The Mexico City Temple of the International Society for Krishna Consciousn~-ss
In Mexico City Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare And Around the World ...... Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
A few blocks from the house of Mexico's president lies the Mexico City Hare Kr~l!a Temple, one of the many centers of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness that have appeared in latin America in recent years. In the ancient Vedic scripture Bhagavad-gitii, as in the Bible also, it is said that Kr~Qa, or God, is the father of everyone. Therefore, it is very natural that l atin Americans, like their northern brothers, are taking to K[~l)a consciousness and chanting the holy names Hare Kr?Qa, Hare K r~Qa, Kr~l!a K[~l)a, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
This chanting is a call to the Supreme lord and His supreme energy to lift us out of material consciousness and reestablish us in our natural position as His eternal loving servants. The consciousness of eternal service to the Supreme lord is natural for every living being, and it is transcendental to all nationalistic and sectarian boundaries. The chanting is simple and universal. And it is authorized as the most effective means of self-real ization for this age by the Vedic literature, which gives in-depth knowledge of bhakti-yoga, or the science of devotional service. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhu pada, who is the founder and acarya (spiritual master) of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, has brought this science to the West so that sincere and intelligent people may take advantage of this easy and sublime method of reviving their eternal relationship w ith Kr?Qa, the Supreme lord. The articles inside Back to Godhead w ill tell you more about the phi losophy and activities of the Hare Kr~l!a movement.
His Divine Crace A C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
BACK TO GODHEAD THE MAGAZINE OF THE HARE KRISHNA MOVEMENT FOUNDER (under the direction of His Divine Grace Sri Srlmad Bhakcisiddh3nta Sarasvati Prabhup3da) CONTENTS His Divine Grate A. C. Bhaktlvedanta Swami Prabhupi d.a Divine Culture 3 BHAKTIVEDAJIITA BOOK TRUST COORDINATORS by His Divine Grace AC. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Bali Mardan dasa Gosvami, Hamsaduna dasa EDITOR Jayadvaita dasa How the Teachings of Lord Caitanya SANSKRIT EDITOR Jagannatha dasa Came to the Western World (part 2) 6 PRODUCTION MANAGER Radhavallabha dasa by His Holiness Brahmananda Svami ART DIRECI'OR lndrapramada dasa ASSISTANT ART DIRECfORS Yamaraja dasa, Lord Krsna's Prasada 1 2 Visakhll-devi dasi by Visakh·a:devi-dasi ILLUSTRATORS Muralidhara dasa. Bharadraja dasa, Yadur1il)i-devi dasi, Pari1<$i t dasa Chanting Hare Krsna in Purity 17 PHOTOGRAPHERS Bhlirgava dasa, by His Holiness Acyui~nanda Svami Muralivadana dasa, Yaduvara dasa, V isak ha-devi dasi TECHNICIANS Madhusudana dasa. Secretary to a Pure Devotee Gariyan dasa, Cakradhara dllsa. 24 Urukrama dasa, Bharat Jagannatha. by His Holiness SatsvarOpa Gosvami Orville Griffiths, Victor Gonzalez PROOFREADERSSantosa dasa, Tanvavit dasa, Kr~-:ta Conscious Calendar 28 Gopiparlil)adhana dasa. Dravi<;la dasa. Jaya$acinandana dasa TYPE COMPOSERS Rliglitmika-devi dlisi, Dukhahan tri-devi dasi, Mahlimaya-devi dasi. Matsya dasa
Published monthly, $6.00 per year ($7 .00 INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS • outside USA). by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, CENTERS AROUND THE WORLD 3764 Watseka Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90034. Editorial Offices: 38 Tiffany Place. Brooklyn, N.Y. 11231. Back to Godhead No. 68 © 1974 Bhaktivedanta Book Trust AFRICA: Durban. S. Africa-c/o Popatlal Kara. 201 Grey Miguel. Mexico City 18/ 277 ·3 t 24: Rio Piedras. Puerto All rights reserved. Printed in USA. St.: Nairobi, Kenya-P.O. Box 28946 (E. Alrica)/31568. Rico-55 Jorge Romany. Santa Rita 00925/ (809) 764· 1373: Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic-Galle PRONUNCIATION OF SANSKRIT WORDS Cayetano Rodriguez No. 36. ASIA: Bombay. India-Hare Krishna Land. Gandhi Gram Sanskrit words and names in Back ro Godhead Road. Juhu. Bombay 400 054/ 57731 5: Calcutta, lndia- THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA: An n Arbor. are spelled according to a system thai scholars 3 Al ber! Road. Calcuua 7000 17/ 44·3757: Hyderabad. throughout I he world use to show how to Michigan-718 W. Madison 48103/ (313) 665·6304: India-Hare Krishna Land, Nampally Station Road. AP: Atlanta. Georgia - 24 N.E. t 31h Sl. 30309/ (404) pronounce each word. Vowels in Sanskrit are Jakarta, lndonesia- Gg. KelinctiV: 8-A: Kowloon, Hong 892-9042: Austin. Texas-1003 E. t 41h Sl. 78702/ (512) pronounced almost as in Italian. The sound of Kong-38 Mody Rd. 4/ fl .. Tsim Sha Tsuy/ 3- 668061: 476- 1558: Boston. Massachusetts-72 Commonwealth the short a is like the u in but. T he long ll is Mayapur. :ndia-ISKCON International Center. PO Sree Ave. 02 t 16/ (6 t 7) 782-8892: Boulder Creek, Calilor like the a in far and held twice as long as the Mayapur Oham. W. Bengal (Oislricl Nadia): New Delhi. ln nia- 257 Sylvan Way 95006/ (408) 338-4465: Buffalo, short a. and eis like the a in evade. Long i is dla- t9 Todar Mal Lane. New Delhi t t0001: Taipei, New York- 132 Bidwell Pkwy. 14222/ (7 16) 882-0281 : like the i i n pique. The vowel ~is pronounced Taiwan - 29-7. Hung Chow. South Rd .. Section 2: Tokyo, Chicago, Illinois-t0 14 Emerson St.. Evanston 60201/ like the er in the English word liber. The cis Japan-lchichome. 1-4 4 Mila, Minalo-ku: Vrindavana. 1312) 475-9 t 26: Cleveland. Ohio- t 5720 Euclid Ave.. E pronounced as i n the English word chair. The lndia -Krishna-Balarama Temple. Chaltikara Road. Cleveland 44 t 121 (2 16) 851 -9367: Dallas. Texas-5430 aspirated consonants (ch,jh. dh. etc.) are Raman Reli. Mathura. UP/ t 78. Gurley Ave. 75223/ (2 14) 827-6330: Denver. Colorado pronounced as in staunch-heart. hedge-hog and ! 400 Cherry Sl. 80221)/ (303) 333·5461 : Detroit, red-hot. The two aspirants sand •are like the Michigan-831 t E. Jelferson Ave. 462 14/ (313) English sh; sis like the s in sun. So pronounce AUSTRALIA: Adelaide, Australia- t 3A Frome St.. S.A./ 824-6000: Gainesville. Florida - 921 SW Depot Ave. K~·IJa as KRISHNA and Caitanyaas CHAITANY A. 223-51 15: Auckland. New Zealand-67 Gribblehirsl 32601/ (904) 377-1496: Honolulu. Hawaii- 1578 Ala Rd., MI.6 AtberU 86-666: Melbourne. Australia- 14 Bur · Aotoa Loop 96819/ (808) 839-2210: Houston. Texas- MEMBERSHIP nett Sl. Sl. Kilda. Victoria 31 82/ 663-1331: Sydney, 107 Knox Sl. 77006/ (7 13) 869-7809: Laguna Beach. For information on how you can become a Australia-75 Victoria St .. Bellvue Hill/69-5547. Calilornia-641 Ramona Ave. 92651/ (7 14) ~94-9172: registered member of the International Society Los Angeles. Calilornia- 3764 Watseka Ave. 900341 for Krishnn Consciousness. please write to the (2 13) 871-07 17: Miami. Florida-4001 Kumqual Ave .. Society 's secretary at 3764 Watseka Avenue. EUROPE: Amsterdam, Hol land- Herengracht 96/ Coconut Grove 33133/ (305) 448-7893: Montreal, Los Angeles. California 90034. 020·2494 tO: Berlin, W. Germany- ! Berlin 31. Kurfurs Canada-2051-53 Bleury Ave. Ouebecl (514) 849-4319: tendamm 153/8-86-25-39: {Franklurt A. Main). W. Ger New Orleans. Louisiana-2936 Esplanade Ave. 70119/ many-6241 Schloss Reltershof. bei Konigslern-Taunust (504) 448-1313: New Vrindavana. Wesl Virginia-AD 1, ... lr001 06 174-21 357: Geneva, Switzerland-9. chemrn du Box 620. McCreary's Rrc!ge. Moundsville. W. Vrrgrnra Xerox Credo. 1213 Pelil Laney/ 921-318: Hamburg, W. Ger University 2604 t/ (304) 845·2790: New York. New York-439 Hen· Mlcrotums many-2 Hamburg 54. Kapitelbuschweg 20/ 570-53-82: ry St.. Brooklyn 11231/ (212) 596-9658: Otlowa. ...._ .. ,...... London. England-? Bury Place. Bloomsbury WC1 / Canada-224 Besserer SL. Onta11o/ (613) 236-9091. 01·405- 1463: London, England-Bhaklivedanta Manor. Ph iladel phia, Pennsylvania-424 E. Woodlawn Sl ·r::=-.:7.:.--- Letchmore Heath, Watford WD2 8EP. Hertfordshrre/ 19144/ 1215) 849· 1767: Pitlsburgh, Pennsylvania- Radlelt. code 9276. 7244: Ma nchester. England-382 ---\...... _ _.._ ...... 4626 Fo:bes Ave. t 5213/ (4t2) 683-7700: Portland. -- Great Clowes St .. Salford 7. Lanes: Munich, W. Ger 1\_t;AS( \"mlli;F~ Oregon- 2805 SE Hawthorne 972 14/ (503) 234-1755: COW\.(lf ot.tf()A'-IAII()N many-8042 Oberschleissheim. Or. Hoffmeister Sit. 71 Sl. Louis. Missouri-4544 Laclede Ave. 63108/ (314) 31 50421: Paris. France-4 rue LeSueur. 75016 Pa 11st 361 -1224: San Diego, California-3303 Second Ave. ON THE COVER 727.02.02: Rome, ltaly- Sede Centtale: Vra Misuena 2. 92103/ (714) 291-7778: Sa n Francisco. California- When Lord Kf$ Qa, the Supreme Godhead, (Piazza Lod•) 0 0 t 82: Stockholm. Sweden 455 Valencia St. 94103/ (415) 861 ·6464: Seattle. appeared on earth, He sometimes played like a Solhagavagen 22. 16352 Spangat 760 ·0852. Washi ngton-400 18th Ave. East 98102/ ( 206) small child 10 enjoy pastimes with His 329-9348: Toronto. Canada- 187 Gerrard St. East. On devotees. Here He is pictured accepting food tauo M5A 2E5/ (416) 922-54 t5: Vancouver. Canada- from His pure devotee Ya$odn. who acts in the LATIN AMERICA : Buenos Ai res. Argent in a 177 4 West 16th Ave .. vancouver-9. B.C./ (604) 732-8422. role of His mother. Although 5.000 years have Ecuador 473: Caracas, Venezuela-Galle Luis Roche Washington, D.C.-2015 "0" Sl. NW. 20009r (202) passed since then. even an ordinary devotee No. St . Colinas. De Los Chaguaramos/76-74-57: Mexico 667-3516: Winnipeg, Canada- 160 Home St.. Manrtobal can offer food 10 the Lord (see page 12). City. Mexico-Gobernador Trburc10. Montrel 45. San (204) 775·3575. DMNE CULTURE ders. This system of social and spiritual division is known as var(Uisrama-dharma. The four vaf'!las, or social orders, are brahmm;a, ~atriya. vaiSya and slidra. The four asramas, or spiritual orders, are brahmacarya, grltastha, vtittaprastha and smr nyiisa. The vartttisrama system is described in the Vedic scriptures known as the PuriittaS. The goal of this institution of Vedic culture is to educate every man for advancement in knowledge of Kr~I:la, or God. That is the entire Vedic program. When Lord Caitanya talked with the great devotee Ramananda Raya, the Lord asked him, "What is the basic principle of human life?" Ramananda Raya answered that human civilization begins by His Divine Gra.ce when varttiisrama-dharma is accepted. A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA Before coming to the standard of var ~uiSrama - dharma there is no question of here is a misconception that the traduced by the Muslims from provinces human civilization. Therefore, the Kni:ta Kr~r~a consciousness movement next to India, such as Afghanisthan, consciousness movement is trying to represents the Hindu religion. In Baluchisthan and Persia. There is a river establish this right system of human fact, however, Kr~I:ta conscious called "Sindhu" bordering the north civilization, which is known as Kr~I:la ness is in no way a faith or religion western provinces of India, and since the consciousness, or daiva- vaqriisrama thatT seeks to defeat other faiths or Muslims there could not pronounce divine culture. religions. Rather, it is an essential "Sindhu" properly, instead they called In India, the vartttisrama system has cultural movement for the entire human the river "Hindu," and the inhabitants of now been taken in a perverted way, and society and does not consider any par this tract of land they called "Hindus." thus a man born in the family of a ticular sectarian faith. This cultural In India, according to the Vedic lan brahmatta (the highest social order) claims movement is especially meant to educate guage, the Europeans are called mlecchas that he should be accepted as a brahmatra. people in how they can love God. or yaV!mas. Sinilarly, "Hindu" is a name But this claim is not accepted by the stistra Sometimes Indians both inside and given by the Muslims. (scripture). One's forefather may have outside of India think that we are preach India's actual culture is described in been a brahmatta according to gotra, or the ing the Hindu religion, but actually we Bhagavad-gitti, where it is stated that ac family hereditary order, but real var are not. One will not find the word cording to the different qualities or ttlisrama-dharma is based on the factual "Hindu" in Bhagavad-gitti. Indeed, there is modes of nature, there are different types qr1ality one has attained, regardless of no such word as "Hindu" in the entire of men, who arc generally classified into birth or heredity. Therefore, we arc not Vedic literature. This word has been in- four social orders and four spiritual or- preaching the present-day system of the
