Photo by Jeffery Govender Contents Editor’s Note Editor’s Note India, The Holy Land India , The Holy Land 2 I was told by our tour guide, “India teaches one to Message from the Temple President depend on God, whilst the West makes one believe Resolute Determination 3 that you are God!” Special Report Revising Srila Prabhupada’s Books? 4 What if visiting India was the same as visiting a first world country like America or Japan, where we are Srila Prabhupada bombarded with the latest technology, cleanliness, Visitor from Calcutta 5 conveniences and no austerities of any kind. Would the experience be the same? Visiting India is generally Feature encompassed with mixed emotions. We tolerate the Lord Nityananda 6 austerities in order to gain even one ounce of piety. Holy Place Currently touring India or the holy places, as we call Ekachakra Dham 7 it, I’ve come to understand that to gain the mercy of the Lord some purification has to be endured. Entry Srila Prabhupada’s Book Marathon 8 is never easy, regardless of money, title or status. Profiles However, once in, the mercy can flow like torrents God and Demigods 10 of rain. Pool Hustler 11 Among all the varieties of experiences, the most Vedic Observer rewarding is probably appreciating the simplicity. The Hole in the Heart 11 The simplicity of the people, the simplicity of their Report situation and the simplicity of the land. We must Quest to Learn 12 remember that this holy land is significant not because of its good food or because of its vast array Young Vaishnava Column of shopping experiences but, primarily because the Spot the Difference 12 Lord and His devotees appeared here. He left us with so many pastimes which we relish by recalling and Report using them to develop our relationship with Him. Can’t get Enough 13 Vaishnava Kitchen Ultimately the goal of our existence is to remember Dokra 13 Krishna at all times and eventually go back home, back to Godhead. Visiting the holy land helps us to Resolutions of the achieve this. So visit as often as you can but do it with ISKCON-KZN Management Board 14 an attitude of gratitude. Notice Board 15 Haripriya Devi Dasi Vaishnava Calendar 15 Editor Market Your Business! Advertise in Hare Krishna News Give your business a sales boost by advertising in the Hare Krishna News. Our publication reaches over 6000 readers in Durban and surrounding areas For more details call:Rasa-sthali Dasi Haripriya and her daughters, Sandhini & Ramapriya Tel: 031 403 3328 • Email: [email protected] at the ISKCON New Dehli temple. 2 Message From The President goal of life. And the last of the major reasons on my list for slacking off in sadhana is the Resolute Determination association of weak-minded persons. On the persistent advice of well- To always be reminded of our goal of life is wishers and personally noticing so important. We must organise these reminders how my body is gradually into our daily routine - hearing lectures, reading weakening and limiting my Srila Prabhupada’s books, and visiting the temple service, I recently started a small regularly are just a few of many ways to do it. We can exercise program. Two days into avoid allurements by intelligently understanding the the routine I laughed within temporary nature of all of these allurements and the myself: “How many times have subsequent suffering that arises from endeavouring you started exercising and stopped to reach them. This intelligence is developed by within a week?” reading the bona fide scriptures and surrendering to a spiritual authority. “But this time it’s going to be different! Wait and see!” And association. This is the key, actually. We must seek the association of serious devotees who are And true enough, excuses started to infiltrate determined, enthusiastic and positive about Krishna validating the urge to stop my exercise routine. consciousness. Their association is infectious. As Srila Prabhupada once wrote to His Holiness Giriraj Many of you may have also experienced a variation Swami: “Now you are permanently infected and you of what I just described. Whether it be the exercise can never leave...” routine, the diet, the study program, whatever. We resolve to start something progressive but struggle to I have always appreciated the prophylactic nature maintain the program, what to speak of reaching the of the holy places, including the Radha Radhanath goal! Temple. If visited for the right reasons, one will find strength in the hearing of Srimad Bhagavatam, the This is often experienced in our practice of bhakti worship of the deities, the association of sadhus and as well. Krishna consciousness in some ways is very prasada and then one will almost certainly never much like an exercise routine. Sadhana-bhakti or slack off in one’s practice or even be deviated from the regulative practice means exactly that—we have Krishna consciousness. to practice and practice constantly to reach the goal. And the goal is krishna-prema which is an eternally