The Kartik Diaries 2009

Gopastami

2009-10-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

Radharani's Compassion
Sundara Lala
Vrindadevi Astaka 2
Ter Kadambha 1
Ter Kadambha 2

Yesterday was Gopastami. We discovered a most wonderful place, namely the goshala of the 'Care for Cows' project in Vrindavan, which is run by Kurma Rupa Prabhu. There we had a great photo session with a one week old calf. He was so sweet and cute that one could hardly leave him.

Care for Cows in Vrindavan maintains abandoned cows, bulls, retired oxen, and orphaned calves. It is run by international volunteers who offer their talents and resources to tend to the neglected cows living in Krishna's holy land. They provide stray cows hay, flour, fresh grass, medical attention and a place where they can recuperate from injuries. At present they host a herd of three hundred.

There are approximately three to four hundred abandoned cows in Vrindavan requiring accommodation. Unless they are protected they are destined to subsist on refuse and become plagued by various debilitating and often terminal diseases or suffer injury from careless motorists. However, the most immediate danger is that they become abducted for slaughter by cattle rustlers who are active in this area today.

Gopastami marks the day when Krishna was given the responsibility to herd the grownup cows. To mark this occasion a go puja ceremony had been conducted by offering arati, i.e. incense, a lamp, water, flowers, a chamara and fan to a cow, who had a new born calf with her. After the ceremony everyone had the opportunity to feed the cows, bulls and calves with laddus, bananas and gour. They were very eager and excited and relished such and an opulent treat. Devotees could also brush and pet the cows to their heart's desire.

Cows are amazingly affectionate animals, who eagerly reciprocate the love they receive. We in turn felt we could stay the whole day at the goshala to pet, hug and feed the cows. During all of this a group of devotees sang beautiful bajans and kirtans. Obviously the cows liked that too. We felt this was the highlight of our stay in Vrindavan. We have taken many photos and short video clips, which we will share with you on our return.

The goshala has also five antelopes. Sometimes one can see an antelope on Govardhan Hill during parikrama. When grownup they have an almost dark-bluish colour. Therefore they are also known as blue cows. The antelopes have a similar mentality to cows and therefore mix with them easily.

The crowning of the day was a delicious prasadam feast with rice, dahl, two subjis, chutney, puris, gulabjamuns and sweet rice, all served on traditional leaf plates and leaf cups and in an atmosphere so peaceful and tranquil that one was able to get a small but real glimpse of the spiritual world. Kurma Rupa Prabhu explained that pleasing cows is the easiest way to please Krishna. After all Krishna is a transcendental cowherd boy and the cows are more dear to him than even the brahmanas. Pleasing the cows is also not difficult. One can easily do so by simply stoking or feeding them. Kurma Rupa Prabhu publishes a monthly newsletter with beautiful photos, which no one should miss to read. It maintains one's connection with Krishna's cows and Vrindavan.

Tomorrow is our last day in Vrindavan and this may well be our last blog entry from the Holy Dham. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Thank you for following us all along our pilgrimage, which kept us inspired to write this blog despite a terribly slow Internet connection. We are leaving around 9 PM by taxi to catch our flight in Delhi in the early hours of Thursday morning. Thinking of leaving Vrindavan we are overcome with mixed feelings of separation and the desire to see all of you in Leicester and share some of the nectar and inspiration we have so plentifully received from here.

I remember the wonderful welcome from Dina Bandhu Prabhu on the day of our arrival. Seeing me in the temple room he gave me a big hug and said: "Hey Gauranga Baba, welcome to Braj." It seems only a few days have passed since then. I truly don't know where the days have gone but I feel fortunate that we had the opportunity to have a peek into Krishna's backyard and to associate with so many wonderful Vaishnavas from all over the world. We made new friends and deepened our friendship with old ones. Vrindavan is certainly a place where affection flows easily, - to the cows, the devotees, the dogs and even the monkeys, despite them being so mischievous that they chewed up Varshana's glasses.

I also remember the moment I stood in front of Radha Syamasundara thinking if Radharani has forgotten me or still remembers me. It had been three years since our last visit. The next moment the pujari placed a flower garland around my neck in confirmation that Radharani, the queen of Vrindavan, has welcomed us to Her Holy Dham. A few days later I tried this 'magic' with Krishna and Balarama also and in a moments time I had a garland around my neck too. Krishna and Balarama ki jaya! Sri Sri Radha Syamasundara ki jaya! Sri Vrindavan Dham ki jaya! All glories to all the devotees of Lord Caitanya! All glories to Srila Prabhupada, who so kindly introduced us to Sri Vrindavan Dham.

Srila Prabhupada's disappearance day

2009-10-23T05:06:00.000-07:00

The Dust of Braj
Jaya Radha Madhava
Krishna is the Lover of Radha

Yesterday we celebrated the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada who left his body in Vrindavan on 22 October 1977 at 7:20 PM, just after the evening arati. The day before devotees took the murti form of Srila Prabhupada around Vrindavan, visiting the major temples in the town. It was a huge procession. The murti of Srila Prabhupada sat on the very same palanquin which was used to carry Srila Prabhupada's body throughout Vrindavan after he had departed. Leaving ones body in Vrindavan is a joyous affair mixed with strong emotions of separation.

The temple had been wonderfully decorated with elaborate flower arrangements everywhere. For the morning arati a tape of Srila Prabhupada singing 'vibhavari sesa' had been arranged. The atmosphere was so thick and heavy that one could have literally cut it. There were so many devotees present, it was like an endless stream and the temple room was packed to the maximum. I was surprised how many people fitted in. Devotees came from everywhere and it felt like this was the highlight of the entire kartik festival.

Devotees fasted till midday and at 2 PM there was a feast in honor of Srila Prabhupada. As evening approached devotees flocked into Srila Prabhupada's quarters, the same rooms where he spent his final days and from where he departed. I managed to get a place at the altar during the evening arati and then made my way towards Srila Prabhupada's room.

By some good fortune I was accepted amongst those who were able to stay in the room Srila Prabhupada departed from. There was very limited space and most devotees were moved on. Lokanatha Maharaja sang a sweet kirtan. Srila Prabhupada's bed had been decorated with a beautiful flower arrangement and a huge flower garland. There were mostly senior disciples of Srila Prabhupada present and at 7:20 Gopal Krishna Maharaja placed the very same chaddar which covered Srila Prabhupada in his final hours on everyone's forehead. What a mercy! Then everyone circumambulated Srila Prabhupada's bed and offered obeisances by touching ones head at the feet of the flower covered bed.

Thereafter senior devotees shared anecdotes of and experiences with Srila Prabhupada. This was the real nectar and the programme went on till late at night. I would like to relate one story which I heard from Dina Bandhu Prabhu and which I find remarkable, especially as it is the only account of this sort we have.

One evening Srila Prabhupada called Bhavananda into his room and said the following: "When I was in the spiritual sky Krishna told me to go to the material world and write those books but I replied that it is a horrible place to go to. Krishna again said that I must go and write those books and again I said that it is a horrible place! How will I maintain myself there? Krishna replied that He will personally look after me. Just see today I have everything, so many temples all around the world, so many devotees etc."