BACK TO GODHEAD 3 Hindus, especially those who are under Blragavad-gitti accepts the existence of are simply preaching how to love God. the influence of Sankaracarya, for the demigods. The demigods are de There arc many theories about the exis Sankaracarya taught that the Absolute scribed in the Vedas. and one cannot deny tence of God. The atheist, for example, Truth is impersonal and thus he in their existence, but they are not to be will never believe in God. Atheists like directly denied the existence of God. understood or worshiped according to the Professor Jacques Monod, who won the Sankaracarya's mission was special; he way of Sankaracarya. The worship of Nobel Prize, declare that everything is appeared to reestablish the Vedic in demigods is rejected in Bhagavad-gitd. The chance (a theory already put forward fluence after the influence of Buddhism. Gita clear! y states: long ago by atheistic philosophers of In Because Buddhism was patronized by dia such as Carvaka). Then other Emperor Asoka, 2600 years ago the Bud kamais tais tair lrrta-jiidruib philosophies, such as kamJa-mittUirilsa phi dhist religion practically pervaded all of prapadyame losophy, accept that if one goes on doing India. According to the Vedic literature, 'nya-devatab tam tam r1iyamam asthaya his work nice! y and honest! y, Buddha is an incarnation of Kmta who automatically prakrtya r1iyatab svaya the result will come, with had a special power and who appeared out need for one to refer to God. For evi for a special purpose. His system of dence, the proponents of such theories thought or faith was accepted widely, but "Those whose minds are distorted by cite the argument that if one is diseased Buddha rejected the authority of the material desires surrender unto demigods with an infection and takes medicine to Vedas. While Buddhism was spreading, and follow the particular rules and counteract it, the disease will be the Vedic culture was stopped both in In regulations of worship according to their neutralized. But our argument in this dia and in other places. Therefore, since own natures." (Bg. 7.20) Furthermore, connection is that even if one gives a man Sankaracarya's only aim was to drive in the Second Chapter of the Gitti, verse the best medicine, he still may die. The away Buddha's system of philosophy, he 44, Lord Kr~~a states: results are not always predictable. introduced a system called Mayavada. Therefore, there is a higher authority, Strictly speaking, Mayavada philoso blrogaisvarya-prasaktdtldtit daiva-netre!Ja. a supreme director. Other phy is atheism, for it is a process in which tayapalrrta-cetasam wise, how is it that the son of a rich and one imagines that there is God. This vyavasayatmika buddhi(1 pious man becomes a hippie in the street Mayavada system of philosophy has been or that a man who works very hard samadhm1 110 vidhiyace and existing since time immemorial. The becomes rich is told by his doctor, "Now present Indian system of religion or you may not cat any food, but only barley culture is based on the Mayavada phi "In the minds of those who arc too at water"? losophy of Sankaracarya, which is a com tached to sense enjoyment and material The karma-mimiiriJSci theory holds that promise with Buddhist philosophy. Ac opulence, and who are bewildered by the world is going on without the cording to Mayavada philosophy there such things, the resolute determination supreme direction of God. Such philoso actually is no God, or if God exists, He is for devotional service does not take phies say that everything takes place by impersonal and all-pervading and can place." Those who are pursuing the lust (kdma-haituka). By lust a man be therefore be imagined in any form. This various demigods have been described as comes attracted to a woman, and by conclusion is not in accord with the hrta-jrianab. which means "those who chance there is sex, and the woman be Vedic literature. That literature names have lost their senses." That is also comes pregnant. There is actually no many demigods who are worshiped for further explained in Bhagavad-gica, plan to make the woman pregnant, but different purposes, but in every case the Chapter Seven, verse 23: by a natural sequence when a man and a Supreme Lord, the Personality of God woman unite, a result is produced. The head Vi~~u, is accepted as the supreme atheistic theory, which is described in the controller. That is real Vedic culture. mltavat 111 phalmi1 te$t1ril tad bhavaty alpa-medhasam Sixteenth Chapter of Bhagavad-gitii as The philosophy of Kr~~a consciousness asuric, or demoniac, is that actually does not deny the existence of God and devon deva- yajo yami mad-bhakca yami mom api everything is going on in this way, be the demigods, but Mayavada philosophy cause of chance resulting from natural at denies both; it maintains that neither the traction. This demoniac theory supports demigods nor God exists. For the "Men of small intelligence worship the the idea that if one wants to avoid Mayavadis, ultimately all is zero. They demigods, and their fruits arc limited and children, he may use a contraceptive say that one may imagine any authori temporary. Those who worship the method. ty-whether Vi$~U, Durga, Lord Siva or demigods go to the planets of the Actually, however, there is a great plan the sun-god-because these arc the demigods, but My devotees reach My for everything-the Vedic plan. The demigods generally worshiped in society. supreme abode." The rewards given by Vedic literature gives directions regarding But the Mayavada philosophy does not in the demigods arc temporary because any how men and women should unite, how fact accept the existence of any of them. material facility must act in connection they should beget children, and what the The Mayavadis say that because one can with the temporary body. Whatever ma purpose of sex life is. Kr~~a says in not concentrate one's mind on the imper terial facilities one gets, whether by Bhagavad-gica that sex life sanctioned by sonal Brahman, one may therefore imag modern scientific methods or by deriving the Vedic order, or sex life under the ine any of these forms. This is a new benedictions from the demigods, will be direction of the Vedic rules and regula system, called pmicopasana. It was in finished with the body. But spiritual ad tions, is bona fide and is acceptable to troduced by Sal'lkaracarya, but Blragavad vancement will never be finished. Him. But chance sex life is not accepta gila does not teach such doctrines, and People should not think that we arc ble. If by chance one is sexually attracted therefore they are not authoritative. preaching a system of religion. No. We and there arc children, they are called
4 BACK TO GODHEAD varr:za-satikara. unwanted population. chemists, tradesmen, businessmen, and so as the arms, the belly and the legs, all act That is the way of the lower animals; it is on. T hese varieties of classes are not to be very nicely. not acceptable for humans. For humans, determined by birth, however, but by The ultimate goal of this movement is there is a plan. We cannot accept the quality. No such thing as the caste-by to e ducate people in how to love God. theory that there is no plan for human birth system is sanctioned by the Vedic Caitanya Mahaprabhu approves the con life or that everything is born of chance literature, nor do we accept it. We have clusion that the highest perfection of and material necessity. nothing to do with the caste system, human life is to learn how to love God. Sankaracarya's theory that there is no which is also at present being rejected b y The Kr~ I)a consciousness movement has God and that one c an go on with his the public in India. Rather, we give nothing to do with the Hindu religion or work and imagine God in any form just everyone the chance to become a any system of religion. No Christian to keep peace and tranquility in society is briihmat~a and thus attain the highest gentleman will be interested in changing also more or less based on this idea of status of life. his faith from Christian to Hindu. chance and necessity. Our way, however, Because at the present moment there is Similarly, no Hindu gentleman of culture which is completely different, is based on a scarcity of briihma~1as. spiritual guides, will be ready to change to the Christian authority. It is this divine varruisrama and k~atriyas. administrative men, and be faith. Such changing is for men who have dharma that Kr~I)a recommends, not the cause the entire world is being ruled by no particular social status. But everyone caste system as it is understood today. s1idras, or men of the manual laborer class, will be interested in understanding the This modern caste system is now con there are many discrepancies in society. It philosophy and science of God and tak demned in India also, and it should be is to mitigate all these discrepancies that ing it seriously. One should clearly condemned, for the classification of dif we have taken to this Kr~I)a conscious understand that the Kr ~I)a consciousness ferent types of men according to birth is ness movement. If the briihmatla class is movement is not preaching the so-called not the Vedic or divine caste system. actually reestablished, the other orders of Hindu religion. We are giving a spiritual There are many classes of men in social well-being will automatically culture that can solve all the problems of society-some men are engineers, some follow, just as when the brain is perfectly life, and therefore it is being accepted all are medical practitioners, some are in order, the other parts of the body, such over the world. 0
dul}khalayam asasvatam (a place of miseries) (temporary)
This material world is bo th temporary and full of masterpiece o f ancient Vedic literature, one can miseries. Even if we tolerate or avoid ove r c rowding , '-~~=- transce nd this material world. even while living anxiety, dirt. fatigue and irritability, we ca n never within it. get around the pains of birth, disease. old age and Thirteen volumes are now available. Canto I (volumes death itself. At least not in this material world. I. 2 and 3). C by His Holiness Brahmiinanda Sviimi SRILA BHAKTIVJNODA TJL\KURA {Lord Caitarrya Mahaprabhu. who is Kmra Rather, His main objective was to eman the reservoir of all qualities. 2. All living Himself i11 the form of His own p11re devotee. cipate all living entities of all countries entities are infinitesimal parts and parcels appeared 500 years ago in Bengal, India, to throughout the entire universe and of consciousness, and the eternal function teach-by His 011111 example-ho111 one can preach the Eternal Religion. Lord of all living entities is to serve the become fully Km•a comcio11s. 71te teachiugs of Caitanya says in the Caitanya-bhagavata: Supreme Lord. 3. To sing the glorious Lord Caitanya were recorded and transmitted ' In every town, country and village, My qualities of the Supreme Personality of by many faitlifill disciples, but they 1vere vir name will be sung.' Godhead and to establish the brother trlally unkr~own in the West until 1896, wheu "There is no doubt that this unques hood of all men is pure religion. Srila Bhaktivit1oda Thakura, a great spiritual tionable order will come to pass. In the "Gradually the established religions master i11 the disciplic lir~e from Lord Caitar~ya. world now there are so many religious will then be removed of all specific con published a short book entitled Sri Caitanya communities, and in their purest mature tradictions, and the secular or 'party Mahaprabhu-His Life and Precepts and form they are the religion of singing the spirit' will not remain. Then all castes, sem copies to the Westem world. The followiug praises of the Lord. At the present time all creeds and men of all countries will be is the second of three articles depictiug the there is a great spiritual quest going on in united in coexistent brotherhood under pioueeriug efforts of Srila Bhaktiviuoda the world, and it seems that one the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Tlraktlra, ar~d those who have followed him, iu unalloyed religion which is the essence of united by udma-sankirtaua." Hari-lldma spreading the great be~~ediction of Km•a cotl all the religions will soon emerge. What satikirtana is the congregational chanting sciousness to the West.] is that religion? It is plain to see that in of the holy name of the Lord. This con western countries and in Asia, religions gregational chanting was especially are engaged in conflicts. There is no taught by Lord Caitanya, by Lord Nitya DISPLAYING THE TRANSCENDENTAL doubt that these religions will not be able nanda, His associate, and by Their devo ENERGY of Lord Caitanya, Bhaktivinoda to endure. Therefore many of the es tees, such as Haridasa Thakura and Thakura made a startling prophecy, like tablished religions which harbour prej Srivasa Pat:tQita. Thus Srila Bhaktivinoda Lord Caitanya, who had previously pre udiced, conflicting beliefs have become continues: "Then and there, personal dicted the worldwide spread of the fragmented. When all these contradicto chanting of Hare Knt:ta. In 1885, almost ry dogmas are removed, it is then and HiJ Holi~n 8r•hm4""rul.r Sv.!ml s 6 BACK TO GODHEAD Prophecy Fulfilled. American, German, French, English and Indian disciples of His Divine Grace A.C. Bbalctivedanta Swami Prabbupada join in chanting Hare l(oQa in the holy city of Navadvlpa, West Bengal, during a pilgrimage in March of 1974. hereditary status will be considered insig seeing Lord Caitanya's aforesaid ocean of vaiHtava-dharma. When will that nificant, and inter-caste hatred will dis prophecy being fulfilled are quickened, day come?" appear, and the common brotherhood of and that time has arrived. Although there man will never be forgotten. Then we is still no pure society of Vai ~l)avas to be The Birthplace of the Lord will carry the vessel of the Nectar of had, yet Lord Caitanya's prophetic words Devotion of Haridasa, we will follow the will in a few days come true, I am sure. To usher in this new day of spiritual words of Srivasa and smear our bodies Why not? Nothing is absolutely pure in glory, Bhaktivinoda