# Back to Godhead Magazine #53 *2019 (01)* Back to Godhead Magazine #53-01, 2019 PDF-View Welcome This issue begins our commemoration of the seventy-fifty anniversary of the launch of Back to Godhead. Śrīla Prabhupāda's spiritual master had asked him to spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness in English, and creating the magazine was Prabhupāda's first major attempt to fulfill that request. In this issue we've included the opening article of his historic first issue. Śrīla Prabhupāda would often point out that Lord Kṛṣṇa's teachings in the *Bhagavad-gītā* deal not only with spiritual truths about the soul and God, but also about living in the material world. In this regard he would often quote a verse in the third chapter that begins "All living bodies subsist on food grains." He encouraged his disciples to start farms and grow their own food without reliance on modern agricultural methods that deliver an array of negative side effects. In this issue, Girirāja Govinda Dāsa deals with this topic in his article "Food: Grow Local, Be Spiritual." Related to subsistence farming is cow protection, a practice Śrīla Prabhupāda envisioned for farms started by his disciples. The first of those farms, New Vrindaban in West Virginia, has followed that practice for fifty years now. In "Bovinely Inspired: New Vrindaban’s Care for Cows," Satyarāja Dāsa presents an overview of their efforts. Hare Kṛṣṇa. —*Nāgarāja Dāsa, Editor* Founder's Lecture: The Principle for Spiritual Understanding *Śrīla Prabhupāda introduces the concept of disciplic succession to his storefront-temple audience in 1966.* > śrī-bhagavān uvāca > bhūya eva mahā-bāho > śṛṇu me paramaṁ vacaḥ > yat te 'haṁ prīyamāṇāya > vakṣyāmi hita-kāmyayā > [Bg 10.1] This verse we have been discussing last meeting. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is advising Arjuna that "I am speaking to you again further, confidential part of knowledge. And why I am speaking to you? Because you are My dear friend." Now, in the beginning of the **Bhagavad-gītā*,* in the Fourth Chapter, we have discussed this point that the *Bhagavad-gītā* was specifically instructed to Arjuna for his only one qualification that he was a devotee*.* *Bhakto 'si priyo 'si me rahasyam etad uttamam* [*Bg* 4*.*3]*.* The Lord said that "The mystery of *Bhagavad-gītā* is very confidential. So, without becoming a purif..., unalloyed devotee of Mine, it is very difficult to understand." Actually it is so. In, in the market you'll have so many commentaries of the **Bhagavad-gītā*.* In India we have counted, there are about six hundred and forty-five different commentaries of **Bhagavad-gītā*.* One Dr. Rele of Bombay, he has interpreted *Bhagavad-gītā* as the talks between the patient and the medical practitioner. Yes. He has imposed on Kṛṣṇa as the physician and Arjuna as the patient. And in his commentary he has tried to, I mean to say, interpose all the meanings of anatomy, physiology, everything in his own imagination. So similarly, at the present moment, there are so many commentaries, and people have taken that anybody can interpret in his own way. This is the modern view. So everyone is perfect and he can interpret any scripture in his own way. But so far we are concerned, we are not agreeable to that point. We agree to read *Bhagavad-gītā* in terms of the instruction as it is given in the *Bhagavad-gītā*. The *Bhagavad-gītā* says that this knowledge has to be taken by the *paramparā* system, or the disciplic succession. It is not that anyone can interpret. This viewpoint no bona fide student of *Bhagavad-gītā* will accept. So this *Bhagavad-gītā* is being taught by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to Arjuna. He says again the same thing. He's repeating that *yat te 'haṁ prīyamāṇāya vakṣyāmi hita-kāmyayā:* "Because you are My dear friend, I desire that you become prosperous, you become happy. Therefore I am speaking to you." Do you think that Kṛṣṇa is not interested with others, to make them happy and prosperous? No. He's, He's equally disposed. He wants everyone to be happy and peaceful and prosperous. But they do not want it. That is the difficulty. Just like the sunshine is open to everyone. Sunshine is not for any particular nation or particular country or particular person or community. It is open for everyone. But, if somebody wants to remain in darkness, closing his doors, do not come out, then what poor sunshine can do for him? Similarly, this *Bhagavad-gītā,* the instruction of *Bhagavad-gītā,* is open to everyone. Everyone. It is stated in the *Bhagavad-gītā,* > māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya > ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ > striyo śūdrā tathā vaiśyās > te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim > [Bg 9.32] Anyone, never mind what he is... There are different kinds of species of life. Some of them are considered as lower, some of them are considered higher. That is our material conception. And actually, according to the different qualities, according to the different modes of nature, there are different situation and there are lower grade, higher grade understanding also. That is a fact. But Kṛṣṇa says that "Anyone, never mind what he is, *pāpa-yonayaḥ...*" *Pāpa-yonayaḥ* means "those who are in the lower birth." So, so *Bhagavad-gītā* is transcendental subject matter*.* It does not depend on the qualification of the student*.* Anyone*.* Anyone can understand *Bhagavad-gītā*, provided he agrees to understand according to the principles*.* That's all*.* The principle is, *evaṁ paramparā prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ* [*Bg* 4*.*2]*.* This is stated in the Fourth Chapter, that this *Bhagavad-gītā* is coming by disciplic succession from sun-god. *Imaṁ vivasvate *yoga*ṁ proktavān aham avyayam*: "I first of all instructed this *yoga* system of *Bhagavad-gītā* to the sun-god." The sun planet, the Vivasvān... The present ruler of the sun planet is known as Vivasvān. So Vivasvān, his son was Manu, and Manu, the father of the mankind, his son was the king Ikṣvāku, and King Ikṣvāku was the king of this earthly planet and, from him, this *paramparā* system or disciplic succession is coming down. But it has broken down. The Lord said to Arjuna, *sa kāleneha yogo naṣṭaḥ paran-tapa:* "In course of time, that disciplic succession has now broken. Therefore I make again you as My disciple." He has already accepted Kṛṣṇa as spiritual master in the Second Chapter. In the beginning of the Second Chapter Kṛṣṇa said, *śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ prapannam* [*Bg* 2.7]: "So long we are talking as friends, but now I surrender myself as my spiritual master, Kṛṣṇa." So therefore Kṛṣṇa was speaking to Arjuna on the platform of spiritual master. So we should note it that the spiritual..., perfect spiritual master is Kṛṣṇa. And anyone who is following the principles, as Kṛṣṇa says, he's also representative of Kṛṣṇa. And the teacher is Kṛṣṇa and the Arjuna is the student. Similarly, as the spiritual master is the representative of Kṛṣṇa, similarly a student must be also the representative of Arjuna. Then *Bhagavad-gītā* discussion will be nice. So what is that, Arjuna's position? You'll find in this chapter which we are now just beginning. He said, *sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye yad vadasi keśava* [*Bg* 10.14]: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, whatever You are speaking, I accept. I accept it." So that should be the process of understanding Kṛṣṇa, er, **Bhagavad-gītā*.* Not that "I don't like this. So I'll reject this portion. I like this portion, therefore I accept it." This sort of studying *Bhagavad-gītā* is useless, nonsense. *Sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye:* "Whatever You have said, I accept it." That is stated. Similarly, a teacher of *Bhagavad-gītā* should be a representative of Kṛṣṇa. Representative of Kṛṣṇa means a confidential devotee, unalloyed devotee of Kṛṣṇa. The same thing. He also accepted Kṛṣṇa as his... The student also should be like that. Then the study of *Bhagavad-gītā* is perfect. Otherwise, it is useless waste of time. There is a nice verse in *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.* It is said, > satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido > bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ > taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani > śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati > [SB 3.25.25] If one, anyone wants to understand the spiritual science, or the science of Kṛṣṇa, then he should associate himself with the *satām,* those who are pure devotees. Those who are pure devotees. *Satāṁ prasaṅgāt.* When discussions take place between pure devotees, then the potency of spiritual knowledge, as they are depicted in the scriptures and sacred books, they become revealed. Simply armchair, I mean to say, mental speculator discussing on *Bhagavad-gītā,* that is useless, futile. Here it is stated that *satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ.* If it is discussed in the association of pure devotees, then the potency of that spiritual language will be revealed. Will be revealed. In the Vedic literature also, in *Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad,* it is stated, > yasya deve parā bhaktir > yathā deve tathā gurau > tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ > prakāśante mahātmanaḥ > [Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23] It is said there that one who has got firm faith in God and similar faith in God's representative, *yasya deve parā bhaktiḥ... Deve* means God. *Yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve tathā gurau. Gurau* means spiritual master. Spiritual master means a perfect devotee of God. He's spiritual master. *Tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ:* so all this, I mean to say, import of the Vedic language will be revealed to him. Will be revealed to him. We cannot understand *Vedas* simply by academic qualification. We have to..., we must have the qualification of becoming a devotee of the Supreme Lord and His representative, the spiritual master or the saintly persons. These are recommended in all Vedic scripture. Similarly, here it is stated by the Supreme Lord that "Because you have become My dear." We have to cultivate such practice in Kṛṣṇa consciousness that we may become dear to God. My spiritual master used to say that "You do not try to see God. Just act in such a way that God will see you." Just try to understand. This is very nice. If I want to see God, and I make God as my order-supplier, that "Please come, and I'll see You," so God is not so small that He, at once I call Him and He'll come. No. We have to qualify ourselves. We have to qualify ourselves. Therefore by the qualification, by your qualification, God will Himself come and see you. There are many instances. God is... Just like Dhruva Mahārāja. Dhruva Mahārāja, he went to the forest to undergo severe penance to see God. So when he was..., God saw him, or when he saw God, then God asked him, "What do you want? What benediction you want? I shall give you." The Dhruva Mahārāja, a small boy, five years old, he said, *svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce* [Cc Madhya 22.42]: "Now I am so satisfied that I have nothing to ask from You." So one who sees, one who can perceive God, he has no more any demand, because he's transcendental to all these material demands. So long we are in the material sense, we are always dissatisfied. *Na abhāvaḥ vidyate sataḥ, nāsato vidyate bhāvaḥ, nāsato vidyate bhāvaḥ. Asat. Asat* means the circumstances which will not continue. Everything, any circumstances of this material world, is temporary. Suppose I am very happy. Oh, then your happiness is temporary. Suppose you think or I think I am in very sorry plight, or I am in distress. That will also not exist for some time, just like seasonal changes. So this, this is called duality. You are feeling happy or miserable, we are feeling cold and heat, everything duality. But these things are coming and going. So when one is in transcendental position, he is above this duality; he's in the absolute. So in that absolute stage, if we want to go to that absolute stage, then this is the process. This is the process, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Gradually, as we develop, so Kṛṣṇa is within everyone, the Supersoul, the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Paramātmā, He's seated in everyone's heart, and as we become purified, as we become sincere, so all the dictation will come from within, and He will show you the path which, following, you shall be happy and prosperous and, at the end, by quitting this body, you shall reach the supreme abode of Kṛṣṇa in the spiritual sky. These are..., all these have been discussed in the last chapters, Eighth Chapter, Seventh Chapter. Now Kṛṣṇa says that, > na me viduḥ sura-gaṇāḥ > prabhavaṁ na maharṣayaḥ > aham ādir hi devānāṁ > maharṣīṇāṁ ca sarvaśaḥ > [Bg 10.2] Now He says that "Nobody knows Me." Lord says, Lord Kṛṣṇa says, "Nobody knows Me." *Na me viduḥ sura-gaṇāḥ. Sura-gaṇāḥ* means the demigods, those who are in the higher planets; they are called demigods. *Sura-gaṇāḥ. Na me viduḥ sura-gaṇāḥ prabhavam* [*Bg* 10.2]: "My influence, or My activities, My power, My extensions [expansions?], everything...," *prabhavam, na maharṣayaḥ. Maharṣayaḥ* means great sages. *Mahā-ṛṣayaḥ. Mahā* means great; *rṣi* means sages. "They also do not know." What they do not know? Now, *ahaṁ hi, aham ādir hi devānām*: "I am the original person of all demigods and," *maharṣīṇāṁ ca sarvaśaḥ,* "I am the original person of all the *ṛṣis.*" Now, suppose we had some forefather, ten generations before. So we do not know many things about. We may hear something by *paramparā* system or in the family history that our tenth, tenth generation before there was one forefather. So even we do not know. So from Kṛṣṇa, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so many generations. In the beginning of this creation, the first beginning, Brahmā was created. Brahmā. So millions and millions and years before, Brahmā was created. So what do we know about Brahmā and the demigods? So practically we do not know anything about God. It is not possible. Our teeny brain cannot approach such extensive, I mean to say, foremost platform where we can understand God. In *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* also it is said, *ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ* [*Cc Madhya* 17.136]*. Indriya* means these material senses. We gather knowledge by senses. But these material senses are very limited. So it is not possible to understand God, or Kṛṣṇa, by speculating our mind. Mind is the center of all senses. So senses help mind gathers knowledge. So it is not possible, because our senses are all imperfect. By imperfect senses we cannot reach to the perfect or to the unlimited. Therefore we cannot know. *Ataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇa-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaiḥ.* It is not possible by manipulating your different senses and knowledge and mind you can understand God. Then, how it is possible? The possibility is *sevonmukhe hi jihvādau svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ*.** The*.**.**.*, if you engage your senses in the service of the Lord, then He'll reveal to your senses*.* The same thing*.* We have to acquire knowledge of God through these senses*.* But in our conditional life, the senses are all impure*.* Therefore these senses cannot understand God simply by speculating*.* It is not possible*.* Therefore Lord says, *na me viduḥ sura-gaṇāḥ* [*Bg* 10*.*2]*.* Now we have got developed senses. Suppose a child, a child, his understanding and his father's understanding, there is difference, because his senses are not so developed. Father's senses are developed. Similarly, as we are here in this earthly planet, there are many, many other superior planets, their senses are far, far improved. But still they cannot understand God. Still they cannot understand. Similarly, *ṛṣayaḥ. Ṛṣayaḥ* means great philosophers, saintly persons, sages; they also cannot understand God. > yo mām ajam anādiṁ ca > vetti loka-maheśvaram > asammūḍhaḥ sa martyeṣu > sarva-pāpaiḥ pramucyate > [Bg 10.3] Now people today can say that "What is the use of understanding God? Let God remain in His place and let me remain in my place. What is the use?" Suppose... We cannot understand God. Now argument may be, "Yes, you don't understand God. There is no necessity of bothering for understanding God." But Kṛṣṇa says, "No." If you don't take that botheration, then you'll never be happy. Neither you'll be liberated. So it is your interest to understand God. Not that God will be profited if you understand Him. No. You will be profited if you understand Him. Therefore He says that *yo mām ajam anādiṁ ca vetti loka-maheśvaram:* "Anyone who can understand Me as the origin of everything and," *loka-maheśvaram,* "and the, I mean to, the proprietor or the master of everything," *yo mām ajam anādiṁ ca vetti loka-maheśvaram... Loka-maheśvaram* is the supreme proprietor or master of all planets or all, everything; *asammūḍhaḥ,* without any doubt; *asammūḍhaḥ sa martyeṣu,* even in this material world; *sa martyeṣu sarva-pāpaiḥ pramucyate,* he becomes free from all sinful reaction, simply by knowing, understanding that God is great, He's the proprietor of everything, He is the friend of everyone and He's the origin of everything—these things if one can understand, *asammūḍhaḥ. Asammūḍhaḥ* means... Not that because *Bhagavad-gītā* is speaking like that, not that because a svāmī is speaking like that, but you should understand yourself *asammūḍhaḥ,* without any doubt. When you understand doubtlessly that God is the proprietor of everything, then you'll be liberated and freed from all, I mean to say, anxieties and miseries. So it is our interest to know God*.* We are always full of anxieties*.* Nobody is free from anxiety*.* Nobody's free from miseries of this material world*.* And here is the process*.* And *Bhāgavata* confirms it: *na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum* [SB 7*.*5*.*31]*.* We are making progress, but we do not know what is the ultimate goal of progress*.* That we do not know*.* Na te viduḥ*.* So similarly, *Bhāgavata* also confirms: *na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā. Durāśayā* means some impossible hope. They are being conducted under the guidance of this illusory energy with some hope which is impossible to be fulfilled. *Durāśayā. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuṁ durāśayā ye bahir-artha-māninaḥ.* Why they are thinking of that impossibility, impossible hope? Because they have taken..., they are captivated by this material energy. So Kṛṣṇa says that, > yo mām ajam anādiṁ ca > vetti loka-maheśvaram > asammūḍhaḥ sa martyeṣu > sarva-pāpaiḥ pramucyate > [Bg 10.3] *Pāpaiḥ.* Of course, in the modern civilization there is no distinction between pious and impious, but according to scripture, there are pious activities and impious activities. We are always engaged in some kind of activity, either pious or impious. If we are engaged in pious activities, then we become happy in future—not exactly happy, but a little of the upper stage than others. It is stated in the scripture that by pious activities, you can have your birth in a very good place, in a very good family*.