ISKCON: More gurus needed!

Whether you like it or not, Jehovah’s Witnesses are always ready to do two things (1) Distribute books (2) Sit down and talk with you, and help you to understand. ISKCON has many book distributors, but we need more gurus.

After people have read one of Srila Prabhupada’s books, and if they want to know more, their first question is often something like this: “How can I find out more about all this? Do you have any meetings in my town?” or “Are there any other Krishna people living near me?” That was my first eager question at the age of 16 when I received a Back to Godhead magazine in the streets of Nottingham, England.

If you’re not English, the answer is yes, the city still has a sheriff, although the Sheriff of Nottingham these days is largely a ceremonial functionary - and no, there’s not much of a forest today for Robin Hood and his merry men to hide away in.

But such things didn’t concern me when I was 16. I wanted to know where I could find out more, and if there were any other Krishna people living in Nottingham. I’d already had some sort of introduction to Krishna the previous year, although quite a mysterious one. My father worked for an office machine company and had brought home an old spirit duplicator. By using carbon paper to create a typewriter original, and fluid to transfer the purple print to a fresh sheet of paper, you could, by cranking a handle, produce any number of duplicates. I’m sure there were Xerox photocopiers already in existence, but I was 15, it was 1972 and I didn’t know anyone who had one.

My friends had formed a band and wanted to put on a show. So they asked me if I could design and print a flyer for the event. “What sort of design do you want?” I asked them, happy to oblige. “Well, it’s going to be called the Ananta Disco,” they replied. “How do you spell that word,” I asked, “and what does it mean?”

My two musician friends looked at each other, as if it was some kind of secret they didn’t want to reveal, then burst out laughing. “Ananta is a snake,” said one. “Kind of like a cosmic snake somewhere in the universe.”

“We met some Krishna people a few weeks ago,” said the other, “they had a flat up the hill on Mansfield Road. We had some of their food - it was yellow.`”

I duly designed the ‘cosmic snake’ so that the curves of the snake’s body spelled out ‘Ananta’ with the head on the final letter. When I brought over the batch of printed flyers my friends were happy, but I was intrigued. I wanted to know more but they couldn’t tell me anything, they had no books, and the Krishnas had ‘gone to London to sing along Oxford Street.’

So when I met a devotee on the street in Nottingham in the summer of the following year I really wanted to know where he lived and whether I could come over and ask questions. “We’re traveling” he replied, “and the nearest place is London.” I was disappointed, and the devotee seemed not to want to talk, and moved away to approach another person. “What’s your address in London?” He fumbled in his shoulder bag and gave me a small spirit-duplicated flyer with an image of a long-haired girl in a dress with her hands raised in the air, together with some words repeated down one side. And then he was gone.

So that was how I missed Srila Prabhupada at the Manor in 1973 when he stayed with the devotees for many weeks; an unusual length of time for him to remain in one place. Had the devotee actually invited me to come - which he didn’t - I would have come. Had he taken my address and written to me, I certainly would have made the effort to travel down to London. As it was, I thought that ‘here are George Harrison’s personal friends, and they don’t want anyone to disturb them by visiting them.’ So it wasn’t until the year after that I was actually invited.

But this blog is not about the personal warmth and after-sales communication skills of Krishna book distributors. Rather, its to stress the fact that spiritual movements like ours need to be prepared to help people whenever their spiritual needs are most urgent. And we need to be able to help them wherever they live. It is not good enough to direct people to the nearest city where there is a temple. Our work is enhanced by temples, but cannot be dependent on them. Medical care is enhanced by a hospital but can never be limited by it. People hurt themselves in the most unlikely of places and often the paramedics must come to them. Help must be given when and where it is needed, otherwise people perish.

Spiritual workers must be available in every village. That’s the request of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the incarnation of Krishna who came in the form of a saintly teacher. He demonstrated his concern by walking village to village in India for six years, teaching the message wherever he went.

ISKCON has been way ahead of most other spiritual groups in its enthusiasm and competence for initial outreach. In the matter of getting out there and boldly going where no man has gone before we’re bold pioneers. Our book distributors have been everywhere: northern Alaska, Siberia, outer Mongolia, Cambodia and even Timbuktu, and we’ve given millions of people the chance to read about Krishna consciousness. It is nothing less than astonishing. We are still raising eyebrows in the publishing world where a ‘runaway bestseller’ is 20,000 copies, but the Hare Krishnas will only ever print 100,000 copies of a book.