I never heard of this account before but I did hear that Srila Prabhupada said that these books were directly dictated to him by Krishna. On the other hand we heard last night form Abhirama Prabhu that at one point Srila Prabhupada strongly said "if you make me into God I will turn my back an all of you and go back to India."

There is a wonderful set of DVDs available called 'Memories of Srila Prabhupada', which we have at the Centre and on which senior disciples relate their experiences with Srila Prabhupada. It contains so much nectar. Personally I have only scratched the surface of it so far and only watched perhaps 3 out of 19 DVDs. I will certainly watch the rest of it on our return and will also make it available to everyone else interested.

Dina Bandhu Prabhu, our parikrama guide and dear friend, was unfortunately not well over the past two days. Therefore the parikrama to Yavat, Ter Kadamba and Vrindakunda had to be canceled. I met Dina Bandhu today at the temple and he said that he feels again being under the 'living'. Please pray for his full and speedy recovery.

Varshana Kishori Mataji has in the meantime gone to Mumbai to be with her brother for the remainder of our time in India. She will join us again in Dubai, from where we will travel all together with Emirates Airlines back to the UK. We are painfully aware that our time in Vrindavan is running out fast, however, we look forward to meeting all devotees in Leicester to share much nectar and inspiration with all of you on our return. Next Saturday's programme, which is the 31st of October, will therefore be at the Centre again. We hope that all of you will be able to attend.

Govardhana parikrama

2009-10-19T23:03:00.000-07:00

Madhuvan
Jaya Madhava Madana Murari 1
How Giriraja came to Bless us with His Presence
Janmastami Song

The day before yesterday we did Govardhana parikrama, the circumambulation of Govardhana Hill. It is a 22 km stretch, which took us some 11 hours to complete, including breakfast, lunch and many stops at various places of spiritual significance.

I have done this parikrama several times before. All in all this was the easiest walk out of all of them perhaps thanks to my well cushioned flip flop sandals and the rather overcast sky. Many devotees went barefoot for the whole parikrama and some went barefoot for part of it. All together we had 6 buses with devotees from Russia, Spain, South America and many other countries around the globe, a truly international pilgrimage.

The starting point of our parikrama was Kusum Sarovar, a wonderful palace and bathing ghat right next to Govardhana Hill. Kusum means flowers and sarovar means lake. It is a famous place of Lord Krishna's pastimes some 5,000 years ago. Radharani and the gopis used to come here to pick flowers for their pastimes at Radha Kunda.

Near Kusum Sarovar is Manasi Ganga. Here Krishna's famous boat pastime used to take place. You can read more about it on our Kartik Diary 3 (Around Govardhana Hill). No parikrama is complete without visiting the temple of Haridev, which is close to Manasi Ganga. Lord Caitanya also started his Govarham parikrama 500 years ago by bathing in Manasi Ganga and taking darshan of Haridev. Therefore all Vaishnavas follow in His footsteps still today.

At Manasi Ganga Deena Bandhu Prabhu told us the pastime of the origine of Manasi Ganga. After Krishna killed the demon Vatsasura, who had appeared in the shape of a calf, His cowherd friends told Him that He had incurred sin and that they would not play with Him anymore until He had atoned for it by bathing in the Ganges. Krishna replied that the Ganges was far away. Then by meditation He brought Ganga to that place. Therefore it is called Manasi Ganga, because manasi means mind. Previosly Manasi Ganga was a river, but today one can only see a large lake. It is said that bathing in Manasi Ganga is thousand times more purifying than bathing in the Ganges.

Our next big stop was Govinda Kunda. This is the actual place where Lord Indra apologised for sending torrents of rain on the brajabasis and cows, because Krishna had stopped the Indra yajna. It is also the place where Airavata, Lord Indra's elephant carrier, gave Krishna an abhisheka bath, the waters of which formed the present Govinda Kunda.

When Lord Indra arrived on Airavata all the cows were frightened by this huge elephant with many trunks and ran away, forcing the cowherd boys to run after them. Only Madhumangala, who was lame could not run away, but hid behind a bush. After Indra and the other demigods had left, Nanda Maharaja and the cowherd men appeared on the scene and found the most exquisite arati paraphernalia such as golden trays inlaid with all sorts of precious stones, chamaras, peacock fans, lamps etc. They questioned the cowherd boys where this paraphernalia came from but they could only reply that they ran away after seeing this gigantic elephant. Madhumangala was the only one who had seen everything.

He explained that he saw a huge elephant with many trunks and a man with eyes all over his body with a beautiful crown on his head bowing down before Krishna. He also saw a man with four heads and many other men, all offering prayers to Krishna. Then this big elephant started to pour water over Krishna and all of them did arati to Him. There were also beautiful women dancing and singing and after that they all left leaving the arati paraphernalia behind.

Our next spot was at Punchari Ka Lautha Baba's Temple. This temple is dedicated to Lautha, a cowherd friend of Krishna, who sat and waited for Krishna to return to Vrindavana after He had gone to Mathura. The deity in this temple is therefore in a sitting position. Because this temple is close to Punchari he is also known as Punchari Ka Lautha. The deity of Lautha is red, has a mustache and is sitting. It is covered by layers of vermilion, which is regularly put on him. This deity is one of the most famous deities throughout Braj.

When Akrura was taking Krishna away to Mathura, Lautha asked Krishna when He would return. Krishna told him he would return the day after tomorrow. Lautha said he would not eat or drink anything until He returned. Therefore the deity is offered only water but not any solid food. Lautha then came to this place and sat down. He is still waiting for Krishna's to return after 5,000 years.

We visited many other important places, but it would exceed the format of this blog to describe them all. After we had accomplished half of the parikrama the sun became very hot. Fortunately, some of the parikrama path was in the shadow of some beautiful trees and I realised what a great service a tree can give and what the word 'shelter' really means.

Finally, we reached Uddhava Kunda. There we heard the story of the pujari (priest), who's father completed 5,000 Govardhana parikramas to get a son. It took him 15 years to complete his vow, after which he got a son. It is said that all ones tiredness from Govardhana Parikrama disappears when one takes bath in Uddhava Kunda. We did not get the chance of finding out as our group moved on towards Radha Kunda.

After circumablulating Radha Kunda we headed back towards Kusum Sarovar, the starting point of our parikrama. There we had delicious lunch prasadam. By now it was 6 PM and the heat of the day had long disappeared. A few devotees had to keep the monkeys at bay, who were eager to snatch some of our chapatis. Somehow or other one brave monkey still managed to snatch a chapati from the distribution bucket. The monkeys in Vrindavan are very bold and mischievous.

Tomorrow Varshana Kishori Mataji is leaving our group to visit her relatives in Mumbai. I asked everyone what was their greatest austerity so far. Varshana Kishori said that Govardhana parikrama was the toughest part for her. Nandini Radha felt her greatest austerity was being ill and Samir said he did not do many austerities because he has been ill for the past so many days. I felt that shopping was my greatest austerity, which I take as a sign of some slight spiritual advancement, remembering the time when I first visited Vrindavan some 31 years ago and when I spent most of my time shopping, only to realize the day before our departure how quickly my precious time in Vrindavan had slipped away. I sat in Radha Raman temple and cried bitterly.