* You can have*.**.**.*, you can become highly educated*.* You can become very beautiful and, *janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrī* [SB 1*.*8*.*26]*.* *Janma,* just like birth in good place, in good family, good country; and *aiśvarya,* and wealth and opulence. And *śrī* means beauty. And education. These things are result of pious activities. Similarly, just the opposite number is impious, or sinful activities. So by sinful activities you suffer. By... Suffering is always there, either in pious or impious, but there is some distinction between pious and impious. So here it is said that anyone who understands God, that He's the supreme proprietor, *sarva-loka-maheśvaram* [Bg 5.29]*, vetti,* without any doubt, then he becomes freed from all sinful reaction. Immediately. Thank you very much. "BACK TO GODHEAD" *In the opening article of the first issue of Back to Godhead, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains the purpose of his magazine.* > vande 'haṁ śrī-guroḥ śrī-yuta-pada-kamalaṁ śrī-gurūn vaiṣṇavāṁś ca > śrī-rūpam sāgrajātaṁ saha-gaṇa-raghunāthānvitaṁ taṁ sa-jīvam > sādvaitaṁ sāvadhūtaṁ parijana-sahitaṁ kṛṣṇa-caitanya-devaṁ > śrī-rādhā-kṛṣṇa-pādān saha-gaṇa-lalitā-śrī-viśākhānvitāṁś ca The man having forgotten himself as the son of Godhead, has forsaken his real constitutional nature. He has misidentified himself with everything non-godly and therefore manipulates a material existence conducted by the mind and the six instrumental senses. He is concerned only with his material coverings of gross body and the subtle mind but cannot see either himself or his so-called numerous fellowmen. This is what we mean by Nescience which is darkness. The man having designated himself with the relation of his vehicular body and the finer elements of mind and ego etc., like the motor-car driver who has identified himself wrongly with the motor-car itself, has manufactured a civilization which is self contradictory and self denial. His so-called rationality having not gone far above the rationality of the lower animals, he laments at the death of his fellowmen or at the loss of his own things which he has never witnessed by real experience. This is what we mean by Nescience which is darkness. He slightly feels only and that after the death of his fellowmen that the body loses something that moves it just like the driver moves the motor-car, but still due to the darkness of Nescience he never concerns himself with the driver of the body but takes care superficially only for the body or the mechanical car. In the darkness of Nescience he is fully amazed with mechanism of the gross body just like a boy who is amazed with mechanism of the motor-car, but he hardly tries to understand that without a driver any amount of astounding mechanical arrangement of the motor-car or that of the human body, it cannot move either of them even by an inch. This is what we mean by Nescience which is darkness. The defect of the present day civilization is just like the above. This is actually the civilization of Nescience or illusion and has, therefore, civilization been turned into militarization. Every one is fully concerned with the comforts of the body and everything related with the body and no body is concerned with the Spirit that moves the body although even a boy can realise that the motor-car mechanism has little value if there is no driver of the car. This dangerous ignorance of humanity is a gross Nescience and has created a dangerous civilization in the form of militarization. This militarization which, in softer language, is nationalization, is an external barrier to come to an understanding of human relation. There is no meaning in a fight where the parties do fight only for the matter of different coloured dresses. There must be therefore an understanding of human relation without any consideration of the bodily designation or coloured dresses. "BACK TO GODHEAD" is a feeble attempt by the undersigned under the direction of His Divine Grace Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupāda, the celebrated founder and organiser of the Gaudiya Math activities-just to bring up a real relation of humanity with central relation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That there is a great and urgent need of a literature like this is keenly felt by the leaders of all countries and the following statements will help much in the procedure. Some time back a bold statement by the Metropolitan of India in the form of Moral and Spiritual Re-armament movement, was published in the Hindusthan Standard, in which the reverend Bishop declared that "INDIA GUIDED BY GOD CAN LEAD THE WORLD BACK TO SANITY." The President of the United States of America in a message to the Senate stated that "the underlying strength of the world consists in the moral fibre of citizens. A programme therefore of moral re-armament for the world cannot fail, to lessen the dangers of armed conflict. Such moral re-armament, to be most highly effective, must receive support on a world wide basis." The Ex-president of the United States of America Mr. Herbert Hoover sent a message in a citizen's meeting in New York which included the following words. "What the world needs today is to return to sanity and moral spiritual ideals. At the present moment, nothing so concerns mankind." Some 236 members of the British House of Commons jointly affirmed that spiritual principles which are common heritage of all people, are more fundamental than any political or economic issue. They also strongly affirmed that there is urgent need to acknowledge the sovereign authority of God in home and nation to establish that liberty which rests on the Christian responsibility to all one's fellowmen and to build a national life based on usefulness, unity and faith. Sir Stafford Cripps the Lord Privy Seal of Britain in a meeting of Christians sometimes in the month of September 1942, said that the kingdom of God would be accomplished through the Divine Power of love and he declared that "the tasks before us are, first so to conduct ourselves as individual Christian that in spite of the difficulties of our surroundings, we may work towards the establishment of the kingdom of God throughout our country and the world and second, so to influence and change our social-economic and political environments as to encourage both ourselves and others to take to the Christian way of life." The horrors of the war are pinching every one and all in the world and a statement of Mr. Windel Wilkie after his return from Russia, will tell the story of all other countries in the world. He stated that "Five million Russians have been killed, wounded or missing. At least sixty million Russians are slaves in the Russian territories controlled by Hitler. Food in Russia this winter will be scarce, perhaps worse than scarce. Fuel will be little known this winter in millions of Russian homes. Clothing except for the army and for essential war workers has nearly gone. Many vital medical supplies just do not exist." What is true for the Russian people is also true for other people, as we Indians are feeling the same scarcity, the same want and the same disgust. The disgust of the war is well summarized by the Foreign Secretary of Britain Mr. Anthony Eden who said that "this time we have to finish the job properly. We will not tolerate this business every twenty years. When the job is finished we must see that they cannot start it again. That is the will of the nation and the united nation." The Archbishop of Canterbury in his recent broadcast in London said, "In every quarter of earth men long to be delivered from the curse of War and to find in a world which has regained its peace, respite from the harshness and bitterness of the world they have known till now. But so often they want the kingdom of Heaven without its King. The kingdom of God without God. And they cannot have it." "*OUR RESOLVE MUST BE BACK TO GOD.* We make plans for the future for peace amongst the nation and for civil security at home. That is quite right enough and it would be wrong to neglect it. But all our plans will *come to ship-wreck on the rock of human selfishness unless we turn to God. BACK TO GOD,* that is the chief need of England and of every nation." And lately Sir Francis Younghusband while speaking at World Congress of Faiths said that, "that now religion is everywhere attacked brutally, *we, look to India the very home of religion for a sign.*" Sir Francis pleaded that India, by her example might show the world how religion can be the most potent of all uniting forces in the conduct of human affairs." Sir Sarvapalli Rādhākrishnan the great Hindu philosopher addressing a crowded public meeting in Calcutta recently, observed: "At a time like this when there is poverty, malnutrition of body and mind, when many people do not know what it is to have a cooked meal, or to lie on soft bed, when millions of homes turn into homes of hunger and prisoners of poverty, religious men will have to address themselves to the task of removing them." "Today the world was noisier, more controversial and violent. There was more hope and more uncertainty, more aspirations and more frustration. And the years that intervened (from the last war) showed the bankruptcy of any spiritual value. The Versailles Treaty, the League of Nations, and the Disarmament Conference failed because they had not the back ground of public opinion to sustain them. This war, when it would be won, would prove to be the breeding ground of other wars if the peace was not saved. It could happen only if powerful nations ceased to take pride and glory in their possessions which were based on labour and tribute of other weaker nations. This perhaps was what Sir Harcourt Butler meant when he said that the principles of Hinduism contained the essential elements for the saving of world civilizations." In another meeting the same philosopher pointed out, "We have to defeat tyranny in the realm of thought and create a will for world peace. Instruments for training the mind and educating human nature should be used to develop a proper social outlook without which institutional machinery was of little use." These psychological movements of the leaders of all countries-combined with the orders of my Divine Master Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupāda has led me to venture to start a paper under the above name and style "BACK TO GODHEAD" which implies all the words that we may intend to say in this connection. India has been politically subjugated so to say for the last one thousand years but very few have been able to exploit her spiritual resources up till now which are measured unlimited by the spiritual masters. Politically India may ask all so-called foreigners to quit the shores of India but spiritually she did never ask any body to do so nor she will do so even now. She will rather invite all the so-called foreigners to come and exploit the spiritual resources of India's advancement and this transcendental exploitation will not only enhance the glory of India but will also enrich the glory of the whole world for unity, faith and humanity. It may not be out of place to mention herein that His Divine Grace Śrī Śrīmad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswaty Goswami Prabhupāda, just before his departure from this mortal world, wrote me a letter from Puri dated the 3rd December, 1936 directing me towards my duty in fulfilling His mission in the world for propagating the religion of Divine Love as propounded by Lord Chaitanya. In course of writing that letter, He wrote the following lines amongst other things. "I am fully confident that you can explain in English our thoughts and arguments to the people who are not conversant with the languages of other members." "This will do much good to yourself as well as your audience." "I have every hope that you can turn yourself a very good English preacher if you serve the mission to inculcate the novel impression to the people in general and philosophers of modern age and religiosity." And when I was consulting my well wishers and friends who are able to help me in this great adventure, all of them encouraged me in this connection. His Grace Śrīpad Bhakti Saranga Goswami Moharaj the Preacher-in-charge for the Western countries appointed by His Divine Grace who has recently returned from London preaching work to his headquarter, very kindly sent his blessing from Śrī Nityānanda Gaudiya Math in his letter dated the 15-3-43 in the following words amongst other things:- "I know that His Divine Grace used to admire your intelligence and it was His earnest desire that the world outside be benefitted through your writings in English." Under the circumstances since 1936 up to now, I was simply speculating whether I shall venture this difficult task and that without any means and capacity; but as none has discouraged me including late Prof. Nishikanto Sanyal and Spd. Vasudev Prabhu (now Puri Moharaj), I have now taken courage to take up the work. Late Prof. Sanyal used to encourage me always by publishing my articles in his "Harmonist" and sometime back he wanted to give me the charge of the paper which I could not accept due to personal considerations. But at the present moment my conscience is dictating me to take up the work although the difficulties are not over for the present situation arising out of War conditions. I wish that every one who is enlightened and educated of all nationality, may take active interest in this periodical publication for wide circulation as this paper will contain only the transcendental messages of the great savants of India and specially of Lord Chaitanya, the Godhead Incarnate Who descended for the deliverance of all fallen souls in the present age. My duty will be simply to repeat in the "BACK TO GODHEAD" just like an interpreter what I have heard from and what I have been ordered to deliver by my great spiritual master H.D.G. Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Prabhupāda. Nothing will be manufactured by me by my mental concoction. Such words will descend as Sound Transcendental and when they are given proper serving reception by the aural channel, surely they will act like medicine to carry all back to home and "BACK TO GODHEAD." It is proposed that at least part by part issues of this literature shall be published every year and the subscription is fixed up at Rs. 6/- per annum in India or fifteen shillings per annum abroad. The writers of this paper will be mostly those who have dedicated their lives, resources, intelligence and speeches for the service of the Absolute Personality of Godhead and for the welfare of all entities. The readers will therefore derive the highest amount of benefit by their association if they will simply sacrifice a little time for the service of Godhead as will be directed in this paper from time to time. Surely they will go back to Godhead and the present rotten world will be transformed into the kingdom of God as they will learn to acknowledge the sovereign authority of God in home and outside. The subject matters delineated in the pages of "Back to Godhead" may seem to be very dry in the beginning as the messages are from a different sphere altogether but still we have to give attention to the messages if we really mean to cure the disease of Nescience and go "BACK TO GODHEAD." Sugar-candy is never sweet to those who are suffering from the disease of the bile. But still sugar-candy is the medicine for bilious patients. The taste of sugar-candy will gradually be revived if the bilious patient goes on taking sugar-candy regularly for the cure of the disease. We recommend the same process to the readers of "Back to Godhead." Godhead is One without a second and all living entities are His eternal subordinate transcendental servitors. Realisation of this transcendental relation, will be the attempt of this paper and therefore there is no bar for any one in the world irrespective of colour, creed and nationality, to go back to Godhead. Abhay Charan De, Editor and Founder. Draupadī: Dishonored Yet Honorable *A lesson from the life of one of the great heroines of the Vedic tradition.* When circumstances render her helpless, Draupadī’s unflinching devotion to dharma attracts divine protection and serves as an inspiration for us. Draupadī’s admirable character is revealed in the most humiliating incident of her life—her attempted disrobing by the wicked Duḥśāsana. Though victimized in body, she refuses to be victimized in heart. Her exceptional character transforms the lowest point in her life into the highest point. From the incident in which she is the most dishonored, she emerges as the most honorable. *Victim of a Power Play* On that fateful day, in keeping with a purificatory tradition, she is wearing a long single cloth—a kind of *sari*—for a specified period before putting on her ornate royal garments as the chief queen of the reigning monarch, Yudhiṣṭhira. Unknown to her, he has lost everything in a rigged gambling match—his property, his brothers, himself, and finally her. According to the terms of the gambling match, they all have now become slaves of the Kauravas. After the Kauravas win Draupadī, the jeering Karṇa suggests that she be summoned to the assembly and disrobed publicly, as she is now the Kauravas’ slave, bound to do their bidding. The reprehensible scheme to disrobe her is driven not just by lust but also by hunger for power—the Kauravas see Draupadī less as a person and more as a tool to demean the Pāṇḍavas. Their mentality is marked through and through by objectification of women. They order a court messenger to summon Draupadī. The messenger goes to her chamber and informs her about all that has transpired in the assembly. She is appalled, but quickly pulls herself together and comes up with a strategy to buy time. She tells the messenger to ask the assembly whether she has actually been lost, since Yudhiṣṭhira had already gambled and lost himself. When he was not his own master, how could he have gambled her away? Draupadī is grasping at straws, and she probably knows it. But when straws are all that’s there to grasp, they need to be held on to firmly. That Yudhiṣṭhira gambled Draupadī might suggest that he too treated women as property, thus objectifying them. But the sequence of events reveals a more nuanced reality. Yudhiṣṭhira gambled her after he had gambled himself, whereas he had gambled all his property before he had gambled himself. So, even if Draupadī is considered his property, she is categorically higher than the rest of his property—for him, she is more precious than himself. She is his property in the sense of "belonging," as used when a lover says to the beloved, "You belong to me." Such an assertion makes the beloved feel valued, cherished, treasured. When the messenger conveys Draupadī’s question to the assembly, the Kauravas demand that she come and ask it herself. The messenger returns to Draupadī, but she sends him back asking whether the righteous assembly has actually summoned her, a chaste woman, to appear in public in her present condition when she is dressed in a single cloth. The evil-minded Duryodhana can’t wait to humiliate the Pāṇḍavas, so he tells his brother Duḥśāsana to bring her immediately to the court. That vile warrior strides to her chamber