had founded the with the dust of Th.eir Feet. 0 Lord the beginning. From imperfection, purity Visva Vai ~l)ava Raj Sabha (International Caitanya, Lord Nityananda, the human will come about. Society of Devotees) in 1844. The pur race will spontaneously dance in ecstasy. "Oh, for that day when the fortunate pose of this organization was co propagate "Very soon the unparalleled path of English, French, Russian, German and the teachings of Lord Caitanya through hari-rriima-smikirtarra will be propagated American people will take up banners, meetings, public discourses, and publica all over the world. Already we are seeing mrdarigas and karatiilas and raise kirtarra tion and distribution of literature. Its the symptoms. Already many Christians through their streets and towns. When establishment was an important step in have tasted the nectar of divine love of will that day come? Oh, for the day the realization of the Thakura's dream of the holy name and are dancing with when the fair-skinned men from their a society based completely on theistic karatiilas [hand cymbals) and mrdmigas side will raise up the chanting of jaya principles, as described in the Vedic (drums]. Educated Christians are order sacirumdatla, jaya sacitumdana ki jaya (All scripture Srimad-Bhagavatam. In previous ing these instruments and shipping them Glories to Lord Caitanya! All Glories to epochs, Indian culture, social habits and to England. By the super-excellence of Lord Caitanya!) and join with the customs were all connected with religion. Lord Knl)a's holy name and the grace of Bengali devotees. When will that day be? Art, literature and drama- and even pure devotees, our consciousness gets On such a day they will say, 'Our dear marriage customs, diet and people's purified. After listening to a lecture on Brothers, we have taken shelter of the names-were all God-centered. But dur these principles, a great gathering of ocean of Lord Caitanya's Love; kindly ing Bhaktivinoda's time, the onslaught of brahma!1as danced with drums and embrace us.' When will that day come? atheistic materialism had become so evi karatiilas. singing, ' Fill your eyes with the That day will witness the holy transcen dent that he felt the need for vigorous vision of the advent of the Two Holy dental ecstasy of the vaiHtava-dharma (the preaching to radically change the Brothers [Lord Caitanya and Lord Nitya eternal occupation of devotional service deteriorating mentality of the people. His nanda).' Even the Salvation Army some to the Lord) to be the only dharma original motto-"Back home, back to how or other has its form of kirtarra. (eternal engagement], and all the sects Godhead" -pointed out his message co When I see these signs, my hopes of and religions will flow like rivers into the the deluded populace of Kail-yuga (the BACK TO GODHEAD 7 present Age of Quarrel). Bhaktivinoda hellish growth of materialism and ir propagated Lord Caitanya's method of religion, had similarly prayed for the ad congregational chanting of the holy vent of Lord Caitanya Himself.) Another name, for he was convinced that if only a prophesy was then penned by Thakura small number of India's people took Lord Bhaktivinoda: "A personality will soon Caitanya's teachings to heart, peace and appear to preach the teachings of Lord harmony would prevail throughout the Caitanya and move unrestrictedly over world. the whole world with His message." To give impetus to the mission of Lord On February 6, 1874, while Bhakti Caitanya, Srila Bhaktivinoda vinoda was serving in Puri as manager of painstakingly searched out Lord the Jagannatha temple, a son was born to Caitanya's birthplace. Until the him. At the moment of birth, when the Thakura's time, the precise location of infant was taken from his mother, the Caitanya Mahaprabhu's appearance was child's umbilical cord was draped around unknown-a fact that indicates how his neck and across his chest, appearing like the thread briihmatras wear after their moribund His teachings had become in Srila GaurakiSora dasa Babaji Maharaja. India. Srila Bhaktivinoda combed old initiation. Everyone was very impressed Renunciation personified. government records and consulted anti with this sign. During the annual quarian maps and authentic books writ Rathayatra festival, six months later, in astronomy. He was offered, but declined, ten during the time of Lord Caitanya. July, the massive holy cart in which Lord a chair at Calcutta University. Then he took support from the inspired Jagannatha, a form of Kr~t:J.a, is pulled by Throughout this time, he attended and testimony of his spiritual master, Srila thousands of devotees came to a sudden participated in his father's Visva Jagannatha dasa Babaji. In Sridhama stop just outside Bhaktivinoda's house. Vai~t:J.ava Raj Sabha. Mayapur, on the eastern bank of the While the crowd was trying to get the Bhaktivinoda wanted his son to be ini Ganges, the holy site was finally ascer cart moving again, Bhaktivinoda's wife tiated with the essential Gayatri matztra. tained. For this Jagannatha dasa Babaji is took the opportunity to have her new son Because it is not customary for one's own memorialized by all Vai~l)avas: blessed by Lord Jagannatha. She rushed father to perform this ceremony, he in out of her house with the baby and structe1 Bhaktisiddhanta to approach gauriivirbhiiva-blaimes tvatir placed him high on the cart at the lotus Srila Gaurakisora dasa Babaji Maharaja, nirde~.tii saj-jana-priyafr feet of the Lord. At that very moment, a an important saint of Navadvipa, which vai~rrava-siirrlabha~mra~ sri huge Aower garland worn by Lord Jagan is near Sridhama Mayapur: At first jaganniitlraya te nama~ natha fell down, encircling the infant. Gaurakisora seemed to the young man a Bhaktivinoda, overjoyed, then under very unlikely choice for a spiritual "I offer my respectful obeisances to stood that his own son was Lord master. He was living an extremely Jagannatha dasa Babaji, who is respectful Caitanya Mahaprabhu's answer to his secluded and ascetic life, he had no disci to the entire community of devotees and prayers. That son would later be known ples, and he was even illiterate. So who discovered the place where Lord as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Bhaktisiddhanta apparently did not take Caitanya appeared." In this way, Jagan Thakura. his father's instructions to heart. But natha dasa Babaji and Bhaktivinoda As the child grew up, Bhaktivinoda Bhakrivinoda Thakura could understand Thakura followed the example of the six eagerly gave him transcendental instruc that Gaur.akisora dasa was a great teacher exalted Gosviimis of Vrndavana, who tion. Thus at the age of only seven years, in the preceptorial disciplic succession. were sent to Vrndavana by Lord Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura had He was renunciation personified Caitanya to uncover the sites of Kr~t:J.a's committed to memory the entire (vairiigya-mlirti) and was always merged pastimes. During the time of Lord Bhagavad-gitii and could even explain the in the elevated stare of spiritual separa Caitanya, Vrndiivana was just an open meaning of its verses. Once, the young tion from Knt:J.a known as vipralambha. field. By revealing these holy sites, the boy took a mango from the room of the Finally, in 1901, Bhaktisiddhanta Gosvamis sparked a renaissance in God family Deity and ate it. Bhaktivinoda Sarasvati Thakura surrendered himself, consciousness. Similarly, Bhaktivinoda reprimanded his son, explaining that to and Gaurakisora duly accepted him as his Thakura resurrected the teachings of eat food meant to be offered to the Lord only disciple. Lord Caitanya and provided the Kr~t:J.a was an offense. Bhaktisiddhanta resolved In 1911 Bhaktivinoda Thakura was consciousness movement with a center on the spot never again to eat a mango, invited to address the All-India con from which Mahaprabhu's movement and he kept this vow throughout his life, ference of Pat:J.Qitas. Unable to attend be could be broadcast throughout the world. despite the mango's being perhaps the cause of illness, he sent Bhaktisiddhiinta world's most tasty fruit. At the age of ten, Sarasvati to speak in his place. The lec The Lord Sends Assistance Bhaktivinoda Thakura initiated his son ture was entitled "Truth Regarding the with the Hare Kr~t:J.a mamra. Comparitive Position Between a Now that the great pioneering work As a student, Bhaktisiddhanta Brahmal)a and a Vaig1ava." It was h ad been established, another Sarasvati distinguished himself in received as a work of genius and was the enlightened personage was needed to car mathematics, history, philosophy and highlight of the conference. By 1913 ry it on. Bhaktivinoda prayed fervently to Vedic astronomy. He wrote scholarly ar Bhaktisiddhanta had established his first Lord Caitanya to send someone. (We arc ticles and treatises, edited two monthly printing press, the Bhagavata Press in reminded of how, four hundred years magazines and started a cultural associa Krishnanagar, solely for printing his writ earlier, Sri Advaita Prabhu, foreseeing a tion, as well as a rol, or school, fo teach ings. He then wrote the first of his many Holy Site. The birthplace of Lord Sri Cairanya Mahaprabhu. BACK TO GODHEAD 9 Lord Caitanya-His Life and Precepts. The medium of preaching had to be English, rather than Bengali or any other Indian language, because English is the common language of the commercial world. It was in 1922 that Bhakrisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura planted the seed for the great world mission he had inherited from his father. Abhay Charan De, who was later to become His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder and Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, was at that time building up a successful phar maceutical-manufacturing concern in Calcutta. A friend who had heard Bhaktisiddhanta speak took Abhay Charan De to meet the saintly teacher. Thus in 1922, on a rooftop of the house where Bhaktisiddhiinta was staying in Calcutta, Abhay Charan De first pre sented himself before Srila Bhaktisid dhanta, although at first, because of pressing business matters, he was reluc tant to go meet him. Immediately Bhak tisiddhanta gave Srila Prabhupada what was to be his life's mission: "Preach the message of Lord Caitanya, especially in the English language. You will benefit, and everyone you preach to will benefit." At the time, however, Srila Prabhupada was active in Gandhi's ever-growing in Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaj a, the spi ritual dependence movement; he doubted that master of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivcdanta Swami Prabhupada and the foreigners in the West could take any in foremost scholar and devotee in the recent age. struction from India, since India was not even independent. In reply, Bhaktisid famous Bengali commentaries, which in preaching throughout India, following dhanta Sarasvati Thakura explained the clude his ·~nubhii~ya" on Sri Caitanya the example of Lord Caitanya. Lord teachings of Lord Caitanya. Srila Prabhu ca rittimrta, his "Atwvrtti" on the Caitanya had spread His teachings by pada was very much impressed. "Here is Upadesiimrta, and a commentary on Sritnad dispatching the six Gosv:imis north to a real siidhu. a real saintly person," he said Bhagavad-gitii. Vrndavana and Lord Nityananda to West after taking his leave. Bengal and had preached Himself in The Mission Begins Expanding South India and Orissa. Bhaktisiddhiinta "The Lion Guru" soon was able to open centers in many Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura cities, such as Calcutta, Bombay, In his preaching, Bhaktisiddhanta stayed mainly in Mayapur during this Allahabad, Benares, Bhuvanesvar, Dacca, Sarasvati was especially keen to confront time, writing and sometimes giving dis Hardwar, Madras, New Delhi and PurL and defeat what is known as Mayavada courses to the pilgrims who began to visit Ultimately, sixty-four such centers were or impersonalist philosophy. This is the Lord Caitanya's birthsite. He was established. The purpose of these centers mission of Lord Caitanya, who converted respected for his authoritative books and was to broadcast the teachings of Lord the most powerful Miiyiiviidi imper forthright preaching. An important Caitanya, to distribute Bhaktisiddhanta's sonalists of His time, such as Prakasiinan figure in a popular religious organization books and to perform worship of the sri da Sarasvati, who had 60,000 followers, once approached Bhaktisiddhanta and miirti. or form of the Lord, according to and Sarvabhauma Bhanacarya, who con was so impressed by his purity and poten the authorized principles of the ducted an important school for training cy that he became his disciple. He ar ptiticariitra scriptures. Mayavadi teachers. Mayavadis are im ranged for Bhaktisiddhanta's transporta personalists who maintain that God is tion to Calcutta, rented a storefront for A Fateful Meeting under the influence of miiyii (illusion). him, and in many other ways provided According to them, His attributes, such Bhaktisiddhiinta with good facilities for Like his great father, Bhaktisiddhanta as His name, form and activities, arc all preaching. Soon many people once again Sarasvati Thakura wanted to promulgate materially contaminated. On the other became interested in the teachings of Lord Caitanya's teachings beyond the hand, the Vai~r:tavas, the personalist Lord Caitanya. shores of