Govardhana Puja

2009-10-18T05:40:00.000-07:00

Bahulavan & Radha Kunda
Jaya Radhe Jaya Krsna 1
Putana

Today is Govardhana Puja. The morning arati was very wonderful, even though I was tired. Mid-morning we went with the deities of Krishna and Balarama to the nearby goshalla where devotees keep around 400 cows. There we had go puja, which is worship and feeding of the cows. One could buy laddu sweets made with gour, which is molasses from the early stages of sugar making. It is a great sweetener and is much healthier than white, bleached sugar. I am using it in my cooking all the time and the cows love it too.

After breakfast prasadam in the goshalla we returned to the temple where devotees had prepared a gigantic Govardhana Hill made from cooked rice as a base and covered with sweet halavah. The hill was decorated with all sorts of cookies and sweets, had honey lakes and kundas, toy cows and other animals such as peacocks on it. Some steps and stairs led to hidden caves. It was a true replica of Govardhana Hill as described in various scriptures such as Srimad Bhagavatam.

After the abhisheka bathing ceremony of the temple govardhana silas (rocks from Govardhana Hill) they were placed on top and the side of the hill and the arati ceremony and worship of Govardhana Hill began. All this was accompanied by the sweetest kirtan from Aindra Prabhu and his 24 hour kirtan band. Thousands of devotees flooded the temple and it was hard to move around. It was a most joyful atmosphere. Govardhana Puja is such a blissful festival, perhaps the most ecstatic festival in the entire Vaishnava year.

Now it was time to circumambulate Govardhana Hill. Devotees moved or danced clockwise around the hill chanting loudly the Lord's holy names in full ecstasy. This went on for quite a while and I recorded some wonderful video footage of it, which I will upload to this blog and to our Facebook profile (Gauranga Sundara Das, Leicester) on our return. Now the hill was dismantled and the prasadam was distributed to the eagerly waiting devotees. The festivities went on till early afternoon and concluded with a grand prasadam feast for all.

Tomorrow we will go on Govardhana parikrama. We will circumambulate the original Govardhana Hill, which has a parikrama path of 22 km. It will certainly not be a s easy as circumambulate the hill in the temple room today. Many devotees do it by walking barefoot. I just spoke to one mataji who did it in four and a half hours. I will certainly not be able to do it entirely without shoes and for sure not in such a record time. Please give us your blessings and well-wishes that we can accomplish this great parikrama.

Diwali

2009-10-18T03:41:00.000-07:00

Giriraja
Syama Gauri Nitya-kisori
Ter Kadambha 1
Ter Kadambha 2
Damodara Pastime

Today is Diwali, the day Lord Krishna's damodara lila took place some 5,000 years ago. Generally people remember Lord Ramachandra's return to Ayodya on this day but the Brajabasis (inhabitants of Braj, the land in which Lord Krishna performed His pastimes) care little about Lord Rama. For them only Krishna matters or better Radharani. The people of Braj therefore celebrate Krishna's damodara lila on Diwali day.

Our parikrama took us therefore to Gokula, the actual place of this pastime. Gokula is on the other side of the Yamuna river, a place so peaceful and serene one can hardly imagine in todays busy world. The place in Gokula where we sat down is called Chinta Haran Ghat. Chinta means worries and haran means take away. It is therefore the place where all ones worries are taken away. Indeed we felt exactly like this.

Mother Yashoda was very much worried about Krishna's butter stealing. She therefore thought that perhaps the servant girls did not know how to prepare butter nicely for her Lala. She thought let me prepare the butter myself and she gave all the servants a day off.

This was Diwali day. She brought milk from the best of cows, Padmaghanda. Padma means fragrance and the milk of this particular cow was so sweet and fragrant. Of course, we can hardly imagine anything like this today as the milk from many cows from even different countries is all mixed up.

Nanda Maharaja is the king of cowherds and he has 9 lakhs of cows. 1 lakh is 100,000. He has therefore 900,000 cows. Now the milk of the 1,000 best cows is fed to the 100 best cows and their milk to the 10 best and their milk to Padmaghanda. We can hardly imagine how sweet and fragrant this milk must have been.

It may sound strange indeed that Krishna eats butter, because the butter in our supermarkets is not something we would eat without bread for instance. However, we must understand that all milk was boiled after milking and then cooled down and turned into yogurt. It certainly makes sense in a hot climate such as India.

This yogurt then is churned into butter. It is said that butter made from cream has bad cholesterol and butter made from yogurt has good cholesterol. I have been told that such butter has also an extraordinary taste, smell and consistence and one can eat indeed great quantities of it with delight especially if it is sweetened as well.

On that Diwali day mother Yashoda put Krishna to sleep because as all mothers know it is very difficult to get the housework done if children are awake. Now she started to churn the yogurt into butter. This was done with a churning stick in a clay pot. The stick was held with a rope against the wall while another rope was several times looped around the stick which then with pulling movements right and left put the churning rod into motion.

The churning made a sound just like a mridanga drum and Mother Yashoda's bangles sounded just like karatals. While churning butter Mother Yashoda sang Krishna's names. This woke up Lala, who pulled His mother by her sari to get her attention. She took Krishna immediately into her arms and breastfed Him.

Suddenly, she could smell the over boiling milk on the stove in the kitchen. She put Lala down and run into the kitchen. This made Krishna very angry. He picked up a stone and smashed the butter pot. Then He climbed on the grinding mortar and untied butter pots, which were hanging from the ceiling, ate some of the butter and distributed the rest to the monkeys. He thought that they helped Him in His incarnation as Lord Ramachandra, but He did not reward them accordingly.

When Mother Yashoda returned she saw the broken pots and little buttery footprints everywhere. She picked up a stick and approached Krishna from behind. When the monkeys saw the stick they immediately run away and Lala could understand that His mother was standing right behind Him. Out of fear He immediately run away and Mother Yashoda chased behind Him. Eventually she dropped the stick and Krishna, seen that she was exhausted, let her capture Him.

She said: "For breaking the pot I forgive you, but not for stealing. Because you used the grinding mortar as your accomplice I will tie you both together with a rope." However, when she wanted to tie a rope around Krishna's belly it was two fingers too short. She brought more rope and tied it together, but still is was two fingers too short. Even after bringing all the rope in the house she was unable to bind Krishna. It was always two fingers too short.

The older gopis began to laugh and said: " This morning you easily tied a little black rope around Lala's belly and now you can not tie a rope even after using all the rope in the house." Eventually Krishna allowed her to bind Him. This pastime has many more details, but it would be too much to write it all down.

From Nandagram to Vrindakunda

2009-10-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

Govardhana Parikrama
Varshana Bhajans 1
Varshana Bhajans 2
Vrindadevi Astaka

Today's parikrama took us to Nandagram, which is Nanda Maharaja's palace and the place where Krishna performed His childhood pastimes. Varshana Kishori mataji did not feel too well this morning. Therefore only Samir, Nandini and myself went on this parikrama.

On the way to Nandagram we stopped at Nanda Baba's sitting place, which is not far from Nandagram. There he sat every afternoon waiting for Krishna's return from the pastures. The sign that Krishna was returning along with his cowherd friends and the cows was a huge dust cloud which was raised hight into the sky by the hooves of the cows. Once Nanda Baba saw this cloud. he became overjoyed that his dear Lala was returning.