and pounces on her. Screaming for help, she tries to run to the chambers of Gāndhārī, the Kauravas’ mother, who might be able to stop her son. But Duḥśāsana catches her by the hair, drags her to the assembly, and hurls her to the ground in the middle of the hall. *Technicality and Travesty* Though disheveled and distraught, Draupadī rises, offers her respect to the assembly, and requests that they answer her question. The blind king Dhṛtarāṣṭra remains silent. So the responsibility to answer falls on the eldest member of the assembly, the grandsire Bhīṣma. He states that two principles are pertinent: a wife always belongs to her husband, whereas nothing belongs to a slave. He confesses his inability to decide which of the two principles merits precedence in this circumstance. No one in the assembly offers any other opinion except Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s half-brother, Vidura—he strongly condemns the attempt to disrobe Draupadī and indeed the whole conspiracy to dispossess the Pāṇḍavas through the rigged gambling match. But Duryodhana has made a habit of neglecting his uncle’s wise counsel, and this occasion is no exception. His father is too attached to him to do anything that will displease him. The whole assembly gets caught in a technicality about dharma and ends up condoning a travesty of dharma. The *bhakti* tradition calls such an error *niyamāgraha*—sticking to the letter of the law while neglecting its spirit. The real issue was not "Does a woman belong to her husband?" but "Did the assembly find the dishonoring of a virtuous woman unconscionable?” Duryodhana, enjoying the Pāṇḍavas’ discomfiture, tries to pit wife against husband. He announces that if Draupadī admits that *dharma-rāja* Yudhiṣṭhira violated dharma by gambling her, he will release all the Pāṇḍavas. Shrewdly, Draupadī rejects his bait. She refuses to cast any blame on her husband, not because she is blind to his mistake, but because she is honorable enough to publically stand by her loved ones, even when they have committed a terrible mistake—all the more so when they are remorseful, as Yudhiṣṭhira so clearly was. Just because we are let down by others doesn't mean we have to let them down. She responds that if Yudhiṣṭhira had had the choice, he wouldn’t have gambled at all—he had gambled only because of the instruction of his elders. The onus was, therefore, on those elders to decide what was right. The dishonoring of Draupadī is so heinous that it triggers dissension in the Kaurava camp. One of Duryodhana’s brothers, Vikarṇa, rises and urges the assembly to answer her question. When he is answered with silence, he offers his own opinion, pointing out several improprieties in the gambling match. First, the rules of gambling stated that the person staking the wealth had to cast the dice, not some surrogate. As Duryodhana had staked his wealth against Yudhiṣṭhira, Śakuni’s casting the dice on Duryodhana’s behalf had invalidated the match right from the beginning. Second, Yudhiṣṭhira had gambled unwillingly, being compelled by his elders’ instruction. Third, he had been goaded to keep gambling far beyond civilized limits—things done under the spell of gambling shouldn’t be taken seriously among relatives. And, most pertinently, he had lost himself first, so he was in no position to stake Draupadī. The assembly applauds Vikarṇa, but Karṇa, waving his huge shoulders, silences everyone. He mocks Vikarṇa, labeling him immature and ignorant of morality. Rather than rationally refute Vikarṇa, Karṇa inexplicably chooses to fight dirty—he justifies the atrocious dishonoring of Draupadī by assassinating her character. Deeming her a prostitute for having married five men, he argues that there was nothing wrong in publically dragging and disrobing such a dishonorable woman. This grievous slur on Draupadī’s character was entirely unjustified. Though polyandry was rare, it had scriptural and historical precedents. Additionally, Draupadī hadn’t done anything objectionable to get five husbands—she had simply accepted the decision of her elders. Sages of the caliber of Vyāsa and Nārada had sanctioned her marriage to the five Pāṇḍavas, declaring that it had been ordained by the great god Śiva. In no way was such polyandry comparable to prostitution. For his mendacious and malicious insult to an honorable woman, Karṇa deserves the strongest censure. *The Inexhaustible Robe and the Exhausted Disrober* With Vikarṇa silenced by Karṇa, Duryodhana asks Duḥśāsana to strip Draupadī. Crying in mortification, she desperately holds on to her *sari*. But she is no match for that huge brute. Feeling her cloth being forcefully dragged off her body, she raises her hands in fervent supplication to her Lord, Kṛṣṇa, and begs Him to rescue her from sinking in the Kaurava ocean. By Kṛṣṇa’s mystic power, her *sari* becomes endless. Duḥśāsana keeps pulling and pulling and pulling, but to no avail. He gets exhausted, but her *sari* remains inexhaustible. The whole assembly applauds Draupadī's virtuousness that has attracted such supernatural protection, and censures the Kauravas for attempting to dishonor her. Though Kṛṣṇa didn’t personally appear to protect Draupadī, the *bhakti* tradition explains that He incarnated as her inexhaustible *sari*. This incident of Draupadī’s honor being protected by Kṛṣṇa has been immortalized in the *bhakti* tradition through architecture and literature, poetry and imagery, prayer and song. Kṛṣṇa’s supernatural intervention is thrilling and inspiring, but it shouldn’t detract from Draupadī’s strength of character. That remarkable strength comes from her spirituality, her pure devotion to Kṛṣṇa. And her foundational spirituality finds its culminating expression in her helpless prayer to Kṛṣṇa and His miraculous reciprocation. Significantly, the miracle doesn’t slow the Mahābhārata’s narrative. Its focus remains on discerning dharma, and dharma centers on human actions, not divine interventions. Unsurprisingly, the adharmic Kauravas aren’t fazed by the miracle. Their failure to disrobe Draupadī doesn't make them rethink their maliciousness; it just makes them suspend their intention to disrobe her. Rather than recognizing that they are doing something dastardly that has caused higher powers to stop them, they decide to continue their humiliation campaign in another way—they declare that Draupadī should be sent to the maids’ quarters and taught to sweep their palace. *Bald Lies and Salted Wounds* Meanwhile, several inauspicious omens occur. Vidura warns Dhṛtarāṣṭra that such omens portend the destruction of the Kuru dynasty and implores him to stop the adharma that is provoking these omens as reactions. When Vidura informs the king that his sacrificial fire, which he had kept lit throughout his life, has gone out, the king is finally jolted out of his stupor. Coming to his senses, he attempts to minimize the damage. He lauds Draupadī for her chastity and courage, and tries to mitigate the Pāṇḍavas’ silent fury by mouthing sweet words. The baldness of his lies would have provoked laughter had the situation not evoked such horror. He says that he had called the gambling match just to test the skills of the two cousins. But how was the Kauravas’ skill tested by having Śakuni gamble on their behalf? The situation was like that of a person who invites someone to a friendly boxing match and then has Mike Tyson fight in his stead—and fight with a win-at-all-costs, take-no-prisoners mindset. Dhṛtarāṣṭra tells Draupadī to ask for a boon. She asks for the release of her husband—not Arjuna, who had won her during her svayaṁvara (marriage contest), but Yudhiṣṭhira, who had lost her during the gambling match. Even in the closest of relationships, we all sometimes commit mistakes. Most of us do have a conscience that makes us feel bad when we act harshly. In sensitive people, that pinch of conscience is a pain severe enough to impel them towards self-correction. When we have hurt someone, we often feel regretful and repentant. But when the hurt person hits back at us with harsh words, those words frequently become like salt on the wound of our self-recrimination. The aggravated sting can change our attitude from self-corrective to ultra-defensive, thereby worsening the situation. Such aggravation of the situation can be prevented if the hurt person resists the urge to hit back. However, controlling one’s pain and anger when we are grievously hurt is not easy—it requires great fortitude. Exhibiting such fortitude, Draupadī resists the temptation to put any salt on Yudhiṣṭhira’s wounds. Instead, by asking that he be released, she helps the mortified king regain his dignity. Dhṛtarāṣṭra tells Draupadī to ask for some other benediction. She asks that all her husbands be released along with their weapons, adding that they don’t need anything more—with their weapons alone they will regain everything else. The king says that he is not satisfied and tells her to ask for more benedictions. Draupadī declines, quoting an ancient standard that forbids kṣatriya women from asking more than two benedictions. In a rare display of magnanimity, the king returns to the Pāṇḍavas everything they had lost. (Later, they are recalled for another rigged gambling match, on losing which they are exiled to the forest.) *The Virtuous Turns Villainous* Karṇa can't tolerate this foiling of the scheme to dishonor the Pāṇḍavas. The moment when the Pāṇḍavas regain what they have lost is Draupadī's one moment of dignity in a nightmare of indignity. And yet Karṇa cannot let her have even that much relief. He can't resist taking a potshot at the Pāṇḍavas: Just see these warriors who were saved by a woman! In this incident, Draupadī emerges the brightest character. The character who emerges the darkest is not Duḥśāsana, although he gets infamously immortalized as Draupadī’s disrober. The darkest character is not Duryodhana, whose envy is the engine for all these evil machinations. The character who emerges the darkest is Karṇa, not because his behavior is so reprehensible, but because it is so shockingly out of character for him. To his credit, he regrets his actions, as he admits later while speaking to Kṛṣṇa and then to Bhīṣma. In contrast, Duḥśāsana and Duryodhana never regret their vile deeds—their only regret is that they couldn’t dishonor the Pāṇḍavas more. Just as in the Rāmāyaṇa Kaikeyī acts reprehensibly due to Mantharā's association, so too in the Mahābhārata Karṇa acts reprehensibly by Duryodhana's association, being driven by the desire to please that debauched prince. *A Spine of Steel* In this incident Kṛṣṇa’s protecting Draupadī is often highlighted. An equally, if not more, important highlight is Draupadī’s consistent strength of character. Within her female form runs a spine of steel that stands straight even when she is demeaned. And that steely resolve is relevant and instructive for us. When the world subjects us to indignity, we may not be the beneficiaries of miraculous rescues, but we can still cultivate a steely resolve and thereby go through and grow through that adversity. Such inner strength is something that all women—and all men too—can aspire for, no matter what indignity the world subjects us to. Today, when systems for the protection of women are often found to be distressingly inadequate, this ancient incident when the system utterly fell apart speaks to all of us. Draupadī reveals the strength that comes from one's innate dignity, by sheltering one's identity not in one's femininity, but in one's spirituality. Who cannot admire such character and admire the character with such character? *Caitanya Caraṇa Dāsa, a disciple of His Holiness Rādhānāth Swami, serves full time at ISKCON Chowpatty, Mumbai. He is a BTG associate editor and the author of twenty-five books. To read his other articles or to receive his daily reflection on the Bhagavad-gītā, "Gita-Daily," visit gitadaily.com.* Bovinely Inspired: New Vrindaban’s Care for Cows *A look at fifty years of cow protection at ISKCON first farm community.* By Satyarāja Dāsa Archival research by Caitanya Maṅgala Dāsa From the inception of ISKCON's first farm community, Śrīla Prabhupāda directed that cow protection be one of its core concerns. > namo brahmaṇya-devāya > go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca > jagad-dhitāya kṛṣṇāya > govindāya namo namaḥ “I offer my respectful obeisances to the Supreme Absolute Truth, Kṛṣṇa, who is the well-wisher of the cows and the *brāhmaṇas* as well as the living entities in general. I offer my repeated obeisances to Govinda, who is the pleasure reservoir for all the senses.” (*Viṣṇu Purāṇa* 1.19.65) In this verse and throughout the Vedic literature, cows are honored as being worthy of the Lord’s special attention, on a par with *brāhmaṇas*, Vedic society's spiritually astute priests and intellectuals. Of course, the Lord is a well-wisher to all, which is also noted in this verse, but cows and *brāhmaṇas* are given favored consideration. “In modern human society,” Prabhupāda writes, “spiritual knowledge is neglected, and cow killing is encouraged. It is to be understood, then, that human society is advancing in the wrong direction and is clearing the path to its own condemnation. A civilization which guides the citizens to become animals in their next lives is certainly not a human civilization.” (*Gītā* 14.16, Purport) And the *Mahābhārata* (*Anuśāsana-parva* 51.32) states: “That country or nation where cows are protected and live without fear of slaughter becomes exalted and the sins of that country are washed away.” For this reason, among others, cow protection is a recurring theme in India’s ancient wisdom texts, and, apropos of that, Prabhupāda included it as an integral part of his Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Right from the beginning, when incorporating the International Society for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness in 1966, he listed one of the Society's purposes as the need to bring members closer together for a “simpler and more natural way of life.” Vedic texts encourage village life, which includes cow protection, self-sufficiency, and living close to the land. Prabhupāda was thus pleased in 1968 when his disciples found land in West Virginia that would lend itself to, in Prabhupāda's words, "simple living and high thinking.” “You have New York, New England, and so many ‘New’ duplicates of European countries in the USA,” he wrote to his disciple Hayagrīva Dāsa. “Why not import New Vrindaban in your country?” Thus a farm community was established in America that would simulate Kṛṣṇa’s holy land in India: The old Vrindavan of the East would now manifest as New Vrindaban of the West. *Part I: New Vrindaban and Cow Protection* Even before the West Virginia farmland was officially leased, Prabhupāda made it clear in letters that cow protection should be one of the community’s central concerns: “Therefore the special feature of New Vrindaban will be cow protection, and by doing so, we shall not be the loser.” He even cited Kṛṣṇa’s own actions in this regard: “Kṛṣṇa by His practical example taught us to give all protection to the cows, and that should be the main business of New Vrindaban.” Prabhupāda thus gave cow protection high priority. His vision for New Vrindaban was not vague. He saw it as a natural environment wherein one could cultivate Kṛṣṇa consciousness and live happily in the here and now. “My idea of developing New Vrindaban is to create an atmosphere of spiritual life where people in the bona fide order of social division, namely, Brahmacaris, Grhasthas, Vanaprasthas, Sannyasis, or specifically Brahmacaris and Sannyasis, and Vanaprasthas, will live there independently, completely depending on agricultural produce and milk from the cows.” His intention was to recreate specific areas of traditional Vrindavan so that devotees living in his farm community could remember Kṛṣṇa more easily. For example, the hilly areas, reminiscent of Govardhana Hill, would be so named: “And the hilly portions may be named as Govardhana. Govardhana-side, the pasturing grounds for the cows may be allotted.” By 1969, after a year of devotees acclimating themselves to the area’s notoriously rough winters, the first cow was purchased. Prabhupāda named her Kaliya (“black”), since she was a black Jersey with a white mark on her forehead (like Vaiṣṇava *tilaka*). With her arrival he congratulated his fledgling disciples for properly developing his New Vrindaban community, taking the opportunity to reiterate the project’s purpose in relation to cows: “The basic principle of our life in Vrindaban will be cow keeping. If we can keep cows sufficiently and grow our necessary foodstuffs, then we shall show a new way of life to your countrymen.” The first devotees to become involved in New Vrindaban’s cow-protection program were the husband-and-wife team Paramānanda Dāsa and Satyabhāmā Dāsī. Raṇadhīra Dāsa, too, distinguished himself by his dedication to New Vrindaban’s cows. These devotees—and others who followed, such as Ambarīṣa Dāsa, who offered a decade of his life to nurturing New Vrindaban’s herds—worked diligently to develop the farmland and care for their bovine friends, much as Kṛṣṇa’s cowherd friends did some five thousand years ago. Prabhupāda came to New Vrindaban in May of 1969 and stayed for a full month. Drinking Kaliya’s fresh milk, Prabhupāda commented that he hadn’t tasted milk like that in fifty years. “Ranadhir parades our cow Kaliya before him,” writes Hayagrīva in his book The Hare Kṛṣṇa Explosion. “Prabhupāda admires her but doesn’t pet her. ‘We don’t have such fatty cows in India,’ he says. ‘In days past, yes, but now no one can feed them nicely. That is the way the Vedas calculate a man’s wealth—in cows and grains.’” A few paragraphs later, Hayagrīva continues: “The honey is from nearby,” Kirtanananda says. “It’s tulip honey. Maybe next year we can get a hive.” “Then you will have the land of milk and honey complete,” Prabhupāda says. “That is nature’s design, that everything is given complete for a happy life. We don’t require artificial amenities. All we need to realize Kṛṣṇa is here.” A month after visiting New Vrindaban, Prabhupāda wrote to the devotees there: By the fall of 1972, the time of Prabhupāda’s second visit to New Vrindaban, the project had matured considerably. “I can see that Kṛṣṇa is giving you more and more facility for developing this New Vrindaban scheme,” he wrote after the visit. “So this is very nice. I am very pleased that you have acquired some more cows.” At this time Prabhupāda highlighted the importance of bulls as well: “The cow is so wonderful and valuable in society, but you should also use the bulls by engaging them in tilling the ground.” Tillage then took place in abundance. Many devotees began to join New Vrindaban village, and for those so inclined, digging, stirring, and overturning rich soil became a daily endeavor. Ox-powered tilling, along with human shoveling, picking, hoeing, and raking, developed side-by-side with study of scripture, worship of Śrī Śrī Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, and intense chanting. The combination helped devotees blossom materially and spiritually. The New Vrindaban farm-folk used both animal-powered and mechanized plowing methods, as well as rototillers, cultipackers, and so on. Small-scale gardening and farming developed and grew, resulting in more sophisticated methods for nurturing