India. Bhaktivinoda Thakura devotees of the Lord, correctly accept the Bhaktisiddhanta then extended his had determined the course with his book transcendental nature of the Lord and 10 BACK TO GODHEAD everything connected with Him. Knt:ta cerned by moving earth and heaven history and significance of the sacred says in Bhagavad-gita that His birth and through their organic senses. places. In between Radha-kuJ;lc;la and activities are all transcendental {iamna "The lines of this booklet will surely Syama-kut:tda he conducted a large initia karma ca me divyam). The Mayavadis, help such puzzled souls in their march tion ceremony. however, stress the impersonal aspect of towards the Personality of the Immanent the Lord, ultimately concluding that He lying beyond their sensuous gaze of in An Attempted A ssassination is nothing. This, of course, is an atheistic spection. T he very first stanza of this idea. Unlike the Buddhists, who arrive at publication will revolutionise their The pilgrimage was not without dif the same conclusion but do not accept reserved ideas when the nomenclature ficulties. All along the way, the brahma!fa any Vedic authority, the Mayavadis try to of the Absolute is put before them as shopkeepers would close their shops and argue their point from the Vedic scrip Kr~t:ta." refuse to sell provisions to the party. They tures. T herefore Lord Caitanya has for protested against Bhaktisiddhanta be bidden all devotees to read Vedic com The Indispensable P ress cause his disciples included those born as mentaries by Mayavadis. Bhagavad-gita siidras. members of the lowest caste. In ac says, avajananti mam mu{ihab: those who In 1923, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta cordance with the teachings of Lord deride the Lord because of His Sarasvati Thakura opened the Gaudiya Caitanya, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati humanlike form are all fools and rascals. Printing Works in Calcutta, the second enlisted disciples from all ranks of men Bhaktisiddhanta met and defeated all of four presses he would establish. For and elevated them to the topmost posi such wrangli ng Mayavadis so ferociously preaching work, a press is indispcnsible. tion of brahmatJa (literally one who knows that he became known as simha-gt1ru, or Of course, in preaching sarikirtana, con Brahman, or spirit) . The opponents of "the lion g11ru." Thus, Bhaktisiddhanta gregational chanting, a mrdatiga drum is Bhaktisiddhanta resented his turning Sarasvati is the personification of Lord also important. We will rarely sec devo those born as non-brahmaras into better Caitanya Mahaprabhu's teachings (gau ra tees on a chanting party without one. brahmaras than them. In particular, the valli-sri-tmirti) because he refused to But Srila Bhaktisiddhanta dubbed the nityatumda-vatilsa. a class of priestly per tolerate any statement that was against press the brhad-mrdanga, or "greater sons supposedly descended from Lord the doctrine of devotional service as mrdanga." because the sound of a mrdatiga Caitanya 's great associate Lord Nitya enunciated by Lord Caitanya's chief dis is limited to the immediate vicinity, nanda, claimed for their particular class ciple, Riipa Gosvami (nipatwga-vimd whereas a press can pour out literature the exclusive right to the practice of dhapa siddhanta-dhvatJta-hari!le). that can reach for thousa nds of miles. In devotional service. There was such a In his books, obviously not intended 1927 Bhaktisiddhanta converted his struggle that they even attempted to for an ordinary audience, Bhaktisiddhan father's Sajjana-tO$a!Ji journal into The assassinate Srila Bhaktisiddhanta. These ta Sarasvatl Thakura revealed his genius Harmonist, a magazine. H e also published priests approached the local police com for tearing apart the materialistic phi a daily newspaper called the Nadia Pra mander, a notoriously corrupt official, losophy of the Mayavadis in order to kash, or "The Light of Nadia," Nadia and offered him a huge bribe so that he establish the truth. His style, although being the district where Lord Caitanya would not try to apprehend them after scholarly and at times abstruse, will appeared. Bhaktisiddhanta was once they had committed the horrible deed. reveal to any serious reader a depth of asked the reason for publishing a daily But the officer warned Bhaktisiddhanta, transcendental understanding and charm. newspaper about God. He replied that for although killing was commonplace, But one must be prepared to read and here in the material world there are he could not associate with a plot to kill a reread his great words. Here is an exam thousands of daily newspapers reporting holy man. This incident is strikingly ple, from his introduction to his English repetitious occurrences that become stale similar to the conspiracy against Lord translation and commen tary on Sri after one day, so what to s peak of the Caitanya by the caste brahma!JaS of His Bral11na -saritllita: necessity for reporting the events of the day, who hired the Muslim police to dis "The materialistic demeanour cannot spiritual world, where everything is rupt the Lord's sat'1kirtana parties and possibly stretch to the Transcendental dynamic, conscious and ever fresh. smash the mrdmiga drums. Autocrat who is ever inviting the fallen Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati traveled Ultimately Bhaktisiddhanta succeeded conditioned souls to associate with Him throughout India in the same way as in establishing that devotional service is through devotion, the eternal serving Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who had not restricted to a particular class of men. mood. The phenomenal attractions arc toured on foot from northern India down This is the principle of Rupa Gosvami, often found to tempt sentient beings to to Cape Cormorin. In 1919 Bhaktisid who so aptly cited the following passage enjoy the variegated po:;ition, which is dhanta toured northern and eastern from the Kaii-kha!1{ia portion of the Pad opposed to undifferentiated monism. Bengal, and in 1 921 he went further ma P11rci!1a: "In the country known as People are so much apt to indulge in cast, to Dacca. Then, in 1922, he led a Mayiiradhvaja, the lower-caste people, transitory speculations, even when they mass parikrama (pilgrimage) in the 84- who arc considered less than slidras. arc are to educate themselves on a situation milc Vrndavana-Mathura area. Together also initiated into the Vai$t:tava cult of beyond their empiric area or experienc with hundreds of his disciples, he went devotional service. And when properly ing jurisdiction. The esoteric aspect often by foot to visit the sacred places of dressed, with tilaka on their bodies and knocks them to trace out immanence in Knt:ta's pastimes, including Radha-kut:tda beads in their hands and on their necks, their outward inspection of transitory and Syama-kut:t<:ia, Govardhana, and Bar they appear to be coming from and transformable things. This impulse sana. Setting up tent camps all along the Vaikut:trha, the spiritual world. In fact, moves them to fix the position of the Im way, Bhaktisiddhanta would take every they look so beautiful that immediately manent to an Indeterminate Impersonal opportunity to preach to the local inhabi they surpass the ordinary brahma!las~' 0 Entity, no clue of which could be dis- tants and explain to his disciples the ( 10 be comit111 ed) BACK TO GODHEAD 11 To please K~l)a's senses, devotees prepare delicious offerings according to ancient Vedic recipes. K~l)a must relish lORb everything first, so the food is never tasted before it is offered. ]{RSNNS PRASAbA by Visakha-devi-dasi also the air we breathe, the water we dri nk and, in fact, the very earth on which we live. In Bhaga vad-gila Lord K[ ~ l) a says: aham sarvasya prabhavo matta/:l sarvari1 pravartatc iti mat va bhajantc mam budha bhava-samanvita/:1 " I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything comes from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devo tional service and worship Me with all their hearts:' (Bg. 10.8) Thus the devotee, out of a sense of duty, gratitude and love, first offers all his food to K[~ l)a. Al though God is independent W hat food is sometimes buttery, sometimes and in no way needs such offerings, our desire sweet. sometimes spicy, sometimes mellow, to serve Him is natural, like the natural wish of a often unusual and always tastes good? Answer: mature child to serve the parents who have pro kr$f)a-prasada. "Prasada" means "God's mercy," vided for him all his li fe. and it specifically refers to food that's been The offeri ng of prasada gives a good example offered to K r ~l)a . If you've ever been around of how a devotee acts in relationship with Lord K [~ l)a ' s devotees, you may well have been K[~ l) a . A K [~l)a conscious devotee does not ask, offered some prasada in the form of exotic "0 God, please give us our daily bread." No. dishes like puris, halavah, ki chories or laddus, or The devotee does not ask God to be his order perhaps just slices of apple with dates and nuts. supplier, for he knows that God is already pro W hat's the difference between prasada and or viding everything for us-and for all other li ving dinary food? They may look quite the same. But beings. from the elephant to the ant. Therefore the difference is that prasacla has been offered the devotee accepts the food that the Lord has to Lord K r~l)a in love by one of His devotees, already provided-food made with fruits, whereas ordinary food has not. vegetables, milk, sugar and grains - but first he The special quality of a devotee that dis tinguishes him from others is that he recognizes K~l)a Himself appears in the form of the Deity in the temple to accept the service of His devotees. God's supreme dominion over all tha t is. He Above, He is offered a noon meal. Below, even tiny knows that the Supreme Lord, K [~l)a , is crea ting remnants of the offering are greatl y valued because and providing not only all the food we eat, but the food has become K~l)a-iz e d, spiritualized. 12 BACK TO GODHEAD Photos Vo~kha·devi dasi offers the food back to Kr~r;~a. The food may be offered to the hold them responsible for the killing they naturally perform. Deity of Kr~r;~a in the temple, or to the spiritual master. who is However, when a human being kills. he becomes involved in a Kr~r;~a's representative. In any case, it is always understood complex network of actions and reactions. For the suffering he that the offering is made through the spiritual master. inflicts, he himself will have to suffer at some time in the Nondevotees, of course, will object that such devotion is future. But by preparing food for God and offering it to Him senseless. This world and th e life in it, they will say. have before eating it, one becomes exempt from the reactions im sprung from an impersonal li feless force. The perfect order and posed by material nature. As stated in Bhagavad-gitii, "The harmony of the universe originated from the dust of outer devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins be- space. Life originally ca me from matter- from some chemicals that came together by chance. Kr~ r;~ a reciprocates with such At San Francisco's annual Rathayatra Festival last year, 12,000 full dull materialists by remaining hidden from their view, until plates of prasada were distributed. With devotees serving finally, at the end of their contaminated lives, He comes to seconds, thirds and fourths, one and all took to their full satisfaction. them as death and takes away everything t hey have. Those who have understood that God exists but who have not yet fully understood the science of devotion may ask why, since God is already providing everything, we should take the trouble to offer our food to Him. Aside from expressing grat itude, we should offer our food first to the Lord because this will protect us from the materialistic snares that would other wise entangle us as we eat. That every action has an ~ual and opposite reaction is a commonly known law in physics. What people generally don't know, however, is that this law extends far beyond the boundaries of physics; it is a law of nature that profoundly affects almost every aspect of our lives. Even a simple act like eating can involve us in a network of material reactions. The Vedic literature says, jivo jivasya jivanam: one living being serves as food for another. To eat, we all must kill. Be cause animals are less intelligent, the laws of nature do not 14 BACK TO GODHEAD Pho tos: Vi~kh3· dev1 dasl cause they eat food which is offered first pletely independent, fully cognizant and for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for all-pervading and who is the original cause personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only of all causes? Simply by following His in sin" (Bg. 3.13) structions - and the instructions of His Commenting on this verse, Srila Prabhu pure devotees-with a serious and sincere pada says, "The devotees of the Lord, who attitude. Lord K~Qa says: are in Kr~Qa consciousness. offer food to patraril pu?paril phalaril toyaril Kr~Qa and then eat - a process which yo me bhaktya prayacchati nourishes the body spiritually. By such ac tad aharil bhakty-upahrtam ti on not only are past sinful reactions in the asnami prayatatmanaf) body van quished, bu t the body becomes immunized to all contamination of material In the village of Maya pur in West Bengal, " If one offers