Unfortunately, we haven’t done as well - so far - as other comparable groups in our geographic spread. You’ll find us in the major cities but we fade out in the smaller towns. And we’re not really known for our pastoral care either. Where the Jehovah’s Witnesses will sit down with you to study the Bible, we often can’t find the time to talk with people. But people do require the ongoing tuition, support, guidance and a sense of progress that should naturally follow the initial outreach.

If the devotees of Krishna do not provide these spiritual supports as a corollary of their book distribution, then other organisations certainly will. In the past 40 years everyone with something spiritual to say has set up shop pretty much locally. ‘Alternative Lifestyle and Philosophy’ has gone mainstream and is now available in every book store. And you’ll find some kind of guru or master in every local copy of the Yellow Pages. The disparity between our book distribution and our follow-up is such that, over the years, we’ve helped millions to become familiar with the basic concepts of eastern philosophy, then watched as they went to learn more from local teachers who didn’t tell them anything about Krishna. And those local teachers are quite happy with us and think us to be very helpful for their own private missions.

But as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami said: “Krishna consciousness is so important, so exclusively important,” that it does not make logical sense for the Krishna consciousness movement to become sidelined into a movement for initial outreach and book distribution only. And highly decorated temples in major cities. We need more gurus. Not remote, world-travelling, highly qualified gurus, but locally accessible, less qualified gurus. Thousands of them.

By guru I mean someone who is prepared to personally roll up their sleeves and accept responsibility for the spiritual welfare of a number of named individuals. No wide broadcasting of messages; no generic teaching to anonymous masses; but teaching, guidance, support to named people in a local area. Only with thousands of men and women doing this will we be able to do what this great mission was set up to do.

ISKCON: More Gurus Needed!

Whether you like it or not, Jehovah’s Witnesses are always ready to do two things (1) Distribute books (2) Sit down and talk with you, and help you to understand. ISKCON has many book distributors, but we need more gurus.

After people have read one of Srila Prabhupada’s books, and if they want to know more, their first question is often something like this: “How can I find out more about all this? Do you have any meetings in my town?” or “Are there any other Krishna people living near me?” That was my first eager question at the age of 16 when I received a Back to Godhead magazine in the streets of Nottingham, England.

If you’re not English, the answer is yes, the city still has a sheriff, although the Sheriff of Nottingham these days is largely a ceremonial functionary - and no, there’s not much of a forest today for Robin Hood and his merry men to hide away in.

But such things didn’t concern me when I was 16. I wanted to know where I could find out more, and if there were any other Krishna people living in Nottingham. I’d already had some sort of introduction to Krishna the previous year, although quite a mysterious one. My father worked for an office machine company and had brought home an old spirit duplicator. By using carbon paper to create a typewriter original, and fluid to transfer the purple print to a fresh sheet of paper, you could, by cranking a handle, produce any number of duplicates. I’m sure there were Xerox photocopiers already in existence, but I was 15, it was 1972 and I didn’t know anyone who had one.

My friends had formed a band and wanted to put on a show. So they asked me if I could design and print a flyer for the event. “What sort of design do you want?” I asked them, happy to oblige. “Well, it’s going to be called the Ananta Disco,” they replied. “How do you spell that word,” I asked, “and what does it mean?”

My two musician friends looked at each other, as if it was some kind of secret they didn’t want to reveal, then burst out laughing. “Ananta is a snake,” said one. “Kind of like a cosmic snake somewhere in the universe.”

“We met some Krishna people a few weeks ago,” said the other, “they had a flat up the hill on Mansfield Road. We had some of their food - it was yellow.`”

I duly designed the ‘cosmic snake’ so that the curves of the snake’s body spelled out ‘Ananta’ with the head on the final letter. When I brought over the batch of printed flyers my friends were happy, but I was intrigued. I wanted to know more but they couldn’t tell me anything, they had no books, and the Krishnas had ‘gone to London to sing along Oxford Street.’

So when I met a devotee on the street in Nottingham in the summer of the following year I really wanted to know where he lived and whether I could come over and ask questions. “We’re traveling” he replied, “and the nearest place is London.” I was disappointed, and the devotee seemed not to want to talk, and moved away to approach another person. “What’s your address in London?” He fumbled in his shoulder bag and gave me a small spirit-duplicated flyer with an image of a long-haired girl in a dress with her hands raised in the air, together with some words repeated down one side. And then he was gone.