the land—and taking care of the cows. Prabhupāda came again in 1974, but this time for a short stay. Still, it was important for him to stop there on his world tour, for he saw it as one of his most important projects and wanted to encourage the devotees to develop it further. In fact, he deemed it such a great success that when other disciples, that same year, purchased three hundred acres in central Pennsylvania, he dubbed it Gita-nagari, "the village where the *Bhagavad-gītā* is sung and lived,” and modeled it on New Vrindaban. He was proud of what the devotees had accomplished, and he wrote to his New Vrindaban leaders again and again: “I was very pleased to hear your report of our cow protection program, and I had part of your letter read aloud to a group of devotees how you have one cow who will be giving 70-80 pounds a day." "Regarding New Vrindaban I was very happy when I was there." "Not only myself but all devotees and GBC members all enjoyed the atmosphere of New Vrindaban, especially the cow protection scheme." "In the beginning when Hayagriva purchased, I immediately gave him the idea of New Vrindaban cow protection. On the whole our New Vrindaban scheme is successful.” When Prabhupāda came back in 1976, his fourth and final visit, he was pleased to see a substantial increase in working oxen and over 150 cows yielding 120 gallons of milk every day. The devotees were growing their own fruits and vegetables and developing beautiful flower gardens. New Vrindaban was making great strides toward self-sufficiency, in line with Prabhupāda’s desire. During that final visit, Prabhupāda toured the now expanded property, with all the simple living, high thinking features of his transcendental village set out before him. He and some two dozen leading disciples walked to the original farmhouse, now on the other side of what had become a tremendous series of interconnected farms—all joined together under one rubric: New Vrindaban. The rustic atmosphere pleased Prabhupāda, reminding him of Vrindavan, India—and Vṛndāvana in the spiritual world—where Kṛṣṇa sports with His cowherd boyfriends and dances with His loving gopīs. As the devotees made their way through farm fields, their feet soothed by early-morning dew, Prabhupāda noticed a familiar sight amid a team of oncoming bovines: an elderly black cow, obviously the matriarch of the herd. It was Kaliya. Prabhupāda smiled. He recognized his friend from seven years earlier, when he had first visited New Vrindaban. Kaliya’s presence, health, and sweet disposition were indeed a sign of true success. *Part II: New Vrindaban Today* After Prabhupāda’s departure from this world, New Vrindaban continued to grow. While there were serious periods of soul-searching and even decline—as when Kīrtanānanda Swami defected, causing nearly fatal set-backs for the community, especially in the early 1990s—the ’80s was a decade of popularity and enrichment, with Prabhupāda’s Palace of Gold, built by the dedicated devotees who gave decades of their lives to New Vrindaban, becoming a major tourist attraction. (See my article in BTG's May/June 2016 issue.) New Vrindaban village has realized its potential in numerous ways. Chiefly, Prabhupāda mandated five components for New Vrindaban, and they have been developing ever since: (1) cow protection, (2) simple living, (3) spiritual education, (4) holy pilgrimage, (5) and loving Kṛṣṇa. These five goals have been the focus from the beginning and continue to develop as ISKCON’s first transcendental village comes of age. (See my article in last year's Jan/Feb issue.) Regarding cow protection, by 1981 there were 250 cows in the herd (and the devotees harvested 100 acres of corn, other vegetables, and fruits). Each year, in fact, seemed to show progress, even if the community’s cow population would also know periodic downward slopes, often due to fluctuation in manpower. Still, in 1982 the cow population increased to 300, and the following year to nearly 400. By 1985 Govardhan Dairy was born, establishing sophisticated means for milking many cows at once. This enterprise lasted over a decade, eventually morphing into ECO-Vrindaban, responsible for cow protection in New Vrindaban from 1998 to the present. ECO-V is an organized effort that looks after around 900 New Vrindaban acres. It focuses mostly on managing four of New Vrindaban’s farmsteads: Nandagram, Bahulaban, the Community Garden and Milking Barn near Śrī-Śrī Rādhā—Vrindaban-Chandra’s temple, and the Valley Barn area. The 168-acre Nandagram farm alone, acquired about two years ago, is now home to part of ECO-V’s vegetable production, twenty retired cows, and its ongoing ox program. “There are excellent ox-training facilities there, including roads, forests, and a large barn,” says Nitāicandra Dāsa, an ECO-V worker. “We have six young oxen in our training program. They are currently pulling logs and learning their commands. They’ll soon be dragging the field for two acres of winter wheat—the first time they’ve been out in the field, which is pretty exciting.” In New Vrindaban, cows are always front and center. In 1972, Śrīla Prabhupāda started a cow-adoption program there and became its first patron by paying for the purchase of five cows. The program has far-reaching implications for those who can’t live in New Vrindaban or in an ashram environment. By adopting a cow, one can offer needed support for the cows and the devotees who render hands-on service to them. Indeed, the adopted cow virtually becomes a part of one’s family, and one can keep track of how the cow is being taken care of. This support also connects the donor with Kṛṣṇa, who is always pleased to see when someone nurtures His cows. With Adopt a Cow and similar programs, New Vrindaban seemed unstoppable. But temporary setbacks occurred. If the 1980s bestowed great riches and progress in New Vrindaban, the 1990s largely took them away, for reasons briefly mentioned. The cows and the farmland continued to be cared for—and the bovine population was looked after throughout the creatures’ natural lives—but the herd size gradually reduced, and New Vrindaban, for a short period, became a shadow of its former self. Even in the 1990s, however, certain projects continued to show promise and eventually bore fruit. For example, the International Society for Cow Protection (ISCOWP) had its headquarters in New Vrindaban for over twenty years, starting in 1995, before relocating to Florida in 2015. ISCOWP’s primary concern is to "present alternatives to agricultural and dietary practices that support and depend upon the meat and dairy industries’ slaughter of innocent animals." With the twenty-first century, New Vrindaban is back on the ISKCON map, with devotee support from around the world. Old stalwarts resurfaced, and new devotees began to lend a hand. By 2008 the village restarted its breeding program, and all the cows and oxen were well cared for. ECO-V started the Protected Cow Dairy Initiative, allowing New Vrindaban to move toward dairy self-sufficiency. With such promise, the community hopes to quickly grow to where it once was, and beyond. *Moving Toward the Future* While this humble devotee village once reached a height of caring for nearly five hundred cows, it was unprepared for that responsibility. Now, with the mature hindsight of trial and error, the devotees are gradually and responsibly moving forward. By 2018 some sixty cows were in the herd. Eight milking cows now produce approximately thirty-four gallons of milk a day. And every week, Ānanda Vidyā Dāsa transforms extra milk into fifteen pounds of butter, fifteen gallons of yogurt, half a gallon of ghee, and two "wheels" (8" x 3 1/2") of Colby cheese. New Vrindaban’s cowherds are eager to see upcoming generations get involved, and they work hard to share their considerable know-how and dedication with anyone who shows interest. Indeed, as New Vrindaban gains momentum in this new millennium, looking forward to its next fifty years, a revolution in consciousness cannot be far behind. *The Fifty-Year History of Cow Protection in New Vrindaban* 1969 ISKCON's first cow-protection program started with the purchase of Kaliya, a black Jersey. Paramānanda Dāsa and Satyabhāmā Dāsī became ISKCON's first head cowherds. Śrīla Prabhupāda first visited New Vrindaban and met Kaliya, ISKCON's first cow. 1970 Approximately 6 cows in the herd. 1972 Śrīla Prabhupāda started the first cow-adoption program. Śrīla Prabhupāda's second visit. Approximately 24 cows in the herd. 1973 New Vrindaban Community, Inc., was established. 1974 Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasized the importance of engaging bulls and oxen. Three teams of oxen were engaged at different farms. Śrīla Prabhupāda's third visit. Approximately 100 cows spread across four farms: Bahulaban, Vrindaban, Madhuban, and Nandagram. Ambarīṣa Dāsa became the second head cowherd. 1975 Bahulaban Goshala was completed. Approximately 113 cows (47 milk cows, 27 heifers, 35 oxen, and 4 bulls). 8 teams of oxen were being trained. Up to this year, all cows were milked by hand; some milking machines were introduced this year. 1976 Śrīla Prabhupāda and Kaliya reunited after 7 years. Four working teams of oxen. About 150 cows yielded approximately 120 gallons of milk a day. 1977 Kaliya, the matriarch of ISKCON's cow herds, passed away at the original New Vrindaban farm. 1978 150 cows in the herd. Approximately 175 gallons of milk daily. 1981 Approximately 250 cows in the herd. 100 acres of corn were harvested to feed them. 1982 Herd population was nearly 300. 1983 Herd population was nearly 400. 1984 Raṇaka Dāsa became the third head cowherd (and continues this service as of the date of this article). 1985 The Govardhan Dairy facility was opened. It was built to handle milking 200 cows a day. 1987 Govardhan Dairy, Inc., was established. 80 milking cows produced an average of 300 gallons a day. The barn crew produced 20 pounds of perā, 20 gallons of ice cream, 600 pounds of ghee, and 80 pounds of cheese—all from protected cows. 1988 Cowherds milked 100 cows a day and cared for 300 retired cows, oxen, and bulls. 1992 123 cows were milked. The peak herd size was approximately 450. 1993 The large-scale breeding program stopped. A small number of cows continued to be bred and milked. The number of cows being milked was reduced to 25. 1995 ISCOWP, Inc., moved their cow protection program to New Vrindaban. 1998 Śrī Śrī Rādhā–Vrindaban-Chandra's Temple Barn was completed, and milking cows moved in. ECO-Vrindaban, Inc., was established 2002 Approximately 170 animals in the herd. 2008 Gradually restarted a small-scale breeding program. 2013 65 animals in the herd. ECO-Vrindaban began the Protected Cow Dairy Initiative, taking careful steps forward. 2014 48 animals in the herd, with 6 milking cows. The Bahulaban Barn was renovated. 2015 ISCOWP relocated to Florida 2018 58 animals in the herd, including 8 milking cows producing approximately 34 gallons of milk a day. Weekly, Ānanda Vidyā Dāsa transformed extra milk into fifteen pounds of butter, fifteen gallons of yogurt, half a gallon of ghee, and two "wheels" (8" x 3 1/2") of Colby cheese. Caitanya Bhāgavata Dāsa continued to train one ox, Hari. 2019 Golden Jubilee Celebration: The Fiftieth Anniversary of Cow Protection in New Vrindaban. Real Education, from the Very Beginning *Encouraged by their parents, two young girls systematically study Prabhupāda's books alongside adults.* Determined to give their two young daughters a real education, a devotee couple encourage them to systematically study Śrīla Prabhupāda's books from an early age. “These children are given to us by Kṛṣṇa," Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote in a 1972 letter to a disciple. "They are Vaisnavas, and we must be very careful to protect them. These are not ordinary children. They are Vaikuntha children, and we are very fortunate we can give them the chance to advance further in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.” Both my husband and I came to Kṛṣṇa consciousness after having spent more than sixteen years in an education system that made no mention of the science of understanding the soul. We were studying in one of the best colleges in the world, and we were taught skills, not real education. We were determined to do things differently with our children. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, “Actually, at the present moment there is no education, because education means to understand my identity. . . . The modern education—they are simply giving lessons on some art, generally known as technology.” (Lecture, Mexico City, February 17, 1975) Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly stressed that our children must be given spiritual education: “I am so glad to see that you are raising your daughter in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and that is your duty as a conscientious mother—to give the child a proper education in spiritual living.” (Letter to Balāi Dāsī, August 17, 1970) And this must be done from the very beginning: “Young children should be educated from the very beginning about God consciousness or the science of God. We had the opportunity in our childhood. My father taught. And then, when I was grown up, my spiritual master taught. So for that reason we have got some sense. Spiritual education should be given.” (Room conversation, Atlanta, March 1, 1975) When our elder daughter, Krishangi, was a few months old, I compiled an album of Kṛṣṇa conscious paintings, and we spent many happy hours leafing through it. As she grew up a little, we started reading Śrīla Prabhupāda's book Kṛṣṇa to her. When she was about two and a half years old, one day I was chanting aloud the *Gītā* verse *dhyāyato viṣayān puṁsaḥ* . . . (2.62) and was surprised that she learned it by heart within minutes. I started to conduct children’s classes, teaching verses and basic philosophy to a group of children about her age. After a few years, our younger daughter, Gaurangi was born. As a three-year-old she loved to look at all the pictures in the *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam*. Once, when we were listening to a recorded *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* reading, she ran to the bookshelf, pulled out the correct volume, and flipped it open to show us the relevant picture. All this occurred while we were living in Middle East countries, where my husband, Tapana Miśra Dāsa, was working. We were also helping to establish ISKCON’s presence there. In these Islamic countries, ISKCON’s activities are underground, so there is no question of having an ISKCON school. The girls were going to a regular school, and I was teaching them *śāstra* at home. We had a nice morning program: Krishangi would chant a few rounds, we would read together and chant a few verses, and then she would go to school. But when she was nine and moved to grade five, the school hours increased and so did the homework, to say nothing of the unsuitable association. At that time, after watching a YouTube video about children studying in Śrīdham Māyāpur, she expressed a desire to move there, and mercifully, Lord Caitanya allowed us to do so. *A Radical Suggestion* It would be the biggest understatement to say that everything improved for the better. From a situation where we could not step out of the house with our bead bags or with tilaka on, now we were surrounded by devotees and the sound of the holy name. We could attend the maṅgala-ārati program at the temple every day. It was such a treat! At that time my husband suggested something radical. He said that we should begin teaching śāstra to Krishangi in a more systematic way, so we should enroll her in the *Bhakti* *Śāstrī* course offered by Māyāpur Institute. Knowing that the course includes assessments of the students' knowledge of the material, I was doubtful. She was only ten. Even though she already knew many verses and could possibly handle the closed-book tests, what about the essays? Apart from deep contemplation, they required writing skills that I wasn’t sure she had. Also, the pace of the *Bhakti* *Śāstrī* course is so fast that I wondered how she would be able to keep up. As if by divine arrangement, at that time Māyāpur Institute introduced a new program—part-time *Bhakti* *Śāstrī*. It was for resident devotees, and unlike the full-time course attended by devotees from around the world and which runs for three and a half months, it would span a year, with classes twice a week in the evening. Thinking that this would give Krishangi enough time to read and understand between classes, we encouraged her to enroll in the course. Although she was unsure in the beginning, she found it very satisfying to be studying Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books systematically and told us that she was determined to give it her best shot. She would go to Śrī Māyāpur International School during the day and attend the *Bhakti* *Śāstrī* classes in the evening. When she had to write her first essay, I gave her simple guidelines: do the research first, make notes of what you want to say, and then organize the content with an introduction, the main body, and a conclusion. Her first draft still had plenty of room for improvement. I again gave some suggestions, and finally her essay was complete. While proofreading, I was happy to note that although her realizations were simple and childlike, her understanding of the philosophy was good. Her language was not the most eloquent, but coherent enough to convey the points. Thus we progressed from one module to another. She would read the relevant portion before the class, we would discuss the main points and I would answer any query she had, and then I would sit with her during the classes to make sure she was following everything. At the age of eleven, she had completed studying the four books *required—Bhagavad-gītā* As It Is, The Nectar of Instruction, Śrī *Īśopaniṣad*, and The Nectar of Devotion—and she received her *Bhakti* *Śāstrī* certificate. At the same time, due to the dedicated teacher she had at school, she managed to keep up with the schoolwork quite well, so much so that her teacher suggested she skip a grade, and from grade six she went directly to grade eight. The next logical step for Krishangi was to begin studying the *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* for the *Bhakti* *Vaibhava* certificate. It seemed like a lofty goal, but slowly and surely she progressed from one unit to the next, and within the next two and a half years she wrote forty essays, memorized over a hundred verses, gave two *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* lectures and two presentations, and wrote a thesis on a topic from the first six cantos of *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam*. *Little Sister Follows* About a year ago, when Krishangi was in the thick of studying *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam*, we turned our attention to our younger daughter, Gaurangi, suggesting that she take the *Bhakti* *Śāstrī* course. She was eight years old then. We weren’t worried about whether she could handle the course, because she understood things quickly and had fairly developed writing skills, but the main challenge was to get her inspired enough to put her heart into it, since by nature she’s more laid back and less inclined to put her energy into anything serious. Somehow or