I have my four children; how I can leave them…and do this!

Nara Narayana Dasa recalls:

It was Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur disappearance day. Srila Prabhupada described that he had been going on and on for many many years. His spiritual master had instructed him to spread Krishna Consciousness in the western world. In a sense it was only a few words that had been given: ‘You should go and spread Krishna Consciousness in the western world in English language’. Many many years had passed, and Srila Prabhupada had been making plans to raise money through pharmaceutical etc to do this, and then his pharmacy burnt down…

But at some point Srila Prabhupada said that he began to see his spiritual master in dreams; his spiritual master was saying, ‘It’s time to go!’

Srila Prabhupada looked around at the 10 or 15 devotees surrounding him at the time, and said, “I was thinking, ‘How I can leave my children! I have my four children; how I can leave them…and do this!’”

And then Srila Prabhupada looked out and it seemed that tears were shooting from his eyes. As he looked around his eyes were shining and he said, “But now I have got so many children!”

And from the way he said it he gave almost the impression that the world had gathered inside that tiny little room in Seattle.

Somehow, for us there was never any question that there would be a huge world movement; at that time there was probably less than 70 devotees in the entire movement!

Panihati pots

Here are 38 of this year's Panihati pots.

“That’s very good! They’re calling everyone to prayer”

Manjari Devi Dasi remembers:

It was summer time in Iran. Srila Prabhupada was there for Lord Balarama’s appearance day. At that time it was very hot; all the flowers were blooming and it was very nice atmosphere. At a one point Srila Prabhupada called it Bhusvarga: heaven on earth! He liked it very much.

Iran is a Muslim country; they have what’s called ‘namaz’: a call to prayer 3 times a day, coinciding with Gayatri times. They have over the loudspeakers a kind of a chant that’s calling everybody to prayers. So Srila Prabhupada was sitting on the balcony. While the namaz was going on he listened to it; he turned to Atreya and asked, “What is this?”

Atreya replied, “This is namaz, it is the Muslims’ call to pray to God. They are saying the names of God: He who is the most merciful, the most compassionate, and so on”.

Srila Prabhupada responded, “That’s very good! They’re calling everyone to prayer”.

“But”, Atreya said, “Srila Prabhupada isn’t better that we pray and take the names of Krishna rather than Allah?”

Srila Prabhupada turned to Atreya, “You’re asking me to be sectarian!”

Snana Yatra 2013

This year's Snana Yatra festival was simply wonderful!

We were blessed with the visit of Jayapataka Maharaja and his enlivening entourage.
The Deities' bathing ceremony was most grandiose, and the atmosphere that prevailed surcharged with joyous festivity.

Here are some photos of the day...more to come soon!

True to Madhavacarya's teachings

Radhanath Swami relates:

A few years ago, it was the 700th birthday of Madhavacarya.
There was a big big celebration at his birth place, Pancakara-ksetra, near Udupi. All the big big acaryas and gurus of the Madhavacarya sampradaya were assembled. In South India they are considered the most strict and authorised vaisnavas. I think in 700 years not a single of their sannyasi has ever fallen down! They’re very very strict and very learned scholars. There was a raised platform and all of these acaryas were there. And there were thousands and thousands and thousands of their disciples and people who were gathered. The biggest most famous and influential of the acaryas spoke.

So he first spoke the glories of Madhavacarya. And then he began to glorify Srila Prabhupada! He said, “Madhavacarya’s teachings never left the shores of India until his Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada took them to the whole world. He has taken the pure teachings of the Bhagavat and the Bhagavad Gita to every continent; practically to every city in the entire planet earth. And he has not in any way compromised the purest teachings of Sanatana Dharma.”

He went on and on, and he concluded by saying, pointing to every other Madhava acaryas on the stage, “All of us put together, if we are all made into one person, we do not equal one grain of dust at the lotus feet of even a single one of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples who are spreading this message all over the world!”

The factual Messiah who could save us all from doom

Below is a song and poem sung by Madhudvisa Dasa during the 1996 ' Srila Prabhupada Festival' in Los Angeles:

“Under the bowers of a jack fruit, about a 100 years ago
in a little house near Calcutta, a most unlikely place I know
But t’was there that Mahaprabhu would spread His nama far and wide
Siddhanta Saraswati did preach there and reside”

‘A most important day it was in the sorry sad world of men,
where millions had been killed in wars, been killed and born again
Been born again to suffer in the sea of pain and strife
A most important day it was, the dawn of new life’

“Under the bowers  of a jack fruit about a 100 years ago
In a little house near Calcutta, a most unlikely place I know
But it was there that history would spread our ISKCON far and wide
A boy was born that quiet morn’ with Krishna on his side”

‘It was he who brought the Krishna bhakti to the west
To the western world, which was of true religion, quite divest
Received this sacred knowledge of soul and God from him
Oh Srila Prabhupada who filled our hearts with nectar to the brim’

“Under the bowers of a jack fruit about a 100 years ago
In a little house near Calcutta, where the Ganges waves did flow
The day after Krishna’s birthday he came forth from his mother’s womb
The factual Messiah who could save us all from doom”

‘Our cup of life was empty and our future hope was dark and dim
Come Prabhupada to save us; bow to him, bow to him!’