Me with love and devotion nature. When there is an epidemic disease, India, devotees feed up to 20,000 people a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept of rice and dahl an antiseptic vaccine protec ts a person daily a substantial diet it." (Bg. 9.26) (a high-protein bean soup). With donations from the attack of such an epidemic. from the West, this program is expanding to If one wishes to be purified by rendering Similarly. food offered to Lord Vi ~ QU !Kr~Qa ) other poverty-stricken areas. transcendental devoti onal service to the and then taken by us makes us sufficiently Supreme, he should find out what th e Lord res istant to material affection, a nd one of advanced devotees whose only interest wants of him. One who loves Kr~Qa will who is accustomed to this practice is called is to please Kr~Qa. Such great souls serve give Him whatever He wants, and he a devotee of the lord." Kf~Qa out of love and expec t nothing for avoids o ffering an ything undesirable o r Neophytes in self-realiza tion o ffer their themselves in return. But how does one un asked f or. Thus. one should not offer food to Kr ~ Qa according to the instructions please that Supreme Person, who is com- meat, fish or eggs to Kr~ Qa. If He desired such offerings, He would have said so. Instead, He dearly requests a leaf, fruit, flowers and water, and He says of such an offering, " I will ac cept it:' Therefore we should understand that He w ill not accept mea t, fish and eggs. Vegeta bles, grains, fruits, milk and water are the proper foods for human beings and are · ·,cribed by l ord K~~ l) a Himself. W hatever eiSL' we eat can not be offered to Him, since He will not accept it. Thus we cannot be acting on the level of lov ing devotion if we offer such foods. Once the Supreme Personality of Godhead has accepted an offering (He can accept it by seeing it and hearing the prayers of His devo tees), the food, now prasada, has tremendous spiritual potency. Therefore devotees distribute it freely to everyone. Such spiritualized food in creases one's duration of life, purifies one's exis tence, and gives strength, health, happiness and satisfaction. Moreover, it nourishes onC''s tran scendental realization. And that is a ~ ~we r.1l quality that one cannot purchase with any amount of money. You can find out rnore about how to cook for In Africa (above), England (right), America (below), Germany (bottom, Kr~~a and offer you r left), on nationwide American television (bottom, right), and in food to Him from the Australia, Iran, South America, Canada-wherever there are devotees Hare Kmra Cookbook, prasada is freely distributed. This is the joyful Kr~r;~a conscious program: pLrblished by the Bhakti sing tor God, dance, discuss the most elevated and scientific philosophy vedanta Book Trust. You of self-realization, and when you are tired, enjoy k~r;~a-prasada. can get one at the ISKCON center nearest you, or else we can mail you one. See page 22 for further details. Photo: Vi~ kh3·devi dasi PhoiO BMrgava d3S Phoro Bhargava dasa 16 BACK TO GODHEAD Chanting HareKrsna in Puiiij BY HIS HOLI NESS ACYUTANANDA SVAMT [His Holiness Acyuto11anda Svomi is o11e of the nature has form, but that form is divine, the Hare Kr$Qa mamra. These are given in first American sttldems initiated i11to Km1a transcendental, cimamari. Cit1tama!1i also The Nectar of Devotion, and in the Padma conscioumess by His Divitle Grace A.C. implies consciousness (cima means "con Purotlll as well. Only devotees can see Bhaktivedatlta Swami Prablmpada. When Sri/a sciousness" or "divine substance"). And Kr$Qa in His personal form, because they Prabhupada it1itiates a new devotee, he requests Kr~1;1a's form is not different from His are the ones who avoid these ten offenses. the devotee to chant the Hare Km1a mantra name. A transcendental sound, however, When we chant Hare l 18 BACK TO GODH EAD many areas-Ballygunge, Tallygunge, telligence, the Vedic scriptures were Vrndavana and Mayapur we develop Burra Bazaar, and so on. One place there written by perfect intelligence, by devo faith, the seed of bhakti. when we see the is Camac Street, and on Camac Street tees, by great sages who sacrificed their places where Lord K.r$t:~a and Lord there is one house in which many devo lives, not by leaders who lived in luxury Caitanya Mahaprabhu had Their tees are living, and one of those devotees and wanted to write some constitution or pastimes. is thinking, "I am God." You are so tiny, put forward some policy to further their so insignificant! The only connection sense gratification. Such leaders live in you, as an insignificant being, have with luxury at the expense of everyone else. ffth offense: to consider the glories of the Supreme Significant Being is the guru. As much as they can, they try to bluff chanting the Hare Km1a mantra imagi The guru, the spiritual master, is the people with altruistic talk, but their real nary. It is said in the Vedic literature that transparent via medium between the in goal is to live in luxury at your expense. by once chanting the holy name of K.r$t:~a finite God and the finite soul. The In You starve and they live in luxury, no one can eradicate more sins than he can finite can make Himself known to the matter what they preach. The great sages possibly commit in all the fourteen finite. He is not weak. We cannot explain who saw the Supreme Absolute Truth worlds. So we should not doubt this. We ourselves to an ant, but Knt:~a can explain sacrificed their lives for the Supreme; Himself to a jiva. Therefore, to offend or they lived in such hardship-for us-be disobey the order of Kr~t:~a's representa cause they were our well-wishers. Devo tive, the guru, is suicide. tees are all oceans of mercy who come to If one has guru-sraddhii, faith in the save us. guru. if it is nighttime but the guru says it's viiiichii-kalpa-tambhyas ca day you will see the sun shining. Beyond krpii-sindlrubhya eva ca and said, "diamonds, free diamonds," no our material sense perception, we must patitiinarh piivanebhyo one would believe me. But here the accept the order of the bona fide guru. scriptures are saying more than that. vai~~;~avebhyo namo namab Our senses are fallible, limited, imper Ceto-darpa~;~a-marjanarh bhava-mahii-diiviig fect, but the words of the bona fide guru "I offer my respectful obeisances unto all ni-nirviipa~;~am: you can get complete are pure and perfect. Gllm-mukha-padma the Kr~t:~a conscious devotees of the Lord. liberation from all sins by purely chant viikya, cittete kariyii aikya. iira nii kariha mane They are just like desire trees who can ing Hare Knt:~a once. People will doubt iisii: our only wish is to hear and under fulfill the desires of everyone, and they that this is true. To have full faith in the stand the orders of the spiritual master. are full of compassion for the fallen con holy name is no; easy; still, we must. We Disobeying the orders of the spiritual ditioned souls." 'ffiust never thmk that the Vedic scrip master will stop any progress in spiritual The great sages and devotees do not tures are juss.,h.Juffing, trying to woo us life. Yasya prasiidad blragavat-prasiido come to cheat; they come to give us the into chanting by exaggerating the poten yasyiiprasiidiin na gatib kuto 'pi: if Knt:~a is Vedic literatures. Therefore these scrip cy of the chanting. No, we must have pleased with you but the gum is dis tures are scientifically pure. We find so complete faith. pleased, there is no hope; and if the g11r11 much scientific evidence to support the is pleased and Kr$t:~a is displeased, you statements of the Vedas. For example, the have nothing to worry about. Vedas declare that cow dung is so pure We are preaching slavery, divine slav that you can even put it in the temple, Sixth offense: to interpret the chant ery. Every country of the world has a and now science is finding out that in fact ing of the holy name of the Lord. Some scheme for enjoyment-communism, cow dung has many antiseptic qualities. people like to twist the statements of the socialism, democracy or whatever-but But for thousands of years we knew that Vedas or the meaning of the holy name of they are all trying to have enjoyment in cow dung is pure; we didn't have to do K.r$t:~a. For example, we chant the names dependent of the Supreme Lord. We are scientific research. So why not just accept Hare Kr~l)a. Hari means thief, hari means preaching that slavery is far more blissful Vedic literature as it is, pure and perfect, lion, and hari also means snake. So does than a false sense of independence. What without having to doubt it? Hare Kr~t:~a mean snake Kr~t:~a , thief the guru says, we do. But he is perfect. Some people interpret the words in the Kr~l)a, lion Kr$t:~a? No. Harir otil tat sat: To be a slave of perfection-that is Vedic scriptures, assuming them all to be Hari is the Supreme Absolute Truth. ecstatic life. allegorical or symbolic. But such in Does this mean that a thief is the terpretations cannot influence the devo Supreme Absolute Truth? Should we tees who have been serving in India, for build a temple to a thief? Should we we have seen the places where Kr~t:~a's build a temple to a snake? Eurth offense: to blaspheme the Vedic incarnations have stood. If someone With a dictionary you can interpret, literature or literature in pursuance to the obstinately insists that KrHJ.a's pastimes bend and twist words unlimitedly. For Vedic version. The Vedic literatures are are all mythology, I can take him by the instance, I may speak of President Ken in harmony with the words of the ear to Hastinapura and the Indraprastha nedy. But "ken" can mean "mental posi spiritual master, for the spiritual master fort where the Pat:~4avas lived, then pull tion," and "eddy" means a swirling pool, will not say anything that is not upheld him by the other ear to Kuruk~etra, 100 so a word juggler may say that Kennedy in the scriptures. Therefore the words of miles from there, where Kr~t:~a spoke was someone whose mind was mixed up the scriptures and the spiritual master are Bhagavad-gitii, then by the nose to and who became the president. One can our guidelines. Vrndavana, where Knt:~a performed His twist words like that in so many ways. The Vedic scriptures are spoken by pastimes, and dunk his thick head into "The teacher:• said the boy, "is a fool." God Himself, and by those who have the holy River Yamuna. Were these The teacher said the boy is a fool. If we perfect understanding. Unlike philoso places fashioned merely to justify some change the punctuation, the whole sen phies concocted by imperfect human in- poems? Certainly not. Here in tence has a completely different mean- BACK TO GODHEAD 19 ing. In the same way, some people try to People have no faith in Kr~l)a only be twist out false, completely deceptive cause they are ignorant. They have nor meanings from the Vedas. But we don't been exposed to real knowledge of Knl)a, want that. E ighth offense: to consider the chant but have absorbed only false notions. For We don't want some twisted in ing of Hare Knl)a one of the auspicious example, in Japan during World War II, terpretation. We want the truth, as it is. ritualistic activities offered in the Vedas the Japanese air force took young boys, Srila Prabhupada is giving Blzagavad-gitii for fruitive gains (kamJa-kiitl{ia). We are thirteen or fourteen years old, and taught as it is. One should not try to twist out chanting Hare K~~l)a to get kr~~a-prema, them how to fly planes. They didn't some other meaning. We should not be love of Krsna-not for the sake of teach them how to land the planes, bm like the foolish man whose wife told him religiosity (dl;arma), economic develop only how to take off and fly. They told to purchase some ghee, clarified butter. ment (artlza), sense gratification (kama) or these innocent boys that for the sake of He went out to buy the ghee, but when even liberation (mok~a). When someone their country they could crash the plane he went to the man who sold ghee, that is imbued with love of Knr:ta, liberation into an enemy boat and them climb out man said, "My ghee is so fine, it's like seems wholly miserable because in im alive. They didn't tell them that ex oil." So the man said, "Oh, oil. Oil must personal liberation there is no love. plosives had been loaded into the plane be better than ghee." So he went to the K~~l)a is manifested in His spiritual and that they would be killed. The pilots man who sold oil. But the oil man said, abodes, such as Goloka and Vaikul)rha, were given only a small amount of fuel, "My oil is so clear, it's as clear as water." and He appears in the material world as so they couldn't turn back if they became So the fellow thought that water must be an avatiira, or incarnation. In the form of afraid. Finally, their commanders better than oil. So instead of ghee, be the Varaha avatiira, Kr ~l)a went to the charged them with some false notions bought some water. Step by step he came darkest region of hell to rescue the planet about love of country and love of their to something useless. You can't fry any earth. Therefore, Kr~r:ta appears to His forefathers and then sent them off on thing in water, but he thought that water devotees in hell, on earth, in heaven and their mission. They were simply a suicide is better than ghee. In that way, a mental in Goloka Vrndavana, but in the imper squad. All they had was partial knowl speculator can twist and turn everything. sonal Absolute, the brahmajyoti, Kr$1)a edge, partial fuel and partial education, Knr:ta means black, black means dark, does not manifest Himself. Therefore, and so, charged up with some false senti dark is unknown, so Kr~r:ta means kaivalyaril narakiiyate: impersonal libera ments, they were deluded into commit unknown. It's a very dangerous kind of tion (kaivalya-mukti) is worse than hell ting suicide. In the same way, modern philosophy. So we cannot interpret the for a devotee. education is giving us only partial educa meanings of these words; rather, we We are not chanting Hare Kr$1)a for tion, so that we will work like dogs. should accept them according to the any personal gain. Na dlza11ati1 11a ja11mi1 11a According to popular belief, the Indian understanding of the iiciiryas, the pure s1mdarith kaviciirir vii jagad-isa kiimaye: we people do not have any capacity to work. devotees in the disciplic line. don't want money, we don't want This is a misconception. I have seen ex followers, we don't want beautiful tremely old people walking eight or nine women, nor do we want popularity, miles around Govardhana Hill in the hot education or an important position. sun. They climb the seven hills to S eventh offense: to commit sinful ac Mama ja11ma11i ja11ma11iSvare blzavatiid bhaktir Tirupati temple, take cold baths in the tivities on the strength of chanting the ahaiwki cvayi: we want causeless devotion, month of Magh (January), or walk all the holy name of the Lord. Chanting the blzakti, at the feet of !