other we convinced her to attend the first few classes—again the part-time course. By Kṛṣṇa’s mercy she loved it. She looked forward to the days when after school she could race over to Chaitanya Bhavan, where the classes were held. To make it more attractive for her, while we were walking to the class I would buy her a little prasādam treat on the way. Every essay she had to write and every closed-book test she had to prepare for began with a tantrum followed by an inspirational talk by either her father or me. We had to exercise much patience in cajoling and convincing her to sit down and focus, but it was so worth it because she has now read almost four of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books cover to cover. One day, as we sat down to watch one of the Śrīla Prabhupāda Memories videos on YouTube, an advertisement popped up for a TV series entitled The Missing Link. The commentator claimed that the scientists were about to discover the missing link between apes and humans and ended dramatically by posing the question “Who is the father of modern man?” “Manu,” replied Gaurangi matter-of-factly. *Encouraging, Not Forcing* Sometimes the children would grumble that none of their friends were engaged in such extensive study of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. We explained to them that every family has to set their own priorities. Just as some devotees make it a point that their children attend the complete temple program and others are engaged in home Deity worship, performing kīrtana and so on, similarly as a family our current focus would be to study the books. We pointed out to them that everyone is trying to engage their children in one way or the other, so in that our situation was not unique. We encouraged the children by making much of every little achievement. Every time they finished a unit, we would have a feast at home and periodically have a grand treat at Govinda’s Pizzeria. This transcendental trick worked particularly well because at this age the girls are rather motivated by prasādam. My husband also promised Gaurangi that she could have anything in the world if she finished her *Bhakti* *Śāstrī*—she finally picked a doll’s house. It helped that while the girls were studying, I enrolled in Māyāpur Institute’s *Bhakti* Vaibhava program, which is run in the winter months. So studying Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books was an activity that we all engaged in together as a family. We had discussions and debates and learned verses together. My husband and I sat through Krishangi’s presentations, and I typed the girls' essays for them. One thing we always kept in mind was that the children should not feel that they were under any pressure to go through the courses, for the last thing we wanted was that they have any negative feelings associated with the activity. Our main idea was that they should develop some taste for reading Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. So while I would (sometimes!) yell at them to finish their milk or tidy their shelves, I would be more patient when it came to remind them to work on their śāstra and would always try to motivate and encourage them so that they were themselves convinced to do it, rather than simply doing it "because Mom says so." We remain thankful that we have been allowed to bring up our daughters in Śrīdham Māyāpur in the association of devotees. The purifying atmosphere is so conducive to spiritual study. Also, we are grateful to all the teachers at Māyāpur Institute, particularly Atul Kṛṣṇa Prabhu, who encouraged our girls every step of the way and gave much of his valuable time in guiding them. *Dovetailing the Children's Energy* The one condition that Krishangi had put during her studies was that we not reveal to anyone about her *Bhakti* *Śāstrī* and *Bhakti* Vaibhava courses because she said she didn’t want to become proud. She said that this was her personal endeavor to please Śrīla Prabhupāda and her intention was not to flaunt her achievements. She was horrified at the thought that her friends might think she has a holier-than-thou attitude because of her achievement. So, in one sense, writing this article would be a breach of our agreement with Krishangi. But she relented when we explained that many devotees had asked us to share our experience and wanted to know how the children were able to accomplish this. Our honest submission is that our children are not extraordinary. In the secular world, parents of very young children are training them for essay-writing competitions, elocutions, debates, public speaking, and so on. We are doing the same—with the important difference that our training is centered on Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. We mustn’t underestimate our children. Particularly, children born in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement have naturally sharp intellect due to being away from the contaminating influence of television and mundane literature. So all we have to do is channel their energy towards Kṛṣṇa. Our children also play in the park, go to birthday parties, hang out with friends, watch dramas and movies in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Samadhi auditorium, go for parikramās and kīrtana melās, and so on, but at the same time we impressed upon them that a portion of their day must be kept aside for their sādhana. Śrīla Prabhupāda comments on Nārada Muni's serving the *bhakti-vedāntas*: “The irresponsible life of sense enjoyment was unknown to the children of the followers of the varṇāśrama system.” We pray that all the young children are given the opportunity to read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books again and again, so that the teachings are deeply ingrained in their hearts. *Indira-sakhī Devī Dāsī (M.Tech, Computer Science, IIT Delhi) serves on the executive committee of ISKCON's Ministry of Education.* Sidebar 1: Real Communication with Śrīla Prabhupāda by Krishangi When we moved to Māyāpur about four years ago, Papa said that I would be doing a *Bhakti Śāstri* course with a lot of grown-ups. I agreed but insisted that my mother also sit through the classes with me. The first unit (*Bhagavad-gītā*, chapters 1–6) was taught by Atul Kṛṣṇa Prabhu, and I thoroughly enjoyed his classes. They were enlivening and filled with interesting activities. After a few weeks of classes, we had the closed-book test. Studying for it wasn’t difficult, although it took time. Similarly, the śloka test was no problem, since my mother had already taught me and Gaurangi all the ślokas when we were younger. The real challenge was the open-book question—the essay. At first Mamma explained to me what was expected. However, I don’t think I understood it well. I sat down in front of the computer, got lots of points from the Vedabase, and copy-pasted them into a Word document. It made grammatical sense, but the points were all over the place with no logical order. When I was done with the first draft, I was quite proud of myself. It had taken me two long hours to complete it. But when Mamma saw it, she wasn’t pleased, which in turn made me upset. When we finally settled down, she explained that it had to be in my own words. She also gave me pointers on how to organize my thoughts. We then formed a great team as she typed while I spoke. In the end I got a good result, so I was quite pleased. I would go for classes twice a week after school. For a long time no one knew that I was attending the *Bhakti Śāstrī* course, but when some of my friends started asking about my whereabouts after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I gave in and let them in on my secret. My *Bhakti Śāstrī* experience was quite an interesting one, and I learned a lot about the process of devotional service. It is always nice to properly understand your beliefs, your goals in life, and understand why you do what you do. It gave me a clearer picture. Reading Śrīla Prabhupāda’s purports is like having a real communication with Prabhupāda because he is always in his books. And Bhagavad-gītā is the song of God, so by reading it one can find out what kind of a person He is. Doing this amazing course while also going to school did get a bit tight, and at times I would get frustrated because it would cut down my playtime, but now that I think about it, I am much happier that I did the course and learned so much, rather than have some momentary happiness. This knowledge is transcendental and will benefit me eternally. As they say, hindsight is always 20/20. So right now I don’t understand why I would grumble so much. It was such a wonderful moment when I received my *Bhakti Śāstrī* certificate. We celebrated at the Pizzeria. *Moving on to the Bhāgavatam* After this I felt encouraged to study *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam*. My experience of doing *Bhakti Vaibhava* is certainly indescribable—it was out of this world, literally. By reading *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* one can understand how it is meant for everyone—newcomers to advanced devotees, and children to adults. Everyone will be fascinated by this glorious book because it is full of magical stories. Many times I noticed that one can take the knowledge of *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* and apply it in practical situations; often I come across points from the translations and purports that fit in perfectly with a particular situation I am going through. I have personally experienced how simply by reading *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* one can become peaceful. It describes numerous qualities a devotee should have, and I think that by one's daily reading, these qualities will subtly get embedded in one’s mind and gradually appear. *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* is a detailed and interesting book, and sometimes it is hard to stop reading. *The Biggest Challenge* The biggest challenge I faced during the course was that each student has to give presentations and *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* lectures. Being shy and nervous, I couldn’t even imagine doing such a bold thing. Whenever the topic came up, I would refuse to even discuss it. Finally, after all my other assessments were over, my parents and I talked over it and we agreed that I should at least start writing my thesis that would form the basis of the presentation. I thought about many topics, and after discussing with my parents decided to write about the Lord’s reciprocation with His devotees, from the first six cantos. Yet, when I sat down alone to contemplate about my topic and write an introduction, I had a Eureka moment. I was just thinking about how by the Lord’s reciprocations in the scriptures, one can understand that there is God, who is a person. I started to see many other aspects in *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* that prove that God is a person, not just by His reciprocations with His devotees, but also by descriptions of His name, form, abode, etc. That’s when I decided that the topic of my thesis would be "God is a person." Writing the thesis was not as hard as I had expected. Once I had my thoughts sorted, I made a mind-map. From that I started to expand the subsections. Within a month I had the first draft ready. Next I started to work on the presentation, which I rather enjoyed, especially looking for appropriate pictures to add. By the time I finished, it was Kārttika 2017, and we traveled to Kuwait for preaching. Then my father dropped the bombshell that he wanted me to present the topic to the devotees there, starting with an outreach program for newcomers. I started to work on the presentation with some trepidation, but then when the time came for me to give my first-ever presentation I was more excited than nervous because I had practiced numerous times beforehand and was comfortable with what I had to say. It also helped that my father said that he would pitch in if required. The presentation went smoothly, and at the end of it I was satisfied, and relieved! People were quite appreciative, which encouraged me a lot. But I reminded myself not to become proud, for pride comes before a fall. I presented the topic two more times. Each time the question-and-answer session was particularly interesting. *Projector Freeze—Along with My Heart* Then we were back in Māyāpur and it was time for me to present in front of the *Bhakti Vaibhava* students and teachers, and be assessed on it, which was the terrifying aspect of it. My father had said that I would be only presenting in front of seven or eight devotees, but about twenty-five came, students from both modules of the course (BV1 and BV2). I tried to keep calm, reminding myself that I had already presented before a large audience. Everything was going well when suddenly the projector froze. Luckily we had our own portable projector. This happened just before an interactive section of my presentation, and on the spot I had to adapt the presentation and go on while the projector was being set up. The rest of the presentation went well, and the feedback was very inspiring. The main room for improvement regarded answering the questions, which devotees kindly suggested would become better with experience. Apart from this, I also had to give two lectures that are like giving a *Bhāgavatam* class, and another presentation for which I chose the topic "A Devotee’s Attitude Towards Miseries." Overall, my experience was that I would be very scared before each presentation or lecture but happy afterwards, as though I had achieved something impossible. I was apprehensive about presenting before senior devotees, but found that they were the most encouraging. Also, I realized how deep every single aspect of the philosophy is and that one can endlessly go on researching and talking about it. I feel grateful that I got the opportunity to do this incredible course at a young age, and pray that I can apply in my life at least something of what I’ve learned. Sidebar 2: Learning with the Grownups by Gaurangi One summer when we were in my grandparents’ house, Papa asked me if I would like to do **Bhakti Śāstrī*.* I immediately refused because to me, at that time, *Bhakti Śāstrī* was a big and hard course only for senior devotees. I thought it was way too hard. Krishangi had done it, but that was a miracle for sure! It would be impossible for me to do even half the session because I was only seven at that time. Then Papa tried to convince me by saying that if I did *Bhakti Śāstr*ī he would give me anything I wanted. That set me thinking. I debated with myself. I had seen Krishangi doing so much and learning so much and reading so much. The thought of getting as many dolls as I wanted was tempting, but the thought of reading the *Bhagavad-gītā* and other books and working so hard was daunting. Nothing further was said on this until several months later, when my father brought up the topic again. He told me that it was my choice. I was confused. I finally agreed. Actually at first I agreed because I didn’t want to disappoint Papa, but later I started enjoying it. For the first class Mum bought me an ice cream on the way. The class was great. I was happy that there were many familiar faces. Some teachers from my school and some older girls were also attending. I liked the classes because they were interactive and if there was something you didn’t understand, my teacher, Rādhikā Nāgara Prabhu, would explain it to you. The first module was The Nectar of Instruction, and then we did *Śrī Īśopaniṣad.* *Vacationing with the Gītā* Soon it was summer vacation. During the holidays I would read the *Bhagavad-gītā* whenever I had the time. As we went to different temples and holy sites, I kept progressing in reading because I was determined to finish reading the *Bhagavad-gītā* before the holidays finished. I found the last few chapters very intense. I liked the part about the universal form where Kṛṣṇa says that He has thousands of hands and legs and noses, how He is such a fearful form but also such a glamorous form. That was very interesting. I found that learning for the closed-book test was hard, as there were sometimes over fifty questions and plenty of analogies. On the other hand, what I enjoyed in my experience was how everybody was friendly, the teachers were helpful, and there were so many amazing activities that we did in class. We had skits and sometimes group activities in which we had to draw and describe a śloka or a topic given to us. In *Īśopaniṣad* we had so much fun—we had a debate in class with the teacher, and we were thinking of different arguments and finally the devotees won against the Māyāvādī. When we were learning The Nectar of Instruction, we would share ideas of how we could control our anger. What I also found nice was that everybody was sharing their experiences and was ready to help others by giving suggestions. It was nice that at the beginning of each class we would recite the ślokas of the particular book we were learning about. *Lessons Remembered* At last I received my certificate, with the blessings of senior devotees. I’m so glad I did this course. I learned many things, such as the different stages of devotional life, things that are favorable for devotional service and things that are not, how Kṛṣṇa is the taste of the water, the light of the sun and moon and He can be seen in so many, many other things. I really liked to read the sections that describe that if one practices nicely, one can go back home, back to Godhead, and be free from miseries. I found that very enlivening. I read that one should chant with love and devotion, and I try to practice that. I try to chant in the morning without being too distracted. During the course I had a really bad accident when I fell from my cycle. Before doing *Bhakti Śāstrī* I had some idea that such things happen because of bad *karma*, but now I could understand better. I could see that maybe this is Kṛṣṇa’s mercy or that Kṛṣṇa has a plan. My suggestion is that all children should do *Bhakti Śāstrī*. It's pretty hard, but in the end the result is good, you feel happy, you feel like you’ve accomplished something. You may think that it's very difficult—it is—but it's not impossible. Anyone can do it, and everyone should. The Modern World's Pervasive Bane: Boredom *Despite an endless array of gadgets to occupy their time, people are bored—and the result is trouble.* By Viśākhā Devī Dāsī As one journalist notes, boredom is responsible for "a profusion of negative outcomes." On the day after Christmas, 2016, an article with this headline went coast to coast in the United States: “After 15 Big Mall Fights, Police See a Culprit: Teenage Boredom.” According to a police officer quoted in the article, the cause of the fighting was that “teenagers have too much time on their hands.” Similarly, Jean M. Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, writes in a recent article in the magazine The Atlantic, “It’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. . . . There is compelling evidence that the devices we’ve placed in young people’s hands are having profound effects on their lives—and making them seriously unhappy.” Boredom and unhappiness are, of course, not limited to teenagers but are rampant in adults also. In an article in the Guardian, Sandi Mann writes that “despite the plethora of high-intensity entertainment constantly at our disposal, we are still bored. Up to half of us are ‘often bored’ at home or at school, while more than two-thirds of us are chronically bored at work.” And she explains why: “Our attention spans are now thought to be less than that of a goldfish (eight seconds). We are hard-wired to seek novelty, which produces a hit of dopamine, that feel-good chemical, in our brains. As soon as a new stimulus is noticed, however, it is no longer new, and after a while it bores us. To get that same pleasurable dopamine hit we seek fresh sources of distraction.” Why does this matter? Because, in Mann’s words, “Research suggests that chronic boredom is responsible for a profusion of negative outcomes such as overeating, gambling, truancy, antisocial behaviour, drug use, accidents, risk taking and much more.” This research validates what the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote over 170 years ago: “Boredom is the root of all evil.” To Kierkegaard, boredom is not just feeling weary because one is unoccupied or lacks interest in one's current activity; boredom is not just a sense of emptiness due to an absence of stimulation. Boredom, he wrote, is the result of an absence of meaning in one’s life. This understanding explains why people today are overstimulated but existentially bored. In 2017, global spending for entertainment reached $2.2 trillion, yet there was also an increase in boredom and unhappiness. *Ancient Wisdom in Practice: A Solution* In his writings, Śrīla Prabhupāda offers relief from this plight: “Serious students seeking the Absolute Truth are always overwhelmed with the work of researching the Truth. In every sphere of life, therefore, the ultimate end must be seeking after the Absolute Truth, and that sort of engagement will make one happy because he will be less engaged in varieties of sense gratification.” *(Bhāgavatam* 1.2.10, Purport) In a similar vein, commenting on a verse toward the conclusion of the *Bhagavad-gītā* (18.76), Prabhupāda writes, “The result of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is that one becomes increasingly enlightened, and he enjoys life with a thrill, not only for some time, but at every moment.” The state of absorption that Prabhupāda describes is the ideal; however, it’s rare. Those of us who are trying to be conscious of Kṛṣṇa but have not reached such an elevated state may feel bored from time to time. What can we do? Kierkegaard was clear about what would end his boredom: “What could divert me? Well, if I managed to see a faithfulness that withstood every ordeal, an enthusiasm that endured everything, a faith that moved mountains; if I were to become aware of an idea that joined the finite and the infinite.” On studying Śrīla Prabhupāda’s life and qualities, we can observe that he had a faithfulness that withstood every ordeal, an enthusiasm that endured everything, a faith that moved mountains. And part of Prabhupāda’s life mission was to explain how the finite (the soul, or jīvātmā) is joined to the infinite (God, the Paramātmā), which he did with a simple analogy: As the hand serves the body, so the jīvātmā is joined to the Paramātmā through its desire to give pleasure and service to the Paramātmā. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, “When we understand our true identity as spiritual beings, part and parcel of the Supreme Spirit, God, we understand that we are meant to serve Him just as the hand or foot serves the whole body.” (The Laws of Nature: An Infallible Justice, Introduction) Perhaps Śrīla Prabhupāda’s life and qualities can show us how to have not only a boredom-free existence but, beyond that, how to have a happy life by rejoining God, Kṛṣṇa, the reservoir of pleasure. While sometimes playful and humorous, Prabhupāda was always perseverant, interested in others, and confident in his mission. He was curious and keenly observant, and he consistently saw and presented Kṛṣṇa and His teachings from different points of view. He could concentrate and focus his energies. He was regular in his habits and also inventive and undeterred if something didn’t work after repeated attempts. And he gave himself time each day to reflect—often he would take his lunch alone, slowly, in a peaceful and beautiful place. His life was balanced. (For us, this may mean not neglecting our personal needs due to our social, professional, and family responsibilities.) Prabhupāda’s was the opposite of a humdrum, humiliating, servile life; it was a dynamic one in which he navigated the world and used all his capabilities to perform the sacred, all-important service of extricating us from our miserly, shuffling, mundane lives. He did this by repeatedly reminding us of who we are—spiritual beings—and who we’re permanently related to—God and His devotees. Interestingly, Kierkegaard had seen boredom as “the despairing refusal to be oneself.” And what Prabhupāda stressed—practically demanded—was for us to be ourselves, that is, to act as spiritual souls, tiny parts of God replete with God’s qualities of eternality, joyfulness, and cognition. Constitutionally the soul is meant to give pleasure to God and His devotees, and such pleasure-giving service is fresh because Kṛṣṇa is nava-yauvana, ever fresh. Giving this sort of pleasure gives us the greatest pleasure. And this attitude is stimulated by spiritual love, love that is not motivated by personal gain. Surely it is due to our lack of realization of our spiritual identity and spiritual activity that boredom exists at all in this world. Another reason why boredom has no place in a devotee’s life is that Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Person, is the ultimate source of everything in this world. Without exception, everything is a manifestation of His energy. He is the Complete Whole, and whatever manifests from Him is complete in itself. To experience boredom and unhappiness is to feel some lacking, but the only lacking is our perception, our “despairing refusal to be oneself.” *Do What We Love for Kṛṣṇa* Some years before Kierkegaard, William Wordsworth had lamented the materialistic mentality he saw rampant in society: “We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!” As devotees, we’re attempting to withdraw our hearts from materialistic endeavors and apply ourselves to Kṛṣṇa’s service, and we do this with varying degrees of success. If we find ourselves bored and unhappy, we can take it that we need to try with renewed vigor to find what we love to do and to do that for Kṛṣṇa’s and His devotees’ pleasure. To try for anything less or to wallow in boredom and unhappiness is unworthy of us. Whoever we are and wherever we are, we are meant for so much more. In a recent opinion column in the New York Times, David Brooks writes, “We are happiest when we have brought our lives to a point, when we have focused attention and will on one thing, wholeheartedly with all our might.” From Śrīla Prabhupāda’s teachings, we know that in order to actually bring us satisfaction, the “one thing” Brooks refers to must be transcendent. When Śrīla Prabhupāda became aware that some of his followers were having trouble, he wrote to one of them (July, 8, 1972): Our process of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, if it is followed with determination and enthusiasm, automatically it has the effect of fixing us, body, mind and soul, to the Lotus Feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, so that all sorts of fluctuations of the material nature, all sorts of difficulties and discrepancies of life are easily withstood. . . . So stop this dreaming state. Try to understand things with the light of your intelligence, and if your are sincere in this way, without a doubt Kṛṣṇa will give you full facility to understand Him and become freed of the bondage of ignorance. Nowadays it seems many of the older disciples like yourself are having difficulty. If you do not set the example for the younger students and take the responsibility for instructing them in the right line, how will things go on? Try to always study our books and see our philosophy from different lights of directions, become convinced yourself of this knowledge and without a doubt all of your difficulties of mind will disappear forever and you will see Kṛṣṇa face-to-face. The ennui of boredom is a kind of hell. To escape it people sometimes start fights or spend money on diversions that often leave them as unhappy as ever. Prabhupāda’s solution to boredom is categorically different. He wants us to use our intelligence to understand Kṛṣṇa’s teachings from different points of view, to use our talents to please Him and His devotees, and to use our time to remember Him. Done with sincerity and in good company, these simple things will forever save us from the unnatural state of boredom and the unhappiness it brings. *Viśākhā Devī Dāsī has been writing for BTG since 1973. Visit her website at OurSpiritualJourney.com.* Food: Grow Local, Be Spiritual *The current calls for sustainable agriculture align with principles Śrīla Prabhupāda put forward five decades ago.* By Girirāja Govinda Dāsa “One must have his food locally. That is good civilization.” —Śrīla Prabhupāda, Lecture at World Health Organization, Geneva, June 6, 1974. Food has a special place in our lives. It is one of the basic necessities. Across the world there are different cultures of food, and it has biological and social significance for us. Before the eighteenth century, the world was primarily an agrarian civilization. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the industrial revolution flourished in Europe, and through colonization, the industrial civilization spread across the world. Modern civilization is primarily a fossil-fuel—based industrial civilization, the resulting psyche determining our approach to food production. Pre-industrial or traditional agricultural methods are rapidly getting replaced by a factory-farming model. Food is now an important part of the globalization phenomena. Globalization of food is not new. As early as 130 BC the famous silk routes were used to exchange Indian spices with Greece.1 After Columbus accidentally discovered America, the Columbian Exchange brought several Native American crops to Europe, such as potatoes, tomatoes, and corn.2 Today the huge scale of globalization (influenced by large corporations) enables the rapid exchange of goods, including food. After all, viewed in the factory paradigm, food is a compulsory survival commodity for all of us. With the involvement of giant multinational corporations in agriculture and the food business, along with the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank, and governments of different nations, today food is largely a product of corporate globalization. In pre-industrial agriculture, people used oxen to plow the land, and their manure was used to fertilize crops. Industrial agriculture encourages use of machinery to till the land (sending cattle to slaughterhouses) and of chemical fertilizers to replace natural organic manure. In traditional agriculture, people grew diverse crops together (referred to as polyculture or biodiversity). This ensures food security in case some crops fail. Further, diverse crops cooperate with one another. For example, in Native American polyculture gardens, corn, climbing beans, and winter squash (the “three sisters”) were grown together.3 The corn provides a structure for the beans to climb; the beans provide the nitrogen to the soil that the other plants use; and the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the sunlight, retaining moisture, and helping prevent the establishment of weeds. Industrial agriculture, however, selects a few commercially beneficial crops and encourages monocultures in cultivation. From 1960 to 2000, the industrialized "Green Revolution" in the Indian state of Punjab saw increased wheat acreage4 from 29.58% to 44.5% and increased rice acreage from 4.79% to 25%. Meanwhile, the area under pulses dropped from 19% to 0.21%, oilseeds from 3.9% to 0.71%, and millets from 11.26% to 0.21%. Today India imports its pulses. Where a basketful of variety could have been obtained, now there is scarcity of important dietary supplements, severely affecting nutrition. Monocultures also result in eventual disappearance of indigenous crop varieties due to lack of cultivation. Across the world the industrial farming model perpetrated by giant multinational corporations encourages cultivation of a handful of crops, like corn, soya, canola, and wheat.5 Much more of it goes to feed animals in slaughterhouses than to feed people. Vested commercial interests limit the variety of food crops. And, as I'll discuss further, the encouragement of monocultures and the use of chemical fertilizers work hand in glove. “We shall never use this artificial fertilizer on our farms. It is forbidden in the sastras. If you plant easily grown crops once in the year, then the earth will not become exhausted. Don't overuse the land.”—Śrīla Prabhupāda Letter, January 11, 1976 *Fertilizers, Natural and Chemical* Fertilizers are used to provide adequate nutrition and minerals for crops. Natural organic manure such as cow dung mixed with soil encourages beneficial algae, soil bacteria, and earth worms to form nutritious humus without side effects. The chemical fertilizers introduced by man are the hallmark of industrial agriculture. Machinery, monoculture, and the destruction of biodiversity make chemical fertilizers the only option. They consume much water because fertilizers have to be dissolved in soil; otherwise crops get burnt up. The raw materials used to make chemical fertilizers are the same as those used to make gunpowder for explosives.6 In the book The Alchemy of Air, we get the account of Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, the leading pioneers of chemical fertilizers and their eventual use during the world wars and the rise of Hitler.7 After the wars, the abundant chemical fertilizers manufactured by a few companies needed a new market. Industrial agriculture provided the suitable platform. Addressing a meeting in New Delhi in 1967, Norman Borlaug, the Noble Peace Prize winner and "father of the Green Revolution," declared, “Fertilizers! . . . Give the farmers more fertilizers.”8 Punjab, the north Indian state where the green revolution was carried out for five decades, has suffered irreparable damage. The soil is critically ill, infested with chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides. The effect on the people of Punjab is severe: A train nicknamed "the cancer train" carries a hundred cancer patients a day from Punjab to Bikaner, Rajasthan, for treatment.9 *GMOs* Like any other science, genetic engineering is harmful or harmless depending upon who uses it and to what purpose. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are highly controversial. Giant agribusinesses such as Monsanto, BASF, Bayer, and Syngenta patent genetically engineered seeds.10 A gene gun shoots a gene into a seed to help the plant resist a pest or weed, supposedly negating the need for a pesticide or herbicide. On real fields, however, not only do these GM crops not resist the intended pest or weed, but the pest or weed develops resistance and harms the crop.11 Worse, the GM seeds have “terminator technology,” where the seed is made to lose its natural reproducing capacity.12 Together with governments and the WTO, the corporations tweak the intellectual property laws, and such seeds get patents and entitlement to royalty collection.13 This means the farmers cannot save seeds and have to buy them every year. Monsanto alone has collected $900 million in royalties from small farmers in India.14 With nonrenewable costly seeds, increased irrigation, and costly fertilizers, farmers are pushed into debt. To recover, they need a good market to sell their crop. But they lose out due to the dumping of cheap, subsidized imported foods. Farmers in developing countries get into this vicious cycle of factory farming and, unable to clear their debt, lose their land to the bank or loan agents. Since 1995, about 300,000 farmers in India have committed suicide due to debt.15 The story is also bad in developed countries. The market is flooded with unlabelled GM food, and citizens are fighting to get them labeled. Proponents of industrial agriculture advocate that it increases yields. But when yield is calculated, only labor is taken as input, ignoring the destruction of biodiversity and the increased pollution of air, water, and land. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources in Leipzig (1995), industrial agriculture is responsible for 75% of biodiversity erosion, 75% of water destruction, 75% of land degradation, and 40% of greenhouse gases.16 As Śrīla Prabhupāda says, growing food locally is good civilization. At present, it is not an option but a dire necessity. *The Self-sustaining Way of Life* “Produce your food locally and then support yourself.”