Vrndavana, Kartika '05

Diary of a spiritual journey 12
November 10, 2005

Dear Vaisnavas,
Please accept my humble obeisances. I pray that I may always be engaged as the servant of the servants of Lord Krsna. All glories to Srila Prabhupada, whose home is here in Sri Vrndavana Dhama. It is by his mercy only, which is available by carefully taking shelter of his instructions at every moment, that we have the adhikara, the authorization, to come here and even stay.

I have returned to the lotus feet of Sri Sri Krsna Balarama, Radha Syamasundara and Gaura Nitai in Vrndavana. I came to render some service to them.

Again I go every day to Srila Prabhupada's Mangal Arati in His Samadhi. That has been one of my secrets over the years, one of the sources of joy and inspiration in my life.

In Kartika we seek some shelter, some mercy and we go to the Holy Dhama. 'mathura vasa' to reside in the Holy District of Mathura, Vraja, is one of the five aspects of bhakti through which even if only a little, we can very quickly achieve love for Krsna. So it's important to come here. Even though at present my love for Krsna may be rather shallow. Srila Prabhupada made the phrase "Back to Godhead" a motto for all of us and wouldn't it be nice to join Krsna in His eternal pastimes in the spiritual world?

I also need this time here for rejuvenation, to rest up physically and to take time for hearing and chanting. I have done a lot of travel and I have tried to encourage a lot of people in Krsna consciousness. So Kartika is not all about austerity, it's about becoming more absorbed in remembering Krsna. It can be in a gentle way.

I am also in to collecting blessings. Blessings from Giri Govardhana, blessings from the dust of Vrndavana, blessings from all the holy places and the river Yamuna. This year we rented a boat with about a dozen devotees and went from Kesi Ghat, Vrndavana to Visram Ghat, Mathura in about 2 1/2 hours, we sang gentle bhajans, had some Krsna Katha and of course had a picnic. We did a number of parikramas with the same devotees, Kusum Sarovara and Govindakunda and from there we walked on the soft sandy stretch along Govardhana Hill. Later to Varsana, where the Pandas interrupted our talks about Radha Krsna by hitting us up for a donation. But we started kirtana and they sang along and then left after some time. Param Vijayate Sri Krsna Sankirtanam. We had a peaceful time in Prema Sarovara and more Pandas in Nandagrama. In Mahavan Brahmanda Ghat, Gokul and then Raval, Smt. Radharani's birthsite, where the local Sevaits are actually very nice.

Here I eat simple, because it feels better and chant more throughout the day, here in the Dhama one returns to the essentials of life.

We always check out some of the new books that have come out, this year the "Gita Bhusana", the commentary on the Bhagavad Gita from Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana. Some interesting points I noted were;

- yuktahara viharasya yukta cestasya karmasu

"if one has regulated eating regulated recreation, regulated use of organs in bothy material and spiritual activities, regulated sleep and regulated waking, yoga destroys all suffering." (Bg.6.17) Regulated recreation is an interesting addition in the translation. I guess I am just having some here in the Holy Dhama. - om tat sad iti nirdeso

The brahmanas, Vedas and sacrifices were manifested (vihitah) by four-headed Brahma long ago through this Brahman in the form of the three names om tat sat, indicating Visnu. Teherfore these names are very powerful. if these names are used along with sacrifice and otheer acts, these names will compensate for any faults in the performance of the various parts of the sacrifice. By uttering these three sounds, one is assured of getting the results (Bg.17.23 Commentary).

Daivi Sakti brought out a nice book with quotes from Srila Prabhupada about Vrndavana; "Our Vrndavana temple is perhaps our nicest building in the whole movement and I want at least 25 good men here at all times. Because it is Vrndavana those who come should be exemplary so that all the people of Vrndavana, even those who would be prone to criticize, will see that we are actually following the six Goswamis headed by Rupa Gosvami. I want that those who come wheather grhastas or sanyasis, behave on the level of real Gosvamis. Gosvami means controlling the senses and always glorifying Krsna by varieties of engagement in devotional service 24 hours a day."(SP letter 23 March, 1974)

Over the years this letter has had special significance to me because I always wanted to be one of these 25 Gosvamis. Now that I am a traveling preacher and I can not personally stay in Vrndavana for too much time, I want to make it my mission to find 25 such Gosvamis to stay in the Krsna Balarama Mandir to fulfill the desire of Srila Prabhupada. In this way we can bless the entire world.