Walking through the countryside of Braj is an amazing experience. One can see everywhere little huts with straw walls and roofs for storing feed for the cows and small houses with walls made of cow dung for storing dried cow paddy for fire fuel. The walls of those houses have even scratched in ornamented designs on it.

Cow paddy is made by mixing cow dung with straw and then drying it in the sun. It gives off much heat, burns lowly and is used for cooking, making chapatis etc. I have been told that chapatis rosted on cowdung fire have a most delicious flavour to it. I hope that I will be able to experience this myself one day. Moreover, it is an environmentally friendly cooking method.

At Nanda Maharaja's palace in Nandagram one can see the deities of Nanda and Yashoda and in between them Krishna and Balarama, who are both black and dressed in exactly the same way. Normally we would expect Krishna to have a blackish complexion and Balarama a whitish one. There are several explanations, which Dina Bandhu, our parikrama guide, kindly told us about.

Balarama is the older brother who was born just 8 days before Krishna. He feels therefore very protective and to confuse the demons who are sent by Kamsa to kill Krishna he smeared a mixture of ghee and ashes all over His body. The identical dress can also be explained as follows.

Every mother knows that little children are always fighting if they are dressed differently, especially children of the same or similar age. Mother Yashoda is a very clever mother who knows this and therefore dresses Krishna and Balarama in identical outfits. Having recently seen some of my own childhood photos I have to say that my mother was also clever and practical in this way.

On our return from Nandagram we visited nearby Pavan Sarovar, where we took a refreshing bath. You can read a detailed account of this holy site on our Kartik Diary 2006. You will have to scroll to the diary entry number 4, which is almost at the bottom of the page. There is therefore no need to repeat it here again.

Our last stop of the day was at Vrindakunda, where we also had a delicious lunch prasadam. At Vrindakunda Dina Bandhu Prabhu told us many pastime stories, which took place there or at Nandagram.

One day Durvasa Muni passed through Vraja. Because the muni had a very hot temper the gopis quickly run away. However, Srimati Radhika, who was just a young girl at the time, did not run away and asked the muni to sit down while she cooked some prasadam for him. She made a stove out of clay as well as clay plates and cups. Now she also made laddus and all kind of other eatables out of clay.

Understandably Durvasa Muni refused to taste these preparations made of mud but Radharani suddenly pushed a clay laddu into the muni's mouth. To his great surprise the taste of that laddu was more delicious than anything he ever ate before. He therefore gave her immediately a benediction from his heart that whoever ate her cooking would live long and would never fall ill. From that day on mother Yashoda obliged Radharani to cook for her Krishna.

A visit to Badrinath

2009-10-14T05:21:00.000-07:00

Jaya Radhe Jaya Krsna 2
Sri Govinda Damodara Stotra
Kunti's Prayers
Govinda Damodara Madhaveti

Today our scheduled parikrama pilgrimage took us to Badrinath or Badarikashram. The original Badrinath is high in the Himalaya mountains, so high that it is only accessible for a few months in the summer. During the winter it is completely snowed in.

I seem to have now definitely left my flue behind and feel again strong and full of energy, however, Nandini Radha mataji is now the latest victim of this 3 day discomfort. The buses were scheduled to leave for 5 AM but did eventually leave at 6. Samir did unfortunately not come with us. He was overwhelmed by the force of material nature. It was therefore only Varshana Kishori mataji and myself from our group who went on this pilgrimage.

There is the following story how Badarikashram came to be in Braj. One day Lala (little Krishna) saw that His mother was preparing all sorts of funny prasadam fried in ghee. It was not the usual kind of things such as rice, dhal and chapatis. Therefore He asked, "Maiya, what kind of funny things are you preparing and why are you preparing them?". Because little children ask so many questions all day long and mothers cannot do their housework she said "go to your father Nandababa and ask him".

This is what Lala did. Nandababa said: "Dear Lala, we are going on a pilgrimage to Badrinath and because it is a very long way off we are taking prasadam with us that will keep for all our journey." Hearing this Lala took His father by his hand and brought him to 'Adi Badrinath', a place equal to Badrinath in every respect, which He had quickly manifested by His divine energy so that His parents would not have to leave the area of Braj.

It took us a few hours by bus till we reached the area of Badrinath in the state of Rajastan. It is a beautiful hilly area covered with trees which can only be found on hills such as Badarikashram and the sacred hills of Varshana. These trees change in colour throughout the year from turquoise green to gold, copper and eventually to silver.

Dina Bandhu, our parikrama guide, who has been living in Vrindavan and Braj for the past 25 years told us many pastime stories of the area. To remember them all would be very taxing for anyones memory and especially mine. However, one story stood out.

Long ago there was a demon who did great austerities in this area, so much so that Lord Brahma appeared before him and asked him what he wanted. The demon replied that he wanted to become immortal. We heard this kind of request before, namely with Hiranyakashipu, which caused a lot of trouble, so much so that Lord Nrisimhadeva appeared to kill the demon and at the same time upheld the benedictions of Lord Brahma.

Lord Brahma replied to the demon that he cannot give the benediction of immortality because he himself is not immortal. Hearing this the demon replied, "then give me the benediction of 1,000 kavachas (protective armour) and that each kavacha will make me undefeatable for 1,000 years." Lord Brahma granted him the boon and the demon thought that he was now immortal.

As we know Nara and Narayana rishi, which are none other than Krishna and Arjuna, are eternally residing in Badarikashram in deep meditation engaged in austerities. They decided to curb the pride of this demon. First Lord Narayana fought with the demon for 1,000 years and thus broke his first kavacha. Now Arjuna fought with the demon for 1,000 years while Lord Narayana engaged again in meditation.

This went on until 999 protective armours of the demon had been destroyed. Arjuna, who had the last turn, however, let the demon off. The demon took shelter of Suryadeva, the sun god and was consequently born as Radheya, who is also known as Karna in the Mahabharata. In the great Kurukshetra war Arjuna was able to kill Karna, because Karna gave his remaining kavacha to Indra in charity.

We visited many other important places in the area, such as a 5,000 year old yogamaya temple. To talk about all of them would be too much for this blog. After meeting up with a few hundred devotees from the Vraj Mandal parikrama we took lunch together at the main Badrinarayana temple and returned to Vrindavan.

We have arrived in Vrindavan

2009-10-12T08:23:00.001-07:00

The Lifting of Govardhana Hill
Hare Krishna Nama
Radhikastakam - Rashik Priya - www.rashikmusic.com
I like Vrindavan - Rashik Priya - www.rashikmusic.com
Fields of Vrindavan - Rashik Priya - www.rashikmusic.com

Finally the goal of our journey has been achieved, we have arrived in the holy dham of Vrindavan. We reached our guest house after some difficulties. Economic development does not stop in Vrindavan. Developers have firmly moved into the city. It is a good investment opportunity as property prices are spiralling out of control. What was once a forest and later a village has become a city, however, with much underdeveloped infrastructure and sewage systems. It is another example of uncontrolled economic development.

