Godhead is light. Nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead there is no nescience. THE MAGAZINE OF THE HARE KRISHNA MOVEMENT Special Celebration Issue . lll honorqf Sri Sri Radha­ Krsna• • • THE SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD and HIS DIVINE GRACE A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada SPIRITUAL MASTER OF THE HARE K~~~A MOVEMENT nama Om Vi~l)U-piidaya k($1)3-pre~t}laya bhiitaJe srTmate bhakti-vediinta- sviimin iti niimine ''We offer our respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord K~!Ja , having taken shelter at His lotus feet," namas te sarasvate devaril gaura-viil)i-pracaril)e nirviSe~a-sunyaviidi- piisciitya-deia-tiiril)e "Our respectful obeisances unto you, 0 spiritual master, servant of Sarasvati Gosvami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanyadeva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism." yasya deve para bhaktir yathii deve tathii gurau tasyaite kathitii hy arthaJ) prakiisante mahiitmanaiJ "Unto those broad-minded souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master, all the imports of spiritual knowledge are automatically revealed." (Svetaivatara Upani~ad 6.23) mong all the eternal living beings, one living being is the Supreme Eternal. He is the Supreme Lord, and all others are Hjs servan ts. The Lord has many names, but the name Kr~Qa is uruversal, for this meansA "all-attractive." Every one of us has an eternal relationship with ~Qa that we have somehow forgotten. Unless we revive this dormant relationship, we cannot have peace and happiness­ either individually, naHonally or on a global scale. ~l)a is not a myth, a legend or the subject of an allegory. Nor is He an impersonal light or vague omniscient force. He is a person, the Supreme Person. He lives, and we can live with ffim. As one needs the help of a qualified teacher to understand the material sciences, one also needs a qualified teacher to understand the science of God. Such a teacher is the spiritual master. A genuine spiritual master must be able to instruct his students in the practical details of understanding who God is, what our relationship with Him is, and how this relationshjp can be revived. Having received scientific instruction in God conscious­ ness from revealed Vedic scriptures, the devotees of the K~Qa consciousness movement assert with conviction- a convicUon nourished both by Vedic knowledge and by practical experience- that Kr~Qa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that ffis Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the genuine spiritual master who can teach us how to know ffim , how to love ffim, and how to go back to Him- back home, back to Godhead. With this special issue of Back to Godhead, wruch celebrates the appearance anniversaries of our spiritual master, Lord K~1,1a and ~!)a's eternal consort, Srimati RiidharaQi, we invite intelligent, broad-minded people to study and understand this K~Qa consciousness movement for their own eternal benefit and the benefit of others. 0 Back to Godhead 1 Pho to: Bhllrgava dasa BACK TO GODHEAD THE MAGAZINE OF THE HARE KRISHNA MOVEMENT FOUNDER (un~er the direction of His Divine Grace CONTENTS Sri Sr1mad 8hakrisiddh5nta Sarasvati Prabhupada) His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada The Birth of L ord K r~Qa 3 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada OHAKTIVEDANTA BOOK TRU~T COORDINATOR The Reality of Km1a's Appearance 6 B;tli Mardan dasa Gosvruni by His Holiness Satsvaropa dasa Gosvami WITOR Jayftdvaita dasn Three Occasions for Transcendental F estivities 11 SANSKRIT EDITOR Jaga nnlitha dasa by Visakha-devi dasi PRODUCTION MANAGER Radhftvallabha dasa Vyas-Puja Day Address 13 ART Dl RECTOR I ndrapramada dasa by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada A~SISTANT ART OIRECTOllS Navadvipa dasa. y" llla raja diisa Prabhupada 15 An Explanation of This Title of Respect ILLUSTRATORS Mur<tlidhara dftsa, Yadurii!ti-de vi diisi. l'arik ~ it dasa , Bharadraja dasa Vyas-Puja Homage 15 l'~IOTOGRA I'HER S llharg:JVa dasa, by G iriraja da sa Muralivadana dasa. Villisa-vigraha dasa. Yaduvara dasa. Vi ~akha·d~vi dasi. Jeffrey Dunan It Is His Mercy 16 PHOTOGitAI'HtC TECHNICIANS Gari yan dasa, The Unique Spiritual Contributions of a Pure Devotee of Lord Kr~!la Madhusudana dasa. Gadagraja dasa. <:akradhara dasa Who Is that Girl with Krsna? 