So that was how I missed Srila Prabhupada at the Manor in 1973 when he stayed with the devotees for many weeks; an unusual length of time for him to remain in one place. Had the devotee actually invited me to come - which he didn’t - I would have come. Had he taken my address and written to me, I certainly would have made the effort to travel down to London. As it was, I thought that ‘here are George Harrison’s personal friends, and they don’t want anyone to disturb them by visiting them.’ So it wasn’t until the year after that I was actually invited.

But this blog is not about the personal warmth and after-sales communication skills of Krishna book distributors. Rather, its to stress the fact that spiritual movements like ours need to be prepared to help people whenever their spiritual needs are most urgent. And we need to be able to help them wherever they live. It is not good enough to direct people to the nearest city where there is a temple. Our work is enhanced by temples, but cannot be dependent on them. Medical care is enhanced by a hospital but can never be limited by it. People hurt themselves in the most unlikely of places and often the paramedics must come to them. Help must be given when and where it is needed, otherwise people perish.

Spiritual workers must be available in every village. That’s the request of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the incarnation of Krishna who came in the form of a saintly teacher. He demonstrated his concern by walking village to village in India for six years, teaching the message wherever he went.

ISKCON has been way ahead of most other spiritual groups in its enthusiasm and competence for initial outreach. In the matter of getting out there and boldly going where no man has gone before we’re bold pioneers. Our book distributors have been everywhere: northern Alaska, Siberia, outer Mongolia, Cambodia and even Timbuktu, and we’ve given millions of people the chance to read about Krishna consciousness. It is nothing less than astonishing. We are still raising eyebrows in the publishing world where a ‘runaway bestseller’ is 20,000 copies, but the Hare Krishnas will only ever print 100,000 copies of a book.

Unfortunately, we haven’t done as well - so far - as other comparable groups in our geographic spread. You’ll find us in the major cities but we fade out in the smaller towns. And we’re not really known for our pastoral care either. Where the Jehovah’s Witnesses will sit down with you to study the Bible, we often can’t find the time to talk with people. But people do require the ongoing tuition, support, guidance and a sense of progress that should naturally follow the initial outreach.

If the devotees of Krishna do not provide these spiritual supports as a corollary of their book distribution, then other organisations certainly will. In the past 40 years everyone with something spiritual to say has set up shop pretty much locally. ‘Alternative Lifestyle and Philosophy’ has gone mainstream and is now available in every book store. And you’ll find some kind of guru or master in every local copy of the Yellow Pages. The disparity between our book distribution and our follow-up is such that, over the years, we’ve helped millions to become familiar with the basic concepts of eastern philosophy, then watched as they went to learn more from local teachers who didn’t tell them anything about Krishna. And those local teachers are quite happy with us and think us to be very helpful for their own private missions.

But as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami said: “Krishna consciousness is so important, so exclusively important,” that it does not make logical sense for the Krishna consciousness movement to become sidelined into a movement for initial outreach and book distribution only. And highly decorated temples in major cities. We need more gurus. Not remote, world-travelling, highly qualified gurus, but locally accessible, less qualified gurus. Thousands of them.

By guru I mean someone who is prepared to personally roll up their sleeves and accept responsibility for the spiritual welfare of a number of named individuals. No wide broadcasting of messages; no generic teaching to anonymous masses; but teaching, guidance, support to named people in a local area. Only with thousands of men and women doing this will we be able to do what this great mission was set up to do.

My experience of the Alpha Course

About eight years ago I attended a twelve-week ‘Alpha Course’ a Christian outreach programme designed by the preacher Nicky Gumbel of the Holy Trinity Church in Brompton, London. There was lots of publicity at the time and there were courses springing up all over the place, as churches throughout Great Britain discovered that good results came from taking a new approach with an old message.

I decided to attend all 12 weeks to see what the entire experience would be like. The people behind the Alpha Course had spent almost £4 million on the project and this was going to be their big effort before the Millenium came and they reached the symbolic juncture of Christ’s 2,000th birthday. It was important they got it right.