(r~l)a. Nothing else. way to Badarikasrama. They are so will holy name rids us of so many sins, but we Therefore we are chanting Hare Kr$r:ta ing to perform these activities for should not think, "I will commit sinful for that and that alone. spiritual realization, so why aren't they activities and then chant to become pure. eager to work in a factory? Because they Then I'll commit more sins and then know they arc not getting spiritual chant again." That is nonsense. That is benefit by working in a factory. They cheating. You cannot cheat Kr~l)a, nor Ninch offense: to instruct a faithless want spiritual benefit, because people in can you cheat the holy name. The holy person about the glories of chanting the India arc basically religious. They know name is Kr~·~a. Therefore Kr~l)a will holy name. Anyone can take part in that mukci (liberation) cannot be know what you are doing. In some chanting the holy name, but we should achieved by working in a factory, but the religions it is a policy that on Saturday not give deeper instruction or initiation government is trying to propound the one may confess all his sins and thus be to one who is faithless. This lack of faith philosophy that work is worship. The come pure so that on Sunday he may may be due to his ignorance, and government leaders know that people are come into the church. Then, starting therefore we may be able to give him basically religious, so they're saying, "lf from Monday, he can resume his sinful knowledge and purify him. But before he you work hard in the hot factory, you'll nonsense. But if one has confessed that is purified, if he has made up his mind to get mukti." They are trying to screw out a his sins are wrong, why should he com be averse to i(r$1)a (balzir-muklza, vimuklza), false meaning of Blragavad-gitii - work mit them again? He will be forgiven once the more we instruct him about Knl)a, hard and forget anything else. No or twice, if he commits them the more he will hate Kr$r:ta. Then we religion, no temple, just work in the fac unknowingly, but the third or fourth will be causing that person to commit tory. They are trying to impose this phi time he will have to sufFer. One cannot more offenses, and this is an offense on losophy on the public to get people to go on using the Lord to justify one's sin. our part. Therefore, one should not give work in the factory and think that facto That is nonsense. To try to use the deeper instruction on chanting the holy ry work or hard labor is auspicious, pious strength of the holy name to justify one's name to someone who has no faith; activity. evil propensities is considered the worst rather, we must first develop his faith by But it doesn't work. Go into any office offense. giving him knowledge. building and you'll find everyone sitting 20 BACK TO GODHEAD around smoking, trying to do the least purified. That is a necessity. How can we become cleansed by chanting this Hare work possible. But if you go to Jagan have peace or make any progress when l{rg1a maha-mamra. Atmii means the body, n:itha Puri, you'll see a huge temple there our consciousness is cloudy and agitated? the mind, the intelligence, endeavor, the built thousands of years ago. How did the There was a meeting between some soul and i{r$1)a. Caitanya Mahaprabhu people get the energy to build such a mideastern leaders concerned with mak gave all these different meanings for the temple? They knew, "I'm doing it for ing peace in Israel. They had assembled word atma when He explained the dt Jagannatha, for Kr$1)a." That brought out in a room and were about to take seats at mdriima verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam. the best in them. If the people know different tables. Jordan was assigned to Therefore, ceto-darpatJa-mtir they're working for some cheating one table, Syria to another, Iran to janam. . .sarvatma-snapanam. when we minister, they will also be cheaters. another and Israel to another. The chant Hare Kr$1)a, all the iitmas become They'll do the least amount of work Israelis, however, didn't want to take purified-the mind, the intelligence, the possible. However, if they work for God, their assigned seats. They wanted to sit at soul. By chanting Hare K.r$Qa, all living they know that He sees everything they a table on the other side of the room. But entities can become happy. And K.r$Qa do and that by pleasing Him they can see the Syrians said, "No, we want this ta also becomes happy when we chant. Him and live with Him. That is an in ble." So a raging argument ensued, in We may offer K.r$Qa a flower (patram spiration. But modern leaders don't like which the members of the peace talk pu~paril phalatn coyam), but the name of that. They want people to work for them, threatened to close the talks and go to Kn1;1a is Kr$Qa Himself (abhinuatvan not for Kr$1)a. They are envious of Km1a. war. Because their minds were agitated, nama-niiminob). So by chanting the holy They think, "Oh, if you work for me, they couldn't make peace even in a ten names of the Lord Kr$Qa, we are giving that is worship." This is bogus. We are foot room. Therefore the first need in Him the best offering. In Srimad accepting the mahiitma-pantha&. the path society is for purity of consciousness. Bhagavatam it is stated, yajtiai& satikirtana of the previous de dryas, the great spiritual With impure consciousness within, priiyair yajami hi sumedhasab: those who arc masters. Does modern society know more how can we externally have peace or intelligent in this Age of Quarrel will than the great iiciiryas.? purity? First we must become pure in worship the Supreme Lord by niima ternally. For example, here in India the sankirtana-yajtia, the sacrifice of chanting merchants now adulterate the ghee the holy name of the Lord. Yajtia (clarified butter) by mixing in many im (sacrifice) must be performed, for with The last offense is to not have complete pure things to save money. Why? Be out yajna. even material prosperity is im faith in the chanting of the holy name cause they no longer believe in God. If possible. In this Age of Kali the recom and to maintain material attachment they believed in God, they would think, mended sacrifice is sarikirtana-yajna, and even after understanding so many in "This ghee may be offered in a temple those who are intelligent will perform structions in this matter. Kr$1)a declares somewhere. To make it impure would be this chanting of the holy names of the in Bhagavad-gitii, rasa-varjam raso 'py asya a great offense." But because they are not Lord and therefore follow the teachings parath dmva nivartate: "One who is at God conscious, they think, "Who cares? of Lord Caitanya Mah:iprabhu. tached to sensual enjoyment becomes No one will see me. The government Caitanya Mah:iprabhu is our goal, our freed from that attachment when he ex won't know." But although one may object of meditation and worship. He is periences a higher taste." We devotees in escape the vision of the government, one K.r$1)a Himself with a golden complex India are apparently living very difficult cannot escape the vision of God. The ion, surrounded by His associates. Lord lives. Although we are Americans, we are Supreme Lord sees everything. However, Caitanya, however, carries no weapons. sleeping on the floor, eating only one or if we eliminate the idea of God as the Lord R:imacandra carries a bow and ar two meals a day, living in this hot coun sak~i. the witness, then hell will prevail. row, Parasur:ima has His axe, K.r$Qa has try and dressing and living humbly. So Therefore we must purify the conscious His disc, and Vi$QU carries a conch, disc, people may think that we're suffering, ness. Bhava-maha-davagni-ninllipa!Jam: club and lotus. But Caitanya but actually we are not-we are blissful. when our consciousness is purified, Mahaprabhu is empty-handed. His only We're happy because we have the holy automatically the fire of our material weapons are His associates, like Lord Ni name, because we're getting a higher existence will be extinguished. tyananda and Haridasa, because His taste. But if after having this higher taste The chanting of Hare Kr$1)a dissemi weapon is love. Instead of killing the we again want the lower taste, that is a nates transcendental knowledge into the demons and giving them liberation, He great mistake. A person in that position is heart like moonlight (ireyab-kairava made them into devotees and conquered called viimiisi. Viintiisi means one who eats candrikii-vitara!Jatil vidya-vadlui-jivanam) them by love. Lord Niryananda used to his own vomit. When one rejects one's and increases our ecstasy at every mo go from house to house, knock on their low attachments, that is compared to ment (anandambJidhi-vardhanam). In mate doors and beg the people to please chant vomiting. However, after one has gotten rial ecstasy, pleasure gradually decreases. Hare K.r$JJa. He would open the door, fall a higher taste, indulging again in a lower If you get pleasure from eating one piece prostrate on the floor and roll on the taste is as good as eating vomit. of candy, before long you'll need two ground, begging them to chant the holy Therefore, to maintain material attach pieces to get the same pleasure. Then name of the Lord. How can you deny His ment after hearing the glories of the holy you'll need three, then five, and soon you request? The Supreme Personality of name of the Lord is an offense. won't want to look at candy any more. Godhead is at your feet, begging you, If we avoid these ten offenses to the That is material pleasure; it decreases. rolling in the dust of your house. Will holy name of the Lord we will certainly But in Kr$Qa consciousness, duandam you deny Him? Can you refuse? No in make progress, by the grace of the b,.dhi-vardhanam pratipadatil plir!Jiimrca telligent person can refuse Him. spiritual master, Lord Caitanya and Lord sviidanam: at every step you'll get a fuller Therefore, chant Hare K.r$1)a and avoid Sri Knl)a. The result will be, ceto-dar taste of nectar. Sarviitma-suapanmn param these offenses. Thar is the perfection of pa!Ja-miirjanam: our consciousness will be vijayate sri-kr~~a-sankirtanam: everyone can human life. C BACK TO GODHEAD 21 We'd like to send you Kr~.,_a For those who want beauty. transcendental glories. We'd For those who want like to give you the pleasure knowledge. of associating with KR~~A For those who want spiritual constantly, through Kmta perfection. We'd like to send conscious tape recordings you what you've always and BACK TO GODHEAD, wanted- KR~~A. the magazine of the Hare KR~~A is the ultimate Kr~r:ta movement. source of everything, the With a Golden Avatar reservoir of all pleasure. He tape subscription, you can is present in His pictures, in hear the message of Kr~r:ta His pastimes, in the sound of His name, in consciousness directly from a bona fide spiritual master, a pure His philosophy, and descriptions of His devotee of Kr~r:ta- His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Each week, you will receive lectures, ------~~ interviews, classes and intimate conversations with His Divine 0 Please send me the next twelve issues of I Grace, all recorded only a few days before. What's more, with a Back to Godhead magazine at the yearly rate of I subscription to BACK TO GODHEAD, you'll read thought $6.00 ($7.00 outside USA). I provoking articles written by Srila Prabhuplida and his disciples, Please send me a subscription to Srila I by great.spiritual Prabhuplida's daily lectures. I masters of the past, One Golden Ava1ar cassene a week for I and by modern 0 4 weeks. 