25 by Jayadvaita dasa ·- · PllOOFREADERS l·l<rrik e~: t dflsa, Sa nto~a dfisa. Gopiparii!tadhana <Hi sa. Druvisl:r dasa Sri Gurv-astaka 29 TYI'ECOMPOSERS Riigiitmika-dcvi dasi. by Srna Vi§:,anatha CakravartiThakura Nara-dcvi dasi. Mamata·devi dasi. Du!tkhahantri-devi dasi l'trhlishcd monthly. S6.00 per y<or ($7.00 outside USA). I hy the Bhak tivcdanta Book Tru;t. 3764 11'31scka Ave .. NTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS Los Angeles. C:tlif. 90034. !Odit ori:rl Offices: 38 Tiffany CENTERS AROUND T HE WOR LD l'lace.Orooklyn. N.Y. 1123 1 /lurk UJ Gotlhe/ld No.640 19 74 l}h:rktivedanta Book Trust AFRICA: Capetown. S. Africa-74A UpperWaterkant St.. Washington- 400 18th Ave. East 98102/ (2061 329·9348. All rights reserved . Printed in USA. Nairobi, Kenya-P 0 . Box 28946 (E Africa) 3 1568 Toronto, Canada-187 Gerrard St. East. Ontario M5A 2E5/ (416) 922·5415. Vancouver, Canada-1774 West 16th Alit' . PRONUNCIATION OF SANSKRIT WORDS THE AMERICAS: Ann Arbor. Miehigan-718 W Mad•son Vancouver-9. B.C/ (604) 732-8422; Washington, D.C.- Sanskrit words and names in Bock to Godhead 481031 (313) 665-6304. Atlanta, Geo.-giaE- 24 N 13th 2015 "0.. St N.W. 20009/(202! 667-3516. arc spelled according to a system accepted by St 30309/ (4041 892-9042. Austin. Texas-1003 E 14th scholars throughout the world which indicates St 787021 (512) 4 76-1558. Boston. Massachus.etts-40 N ASIA: Bombay, India-Hare Krishna Land. Gandhr Gram the exact pronunciati on of each word. Beacon St. 02134/ (6171 782·8892. Buenos Aires, Argentina Road. Juhu. Bombay 400 054/577315. Calcutta, lndia- -Ecuador fl 473. Buffalo, New Yori<-132 Brdwcll Pkwy. Vowels in Sanskrit arc pro nounced almost 3 Albert Road. Calcutta 71XXJ 17/ 44·3757. Hyderabad. 142221 (71 61 882·0281. Caracas, Venezuela-Callc Luos India-Hare as in Ita lian. T he sound o r t he short a is like Krrshna Land. Nampally Stalton Ro,ld. A P.. Roche No. 6 1. Colrnas. De Los Chaguaramos/ 760 783. Kowloon, Hong Kong-38 Mody Rd .. 4/11., Tsrm Sha Tsuy/ the 11 in but. the long 11 is li ke the a in f1tr and Chicago. lllinois-1014 Emerson St.. Evanston 60201/ 3-66806 1: Mayapur, lndia- ISKCON lnternatronal Center. held twice as long as the short a. nncl e is like 13 12) 475-9 126; Cleveland. Ohio-15720 Euclrd live. P.O. Sree Mayapur Dham. W. Bengal (District Nadral. New the a in cwtde. Long i is like I he i in pique. T he E. Cleveland 44 1121 (216) 451 0418; Dallas. Texas-5430 Oethi, lndia -G-12 An•nd Noketan Extension (opposrte C I vowel r is pronounced like there in the Gurley St. 75223/ (214) 827·6330. Denver. Colorado- West End] 11 00231 01 1·671-643; Taipei. Taiwan-29-7. Enslish word fibre. llte c is pronounced as in I he 1400 Cherry St 802201 (3031 333·5461; Detroit, Michigan Hung Chow. South Rd. Sectoon 2; Tokyo, Japan- 3-4·18. English word chair. and the a>pira tcd consonants -8311 E.JeflersonAve 48214 (3131824·6000.Gaines•ille, Shrmo.Ochldr Shrntuku·ku. 951·5809. Vrindavan, India­ (ell. jh. tilt, etc.) are pronounced as in staunch· Florida-1104 N.W 3rd Ave. 32601. Honolulu, Hawaii- Krishna Balarama Temple. Chattikara Road. Raman Retr. 1578 Ala Aoloa Loop 96819/ (8061 839·2210. /teart. hedge-hog. reel-hot. e tc. The 1wo aspirants Hounon, Mathura. U P /178. Texas-107 Knox St. 77006/ (7131 869·7809. Laguna Beach, .~ ;rnd ,• a rc pronounc~d like the English sh: California- 641 R~rnonaAve . 9265 1 /( 714 1494·9 1 7:1. Los AUSTRALIA: Adelaide. AuS1talia-13A Frome St • SA I .< is pronounced as in stilt. Thus Kr~!ta is pro· Angeles, California-3764 Wa tseka Ave. 90034/ 1:> 131 020·253t 60; Auckland, New Zealand-67 Grrbblchrrst Rd. nouncccl KRISIINA. Cltilanya is pronou nced 87 t -0717; Mexico City. Mexico-Gobernador Trburcio. Mt. Albert/686·666; Melbourne, Australia- 14 Burnell St . C' lli\ITi\NY A. e tc. Montiel #45 . San Miguel. Mexico City 18/ !D05) 5 15 4242. St. Kilda. Victoria 3 182/663·1331; Melbourne, Australio- Miami. Florida-4001 Kumqualllve.. Coconut Grove 331331 299 St. Lonsdale St . Victoria. Sydney. Australia-12 (3051 448 ·7893. Montreal, Canada-2051·53 Bleury Ave. , from Wallaroy Crescent. Double Bay. N.S W./ 365671 Ouebcc/ (51 4) 849·4319. New Orleans. Louisiana-2936 Xerox University Esplanade Ave. 70119/ (5()4) 488-1313. New Vrindavan, EUROPE: Amsterdam, Holland -Herengracht 961 020- Microfilms W. Virginia- AD NO. 3. Moundsvrlle 2604 1/ ( 3041 845-:>790. 24941 0. Berlin,W.Germany-1 Berlir. 31, Kurfurstendamm New York, New York-439 Henry St.. Brooklyn 11231/ 1531 8·86·25-39. Edinbur!ll. Sc:otland- 1JI Forrest Rd (2121 596-9658, Ottowa, Canada-224 Bessercr St . --­( __ .... (U.K.]/ 031·225·4797. Geneva. Switzerland-9,chemrn du Ontarro/ (6131 2369091. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Credo. 1213 Pet ri Lancy/921·318; Hamburg. W. Germany- --~­_,.,.._,_ 424 E. 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