The advertising campaign was good yet very simple, and addressed the disatisfaction that almost everyone feels when their material affluence is not helping them with their spiritual needs. “Is there more to life than this?” was the general lead-in theme, displayed from many billboards. The next pitch was to the curiosity of those who found themselves nagged by spiritual needs: “The Alpha Course. Come and Explore the Meaning of Life”

Since within ISKCON we also invite those with spiritual questions to come and check us, I decided to see how the Alpha Course would bring me through a logical progression of ideas to accept the Christian path. Perhaps there were techniques they’d developed which we could learn. I gave them 12 weeks to prove themselves. Some things I discovered were good and reassuring, some were disappointing. Here’s a few points I can remember:

1. Advertising - good, with great coverage, ad-agency designed hooks, prominent placement, and sufficiently non-Christian to make people feel at ease.

2. Alpha Course - the name is unthreatening, as is the notion of ‘exploring the meaning of life.’

3. Weekly meetings began with a meal at a six-person table. Tablecloth, candles, flowers. Each table had a host, and your table then became your regular spot each week. Every week, I found my chair was left empty - even on the week I couldn’t make it, nobody sat there. Nice personal touch. Vegetarian option always available (this is an example of Christians really making an effort) and absolutely no philosophical or theological conversation at the meal time, only light conversation about family, job, and so on.

4. Having the meal before as opposed to after - as we do - had certain benefits. Like getting people there on time in the evening. 7.00 as it happened.

5. Lecture - each week a visiting speaker gave a 20-30 minute talk on a variety of themes. Concluding with a prayer or song/music. Rather generic songs/prayers at first then progressing, as the weeks went by, to a lot more devotional. The subject matter of the first few talks was my first major disappointment. Rather than go for a logical approach and address ’spiritual hunger’ or ‘the existence of the soul’ as we would, the first talk was on the relevance of the crucifixion. Yes, I do realise that its the very heart of Christian theology, but it could have waited a week or three.

6. Hot drinks - nice touch after the half-hour talk was the tea break. Its Britain after all.

7. Questions and Answers / Discussion - This was organised well. Two important principles. Firstly, you don’t get to ask your questions of the visiting speaker. Why should they risk everything by having you spout atheistic nonsense at their speaker? The 20 in attendance were split into two groups in separate rooms and a facilitator invited questions. Questions ranged from innocent enquiries to downright insults (which did not provoke even the bat of an eyelid from the facilitator) Rather neatly, questions were offered up to the rest of the group to answer and a vigorous discussion ensued. The main principle - I discovered much later - was that all doubts are to be invited at this point.

8. Punctuality - 40 minutes discussion only, then the meeting finished promptly.

9. A Workbook - a simple but attractive workbook was provided for all participants with bulletpoints of each of the sessions. Space for notes, a few cartoons, and the theology in an abbreviated form.

10. Follow-up - Brilliant! I missed one of the sessions, and a tape of the talk was promptly put through my letter box. Impressive.

11. Weekend Away - After six weeks, halfway through the course, there was a weekend at a local large house (in some parts of the country you can stay overnight) where longer sessions and more meals, prayers and songs, deeper discussions, short films, all formed part of a deeper experience.

12. After the course - There was the regular home-based small group to join where you get to join a group of people in your age range.

13. Even more follow-up - In my case, although I was as receptive - quite genuine - as I could be, they knew that I was the local Hare Krishna man so the follow-up was by no means exhaustive. But they did try.

Dave Freeman

I learned this morning of the sudden and truly bizarre death of Dave Freeman,47, the adventurer and travel writer who brought us all the backpackers Bible: 100 Things to do Before you Die. He died in his home after a freak fall. The book was read by huge numbers of young people, all planning where to go in order to squeeze the most out of their time on Earth.

“This life is a short journey,” the book says. “How can you make sure you fill it with the most fun and that you visit all the coolest places on earth before you pack those bags for the very last time?”

Freeman’s relatives said he visited about half the places on his list before he died, and either he or Neil Teplica, the co-author, had been to nearly all of them.

“He didn’t have enough days, but he lived them like he should have,” Teplica said.

The book’s recommendations ranged from the obvious — attending the Academy Awards and running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain — to the more obscure — taking a voodoo pilgrimage in Haiti and “land diving” on the Island of Vanuatu, which Freeman once called “the original bungee jumping.”

After her trips to America and India, my daughter Jahnavi had started ticking off items in the book - rather triumphantly - satisfied that she’d been in Krishna consciousness her entire life but had still managed to go to places that many world-travellers wished to go.

