Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya* 19.151) The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is an attempt to make people fortunate. In this age everyone is unfortunate (*manda-bhagya*), but now we are trying to reverse the situation. Throughout the world there are problems everywhere. One country has one type of problem, and another country has another. There is strife within governments themselves, and even presidents are fraught with problems. Sometimes we may think we are very fortunate, just as President Nixon was thinking, "I am very fortunate. I have become the president of the United States." Then he soon realized that he was most unfortunate. Actually this is the situation for everyone. We should not think that the only apprehended culprit is President Nixon and that we are safe. *Wet Dung, Dry Dung* There is a Bengali proverb: Dry cow dung is used for fuel, and it is said that when the dry cow dung is being burned, the soft cow dung is laughing, saying, "Oh, you are being burned, but I am safe." It does not know that when it dries out, it will be thrown into the fire too. We may laugh because President Nixon is in trouble, and we may think ourselves very safe because we have a big bank balance, but actually no one is safe. Eventually everyone will dry up and be thrown in the fire. That is a fact. We may survive for a few years, but we cannot avoid death. In fact, it is said, "As sure as death." And what is the result of death? One loses everything—all honor, money, position, and material life itself. Kṛṣṇa states in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (10.34), *mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham*: "I am all-devouring death." Kṛṣṇa comes as death and plunders everything—bank balance, skyscrapers, wife, children, and whatever. One cannot say, "My dear death, please give me some time to adjust." There is no adjustment; one must immediately get out. Foolish people are unaware of the miserable conditions of material life. Kṛṣṇa says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (13.9), *janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam*. Real knowledge means knowing that however great one may be, the four principles of material life are present: birth, old age, disease, and death. These exist in the highest planetary system (Brahmaloka) and in the lowest (Patalaloka). > tasyaiva hetoḥ prayateta kovido > na labhyate yad bhramatām upary adhaḥ > tal labhyate duḥkhavad anyataḥ sukhaṁ > kālena sarvatra gabhīra-raṁhasā "Persons who are actually intelligent and philosophically inclined should endeavor only for that purposeful end which is not obtainable even by wandering from the topmost planet down to the lowest planet. As far as happiness derived from sense enjoyment is concerned, it can be obtained automatically in course of time, just as in course of time we obtain miseries even though we do not desire them." (*Bhagavatam* 1.5.18) When Dharmaraja asked Mahārāja Yudhihira what the most wonderful thing in the world was, Mahārāja Yudhihira replied: *ahany ahani bhutani gacchantiha yamalayam*. "Every moment people are dying, but those who are living are thinking, 'My friend has died, but I shall live forever.'" (*Mahābhārata*, *Vana-parva* 313.116) Soft cow dung thinks the same way. This is typical of conditioned beings. *Bhagavan's Unique Position* Bhagavan, the Supreme Lord, is not in this position. It is therefore said: *bhagavan atma-mayaya*. We come onto this planet to enjoy or suffer life for a few days—fifty or a hundred years—but Bhagavan, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, does not come for that purpose (*na mam karmani limpanti* [*Gita* 4.14]). It is stated in today's vese, *na hy asya varsmana*: "No one is greater than Him." No one is greater than Bhagavan or equal to Him. Everyone is inferior. According to the *Caitanya-caritāmṛta* (*Ādi* 5.142), *ekale isvara kṛṣṇa, ara saba bhrtya*. There is only one master—Kṛṣṇa. All others are subservient, beginning with Lord Brahma, Viṣṇu, Mahesvara, Indra, Candra, and all the demigods (there are thirty-three million demigods) and the middle and lower species. Everyone is *bhtya*, or servant. When Kṛṣṇa orders, "My dear Mr. So-and-So, now please give up your place and leave,” one must go. Therefore everyone is a servant. This is the position of Lord Brahma and the ant as well. *Yas tv *indragopa*m athavendram aho sva-*karma** (*Brahma-saṁhitā* 5.54). From Lord Indra to *indragopa*, an insignificant insect, everyone is reaping the consequences of his *karma*. We are creating our own *karma*, our next body, in this life. In this life we enjoy or suffer the results of our past *karma*, and in the same way we are creating further *karma* for our next body. Actually we should work in such a way that we will not get another material body. How can this be done? We simply have to try to understand Kṛṣṇa. As Kṛṣṇa says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (4.9): > janma karma ca me divyam > evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ > tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma > naiti mām eti so 'rjuna "One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna." This sounds very simple, but actually understanding Kṛṣṇa is very difficult. If we become devotees of Kṛṣṇa, understanding Kṛṣṇa is easy. However, if we try to understand Him by *jnana*, *karma*, or *yoga*, we will be frustrated. There are many types of **yogi*s*, but he who is devoted to Kṛṣṇa is the topmost *yogi*. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is far above all *yogi*c processes. In India there are many **yogi*s* who can display some magical feats. They can walk on water, make themselves very light or very heavy, and so forth. But what is this compared to Kṛṣṇa's *yogi*c mystic powers? By His potencies great planets are floating in space. Who can manage to float even a small stone in the air? Sometimes a *yogi* may show a little mystic power by manufacturing some gold, and we are so foolish that we accept him as God. However, we forget that the real *yogi*, the Supreme Lord Himself, has created millions of gold mines and is floating them in space. *Don't Be Fooled* Those who are Kṛṣṇa conscious are not befooled by **yogi*s* who claim to be Bhagavan. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person wants only to serve the foremost *yogi*, Yogesvara (varimna sarva-*yogi*nam). Because we are trying to become His devotees, we accept the Supreme Lord, Yogesvara, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa Himself states in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (18.55): > bhaktyā mām abhijānāti > yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ > tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā > viśate tad-anantaram "One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God." This process is actually very simple. One must first of all realize that the first problem is the conquest of death. Presently we consider death compulsory, but actually it is not. One may be put into prison, but actually prison is not compulsory. It is due to one's work that one becomes a criminal and is therefore put in jail. It is not compulsory for everyone to go to jail. As living entities, we have our proper place in Vaikuṇṭhaloka. > paras tasmāt tu bhāvo 'nyo > 'vyakto 'vyaktāt sanātanaḥ > yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu > naśyatsu na vinaśyati > avyakto 'kṣara ity uktas > tam āhuḥ paramāṁ gatim > yaṁ prāpya na nivartante > tad dhāma paramaṁ mama "There is another nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is. That supreme abode is called unmanifested and infallible, and it is the supreme destination. When one goes there, he never comes back. That is My supreme abode." (*Gita* 8.20–21) Everything is present in Vaikuṇṭhaloka. There we can have an eternal, blissful life full of knowledge (*sac-cid-ananda*). It is not compulsory for us to rot in this material world. The easiest way to go to the Vaikuhalokas is *janma karma ca me divyam eva yo vetti tattvata* (*Gita* 4.9). Simply try to understand Kṛṣṇa. Why does He come? What are His activities? Where does He come from? Why does He come in the form of a human being? We only have to try to understand this and study Kṛṣṇa as He explains Himself in the *Bhagavad-gītā*. What is the difficulty? God personally explains Himself as He is, and if we accept the *Bhagavad-gītā* as it is, we shall no longer have to transmigrate. *Tyaktva deha punar janma naiti.* We shall no longer have to endure birth and death, for we can attain our spiritual bodies (*sac-cid-ananda-vigraha*) and live happily in Kṛṣṇa's family. Kṛṣṇa is providing for us here, and He will also provide for us there. So we should know that our happiness is in returning home, back to Godhead, where we can eat, drink, and be merry in Kṛṣṇa's company. Thank you very much. Śrīla Prabhupāda Speaks Out: The Right Source of Knowledge *This conversation between His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda and biochemist Thoudam Singh, PhD, took place in Bhubaneswar, India, on February 3, 1977.* Dr. Singh: Śrīla Prabhupāda, many people would probably agree with what you say about getting knowledge. The ascending path—pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps, if you will—has to be always uncertain and incomplete. But when you can get your knowledge from a genuine authority who already possesses higher knowledge and experience—that path, the descending path, is much better. The preferable path for acquiring knowledge is the descending one. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. *Avaroha pantha*, the descending path, is naturally superior. Why? Because *aham adir hi devanam*—this path of knowledge starts from Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, the origin of all knowledge. And it descends from the Lord through His bona fide representatives, godly personalities such as Brahma, Narada, and Vyasa. They're all *devas*, godly personalities. And Kṛṣṇa says, *aham adir hi devanam*: "I am the very origin of all these godly personalities." Therefore, this Vedic knowledge is coming directly from Kṛṣṇa through the system of *parampara*, or disciplic succession. And the *Bhagavad-gītā*, Lord Kṛṣṇa's book, is the same thing. Through this book—the Lord's literary incarnation—His knowledge is coming down to us still. To facilitate our knowledge-acquiring process, the Lord Himself is speaking directly to us. His own words are recorded for us in the *Bhagavad-gītā*. There Kṛṣṇa speaks directly to the human being Arjuna, and through him directly to us. Therefore the *Bhagavad-gītā* is the right source of knowledge. Dr. Singh: Yesterday a doctor of agricultural science visited me. He has his PhD from the University of Missouri, and we talked together for a long time. In fact, we were talking about doing some experiments together. One experiment would be to prove that the chemical reactions within the living body are different from the normal chemical reactions that we know. In fact some famous experiments have already touched on this very point. A French scientist named Kervran says his findings are beyond our present knowledge of chemistry. In other words, the chemical reactions within the living body are so vastly different from ordinary reactions; they prove that life is nonchemical, nonphysical. Śrīla Prabhupāda: That is correct. It is stated in the *Bhagavad-gītā*: life is nonchemical, nonphysical. Dr. Singh: Yes, and we want to prove it on a purely experimental basis. It's a very simple experiment. We germinate some seeds, like barley or rice, and we calculate the amount of, let's say, calcium. Now, as a place to germinate the seed on, we use a piece of ashless, pure-cellulose filter paper, completely devoid of calcium. First, we calculate the amount of calcium present before the seed germinates. Then we germinate the seed with deionized water, again completely devoid of calcium. Once the seed germinates, we analyze the calcium content. What Kervran found is this: The amount of calcium is much increased. So we do not know where that calcium is coming from. And this phenomenon is beyond our present knowledge of chemistry. Śrīla Prabhupāda: The soul has entered and has germinated the seed—and this has produced the increased calcium. Dr. Singh: Yes. This increased calcium has to be coming from somewhere. There has to be a cause. Śrīla Prabhupāda: That cause is the soul. Dr. Singh: There's another nice experiment that uses Spanish moss, a plant common in Florida, where it grows on many kinds of trees. We found that this Spanish moss also grows on copper wire—and when it does, amazingly it produces iron. So there are many intriguing experiments. The U.S. Department of Agriculture can perform these and help shed light on the spiritual dimension. Śrīla Prabhupāda: In essence, these experiments prove that life produces matter. Spirit produces matter. Dr. Singh: Yes. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Not that matter produces life—no. This is established: matter does not produce life. It is quite the opposite. Life—spirit—produces matter. Only when there is spirit can these increased quantities of calcium or iron come forth. Dr. Singh: There's another nice experiment that was done by a German scientist named Hauschka. He was studying the interaction of moonlight and plants. So he measured the amount of a particular element in, say, a flower. I don't exactly remember. And he measured the amount of that element present in the plant according to the waxing and the waning of the moon. As it turns out the element increases in the light of the full moon. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes, in the *Bhagavad-gītā* Kṛṣṇa confirms that He supplies the succulence, the "juice of life," to vegetables—through the light of the moon. Dr. Singh: Surely. And Hauschka's experiment demonstrates this whole phenomenon very graphically. You understand—a curve showing this element rising and falling with the waxing and waning of the moon. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes, by the Lord's natural arrangement the moonlight is full of living entities who interact most beneficially with the vegetation. And similarly, the *brahma-jyoti*, or universal effulgence, is full of living entities. Dr. Singh: So these phenomena are beyond science. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Not beyond. You do not know that science. Dr. Singh: By "beyond science," I meant beyond our present science, our present scientific knowledge. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. Your present science is imperfect. But this additional dimension we are discussing is within the realm of science. This is spiritual science.