There are some small changes at Krishna Balarama Mandir too. Security has been stepped up and one needs now a gate and camera pass. The altar and some of the temple's inside has also been re-painted, however, Radhe Syam, Krishna Balarama and Gaura Nitai look as splendid as ever. Standing in front of Radhe Syam's altar feels like being back home. I am surprised by the little difference between my meditation on the divine couple and being actually in front of Them and I am reminded that Vrindavan is a state of consciousness.

I wonder if Radharani still remembers me when I take my usual place right in front of and slightly to the left of the altar. I hardly stand there gazing at Srimati Radhika's ever enchanting lotus face when the pujari throws a flower garland over my head. How could I have doubted as tears roll down my cheeks. The queen of Vrindavan has welcomed me as I am standing there speechless and in utter astonishment.

I don't want to leave this best of all places in the entire universe, the spot I have become so accustomed to in my meditation and I have to be dragged away by the others for prasadam at the MVT restaurant.

The evening arati and the damodara prayers are like an ocean of spiritual bliss. Devotees from all over the world have assembled here in Vrindavan to celebrate this best of all months, namely kartik. Any devotional service performed in Vrindavan counts a 100 times and in this month of kartik an additional 1000 times. I feel very fortunate of having been allowed to be here.

It is a wonderful sight to see devotees offering lamps to Their Lords, much like an ocean of lights moving past the altars. It is inspiring to see all this devotion in the faces of so many Vaishnavas from all around the world.

Today is Bahulastami and the appearance of Radha Kunda. Radha Kunda is considered the most sacred body of water in the entire universe, being the liquid form of Srimati Radharani's prema or love for Sri Krishna. It is described by Rupa Goswami in his Nectar of Instructions that bathing in her waters will definitely awaken ones love of Godhead.

There is a midnight bathing in Radha Kunda and a harinam chanting procession around its shore. However, I am down with the flue staying back and in bed. Writing this I actually feel already better and with some medicine I will be back on track by tomorrow or the day after I hope.

The others in our party have gone for the midnight bathing and I pray they will have a wonderful experience. I don't feel too bad as I have been bathing in the sacred waters at least twice before.

In the afternoon we went shopping in Loy Bazar to get some new outfits for our beloved deities back home in Leicester, Sri Sri Nitai Saci-Sundar. I pray They will be pleased with our humble endeavours. Praying for the welfare of all of you I beg to remain your servant in the service of Sri Sri Radha Syamasundar and Srila Prabhupada.

Akshardham, a spiritual Disneyland

2009-10-12T08:21:00.001-07:00

Jaya Madhava Madana Murari 2
Varsana Hill
Jaya Jaya Radhe Jaya Jaya Syam 2

We have arrived in Delhi and are staying at the ISKCON guesthouse. The Air India flight was not a propellar machine but a small jet plane which brought us to Delhi in just over 2 hours. They served some nice food too.

We took a local taxi from the airport to the ISKCON temple. It was rush hour and the journey took a very long time. Delhi is booming economically and there is no sign of a recession here, however, it can not cope with its overwhelming traffic and pollution. Most of the time the traffic stood still and even a major traffic jam on London's M25 seemed like paradise in comparison.

I feel much for the people of India as they enter sleep walking into the global Coca Cola culture, which promises them happiness through economic development. Little do they know about the side effects of it. The big multi national companies are everywhere. Oil seems to be cheap and concret and steel seems easily available. Anti pollution is unheard of. Delhi must be one of the most polluted cities on the globe. Many people have scarves rapped over their mouth and nose.

Having been in Delhi 3 years ago it seems the traffic is doubling every year. The city seems to burst in its seams without any solution in sight. All traffic is on the road as there is no underground transport system.

In the south of Delhi is Faridabad, the industrial heart of the city. One can see steel and concrete everywhere as a huge flyover is being constructed to relief the exploding traffic. India's middle class is blooming and housing estates are springing up everywhere, most of it high rise tower blocks. No wonder that India is one of the world's greatest polluters but people want economic development more than anything else. One advertisement read so typically, 'we are selling dreams'. This dreams of a better life will soon turn out to be a nightmare and India's people are sleep walking right into it. Spiritual values and India's great spiritual heritage seem to disappear quickly, becoming nothing more than hollow imagery and empty rituals. It is painful to see this ignorance.

Next day we went to Akshardham, a Swami Narayana temple on the outskirts of Delhi. It is a huge multi million dollar complex of finely carved marble with perfectly ornamented gardens, a true masterpiece of Vedic architecture. It is a spiritual Disneyland and museum, albeit without any real spiritual life or the chanting of the names of God. It is an educational heritage of Vedic culture but unfortunately spiritually dead.

One can see many Vedic scenes from ancient times singing the glories of India's great past, an underground boat ride with dioramas right and left, an incredibly well done film on a huge screen about the life of Neelkanth, the child yogi, who was later known as Swaminarayan.

The film was shot in 108 locations in India and features a cast of 45,000 people. It is certainly worth watching. Akshardham is a 100-acre cultural complex. It showcases India's glorious traditions of art, architecture, wisdom and spirituality. It took 300 million man-hours to carve 300,000 stones and create the entire complex. One can see 20,000 superbly sculpted figures and an over 2 km long double-storeyed parikrama path. Modern technology is an intrinsic part of the whole experience. The cultural garden has 22-acres of lush lawns and trees with 900,000 saplings and shrubs of 250 varieties. It would have taken 50 years to build such a complex, however, it was completed in just 5 years by mainly volunteers.

The highlight of our 5 hour visit was a gigantic musical water display with many moving and rotating fountains and colourful lighting, all computer synchronized to Indian classical music. It puts any firework display to shame. It is certainly worth a visit.

Bye bye Puri, bye bye Jagannatha

2009-10-08T09:23:00.001-07:00

Lautha Baba, Dhan Gati, Udhava Kunda and Badrinath
Aindra - Hare Krishna
Aindra in Sridham Mayapur

We have left Puri and are now at the Bubanshwar airport. We are quite sad to have left Puri. We fell in love with it more than we ever expected. Puri is actually quite a small conservative and cast conscious town. The other day when I was at the beach I changed my gumcha and had my brahminical thread wrapped around my ear when a local gentleman asked me in a kind of amused tone if I was a brahmin. I said yes and he eventually said something like good or ok.

I unfortunately missed the preaching opportunity of telling him the verse from the Gita "catur varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah" etc., namely that we are brahmin, ksatriya etc. by karma and guna, i.e. by the particular mode of nature we are situated in and by our practical engagement. Krishna never says by 'janma' or by birth.

Varshana Kishori mataji is typing this on the airport's free computer. When we left Puri the waves of the Indian Ocean were even higher than when we arrived. It is almost impossible to take a bath now. Yesterday all roads into the centre of Puri were closed because it was the last day of Laxmi Puja. There was live music and a procession through town. It was almost impossible to get a rickshaw, however, we managed to find our way to the Grand Restaurant for our last meal in Puri.

Samir got very much attached to taking darshan of Lord Jagannath. We all will miss our japa walks along the beautiful beach of Puri, where the wind blows so gently and where the waves crush unto the sea shore with a thundering noise spreading a fine salty spray everywhere. O Purusottama Ksetra we love you dearly and hope to be back some time in the future. Please grant us this desire. We pray to Lord Jagannatha for all those who asked us to pray for. Please be merciful to Your devotees so they can always remember Your lotus feet. Please give your full protection to all of them!