In a very strange way, in a way that shows us just how this world creates a sad irony for all those who leave it, Dave Freeman left all too soon. Yet the ancient Indian mystic voice whispers that each of us often knows deep down that last great secret - when we will depart - and we struggle to somehow fit it all in, in just a brief life.

Of course, the secret of life, the experience that will truly allow us to understand the universe, is not actually to be found running with the bulls in Pamplona, or even throwing tomatoes at that other festival in Spain (much as I would like to do that). The greatest journey we can go on, through the most fascinating landscape, is deep within us.

I pray that Dave Freeman continues his journey after a very brief nine months, and that once again he is given an opportunity to explore that greatest travel destination. May he find what he’s truly looking for soon.

Best Ever Janmasthami

It wasn’t just the numbers that made it the best ever, although 50,000 was way more than we expected. It wasn’t just the fact that the line of traffic stretched for 3 miles in each direction. It wasn’t just that the festival pilgrims had to line up for over two hours to have a short darshan - just like Tirupati - yet still came away inspired. And it wasn’t just that the sunshine held out after it poured with rain in the morning.

More than this was the fact that our 800 volunteers had all worked so hard - past midnight every night for weeks before the festival - to make it all so well organised. More than this was the fact that they were all so happy and enthusiastic on the day, attracting pilgrims to the many tents and displays on offer. More than this was the sight of 50,000 people with tilak.

But best of all was that this year our theme was: ‘The Many Gifts of Srila Prabhupada’ and the festival gave all the visitors the chance to understand the greatness of the person who brought Lord Krishna to these shores. The presentations included one large marquee realistically converted into the Jaladuta ship that brought Srila Prabhupada westwards; inside the brahmacaris presented a play of our founder-acarya’s early struggles and eventual triumph. I defy anyone to have dry eyes after watching it. The back part of the ship opened up to reveal His Divine Grace sitting amidst his books with a huge map of the world showing the temples with flashing lights.

Another hour-long play in the main tent portrayed Srila Prabhupada also, with scenes telling the story of George Harrison’s gift of the Manor and the installation ceremony of the Deities exactly 35 years ago to the day. In the evening a local 30-strong choir accompanied Jayadeva and musicians. Amazingly enough, this local choir, all very English, and more used to singing gospel songs, managed to learn to sing two Sanskrit bhajans - with what sounded like perfect pronunciation! The next day it all happened again as another 20,000 came. Srila Prabhupada’s Vyasa Puja took place in the large main tent and was a grand affair.

The Hertfordshire Com.Unity Choir. They learned to sing in Sanskrit for Janmasthami

Here is a description of the two days by Radha Mohan Das:

50,000 attended the first day in a record breaking attendance of Bhaktivedanta Manor’s Janmashtami festival on 24th August, in observance of the birth of Lord Krishna.

As pilgrims and guests enter the festival site, they could see for themselves the progress of the building of New Gokul, the new Temple farm project. The flowered walk-way around the lake lit up at night and depicted the stories of Krishna in his youth. On the festival field there were demonstrations and tasting tents for different cuisines celebrated vegetarianism and environmentalism.

A highlight on the main festival stage included Comm.unity Choir of Hertfordshire with John Richardson (Jayadev das). The Choir took part in a concert to launch Jayadev’s latest album of devotional songs entitled *From Here to Eternity*. “It was east and west performing together for the glorification of God,” declared stage organizer Ravin Ganatra.

Accompanying them was Aiden O’Brian who played the  Ullean pipes and guitar, and on piano and bass was Gareth Rhys Jones.

Other stage highlights included a play about Srila Prabhupada in India and Britain by the Bhaktivedanta Players, and bhajans by the Kuli Orchestra which included local community youth.

“For days the kitchens worked 24 hours to cope with over 50,000 plates of free vegetarian food which was distributed throughout the festival,” said Lalita Saki devi dasi, who was in charge of the kitchens which had 400 volunteers preparing and serving Prasad (sanctified food).

Dilip Patel, the Festival Coordinator said “the festival was so successful because of the devotion and dedication of the volunteers and meticulous planning which starts the next day after last year’s festival.”

Bhavesh Patel, the Chair of the Festival Committee, said: “Regarding the roads, we are indebted to the team of Special Constables for their work and dedication. It was nothing less than amazing. This was especially evident when we had record traffic numbers and pilgrims coming. We see the police
officers who helped with the traffic as good friends.”

