# Back to Godhead Magazine #55 *2021 (06)* Back to Godhead Magazine #55-06, 2021 PDF-View Welcome In this issue’s “Founder’s Lecture,” Śrīla Prabhupāda focuses on a theme he emphasized repeatedly in his talks and books: To get perfect knowledge, we must receive it from a perfect source. When Lord Kṛṣṇa spoke the *Bhagavad-gītā* to Arjuna, He made it clear that He is God Himself, or, in Prabhupāda’s preferred terminology, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It follows, therefore, that whatever He teaches is perfect knowledge. One point that Kṛṣṇa makes in the *Gītā* is that He descends to earth repeatedly throughout the ages in various forms. In this issue, Caitanya Caraṇa Dāsa give us some intriguing information in relation to the history of the Lord’s avatar Rāmacandra that even many of us familiar with His story may not be aware of. Gaurāṅga Darśana Dāsa writes about Lord Rāmacandra as well, using an episode from His life to illustrate God’s unlimited power. We don’t have to look back thousands or millions of years to find examples of God’s power—we can simply look at nature today. As Karuṇā Dhārinī Devī Dāsī tells us in “Kṛṣṇa’s Nature,” the power of nature displayed in climate catastrophes gives us a hint of the power of the Supreme Person, the source and ultimate controller of nature’s awesome power. Hare Kṛṣṇa. —*Nāgarāja Dāsa, Editor* Letters *Why Does God Want Me to Suffer?* Holy books say that we shouldn’t feel alone because God is always with us, but why is God not with me? Why does He want me to suffer when I have not done wrong to anyone? The wrong has happened to me only. I didn't ask anything from Him till today, then why? Prasad Kashid Via the Internet Reply: We have been traveling in this material world for countless lifetimes, attached to one body after another and the fruits of our actions. We have offended the Lord, and we are here to correct our mentality. We think we should be able to enjoy without God, but for lifetimes we have tried and failed. This lifetime can be different. Our consciousness needs to focus on developing respect for the Lord and dependence on Him, asking Him what we can do for Him, not what He can do for us. When He sees that we are turning toward Him, He gives us only a fraction of the punishment we are due from so many lifetimes. Out of His mercy, He minimizes our suffering. We should try not to point the finger at God, but at ourselves for our selfish mentality. He needs to make us suffer some so that we want to get out of this material world once and for all. We should accept suffering as His mercy and a chance to fix our mind on Him as our goal in life. He presents some tests for us so we can become stronger and have more faith. He is arranging everything according to our desires. We must desire to know Him and love Him and accept His plan of action for our own good. He is there in your heart. Call out to Him for understanding. Chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra*, which is a way of begging Him to accept your small service. He will surely arrange for your purification so you can enter His spiritual abode. *Divine Eyes* Based on *Bhagavad-gītā* 11.8, is *divya-cakṣu*, or the divine eye, visible? Is the soul visible? Shanti Via the Internet *Reply:* Divine eyes are a gift from the Lord, given to the devotee who pleases Him. Kṛṣṇa declares that He awards one according to one’s surrender and love. Arjuna met those qualifications and therefore was given the eyes to see the universal form of the Lord. Devotees who are purified and totally attached to the Lord are awarded understanding of their eternal svarūpa, or their eternal form and relationship with the Lord. Fortunate devotees see their real self and the Lord, perfecting their existence. Such souls are very rare. We can only pray for the mercy of the spiritual master to allow us to advance on the path toward that goal. *Considering Sannyāsa* I want to become a *sannyāsī* and practice *bhakti-yoga*, but I want to continue my job so I can take care of my parents because I don't want to leave them alone in their old age when I should be there to serve them. As lord Gaṇeśa said, one’s mother and father are gods. Please tell me if it is possible for me to become a *sannyāsī*. Lokesh Via the Internet *Reply*: In ISKCON, the practice is that a man interested in *sannyāsa*, or the renounced order of life, is usually recommended to the person’s *guru* by advanced devotees. The *guru* will decide if it is appropriate or the right time for the person to accept that position. Usually, *sannyāsa* is awarded to devotees who are done with their family duties and the wife agrees to it. The devotee has to meet certain qualifications, take special classes, and meet other requirements. There are many *gurus* in our line who took *sannyāsa* at the end of their lives; others arranged to leave their families after giving charge to a grown-up son. Taking *sannyāsa* must not be a whimsical decision. *Sannyāsa* is not an easy life. One has to be detached from material life and totally absorbed in preaching the glories of the Lord. Ponder these things and ask your *guru* or advanced devotees if it is the time for you to take on this responsibility. *Overcoming Worry* I often get worried about the future. How to overcome this? Manjunath Via the Internet *Reply:* Our previous teacher Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has written in a song that we should not dwell on the past or the future but focus on the present. Worrying really accomplishes nothing except increasing our worries. Devotees depend on Kṛṣṇa and His plans, not our own. The material world is meant to be a place of distress just to pinch us and make us want to get out of here. It certainly is not going to get better, so it is best that we do the needful to make it the launching pad to get us to the spiritual world. We can take advantage of this lifetime—today, right now—to change our future to one that is bright. Kṛṣṇa will accept our loving service now, and He guarantees that we can go to Him when this life is over. When Kṛṣṇa is pleased by our attitude of service, then we will be pleased, no matter what is going on around us. This material world is not our home. We have to contact our real father, mother, beloved, and friend—Śrī Kṛṣṇa—by chanting His glories and trying to give everything to Him. This is the path of *bhakti-yoga*, which makes the future perfect. *Attaining Liberation* How does one attain *mokṣa* through devotion? Are there stages toward this awakening? Rob Via the Internet *Reply:* There are different types of *mokṣa*. Many want liberation from this material world with the hope of going to heavenly planets for a higher grade of sense gratification. Others may want to merge into the “white light,” or the effulgence of Kṛṣṇa’s impersonal feature. Devotees of the Lord want to attain the position of loving service to Him. Therefore devotees learn how to offer everything back to Him with love and devotion. They only want to please Him. They are not interested in His impersonal energy, life on higher planets, or entering the brahmajoyti. They only want to serve Kṛṣṇa, which is the innermost yearning of the soul. Liberation from material existence is a by-product of pure devotional service, which gains the devotee entrance into the abode of the Lord for an eternal life of loving service to Him. Founder's Lecture: Bhagavan’s Perfect Teachings *Śrīla Prabhupāda explains why it is reasonable to accept what Kṛṣṇa says as authoritative and, in fact, perfect.* Lord Kṛṣṇa chides Arjuna for his erroneous thinking. > śrī bhagavān uvāca > aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ > prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase > gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca > nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ “The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead.” —*Bhagavad-gītā* 2.11 This is the version of Kṛṣṇa in the beginning of *Bhagavad-gītā*. Vyāsadeva, the compiler, recorded the talks between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna and then put them systematically in a book form. He says bhagavān uvāca. Bhagavān means the Supreme Person. Just as in this meeting, amongst my students I am the supreme person, and similarly in the state there is a supreme person—the president or the prime minister—so everywhere you will find out one supreme person. Without a supreme person, an order-giving person, nothing can be managed. This is everlastingly existing, and you cannot avoid this. Even Communist countries have a supreme person, a dictator. Consider the whole universal affair—nature, or how things are going on. The sun is rising early in the morning. It is setting exactly in due time. Then the moon is coming. Everyone in the big, big planetary systems is working very systematically. The astronomical calculation is so perfect that one can calculate how things are moving to an accuracy of one ten-thousandth of a second. In the *Brahma-saṁhitā* (5.52) it is said, > yac-cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ > rājā samasta-sura-mūrtir aśeṣa-tejāḥ > yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakro > govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi “The sun, full of infinite effulgence, who is the king of all the planets and the image of the good soul, is like the eye of this world. I adore the primeval Lord, Govinda, in pursuance of whose order the sun performs his journey, mounting the wheel of time.” The sun is the eye of all the planets. We have got eyes, but unless there is sunrise, what is the value of our eyes? We cannot see. We are very much proud of our eyes; we want to see everything. But we do not calculate the value of our eyes. Unless there is sunshine, we cannot see. At night, unless there is electricity or moonlight or some lamp, we cannot see. And still we are very much proud of seeing. This is called illusion. We have no power. We are put under certain conditions; then we work. Otherwise we cannot work. Prakṛti, material nature, puts us under certain conditions, and we work accordingly, not independently. And prakṛti is also working under somebody. When you go on the street, you see a red light or a green light. As soon as you see a red light, you stop your car. So this red light and green light is being manipulated by the police, and the police is working under the government. Similarly, this whole material nature is acting like red light or green light, but behind that red light and green light there is the supreme brain. That is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A child cannot understand how the red light and green light is working. He thinks it is being done automatically. That is foolishness. It is not being done automatically. There is a machine. There is a manipulator behind the red light. To understand this is intelligence. Anyone who concludes, “On the street the red light and green light is working automatically; there is no brain behind it,” is a rascal. Similarly, the whole material cosmic manifestation—even the big sun planet—is working under a certain direction. *Yac cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇām*. Without sunrise nobody can see, not only on this planet, on other planets also. Sakala-grahāṇām: “all planets.” The sun planet is so important. Day and night, year, and millions of years—everything in the solar system is being calculated on the basis of the sun. So the sun, this powerful planet, is described as the eyes of everyone. Without sunshine nobody can see. Yac cakṣur eṣa savitā sakala-grahāṇāṁ rājā. It is to be considered the king of all planets, *sakala-grahāṇām rājā.* All the planets are moving, rotating, and working on the heat and light of the sun. The sun is so important. Everything is described in the Vedic literature. The sun is working under somebody’s direction. *Yasyājñayā bhramati sambhṛta-kāla-cakraḥ*. The sun is rotating in its the orbit at the speed of sixteen thousand miles per second by the order of somebody. That is Govinda. *Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi.* *By the Will of Kṛṣṇa* This is knowledge. The Supreme Person is *Bhaga*vān. *Bhaga* means six kinds of opulence: He is the richest, the most powerful, the wisest, the most beautiful, the most influential, and the most renounced at the same time. This whole cosmic manifestation is created by the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but you will not find Him here. He is uninterested. Many millions of universes are working by His will, but He is not interested. A big capitalist like Mr. Tata has got many factories, and if you go to the factory you will see so much going on, but Mr. Tata is not there. Similarly, the whole cosmic manifestation is going on under the will of Kṛṣṇa, but He is not present here. That is explained in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (9.4): > mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ > jagad avyakta-mūrtinā > mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni > na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ “By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.” Kṛṣṇa says, “Everything is resting on Me.” In any factory, every worker knows that the whole factory’s functioning is resting on a supreme person. Bhagavān means that under His will, under His power, everything is working so nicely, systematically. But if you want to see God, Kṛṣṇa, you cannot see Him. He is not there. He is in Goloka Vṛndāvana. But His influence is so extensive that even without His personal presence, things are going on so nicely. This is the meaning of bhagavān. *Perfect Knowledge* Here in this *Bhagavad-gītā* *Bhagavān* is giving you knowledge. So how perfect it is, you have to consider. Vyāsadeva could have said *śrī-vyāsadeva *uvāca**. No. *Bhagavān* *uvāca*. So authoritative. So whatever He says, there cannot be any change. It is all perfect. Unfortunately we rascals do not take *Bhagavad-gītā* as it is. We want to change it according to our whims. This rascal havoc has ruined the whole world. Otherwise, if *Bhagavad-gītā* had been preached as it is, the world situation would have been different. Everything would have been in order. Tranquility, peace—and everybody would have been prosperous. But the rascals will not do that. That is the defect. Therefore our tiny effort is how to present *Bhagavad-gītā* as it is. This is our mission. Even now, in this distorted condition of the world, if we accept *Bhagavad-gītā* as it is, then still we will be benefited. There is no doubt about it. Therefore our appeal is that throughout the whole world people should come, try to understand *Bhagavad-gītā*, set up examples, and do the needful. Then everything will be peaceful. This is the peace formula. > bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ > sarva-loka-maheśvaram > suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ > jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati “The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.” (*Gītā* 5.29) *Suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām*. *Suhṛt* means well-wisher. Here is the supreme well-wisher. He, Kṛṣṇa, wants that wherever you live, you live peacefully and happily; therefore He is called *suhṛt*. He desires everyone’s happiness. Therefore He comes Himself to advise, to instruct how to live, how to follow His instruction. He leaves behind Him such books as *Bhagavad-gītā*, and He sends His representative occasionally to revive our consciousness. This business is going on not only in the human society, but even in the animal society. Anywhere, even in demigod society, things are going on like that. Therefore we should know that whatever Bhagavān says, there cannot be any mistake, any illusion, any cheating, or any imperfectness. Then it will be very nice. And that is the fact. The words used, bhagavān uvāca, mean that this instruction is neither a mistake nor an illusion nor cheating nor imperfect. We conditioned souls, as I said, are very much proud of our eyes, but we cannot see without sunrise. We cannot see without electricity. That is our defect. Everything we possess is defective, but still we are proud: “We are perfect.” That is cheating. We are not perfect. But Kṛṣṇa, Bhagavān, is not like that. If we think Kṛṣṇa is like us, then we are fools. Because He teaches and appears exactly like a human being, therefore we think, “Oh, He may be a little more intelligent than me. After all, He is like me.” No. He is Bhagavān. We have to understand. The problem was that Arjuna was not willing to fight, because he was considering that his family members should not be killed. Nobody, of course, should like to kill his family members, so that was natural. But this family relationship or national relationship or community relationship is due to this body. I accept somebody as my brother because he has got the body from the same father from whom I have got this body. But the body is a by-product of the father’s body, so this bodily relationship is material. It is outward, external. It is not a real relationship. The father is a soul, I am a soul, my brother is a soul, so we are related on the spiritual platform in relationship with God because the soul is not matter. But we see the material body only. The son does not see the soul of the father, nor does the father see the soul of the son. Everyone, under illusion, is simply seeing the body and accepting people as kinsmen. *Simply a Lump of Matter* This illusion was to be removed by Kṛṣṇa, and therefore He said, **aśocyān* anvaśocas tvam*: “You are lamenting over the body. Oh, it is very regrettable. You are lamenting.” What is this body? It is simply a lump of matter. As soon as the soul is out of this body, what is the value of this lump of matter? It will be thrown in the street, and somebody will kick on its face. Nobody will care. But so long as the soul is there, if you touch the hair even—“Why are you touching my hair?” But when the soul is not there, if somebody kicks the same face, nobody will care. This is the position of the body. Therefore it is said, *aśocyān*. “It is garbage. Why are you lamenting about this garbage?” *Aśocyān anvaśocas tvam*. “You are talking like a very learned man. ‘If I kill my brothers, my brothers’ wives will be widows, and there will be prostitution, and then the whole family will go to ruin.’ These are all external conditions.” Real education is “You are thinking in terms of the body; therefore it is not a very important subject matter.” What will happen to the soul? That is real; that is important. But whole world does not know what is the important platform. They are all rascals because they are concerned only with this body. That is not wonderful; that is natural. Even if we know, still, if there is some bodily pain we become very much disturbed. But we should know, always remember, that “I am not this body.” The same example I have often given: If I have got a very nice car, a Rolls-Royce car, then I have got attachment to it. That is all right, but we should know always that “I am not this Rolls-Royce car. I am different from it.” This is knowledge. I may have some attachment to my car. That is natural. I have paid for it. I like it. But in spite of all these considerations, I am not the Rolls-Royce car. The Rolls-Royce car is a lump of matter. I am using it. Similarly, we should always remember that “I am using this material body for different transactions, but I am not this material body.” A devotee uses this material body properly. We are also going by airplane, by motorcar. I have come to your country by airplane not to see your country; I have come for Kṛṣṇa’s business, to see if I can induce you to take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise we have no concern with this airplane or motorcar or anything. We take advantage. Similarly, when we take advantage of this body for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then it is very nice. That is also renouncement—to have no attachment but to simply use things. Then the thing becomes spiritual. Actually it is spiritual, and when it is not used for a spiritual purpose or Kṛṣṇa’s purpose, it is material. What is the difference between material and spiritual? A picture is there [on the temple altar]. But because there are so many kinds of pictures, people may say, “Here also is a picture. Why are these people worshiping and offering *ārati* and chanting before that picture?” But this picture is spiritual, because it enhances or enthuses a spiritual consciousness. Therefore it is spiritual. Of course, it is not very easy to understand immediately, but in the ultimate issue everything is created by Kṛṣṇa, or God, so by seeing everything, if you remember Kṛṣṇa, then that seeing is spiritual. For an ordinary man this does not happen. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, “You are lamenting for the body. Oh, it is very astonishing. And you are talking like a very learned man.” You will find many people talking as if they are very learned. But if you ask someone, “What are you?” the reply will be, “I am Indian,” “I am American,” “I am Mr. Such-and-such,” “I am the father of such and such.” This is the bodily conception. However great he may be, he is identified with the body. And according to śāstra, so long as we shall identify with this body, we are no better than the cats and dogs, because they also identify with the body. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says, *aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase*: “While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief.” And Arjuna asks, “Why? Am I wrong?” Yes. Because *gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca*. The body, whether with the soul or without the soul, is material. Even so long as the soul is there, we should not be very much interested in the bodily comforts. We should be interested in how to make progress in spiritual consciousness. People in general are simply engaged to get bodily comforts. The whole world is going on in this way. Material civilization means bodily comfort. People are increasing their activities for how to get bodily comfort. They take it as civilization to increase the bodily comforts of life. That is their idea. But they do not know that even if we are able to increase to the largest extent our bodily comfort, the body will not continue to exist. It will die. But they do not see to that. They think, “Never mind. We shall die, but so long as we live, let us live very happily.” *Bhagavad-gītā* is a great science. People do not know this science. You may think that you are living very happily, but you have to change this body, and your new body may not be very happy. That they do not know. This is ignorance. Being bewildered by the three modes of material nature, people do not know what is the actual fact. Therefore we have to learn from the perfect person, Kṛṣṇa, what is our actual position. Here it is said, > aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ > prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase > gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca > nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ “This is not the subject matter for eulogizing or lamenting. The subject matter should be different. That is the soul.” Kṛṣṇa will explain more in the next verse. Thank you very much. Rascal Politicians *This exchange between His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda and some of his disciples took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on June 2, 1974.* Śrīla Prabhupāda: People are not bad. I have seen. They are very nice. The government—the rascals. A few men who are controlling the government—they are all rogues and thieves. Everywhere the masses are innocent. These rascals have misled them. In India, in Russia, I have seen. The mass of people—they are very nice. *Andhā yathāndhair upanīyamānaḥ*: blind leaders, leading the blind populace into the ditch. The ordinary people are innocent. For instance, the India-Pakistan war happened due to these politicians. The Hindus, the Muslims—they are innocent. They don’t fight. These politicians engage them to fight artificially for their political ambition. The wars declared nowadays are on account of these rascal politicians. The people do not want it. Disciple: Śrīla Prabhupāda, it seems the politicians want to create scarcity artificially in some areas. But isn’t it true that crops can be grown anywhere in the world? Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. If crops did not grow anywhere in the world, then what would be the value of nature’s arrangement? Disciple: Well, for example, there are some parts of India that are too dry to cultivate the ground. Śrīla Prabhupāda: “Dry” means there is no rain. If nature likes, there can be profuse rain. That is nature’s arrangement. That is stated in the *Bhagavad-gītā*. Parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ. Parjanyāt: you must have sufficient rain. And for having sufficient rain, you must execute *yajña*, or sacrifice. *Yajñād bhavati parjanyaḥ*. So these leaders are now becoming rascals. They are not performing *yajña*s. They are opening slaughterhouses. How will there be rain? Instead of performing *yajña*s, they are opening big, big slaughterhouses. Disciple: Śrīla Prabhupāda, now in many parts of the world the desert area is increasing. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes, the desert area will increase. Disciple: So then, isn’t it true that under present conditions, crops may not grow in every part of the world—and that it’s necessary to transport food? At least for the time being, we don’t have the possibility of growing food anywhere and everywhere. So some transportation of food is required. Śrīla Prabhupāda: What will be the use of transportation as the production of food decreases? If there is decreasing hope of producing food grains, then what will be the use of transportation? Disciple: Well, in some areas there still is hope of producing. Śrīla Prabhupāda: If somewhere crops are produced, then in another place they can also be produced. You must perform yajña—saṅkīrtana-yajña, the chanting of the Lord’s holy names. Then you will get enough food. *Yajñād bhavati parjanyaḥ, parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ, annād bhavanti bhūtāni.* So in Switzerland are there many slaughterhouses? Disciple: Some time ago, Śrīla Prabhupāda, I read in the newspaper that they had so much milk and so much butter that the government proposal was to kill the cows. Śrīla Prabhupāda: “Kill the animals.” Oh, just see. They will not give the milk and butter to others. Disciple: The farmers were complaining that their prices weren’t high enough, because there was so much milk. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Their criterion is price—not that the goods are required. They want money for purchasing wine. This is the difficulty. They are not satisfied simply by eating sufficiently. They want money for women and wine. This is their philosophy. Disciple: In the United States, Śrīla Prabhupāda, they had that same problem. The farmers felt they were not getting a big enough price. Śrīla Prabhupāda: So if they had sense, they would export to where there is necessity of this milk, butter, grain. Then the world would be happy. Disciple: That was my question. If there is necessity for exporting, then is there necessity for maintaining ships and planes and trains and electrical dynamos and so forth? Śrīla Prabhupāda: No. The point is that if in one place you can produce food grains, butter, and milk, then why can you not produce these things in another place? That is my point. The land is everywhere the same. Now, here in Europe and America, there is enough production because the population is less. America is larger than India and has much less population. Therefore you find excess. You see? Also, India is not fully producing, not utilizing all the land. Disciple: Śrīla Prabhupāda, if the people here in the West are so sinful, how is it that they have so much facility and comfort? Apparently, all of that will go away soon. Very soon. Śrīla Prabhupāda: Yes. Yes. As the people increase their sinful activities, this facility and comfort will be taken away. Therefore we propose that “Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa, and we are all sons of Kṛṣṇa. Just cooperate in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then the whole world will be happy.” This is our proposal. “Why do you think, ‘It is American,’ ‘It is Swiss,’ ‘It is Indian’? Everything belongs to Kṛṣṇa. Let us become obedient to Kṛṣṇa, and because we are sons of Kṛṣṇa, let us enjoy the property of Kṛṣṇa. Immediately there will be happiness.” I have several times said that all over the world, people can produce so much foodstuff that ten times the present population can be fed. Ten times. In Africa, in Australia, and even in America, there is so much prospect of producing additional food. But they will not cooperate. They will go on killing the animals. They will throw the grain into the sea and claim, “It is our land—so this grain is our property to dispose of as we like.” Rascal civilization. A Pause for Prayer Goddess Bhūmi said: Obeisances unto You, O Lord of the chief demigods, O holder of the conchshell, disc and club. O Supreme Soul within the heart, You assume Your various forms to fulfill Your devotees’ desires. Obeisances unto You. My respectful obeisances are unto You, O Lord, whose abdomen is marked with a depression like a lotus flower, who are always decorated with garlands of lotus flowers, whose glance is as cool as the lotus and whose feet are engraved with lotuses. Obeisances unto You, the Supreme Lord Vāsudeva, Viṣṇu, the primeval person, the original seed. Obeisances unto You, the omniscient one. Obeisances unto You of unlimited energies, the unborn progenitor of this universe, the Absolute. O Soul of the high and the low, O Soul of the created elements, O all-pervading Supreme Soul, obeisances unto You. *—Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* 10.59.25–28 Life Before Death *The answer to the question “Is there life after death?” is self-evident when we understand what life is.* by Ajita Nimāi Dāsa *“Life exists not because of a functioning body, but despite being in an inherently dead body.”* Life after death is a popular philosophical topic with varying opinions about its possibility. The *Bhagavad-gītā* is clear about it—life is eternal, unimpeded by death. > dehino ’smin yathā dehe > kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā > tathā dehāntara-prāptir > dhīras tatra na muhyati “As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.” *(Gītā* 2.13) Before we discuss this further, it helps to ponder about life before death. Not only is this a more immediately relevant concern, but, in fact, this analysis forms the basis of any discussion on the afterlife. The before holds the key to the after. *Life Is Nonmaterial* What characterizes life? If life is just about pumping of the heart and activity of the brain, then absence of these two can be called death. But life is more than the functioning of an electrochemical, mechanical system; life is about consciousness—about thinking, feeling, desiring. Life is about the ability to perceive. Consciousness is what differentiates a man from a machine, a living being from a dead body. No characteristic of matter (atoms, molecules, electrons, etc.) suggests that it can be the source of consciousness or the seat of perception. What, or who, is it that perceives or is conscious? For example, a periscope helps me see beyond a high wall, but I can see not because of the periscope, but because I have eyes that can see. The periscope is merely the medium through which the light rays reach my eyes. Similarly, my eyes are merely an arrangement of atoms that allows light to pass through. I see what I see, not because of the atomic arrangement of my eyes, but because I have the ability to perceive and make sense of the incoming light. That “I” is the soul. I can see, hear, feel, think, will, etc., only because I (the soul) have these abilities. These perceptive abilities that characterize consciousness are the inherent qualities of the soul. Since matter does not have these abilities, we understand that the soul is unlike matter. The soul is nonmaterial; it is spiritual. The *Bhagavad-gītā* emphasizes the nonmaterial nature of the soul: > nainaṁ chindanti śastrāṇi > nainaṁ dahati pāvakaḥ > na cainaṁ kledayanty āpo > na śoṣayati mārutaḥ “The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.” *(Gītā* 2.23) > acchedyo ’yam adāhyo ’yam > akledyo ’śoṣya eva ca > nityaḥ sarva-gataḥ sthāṇur > acalo ’yaṁ sanātanaḥ “This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.” *(Gītā* 2.24) Essentially these verses emphasize that the soul, the conscious resident of the body, is unaffected by material forces. This is because it is not in the jurisdiction of matter; it is nonmaterial. *Life in a Dead Body* The soul does not depend on matter for its fundamental abilities of perception. In fact, its fundamental abilities to perceive are conditioned by the nature and state of the body that it occupies. > śrotraṁ cakṣuḥ sparśanaṁ ca > rasanaṁ ghrāṇam eva ca > adhiṣṭhāya manaś cāyaṁ > viṣayān upasevate “The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, eye, tongue, nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects.” *(Gītā* 15.9) For example, going back to the periscope example, how well I can see beyond the high wall depends on how clean the lens of the periscope is. Even if my eyesight is perfect, a dirty lens will hamper my perception. Thus, to define life in terms of a pumping heart and an active brain is like defining eyesight in terms of the condition of the periscope. Just as my fundamental ability to see does not depend on the periscope, the soul does not depend on the body for any of its fundamental abilities. Since the soul, characterized by consciousness, does not depend on anything that makes up the body while it is in the body, we understand that the soul does not need the body for its existence. The body is merely a lump of matter; it is always dead. Life is when a soul occupies a body and animates it; death is when the soul moves on to leave behind a dead lump of matter—the body. Life exists not because of a functioning body, but despite being in an inherently dead body. If life exists even before death, it surely exists after death. *Life After Death* When we understand that the soul leaves behind the dead body, we may intuitively believe that it is then totally free. But this is not true. The soul retains its subtle body even after shedding the gross body. The subtle body is the combination of the materially conditioned mind, intelligence, and ego. The mind is a reservoir of thoughts, memories, and desires. The intelligence is the ability to choose. The ego is what the soul thinks itself to be. Just as the ability to see is a fundamental aspect of the soul, so are mind, intelligence, and ego. A materially conditioned ego causes the soul to identify itself with a specific material gross and subtle body, for example, “I am an Indian urban sophisticated human being.” The intelligence and mind get conditioned according to this conditioned ego. The real situation of the conditioned soul is that of a soul transmigrating from one temporary body to another. The state of the subtle body at the time of death determines which type of gross body the soul will get next. This is known as the process of transmigration of the soul from one body to another. > yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ > tyajaty ante kalevaram > taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya > sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ “Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kuntī, that state he will attain without fail.” *(Gītā* 8.6) Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in the purport: “The process of changing one’s nature at the critical moment of death is here explained. . . . How can one die in the proper state of mind? . . . Of course, one’s thoughts during the course of one’s life accumulate to influence one's thoughts at the moment of death, so this life creates one’s next life.” *Life Without Death* Total freedom, known as liberation (*mukti*), is possible when the subtle body gets dissolved by spiritual practices—in other words, when the soul escapes the process of transmigration from one material body to another due to being free from material contamination. A materially contaminated soul is under the influence of the three modes of material nature—*sattva, rajas*, and *tamas*. When the soul desires to seek enjoyment away from God, Kṛṣṇa, it suffers in the material world, where the three modes of nature influence everything. Material nature—*māyā*—is an energy of Lord Kṛṣṇa and cannot be overcome unless one takes shelter of Him. Taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa is the process of *bhakti-yoga*. > daivī hy eṣā guṇa-mayī > mama māyā duratyayā > mām eva ye prapadyante > māyām etāṁ taranti te “This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it. *(Gītā* 7.14) When the subtle body is thus dissolved, death does not lead to another gross body. Death becomes the gateway to an eternal deathless life in one’s original spiritual form. Thus, life before death determines life after death. An ignorant materialistic life leads to death after death in different material bodies, while an enlightened spiritual life of devotion to Kṛṣṇa leads to a deathless eternal life in the spiritual world with Kṛṣṇa and His innumerable spiritually perfect associates. This is Kṛṣṇa’s promise. > tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu > mām anusmara yudhya ca > mayy arpita-mano-buddhir > mām evaiṣyasy asaṁśayaḥ “Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Kṛṣṇa and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.” *(Gītā* 8.7) This perfect choice of life before death leads one to a perfect life without death. *Ajita Nimāi Dāsa, a disciple of His Holiness Rādhānāth Swami, is a member of ISKCON Pune’s congregation. He lives with his wife and their three-year-old son. He holds a Master’s degree in computer science from IIT Bombay and works as a senior software engineering manager with Dell EMC.* The Fiery Return of the Wronged *Yogini* *Most BTG readers know that Ravana kidnapped Sita Devi. But did he really?* by Caitanya Caraṇa Dāsa A mystical switch reveals many nuances in a well-known Rāmāyaṇa story and demonstrates the principle of *karma*. What goes around comes around. While this saying is common, seeing it demonstrated in real life is generally not. One reason is that the things that come around don’t always come in the same form. The principle of *karma*, of which the above saying is a colloquial restatement, implies that we will be held accountable for our actions. How exactly we will be held to account for which action varies enormously according to time-place-circumstance. The *Bhagavad-gītā* (4.16) cautions that the movements of *karma* are difficult to discern. Yet scripture sometimes gives us the vision to see connections that might elude the uninformed eye. One such causal connection is revealed in the Rāmāyaṇa tradition, explaining how Rāvaṇa had to pay for his lecherousness. *The Yogini’s Self-immolation* Rāvaṇa stood aloft on his airborne chariot. He was on a rampaging tour of the universe, establishing hegemony in all directions. As his chariot was racing over the Himalayan mountain range, he was looking for something titillating—all the scenic natural beauty around him was too sterile for his impassioned senses. He suddenly caught sight of what looked like a woman. She seemed to be lost in meditation while sitting in a *yogic* posture. Slowing and lowering his chariot, he peered closely. It was indeed a woman—and a remarkably beautiful woman at that. His desire triggered, he started descending swiftly. For a woman to be alone in the mountainous wilderness was unusual. He looked around to see if she had any protector. If she had one, he would deal with that soon. If not, then she was his for the taking. As he approached her, he used his mystic power to assume a respectable human form. She sensed his presence and gently opened her eyes. Excited on seeing that her eyes were just as beautiful as the rest of her, he introduced himself. “O beautiful maiden, who are you? What are you doing here, alone in this wilderness? What man is fortunate enough to have you as his wife?” Seeing him as a guest, the woman looked down shyly and replied, “I am Vedavatī, the daughter of the celebrated sage Kuśadhvaja. I aspire to have Viṣṇu as my Lord and husband. To become pure enough to attain Him, I am performing austerities in these sacred mountains.” His desire fueled further by her sweet voice, Rāvaṇa replied, “I am Rāvaṇa, the king of the demons. Your beauty has conquered my heart. I want to make you my chief queen. Come with me to my golden kingdom, Lanka.” Her eyes darkening on hearing his proposal, she replied, “I have decided to offer myself to Viṣṇu. I have no desire to be with any other man. O king of the demons, kindly depart the way you have come, for I cannot satisfy you.” Rāvaṇa laughed at her brush-off. Obviously, she didn’t know his prowess; he didn’t need her consent. Once he took her to his palace, had his way with her, and gave her royal luxuries, she would soon give up her foolish fantasy of attaining Viṣṇu. That Supreme Lord, greater than any demigod, was his archenemy. Somehow, Viṣṇu had still eluded Rāvaṇa although he had traveled and conquered the whole universe. That Vedavatī was meant for Viṣṇu would increase the pleasure of conquering her. If he couldn’t subordinate Viṣṇu, he could at least appropriate what was meant for Viṣṇu. He stepped forward to grab Vedavatī. Recognizing his evil intention, Vedavatī stepped back in dismay. He lunged forward and grabbed her by her long hair. Just as he was dreamily planning to pull her toward him, he suddenly found himself left with a handful of hair. To his surprise, he realized that Vedavatī had somehow used her hand as a mystic sword to cut off the hair he had been holding. Seeing her move away from him, he charged toward her again. *Glaring at him, she blazed in anger.