A visit to Tota Gopinatha temple

2009-10-06T03:56:00.001-07:00

Jaya Jaya Radhe Jaya Jaya Syam
Aindra - Sounds of Braj
Vaiyasakhi - Shyamol Sundara Shyam

When we woke up this morning it was raining again. This is quite unusual for this time of the year. The rain eventually died down later in the morning, which enabled us to visit some important temples and locations in Puri.

Our first visit was to the Tota Gopinatha temple. This is the place where Lord Caitanya is said to have entered into the deity of Tota Gopinatha. We were told that when one visits this temple at 5 AM the pujari will show one the crack in the foot of the deity where Lord Caitanya is said to have entered the deity. There are other accounts too that say the Lord walked into the sea when winding up His pastimes in this world. At this temple we met a group of devotees from Argentina, who are on their way to Sri Dham Mayapur. Just outside the temple we took the group photo above.

How nice Samir looks in his new dhoti and with tilaka marks on his forehead. It is the first time he wears dhoti and tilaka. He promised to carry on dressing as a Vaishnava once he is back in the UK. Now he not only looks like a proper Vaishnava on the inside but as one on the outside as well.

Next we visited the samadhi of Haridas Thakura, which is the place where Haridas Thakura's body is buried. It was his wish that he would leave this mortal frame with his eyes fixed on the beautiful face of Lord Caitanya. Lord Caitanya granted him this wish and while looking at the Lord Haridas departed from this world. Thereafter Lord Caitanya took his body into his arms and danced. Then he washed his body and buried him near the sea. The Lord ordered His devotees to arrange for a grand feast, which the Lord personally distributed amongst the thousands of Vaishnavas present.

We also visited Siddha Bakula, which is the tree under which Haridas Thakura performed his yajna of chanting 3 lakhs of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, which is 300,000 names and which must have taken him 23 hours leaving just one hour for eating and sleeping. This is why Lord Caitanya proclaimed Haridas Thakura as the Nama Acharya, the greatest teacher of the Holy Name. Haridas Thakura was the personification of Lord Caitanya's siksastakam prayers, namely to chant the Hare Krishna mantra in the mood of great humility, more humble than the straw in the street and more tolerant than a tree.

The straw in the street is not protesting when people walk over it and the tree tolerates all kind of weather conditions without complaining. This should be our mood when chanting Hare Krishna. Moreover, we should offer respect to everyone and not expect any respect for ourselves. In this mood we can chant Hare Krishna 24 hours a day.

Lord Caitanya regularly visited Haridas at Siddha Bakula after He had taken darshan of Lord Jagannatha. Many intimate discussion took place at this location. In the courtyard of the temple is a bakula tree. The tree was not always there and Haridas chanted his rounds in the hot sun. One day Lord Caitanya could not any longer bear such great austerities of His beloved devotee. He brought a toothpick from Lord Jagannatha and planted it in the ground where Haridas was sitting. In no time a beautiful bakula tree grew there and gave Haridas some protection from the hot midday sun.

Haridas grew up in a Muslim family and was therefore an outcast in the strict cast oriented society of Lord Caitanya's time, some 500 years ago. However, the Lord broke down all boundaries of cast. He distributed the Holy Name to everyone and all without any distinction. The cast system was so severe that when the shadow of a lower born sudra fell on a brahmana he would severely chastise the offender and would have to take a bath immediately, fearing that he was now contaminated.

When Lord Caitanya spread His sankirtana movement he embraced all, sudras and outcasts alike. Love of Godhead has no boundaries. In fact the Lord started a great social revolution, which eventually took places like Navadwipa in a great storm, culminating in a torchlight march of tens of thousands of Vaishnavas to the residence of the Kazi, on who's order a mridanga drum had been broken in his attempt to stop the sankirtana movement. Eventually the Kazi attended a discussion with the Lord and submitted to Him. To this very day a declaration of the Kazi and all his followers and dynasty is still honoured, namely that this sankirtana movement of Lord Caitanya will never be disturbed in any way. Harinam sankirtana ki jaya!

It may also be noted that Haridas Thakura was never allowed to enter the temple of Lord Jagannatha. The same counted for Rupa and Sanatana, because they were employed in the Muslim government of the day. We therefore feel we are in good company because we as Westerners are also barred to enter the Jagannatha temple.

The Gambira was our next goal. It is the place where Lord Caitanya spent much of his later years in Puri. One can see the small room where the Lord was sitting discussing Lord Krishna's pastimes with His most intimate devotees. Near the entrance of the temple one can see a most beautiful statue of the Lord with His golden complexion. We have taken a photo to show in a slide show on our return.

There is also a small ISKCON temple in Puri, which we visited too. It is at the location where the bhajana kutir of Bhaktivinode Thakura was. Bhaktivinode is one of the great Vaishnava acharyas in our sampradaya who wrote many books and songs, which we still sing today.

We concluded today's parikrama to the holy sites of Puri by taking a most delicious lunch prasadam in the Grand Restaurant, which is famous for its clean and good food. While I am sitting in a small Internet Cafe typing this short report of our pilgrimage the matajis have gone for a shopping trip near he sea front. There are so many things on offer and one can easily be carried away. I better finish here because the rain will surely come again this evening. I hope all of you who read this blog are well and happy. May Lord Jagannatha's mercy be upon you all.

A camel ride to the airport?

2009-10-05T05:48:00.001-07:00

Kamyavan
Nilacala Mahaprabhu
Aindra - Vrindavan Mellows 1
Aindra - Ecstasy of Kirtan Rasa

We are in Puri. Every night it is raining. It was pouring down like
anything yesterday. We were on a motor rickshaw when it started. I was sitting in the front along wit the driver and got completely soaked. The rickshaw has no side walls. It is all open. Some old plastic sheet hangs on the side which I had to hold down as a window to protect myself from the rain somewhat. People just walk in the rain or have a small hanky on their head, some have an umbrella. They lived with the rain their whole live. It is not a problem for them. Getting out of the rickshaw one steps into a little stream running down more or less every street and narrow lane. The other devotees were more lucky as they sat in the back of the rickshaw. There is always something to learn.

Our flight from Calcutta to Bhubaneswar was also adventurous. We flew with Kingfisher airlines. It was a very small airport and the plane was a propeller machine. It sounded like the WW2 blitz on London. Anyway, we made it. No, there were no goats on the plane. The service was actually very good. The fell over you to serve you. While sitting at the Kolkata airport the Kingfisher staff approached us several times and asked our destination and while approaching the check in counter at least three staff members jumped on us to help us with our suitcases. I have never seen this with any other airline. It was a very small plane and the Bhubaneswar airport was even smaller. Anyway, we got there.

Of course we had some trouble with our accommodation but we were
sorted eventually. We are staying in the Birla guesthouse, which is
directly on the beach of the Indian ocean. Therefore we always get a
fresh wind throughout our room. It is a two minutes walk to the beach.

This morning we went to the beach to take our bath. Nandini Radha and Varshana Kishori tried their luck with a Camel ride just in case we miss the taxi to the airport. It is not as easy as one would think and they were down quicker than they went up. I have wisely skipped this kind of exercise.