You can see some more pictures here

A Burning Daughter at The Burning Man

Above: The Eponymous Man before the Burning

My daughter Jahnavi is at the Burning Man Festival in the Nevada Desert. Its quite a scene: 50,000 people, gallons of sun-block, wild, colourful, artistic installations, alternative philosophies, and, as the name suggests, a burning man in the centre and at the climax of it all.

As a father, I never really wanted to mention the words ‘desert’ and ‘daughter’ in the same sentence. Specially a redheaded girl in baking daytime temperatures of 115 degrees. I’d heard about this festival years ago - sort of a mudless Glastonbury without the bands - and I thought it to be a wild gathering of all the alternative types from all over America. Sort of Mad Max meets Easy Rider meets Alice in Wonderland.

But these days ‘alternative philosophy’ has become mainstream and, like Glastonbury, a lot of well-heeled weekend hippies go along to the event. The Hare Krishnas have a small camp every year and set up a temple, hold fire sacrifices (appropriately) and even a Chariot Procession. This year the devotees are part of a bigger ‘village’ and are doing most of the catering for around 2,000 people. Its what we do, after all, and people like what we do.

So I’m happy that she’s going to be preaching the message of Krishna through food, chanting and speaking with other festival-goers, but still a bit apprehensive about the white, powdery sands of the desert, the scorpions and poisonous spiders, and, of course, that burning man.

People doing their artistic thing in the Nevada desert

Janmasthami - the day when Sri Krishna appeared in this world

One of my old friends hasn’t been very well lately. Born in Essex, he now lives in New Zealand where he teaches and is a community brahmana. He wrote the following piece and sent it to me, so I thought I’d share it with you. If you like it, please ask Lord Krishna to bless him with many years. Wherever you are on Sunday, may you have a day blessed by Sri Krishna.

Who is Sri Krishna?

By Jaya Tirtha Charan Das

Sri Krishna is God - the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This fact is stated and corroborated in the Vedic scriptures and by various authorities. Lord Brahma in Brahma Samhita says, “Krishna who is known as Govinda is the Supreme Godhead. He has an eternal blissful spiritual body.
He is the origin of all. He has no other origin and He is the prime cause of all causes” (BS 5.1). In the Bhagavata Purana Krishna becomes the chief object of devotion. After describing various incarnations of the Lord such as Rama, Balarama, Vamana, Nrsimha, and Vishnu, Srila Sukadeva Goswami states, “All of the above mentioned incarnations are either plenary portions
or portions of the plenary portions of the Lord, but Lord Krishna is the original Personality of Godhead” (SB 1.3.28).

Lord Shiva in Gita Mahatmya, states “Only one God - Krishna, the son of Devaki” (Verse 7). In the Padma Purana it is stated, “By scrutinizingly reviewing all the revealed scriptures and judging them again and again, it is now concluded that Lord Narayana is the Supreme Absolute Truth, and thus He alone should be worshipped“. Similarly it is said in the Skanda Purana, “In the material world, which is full of darkness and dangers, combined with birth and death and full of different anxieties, the only way to get out of the great entanglement is to accept loving transcendental devotional service to Lord Vasudeva. This is accepted by all classes of philosophers“.

The position of Krishna as God is confirmed by great personalities like Narada, Asita, Devala, Vyasa, Parasara, Brahma and Shiva. Finally Krishna Himself confirms this fact in the Bhagavad-gita to His friend and devotee, Arjuna. He says “I am the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods” (BG 5.29), that “There is no truth superior to Me” (BG 7.7) and - “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me” (BG 10.8).

What is the position of Krishna?

As God, there is no one equal to or greater than Krishna. He is the original, unborn, eternal person, the most ancient, completely independent, and the cause of all causes. Parasara Muni, the father of Sage Vyasadeva and a great scholar , very nicely defines the position of Bhagavan (God) as one Who is complete in six kinds of opulence namely - wisdom, beauty, fame, power, wealth and renunciation. While there are many great personalities who are very famous or very wealthy, only Sri Krishna as God is replete in all six opulences.

The scriptures not only give us the unique position of Krishna but also give us a detailed description of all His aspects. They tell us that above this temporary material universe is an eternal spiritual world called Vaikuntha . Here Krishna eternally resides, served by Mahalakshmi , the goddesses of fortune.