* “Because this body has been defiled by your evil touch, it is no longer suited for Viṣṇu. I will give up this body. You, O wicked demon, will have to pay for your misdeeds. I will return to destroy you.” After making that proclamation, she used her mystic powers to activate a fire around her. As the stunned Rāvaṇa looked on, she immolated her body. Disappointed that his desire hadn’t been fulfilled, Rāvaṇa returned to his chariot, giving scant thought to her warning. Little did he know how much this attempted aggression would cost him. Sometimes a wronged person gets a chance, by higher arrangement, to return and become an instrument for *karmic* justice. Vedavatī got that chance when Rāvaṇa lusted for Sītā and decided to abduct her. *The Secret Switch* During their forest exile, once Lakṣmaṇa had to leave Sītā alone, being constrained by circumstances that were brought about largely by Rāvaṇa’s conspiracy. Being mindful of his duty to guard her, Lakṣmaṇa drew a protective circle around their hermitage, infused it with mystical power, and told Sītā to stay within it. Later, Rāvaṇa came there disguised as a mendicant asking for alms. When he tried to come into the hermitage by stepping over the protective line, it blazed with fire, stopping him in his tracks. Recognizing that he couldn’t cross the line, he requested Sītā to come out instead. When Sītā stepped near the line, a fire started again, but Sītā kept walking and passed through it. Rāvaṇa felt his glee rising. Sītā had willingly walked into his clutches. Little did he know that a mystical switch had happened—the person he was about to abduct had come forward just to destroy him. When she had walked through the fire, it had served as a medium for the god of fire, Agni, to take Sītā to his shelter. In her place emerged Vedavatī reincarnated, with a form exactly like Sītā’s. Earlier, when Vedavatī had immolated herself, she had been taken by Agni to a sanctuary, where she continued her *yogic* austerities till she returned as Māyā-sītā, the illusory replacement of Sītā. Now Agni replaced Sītā with Vedavatī. The switch served two main purposes: It protected the purity of Sītā, the goddess of fortune who is meant only for Rāma—she wouldn’t be contaminated by the touch of the evil Rāvaṇa. And the switch also provided Vedavatī an opportunity to become the linchpin in the *karmic* plan to give Rāvaṇa his due. Rāvaṇa had no inkling of the switch. While in Rāvaṇa’s captivity, Vedavatī continued manifesting the immense feelings of separation from Viṣṇu, now present on the earth as Rāma, that she had cultivated for so long. By higher arrangement, she was given the knowledge and the consciousness necessary to play the role of Sītā to perfection. *Retribution Through Torment* Night had fallen on Lanka several hours ago. Still, Rāvaṇa tossed restlessly in his bed, longing for Sītā. Though he had a beautiful devoted queen, Mandodarī, she was no more than a duty for him now. Compared to Sītā, she didn’t charm him at all. Even if he tried to sate himself with any of his queens or maidservants, he continued to ache for Sītā. Sītā. Sītā. Sītā. He had her so close, and yet she was so far. So many sleepless nights he had spent, tormented with desire for her. Desire he couldn’t sate because she wouldn’t consent. None of his allurements or threats seemed to affect her in the least. He couldn’t take her forcibly because of the curse he had incurred from the celestial Nalakuvara when he had taken Nalakuvara’s wife Rambha. Rāvaṇa cursed that curse. That celestial nymph had certainly not been worth this torment. She had been beautiful, no doubt. But his desire for her had been nothing more than just an impulsive reaction to her beauty. Acting on that desire, he had had his way with her and then had left her. It had all been over in just a few minutes. If he had only left her alone that day, he could have had his way with Sītā the moment he had brought her to Lanka. He wondered whether he could risk taking Sītā forcibly. Maybe the curse wouldn’t work. Maybe he had been a fool to have kept himself from Sītā in fear of that curse. He started up from his bed, his heart thudding with passion at the thought that he could have Sītā. Though he could feel the blood rushing to his head, Brahmā’s words came to his mind. Rāvaṇa had initially snorted on hearing about Nalakuvara’s curse, but Brahmā, the cosmic creator whose boons had given Rāvaṇa most of his power, had warned him, “My boons will provide you no immunity from this curse. Such curses derive their power from a source far greater than me.” Remembering those words, Rāvaṇa shrank back to his bed in disappointment and disgust. He had no desire to make a fool of himself. If while trying desperately to take Sītā he were felled by that curse, he would become a laughingstock of the world. No. Sītā, beautiful as she was, was not worth risking such humiliation. He would have to find some other way to get her consent. How? Struggling to find some way, he kept tossing in bed, being scorched relentlessly by lust. Little did Rāvaṇa know that he was reaping what he had sowed. The *yogini* Vedavatī had returned and had lit within him a fire that was scalding him mercilessly. He had caused her to burn herself in a fire—that had lasted for just a few moments. But she was causing him to burn himself in a fire that burned for days, weeks, and months. And that fire was going to take a far bigger toll. *Retribution Through Bereavement* One by one, Rāvaṇa’s generals, sons, and even his giant brother, Kumbhakarṇa, died in the war against Rāma and His army. They were all burnt in the *karmic* fire of the *yogini’s* wrath. And then the fire took the worst toll: Indrajit, Rāvaṇa’s most heroic and cherished son. When Indrajit came back to Rāvaṇa’s court as a corpse, Rāvaṇa fainted in shock. Returning to his senses, he cried in incredulity and agony, listing Indrajit’s attributes and accomplishments. As he recovered, his sorrow gave way to fury. Someone had to pay for this outrage. But who? He would go to the battlefield tomorrow and make Indrajit’s killers regret the day they were born—they would die a painful death. But right now, he needed to vent his anger at someone. Who? Sītā. Yes, Sītā. That witch was the cause of his son’s death. She was the cause of the death of his entire dynasty. She would die at his hands today. Rāvaṇa sprang from his throne. With a murderous rage in his eyes, he pulled out his fearsome sword. Charging out of his palace, he roared, “Sītā, you are the killer of my son. You will die today!” Mandodarī had collapsed to the floor, devastated at her son’s death. Hearing what her husband was about to do, she jumped up in alarm and caught him by the arm. “O Lord, heroes never kill defenseless women. Don’t sully your good name and our son’s memory by performing such an atrocity to avenge him.” Rāvaṇa took a deep breath. Mandodarī’s words grated on him, but he couldn’t deny their truth. Retribution would have to wait till tomorrow. Again, little did Rāvaṇa know that retribution was going on—and he was its target, not its source. And that retribution would go on till he himself would burn to death. *Retribution Through Death* Rāma and Rāvaṇa were fighting fiercely. Though Rāvaṇa was using all his power, Rāma’s skill and speed were clearly superior. Yet Rāma couldn’t target the demon’s vulnerable spot: his heart. Why not? Because Sītā was in Rāvaṇa’s heart. Rāvaṇa was constantly thinking of her, his desire for her undiminished. For the devoted, the presence of the goddess of fortune and her Lord in the heart is the greatest blessing. But for Rāvaṇa, Sītā’s presence in his heart turned out to be a curse. He desired her not as an object of spiritual devotion but as the object for sensual exploitation. Reciprocating with his dark desire, she manifested within him as an insatiable fire that burnt him relentlessly. As long as Sītā was in Rāvaṇa’s heart, Rāma couldn’t bring himself to shoot there. Rāvaṇa fought with frenzied fury. He shot weapons that could kill even the king of the heavens, not to speak of a prince of an earthly kingdom. Yet, to his astonishment, Rāma thwarted all his attacks. To Rāvaṇa’s anger, Rāma even counterattacked and wounded him repeatedly. This human prince seemed to be living a charmed existence. How else could Rāma and His motley army of apes have reduced the formidable Lanka army to the bedraggled handful that remained with him? Rāvaṇa’s thoughts went to all those who had been killed in the war. As thoughts of Kumbhakarṇa and Indrajit filled his mind, the thought of Sītā went away for just a moment. That moment was enough for Rāma to shoot at Rāvaṇa’s heart. Rāma’s infallible arrow found its mark. The demon whose anger had made the earth tremble gave out one final scream of pain and fell to the earth, dead. Retribution was complete. That personification of lust would lust no longer. The fire of retribution had burnt for long in his mind as lust; now, it would burn his body as the funeral fire, reducing it to a pile of ashes. The *yogini* had returned to right the wrong. Mission accomplished, she knew that it was time for her to return. The pure fire of her spiritual desire for Viṣṇu was burning brighter than ever before in her heart. By adopting Sītā’s form and mood for nearly a year, she had experienced first-hand the unparalleled devotion to Rāma of His eternal consort. Though humbled on experiencing Sītā’s devotion, she was also inspired, determined to attain similar devotion one day. How she aspired for the Lord who inspired such devotion in the hearts of His devotees! *Tested by Fire, Switched by Fire* After the fall of Rāvaṇa, Sītā was released and brought before Rāma. To the shock of all observers, that virtuous prince asked that her purity be proven by a test of fire. The *yogini* sighed. She knew that the test of fire was a guise for another switch through fire. Her union with Rāma was not meant to be on this earth. This was her place of penance—in her previous life and in this life. Through the austerity of meditating in the Himalayas in her previous life and the agony of enduring Rāvaṇa’s lures and threats in this life, she had become increasingly purified. She would soon be united with Rāma in His eternal spiritual abode, where He resides forever while also manifesting temporarily on the earth. The fire had saved her from Rāvaṇa; the fire had saved her for Rāma; the fire would pave her way to Rāma. Praying to Agni to take her to her Lord, she closed her eyes and entered the fire. Unknown to most observers, a switch happened—once again. The *yogini* entered from one side of the fire, and Sītā emerged from the other. *Caitanya Caraṇa Dāsa 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, “Gītā-Daily,” visit gitadaily.com.* Floating Stones: Nothing Is Impossible for the Omnipotent *Yes, God really is a person, so of course He can do amazing things.* by Gaurāṅga Darśana Dāsa How can stones float on water? They did…once upon a time. According to the Vedic scriptures, millions of years ago, in an age known as Tretā-yuga, God appeared as a human being and engaged some monkeys to throw stones into water. By the power of His name, the stones floated, and thus a bridge was built across the ocean. Crossing that bridge, God rescued His wife, who had been kidnapped by a demon. As most readers of this magazine know, this is a popular pastime of Lord Śrī Rāmacandra from the ancient scripture the Rāmāyaṇa. But most people don’t believe such stories, calling them mythology. Nevertheless, they are not myth but factual incidents recorded in timeless scriptures. To understand them takes some intelligence, deliberation, and faith. *Why Can’t This Happen?* It is not difficult or illogical to agree that the world we perceive is functioning based on specific laws. We see orderliness and predictability in the characteristics of the sun and the moon, day and night, the seasons, and so on. By whose power and organization is nature functioning in such a systematic manner? Any rational person should agree that there is some creator, controller, and maintainer for the universe. He is God. God exercises His omnipotence in exhibiting many names, forms, and activities. He resides in a spiritual abode of eternal variety, and at times kindly descends into this created world in His various forms, such as Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Nṛsiṁha, and Varāha. There are multiple purposes for His descent, especially to protect the righteous, punish the wicked, and establish right conduct. Lord Kṛṣṇa says in the *Bhagavad-gīta* (4.7), > paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ > vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām > dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya > sambhavāmi yuge yuge “To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.” Further, the literary masterpiece *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* describes that the material universe was formed with the basic ingredients earth, water, air, fire, and ether, which emanated from the body of Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu, who lies in the “causal ocean” (kāraṇa samudra). After the formation of the universe, Mahā-Viṣṇu entered it in the form of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, from whose navel sprouted a universal lotus that gave rise to the fourteen planetary systems that make up the universe. Modern science confirms that the universe consists of planets in space. It is only by the inconceivable power and will of the Supreme Lord that innumerable planets float like cotton balls, suspended perfectly in their orbits. If this is possible for the Lord, why can’t He, in the form of Rāmacandra, float some stones in water? After all, can the creator be limited by the laws of His own creation? The natural elements like earth and water have their inherent properties. The earth element in the form of stone doesn’t float on water. It sinks. But who has given the elements their qualities? God. If God can invest the elements with certain characteristics, He can change them for a specific purpose as well, because material nature is controlled by the omnipotent Lord. > mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ > sūyate sa-carācaram > hetunānena kaunteya > jagad viparivartate “This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.” *(Gītā* 9.10) *Why Should This Happen?* Another natural question: If Lord Rāma had the power to float stones on water, didn’t He have the power to walk on water and make the other monkeys do it as well? Or He could have adopted any way to cross the ocean. Why did He have to build a bridge? Yes, certainly Rāma and His party could have crossed the ocean even without a bridge. The Supreme Lord is independent, however, and can do anything according to His sweet will. So if He wants to do something in a certain way, no one has the power to question Him. Still, the scriptures reveal a few reasons in this regard. Lord Rāma came to know that His wife, Sītā Devī, had been kidnapped by the king of demons, Rāvaṇa, who held her captive in Lanka. To reach Lanka, Lord Rāma had to cross the ocean. He reached the shore accompanied by a huge army of monkey soldiers headed by Sugrīva, Hanumān, Jāmbavān, and others. To summon the ocean personified, Lord Rāma, the Supreme Being, fasted for three days, awaiting the ocean’s arrival. When the lord of the ocean did not respond, Lord Rāma exhibited anger, and simply by His glance all the aquatics within the ocean were struck with fear. The ocean-god then hastily approached Lord Rāmacandra, fell at His feet, and prayed, “O all-pervading Supreme Person, we are dull-minded and did not understand who You are, but now we understand that You are the Supreme Person, the master of the entire universe, the unchanging and original Personality of Godhead. . . . O great hero, although my water presents no impediment to Your going to Laṅkā, please construct a bridge over it to spread Your transcendental fame. Upon seeing this wonderfully uncommon deed of Your Lordship, all the great heroes and kings in the future will glorify You.” *(Bhāgavatam* 9.10.14–15) The ocean-god’s initial inability to recognize Lord Rāma’s identity represents the rebellious mentality of the mortal beings that doesn’t allow them to submit to God. But by devotional service to the Lord they can go beyond their illusion and gain the sublime realization of an eternal, blissful life aligned with His sweet will. In loving devotion, a devotee wants to glorify the Supreme Lord for eternity, just as the ocean-god so desired after realizing his mistakes. He wanted to see the future generations glorify Rāma for doing something no human being had done before or could do later. Thus the Supreme Lord Rāma, by enacting this magnificent pastime, created suitable material for our discussion, absorption, and purification to increase our love for Him. *What Does This Indicate?* Lord Rāmacandra’s superhuman deed of floating stones on water declares His omnipotence and proves that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and not an ordinary human being. He is capable of doing anything, and no material conventions can obstruct His will. He was not merely advertised as the Godhead or elected by popular vote. Ordinary human beings who cannot change the properties of the material elements still think they are great—or even God. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, Nowadays it has become fashionable to create some artificial God who performs no uncommon activities; a little magic will bewilder a foolish person into selecting an artificial God because he does not understand how powerful God is. Lord Rāmacandra, however, constructed a bridge over the water with stone by making the stone float. This is proof of God's uncommonly wonderful power. Why should someone be accepted as God without displaying extraordinary potency by doing something never to be done by any common man? We accept Lord Rāmacandra as the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He constructed this bridge, and we accept Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He lifted Govardhana Hill when He was only seven years old. *(Bhāgavatam* 9.10.15, Purport) Many people blindly believe some ordinary mortal to be God just by seeing a display of a few magical feats. But what is the magician’s significance in comparison to that of the Supreme Godhead, whose unsurpassable natural wonders manifest in the creation. Śrīla Prabhupāda says that people pay a lot of money to see and appreciate a magician barking like a dog, but they don’t appreciate God, who creates millions of dogs in this world. People believe a so-called saint who “creates” a little gold, but they don’t put faith in God, who created millions of planets, each containing thousands of gold mines. Allured by the tiny wonders created by mortals, foolish people ignore the great wonders created by God. People who adore fictitious heroes in comics and movies do not admire the real heroic acts of Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, but consider them myth. All the superhuman acts of the Supreme Lord in His various incarnations indicate His Godhood and omnipotence. If only we trust the words of the scriptures and relish such wondrous pastimes of God, we can make tremendous progress in our spiritual journey. Lord Kṛṣṇa therefore says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (4.9), > janma karma ca me divyam > evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ > tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma > naiti mām eti so ’rjuna “One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” The deep mysteries of the miraculous pastimes of God are inconceivable to the common person, but for people who have faith in His unlimited potency, such pastimes become a source of relish and nourishment. They discuss their beloved Lord’s pastimes with great satisfaction, as Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself says in the *Bhagavad-gītā* (10.9): > mac-cittā mad-gata-prāṇā > bodhayantaḥ parasparam > kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ > tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca “The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.” *Gaurāṅga Darśana Dāsa, a disciple of His Holiness Rādhānāth Swami, is dean of the Bhaktivedānta Vidyāpīṭha at ISKCON Govardhan Eco Village (GEV), outside Mumbai. He has written books including* Gītā Subodhinī, Bhāgavata Subodhinī, Caitanya Subodhinī, and Disapproved but not Disowned. *He teaches* śāstric *courses at several places in India and oversees the Deity worship at GEV. His website is www.gaurangadarshan.com.* Kṛṣṇa’s Laws of Nature *Is Mother Nature out of control? Or might she and her boss be trying to tell us something?* by Karuṇā Dhārinī Devī Dāsī With the increase in natural disasters, can we assume there is no one in control? There seems no limit to recent natural calamities, including unprecedented heat waves, vast forest fires, severe hurricanes, record flooding, and spread of disease. Though events like these are not uncommon, their severity has been labeled unnatural. Temperatures usually do not rise abruptly in comparison to past averages. Fire smoke does not usually spread across continents. Ancient glaciers don’t just melt. The world over, tens of thousands of refugees suffer due to a variety of environmental circumstances. It is painful to imagine how generations to follow will thrive in a world of increasing severities. What is going on, and how to understand what to do? Devotees weather the nasty storm of material existence by offering service in sacrifice to Kṛṣṇa. While we feel angst for the situation at hand, we do well to study the words of pure devotees of the Lord, such as Prahlāda Mahārāja, a type of “next generation” refugee described in the pages of *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam*. Unmoved by frightening circumstances all around him, he held on fast in his heart to a deep concern for the suffering of others. He prayed: O best of the great personalities, I am not at all afraid of material existence, for wherever I stay I am fully absorbed in thoughts of Your glories and activities. My concern is only for the fools and rascals who are making elaborate plans for material happiness and maintaining their families, societies and countries. I am simply concerned with love for them. My dear Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva, I see that there are many saintly persons indeed, but they are interested only in their own deliverance. Not caring for the big cities and towns, they go to the Himalayas or the forest to meditate with vows of silence [*mauna-vrata*]. They are not interested in delivering others. As for me, however, I do not wish to be liberated alone, leaving aside all these poor fools and rascals. I know that without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, one cannot be happy. Therefore I wish to bring them back to shelter at Your lotus feet. *(Bhagavatam* 7.9.43–44) *Nature’s Laws* Prahlāda Mahārāja is calling our attention to countless souls who stake their claim on a happy home in material nature. Enduring all kinds of troubles and hardships, people spend the short time of this human form of life engineering grand hopes into the landscape, constructing elaborate and sophisticated infrastructures. Meanwhile heartbreak visits every dwelling, if not by a freak cataclysm, then by some average sort of tragedy. The human happiness project becomes increasingly suspect. Is someone or something working directly against us? Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself describes in the Vedas the purpose in the design behind this. He explains that He engineered the universe to meet our material needs alongside an imperative for self-realization. That is His law of nature. He does not recommend the complex increase of material assets at the expense of the balance of creation while we forget our spiritual home. His instructions are the primordial manual for sustainable living. We are here to learn to become the well-wishers of all of our fellow creatures, whether animals, children, or grandchildren. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: The root of sin is deliberate disobedience of the laws of nature through disregarding the proprietorship of the Lord. Disobeying the laws of nature, or the order of the Lord, brings ruin to a human being. Conversely, one who is sober, who knows the laws of nature, and who is not influenced by unnecessary attachment or aversion is sure to be recognized by the Lord and thus become eligible to go back to Godhead, back to the eternal home. (*Śrī Iśopaniṣad*, Mantra One, Purport) *Unnatural Omens for the Kurus* The Kuru dynasty did not recognize the proprietorship of the Lord. As described in the Mahābhārata, the falsehearted king Dhṛtarāṣṭra and his deceitful son Duryodhana had usurped the Kuru kingdom, which justly belonged to the Pāṇḍava brothers. When war became imminent, the Lord of Dwarka, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, set out on His chariot as a peace messenger of the Pāṇḍavas, then living in the kingdom of Virata, to the Kurus in Hastinapura. Along the way, Kṛṣṇa’s commander-in-chief, Sātyaki, noticed unusual events in every direction. Lightning flashed in a cloudless sky, rivers flowed backwards, and the earth shook. While water gushed out of wells, fire blazed on the horizon. The skies darkened, and loud roars came forth, though no beings were visible. Sātyaki was surprised to notice that the area around the Lord’s chariot was calm. A cool breeze blew, carrying fragrant lotus petals and drops of water. The road ahead seemed smooth and free of debris and thorns. Yet as they approached the dark city of Hastinapura, a fierce wind blew, uprooting huge trees and smashing buildings. The sky blackened, and thunder crashed repeatedly. Later, as described by Vyāsadeva, when the two sides gathered for war, there was another set of omens, both earthly and celestial. Thousands of carnivorous birds alighted on the treetops, crying in glee. In temples the images of gods perspired and trembled, and sometimes dropped from their positions. For the sake of personal triumph, Duryodhana was willing to put his own cousins, the Pāṇḍavas, into one peril after another, and Dhṛtarāṣṭra had no good will to intervene. Ill omens foretold that the Kuru’s obstinacy would result in a dreadful fratricidal war. *Can Nature be Absurd?* It is clear from reading the Mahābhārata that the misappropriation of the Pāṇḍava’s property inspired nature’s eerie and fantastic display as war approached. The cause of modern natural occurrences is not so easily identified. We may not point to a specific Dhṛtarāṣṭra or Duryodhana among us. Śrīla Prabhupāda comments that in the Kurus’ kingdom there was one weak-minded Dhṛtarāṣṭra, but with the advent of Kali-yuga there is a weak person like Dhṛtarāṣṭra living in every home. News alerts about melting polar ice caps, coastal flooding, destruction of earth’s biodiversity, or zoonotic viruses have become the daily fare. Flood, heat, drought, war, and persecution force evacuations and create refugee camps. Extreme partisan politics, global civil unrest, and mass public shootings indicate a population suffering from all kinds of fear and mental disturbances. Who is not somehow or other implicated? Like the blind Dhṛtarāṣṭra, our implication is leading us in a direction we are unwilling to see. Upcoming severities remain in the forecast. Three general categories for the impetus behind such imposed miseries are described in Vedic literature: ādhyātmika, that is, miseries due to the influence of one’s own body and mind; ādhibhautika, miseries due to the influence of other living beings, man or animal; and ādhidaivika, miseries brought upon us through the vehicle of nature. A pandemic is an example of an ādhidaivika misery sent by agents who direct the universe. Whole populations become scheduled for catharsis and self-purification, regardless of their willingness. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains: Māyā’s task is a very thankless task, because she is in charge of the conditioned souls, and her business is to always give all of the conditioned souls miseries. You might not have seen, but there is a picture of Durgā, or Māyā, and she has got a trident, or *triśūla*. Her *triśūla* represents the three kinds of miseries. Māyā, this material nature, is always inflicting upon the conditioned souls three kinds of miseries so that they may come to their consciousness, Kṛṣṇa consciousness. But the conditioned souls are so foolish and dull that they have accepted, “Oh, these miseries are very palatable.” (Lecture, December 19, 1966, New York) Though the flow of natural calamities is attributed to Māyā’s influence on us, atheists and philosophers like to deny the existence of superior forces. Albert Camus was one such philosopher. He preferred to label life’s tragedies “absurd.” He put forth the proposal of existential absurdity in his novel The Plague. Set in Algiers, the book describes a prosperous port town where rats imperceptibly spread a deadly epidemic. The crisis evolves into hysteria. What we call a plague, says the author, is merely a universal concentration of a preexisting condition: we are all born to die. What is his solution? No solution. Just do your duty and remember that life is absurd. Camus does not see how nature is the magic shadow of Kṛṣṇa. She is far from absurd; she follows His lead in perfect grace. Through material nature Kṛṣṇa grants our most cherished dreams of heavenly happiness or sends us varieties of catastrophes, depending on what is due us by the law of *karma*. He places Himself in the heart of every living creature. Far from absurd, His personal interventions occur because He cares, like a vigilant, loving parent who takes the post of lookout over the life of an errant son or daughter. Still, research workers and statisticians grow more and more alarmed: Mother Unnatural is breaking all records again! Perhaps it is time we take a look at who is being unnatural. Calling nature absurd, her inhabitants dump poisons into rivers, pump the air with fluorocarbons, keep her children, the animals, locked in small pens to be butchered mercilessly, and, with automatic weapons, stain her soil with the blood of men. The Lord allows nature to administer the threefold miseries in proportion to man’s doings. She is simply responding in line with the primordial laws of the universe. Kṛṣṇa is not obliged to conduct nature to tally with recorded historical data. In the *Bhagavad-gītā* we hear of God’s noble, benevolent personality; He is the Lord of all planets and demigods, the benefactor of all sacrifice, and the greatest well-wisher of all living entities. The Vedic principles are meant to help us understand our relationship with this greatest of all well-wishers. As the universal prajāpati (father of all creatures), Lord Visnu exclaims, “Be thou happy by this yajña [sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation.” (*Gītā* 3.10) He has created the material world just for this purpose, not for our greed, but so that people may learn to perform sacrifice for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu, live without anxiety, and after finishing the present material body enter the kingdom of God. Lord Kṛṣṇa says, “Regulated activities are prescribed in the Vedas, and the Vedas are directly manifested from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently the all-pervading transcendence is eternally situated in acts of sacrifice.” (*Gītā* 3.15) *Prahlāda’s Mission* On a summer morning in 2020, early thunderstorms brought approximately 2,500 lightning strikes to the San Francisco Bay area of California. At one point, two hundred strikes occurred in thirty minutes. Members of the National Weather Service of the Bay Area said they had no previous experience of this and labelled it “insane.” Within the next four days, over twelve thousand lightning strikes were recorded over northern California. These sparked up to 585 wildfires, many of which grew enormous at a rapid pace due to parched brush. Ironically, many people who had taken peaceful shelter in the forests, who had built their castles for the sake of solace from the city, are now homeless throughout the northwestern United States. Ten thousand homes burned down. From the prayers of Prahlāda Mahārāja: My Lord Nṛsimadeva, O Supreme, because of a bodily conception of life, embodied souls neglected and not cared for by You cannot do anything for their betterment. Whatever remedies they accept, although perhaps temporarily beneficial, are certainly impermanent. For example, a father and mother cannot protect their child, a physician and medicine cannot relieve a suffering patient, and a boat on the ocean cannot protect a drowning man. *(Bhāgavatam* 7.9.19) From Śrīla Prabhupāda’s commentary: In this material world, everyone is trying to counteract the onslaught of material nature, but everyone is ultimately fully controlled by material nature. . . . So-called scientists, philosophers, religionists and politicians should therefore conclude that they cannot offer facilities to the people in general. They should make vigorous propaganda to awaken the populace and raise them to the platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Our humble attempt to propagate the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement all over the world is the only remedy that can bring about a peaceful and happy life. We can never be happy without the mercy of the Supreme Lord (*tvad-upekṣitānām*). If we keep displeasing our supreme father, we shall never be happy within this material world, in either the upper or lower planetary systems. Prahlāda Mahārāja knows that Kṛṣṇa created the planet for our benefit, so that we may abide here with a view to self-realization. No material refuge can ever be ideal for that purpose. Moreover, the people in general are mostly self-interested and less than saintly. As a result, earth’s environment is rendered increasingly less peaceful for spiritual practice. Just as we human beings fail to accept any responsibility for protecting the natural environment as vital to our survival as a species, quite similarly, ignorant of the evil of repeated birth and death, we fail to protect our own souls. If nature appears unstable, now is the essential time to create a turning point by understanding Kṛṣṇa’s instructions. Human sustainability on the planet is a worthy purpose, but it is not viable or even worthwhile unless Kṛṣṇa’s laws of nature are acknowledged. We can begin by simply hearing from a bona fide spiritual master in order to take up a life of regulated activity and sacrifice. If we chant the names of Kṛṣṇa and associate with His devotees, our path of devotional service will be well lit, and it can guide us even in the midst of chaos. Such a life of regulated activities discloses the secret purpose of Mother Nature—that is, service to the Lord, who designed her and to whom she belongs. As desired by Prahlāda Mahārāja, we may furthermore extend our Kṛṣṇa conscious practice to those who also need the shelter of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet. *Karuṇā Dhārinī Devī Dāsī, a disciple of His Grace Vīrabāhu Dāsa, serves the Deities at ISKCON Los Angeles, where she joined ISKCON in 1979. She has also been distributing Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books since her earliest days in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. She lives with her husband and daughter.* Fortunate Soul: My Uncle *A pious Sikh displayed broadminded spirituality by his appreciation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.* by Rādhikā-kṛpā Devī Dāsī An appreciation of Kṛṣṇa consciousness by a pious Sikh. Some experiences in life leave a deep impact on our consciousness. These may be life-changing events for us that also set an example for others. Here I am going to share the story of an uncle of mine. Of medium height and adorned with a turban, my Sikh uncle wore a serene though stern look. In all, he was a simple man. My childhood memories are filled with beautiful pastimes in the town of Tarn Taran, a few miles from the holy city of Amritsar in India. In this small town lived my mother's sister with her husband and children in a palatial house that one entered through big, high wooden gates. Built on forty acres, the house was surrounded by green fields. Cowsheds housed a number of Jersey cows. The brick roads around the home led to exciting spots in the fields where I could play and explore. The family was rich and was influential in the vicinity. They had many trading businesses and shops. I usually visited my uncle, aunt, and cousins in the winter, when my school closed for a fortnight during Christmas vacations. I loved being there, bicycling on those brick roads, exploring the fields, and being amused by the cows. We especially bicycled to the cowsheds in the evenings to peep in to see the cows being milked. The cowherds would kindly show us what they were doing, and sometimes invited us to take part. *My Uncle Daarji* Tarn Taran, a Sikh holy town, has a replica of the Golden Temple of Amritsar, surrounded by a lake. My uncle was very pious. He followed a strict daily routine that was impossible for our little minds to fully appreciate. Everybody called him “Daarji,'' a Punjabi word of respect for an elderly person. Every day without fail he would be up at 3:00 a.m., and after getting ready would leave for the Golden Temple of Tarn Taran. He would devote nearly three and a half hours at the gurudwara, imbibing the beautiful kīrtanas glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead. On returning at 8:00 a.m., he would head for the room where the sacred Śrī Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of the Sikhs, had been placed with all reverence. A plate of freshly cut fruits and a glass of milk would be placed in the room, and he would read the scripture there with fervor. He would then take the milk and fruit as his breakfast and leave for his office on his bicycle. That amazed me as a kid; he owned cars and had drivers, but he preferred to bicycle when he could. Daarji spoke little, interacting with family members only for necessary discussions or to talk about spirituality. To my tiny brain, discussing religion meant being a fanatic. Growing up in cosmopolitan Delhi, I regarded people who spoke at length about their religion as being conservative and not modern. *My Growing Years* I grew up in a liberal Sikh family; we freely visited all religious places, whether *guru*dwara, temple, church, or mosque. My father ran a successful export business that exposed us to the world. We traveled extensively in the 1970s, going around the world. My pious parents inculcated their moral values in their children. They had installed Śrī Granth Sahib in the foremost room of our big house, thus exhibiting the full respect given to the *guru* and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. My mother would duly rise at 3:30 a.m. every day. After a shower, she would head for “Babaji's room,” where Śrī Granth Sahib was installed. After doing her nitnem (reading of certain chapters), she would enter the kitchen to cook the day’s meals. Between 5:30 and 6:00 she would awaken my sisters and me. We would shower and then recite the first few pages of the Granth Sahib. When I was older, I did management in fashion design and business, got married, started my own business, and had two children. In 1998 my world shattered when suddenly my dear father left the world. That very moment when he was announced to be “no more,” some hard-hitting queries perturbed my mind: “Who are we? Who is God? Why are we born? What is the purpose of life?” I craved the answers, and although I searched in the scriptures, I failed to find those answers. Kṛṣṇa, seeing the intensity of my search, blessed me. I visited Śrī Śrī Kṛṣṇa Balarāma Mandir in Vrindavan, and life changed. My queries were answered by Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mercy, and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī pulled me into the folds of the spiritual world. After two years, my husband and I received spiritual initiation from His Holiness Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami Mahārāja. Life became simple, content, and undemanding. The shelter of a spiritual father and the Supreme Personality of Godhead carried me into a blissful life. The near and dear ones around me were amazed at my transformation. They could not believe my new way of life or apprehend my views. *Daarji and Me* One person who was most happy about my transformation was Daarji. I never expected this. For me he was a staunch Sikh, a firm believer of his faith. His reaction amazed me. And I was delighted. We would often meet at family gatherings. I remember vividly many instances where we would sit away from the crowd of our merrymaking relatives to indulge in spiritual talks. My husband and I along with Daarji would choose a corner away from the noise of the DJ's music and the dancing relatives to hear and speak verses from the scriptures. Daarji would quote verses from Śrī Granth Sahib on the importance of the *guru*, verses describing māyā, verses emphasizing the purpose of human life. I quoted or read verses from the *Bhagavad-gītā*, *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam*, and other books by Śrīla Prabhupāda. I also recited Granth Sahib verses I remembered from childhood. Daarji became enamored by my knowledge, all thanks to Śrīla Prabhupāda. He would often call me and relish long talks on spiritual topics. One day he surprised me by requesting me to seek the blessings of my spiritual master for him. I was taken aback. I had never expected such a plea from him. As my uncle was to be visiting Delhi soon, I immediately called up my Guru Mahārāja and learned that in just three days he was going to give a discourse at a house near ours. On a cold wintry evening in January, Daarji went with us to the home program with full enthusiasm. The program was in the open in the gardens of a big palatial house, and Guru Mahārāja got delayed by two hours because he was coming from Vrindavan on that cold, foggy night. Daarji waited in the cold with patience and eager anticipation. He did not complain even once. He displayed great humility, something generally not expected from a person of his stature. *Blessings* Gopāla Kṛṣṇa Goswami arrived, and as he was proceeding to the dais, I introduced him to “my uncle from Punjab.” Guru Mahārāja was surprised to know that Daarji, at age eighty-five, was so fit and fine. As Guru Mahārāja settled on the āsana to speak, my uncle sat cross-legged at his feet. I requested him to be more comfortable on a chair at the back, but he refused. He again showed me how to be a true recipient of mercy. He sat through the one-hour discourse, displaying rapt attention. At the end of the talk, Daarji joined us as we paid obeisances to Guru Mahārāja. Daarji left spellbound and was in awe of Guru Mahārāja’s words. Soon he left for his hometown, and we got engrossed in our devotional and family duties. After eight months a phone call from my cousin informed us that Daarji had suffered a paralytic stroke. My mother rushed to see him. I was recuperating from a surgery and couldn't go, though I longed to. My mother called me just after arriving, to put across a request my uncle was constantly making to her. She said that Daarji wanted me to pray to the Lord for him. He was asking for me again and again. I was agonized to hear his plea. I immediately called Guru Mahārāja, my only solace in this world of miseries. I told him about Daarji's condition. He replied gravely, “Please call your uncle and say ‘Hare Kṛṣṇa' to him.” Straight away I called my mother's cell phone, conveying the message from Guru Mahārāja and requesting her to put the phone to Daarji's ear. Her reply was discouraging. She said that Daarji's tongue was twisted as a result of the stroke and it was very difficult to understand his speech. Even those at his bedside had difficulty understanding him. For a moment I was disappointed, but then Guru Mahārāja's voice echoed in my ears. I insisted that the phone be placed at Daarji’s ear. At last my cousins complied with my request. The phone was placed to his ear, and without a second thought, with the full force of love and prayers, I said “Hare Kṛṣṇa, Daarji.” To everybody's surprise, Daarji replied with full vigor. “Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Rama” were the words he spoke so clearly and lovingly. I was amazed at the energy of his tone. His voice was so clear to my ears that my tears rolled down. He sincerely was engrossed in the words. I knew in my heart that my faith in Guru Mahārāja’s words had played the magic. Daarji was soon put on physiotherapy. At such an advanced age full recovery seemed impossible. I visited him, and he was still mentally active. He interacted with us on his favorite subjects of spirituality with full intent. I read the eighteenth chapter of *Bhagavad-gītā* As It Is to him and also a part of Śrī Granth Sahib. He was at peace and very calm. He was not restless as one is expected to be in such a condition. The credit for sure goes to his attachment to chanting and listening to the holy names. *Closing Chapter* After taking his leave with a heavy heart, we left for Delhi. I had the intuition that it would be my final meeting with beloved Daarji. Two months later the news of his demise came. My husband and I went to the holy city of Tarn Taran for the Kirya (the final prayer ceremony) for the departed soul. Daarji's caretaker told me that Daarji had got the *mahā-mantra—Hare* Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—written in *Gurmukhi* (Punjabi script) on a small piece of paper. It was placed on the fireplace mantel facing him while he lay in bed all that time. It was his connection with Śrīla Prabhupāda, Guru Mahārāja, and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I was stunned to hear this. It touched my heart and filled me with deep regard for the noble soul of Daarji. I request the prayers of all Vaiṣṇavas to bless the pious soul of “our Daarji” that he may attain the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. *Rādhikā-kṛpā Devī Dāsī is the author of a book on the Vaiṣṇava teachings in Sikhism that has been translated into five languages, including (in Pakistan) Sindhi and Urdu. An international preacher, she has given talks in Australia, Canada, Thailand, Japan, Pakistan, and the UK.