In the meantime Samir got a full one hour body massage for 100 Rupees, which is just over a Pound. The matajis took to an acupressure treatment for the same price. There are so many people offering any sort of treatments one can only think of. The pearl sellers are after us all the time. They have genuine perls from the ocean for a price one can only dream of in the West.

Samir and Varshana Kishori mataji went into the Jagannatha temple yesterday for darshan. Varshana has her own story to tell. Westerners are not allowed into the temple. I heard a story of an American tourist entering the temple unnoticed. They put him into prison for a month, cleaned the whole temple and threw all the offerings of the day away, - and the temple is huge.

Of course we know it is a misconception to think that a Vaishnava belongs to a particular nation, society, cast etc. Vaishnavas are transcendental. In fatc it is even considered an offence to refer to a Vaishnava according to those designations. Bhagavad-gita clearly explains that one is to be considered a brahmin, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra according to guna and karma, i.e. according to the particular mode of nature and according to the activity one is engaged in. The Gita never says according to birth.

Srila Prabhupada explains that a son of a doctor is certainly not qualified as a doctor just because his father is a doctor. No, he has to go to university and qualify. Then he is accepted as a medical
practitioner, not otherwise. Therefore we understand it is according to training and qualification. However, the cast system has degenerated in time and one became cathegorized according to birth only, but this is not what Krishna says.

Mayapur is flooded

2009-10-03T04:21:00.001-07:00

Varsana Song
Aindra - Life in Vrindavan
Aindra - Vraja Vilasa 1
Aindra - Vraja Vilasa 2

We have just changed our room again. Making any official arrangements in India is a nightmare. Everything takes so much time and there is always so much bureaucracy. It is difficult enough to agree on anything between the four of us. Originally our room in Mayapur was booked till this Saturday, however, our travel arrangements with the overnight train to Puri has fallen through. Therefore we need an extra day in Mayapur. Yesterday it was agreed we could stay in our room but today we had to move into another room. No problem.

The only problem is that Mayapur is like a steam room at the moment. Last night we had another thunderstorm. It seems we are experiencing the last showers of the rainy season. It is so hot and wet that Samir got stuck in his kurta when he wanted to take it off because of sweat. It stuck to him like a wet cloth. I don't know how many hours he would have been stuck with the kurta over his head not being able to move neither in nor out. I had to rescue him. It was a similar situation with Nandini mataji I was told. After taking a shower one has to be very quick drying off, otherwise one is wet again from sweating.

We have not been able to get any places on the Puri train. Therefore we had to book a flight, which is more expensive of course. It means we are leaving Mayapur tonight at 1 AM. The accommodation arrangements in Puri are still valid we hope.

After we returned from lunch today it started to downpour again. The whole area flooded in no time. We got stuck in some passage way. While writing this it is still raining and it looks like it will do so for the rest of the day. The matajis were very brave and headed for our guesthouse. They must have got quite wet. I opted for the Internet Cafe. The blog posting from my mobile has not worked out so far but the Internet Cafe is only a few minutes from our guest house and all within the Mayapur complex.

We are still experiencing the end of the rainy season I have been told. It could last till Diwali but major flooding is not expected after Durga Puja, which has already passed. However, Ganga is entirely independent and can do whatever she wants. In any case tonight we are out and even if it is raining continuously till then it is highly unlikely that we will not be able to leave Mayapur, but one never knows. India is full of surprises.

While writing this my thoughts travel back to Leicester and to tonight's Saturday programme, which will be at Keshava's house, 31 Barkby Road. The timing will be the same, namely 7 PM. I very much hope all devotees will come. Our Lordships Sri Sri Nitai Saci-Sundar are already there. I hope the programme goes well. I am sure it will. Any of our devotees reading this before the programme please do extend our warmest well-wishes to all the devotees there and especially to Keshava Prabhu, who has kindly agreed to look after the deities and host the programme in our absence. Please give him your full support. Our next posting will be from Puri.

A visit to the Gurukula

2009-10-02T04:11:00.001-07:00

Varshana
Krishna Kanhaya
Hamsaduta - Meeting the Swan
Hamsaduta - Path to Mathura
Hamsaduta - Entering Mathura
Hamsaduta - Krishna's Palace
Hamsaduta - Lalita's Message
Hamsaduta - Radha Speaks
Hamsaduta - Final Petitions

Today is our second full day in Mayapur. All of us have settled in nicely. The best part of the day is mangal arati at 4:30 AM when so many wonderful Vaishnavas assemble and chant Hare Krishna. Sri Sri Radha Madhava looked so gorgeous today in Their night outfit. Japa time was also very wonderful. Devotees sit in groups around tulasi devi (sacred plant) and chant Hare Krishna. I managed to chant 12 rounds during this japa period.

Just before 7 AM the maha prasadam stall in the courtyard opens. There one can buy all sorts of delicious sweets and even pizza. These items are directly offered to Their Lordships, which makes them spiritually very potent. It confirms to us how nice and blissful spiritual life actually is. I could not resist buying one of our newly discovered sweet, a round ball with sesame on the outside and custard filling inside. It is so sweet and delicious, that it becomes irresistible. Here in Mayapur we don't count the calories nor cholesterol. That we will do when we are back.

After the morning programme we had some light prasadam at Govinda's, namely masala dosa pancakes with potatoe filling, dhal and coconut chutney. It seemed a very small portion but it filled us up eventually. One can not eat very much in such a hot climate and if one does, one becomes ill immediately. We also had freshly pressed apple and orange juice, which was delicious and refreshing. It doesn't compare with juice from the super market.

Our tickets to Jagannatha Puri with the over night train are still in question. We want to book an AC sleeper ticket, which means air conditioned apartments with four foldable beds. The compartments are divided by curtains. This would ensure that we are amongst ourselves. The air condition consists usually of some vents in the wall which blow out a stream of cold air, so cold and drafty that one easily gets ill after a nights journey. Last time I traveled this way I blocked the vents with some cloth to make it somewhat bearable. I actually had a light cold for the last two days, which mainly meant a running nose. It is hard to believe that one can catch a cold in such a hot country such as India. It is mainly due to drafts, fans and air condition.

We have also booked our accommodation in Puri, namely the Birla Guesthouse. We are lucky that Samir as well as Varshana Kishori speak Hindi, which really helped with the booking arrangement. The guesthouse is right next to the beach of the Indian Ocean. In Puri the ocean is considered a holy place of pilgrimage because Lord Caitanya bathed there. He also washed the body of Haridas Thakur there after his disappearance. Haridas Thakur is one of the greatest Vaishnavas, who is teaching us by his example how to chant Hare Krishna.

We just returned from a visit to the Mayapur Gurukula, a Vedic school for children. It is away from the main temple complex and is thus sheltered from the steady stream of pilgrims. We have seen boys of all ages who live and study here according to the motto 'simple living and high thinking'. Entering the complex one feels transported to a different age. One meets simple bamboo structures which support deep overhanging straw roofs. The cooking is done on clay stoves, which are fired with dried cow dung paddies. The water supply is provided by hand pumps. There is also a small temple room with a range of deities and saligram silas, which the boys worship daily. The temple room also houses a large library. The gurukula is built on high ground because of the annual flood by mother Ganga. Besides being expert musicians, especially on the mridanga drum, the boys also learn martial arts and many other subjects. All in all they grow up in a spiritual atmosphere sheltered from the influence of materialistic civilization.