Krishna has a form just like human but His body is spiritual and thus eternal. His complexion is dark-blue, like that of a rain-filled cloud and His eyes are like lotus petals. He is ever youthful, full of bliss and His beauty excels that of thousands of cupids. He likes to play the flute, He sports a crown with a peacock feather and He is adorned by the exquisite kaustuba jewel.

What is Krishna avatar?

In Chaitanya-charitamrita (2.20.263-264) states that the avatar, or incarnation of Godhead, descends from the kingdom of God for creating and maintaining the material manifestation. And the particular form of the Personality of Godhead who so descends is called an incarnation, or avatar. Such incarnations are situated in the spiritual world, the kingdom of God. When They descend to the material creation, They assume the name avatar.

The Srimad Bhagavatam states that there are countless incarnations just like the waves of the oceans. They fall in various categories like lila (pastime), yuga (period of yuga), manavantara (period of Manu), purusa (Vishnu expansions) and shaktivesa (empowered). These avatars perform various pastimes based on the time, place and circumstances, but their purpose is always the same - “to attract the conditioned souls back to their eternal spiritual abode“.

The incarnations emanate from Vishnu. Maha-Vishnu is the original cause of all material creation and from Him Garbhodakashayi-Vishnu expands and then Ksirodakasayi-Vishnu. Generally all incarnations appearing within the material world are plenary portions of Ksirodakasayi-Vishnu (also known as Hari).

However only once in a day of Lord Brahma (which lasts for 4.32 billion of earth years), does Mahavishnu descend in His original form as Krishna, as the avataree, the cause of all avataras. When Krishna appears all the incarnations join with Him. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the complete whole and all the plenary portions and incarnations always live with Him. So when Krishna appeared, He was Lord Vishnu Himself .

Appearance of Krishna

In the era of the Svayambhuva Manu, Prajapati Sutapa and his wife Prsni were instructed by Lord Brahma to have progeny. They performed severe austerities for twelve thousand years of the devatas to have Lord Vishnu as their child. Pleased by their austerities the Lord appeared and granted them this benediction. Since He gave them this benediction three times, in Satya-yuga He first appeared as the son of Prsni and Sutapa and was called Prsnigarba. In Treta-yuga they were Aditi and Kasyapa Muni and the Lord appeared as Vamana . Finally in the Dvapara yuga, Vishnu in His original form, appeared as Krishna to become the child of Devaki and Vasudeva.

Krishna appeared specifically on the request of Bhudevi, the presiding deity of the Earth planet. Distressed by the burden of many demons who had appeared as powerful Kshatriyas and were ruling the planet impiously, she assumed the form of a cow and pleaded to Lord Brahma for help. Lord Brahma with all the devatas prayed to Lord Vishnu in Svetadvipa by chanting the Purusa-sukta prayers. At this time the Supreme Lord informed Brahma that in order to establish religiosity and destroy evil, He would soon appear as His original Self. In the meantime the various devatas were instructed to take birth in various families in the Yadu dynasty and prepare for the appearance of the Supreme God.

Lifeline of Sri Krishna

Historically, Lord Krishna appeared in the Dvapara yuga, on the midnight of the 8th day of the dark half of the month of Sravan. This corresponds to July 19th in the year 3228 BC. He exhibited His pastimes for a little over 125 years and disappeared on February 18th 3102 BC on the new moon night of Phalgun. His departure marks the beginning of the current age of corruption known as Kali-yuga.

The great scholar Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti neatly outlines Lord Krishna’s activities in this way. He was born in Mathura in the prison cell of Kamsa and carried to Gokul. The first three years and four months were spent in Gokula, then equal lengths of time in Vrindavan and Nandagram. At the age of eleven He left Vrindavan for Mathura where He lived for eighteen
years and four months, and finally ninety-six years and eight months in Dvaraka totaling about 125 years of manifest pastimes. At the time of Mahabharata, when Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita, He had been in the world for ninety years.

Pastimes of Krishna

The tenth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam describes the activities and transcendental pastimes of Sri Krishna. They are also described in the epic Mahabharata, specially in the Bhishma parva which also contains the Bhagavad-gita . The pastimes of Krishna appeal to the liberated souls, those that are trying to get liberated and also to the gross materialists.