* How I Came to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness *A Swami Bearing Light* *An ever-despondent young man discovers the key to unlimited happiness.* by Saṅkarṣaṇa Dāsa My dad always told me, “Son, your college days are going to be the happiest days in your life,” and I believed him. But that fateful day in August of 1965 when he drops me off at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, to begin my freshman year, I, Steve Bridge, am totally miserable because I have no idea why I exist and what is my life’s purpose. Even though at college we study all the great philosophers of the Western world, not one of them can show me a light at the end of the depression tunnel. After suffering through two meaningless years of liberal arts studies at Austin College, I’m forced to choose a major. I pick drama, thinking I can find some sense of happiness by escaping into the imaginary world of theatre. Thus, with hopeful anticipation, in the fall of 1967, for my junior year I transfer to the highly reputed drama school at the University of Texas in Austin. But my euphoria bubble pops after I hear a presentation by a graduate about what it’s like in the real world of theatre, and I’m again cast into the ocean of depression. One day in the hall of the drama building one of my fellow students asks me how I’m doing. When I reply, “I’m depressed,” he immediately shoots back, “Don’t say that!” How depressing is that! I’m supposed to pretend I’m happy. I’m not even allowed to be honest. But then one day in the break room of the drama department, I get a ray of hope. I hear from a fellow drama student about something called self-realization, which enables you to achieve a state of unlimited bliss. Sincerely seeking self-realization, I try following several different *gurus* one after another whose teachings unfortunately don’t pan out. My depression nightmare continues to grind on and on. One day in the summer of 1968, two friends of my roommate drop by for a visit. They’re moving to Denver, and they invite me to join them. And shortly thereafter I do just that. I’m very happy staying with them for a few weeks until they tell me it’s time to move on. So I’m depressed again, living alone in Denver. *Discovering the Mahā-mantra* But then comes an amazing coincidence. Someone I met in Austin, who spoke of spiritual realization and seemed to be very wise, turns out to be living just one block away from me. His name is Patrick Dolan. One night when I go to his apartment to visit him, his roommate tells me he’s gone to Joe’s apartment. So I go to Joe’s, only to find that Patrick, Joe, and several others have just taken LSD. When they invite me to join them, I decline and decide to go back to my apartment and go to bed. But then a few minutes later, I’m awakened by a quiet but impassioned knocking on my door. All the LSD takers minus Joe scurry into my apartment and shut the door, telling me not to turn on the light. Joe has gone crazy on LSD and is going door to door knocking and asking, “There’s LSD in the water. Can you give a drink of water?” And then Patrick starts softly chanting, “Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.” He tells us to all chant with him for Joe’s protection. Intrigued, the next day I go to Patrick’s to ask him about that *mantra* he was chanting. He shows me an article from the September 23, 1967 edition of the Saturday Evening Post in which the entire mahā-*mantra* is printed. The article, by Joan Didion, is entitled, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem.” It mentions how Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting will bring peace in the world and transport the chanter into a state of ecstasy beyond any ecstasy of this mundane world. This is exactly what I’ve been seeking for years! Now I have the tool I need. I become very serious to center my life on chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. I set up an altar with a picture of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and offer all of my food (I’m already a vegetarian) to Kṛṣṇa by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. I feel very inspired for spiritual life. Then two hippie friends who want to go to India invite me to join them, and I decide to do so. I’ll completely renounce the material world, denying everything, and go to India to be a holy renunciant for the rest of my life. Before heading out, I make one last visit to my family in Houston. One evening as I contemplate my mood of denying everything, I realize that if I deny absolutely everything, then I have to deny denial too and accept something transcendental. I feel strongly that some spiritual people in San Francisco are calling me to join them in making a global spiritual revolution. So one day, without telling my parents, I head out penniless with guitar and suitcase to hitchhike to San Francisco. *Hare Kṛṣṇas in the Haight* After several adventurous days, I arrive in San Francisco and go straight to its famous Haight Ashbury district, which one year ago was the center of the famous Summer of Love. I go into Golden Gate Park. The first people I meet are Hare Kṛṣṇa devotees coming back from chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa at Hippie Hill, a popular spot in Golden Gate Park. They invite me to come to their temple at 518 Frederick Street, and I accept their invitation. In the temple room I’m chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra* when one of the female devotees says, “Oh, you’re chanting so nicely.” Because my mind is polluted with the “I am God” philosophy, I chuckle to myself, thinking, “Ha ha, if she only knew that I am Kṛṣṇa.” I don’t realize that the devotees are the spiritual beings I’m meant to join. So I just start on my own to try to bring a spiritual revolution by becoming a wandering minstrel up and down Haight Street, singing and playing my guitar. I’m inspired when a local hippie tells me I’ll make Haight Ashbury beautiful again. (Its love and peace atmosphere has greatly deteriorated after the Summer of Love.) So now I have a mission: Make Haight Ashbury beautiful, and make the whole world beautiful. After a few weeks I hear there’s a wonderful thing happening for musicians across the San Francisco Bay, over in Berkeley at the University of California. Musicians are singing every day on Sproul Plaza, attracting hundreds of listeners. I hitchhike over there and sing some songs. Sure enough, I attract hundreds of listeners. So I relocate to Berkeley. I become a regular singer on Sproul Plaza. This goes on for weeks. Then on May 7, 1969 I get to perform between the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane at the famous Polo Field concert in Golden Gate Park. The audience roars with approval. They love my sound. The emcee predicts my imminent fame. Things are looking good. Then Makhanalāla Dāsa Brahmacārī comes to Berkeley to open a Hare Kṛṣṇa center. He’s very kind. I sometimes do some service and take prasādam, but I never have a thought of joining the Hare Kṛṣṇas. Then the most wonderful thing for the counter-culture community is going to happen. There’s going to be a West Coast version of the famous Woodstock festival held in August of 1969 in New York State. Now, four months later, here in California at the Altamont Speedway a similar festival of several days of love and peace is planned. But instead of the love and peace that manifested at the Woodstock festival, there is murder and violence. I’m there at the beginning of the so-called festival. But as soon as I see the mood, I get out of there as fast as I can. *Back to Student Life, Briefly* This is so discouraging that I decide to go back to the normal life of being a student at the University of Texas in Austin. But after a few weeks in the spring of 1970, I’m feeling very morose, remembering those days when I attracted joyful, enthusiastic audiences on the West Coast. So one day between classes I take my guitar and sit down and sing at the George Washington statue on the campus. No one else is doing this, so my daily concerts become a campus sensation, attracting hundreds of students. This leads to my becoming the house musician at the Sattva vegetarian restaurant near the campus and dropping out of school. Still, in my spite of my new local popularity as a musician, I’m missing something. I want spiritual realization. But how to find it? I know that Jesus Christ is a self-realized soul. But what is his secret? I start reading the Bible every day trying to figure it out. One day it dawns on me. Jesus prays, “Father, not my will, but Thy will be done.” I realize that this is the secret. You’ve just got to do what God wants, not what you want. But my problem is that I don’t know what God wants me to do. I’m waiting for a voice from the sky, but nothing is coming. One day I’m doing a music gig at a vegetarian co-op. It’s depressing for my musician’s ego because there is only one little girl in the audience. But the amazing thing is that she reads my mind and tells me after I finish a song, “Don’t worry. God can hear you.” Wow! That’s really amazing! How does she know what I was thinking? She must be a messenger sent by God! So now I have a new *mantra*: “Dear God, please guide me how I can become Your perfect servant.” I pray this way every day, and then one day there is the proverbial knock on the door. *Swami Comes to Town* I’m staying with Mike Bridges. One Sunday morning his friend Margaret, who lives down the street, knocks on his door and tells Mike, “There’s a Hare Kṛṣṇa swami in town, and he’ll be in my apartment in one hour.” So I go. And there he is in his beautiful, radiant, blissful splendor, His Holiness Viṣṇujana Swami. He invites me to a “love celebration” that will be held that afternoon in Pease Park, and I eagerly attend it. He leads us in an inspiring, uplifting kīrtana, a congregational call-and-response chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra*. I’m impressed with the swami’s spiritual knowledge when he explains, “‘Avatar’ means one who descends.” Then he serves us a wonderful feast he cooked. The menu is very simple, but incredibly delicious: potatoes with sour cream and turmeric, apple chutney, and sweet rice pudding. Viṣṇujana Swami is a beacon of light, hope, and bliss. Even though he has no temple, he’s preaching in different homes every evening. So I go every day to the campus to find out where he will be doing his program that night. He announces to the people, “Invite me to your home, and I’ll turn your home into a temple.” One spring evening I’m attending one of his programs at the home of Robin Ferris. At one point in the program, I step into the kitchen to get a drink of water. And who should show up but Viṣṇujana Swami himself! The two of us are now alone in the kitchen, away from the crowd packed into the living room. He takes the opportunity to give me a personal instruction, which goes deep into my heart as one of the most poignant instructions I have ever received in my life. He calmly, compassionately looks me squarely in the eyes and says, “You have to become sober.” Our hippie philosophy is to be intoxicated and stay that way forever. Being sober is just the opposite of that, so when he tells me I have to become sober, it’s powerfully life changing. I can see that he’s coming from a very high state of consciousness without the help of any drugs. And now he’s inviting me to enter that realm of higher consciousness. This instruction from Viṣṇujana Swami demands that I completely reconsider my lifestyle. Having met with this swami on a number of occasions, I can clearly see that he has truly achieved an enlightened state of uninterrupted divine bliss. He is indeed always ”high” on the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. My so-called attempts at staying high are totally dwarfed by the exalted state he has achieved. And now he is imploring me to join him in that higher realm of consciousness. *Making the Commitment* I’m asked to leave from where I’m staying. But Viṣṇujana Swami has now made some devotees and has even gotten a temple building, and I’m invited to stay there. They don’t require me to become a full-on Hare Kṛṣṇa. George Harrison has just had a mega hit with “My Sweet Lord,” so I throw my three hundred mundane songs into the temple garbage can and resolve that from now on I’ll only write Kṛṣṇa conscious songs. I won’t be a disciple. I’ll be a Kṛṣṇa conscious singer-songwriter following George’s example. But one fateful morning as I listen to a recording of the London devotees singing the Gurvaṣṭakam prayers, I’m thunderstruck. The devotion in their voices penetrates my heart, opening a window and giving me a glimpse into the unsurpassable ecstasy of what it’s like to live in the most sublime realm of total surrender to God’s representative, the spiritual master. It is so sweet and unbelievably thrilling that tears stream down my face and the most beautifully uplifting thought floods my brain. “Wouldn’t it be beautiful if I gave my life to Śrīla Prabhupāda?” So I tell Viṣṇujana Swami I want to become a disciple. A few months later, the most wonderful letter comes from Śrīla Prabhupāda, dated August 12, 1971, in which he accepts me as his disciple, giving me the name Saṅkarṣaṇa Dāsa. When I write him back, sending him a donation (my *guru-dakṣiṇā*) and expressing my desire to spread his movement, he replies on September 7, 1971: “I can see also that you are a very sincere and enthusiastic boy and are anxious for spreading this movement. Those are first class qualifications for making advancement in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. So continue enthusiastically as you are doing and Kṛṣṇa will surely bless you.” So now I’ve got my marching orders for how to unlimitedly receive Kṛṣṇa’s blessings. *Saṅkarṣaṇa Dāsa lectures on Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world. His Internet-based training program, the Ultimate Self Realization Course, has attracted over 27,000 subscribers from more than 100 countries who receive a daily inspirational message and personal answers to their questions regarding how to become perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.* Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins: A Scholar with Heart *An appreciation of an admirer of Śrīla Prabhupāda and ally of ISKCON within the academic community.* By Satyarāja Dāsa An appreciation of a longtime admirer and ally of Śrīla Prabhupāda and his movement. “He [Prabhupāda] was a genuine holy person with enormous integrity and compassion, and he had a powerful impact on those who met him. He never claimed authority and respect for himself; what he said and did was always in the name of Kṛṣṇa.”—Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins On February 20 this year, a heart-sinking email made its way to my inbox, informing me of the demise of Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Religious Studies at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania, who had passed earlier that day. He was 91. In the many years Kṛṣṇa had given him, he had accomplished much. Born on July 28, 1930, in Champaign, Illinois, Tom excelled at Yale Divinity School, where he completed an MA in 1959 and a PhD in 1962, both in comparative religion. His unpublished PhD thesis, entitled The Vaishnava Bhakti Movement in the *Bhāgavata* *Purāṇa*, has been a tremendous resource for scholars ever since. From 1961 to 1996, he taught in the Religious Studies Department at Franklin and Marshall College, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he also served as department chair for most of his tenure. Soon after, he achieved the coveted academic position of Professor Emeritus. As for his writing, particularly significant in terms of Vaiṣṇava teaching would be his breakthrough chapter “The Social Teaching of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa,” published in Milton Singer’s edited volume Kṛṣṇa: Myths, Rites, and Attitudes. But his most important work, undoubtedly, is The Hindu Religious Tradition, originally published by Wadsworth Publishing Company in 1971 and often reprinted. This was, is, and will continue to be one of academia’s preeminent textbooks on Hinduism, used in universities worldwide. For a year prior to his departure, he had been working with Garuḍa Dāsa (Graham Schweig) to release an updated edition of this work, significantly enhanced, which will soon be published. For me, what stands out most is the fact that he met and deeply appreciated Śrīla Prabhupāda, and that he considered me a friend. Many years had passed since our first meeting, and when I heard of his death, my mind naturally reverted to my initial impressions of him, our various interactions over the years, and his unequivocal support of ISKCON, its methods, and its goals. I especially remembered my first meeting with him at an ISKCON conference in New Vrindaban in the 1980s, almost forty years ago. We had discussed death, I recall, and how the truth of reincarnation was more than likely, how the greatest minds from Plato to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura believed in it, and that that in itself was proof of its likelihood, let alone the logic and force of all the arguments that support it. At the time, he had begun work on an article about “death and the afterlife in Hindu traditions,” and so he was well versed in the subject’s various nuances.1 Prior to that I had always heard about Tom, lauded in ISKCON as one of the first scholars who understood and vouched for Prabhupāda’s mission, and I always appreciated his insights about the movement as reflected in his writing. It is valuable, sometimes, to hear from a well-meaning person from the outside who has no vested interest and who wants to be helpful, especially if that person shows no academic or personal bias. And especially if that person is well informed. Tom was the embodiment of all these qualities. He was a gentle man, someone whose scholarship was used in Prabhupāda’s service—and he had vast knowledge of the tradition. His was an educated voice that could be heard with calm and confidence. *The Person Bhāgavata* Tom writes about his early introduction to ISKCON and his doctoral work on *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* (also known as the *Bhāgavata Purāṇa*): I first became aware of ISKCON in 1966, a few months after A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, as he then was known, had moved into his storefront headquarters at 26 Second Avenue in New York. I had been teaching at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, since 1961, offering mainly courses on Indian religion. One day in the fall of 1966, a student from New York brought me a copy of the Village Voice, which regularly reported on new happenings in the city, and showed me an article about New York’s latest phenomenon: an Indian swami who was singing and chanting with a group of young followers in Tompkins Square Park on the Lower East Side. I had done my Ph.D. dissertation at Yale some five years earlier on Vaishnava devotionalism in the *Bhāgavata* *Purāṇa*, and in the course of my research had studied various Hindu religious movements that emphasized devotion to Vishnu.… One of the most important of those movements was what is known as Gauḍīya Vaishnavism, a tradition established in Bengal by the saint Chaitanya (1486–1533) that practiced a form of group devotional singing and chanting known as *saṅkīrtana*.