We have arrived

2009-10-01T07:21:00.001-07:00

Jay Kanhaya Lal ki
Nadia Godrume
Shenai Morning Raga in Mayapur
Shenai Evening Raga in Mayapur

We have arrived in Sri Dham Mayapur. It was a very long and tiring journey. It is now just after 2 PM and it is very hot. The taxi ride from Kolkata to Mayapur took us 4 hours, however, it was calmer than I have ever experienced and the road seemed to have lesser potholes than ever before. Perhaps I didn't notice them as I drifted in and out of a light slumber if that is at all possible in an Indian taxi.

After a refreshing shower and an hours rest we took darshan of Sri Sri Radha Madhava, Lord Nrisimhadeva and Panca Tattva. Varshana Kishori mataji was visibly moved seeing the Lords for the first time and we were of course in ecstasy being back in Mayapur. Being in the personal presence of the Lord is quite another experience than seeing a photo of Him. The entire atmosphere is just so enchanting, especially in the presence of so many wonderful Vaishnavas.

I thought how did it happen to be again in Sri Dham Mayapur. We had a little desire and before we really knew it we were back in the Holy Dham. It all manifested from this little and faint desire. Everything unfolded from there just like a lotus flower unfolds when the sun is rising. If Krishna reciprocates with such a little desire we can only imagine how He will reciprocate with even the slightest desire of us wanting to serve Him unconditionally. The Lord is so merciful that He makes all kind of arrangements to bring us back to Him.

When Gopa Kumar, after his long journey throughout the entire universe, finally arrived in Goloka Vrindavan Krishna explained to him that He personally made so many arrangements to bring him back into His association, however, Gopa Kumar never took up any of these arrangements. The same counts for us. If we truly knew how much Krishna wants us back with Him we would certainly faint. We just cannot imagine such a level of love.

After some ekadasi prasadam at Govinda's restaurant we went for the evening arati. Yes, my Lord, we are truly back. Thank you so much! Please protect all those who could not come with us this time but who asked us to pray for them. Please let them always remember Your merciful lotus feet.

Ready to go

2009-09-17T14:16:00.001-07:00

Nandagram
Vrindakunda
Ayodhyavasini Rama
Spring Festival of Holy - Kunja Devata
Spring Festival of Holy - Vraja Kumaris
Spring Festival of Holy - Spring & Matangi
Spring Festival of Holy - Holi Begins
Spring Festival of Holy - Holi Concludes

We are almost ready to go. The suitcases are packed, sandwiches are prepared. Our flight leaves tomorrow from Birmingham airport. It will be some 17 hours later when we reach Kolkata. We will be in transit in Dubai with a two hours wait arriving in Kolkata on Wednesday just after 8 in the morning. If all goes according to plan our taxi driver from Mayapur will be waiting for us outside the airport holding up a sign with our name. It will be another four hour ride on an extremely bad road full with potholes till we reach Sri Dham Mayapur.

Tomorrow morning our Lords, Sri Sri Nitai Saci-Sundar will move out of the temple to take Their temporary residence at the house of Keshava Prabhu. Keshava has been working very hard over the past few weeks to renovate his house and especially his temple room. I have not seen it since then and look forward to our visit tomorrow morning. Tulsi devi has already moved.

In our absence the weekly Saturday programme will continue at Keshava's place. Our congregation is much excited and they have pledged their full support. Giriraja Govardhana will come with us to Mayapur, Puri and Vrindavan. He will travel in a silken bag hanging around my neck. To have the Lord so close to my chest is a great privilege. Also around my neck is a special sudarshan saligram sila in a silver locket. Both have been given to me by Puri Maharaja, who in turn received this transcendental gift from Indradyumna Swami. I feel therefore well protected in every respect.

The story how Giriraja came into my care has been recorded and you can listen to it by following this link. You can also read the Kartik Diaries from 2006 with their many audio links of music and talks by Dina Bandhu Prabhu at various holy places in and around Vrindavan. Last not least I have to say that it is very exciting writing this diary, especially as there are already some followers of this blog. Thank you so very much for your interest. It feels like our group of four has increased to seven. We will be thinking of you every step of this sacred journey. Walk with us and roll with us in the sacred sand of Vrindavan, bathe with us in the holy Ganga and come with us to see shore of the Indian ocean at Jagannatha Puri.

This will be the last posting from a computer. If all goes well all future postings will be done from my Nokia N95 mobile handset with the help of an Indian sim card. If that fails there is always an Internet Caffee.

Vrindavan is calling

2009-09-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

Yavat
Radharani Ki Jaya
Chinta Haran Ghat
Bhimal Kunda

By Krishna's divine mercy, or perhaps Srimati Radhika's mercy, we are ready to embark on a pilgrimage to the Holy Dham of Vrindavan. A faint calling was there some six months ago, however, no one else was ready and prepared to come with us and we did not want to go alone.

Only recently and after her initiation Varshana Kishori mataji was determined to visit the Holy Dham of Vrindavan. She was so determined that she said "I will go even if you don't come." This was the turning point for our Kartik pilgrimage. Then to our great surprise Samir suddenly said "I will also join you." This was it then.

I don't think we would have gone for this year's kartik parikrama without Varshana Kishori and Samir wanting to come with us. It is so much more inspiring and enlivening to do this annual yajna in the association of devotees, what to speak of with devotees from our very own congregation. It is more than wonderful! Moreover, our dear friends Hariprema and Lilaprema from Coventry will also join us in Vrindavan.

We spent the next few weeks with seemingly countless negotiations to find a suitable flight for our very limited budget, ranging from Jet Airways to Quartar Airlines, to Austrian Airlines and Air India, till we finally settled for Emirates. I don't think I have ever spent so much time choosing an airline, perhaps we have gone through them all, but in the end all four of us were satisfied, namely Samir, Varshana Kishori, Nandini Radha and myself.

The visas are now done and the tickets are booked. Our accommodation in Vrindavan and Mayapur is also booked. In Vrindavan it is right next to Krishna Balarama Mandir, the most wonderful place in the entire universe.

Our journey will take us first to Mayapura, which is Lord Caitanya's birthplace. There we will spend three days. Then we will take the overnight train to Jagannatha Puri, which is in Orissa on the Indian Ocean. Lord Caitanya, along with His devotees and associates, spent much of His time in Puri and one can still see there many places of His divine pastimes.

From Bhuvaneshwara, which is not far from Puri, we will take the train or perhaps a flight to Delhi and then a taxi to Vrindavan, where we will spend the rest of our time on parikrama with Dina Bandhu Prabhu. Dina Bandhu has spent the past 25 years in Vrindavan taking devotees on parikrama. If anyone knows Braj it is him. Dina Bandhu reminds me of Sanatana Goswami, who was much loved by all the inhabitants of Braj, wherever he went. To this very day on guru purnima his memory is celebrated throughout the land of Braj and Vrindavan.

Of course this pilgrimage would not be possible for us if it were not for the causeless mercy of Srila Prabhupada, who kindly introduced us to Krishna consciousness and to Vrindavan.