The pastimes of Sri Krishna, known as Krishna-katha fall into two categories. Words spoken by Krishna, as the Bhagavad-gita and words spoken about Krishna, as in the Srimad Bhagavatam . Souls in the liberated stage derive great pleasure in relishing anything and everything related to
Krishna. For those that are trying to be liberated, Krishna-katha makes their path of liberation very clear. By studying the Gita one becomes fully conscious of the position of Sri Krishna ; and when one is situated at the lotus feet of the Lord, he understands the narrations of Krishna as described in the Srimad Bhagavatam.

Even the gross materialists are attracted by the pleasure pastimes of Krishna with the Gopis and His wives. Even though the loving affairs of Krishna have nothing to do with the gross, mundane sex affairs, they attract the people engrossed in sense-gratification and gradually elevate them to higher levels of spirituality.

Causeless mercy of Krishna

Even though Krishna is completely self sufficient and self satisfied, He descends for the benefit of all the conditioned souls. His most endearing quality is that of “bhakta vatsala“. His pure devotees are always trying to please Him, and He is always trying to please His devotees. Just as He lives in the heart of His devotees, His devotees constantly reside in Him.

Krishna is so merciful that He not only helps His devotees, but also those who are loved by His devotees. Krishna destroys evil by providing them with an opportunity to take up devotion.

On the greatly auspicious day of Krishna-Janamashtami, let us all pray to Sri Krishna for a drop of His causeless mercy, for only that alone is sufficient to take us out from this material word, back home, back to Godhead.

Modern Hymns

In keeping with my sharing of new Vaishnava music just as Kurma Prabhu shares recipes, here’s a couple that were sent to me today from producer Kiron J. They feature the songs of Jayadeva Das. Click here

A Safety Lesson

Highly decorated elephant in Jaipura. Picture: Avadhuta-Priya dasi

I was writing about religious festivals and safety yesterday and thought of this picture. I was in Jaipura, India, a few years ago and this was the last thing I saw before I was struck across the mouth by the elephant’s tail. It really hurt. An elephant’s tail is hard, and hurts more than you ever thought possible. I learned four important lessons:

1. Not everything decorated in pretty colours is good for you.

2. Never stand behind an elephant.

3. Your lips really swell up and hurt when you get hit in the mouth.

4. Chanting japa is hard with swollen lips.

(But if you really like elephants, and want to get up close, this is how it’s done)

Religions need Organisation and Safety

Wherever large crowds gather - for sport or religion - more organisation and safety is required

The news that 140 people, 30 of them children, were killed in yet another stampede at a religious festival is very sad. Events like this should not happen, especially at times when crowds are gathered seeking some spiritual blessing. I believe this is the third time this year that people have been crushed in India. At the annual Rathayatra in Puri two months ago six people were crushed to death when the crowd surged erratically. Of course, it is not just in Hinduism that crowds behave dangerously; some years ago many people were crushed to death during the annual Muslim Hajj in Mecca. Not just in religion either; many people have been crushed at football matches and other sporting events.

Whenever people are gathered in unusual circumstances, in places that are unfamiliar to them, and whenever they are under the emotional sway of either religious or football fervour, it is then and there that extra attention must be paid to safety. This is particularly so if the event happens in places where crowds do not normally gather.

Last week I spoke at a gathering of the local officials who have the responsibility to ensure that our largest gathering of the year passes without anyone being harmed. Three police officers, three officers from the Fire Brigade, members from the Health and Safety department, and Food and Hygiene inspectors, all came to Bhaktivedanta Manor to make their annual pre-Janmashtami inspection.

30,000 people at a religious festival need protection. Not that the devotees are bad hosts, or careless with fire, or that pickpockets are also planning to attend, or that we are expecting a stampede. But if something can go wrong it most probably will, and the idea of such pre-festival meetings is to eliminate any risks by identifying any possible causes of harm and removing them.

This is our 30th year of such large festivals, and our festival health and safety and procedural handbook detailing how the event is staged is now a massive three inches thick. It takes 350 volunteers in dozens of teams and weeks of training to put on the Janmashtami Festival, and the local council shows our handbook to other groups as an example of how it should be done.

Spiritual life is the process of allowing the soul to have complete freedom, above and beyond any material conditions. Religion is what happens when the human bodies and minds of those free souls gather together. And wherever and whenever they do that, organisation and safety are required.