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We are one with tiOII of Kr~':'a conscious books to sclrools and Kr~1.1a in our qualities, but H e is much greater than us." libraries. he was servilrg as the persorral secretary of His Divi11e Grace A. C. Blraktivedama Swami Prablrupada. Sri/a rom a letter to a disciple: "I have no business criticizing, bur Prabhuptida, the formder a11d spiriwal as spiritual master, leader of the institution, it is my dury to find masttr of the lmematiollal Society for your faults. Even Caitanya Mahaprabhu presented Himself as Krishna Conscious11ess, lras bee11 exterr faulty before His spiritual master. Do not be sorry when I find sively traveling to preach a11d or,ersee tire progress of Iris disciples. As Satsvanlpa faults. That is my prime duty. Ca1,1akya Pa1,1dita says that one dtlsa Gosviimi traveled with Sri/a Prabhuptida arou11d tire world-from New must find fault with disciples and sons-it is good for them." York to Lo11don, Paris, Hamb r1r~. Getreva, Bombay, Melboume a11d back to Los A11geles (with many other stops in betrvem}-lre kept a personal diary. filled April 21 with accoums ofSri/a Prablrupada's activities and words. These are excerpts from After his lecture at the exhibition grounds, a crowd of about that diary. 1,000 presses forward, and with great difficulty, forming a human chain, we escort Srila Prabhupada back to his car. Many spectators dive forward to touch his feet. On the way back, Srila Hyderabad, India. April 19 Prabhupada was appreciating that the big crowd was silent dur At the press conference in Hyderabad one reporter as ked right ing his whole lecture. "The women and children:' he said, away whether Srila Prabhupada was an advaita (monistic) or "could not even understand E nglish. This is a good field for dvaita (dualist) philosopher. Srila Prabhupada scoffed at the Kr$1,la consciousness." Later I commented that his lectures question. "What is the point of discussing such things seemed planned out, although I see that he simply chooses a whether one is dvaita or advaita. Kr ~1.1 a says, amuid bhavaltli verse and speaks without preparation. " It appears that I pre bhritiiui: 'All living beings subsist on food grains.' Anuiid means pare?" he asked. "Yes," I said, "there is such symmetry to each grains. The people have no grains. Grains arc produced from lecture." "Kr~1,1a is speaking," he said, "I am nor speaking. I am rain, and the rain from yajiia (sacrifice).' So perform yajtia. Be His microphone. Let us depend on Kn1,1a, and He will do come Kr~ 1,1 a conscious. Dvaita or advaita you may be, but you still everything." need grains." April 22 On his early-morning walk, with three saunyiisis [disciples in the renounced order) present, Srila Prabhup:ida took the role of a pious religionist and challenged us, saying we had nothing to teach him, since he already loved God. "But you don't know what God is," one of us said. "That's all righr:• he said. "What ever idea I have, I am praying. If I didn't love God, I wouldn't go to church." We gave argument after argument, but he re jected them all, saying he was as good in his religion as we were in ours; he had his own love of God and scripture and world religion, and he was as good as we were. We couldn't catch him. Finally he revealed to us what we should have said: "If you love God, why do you disobey Him?" A sympathetic Endowments Officer from the government was Recalling t he press conference. Kn•~a never says we talking with Srila Prabhupada. are all one. He said that the government policy is that everyone should be God conscious, and it seems April 20 they have a branch that dispenses money ro different temples Srila Prabhupada was recalling the press conference. One for the prol?agation of Hindu culture. He said that "orthodox newspaper reported that he had said that Bhagavad-gitii contains briihmaras" [religious intellectuals] object to ISKCON because all answers to all problems-social, political and otherwise we recruit men from the mleccha and yava 11a classes [meat and should not be misinterpreted. He smiled when he heard caters, outcastes] and make them briilmra!JaS. Srila Prabhupada that and said, "They have captured the main points of my talk.'' opened his Sanskrit Bluigavatam and turned to a passage where As for dvaita/advaita, he said, "Kr~1,1a never says we arc all one. If Narada is talking to King Yudhighira about rhe four orders of a servant says, 'Yes, I am the same as the master,' that is his im society [intellectuals, administrators, merchants and laborers]. pudence. But the master never says it. Kr$1.la says to Arjuna, N:irada said that if you find in another country a person work- 24 BACK TO GODHEAD ing as a bralmrm:za, with the qualities of a brahmar;ra. he must be We went three or four times daily to receive darsana accepted as a brahmar;ra. Srila Prabhupada then read Sridhara [association) of the Balaji Deity. One time we went at 2 in the Svami's comment on the verse also. If one gets a degree as an morning. The Deity is very big, in a dark inner sanctum where engineer but sits home and doesn't work, he's not an engineer. the only light comes from the torches held by the prijiiris Km1a created the four social orders on the basis of gur;ra and kar [attendants]. Srila Prabhupada would regularly leave his cane ma. one's qualities and his work. It's very scientific. One must on the rail before Balaji, and then, after we were walking our, acquire the qualities, and he must work. And the role of a secu he would call "Where is my stick?" and we would have to go lar government is to see that brahmar;ras are actually working as back for it. As the general mass of people go into the temple for brahmatras. So the four castes must be maintained. This is called alleviation of material distress, they call out "Govinda!" When vartriisrama. Prabhupada said that if the Indian government Srila Prabhupada started in (you have to go barefoot in the would finance him, he could rid India of godlessness in a year. whole area around the temple, outside also) he would say "Go "People are fed up with materialism and cheating yoga. Why vindam adi-pum$aril tam aham bhajiimi" [I worship Govinda, the not support this movement? Immediately we could open one primeval Lord]. He said we should build temples like this hundred Varl)asrama Colleges and start training. We wouldn't Veilkatesvara temple, which has a gold dome and wonderful just rubber stamp a man 'brahmar;ra' because he happens to be facilities for visiting pilgrims. While he was there, Srila Prabhu born in a brahmatra family. That religion of the body won't do. pada took Balaji's prasada [food offered to rhe Lord] and said it One must actually become qualified." was tasteful. He said that Lord Caitanya had visited this and That is just one sample of the practical discussions about many other places all over south India. We were thinking that i{r~l)a and practical proposals that Srila Prabhupada talks about Srila Prabhupada, who says he hasn't visited any holy places in with respectable men hour after hour, day after day, untiringly, India except Mayapur and Vrndavana, was visiting them to with 100% conviction and fresh enthusiasm. purify them. Srila Prabhupada said that someone wanted to write a book about him, just like the big books people write about their gums to call the gurus God. But he said, "No, write books about Kr$J~a-hundreds of volumes about Kr$1)a." April 25 We flew to Tirupati. In the mountains nearby is Tirmula, where there is the richest temple in India, the Veilka~esvara temple, with its Balaji Deity. Srila Prabhupada very much liked the cottage the temple managers provided for him. They were very respectful and let our party enter the temple, although (1) people usually have to wait on a long line, since 15,000 people enter daily, and (2) Westerners arc usually not allowed in. Following behind Srila Prabhupada, however, we walked right in. In the cottage there was a picture of the Balaji Deity. Prabhupada said that the Deity's name means "child," Kr~l)a as a cowherd boy, not in His Vaikul)~ha aspect [His majestic form in the spiritual planets]. "What do the rascal scientists know of ?" I said. "They haven't seen these planets through Vaikul)~ha Early-morning translation. Working before sunrise their telescopes." for the service of KnJ;ta. He said, "That [telescope knowledge] is imaginary, defec tive. So many planets arc glittering at night. What do the scien May 25 tists know of these other planets? They cannot say that such a People ask, What is Srila Prabhupada's day like? Srila Prabhu place [the spiritual sky] is not possible. The rascals can't get a pada rises about 1 :30 a.m. Sometimes around 2 or 3 a.m. I vague idea of even this one planet." I said they are making awaken and hear him dictating. Once one man in Bombay said progress because 500 years ago people thought the earth was to Srila Prabhupada, "Today I rose at 2:30!" -to which Srila flat. "Not in the Vedas." he said. "It is clearly stated: goloka. Prabhupada replied, "I rose at 1 :30!" In Hyderabad meaning 'round.' Maybe in your Bible," he laughed, "but Gargamuni Svami said to me, "What other sadhu in India gets although you didn't know, the Vedas knew." up at 1:30 to write books?" It is great proof of his authenticity. About all the people going to sec Balajl, Srila Prabhupada In Bombay we set up a small house of mosquito netting for him said, "This shows that the mass of people are still attracted to to work in. He opens the big volume of Bengali Caitanya God, despite government propaganda. The people are coming caritiimrta. and with a small desk lamp lit, he begins translating and going, visiting the Deity. Bur an advanced devotee can cap the synonyms one by one, clicking the dictaphone button as he ture God in his heart. Premiitijatra-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena: with pauses briefly for his thoughts. the ointment of love of God spread over his eyes. Of course, The translation work usually goes on for two or three hours, Deity worship is good for the neophyte." sometimes less. From around 3 to 5 he sits and chants Hare BACK TO GODHEAD 2 5 Kr~~Ja on his beads. Srila Prabhupada chants beads almost silently, although the motion of the beads can sometimes be heard in the next room, and sometimes "Hare Kr~l)a, Hare Kr~r~a ." His regular morning walk begins j ust before the sun comes up. In India, Srila Prabhupada says, clothing is artificial; India is so warm. In other countries sometimes he has to bundle up in big coats and a hat. He wears a pair of shoes that he saves only for the morning walks. As Kr$~Ja is known to appear in yellowish garments with a peacock feather in His hair, our spiritual master wears saffron, with a wrapper around his shoulders or over his head, and walks with his cane, followed by his devotees. In the Kmra book it says that a devotee is like a waterfall-sometimes he speaks, and sometimes he is silent. I asked what this means, and Srila Prabhupada said that the devotee speaks at his will; he is not obliged to speak. Devotees are eager to accompany Srila Prabhupada on his walks. Some times he speaks the whole time. He walks long, usually about an hour and a half. If it rains he says, "Today we will take our walk sitting down," and we ride in the car. Official reception. The President of the Conseil d'Etat, the main goveruing body of the Canton of Geneva, welcomes Srila Prabhupada to Geneva City. he quoted the same verse he cited over a month ago in Hy derabad: armiid blra vami biHitiini. "Everyone subsists on grains." So he proposed that if everyone cultivates his own land and keeps cows, there will be no economic problem. One should live simply and spend the saved time solving the problems of birth, death, old age and disease. Later Srila Prabhuplida asked, "Were my answers all right?" I said that the governor asked about the economy being i.n trouble if everyone became a devo tee because he thinks we are simply beggars. "Therefore," Prabhupada said, "I talked about tilling the land. We are not beggars. W e are giving the highest knowledge. W e gave him the book of highest knowledge [Bhagavad-gira], but he could not give us anything." T raveling and preaching. Disciples and newsmen June 5 meet Srila Prabhupiida at the Geneva airport. To Prabhu This morning on his walk, and again tonight with the Dean of pada's right is SatsvarGpa dasa Gosvami, his sec retary. Theology at Geneva, Srila Prabhupada ga ve this example: What is the important thing in the body? It is the spirit soul, Geneva, Switzerland. May 30 the life force. That is what's making the body move. Just as in F l yin~ here, Srila Prabhupada said, "This is a very dangerous an airplane the important thing is the pilot. The living entity spot [amidst the Alps]. Many planes crash here." Later I asked within the body, the life force, is making the hand move, the if great sages still lived in the Himalayas. He said yes: eye see, the mind think. . . So in the universe, there is a life, a Vyasadeva, Valmiki and Nara-Narayal)a. I mentioned to him Soul, which is moving everything. As the person within the that in the Bhaga11atam he says that there's a gold peak in the body is the important thing, so the Supreme Person is the im Himalayas. "Yes," he said, "if they find that out, they will be portant element in the universe that is making everything move come mad to go there." This afternoon we were given an and sustaining everything. We are isvaras, or controllers, of our official reception by the governor of Geneva. Srila Prabhupada bodies, but He is the supreme controller, even of us. Each of us spoke on the verse sa vai pruilsiim. . . "The science of God must is controlled by God, the supreme controller, so to disobey His begin with knowledge that one is spirit soul, nor the body." The orders is sinful life. To agree to obey His direction is religion. governor asked, "If everyone becomes Kr$r~a conscious, won't Tonight after explaining this, he said, "I think this is perfect the economy be in trouble?" "No," Srila Prabhupada said, and knowledge." 