—Śrīla Prabhupāda, Room Conversation, June 19, 1974 Śrīla Prabhupāda encouraged local, natural farming principles in harmony with nature. He did not like people traveling long distances to cities to work in factories. He encouraged the self-sustaining way of life where we grow our food locally and produce our own milk products with cows, thus dealing with our economic situations locally. Globalizing food at the expense of local, natural, self-sustaining farms is bringing disasters. Śrīla Prabhupāda recognized this problem and hence advocated producing and consuming food locally, with trade only after local sufficiency.17 Solving the problem of the growing world population is the most cited reason that greedy corporations give for industrial farming. Śrīla Prabhupāda rejected the propaganda of overpopulation,18 a seemingly radical position (especially in 1968). But Prabhupāda always upheld the Vedic model on social issues. Now the world is waking up to this issue. Recognizing the importance of small local farms, at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the Food and Agricultural Organization released a report stating that, even today, 70% of food still comes from small farms.19 This means that industrial farming is not the solution for so-called over-population. Small, local, natural farms are. This is what Śrīla Prabhupāda encouraged about five decades ago. *Taking Part* ISKCON has farm communities like New Vrindaban in West Virginia, Govardan Ecovillage near Mumbai, New Vraja Dhama in Hungary, and New Govardhana in Australia.20 These village-size farm communities are pursuing Śrīla Prabhupāda's vision for local self-sufficiency. Some have won awards and have been recognized by local governments. Every one of us can do our bit to promote natural farming and organic food. Towards this end, two ISKCON devotees are making some attempts. Abhirāma Dāsa, a thirty-five-year-old with a master's degree in computer applications, lives about forty miles outside Bangalore. He has a residential plot (eight thousand square feet) on which he has set up a simple goshala (a cow and two calves). He is trying his hand at farming. I spoke with him about his experience. Girirāja Govinda Dāsa: Are you traditionally a farmer? Abhirāma Dāsa: No. I worked as software developer for HP, then as a entrepreneur. I had my own packaging business. GG: Tell us about your crops. AD: Mostly vegetables, greens, some fruits, tomatoes, cluster beans, ladies' fingers [okra], radish, carrots, chili, amaranth, coriander, banana, papaya, jackfruit, coconut—and flax as a bio-fence. GG: Why so many? AD: To increase biodiversity. Actually it’s possible in eight thousand square feet. The trick is to grow diverse with rotational crops. GG: Did you use any machinery? AD: The first day. I used a tractor to loosen the soil. The land was hard. Śrīla Prabhupāda said to avoid machines as much as possible. I used the tractor once. I plan to arrange bulls from now on. GG: Have you used any chemical fertilizers? AD: No. Using cow dung from my goshala, I make a microbial culture called jivamruta. It's natural. GG: What do you advise for city devotees who do not have land? AD: They can start terrace gardening, having small pots with vegetable plants. Eat organic food if it's available. Food awareness is the first step. I took three years to ready my mind. GG: When are you expecting the harvest of vegetables and fruits ? AD: Since I have rotational crops, I get them throughout the year. While Abhirāma is trying to be a producer, another devotee, Madhura Gaurāṅga Dāsa, has ventured to become a distributor. A thirty-seven-year-old with a degree in statistics, he worked as business analyst for Symphony Services, Bangalore. He gets in contact with local farmers and inspires them to grow organic food. His job is to link the devotee community with farmers. This way the devotees can be sure that the food they get from a particular farmer is really organic. GG: Are you traditionally a farmer? Madhura Gaurāṅga Dāsa: No. My father was a government official. But my grandfather was a farmer. GG: How do you contact farmers? MG: Through several NGOs, the organic farmers’ melā [festival], Whatsapp groups of likeminded people, etc. GG: Are you able to give your farmers some profit? MG: Yes. I make sure they get 20–25% profit. Besides, they save money on fertilizers and seeds. The concept is zero-budget natural farming. GG: What do devotees who consume organic food feel about it? Is the quality superior? MG: Yes. They immediately notice the improved taste, and they feel increased energy levels within a month. GG: Are your farmers happy? MG: Certainly. For me, the farmer who grows the food is very important. They say they are satisfied. GG: Was it a big risk to take up this profession? Were you scared about your income? MG: Initially, yes. But as you get deep into it, opportunities multiply favorably. *Prabhupāda's Spiritual Perspective* Any of us can make a difference in small ways. Over time, our endeavors click, and we inspire others. Śrīla Prabhupāda had higher, spiritual perspectives on food, deeper than mere preference for local, natural farming. He did not want us to just grow local food and remain in material consciousness. He had a bigger vision—to transport the entire earth population to the spiritual world. Śrī Kṛṣṇa says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (9.26): > patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ > yo me bhaktyā prayacchati > tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam > aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ “If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it.” In the purport Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: In the Third Chapter, verse thirteen, Śrī Kṛṣṇa explains that only the remains of sacrifice are purified and fit for consumption by those who are seeking advancement in life and release from the clutches of the material entanglement. Those who do not make an offering of their food, He says in the same verse, are eating only sin. In other words, their every mouthful is simply deepening their involvement in the complexities of material nature. But preparing nice, simple vegetable dishes, offering them before the picture or Deity of Lord Kṛṣṇa and bowing down and praying for Him to accept such a humble offering enable one to advance steadily in life, to purify the body, and to create fine brain tissues which will lead to clear thinking. Above all, the offering should be made with an attitude of love. Kṛṣṇa has no need of food, since He already possesses everything that be, yet He will accept the offering of one who desires to please Him in that way. The important element, in preparation, in serving and in offering, is to act with love for Kṛṣṇa. This is the larger picture Śrīla Prabhupāda promoted about food: Grow local, natural food, lovingly cook and offer it to the Lord, and it becomes prasāda, spiritual mercy. Honor it, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, and be happy and healthy spiritually, mentally, and physically. And Mother Earth will be happy too. References 1 https://www.ancient.eu/Silk_Road/ 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World 3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture) 4 http://www.deccanchronicle.com/columnists/270116/the-pulse-of-life.html 5 https://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture#.WcaMJtFx3Dc 6 http://d6.Kṛṣṇa.com/modern-agriculture-product-military-history 7 http://thealchemyofairsilva.weebly.com/summary.html 8 Dr. Vandana Shiva, Chapter 3: "Violence of the Green Revolution," in Chemical Fertilizers and Soil Fertility, Violence of the Green Revolution (Nataraj Publishers, 2010). 9 http://www.businessinsider.in/The-shocking-tale-of-Indias-Cancer-Train/articleshow/52690219.cms 10 http://aseed.net/en/gmo-patents-held-by-bayer-and-basf/ 11 https://blog.ucsusa.org/doug-gurian-sherman/engineered-pest-problems?_ga=2.105877248.242675136.1529808452-973173587.1529808452 12 Dr. Sahadeva Dāsa, Chapter titled "Food Insecurity(GM Genocide)," in End of Modern Civilization and Alternative Future (Bhagavata World Order Press, Dec. 2008). 13 http://navdanya.org/news/521-seed-satyagraha 14 https://www.globalresearch.ca/vandana-shiva-we-must-end-monsantos-colonization-its-enslavement-of-farmers/5465246 15 http://vandanashiva.com/?p=231 16 https://www.commondreams.org/views/2012/09/23/myths-about-industrial-agriculture 17 Śrīla Prabhupāda letter to Yaśomatīnandana Dāsa, November 28, 1976 18 Lecture, December 27, 1968, Los Angeles 19 http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/nr/sustainability_pathways/docs/Coping_with_food_and_agriculture_challenge__Smallholder_s_agenda_Final.pdf 20 http://btg.Kṛṣṇa.com/iskcon-farm-communities *Girirāja Govinda Dāsa is disciple of His Holiness Jayapatāka Swami Mahārāja and a śikṣā disciple of His Holiness Bhakti Vinoda Swami. He works as a scientist in the field of digital signal processing and is interested in exploring scientific aspects of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.* Bhagavān: God the Person *Of God's three aspects, His personal feature is the original and the only one with which we can have intimate exchanges.* By Ādi Puruṣa Dāsa The *bhakti* tradition acknowledges the personal and impersonal aspects of the Absolute Truth, but values one of them as the more desirable of the two. For hundreds of years, philosophers and theologians have debated whether God is ultimately personal or impersonal. After all, the nature of God plays a major role in our fate. If God is a person, then we have the potential for a loving, eternal relationship with Him. But if God isn’t a person and is instead impersonal, like a light we merge into, then we miss out on the opportunity for such a relationship. *The Nature of God* For God to be complete He must have both a personal and an impersonal aspect. If God were only personal or only impersonal, then He wouldn’t be complete, because He would lack something. The *bhakti* tradition acknowledges that God has an impersonal feature, a personal feature, and even a "localized" feature—a form within the heart. The *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* (1.2.11), an important *bhakti* text, states, > vadanti tat tattva-vidas > tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam > brahmeti paramātmeti > bhagavān iti śabdyate "Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā, or Bhagavān." Brahman is the impersonal aspect of God. It’s like a white light that one can merge into if one so wishes. Paramātmā is the localized aspect of God, also called the Supersoul. Readers of Ralph Waldo Emerson might be familiar with his idea of the Oversoul, similar to the idea of the Supersoul. As the Supersoul, God is in the heart of every living entity, witnessing and sanctioning the living entity’s actions. He also guides those willing to listen to Him, which can explain why people feel they have real experiences of God communicating with them from within. Finally, there is Bhagavān, the personal aspect of God, which can be said to be His original feature. Though the Supersoul is personal, Bhagavān is the personal feature of God whom those who have realized the Bhagavān aspect of God can see face to face and interact with in an intimate way. *Bhakti-yogīs* focus on Bhagavān because they can experience great ecstasy by participating in His pastimes, which God performs to give joy to His devotees. With the impersonal feature there’s no love and affection. If we merge into God’s existence and lose our individuality, we cannot have a loving relationship with Him. It takes two people to have an intimate relationship, and the annihilation of our identity makes any relationship impossible. *When God Comes to This World* Periodically, God comes to this world to perform marvelous acts and pastimes. The *bhakti* texts are filled with stories of how God acts when He comes to this world in His personal feature. According to the *bhakti* tradition, God is not a deistic God. In deism, God creates the world but then distances Himself from it and chooses not to become involved with it. According to the *bhakti* tradition, however, God isn’t disconnected from our world but instead comes in various incarnations to please His devotees and attract us to Him by His different activities. He also fights evil, saves His devotees, and restores justice to the world. When God comes to this world, He sometimes instructs us so that we can go to Him. When He came in His original form as Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna asked Him, “Which are considered to be more perfect, those who are always properly engaged in Your devotional service or those who worship the impersonal Brahman, the unmanifested?” *(Gītā* 12.1) Kṛṣṇa replied, “Those who ?x their minds on My personal form and are always engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith are considered by Me to be most perfect.” *(Gītā* 12.2) Thus Kṛṣṇa dispels any doubts or fears we may have about pursuing the path of personalism. Still, those accustomed to the impersonal mode of worship may think that the impersonal Brahman is the source of Kṛṣṇa and that we should therefore focus on the impersonal aspect of God. To clarify matters, however, Kṛṣṇa later states, brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham: “I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman.” *(Gītā* 14.27). Therefore the impersonal aspect of God, Brahman, comes from Kṛṣṇa, and not the other way around. God’s favorite thing to do when He comes to this world is to have loving relationships with His devotees. When Kṛṣṇa is with His friends, He has sweet, loving exchanges with them. With His fellow cowherd boyfriends, He plays hide-and-seek, imitates the sounds of local animals, plays music, dances, eats, and does all sorts of other fun activities. God doesn’t want to just sit on a throne and judge people; He wants to have fun, and He wants us to join in. Moreover, God even takes pleasure in serving His devotees. Arjuna had to fight a great battle, and out of affection for Arjuna, Kṛṣṇa agreed to become his charioteer. As God, there was no need for Kṛṣṇa to take that humble role. He could have finished off the entire army in the blink of an eye. But because Kṛṣṇa has so much love for Arjuna, He decided to become Arjuna’s charioteer and render service to him. *The Benefits of Personalism* Still, despite the sweet nature of God’s personal aspect, the impersonal aspect can have its appeal. We may sometimes feel frustrated with material variety, so we conclude that variety of any sort leads to unhappiness and that the way to true happiness is by stopping all activity. Thus we may conclude that the ultimate happiness is to merge into God’s impersonal feature. But does this sound like real happiness? Imagine you had to stop all your activities and just sit in a room doing nothing. Would you be happy? Probably not. You’d be much happier being with someone you love. A person on the path of impersonalism may be able to escape suffering, but he or she misses out on the opportunity to feel a greater sense of happiness by experiencing a loving relationship with God. Personalism gives us the opportunity to share our joy with God and His devotees. In contrast, impersonalism is like solitary confinement. In *bhakti-yoga* we establish our loving relationship with the Supreme Lord through a variety of spiritual activities, like hearing about Him, chanting His names, dancing for His pleasure, and even gardening for Him or doing business for Him. Many spiritual paths say that our suffering is caused by material activities, but, as mentioned before, refraining from all activity, as one might do on the impersonal path, is boring. Personalism offers a perfect solution because it provides us with the opportunity to perform spiritual activities, which are full of variety. And as we know, variety is the spice of life. Plus, unlike material activities, spiritual activities don’t frustrate us. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* (2.62) Kṛṣṇa explains why material activities frustrate us, > dhyāyato viṣayān puṁsaḥ? > saṅgas teṣūpajāyate? > saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ? > kāmāt krodho ’bhijāyate "While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises." When we perform material activities, we feel frustrated when we don’t get what we desire. Or if we get what we desire but it doesn’t match our expectations, then we may also feel frustrated. It’s just like when a young boy sees an ice cream cone. He starts to desire it more and more, but if his mother says he can’t have it, he gets frustrated. But if he were to get the ice cream and it wasn’t as good as he thought it would be, he would still be frustrated. Ultimately, he'll feel frustrated even if the ice cream meets or exceeded his expectations, because bodily pleasure alone can’t satisfy the soul. When we act to please God and not ourselves, we don’t experience unfulfilled lust. In fact, when we act for God’s pleasure, we feel a greater joy than if we had tried to act for our own sake. On the other hand, we feel less and less happiness from material activities. Take ice cream as an example again. It tastes really good, but after a certain point you get sick of it. Spiritual activities are different. The more you perform them, the better they taste. *The Lord’s Reciprocation* Another great thing about personalism is that the Lord reciprocates our love for Him and loves us to an infinite degree. We are all searching for love, and God can completely fulfill our desire to love and be loved. An exchange between Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself, and His devotee Sanātana Gosvāmī illustrates how much God loves us. Sanātana Gosvāmī was once suffering from itching, oozing sores all over his body. But Lord Caitanya had so much love for His devotee that He embraced him, and Sanātana Gosvāmī was cured of his condition. This incident highlights some of the wonderful qualities of the Lord. He loves us unconditionally, despite our imperfections or blemishes. Our boyfriends, girlfriends, friends, pets, and so on could leave us at any moment. Yet even in our darkest hours we can count on Kṛṣṇa to be there for us, ready to embrace us. Moreover, the Lord can also preserve whatever we have and carry to us what we lack. Thus by taking shelter of God we can overcome any difficulties we may face. Another story involving Lord Caitanya portrays God's love for His devotees. When the great devotee Haridāsa Ṭhākura died, Lord Caitanya carried his body to the sea, bathed it, performed the funeral ceremony, and covered his body in the tomb with sand. Being God, He didn’t have to do any of this; He could have gotten someone else to do it. But out of love and affection for His devotee, He did this service for Haridāsa Ṭhākura. *The Bliss of Bhakti-yoga* Moreover, the whole process of *bhakti-yoga* is very blissful. We can get a hint of how blissful *bhakti-yoga* is through the story of Dhruva. Dhruva was a child whose father was a king with two wives. Unfortunately for Dhruva, his mother was the king's less-favored wife. One day when Dhruva tried to sit on his father’s lap, his stepmother stopped him. She told Dhruva that if he wanted to sit on his father’s lap, he would have to worship God and take birth from her womb. Disappointed, Dhruva told his mother what had happened. She tried to console him, and she too said that worshiping the Lord would be the only way he could sit on his father’s lap. So Dhruva set out for the forest to worship the Lord, not only to be able to sit on his father’s lap, but also to gain a kingdom far, far greater than his father's. Along the way Dhruva met the sage Nārada, who gave him a *mantra* to meditate on. By chanting this *mantra*, Dhruva eventually saw God face to face. After seeing God (Kṛṣṇa in His Viṣṇu form), Dhruva was ecstatic. He felt such intense bliss that he condemned himself for approaching God for material benefits. He considered the bliss of seeing God far greater than any material opulence. He said that he set out to find some broken glass and instead found a diamond. Therefore, even though we may derive great joy from material opulence, the joy of love of God makes such happiness seem as insignificant as broken glass. Such intense bliss is available to us through the practice of *bhakti-yoga*, beginning with hearing and chanting God’s names, as in the *mahā-*mantra**: Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rama Rāma, Hare Hare. Chanting this *mantra* revives the dormant love for God that lies within us. Thus, by approaching the personal aspect of God, we can feel increasing levels of bliss and experience the love we are all searching for. *Ādi Puruṣa Dāsa is pursuing a master's degree in Religious Studies at Duke University in North Carolina.* Letters *Two Corrections to "Red Square"* Thank you for publishing "A Sadhu at Red Square," by Kāśīśvara Prabhu (Jul/Aug 2018). It's very nice but needs two corrections: 1. Ananta Śānti Dāsa (Anatoli) wasn't Prabhupāda's "only Russian disciple." Another one was Vālmīki Muni Dāsa, who passed away in 2003 in Los Angeles. He accompanied Ananta Śānti on his first preaching tour to Estonia in the 1970s and played the major part in developing the centers there and in Latvia. 