Often devotees ask my advice on how to fix blissful and conscious existence in personal service to themselves and I frequently advise them to visit the Krishna and His devotees. temple regularly. It is in this atmosphere that all the ingredients for becoming resolute will be found and But sometimes we slack off or even stop the practice. experienced. Just like in my exercise program. Why does this happen? One of the main causes is that we forget the So, if you are making year beginning resolutions, goal of our practice—krishna-prema. please consider adding this one to the list. Make it a point to take shelter of the temple regularly. It will How is it that we could ever lose sight of such change your life, blessing you with all the potency to an attractive goal? Distraction. Bhogaisvarya- stay focused in your practice of bhakti. prasaktanam, tayapahrta cetasam: In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna teaches that in the Knowing how difficult it could be to increase one’s minds of those too attached to or bewildered by sense visits to the temple, I will leave you with a nice enjoyment, the resolute determination for devotional consideration: To be lax or irresolute is easy but service never develops. We forget the goal of perfection advancement in bhakti is difficult and to be strict is because we get distracted by the fleeting allurements difficult, but advancement in this path is easy. The of material enjoyment. And so, without the goal, why choice is ours, really. even bother with practicing. Practice makes perfect, but perfection also necessitates the practice. Hare Krishna! Another reason for slacking off is offenses. And this Swarup Damodar Das leads to various reactions, one being the development of material desires which distracts us further off the 3 Revising Srila Prabhupada’s Books? Compiled by Rasa-sthali Dasi In an article published in ISKCON was minimal: ‘[S]imply we have to see that in our Communications Journal in 2005 — “Editing book there is no spelling or grammatical mistake. the Unchangeable Truth” — His Holiness We do not mind for any good style, our style is Hare Jayadvaita Swami gave an extensive overview of Krishna, but, still, we should not present a shabby the editorial work of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust thing.’ In practice, to keep from shabbiness, more (BBT). Jayadvaita Swami has served as the editor than grammar and spelling was involved. Apart from or assistant editor for nearly all the books of Srila spelling, grammar, and punctuation, the editors Prabhupada published during Srila Prabhupada’s applied standards of consistency (Deity or deity? lifetime and continues to be the editor of many works spirit-soul or spirit soul?). They tried to make sure from the BBT. that pronouns had unambiguous antecedents. They broke long paragraphs into shorter ones. They turned Srila Prabhupada’s books are sacred works, and passive constructions (‘and the rest is being awaited therefore his followers may sometimes wonder if it by Him’) into active (‘and He is awaiting the rest’). is proper to edit or revise them. And so Jayadvaita They made skewed constructions parallel.” Swami explains. “For all of Srila Prabhupada’s books, the editors He begins: checked and revised for mundane accuracy. When Srila Prabhupada gave mathematical calculations, “‘Don’t add anything. Don’t subtract anything. did the numbers tally? When he gave a geographical Don’t change anything.’ This was the instruction reference, did it match the map? For grammar, clarity, ISKCON’s founder-acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. readability, and flow, the editors routinely changed Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, many times gave Srila Prabhupada’s sentence structure—often utterly to his disciples. Yet some disciples he engaged to edit reworking it—merging sentences, or severing them, his words for publication. And editing by definition or rearranging clauses, striving for a suitable mixture means to add, subtract, and change.” of simple sentences and complex. Connectivity was another concern. Did each sentence follow Jayadvaita Swami tells of the way Srila Prabhupada from the one before? For this the editors routinely wrote most of his books: added connectives: and, but, however, therefore, nonetheless.” “Rather than writing out or typing all his works, Srila Prabhupada dictated most of his books on a Even before Srila Prabhupada’s departure the BBT Grundig dictating machine, using tapes that each did revisions to published books. Jayadvaita Swami afforded perhaps an hour of dictation. This enabled gives us some history: him to achieve greater speed. Yet the method had its drawbacks: he had less opportunity to review “Starting from the early 1970s, or perhaps even and revise his words, he sometimes spoke passages earlier, the BBT has published revised versions twice, and—most of all—he had to depend on the of Srila Prabhupada’s books.