…2 Tom’s main area of concern, of course, was *Śrīmad-**Bhāgavata*m**, the subject of his thesis. As he says, he had already been working with the **Bhāgavata*m*. He knew Sanskrit, but he primarily worked with two existing translations. Now he would also work with a third—Prabhupāda’s. Up until this point, he had access to the book *Bhāgavata*. Now he would have access to the person *Bhāgavata* as well. Accordingly, he watched closely over the years as Prabhupāda worked diligently to complete his translation: Prabhupāda was also continuing his translation and commentary on the *Bhāgavata* *Purāṇa* … working through this mammoth text canto by canto at a slow but steady pace and publishing each section when it was complete. The First Canto, which had been published in India in 1965, was published in a new edition by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust in 1972 along with the newly completed Cantos Two and Three and the beginning of Canto Four. The rest of Canto Four followed in 1974 and Canto Five in 1975, and the work continued in this way until Prabhupāda’s departure in 1977. Parts of Canto Ten and Cantos Eleven and Twelve, still unpublished at that point, were completed with the use of his draft manuscript by his disciple Hridayananda.3 From everything I could see, he understood Prabhupāda’s contribution in terms of his purports: Prabhupāda’s translation is an ideal blend of literal accuracy and religious insight.… What is significant is that his commentaries are the first that have been written specifically for the comprehension of the Westerners and to others not familiar with the total Indian cultural and theological context. If you try to read the commentaries of Jīva Goswāmī or Sanātana Goswāmī or any of the other great teachers, you find that you have to know quite a bit in order to read them with understanding. They contain a good deal of technical terminology, and they were written with the assumption that the reader was familiar with traditional Indian philosophy, culture, and aesthetics. Anyone who doesn’t come out of that particular cultural background is going to miss at least half of what’s being said.… Bhaktivedanta Swami has managed, successfully, to bridge an enormous cultural gap and to give practical application to teachings that were originally designed for people in a very different cultural setting. That’s not easy to do, by any means. I think he’s been very successful. The very existence of a genuine Vaiṣṇava movement in the West is compelling evidence of his success as a commentator.4 *Prabhupāda and Bhaktivinoda* Tom’s initial meeting with Prabhupāda in 1966 was brief, but enough to convince him that His Divine Grace was a genuine, learned Vaiṣṇava of “integrity and compassion.” The professor visited yet again when the devotees relocated to 61 Second Avenue in December of 1968, but Prabhupāda had returned to India. Tom would regularly send his students to the temple, to see how Vaiṣṇavas live and to benefit from the devotees’ association. One year later, in 1969, he offered Prabhupāda a position at Franklin and Marshall College, teaching the *Bhagavad-gītā* on campus. Initially, Prabhupāda embraced the idea, as he writes in a letter to Brahmānanda, then temple president in New York: Regarding the Franklin and Marshall College, as you have desired that it is a wonderful opportunity for me, so that I may be able to write in seclusion while my elderly students may manage the society affairs, that is a very welcome suggestion. So you can accept the proposal immediately. Besides that, I see that Professor Thomas J. Hopkins and the students of the college are very much eager to hear from me, so I must fulfill their eager desire, even there is some inconvenience. But I hope if I get a nice apartment with heating arrangement, there will be no inconvenience.5 In the end, however, Prabhupāda declined the invitation, both because of foreboding Northeast winters and the fact that managing his movement and writing his books required his complete attention. It was not until 1975 that Tom engaged in full dialogue with Prabhupāda, arranged by Ravīndra Svarūpa Dāsa in Philadelphia on July 13, 1975. Among other things, their discussion included the importance of studying the *Gītā* prior to *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam*, the relationship of Vaiṣṇavism to other religious traditions, the subservience of Lord Śiva, and the supremacy of Kṛṣṇa. As the hour-and-a-half conversation drew to a close, they also discussed the love of the gopīs, and how the divine cowherd maidens’ feelings of separation represent the zenith of love in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It was shortly after Prabhupāda’s departure in 1977 that Tom became fascinated with the principle of disciplic succession, highlighting his newfound awareness by writing several articles on the subject—particularly in relation to Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. And so, beginning in the early 1980s, he embarked on a passionate study of the “Bhaktivinoda Parivāra [‘family’],”6 ultimately unearthing quite a bit of research material on the Ṭhākura’s life and teachings. For example, in his 1981 BTG article, “A Vital Transition,” based on a lecture he delivered in February of that year before the South Asia Seminar at the University of Pennsylvania, he outlines Bhaktivinoda’s almost superhuman daily schedule: Bhaktivinoda published some hundred books during his career, most of them devoted to recovering and promoting the tradition of Caitanya. He was obviously an enormously productive person. His work habits are frightening: He would get up at 4:30 in the morning, bathe, do his bhajana, answer correspondence, and so forth, and then at 9:00 he would go to the court. (Remember, those hundred books were written during his career as a magistrate, which is what he was supposedly spending most of his time at.) So he would go to the law court at 9:00 and finish by 5:00, with an hour's break from 1:00 to 2:00. Then he would translate some Sanskrit religious work into Bengali from 5:00 until 7:00, have dinner, take a couple of hours’ nap, get up, and write all night from 10:00 until 4:00. Then he would rest a little bit and go through his daily routine. So he was working about eighteen to twenty hours a day, efficiently. That’s the way people describe him. And, amazingly, he also found time to raise thirteen children.7 As for Bhaktivinoda’s philosophy, Tom rightly points to its universality and nonsectarian nature, which, of course, leads to ISKCON: Even in his early writing … the breadth of his vision went well beyond the immediate concern for intellectual independence. As his conclusion indicates, the ultimate goal can be no less than a worldwide religion based on the principles of the *Bhagavata*: … “See how universal is the religion of the *Bhagavata*. It is not intended for a certain class of Hindus alone, but it is a great gift to man at large in whatever country he is born and in whatever society he is bred.”8 In the summer of 1985, Tom attended a conference in New Vrindaban, hoping to help ISKCON as it transitioned through a difficult period. This, again, is where we first met. Twenty-five of the world’s leading scholars from the United States, Canada, and Great Britain assembled in mid-July for a major academic conference titled “Kṛṣṇa Consciousness in the West: A Multi-Disciplinary Critique.” Representing such institutions as Oxford, Harvard, the University of California, Brown University, the London School of Economics, the University of Toronto, and Georgetown University, participants included such distinguished scholars and authors as Bryan Wilson, Robert S. Ellwood, David G. Bromley, Larry D. Shinn, and Gordon J. Melton. This resulted in the academic volume by Bromley and Shinn called Kṛṣṇa Consciousness in the West, again giving Tom an opportunity to share his research on Bhaktivinoda.9 Similarly, when Kuśakratha Dāsa released his translation of the Chaitanya Upanishad (Bala Books, 1984), Tom was asked to write the foreword, for, in India, the book had originally been published by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. Tom knew the story well: Having read about this obscure Upaniṣad in other ancient literature, the Ṭhākura had searched the subcontinent to procure a copy for himself. Finally, after thoroughgoing research, he managed to retrieve an early handwritten manuscript from Madhusūdana Mahārāja, a paṇḍita from Sambalapura, Orissa. Reading the text carefully, Bhaktivinoda wrote a brief Sanskrit commentary called Śrī Caitanya-caranāmṛta and published it in Calcutta for the first time in 1887. Tom was thrilled to write a foreword for the world’s first English edition. *Champion of ISKCON* Tom spent the 1980s and 1990s writing academic articles about ISKCON’s legitimacy as well as eloquent introductory notes for various volumes on ISKCON and Prabhupāda, beginning with Satsvarūpa dāsa Goswami’s Śrīla Prabhupāda-līlāmṛta. His work appears in “Planting the Seed,” the second volume of the multivolume set. He also contributed a foreword to the second volume of Hari Śauri Dāsa’s multivolume work, A Transcendental Diary, and he did the same for several other devotees’ books as well. These scholarly “forewords” were specifically designed to give a sort of academic imprimatur for the reading public, showing them that ISKCON’s devotional literature was accepted and appreciated by professionally trained scholars and authorities outside of ISKCON. A highlight of Tom’s work in this area was a full-length interview he did for Śubhānanda Dāsa (Steven J. Gelberg), one of the BBT’s main editors at the time, in the book Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa: Five Distinguished Scholars on the Kṛṣṇa Movement in the West.10 In this work, Tom, Harvey Cox, Larry D. Shinn, A. L. Basham, and Shrivatsa Goswami—all leading names in the academic study of religion—speak out in lengthy and engaging conversations about the movement’s authenticity and rich cultural heritage. But it is Tom’s words about Prabhupāda that I find most memorable: It’s an astonishing story. If someone told you a story like this, you wouldn’t believe it. Here’s this person, he’s seventy years old, he’s going to a country where he’s never been before, he doesn’t know anybody there, he has no money, he has no contacts. He has none of the things, you would say, that make for success. He’s going to recruit people not on any systematic basis but just by picking up whomever he comes across, and he’s going to give them responsibility for organizing a worldwide movement. You’d say, “What kind of program is that?” There are precedents, perhaps. Jesus of Nazareth went around saying, “Come follow me. Drop your nets, or leave your tax collecting, and come with me and be my disciple.” But in his case, he wasn’t an old man in a strange society dealing with people whose backgrounds were totally different from his own. He was dealing with his own community. Bhaktivedanta Swami’s achievement, then, must be seen as unique. Bhaktivedanta Swami’s personal example of devotion was not only impressive, but it was compelling, as evidenced by the way in which so many young Westerners were drawn to him. What got people chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra* in the beginning was confronting Bhaktivedanta Swami and being just overwhelmed by the man and feeling, “I want to be near this person; I want to become like this person.” And his approach was one of taking people on and saying, “Here’s how.” I don’t think any devotional tradition has ever really been successful without some kind of model devotee to provide an example of devotion and of holiness. The role of the holy man is really inseparable from the devotional traditions. There’s just no way you can convey the quality of devotion without an example of devotion. Devotion, in the sense of spontaneous devotion, is not something you can teach people intellectually or convey by reciting a set of abstract principles, saying, “Now, being devotional means being such and such. Number one you do this and number two you do that.” Of course, devotion does not arise out of nowhere. The devotional path is indeed a path. The devotee follows various religious regulations and disciplines that gradually revive the natural devotion of the soul, of the heart. But it is difficult to adhere to such disciplines, or to know how to adhere to them, if there is no good example of a devotee to follow. The devotional tradition makes this point constantly: association with saints inspires saintliness, association with devotees inspires devotion. The association of genuine devotees can exert a powerful effect upon one’s consciousness.11 As the hundredth anniversary of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s birth drew near, I had the privilege of working with Tom to organize a “Prabhupāda Centennial Conference,” sponsored by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) and held in Detroit on November 3–5, 1995. I liaised with Ravīndra Svarūpa Dāsa and E. Burke Rochford, Jr.,12 who took the reins and worked closely with the BBT to make it happen. The idea was that we would invite many of the most important scholars of the day to present papers about Śrīla Prabhupāda’s accomplishments, flying them in at the BBT’s expense, since the proceedings were supposed to result in a BBT book. It would be held at the Fisher Mansion, our elegant ISKCON center in Detroit, with meals served at our award-winning Govinda’s restaurant. While the conference went well, with over a dozen scholars explicating Prabhupāda’s many achievements, a BBT book was never realized. Nonetheless, three years later, the papers were used in a special ISKCON issue of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies (6.2, Spring 1998). But what made the conference special for me was talking with Tom about his proposed paper, and how proud he was of ISKCON, which he felt had now come of age. He said he remembered when ISKCON was too young to work with outside scholars, naturally desiring to protect its own purity by avoiding those who did not follow devotional principles according to the same standards. He saw the wisdom in this but added that everyone had something to contribute, and that even Prabhupāda took help from Allen Ginsberg and others, acknowledging the merit in having scholars endorse his books. This conference, he said, is more of the same. I agreed. After our conversation, he spoke on this very subject at the close of the conference. *Culminating Events* Although Tom did much for ISKCON and the academic world in numerous ways, I think his work for Prabhupāda’s mission culminated in two events: (1) his tenure as Academic Director at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, and (2) his attendance and presentation at the ISKCON conference at Harvard commemorating the movement’s fiftieth anniversary. Says Śaunaka Ṛṣi Dāsa, the Oxford Centre’s director: In Oxford he served as our second Academic Director, from 1998 to 1999, and as a Senior Fellow since then until the end. He took charge of our academic programs, planning, and setting policy, and was our foremost scholar. As our Academic Director he identified the Centre as a bridge, between scholars, between communities, and between cultures—a policy that has influenced the ethos of the Centre ever since. Tom was a gentleman, a scholar, and a good friend. He was an academic of great integrity. A religious man with an open heart and an appreciation of goodness wherever he found it. It was a great pleasure working with him. He was dedicated, grave, funny, and warm in his dealings. Above all, he was kind. At the OCHS, we owe him a great debt. Dr. Jessica Frazier, who holds degrees in Sanskrit, Religious Studies, and Philosophy of Religion from Oxford and Cambridge, remembers him fondly: As a young student I climbed up the stairs to the Oxford Centre for Hindu studies, to a suite of rooms full of light for my first conversation with Tom Hopkins. I was led to an office overlooking central Oxford, and there he was. For eight weeks we discussed Indian gods and philosophies. He was a vivid character in the subtle grey world of Oxford. He was welcoming and energetic with a manner that made study seem important in a way that was different from the other professors—studying was important not because it made one clever, or brought status, but because it revealed a world of wonders. He showed us alternative ways of thinking that were thrilling, powerful, pleasing or challenging—but always inspiring. In 2016, Tom again showed his support of ISKCON. Over the weekend of April 22 to 24, more than thirty scholars and scholarly devotees met at Harvard University’s Center for the Study of World Religions to present papers on the growth, impact, and challenges of ISKCON since its inception. Tom was the keynote speaker. Participants included Larry Shinn, Kenneth Cracknell, and others who, like Tom, have shown support throughout ISKCON’s many years. Also in attendance were scholars of Vaiṣṇavism in general, like David Haberman and Barbara Holdrege, who were not specifically known as scholars of ISKCON per se but who, acknowledging the significance of the fifty-year mark and ISKCON’s accomplishments during that period, felt the need to hold forth, perhaps for the first time, and express their appreciation of Prabhupāda and his work. Devotee-scholars naturally presented papers as well, including William Deadwyler (Ravīndra Svarūpa Dāsa), Edith Best (Ūrmilā Dāsī), Abhishek Ghosh (Kṛṣṇābhiṣeka Dāsa), and Ravi M. Gupta (Rādhikā Ramaṇa Dāsa). As expected, Tom was the most anticipated of the speakers, sharing his memories of ISKCON’s first center, 26 Second Avenue, in its earliest days, and how his relationship with the movement continued from there. It was a story he would frequently retell, refined through his more than fifty years of experience with ISKCON. He always managed to keep it fresh and exciting, adding nuances that his audience had never heard before. And he did not disappoint at Harvard, giving two talks, commencing and ending the conference. The proceedings will be published by Oxford India in the near future. In conclusion, I am again reminded of my earliest of conversations with Tom, in which we spoke about mortality, and his words in that subsequent article about death and the afterlife. Tom writes, All beings that die will be reborn as long as they are still engaged in the *karmic* process, so their physical remains are only a transient and insignificant reminder of their passing; and all beings similarly have the possibility of final salvation, although this may be many lifetimes in the future. Any individual death is, therefore, only a transition point in a larger cycle that will present many conditions and opportunities in the course of many lifetimes. What matters is how one uses the circumstances that each life provides to work toward the ultimate afterlife of one’s choice.13 In assisting Prabhupāda’s mission, my friend, you have used the circumstances of your life well, and your ongoing journey will thus be fruitful, leading, without doubt, to the supreme destination. *Notes* 1. Eventually published as Thomas J. Hopkins, “Hindu Views of Death and Afterlife.” In ed., Hiroshi Obayashi, Death and Afterlife: Perspectives of World Religions (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1992), 143–155. 2. Thomas J. Hopkins, “ISKCON’s Search for Self-Identity: Reflections by a Historian of Religions.” eds., Graham Dwyer and Richard J. Cole. The Hare Kṛṣṇa Movement: Forty Years of Chant and Change (London: I.B. Tauris & Co., 2007). 3. Ibid. 4. See Tom’s interview in Steven J. Gelberg, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa: Five Distinguished Scholars on the Kṛṣṇa Movement in the West (New York: Grove Press, 1983). 5. Letter to Brahmānanda, December 10, 1969. 6. Since the time of Śrīla Bhaksiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, Prabhupāda’s *guru*, Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas in our line view themselves as members of the Bhaktivinoda “family” (parivāra), for in many ways he is the founding father of Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the modern age. It was he who would elaborate on key Gauḍīya concepts, such as the Śikṣāṣṭakam and actinya-bhedābheda tattva, in ways not previously explicated in the sampradāya, and he was the first to use the printing press to push forward the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. Prabhupāda refers to Bhaktivinoda as the “eternal energy of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu.” 7. More of Tom’s thorough Bhaktivinoda research appeared in Thomas J. Hopkins, “The Social and Religious Background for Transmission of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism to the West,” in eds., David G. Bromley and Larry D. Shinn, Kṛṣṇa Consciousness in the West (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press, 1989), 35–54. 8. Ibid. 9. Ibid. 10. Steven J. Gelberg, ed., Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa: Five Distinguished Scholars on the Kṛṣṇa Movement in the West (New York: Grove Press, 1983). 11. Ibid. 12. E. Burke Rochford, Jr., is Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, and Religion at Middlebury College in Vermont. He is a longtime supporter of ISKCON and author of Hare Kṛṣṇa in America, Hare Kṛṣṇa Transformed, and many academic papers on the movement. 