26 BACK TO GODHEAD He talked often with the Christians about why they disobey dents; he came to this country without money, only with the God by killing other living entities. Finally one of them com word. But by preaching the transcendnetal word, all of plained that we were just talking the whole time about meat ISKCON has become manifested. That's an example of the eating. "Why can't we talk of higher principles?" they asked. creative power of the word. The transcendental word of God, Srila Prabhupada said, "So long as one is sinful, there is no existing before the creation, is eternal, above the material crea question of understanding higher principles." tion-and it is the cause of the whole creation. Therefore by transcendental sound we are chanting Hare Kr$~Ja and becom Paris, France. June 9 ing God conscious. He said that Paris attracts so many tourists. His hosts drove him around to see the Louvre buildings, the Arc de Triomphe, Germany. June 18 and other sites. He said that in India (for example at Tirupati, Harhsadiita arranged a procession of 20 vehicles from the air where Balaji temple is) the same tourist urge is there, common port to the castle where the devotees are staying. Srila Prabhu people are visiting daily by the thousands, and the statues are pada was pleased: "My heart becomes engladdened when I there, but in India it is for God. While driving they pointed out hear a mrdariga in a German village." [A mrda~iga is a drum for where embassies are, and one devotee quipped, "So we have chanting Hare Kr~~Ja.] He quoted Lord Caitanya's verse that in opened a Kr~~Ja embassy." "Why one embassy?" he said. "Ev every village the chanting will be heard. He said, "We should ery house should be an embassy. Everywhere, a Kr~~Ja em be aware that our goal is a worldwide movemenc. Actually, we bassy." have communities all over the world, but the movement is still very, very small. It will expand, however, and the whole world can be united under Kr~Qa for peace." Bur then, he said, people's only objection to us is that we are trying to prevent them from going to hell; therefore they misunderstand us. It's like when a man flies a kite on a roof and you sec that he's in great danger, about to walk off the roof. But when you tell him, "Look out! You're in danger!" he becomes angry. "What! You have checked my movement." Any gentleman will speak out if he sees another plunging into danger. But they object. One world under Kr~~Ja - we are not after domination, but we want to free people from death, old age and disease. Srila Prabhupada has been pointing out that the wars which are starting every few years in the West can be traced to karma from cow killittg. It has very disastrous effects, the slaughterhouse. He says, "People should live in peace, eating the food they raise themselves from the land, and chanting Hare Kr$~Ja. Why artificially start these wars? They do not recognize that everything belongs to God. You can have the land to work; He has given you enough of everything to live peacefully. It is the fault of the so-called leaders. The mass of people arc good." June 19 He said that the idea of transmigration of the soul is very im portant-the beginning of transcendental philosophy-but no one in the West understands it. I brought up the argument that although the materialist will accept that we are changing bodies in this lifetime, and also that he is experiencing the change of bodies in dreams, these things arc still within one lifetime, so he docs not experience changing bodies at the time of death. Srila Prabhupada said, "But in the dream one doesn't remember everything; so much of it is a hodge-podge mixture of different T ranscendental words. Srila Prabhup~da instructs his things. Our nature is to forget. Also. do you remember every disciples during a morning walk in Paris. thing of your childhood? We have forgotten so many things. W e do not remember being in the womb of the mother and "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with suffering under those conditions, but we were there. The fact God." This means that the word preceded the creation. that we do not.remember something docs not mean it did not Therefore it was transcendental. We have to inquire, "What is exist. So, we are forgetful and do not remember our past lives. a transcendental Word?" The poet Narottama dasa Thakura The most important thing is the authority of Kr$~Ja; He is the says, golokera prema-dlzaua lzari-uiima-sa~ikirtaua: "Hare Kr~~Ja perfect authority, and He logically presents transmigration in comes from Kr$~Jaloka." This means it is a transcendental, not a Blzagavad-gitii." I said, "If we simply say you must believe it be material, sound or word. The creation comes from the word of cause Kr~~Ja says so, they will take it as dogmatic." "No," he God. For example, His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada has said, "the reasoning is given there, but the authoriry is fi nal. started what is now a very large spiritual movement. In the For example, if you want to know who your father is, you can beginning of the movement there were no buildings and stu- investigate in differenc ways your genealogy, your natural at- BACK TO GODHEAD 27 traction to both parents, or your similarity to them in character-but finally the mother is the authority without flaw." Melbourne, Australia. J une 21 mentioned to Srila Prabhupada that now that India has the nuclear bomb, other small nations are rushing to get it. He said, "What is this nuclear bomb? l will drop it on you and in turn you will drop it on me. What is the advancement over the dogs? This fearfulness of one nation for another with nuclear bombs is the dogs' mentality. Sometimes, even when chained by their respective masters, two dogs will fight as soon as they meet. Have you seen it? It's no better than that. "But," I pursued a vague anxiety, "devotees sometimes think we arc planning for the long-term future when we distribute books to "The plants are standing still, while we are able to schools and libraries, but if everything is going to end in walk." A pure devotee teaches his disciples to sec Kr~na's nuclear war. . ." "Assure them," said Sri Ia Prabhupada, "that arrangement everywhere. there will be no nuclear war if they take to Kr~t:ta conscious ness. And even if there is nuclear war, that is not going to end He said, "The plants arc standing still while we are able to everything. Formerly there was the brahmtistra [a weapon of walk because they are being punished. But although it is Vedic times similar to today's nuclear bomb]. Everything is punishment, Knl}a's intelligence is so nice that it has become a under the control of the Supreme Lord. We are not afraid of the beautiful arrangement." Madhudvi$a Maharaja asked, "If one nuclear bomb, because the soul cannot be killed by the atom gets a body according to his desire, so that one who wants to eat bomb. Do you know that? Have you read it? So what do they flesh can become a tiger-well, who would want tO become a want to do in fear of the nuclear bomb-to sir down and do tree?" (We understand that tree life is the result of too much nothing and cry?" I said, "Well, we arc asking people to invest lust.) Srila Prabhupada said, "The students in America like to in 60 volumes of Srimad-Biuigavatam, but they might say, 'I don't stand naked. So KHt:la says, 'Here, take the body of a tree. Stand want to make such a long-term investment in the future be naked for a hundred years.' " I could suddenly understand bet cause there is nuclear war ahead.'" "Then why are they going ter Prabhupada's position as our savior. He can save us from to the university? Why don't they stop eating? Do they mean coming back in the lower species. If we follow the regulations one should not go for an education and should not have any of devotional life he has taught us, if we don't fall down from hope and should stop everything?" "Yes," I said, "some think this, we can go to Kr$t:la at the end of this life. Those like that-that it is doom." Srila Prabhupada expressed concern bewildered by material desires have to go on in the material that people have been put into such a consciousness. Then he world. repeated that I should assure people that there will not be such Prabhupada is very interested in the excellent response from a war if they can become Kr~t:ta conscious. "In fact, because of high church officials here in Melbourne. He wants to make a our Kr~t:ta consciousness movement, there will be no nuclear united effort with the Christians. The preaching platform is war. But even if there is, the soul cannot be killed, so we are that they should chant the name of Christ, which is the same not afraid the bomb will kill the soul." philologically as Kr~t:la, coming from the Greek "Christes," and In Melbourne, Srila Prabhupada has been getting lots of news stop the animal slaughter. The clergy is appreciating this ap coverage. One article misrepresented him, saying, "His Divine proach. 0 Grace is resigned to dying soon and returning to earth as an animal." Amogha prepared a letter to the editor asking him to print what Srila Prabhupada actually said. Amogha wrote that a pure devotee's condition is just the opposite: he goes to the Krsna... Conscious Calendar kingdom of God after leaving this body. The next morning in Here are some upcoming holidays and festivals for Kf~Qa con- class, Srila Prabhupada commented on the news article. He ex scious devotees. Devotees of the ISKCON center nearest you plained how the reporter, being against us, was really saying, will gladly tell you more about the meaning of these festivals. "Let the svtimi come back as a dog." (Actually all the miscreants ...... 22 .._.._25 ...... ,29 will come back in the lower forms of life, not the devotees.) ...... Disa ppeara nee Ek.lda~l (UttMna- Disappearance of End of Prabhupada had actually said, "The devotee doesn't mind how day of ~rna ek.lda~O (fasting ~rna Bht:lgarbha C.lturm.Jsya-vrata he comes back, so long as he is with Kr~t:ta. To become Kr~t:la's Cadadhara dasa from grams and Gosv.lml and ~rlla and Orja-vrata. animal is a great thing. In Knr;Jaloka the cows embraced by Gosv.lml, ~rna beans). K.Ulsvara Pa~ita . Haimantika-rAsa- Dhanalljaya Disappearance of y.ltr.l of lord K~~ - Kr~t:la, and the other animals-or even the plants- arc very ex Pa~ita and Srna Srna CaurakHora Appearance of alted to be with Kr$l)a." So there is no objection if he becomes Srlniv.lsa Acarya dasa Bab.1j1 Srna Nimb.1rka i{r$r;Ja's animal in his next life. Prabilu. Maharaja. AcArya. .,....., ~11 .,_...11 o.c-ber25 Ekada~l (Utpann.'l- Disappearance of Disappearance of Ekadasl June 29, 1974 ek.ldasl) (fasting Srna Kaliya Srna S.lranga !Moksada- On his morning walks through the Royal Botanical Gardens in from grams and Knr_~ad.lsa Thakura. ekad~s o !fasting Melbourne, Prabhupada would ask how many varieties of beans). Thakur a and Srlla from grains and plants they have. On several occasions he asked, Narailari Sarak.lra beans I. "Do they Thakura. have two million varieties? Kr$t:la has produced two million varieties of plants, but I think maybe they have two thousand." 28 BACK TO GOOH EAD , Text 12] The Yoga of the Supreme Person 709 TRANSLATION The splendor of the sun, which dissipates the darkness of this whole world, c omes from Me. And the splendor of the moon and the splendor of fire are also from Me. PURPORT The unintelligent cannot understand how things are taking place. The beginning of knowledge can be established by understanding what the Lord explains here. Everyone sees the sun, moon, fire and electricity. One should simply try to understand that the s plendor of the sun, the splendor of the moon, and the splendor of electricity or fire are coming from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In such a conception of life, the beginning of K~\la consciousness, lies a great deal of advancement for the conditioned soul in this material world. The living entities are essentially the parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, and He is giving herewith the hint how they can come back to Godhead, Dat~ · IP.i,IJOJrne. From this verse we can understand that the sun is illllllllinatg solar system. There are different universes and solar BYI~~~ are different suns, mooDS and planets also. Sunlight effulgence in the LOlrd4.~rWi~ sun, the act~yj.t~,,.~~lltu.D.I.IQ." .~ their f001Cl&t.1Jn;Jr,·~ done What does Knna•• • taste like! "If one offers Me with love and offering with His glance, and the food devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, becomes" Kr~IJa -ized"- it becomes I will accept it." (Bhagavad-g1ti19.26) nondifferent from Kr~Qa. We would Prasada means "the Lord's mercy," like to invite you to visit any one of the and it refers specifically to food that has SrT Sri Radha-Kr~Qa Temples around been offered to Kr~IJ.a. Hundreds of the world, listed on page two of this delicious dishes can be made with five magazine, to experience spiritual food. basic ingredients (vegetables, grains, Every day, and especially on Sundays, sugar, fruit, and milk). When these are we have a program of singing, dancing, prepared with care and offered in philosophy and feasting on Kr~IJa devotion to Kr~IJ.a, He accepts the prasada.