“Under the bowers of a jack fruit, about a 100 years ago
in a little house near Calcutta, a most unlikely place I know
But t’was there that Mahaprabhu would spread His nama far and wide
Siddhanta Saraswati did preach there and reside”.

 

Then again, Jesus was born in a barn!

Prthu Dasa recalls:

I was sitting on a bench near that Hippie Hill in San Francisco; I was chanting my rounds.

A very old black man came by.
He came up to me and said, “That old man who started this thing, he was a cool catch!
I was living in the bowery and he was living in a house there. It was a complete mess.
Then again, Jesus was born in a barn!”

Then he walked away.

Book Distribution Nectar

Tamal Krishna Goswami narrates:

At that time, first and second canto of Bhagavatam and Bhagavad Gita especially Srila Prabhupada wanted to get printed.

He liked the book distribution we were doing; we were distributing many many books with the Radha Damodara party.  At one point I complained, "Srila Prabhupada, they can't keep up with our distribution."

Srila Prabhupada repllied, "All right don't worry. They are publishing 20,000 at a time; I will instruct them to print 50,000!
But one thing is: although they can't keep up with you, you can't keep up with me! Because I'm 2 cantos ahead of you both! So I am ahead of both of you!"

Tamal Krsna Goswami smiled sweetly, "Srila Prabhupada got into the competitive mood".

2014 Gaura Purnima FOLK News Online

2014 Gaura Purnima FOLK news is online now. The print edition should arrive in your letter boxes by the end of the week.



In this edition you can read about the inner meanings of Ratha Yatra and book distribution, the first Nityananda-abhisheka and Gaura Purnima Festivals, about Srila Prabhupada’s cooking and the new stage of our Care for Cows Program.

As always, there’s a lot going on at the temple and we want you to share in the fun. A great highlight of Gaura Purnima season will be The Festival of The Chariots at St. Kilda on St. Kilda Festival Sunday, February the 9th. Lord Jagannatha’s Chariot Parade will begin at 1pm, and our Vedic Village will run from 10am till 9pm. We are negotiating with special guests to make this a festival you will not want to miss, so watch out for details.

There are a few special events leading up to Lord Caitanya’s Appearance on Sunday March the 16th: the Appearance of Sri Advaita Acharya on Thursday February the 6th and the Appearance of Lord Nityananda on Wednesday February the 12th. Then on Wednesday April the 9th, we’ll celebrate Lord Ramacandra’s Appearance, followed by Lord Nrsimha’s Appearance on Wednesday May the 14th. Please check the festival page for details and mark them in your diary. We’d like you to enjoy all of these celebrations.

Hare Krishna Valley is planning a weekend retreat with Devamrta Maharaja (February 1st-2nd) and a Mens’ Retreat (March 28-30th). A new season highlight at the Valley will be The Festival of Colours on Sunday April the 27th. The Festival of Colours celebrates Holi: with colour throwing, a Sound Stage featuring Sri Prahlada & Band and a Vedic Village hosting prasadam distribution and body painting. Special VIPs are being confirmed as we go to press: keep an eye out in January for updates.

You can find news of special visitors to Melbourne Temple between February and May here in 'Upcoming Events.'

If you would like to help with our transcendental celebrations, please contact Member Services on 9699-5122.

Book Distribution Nectar

Brajendranandana Dasa remembers:

During their darsana regarding distributing books in the subways, Bali Mardana Prabhu asked, “Srila Prabhupada, they are saying they are from Apple Records is that ok?”

Srila Prabhupada pretended not to hear, or at least externally he seemed not to have heard, “Do not sell records! Sell books!"

Bali Mardana quickly replied, “No, no Srila Prabhupada, they are saying they are from Apple Records and they are selling books. Is that ok?"

Srila Prabhupada laughed “It’s like Rupa Goswami said: ‘First make them Krishna conscious then give them the rules and regulations.’ Somehow or another get them to take a book and to utter the word ‘Krishna’”.

 

Book Distribution Nectar

Urvasi Dasi recalls:

It was in Chicago. Srila Prabhupada was at the temple, getting ready to leave for the airport.

It was just after that very controversial press conference where Srila Prabhupada had commented that it was scientifically proven that men had 64 ounce brains while women had 32 ounce brains.

We were distributing big books at the temple when Srila Prabhupada was leaving. Srila Prabhupada looked over and saw one of the Matajis distributing big books. And he smiled.

With this huge grin he said to the devotee next to him, “My women disciples, they have 64 ounce brains” and laughed.

Book Distribution Nectar

Brajendranandana Dasa recalls:

The Sankirtana party went into Srila Prabhupada’s room before going out that day.

One devotee declared, “ Srila Prabhupada, they are going out in the subways everyday. Even before they make an announcement people are giving a donation.”