2. In the same column of the article the text gives the impression that Putin mockingly said he was a Hare Kṛṣṇa in 1990s, but that happened in the twenty-first century. Kṛṣṇānanda Dāsa Moscow *A Relevant Verse About Difficulties* Regarding the article "Dealing with Difficulties," by Ādi Puruṣa Dāsa (Sep/Oct 2018), it was very nicely done, but it's missing one of Śrīla Prabhupāda's favorite verses: > tat te ’nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇo > bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākam > hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te > jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk "My dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words, and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.” *(Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* 10.14.8) Thanks. Pankaj Patel Via the Internet *Overcoming Fear* How to overcome fear of someone? Harijit Bhakat Via the Internet *Reply:* The question of how to overcome fear is a very important one, no matter who or what we are afraid of. All fear is caused by the same things. First, it is due to a lack of faith that the Lord is in control and whatever happens to His devotees is arranged for their spiritual benefit. Second, it is due to attachment. We are attached to something (whether our body or our phone), and we are afraid of losing it. We know by our intelligence that everything in the material world must come to an end at one time or another, and so we live in fear that we will lose something or someone dear to us because time is ticking away. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* Kṛṣṇa says *kālo ’sm*i: "Time I am." In His form as time, He takes away or breaks down everything. And if we are attached, we will suffer. Fear is part of the suffering. The material energy is designed to give us the results of our previous actions over many lifetimes. We cannot change that. But we can become detached and understand that what comes our way is beyond our control. All we can control is our reaction to it. The third reason for fear is connected to the first and second reasons. It is our inability to control anything outside ourselves and outside our own behavior. We know what we want, and we try to never have any problems, but still problems come, and they cause us suffering. We try, even struggle, to get out of the suffering, but still, sometimes without any apparent cause, we are forced into situations that bring us suffering. Because we often feel helpless, we become fearful. To get out of fear, it helps to give up our attachments, realizing that Lord Kṛṣṇa is in control and that what is to come will come according to our *karma*. Furthermore, we become fearless when we realize that the only way to become happy is to serve the Lord. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* (18.66) Lord Kṛṣṇa says, "Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear." He will protect us, so there is nothing to fear. Being delivered from sinful reactions means no more material suffering. As for fear of a particular person, if you are in danger, don't be just philosophical; be practical as well. Avoid that person as much as possible or, even better, try to figure out a way to work out the difficulties. Check to see what you are really afraid of. It might be inside yourself, and becoming aware of that fear may help you overcome it by understanding your true spiritual nature and taking shelter of higher knowledge and your relationship with Lord Kṛṣṇa. *Brahmā's Creative Impulse* How did Brahmā's impulse for creation arise? K.V. Rao Via the Internet *Reply:* It would be best for you to read about this in the *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam*, where it is dealt with in detail, but here's a summary. When the time for universal creation comes, the inspiration for doing the work comes from Lord Kṛṣṇa. Lord Brahmā finds himself sitting atop a lotus flower and is confused about what to do. He hears a voice utter the word tapa ("austerity"), and he takes it as a divine instruction. He performs austerity for a very long time and becomes completely purified and aware that he is to be responsible for the creation and population of the material realm. As a result of his having reached the appropriate level of realization and qualification, Lord Kṛṣṇa gives him the inspiration, ingredients, and instructions for universal creation. The instructions are imparted into Brahmā's heart by way of the flute song of Lord Kṛṣṇa. This is depicted on the cover of the book Śrī *Brahma-saṁhitā*, published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. *Waiting for the Joy* Does a devotee always keep hoping year after year that some day he will become a pure devotee and get extreme spiritual joy? At the moment, when he is too fallen and thus unable to get spiritual joy, does he always remain frustrated by thinking so? How to deal with not getting extreme spiritual joy even after practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness for decades? Anant Saraswat Via the Internet *Reply:* Devotees are always hoping against hope that they will get the mercy of *guru* and Kṛṣṇa and then be blessed with the privilege of loving devotion. A true devotee is not looking for spiritual joy but rather looking to please Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa and *guru* are pleased, the devotee is automatically pleased. The most advanced devotees always consider themselves unqualified and fallen, but they are also convinced that Kṛṣṇa is most kind and will be merciful to them in their attempt to serve. They are confident that the Lord, responding to the recommendation of their spiritual master, will accept their service. Once one understands the highest goal of life, there is no longer interest in material happiness, so the effort to please *guru* and Kṛṣṇa is the only desire of the devotee. Spiritual joy is a byproduct of pleasing Kṛṣṇa and His pure devotees. A Pause for Prayer My dear infallible Lord, it is not very astonishing that You intimately approach Your servants who have taken exclusive shelter of You. After all, during Your appearance as Lord Rāmacandra, even while great demigods like Brahmā were vying to place the effulgent tips of their helmets upon the cushion where Your lotus feet rested, You displayed special affection for monkeys such as Hanumān because they had taken exclusive shelter of You. Who, then, could dare reject You, the very Soul, the most dear object of worship, and the Supreme Lord of all—You who give all possible perfections to the devotees who take shelter of You? Who could be so ungrateful, knowing the benefits You bestow? Who would reject You and accept something for the sake of material enjoyment, which simply leads to forgetfulness of You? And what lack is there for us who are engaged in the service of the dust of Your lotus feet? O my Lord! Transcendental poets and experts in spiritual science could not fully express their indebtedness to You, even if they were endowed with the prolonged lifetime of Brahmā, for You appear in two features—externally as the ācārya and internally as the Supersoul—to deliver the embodied living being by directing him how to come to You. Śrīla Prabhupāda Speaks Out *Out of Our Element* *This conversation between His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda and reporters took place in Melbourne, Australia, on June 29, 1974.* Reporter 1: Your Divine Grace, often when people pursue what you term "spiritual life," they seem to forget about pursuing the things of *this* world—making *this* world comfortable. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Making this world "comfortable"? That will never be possible. Do you understand this? Let us say you take a fish out of the water and put him on the land. Now, you may give the fish a lovely velvet cushion and everything nice. But will the fish be comfortable? Reporter 1: No. He'd be out of his element. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Similarly, we living entities are spirit soul. So being in this material body in this material world—this means we are out of our element. But unfortunately, our system of education is so dull that the authorities do not know that we are not this body—we are spirit soul. They are presenting themselves as big, big philosophers and big, big statesmen and big, big social planners. Yet they are forgetting the real thing: that we are not this body but spirit soul. Today even the leader is accepting this material body as his real self. And he is thinking, "These bodily comforts will make me happy." But that cannot be. Because the body and its comforts are made of matter—and we are spirit soul. Consider the same example: if you take the fish from his natural environment, the water, and put him on the land, he'll never be happy. Similarly, as long as you continue to have this material body, you cannot enjoy real, eternal happiness. And you will have so many problems. The main problems are birth, death, old age, and disease. And these problems are due simply to having this material body. Therefore, an intelligent man should know that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul. My natural field of activities is on the spiritual platform. If I can somehow return to the spiritual platform, then I will be happy." So the sum and substance of this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is to educate people in how to be situated on the spiritual platform, how to be happy. Reporter 2: Your Divine Grace, do you think that chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra* is the only way to achieve this liberation from matter? Is chanting the only way to be "situated on the spiritual platform"? Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. Chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra* means chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, and Rādhā, or Mother Harā, the Lord's personified spiritual energy. So chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa means you come into direct association with the Lord by taking shelter of His spiritual energy. *Hare Kṛṣṇa:* "O Lord, please engage me in Your devotional service. O devotional, spiritual energy of the Lord, please let me take shelter of You." Being situated on the spiritual platform means you take shelter of the Lord's spiritual energy. For instance, when you approach a heater, you are taking shelter of the heater's heating energy. Similarly, when you approach Kṛṣṇa, you are taking shelter of His spiritual energy. Or take the example of the sun, the great fiery planet. When you approach the sun, you are taking shelter of the sun's heating and lighting energy. Is it not? When you are in the sunshine, in one sense you are in the sun. Of course, in another sense you are not actually in the sun—because the sun's fiery temperature is so high that had you been actually in the sun, you would have been immediately blown up, burned into ashes. But still, when you take shelter of the sunshine, you take shelter of the sun. So Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, is situated as the supreme fire. Whatever we are experiencing is a spark of His energy. And just as we can enter into the sun's all-pervasive fiery energy, even though the sun itself is ninety-three million miles away, so similarly, even though the Lord is very far away, we can take shelter of the Lord's all-pervasive spiritual energy simply by chanting His holy name—because Kṛṣṇa, being absolute, is not different from His name. Therefore, if you chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra* without offense, then you directly associate with Kṛṣṇa. This is liberation from matter. Spiritual liberation, situation on the spiritual platform. Reporter 2: In all the scriptures that I have read, it's said that the disciple must remember God's name constantly. So you say that the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra* contains God's name. How do we know this? Śrīla Prabhupāda: How do you know your name? Reporter 2: My parents gave it to me. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. You relied on your mother and father, on parental authority. Similarly, you have to learn the Lord's name by relying on spiritual authority. Reporter 2: From the scriptures. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. Reporter 3: Śrīla Prabhupāda, what about other religions, like Christianity and . . . Śrīla Prabhupāda: There is no second religion. There is only one. That is the right idea; that is genuine God consciousness. Now, as soon as you designate "Christian," "Hindu," "Muslim," that is *upādhi*—it falls short of the genuine spiritual conception. Just as God is one person, so genuine religion is one thing. Designated religion—conceiving of "our Christian God" or "our Hindu God"—falls short. For example, now you are in a black coat. Tomorrow you may be in a white coat. So I could designate you as "black Mr. Such-and-such" or "white Mr. Such-and-such." But there is no need, because you are not actually that black or white coat. That black or white coat is not you, but simply a circumstance. Similarly, due to our so-called sophisticated mind, we say "Christian religion," "Hindu religion." To describe some particular historical circumstance we may use these designations. But religion is one thing. It means to glorify God's holy name and abide by His laws. That is the spiritual platform From the Editor *Peace, Cows, and BTG* *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* 11.29.4-6, Uddhava to Lord Kṛṣṇa The world was at war when Śrīla Prabhupāda started Back to Godhead magazine seventy-five years ago. With many countries involved in World War II, it was a fitting time to launch a magazine to promote Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which Prabhupāda, on the authority of the Vedic scriptures and the enlightened teachers of that tradition, knew to be the only path to peace. Unfortunately, Kṛṣṇa consciousness has yet to become a prominent force in the modern world, and the wars persist. A widespread conflict deserving the title World War III has yet to be declared, but that fact offers little solace to people living in war conditions all over the world. As I write this, the website warsintheworld.com, which keeps track of armed conflicts, lists 68 countries involved in wars, most of these instigated by 801 "militias-guerrillas and terrorist-separatist-anarchic groups." The lament for man's inhumanity to man is a perennial theme, with the question "Why can't we all just get along?" having devolved to the status of a cliche—along with the stereotypical beauty-pageant contestant's reply to "What matters most to you?" Answer: "World peace." Yes, we all want world peace. But why is it so evasive? The Vedic scriptures teach that violence begets violence and that a prominent source of man's violence toward his fellow man is his violence toward animals, particularly the cow. Many people today will scoff at this idea, considering it nothing more than religious superstition. But is it unreasonable to suggest that people who needlessly kill animals or feed on the products of those who do the killing might lose some of their natural repulsion at killing? As they blithely consume the slaughterhouse products, might the violence of the slaughterhouse be affecting them in some subtle way? Almost everyone today has a basic idea of the concept of *karma*. Yet, as happens with any profound idea adopted by popular culture, the concept—or, rather, universal law—of *karma* in the popular mind generally fails to include what we do to animals. Prabhupāda would often point out that we fall short when we rely on our imperfect sense of right and wrong instead of the perfect directions of the scriptures and enlightened souls. From them we learn that killing the peaceful cow that provides us with a vital food in exchange for a little grass is a heartless act of violence. A world where cow slaughter is commonplace cannot have peace. Śrīla Prabhupāda often spoke and wrote about this inviolable law of nature. Unlike many Indian *gurus* who arrived in the West before and after him, he insisted that his disciples give up eating meat. And beyond that, he directed them to set up Kṛṣṇa conscious farms to demonstrate a natural, peaceful way of life centered on the protection of cows. The message Prabhupāda aimed to deliver through the medium of Back to Godhead and in numerous other ways was not limited to cow protection. But cow protection was an important part of his prodigious efforts to raise the consciousness of as many people as possible so they could—as one of his early BTG mottos stated—"rise up to the plane of the soul spirit." Though acknowledged by too few, Prabhupāda's promotion of cow protection in the context of raising consciousness is an important contribution to lessening the violence that's now the scourge of too many. Hare Kṛṣṇa. —*Nāgarāja Dāsa, Editor* Vedic Thoughts Those who are bewildered by the external features of the material world and are engaged in the animal propensities of the eat-drink-and-be-merry type of life are simply wasting their lives by the unseen passing away of valuable years. We should know in perfect consciousness that human life is bestowed upon the conditioned soul to achieve spiritual success, and the easiest possible procedure to attain this end is to chant the holy name of the Lord. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* 2.1.12, Purport Until one revives one's direct knowledge of the spirit soul and drives away the illusory identification with the material body and mind caused by the three modes of nature, one must cultivate those things in the mode of goodness. By increasing the mode of goodness, one automatically can understand and practice religious principles, and by such practice transcendental knowledge is awakened. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam*, 11.13.6 He is neither large nor infinitesimal; yet He is larger and smaller than everything else. He is said to be devoid of color; yet He is dark blue, and the corners of His eyes are reddish. By the play of His personal powers, the Supreme Lord is known by contradictory designations. Yet He is the Supreme, and faults should never be ascribed to Him. In Him all contrary qualities combine. Kūrma Purāṇa Quoted in *Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta* 2.1.179, Commentary Many planks and sticks, unable to stay together, are carried away by the force of a river’s waves. Similarly, although we are intimately related with friends and family members, we are unable to stay together because of our varied past deeds and the waves of time. Śrī Vasudeva *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* 10.5.25 All glories, all glories to Lord Murāri in the form of His all-ecstatic name! If any living being puts aside such tasks as meditation, ritual worship, and social duties and even once takes the Lord’s holy name, the name will grant him liberation. That holy name is the greatest source of eternal pleasure and is my very life and ornament. Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī *Śrī Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta* 1.1.9 Lord Kṛṣṇa, who personally gave the vīṇā to Nārada, assumes the form of transcendental sound and appears in the heart of Nārada, who is engaged in continually remembering the Lord's glories and chanting them, accompanied by this musical instrument. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī *Śrī Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha*, *Anuccheda* 60 When scriptures describe the Lord of the universe as devoid of qualities, they mean He has no material qualities like those belonging to inferior objects. *Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa* 255.39–40 All the Vedas describe the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. *Kaṭha Upaniṣad* 1.2.15 BTG53-02, 2019