13. Hopkins, Thomas J., “Hindu Views of Death and Afterlife.” op. cit., 154. How I Came to Kṛṣṇa Consciousness: A Swami Bearing Light A disenchanted young man’s introduction to the maha-mantra might seem unconventional, but it was the sixties, after all. by Saṅkarṣaṇa Dāsa My dad always told me, “Son, your college days are going to be the happiest days in your life,” and I believed him. But that fateful day in August of 1965 when he drops me off at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, to begin my freshman year, I, Steve Bridge, am totally miserable because I have no idea why I exist and what is my life’s purpose. Even though at college we study all the great philosophers of the Western world, not one of them can show me a light at the end of the depression tunnel. After suffering through two meaningless years of liberal arts studies at Austin College, I’m forced to choose a major. I pick drama, thinking I can find some sense of happiness by escaping into the imaginary world of theatre. Thus, with hopeful anticipation, in the fall of 1967, for my junior year I transfer to the highly reputed drama school at the University of Texas in Austin. But my euphoria bubble pops after I hear a presentation by a graduate about what it’s like in the real world of theatre, and I’m again cast into the ocean of depression. One day in the hall of the drama building one of my fellow students asks me how I’m doing. When I reply, “I’m depressed,” he immediately shoots back, “Don’t say that!” How depressing is that! I’m supposed to pretend I’m happy. I’m not even allowed to be honest. But then one day in the break room of the drama department, I get a ray of hope. I hear from a fellow drama student about something called self-realization, which enables you to achieve a state of unlimited bliss. Sincerely seeking self-realization, I try following several different *gurus* one after another whose teachings unfortunately don’t pan out. My depression nightmare continues to grind on and on. One day in the summer of 1968, two friends of my roommate drop by for a visit. They’re moving to Denver, and they invite me to join them. And shortly thereafter I do just that. I’m very happy staying with them for a few weeks until they tell me it’s time to move on. So I’m depressed again, living alone in Denver. *Discovering the Mahā-mantra* But then comes an amazing coincidence. Someone I met in Austin, who spoke of spiritual realization and seemed to be very wise, turns out to be living just one block away from me. His name is Patrick Dolan. One night when I go to his apartment to visit him, his roommate tells me he’s gone to Joe’s apartment. So I go to Joe’s, only to find that Patrick, Joe, and several others have just taken LSD. When they invite me to join them, I decline and decide to go back to my apartment and go to bed. But then a few minutes later, I’m awakened by a quiet but impassioned knocking on my door. All the LSD takers minus Joe scurry into my apartment and shut the door, telling me not to turn on the light. Joe has gone crazy on LSD and is going door to door knocking and asking, “There’s LSD in the water. Can you give a drink of water?” And then Patrick starts softly chanting, “Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare / Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.” He tells us to all chant with him for Joe’s protection. Intrigued, the next day I go to Patrick’s to ask him about that *mantra* he was chanting. He shows me an article from the September 23, 1967 edition of the Saturday Evening Post in which the entire mahā-*mantra* is printed. The article, by Joan Didion, is entitled, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem.” It mentions how Hare Kṛṣṇa chanting will bring peace in the world and transport the chanter into a state of ecstasy beyond any ecstasy of this mundane world. This is exactly what I’ve been seeking for years! Now I have the tool I need. I become very serious to center my life on chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. I set up an altar with a picture of Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa and offer all of my food (I’m already a vegetarian) to Kṛṣṇa by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. I feel very inspired for spiritual life. Then two hippie friends who want to go to India invite me to join them, and I decide to do so. I’ll completely renounce the material world, denying everything, and go to India to be a holy renunciant for the rest of my life. Before heading out, I make one last visit to my family in Houston. One evening as I contemplate my mood of denying everything, I realize that if I deny absolutely everything, then I have to deny denial too and accept something transcendental. I feel strongly that some spiritual people in San Francisco are calling me to join them in making a global spiritual revolution. So one day, without telling my parents, I head out penniless with guitar and suitcase to hitchhike to San Francisco. *Hare Kṛṣṇas in the Haight* After several adventurous days, I arrive in San Francisco and go straight to its famous Haight Ashbury district, which one year ago was the center of the famous Summer of Love. I go into Golden Gate Park. The first people I meet are Hare Kṛṣṇa devotees coming back from chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa at Hippie Hill, a popular spot in Golden Gate Park. They invite me to come to their temple at 518 Frederick Street, and I accept their invitation. In the temple room I’m chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mantra* when one of the female devotees says, “Oh, you’re chanting so nicely.” Because my mind is polluted with the “I am God” philosophy, I chuckle to myself, thinking, “Ha ha, if she only knew that I am Kṛṣṇa.” I don’t realize that the devotees are the spiritual beings I’m meant to join. So I just start on my own to try to bring a spiritual revolution by becoming a wandering minstrel up and down Haight Street, singing and playing my guitar. I’m inspired when a local hippie tells me I’ll make Haight Ashbury beautiful again. (Its love and peace atmosphere has greatly deteriorated after the Summer of Love.) So now I have a mission: Make Haight Ashbury beautiful, and make the whole world beautiful. After a few weeks I hear there’s a wonderful thing happening for musicians across the San Francisco Bay, over in Berkeley at the University of California. Musicians are singing every day on Sproul Plaza, attracting hundreds of listeners. I hitchhike over there and sing some songs. Sure enough, I attract hundreds of listeners. So I relocate to Berkeley. I become a regular singer on Sproul Plaza. This goes on for weeks. Then on May 7, 1969 I get to perform between the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane at the famous Polo Field concert in Golden Gate Park. The audience roars with approval. They love my sound. The emcee predicts my imminent fame. Things are looking good. Then Makhanalāla Dāsa Brahmacārī comes to Berkeley to open a Hare Kṛṣṇa center. He’s very kind. I sometimes do some service and take prasādam, but I never have a thought of joining the Hare Kṛṣṇas. Then the most wonderful thing for the counter-culture community is going to happen. There’s going to be a West Coast version of the famous Woodstock festival held in August of 1969 in New York State. Now, four months later, here in California at the Altamont Speedway a similar festival of several days of love and peace is planned. But instead of the love and peace that manifested at the Woodstock festival, there is murder and violence. I’m there at the beginning of the so-called festival. But as soon as I see the mood, I get out of there as fast as I can. *Back to Student Life, Briefly* This is so discouraging that I decide to go back to the normal life of being a student at the University of Texas in Austin. But after a few weeks in the spring of 1970, I’m feeling very morose, remembering those days when I attracted joyful, enthusiastic audiences on the West Coast. So one day between classes I take my guitar and sit down and sing at the George Washington statue on the campus. No one else is doing this, so my daily concerts become a campus sensation, attracting hundreds of students. This leads to my becoming the house musician at the Sattva vegetarian restaurant near the campus and dropping out of school. Still, in my spite of my new local popularity as a musician, I’m missing something. I want spiritual realization. But how to find it? I know that Jesus Christ is a self-realized soul. But what is his secret? I start reading the Bible every day trying to figure it out. One day it dawns on me. Jesus prays, “Father, not my will, but Thy will be done.” I realize that this is the secret. You’ve just got to do what God wants, not what you want. But my problem is that I don’t know what God wants me to do. I’m waiting for a voice from the sky, but nothing is coming. One day I’m doing a music gig at a vegetarian co-op. It’s depressing for my musician’s ego because there is only one little girl in the audience. But the amazing thing is that she reads my mind and tells me after I finish a song, “Don’t worry. God can hear you.” Wow! That’s really amazing! How does she know what I was thinking? She must be a messenger sent by God! So now I have a new *mantra*: “Dear God, please guide me how I can become Your perfect servant.” I pray this way every day, and then one day there is the proverbial knock on the door. *Swami Comes to Town* I’m staying with Mike Bridges. One Sunday morning his friend Margaret, who lives down the street, knocks on his door and tells Mike, “There’s a Hare Kṛṣṇa swami in town, and he’ll be in my apartment in one hour.” So I go. And there he is in his beautiful, radiant, blissful splendor, His Holiness Viṣṇujana Swami. He invites me to a “love celebration” that will be held that afternoon in Pease Park, and I eagerly attend it. He leads us in an inspiring, uplifting kīrtana, a congregational call-and-response chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa *mahā-mantra*. I’m impressed with the swami’s spiritual knowledge when he explains, “‘Avatar’ means one who descends.” Then he serves us a wonderful feast he cooked. The menu is very simple, but incredibly delicious: potatoes with sour cream and turmeric, apple chutney, and sweet rice pudding. Viṣṇujana Swami is a beacon of light, hope, and bliss. Even though he has no temple, he’s preaching in different homes every evening. So I go every day to the campus to find out where he will be doing his program that night. He announces to the people, “Invite me to your home, and I’ll turn your home into a temple.” One spring evening I’m attending one of his programs at the home of Robin Ferris. At one point in the program, I step into the kitchen to get a drink of water. And who should show up but Viṣṇujana Swami himself! The two of us are now alone in the kitchen, away from the crowd packed into the living room. He takes the opportunity to give me a personal instruction, which goes deep into my heart as one of the most poignant instructions I have ever received in my life. He calmly, compassionately looks me squarely in the eyes and says, “You have to become sober.” Our hippie philosophy is to be intoxicated and stay that way forever. Being sober is just the opposite of that, so when he tells me I have to become sober, it’s powerfully life changing. I can see that he’s coming from a very high state of consciousness without the help of any drugs. And now he’s inviting me to enter that realm of higher consciousness. This instruction from Viṣṇujana Swami demands that I completely reconsider my lifestyle. Having met with this swami on a number of occasions, I can clearly see that he has truly achieved an enlightened state of uninterrupted divine bliss. He is indeed always ”high” on the holy names of Kṛṣṇa. My so-called attempts at staying high are totally dwarfed by the exalted state he has achieved. And now he is imploring me to join him in that higher realm of consciousness. *Making the Commitment* I’m asked to leave from where I’m staying. But Viṣṇujana Swami has now made some devotees and has even gotten a temple building, and I’m invited to stay there. They don’t require me to become a full-on Hare Kṛṣṇa. George Harrison has just had a mega hit with “My Sweet Lord,” so I throw my three hundred mundane songs into the temple garbage can and resolve that from now on I’ll only write Kṛṣṇa conscious songs. I won’t be a disciple. I’ll be a Kṛṣṇa conscious singer-songwriter following George’s example. But one fateful morning as I listen to a recording of the London devotees singing the Gurvaṣṭakam prayers, I’m thunderstruck. The devotion in their voices penetrates my heart, opening a window and giving me a glimpse into the unsurpassable ecstasy of what it’s like to live in the most sublime realm of total surrender to God’s representative, the spiritual master. It is so sweet and unbelievably thrilling that tears stream down my face and the most beautifully uplifting thought floods my brain. “Wouldn’t it be beautiful if I gave my life to Śrīla Prabhupāda?” So I tell Viṣṇujana Swami I want to become a disciple. A few months later, the most wonderful letter comes from Śrīla Prabhupāda, dated August 12, 1971, in which he accepts me as his disciple, giving me the name Saṅkarṣaṇa Dāsa. When I write him back, sending him a donation (my *guru-dakṣiṇā*) and expressing my desire to spread his movement, he replies on September 7, 1971: “I can see also that you are a very sincere and enthusiastic boy and are anxious for spreading this movement. Those are first class qualifications for making advancement in Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. So continue enthusiastically as you are doing and Kṛṣṇa will surely bless you.” So now I’ve got my marching orders for how to unlimitedly receive Kṛṣṇa’s blessings. *Saṅkarṣaṇa Dāsa lectures on Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world. His Internet-based training program, the Ultimate Self Realization Course, has attracted over 27,000 subscribers from more than 100 countries who receive a daily inspirational message and personal answers to their questions regarding how to become perfect in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.* The Mind: Magnificent and Mighty *Success in spiritual life requires control of the mind, and bhakti-yoga give us the ideal way to do it.* by Viśākhā Devī Dāsī Our mind, an aspect of Kṛṣṇa’s material energy, can be a helpful ally or a hindering foe. Some five hundred and ten years ago, after Śrī Caitanya had taken sannyāsa and was intending to travel by foot from Bengal to Vrindavan, Śrī Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī decided to serve Śrī Caitanya by creating a broad road for Him to walk on. What Śrī Nṛsiṁhānanda created was by no means an ordinary road. In his *Caitanya-caritāmṛta* *(Madhya* 1.156–159), Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī describes it: He bedecked the road with jewels, upon which he then laid a bed of stemless flowers. He mentally decorated both sides of the road with bakula flower trees, and at intervals on both sides he placed lakes of a transcendental nature. These lakes had bathing places constructed with jewels, and they were filled with blossoming lotus flowers. There were various birds chirping, and the water was exactly like nectar. The entire road was surcharged with many cool breezes, which carried the fragrances from various flowers. He carried the construction of this road as far as Kānāi Nāṭaśālā. The immense value and natural beauty of the road made it unique, but even more extraordinary was the fact that the road was not physically manifest but was created and existed solely in the mind of Śrī Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī. Yet Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted it just as if it were a physical road that He could walk on. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains: For a pure devotee, it is the same whether he materially constructs a path or constructs one within his mind. This is because the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Janārdana, is bhāva-grāhī, or appreciative of the sentiment. For Him a path made with actual jewels and a path made of mental jewels are the same. Though subtle, mind is also matter, so any path—indeed, anything for the service of the Lord, whether in gross matter or in subtle matter—is accepted equally by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord accepts the attitude of His devotee and sees how much he is prepared to serve Him. The devotee is at liberty to serve the Lord either in gross matter or in subtle matter. The important point is that the service be in relation with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (*Madhya* 1.161, Purport) So complete was Śrī Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī’s meditation that when he could not construct the road past Kanai Natashala (in eastern Bihar), although he was astonished and at first could not understand why the construction stopped, after some thought he confidently declared to the devotees that Śrī Caitanya would not go all the way to Vrindavan at that time. Śrī Nṛsiṁhānanda said, “The Lord will go to Kānāi Nāṭaśālā and then will return. All of you will come to know of this later, but I now say this with great assurance.” (*Madhya* 1.162) And that, indeed, is what came to pass. We may question this story and how it illustrates the mind’s power, but when looked at logically and philosophically, it’s not only reasonable but also soundly convincing. In the *Gītā* (7.4), Kṛṣṇa explains that this world is composed of eight material elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence, and false ego. Kṛṣṇa is ultimately the source of these elements (*ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavah*, *Gītā* 10.8), and they and their combinations compose the entirety of what we can perceive with our senses. Kṛṣṇa wants us to come closer to Him, and for that purpose He manifests Himself in the form of the Deity. The Deity, although made of material elements like wood or stone, is identical to Kṛṣṇa Himself. And if Kṛṣṇa so desires, He can also manifest in the mind of His devotee, as He did with Śrī Nṛsiṁhānanda. “The Deity form of the Lord is said to appear in eight varieties—stone, wood, metal, earth, paint, sand, the mind or jewels.” *(Bhāgavatam* 11.27.12) If Kṛṣṇa wants to appear somewhere, who are we to say that He can’t or wouldn’t or shouldn’t? Here’s how Śrīla Prabhupāda expresses it: Bhūmir āpo ‘nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano. So, mind is also another material thing. So if you think of Kṛṣṇa’s form within the body, mind, it is as good as you worship the Deity in the temples made of brass or wood or stone. Because both of them are Kṛṣṇa’s energy. Whatever possible, He can accept. And that is Kṛṣṇa, because it is Kṛṣṇa’s energy. Therefore the energy is not different from Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa can accept your service in any of these material . . ., so-called material. Actually there are no material things. Material things means the desire for sense gratification. That is material. (Room Conversation, Sept. 19, 1973, Bombay) We may not be expert enough to worship and serve the Deity within our mind, but we can give credit to those who are expert enough and marvel at how Kṛṣṇa reciprocates with them. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes *(Bhāgavatam* 4.30.28, Purport): There is a story about a brāhmaṇa who was offering sweet rice to the Lord within his mind. The brāhmaṇa had no money or any means of worshiping the Deity, but within his mind he arranged everything nicely. He had gold pots to bring water from the sacred rivers to wash the Deity, and he offered the Deity very sumptuous food, including sweet rice. Once, before he offered the sweet rice, he thought that it was too hot, and he thought, “Oh, let me test it. My, it is very hot.” When he put his finger in the sweet rice to test it, his finger was burned and his meditation broken. Although he was offering food to the Lord within his mind, the Lord accepted it nonetheless. Consequently, the Lord in Vaikuṇṭha immediately sent a chariot to bring the brāhmaṇa back home, back to Godhead. *How Is This Relevant to Me?* On one hand, our mind limits our spiritual quest: “The mind cannot catch You [the Lord] by speculation, and words fail to describe You.” *(Bhāgavatam* 8.5.26) Worse, the mind can be our archenemy: “Except for the uncontrolled and misguided mind, there is no enemy within this world.” *(Bhāgavatam* 7.8.9) Yet, as we’ve seen above, that very mind can bring us to Kṛṣṇa and His abode. The mind is so powerful that our very destiny depends on how it’s situated: “Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.” (*Gītā* 8.6) If we’re worshiping the Deity in the temple and our mind is distracted, a mere show of worship will not be of any benefit. *(Bhāgavatam* 5.8.14, Purport) But if our mind is focused on pleasing Kṛṣṇa, then we can please Him whatever our material circumstances. Śrīla Prabhupāda: “The whole *yogic* system is to convert the mind from matter to spirit. You can utilize the mind in both ways. When the mind is spiritually trained up, it is the best friend of the soul, and when the mind is materially polluted, it is the worst enemy.” (Letter, Sept. 28, 1975) *Personal Experience* In almost three quarters of a century in dealing with my own particular mind, I’ve found a few tools that help me befriend it. One is to recognize and respect its overarching power. Sometimes everything can be fine externally but my disturbed mind doesn’t allow me to appreciate anything. In fact, everything seems terrible. And the opposite occurs as well. The holocaust survivor Victor Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Such a choice takes mind control. I must remember that my mind is not me but something covering me, the atmā, or spiritual being, and not take the mind so seriously. Rather, I can acknowledge its condition, become detached from it, and neglect it. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, “There is one easy weapon with which the mind can be conquered—disobedience. The mind is always telling us to do this or that; therefore we should be very expert in disobeying the mind’s orders. Gradually the mind should be trained to obey the orders of the soul. It is not that one should obey the orders of the mind.” *(Bhāgavatam* 5.11.17, Purport) Boundaries also help keep the mind friendly. From the beginning of establishing the Hare Kṛṣṇa movement, Śrīla Prabhupāda requested all his initiated disciples to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and follow four regulations. These are firm activities and boundaries that, when followed with the intent of advancing spiritually, do wonders to control and calm the mind. “A person free from all attachment and aversion and able to control his senses through regulative principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord.” *(Gītā* 2.64) Kṛṣṇa helps the sincere practitioner. Another tool that I’ve found helpful for keeping the mind in check is a regular daily schedule. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes of the detriment of irregular habits. “Overeating, over–sense gratification, overdependence on another’s mercy, and artificial standards of living sap the very vitality of human energy.” *(Bhāgavatam* 1.1.10, Purport) Śrīla Prabhupāda’s awareness of Kṛṣṇa was always fresh and vibrant, never hackneyed or stereotyped, and at the same time he generally followed a predictable pattern in his days, rising early to translate, take a morning walk, lecture, have breakfast, and so forth (although he was flexible for special occasions). We can follow this in spirit and establish a regular routine for sleeping, rising, and performing our daily activities, for this helps train the mind to function even if it’s disturbed. *Bhagavad-gītā* tells us that if one is too austere or too sensuous one cannot control the mind. This is confirmed in *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* (11.20.21): An expert horseman, desiring to tame a headstrong horse, first lets the horse have his way for a moment and then, pulling the reins, gradually places the horse on the desired path. Similarly, the supreme *yoga* process is that by which one carefully observes the movements and desires of the mind and gradually brings them under full control. Purport: Just as an expert rider intimately knows the propensities of an untamed horse and gradually brings the horse under control, an expert *yogī* allows the mind to reveal its materialistic propensities and then controls them through superior intelligence. A learned transcendentalist withholds and supplies sense objects so that the mind and senses remain fully controlled, just as the horseman sometimes pulls sharply on the reins and sometimes allows the horse to run freely. The rider never forgets his actual goal or destination, and eventually places the horse on the right path. Similarly, a learned transcendentalist, even though sometimes allowing the senses to act, never forgets the goal of self-realization, nor does he allow the senses to engage in sinful activity. Excessive austerity or restriction may result in great mental disturbance, just as pulling excessively on the reins of a horse may cause the horse to rear up against the rider. The path of self-realization depends upon clear intelligence, and the easiest way to acquire such expertise is surrender to Lord Kṛṣṇa. The Lord says in *Bhagavad-gītā* (10.10): > teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ > bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam > dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ > yena mām upayānti te One may not be a great scholar or spiritual intellect, but if one is sincerely engaged in loving service to the Lord without personal envy or personal motivation the Lord will reveal from within the heart the methodology required to control the mind. Expertly riding the waves of mental desire, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not fall from the saddle, and he eventually rides all the way back home, back to Godhead. So we befriend our mighty mind through knowledge (“I am a spiritual being”), detachment (“I am not my mind”), purity (chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa), regulation, and especially through our correct intention. That intention is to come closer to Kṛṣṇa, and we do that by serving Him with devotion. “Please try to conquer this mind by the weapon of service to the lotus feet of the spiritual master and of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Do this with great care.” *(Bhāgavatam* 5.11.17) Ultimately our success will be when we relish and rejoice in all aspects of spiritual life. At that time we will be naturally absorbed in Kṛṣṇa, His devotees, and His service, and will serve Him however we’re able, including within our mind, just as Śrī Nṛsiṁhānanda Brahmacārī did. Śrīla Prabhupāda writes *(Bhāgavatam* 5.11.8, Purport), “The mind is the cause of material existence and liberation also. Everyone is suffering in this material world because of the mind; it is therefore proper to train the mind or to cleanse the mind from material attachment and engage it fully in the Lord’s service. This is called spiritual engagement.” *Viśākhā Devī Dāsī has been writing for BTG since 1973. The author of six books, she is the temple president at Bhaktivedanta Manor in the UK. She and her husband, Yadubara Dāsa, produce and direct films, most recently the biopic on the life of Śrīla Prabhupāda Hare Kṛṣṇa! The Mantra, the Movement, and the Swami Who Started It All. Visit her website at OurSpiritualJourney.com.* Hare Kṛṣṇa People *As If in Military Discipline* *A female member of the Canadian army tells what attracted her to Kṛṣṇa consciousness.* by Śāntī Devī Dāsī Some thoughts on being a Hare Kṛṣṇa devotee in the Canadian army. Because I’m in the Canadian army, an unusual position for a Hare Kṛṣṇa devotee, especially a female, devotees often ask me what attracted me to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The short answer is that initially it was maṅgala-ārati. I thought it was fascinating how devotees were able to wake up really early and go to the temple and meditate. And I liked that devotees don’t drink alcohol and are vegetarians. “Wow,” I said to myself, “what amazing life habits these devotees have! Maybe I could be like that one day. Only in my dreams!” I first met devotees in 2001, but my interest in Kṛṣṇa consciousness was not awakened at that time. Later, in 2003, during university, I had moved downtown to be closer to the campus. Coincidentally, I moved into an apartment where my balcony overlooked the ISKCON Toronto temple. Perhaps it was not a coincidence and Kṛṣṇa’s arrangement, as was His arrangement that my neighbors were devotees. I started inquiring, and they started to invite me to events. The first event I attended was a Rathayātrā, big parade and festival where they served free vegetarian food. A devotee neighbor gave me a *sari* to wear to the festival. This was my very first *sari*. It was cobalt blue, one of my favorite colors. I grew up in a multicultural home, so, unlike many Canadians, I was comfortable with the devotees’ “exotic” appearance and way of life. My mother was from Ireland, my father from Pakistan. I was familiar with South Asian cooking. My mother mostly cooked Indian food, and I was used to most food having turmeric (haldi) in it. I started asking devotees more about *bhāva* *bhakti*, or pure devotional service. How does one conduct pure devotional service? I met my *guru*, His Holiness Bhaktimārga Swami, in those early days, but it was many years before I became a committed devotee. I met him again when I was serious about becoming a devotee after attending regular services, in particular the early-morning service and the Sunday feast. By then, 2008, I had stopped all the usual bad habits one accumulates as a nondevotee, and I was chanting sixteen rounds daily. Finally, after some time the date was set. I was getting my first initiation. The night before my initiation ceremony, I learned my new name in a dream. I first signed up for the army in 1991, when I was still in school, dually enrolled in my last year of high school and first year of college. In the army, I served as an armored crewman in the tank and cavalry squadron. I left the army in 1995 to pursue a career in the fitness industry and was a fitness model in magazines around the world. I was featured in Spain, England, France, Greece, Canada, and the US. Once the fitness career was over (normally lasts five years), I had saved the money I made and went to university in 2003 as a mature student in my late twenties and early thirties. *Military Discipline* Sometime after my initiation, I read an interesting purport regarding the military, and finally the lightbulb came on. “Of course!” I thought. I read the following verse: “Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto me, with full knowledge of me, without desires for profit, with no claims to proprietorship, and free from lethargy, fight.” (Gītā 3.30) According to Śrīla Prabhupāda, “This verse clearly indicates the purpose of the *Bhagavad-gītā*. The Lord instructs that one has to become fully Kṛṣṇa conscious to discharge duties, as if in military discipline. Such an injunction may make things a little difficult; nevertheless duties must be carried out, with dependence on Kṛṣṇa, because that is the constitutional position of the living entity.” Prabhupāda is describing how we as devotees should conduct ourselves to a very high standard, as in military discipline—in other words, practicing austerities in the name of the Lord. The army recruiting officer had an appealing sales pitch: “Learn self-discipline, first-aid, and how to save people and deal with stress.” Then he explained a typical day in the army. “You wake up really early (4:30 a.m.) and do some physical training. Then you get ready and eat breakfast. Then it’s a full day of learning. Everyone works together as a team. You learn how to be a team player, and most important you, learn to follow orders.” “Interesting,” I thought. In his purport to *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* 1.1.10, Śrīla Prabhupāda mentions “many different types of sense-gratificatory diversions, such as cinemas, sports, gambling, clubs, mundane libraries, bad association, smoking, drinking, cheating, pilfering, bickerings, and so on.” In other words, these habits are to be shunned. Earlier in the purport, he writes, “By keeping good regular habits and eating simple food, one can maintain good health.” I found this ideology very appealing. These were the kinds of values I wanted to adopt. Military discipline means doing everything with enthusiasm and a sense of urgency, waking up early and performing austerities often, having good hygiene and appearance, being mentally strong, following the orders of superiors with ease and without question. Does any of this sound familiar? In his purport to *Bhagavad-gītā* 3.30, referred to above, Prabhupāda writes, “*Nirāśīḥ* means that one has to act on the order of the master but should not expect fruitive results.” This indicates another similarity between Kṛṣṇa consciousness and the military. *The Kṣatriya’s Duty* Much of our literature has battles and speaks of Kṛṣṇa killing demons. The Vedic warrior is called a kṣatriya. Prabhupāda writes, “The kṣatriya’s duty is to fight and protect the citizens from all kinds of difficulties, and for that reason he has to apply violence in suitable cases for law and order.” A kṣatriya has the qualities of strength, power, and courage. These are essential to the fighting spirit and are encouraged in a soldier. Kṣatriyas must have integrity, keeping their word. There is no room for dishonor or whimsical behavior. After being in Kṛṣṇa consciousness for thirteen years, I decided to go back to the military. I rejoined three years ago with the military police. Shortly after rejoining, I sought official permission to wear *tulasī-mālā* (neck beads) while in uniform, and my request was approved. I am proud to be a devotee. I am proud that I am the first female in North America to be an active military member wearing tulasī in uniform. The military has strict rules on wearing extra jewelry or headdresses outside of the uniform unless it is for religious purposes. Years prior, they would have never allowed us to wear anything outside the uniform. Now we can request permission from the commander to wear certain articles if they don’t impede our training or pose a health risk. Sikhs, for example, are allowed to wear turbans and the kara (religious bracelet). A trend toward religious dress accommodations became prevalent with requests from Sikhs. *Dietary Challenges* In The Nectar of Devotion, chapter eight, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that one should not eat food cooked by a non-Vaiṣṇava. In the past, military food choices were not culturally considered. Nowadays, halal and vegetarian food are served, and dietary considerations are taken seriously. Generally, the food is cooked and packaged separately. That being said, my instructors often tease me about my food choices. “Why are you a vegetarian, Cabanas? That’s rabbit food!” “Did you know they have to shoot the rabbits who try to eat the vegetable crops? Not very animal conscious!” Regarding teamwork, one time the instructors decided that everyone should eat vegetables because I eat vegetables. So they had everyone in the food line yell, “I love vegetables!” When it was it my turn, I yelled, “I love vegetables! Please give me more vegetables, sir!” Actually, the military is an ideal platform to start planting the seed of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and it often begins with dialogue on vegetarianism. I know a handful of members who are vegetarian, although the military attracts “hunter personalities.” I see it as an opportunity to preach with discretion. Generally, one just needs to blend with the population and lead by example. But when someone asks, then I speak. Those thinking about vegetarianism ask “Why?” first. Preaching in such an environment is certainly new territory. People who join the military are generally people who want to do things for a higher purpose—for themselves and others. So they would be open to ideas about self-improvement. A coworker I gave our Higher Taste book to is now a vegetarian. *Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa* When I’m asked about my “prayer beads,” I say that they are my meditation beads. No instructor or higher-rank officer has ever prevented me from chanting. I carry them everywhere, as I do regularly when out of uniform. One difference is the color of the bead bag. Green, green, green, army green. Another tool to blend in with everyone else. From the Editor *Service to Kṛṣṇa as the Goal* Śrīla Prabhupāda titled this magazine Back to Godhead because, as he made clear in the first issue, he wanted to help people reorient their lives toward God (turn “back to God”) and become qualified to return to Him in the spiritual world. The idea of “back to Godhead” in the sense of entering Lord Kṛṣṇa’s eternal home is an appealing one. It can motivate us to strictly follow the practices of *bhakti-yoga* to achieve the reward of unbounded happiness in that incomparably blissful place. I wonder sometimes, though, if this motivation is too close to desiring liberation, usually considered a selfish goal. Am I motivated to strive to go back to Godhead mainly because I’ll be happy there, having escaped the miseries of material existence? Should my motive be of a purer kind? Śrīla Prabhupāda would often cite a verse quoted by Śrī Rāmānanda Rāya, one of Lord Caitanya’s most intimate associates, that appears in Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Padyāvalī, a collection of verses by various devotees: > kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā matiḥ > krīyatāṁ yadi kuto ’pi labhyate > tatra laulyam api mūlyam ekalaṁ > janma-koṭi-sukṛtair na labhyate “Pure devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot be had even by pious activity in hundreds and thousands of lives. It can be attained only by paying one price—that is, intense greed to obtain it. If it is available somewhere, one must purchase it without delay.” According to this verse, the highest thing to aspire for is “pure devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.” Śrīla Prabhupāda often pointed out that the term “Kṛṣṇa consciousness” is his translation of the opening phrase of this verse, *kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasa-bhāvitā*, which he also translated as “absorbed in the mellows of executing devotional service to Kṛṣṇa.” Śrīla Prabhupāda’s movement might fittingly be called “The Back to Godhead Movement” because he so often entreated us to use our lives to become eligible to go to Kṛṣṇa’s abode. But he also taught that while it’s natural to want to gain the bliss of Kṛṣṇa’s association, our motive should ideally be to gain service to Him, and that can be achieved only by an intense longing for it. Our disqualification is lack of desire to become Kṛṣṇa’s servant. To go back to Godhead means to go the place where everyone and everything serves Kṛṣṇa. Am I ready for that? Would I be comfortable in that environment? *Bhakti-yoga* gradually prepares us for Kṛṣṇa’s world by clearing our deluded thinking that being a servant is undesirable. Contrary to our experience in this world, being the servant of Kṛṣṇa is the most desirable thing. There’s nothing higher. That was shown by Kṛṣṇa Himself when He descended as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu to experience being His own servant. Kṛṣṇa responds to our desires. If we want only to serve Him in pure love, He will invite us into His company. Attaining that position requires more than just following rules; it requires a change of heart. It requires intense eagerness or, as Prabhupāda put it, greed. As the verse I quoted says, that greed can take many lifetimes to attain. That our aspiration should be for the privilege of serving Kṛṣṇa—or Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa—is evident from Prabhupāda’s “translation” of the *mahā-mantra*: “O Lord, O energy of the Lord, please engage me in Your service.” Pure chanting, effective chanting, requires intense longing—not for escape from our suffering, but, like that of Kṛṣṇa’s eternal associates, for service to His lotus feet. Śrīla Prabhupāda gave us all we need to come to that level of spontaneous devotion. If we take full advantage, we don’t need many future lifetimes to achieve it. Hare Kṛṣṇa. —*Nāgarāja Dāsa, Editor* Vedic Thoughts One has to learn to use a typewriter by following the regulative principles of the typing book. One has to place his fingers on the keys in such a way and practice, but when one becomes adept, he can type swiftly and correctly without even looking at the keys. Similarly, one has to follow the rules and regulations of devotional service as they are set down by the spiritual master; then one can come to the point of spontaneous loving service. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda *Śrī* *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*, *Madhya-līlā* 22.109, Purport Out of pity for the apostate jīvas, God sends His own messenger into this world in every age for establishing the pure and eternal religion in the form of constant service of Kṛṣṇa. Either Kṛṣṇa or Kṛṣṇa’s own messenger establishes the true and eternal religion in this world. This task is beyond the capacity of those who are not helped by the grace of God himself. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Amṛta-vāṇī, Section: “108 Essential Instructions” The one Supreme Lord is situated within all material bodies and within everyone's soul. Just as the moon is reflected in innumerable reservoirs of water, the Supreme Lord, although one, is present within everyone. Thus every material body is ultimately composed of the energy of the one Supreme Lord. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* 11.18.32 What grateful soul is there who would not render his loving service to such a great master as the Personality of Godhead? The Lord can be easily pleased by spotless devotees who resort exclusively to Him for protection, though the unrighteous man finds it difficult to propitiate Him. Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī *Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam* 3.19.36 The liberated souls enjoy the Supreme Lord’s company. They enjoy pastimes with the Lord. *Chāndogya Upaniṣad* 7.25.2 For one who has Govinda in his heart, Kali-yuga becomes Satya-yuga. And for one who does not have Acyuta in his heart, Satya-yuga becomes Kali-yuga. Viṣṇu-dharma Each name of Viṣṇu is greater than all the Vedas. *Padma Purāṇa* “Glorification of the 108 Names of Rāma” *Bhakti* is *bhajanam*, or devotional service to Kṛṣṇa. It is concentration of the mind on Kṛṣṇa without desires for enjoyment in this life or the next. It destroys all *karma*. *Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad* 1.14 Those who perform *bhakti* have no inauspiciousness in this life or the next. They lead millions of their family members to the spiritual world. Lord Viṣṇu *Skanda Purāṇa, Dvārakā-māhātmya* 2022 Types of Equal Vision BTG56-01, 2022