Srila Prabhupada was very pleased, “Oh! That is love. Just a little boy; he brings his shoes to his father without being asked.”

With such an amazing look of compassion he continued, “Therefore you should them, they are suffering because they have forgotten to bring their love to Krishna.”

The next time I had the opportunity to go unto the trains I actually said that; I started getting the largest donations out of everybody else at the temple!

Book Distribution Nectar

Kesava Dasa (joined the Los Angeles Temple in 1969) remembers:

Sometimes Srila Prabhupada would stay up late;  when we would come back from Sankirtan at around 11:30pm, he would still be up. Garga Muni would say: "Srila Prabhupada wants to see you", and I’d run up.

Srila Prabhupada enquiried:

“How many books did you sell? How did it go? Who were the people? And what did you say to sell them?”

I used to always tell the people exactly what I’d been hearing in the classes.
'This is a Bible from India and it will explain to you better about your past lives and goals...'

And Srila Prabhupada was very specific; if you just said something and it was lacking a little bit of substance, nothing escaped him.

My recollections of Srila Prabhupada was that he was such a detailed person. Srila Prabhupada wanted to know what I was telling to people. And he approved: I was listening in the classes in the morning and I was saying the same things. He approved.
But he wanted to know precisely what I was telling people and how it was that I was able to move those books.

Book Distribution Nectar

Mulaprakriti Dasi recounts:

"Srila Prabhupada commented that in this age it was actually a benefit to be a woman to be able to preach.  In Kali Yuga, it is so degraded that people don’t trust men!"

Srila Prabhupada said, “No! Nobody will allow a man to come up to them hardly. They will never allow a man to knock on their door and open the door. "

Srila Prabhupada told a story about when he was a young man, they were selling this hair oil, a Brahmi hair oil. So they would send these young women, respectable young women door to door. Then everybody would open the door and buy this brahmi hair oil.

Srila Prabhupada laughed, “It was not even ever proven that this Brahmi hair oil had any medicinal properties!...
As women, this is Lord Caitanya’s plan that He is sending all these nice young women.
So you can help these poor conditioned souls so back to Godhead!”

Book Distribution Nectar

Tripurari Maharaja recounts:

"Srila Prabhupada didn't teach me: 'now you say this, now you say that.'
Once I told Srila Prabhupada that the devotees were asking me: 'what are your techniques for selling books?'"

Srila Prabhupada, inquisitively leaned forward, "What do you tell them?"

Tripurari Maharaja's answer was, "I told them: 'You have to follow the regulative principles very strictly, and read, and chant!'"

Srila Prabhupada pleasingly replied, "Yes! This is our only technique."

Book Distribution Nectar

Mulaprakriti Dasi remembers this pastime about her book distribution reports to Srila Prabhupada:

“First Srila Prabhupada asked, 'what did we say?'.”

So Mulaprakriti Dasi explained that she would tell the person, “You look like a spiritual person... This is a book from ancient India... It has so much knowledge...”

Srila Prabhupada pulled out the Srimad Bhagavatam and read the verse:
'This Bhagavad Purana is as brilliant as the sun'.
Srila Prabhupada read very slowly and very carefully.

He said, “If you just tell people this one verse, it is so wonderful! How could they resist!”

Srila Prabhupada continued, “You don’t need to say anything apart from that; the Srimad Bhagavatam will sell itself!”

Book Distribution Nectar

Srila Prabhupada gave Gopavrndapala Dasa some hints on book distribution:

“Teach the book distributors how to be sincere. That is the essence of book distribution and preaching.”

Preaching depends on circumstances. In dealing with different persons you will have a different audience. Therefore there’s no static way of distributing a book, to preach.

“By teaching the devotees to be sincere,” and Srila Prabhupada made a graceful sweeping gesture to point to his heart, “the real teacher…from within…will them information according to circumstances! He will teach them how to distribute the books.”

Book Distribution Nectar

Mulaprakriti Dasi recalls:

"Srila Prabhupada was in Hawaii and called me in his room as he wanted to talk about book distribution.
Srila Prabhupada asked all sorts of questions: 'How do people like the books? What kind of people were taking the books? What did you tell them?'
It seems that it was his favorite topic; he was so joyful!", Mataji noted.

“So what type of people are taking the books?”, Srila Prabhupada asked.

Mulaprakriti Dasi strained her mind, “Well doctors… young people…diplomats…”

Srila Prabhupada exclaimed, “Diplomats?! What countries?”

Mulaprakriti Dasi tried to go down the list of everyone that had ever taken a book. At one point she said, “Someone took a book from Albania.”

Srila Prabhupada was delighted, “Albania! That’s behind the iron curtain!”

Mulaprakriti Dasi responded, “Yes Srila Prabhupada. They take it in their suitcase; because they have diplomatic immunity, no one can open the suitcase!”

Srila Prabhupada leaned back and  started to laugh, “Ahh we cannot go but Lord Caitanya can go!”