Violently attacks the Gopis

Some time after Krsna had left for Mathura, a gopi lamented: O my friend, at the gateway of Vraja village, Krsna, whose eyes are like hundred-petalled lotus flowers, planted this kadamba tree when it was a baby sapling with only two leaves. Now the sight of that same kadamba tree in full bloom violently attacks the gopis and causes them great pain.

A Hidden Secret

Tota Gopinatha is the Deity manifested by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and given to Sri Gadadhara Pandita to worship. He is the Deity in whom Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu entered at the time of His disappearance from this world. Outside and to the left of the temple as one approaches it, is the enchanting garden ( In the oriyan language,Tota means Garden ) where Mahaprabhu heard Srimad Bhagavatam from Gadadhara Pandita.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came here ( a remote area on the Cataka-Parvata sand dunes near the beach in puri) to hear Rasa Katha, and when He heard it He fainted is ecstacy . Both He and Gadadhara Pandita fainted. Gadadhara Pandita knew that by hearing from him, Mahaprabhu would be more enthusiastic to play 'Her ( Radha's )' part. Srimati Radhika is the Professor in the Universcity of Srimad-Bhagavatam, in the course of Rasa Tattva ( tasting its meanings).

There were three-and-a-half confidential associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu when visiting the Gambhira. Why was Sri Gadadhara Pandita not one of them after all he is superior to these others ?

This is a hidden secret and here is the answer.

If Sri Gadadhara Pandita was there, Mahaprabhu's mood of separation would not have manifested. In the association of Srimati Radhika (Gadadhara Pandit ) He would have thought Himself to be Krsna. Union not seepration would of been present.

One day, after hearing Srimad Bhagavatam, Mahaprabhu was siting on the sand at Cataka Parvata, which He considered to be Govardhana. He told Gadadhara Pandita, "Gadadhara, I want to give you My most valuable property. Will you accept it?" When Gadadhara Pandita agreed, Mahaprabhu said, "This is the property of My heart." He began removing the sand and said, "My prana-dhana (life and soul) is here.

In the mood of Srimati Radhika. He exposed Tota-Gopinatha's head and crown, and others then began to help reveal His form. Mahaprabhu then requested Sri Gadadhara Pandita, "You should take Him and serve Him throughout your life.

Mahaprabhu would daily go to the Tota Gardens to hear Srimad Bhagavatam and upon seeing the exquisite beauty of the Yameshwar Tota Garden , Lord Gauranga would immediately remember the divine Nikunjas around Radha-kund & Shyama-kunda in Vrindavava.

At the time of His disappearance Mahaprabhu entered the Tota-Gopinatha Deity. Mahaprabhu left the world at the age of 48 , when Sri Gadadhara Pandita was 47. Out of great separation, Gadhadara Pandita quickly became like an old man, lean and weak. In the mood of separation from Mahaprabhu, Sri Gadadhara Pandita soon after left this world.

Shyamasundar Madana-mohana Paramananda-kanda Sri Krishna ...Ki Jai

Hladini Shakti Svarupini, Mahabhava svarupini Vrishabhanu-nandini Sri Radha .....Ki Jai

Sri Ramacandra

appeared on earth 18,144 million years ago.

Rasgulla

Formerly, at the end of Dvapara-yuga, all the cowherd men of Vrindavan had arranged to worship King Indra, but they gave this worship up, following the advice of Krishna. Instead, they performed a ceremony whereby they worshiped the cows, brahmanas and Govardhana Hill. At that time Krishna expanded Himself and declared, “I am Govardhana Hill.” In this way He accepted all the paraphernalia and food offered to Govardhana Hill.

It is stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (10.24.26, 31–33): "Prepare very nice foods of all descriptions from the grains and ghee collected for the yajna. Prepare rice, dhal, then halavah, pakora, puri and all kinds of milk preparations like sweet rice, sweetballs, sandesa, rasagulla and laddu."

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, therefore advised the cowherd men to stop the Indra-yajna ( Sacrifice ) and begin the Govardhana-puja to chastise Indra, who was very much puffed up at being the supreme controller of the heavenly planets.

The honest and simple cowherd men, headed by Nanda Maharaja, accepted Krishna's’s proposal and executed in detail everything He advised. They performed Govardhana worship and circumambulation of the hill. According to the instruction of Lord Krishna, Nanda Maharaja and the cowherd men called in learned brahmanas and began to worship Govardhana Hill by chanting Vedic hymns and offering prasadam.

The inhabitants of Vrndavana assembled together, decorated their cows and gave them grass. Keeping the cows in front, they began to circumambulate Govardhana Hill.” C.C Madhya 4.86 purport

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Bangala ( Bengali ) Rasgulla Recipe
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Homemade cheese or paneer balls soaked in chilled sugar syrup.

Ingredients for 12 Rasgullas using a pressure cooker

4 cups milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 1/2 cups water

Method:

To make paneer or homemade cheese, heat the milk in a heavy pan on medium-high heat until the milk comes to a boil. Make sure to frequently stir the milk as it burns easily in bottom of the pan.

As the milk comes to a boil, add the lemon juice slowly and stir the milk gently. When the milk starts to curdle, turn off the heat. Once the milk fat has separated from the whey, strain the milk into a cheesecloth or muslin cloth.

Pour some cold water over the paneer to remove the flavor of the lemon juice. Now strain out the water, by squeezing the cloth. The water in the paneer needs to be squeezed just enough so that the paneer is not too dry.

Taking the water out of the paneer is the most important part of this recipe. To check if enough water is out of the paneer, take a little piece of paneer on your palm and rub with your fingers. After rubbing the paneer for about 15-20 seconds, you should be able to make a firm but smooth ball. If the paneer is too dry, add a few drops of water, using the squeezed-out water from the paneer.

Once the paneer is drained, place on a dry, clean surface and rub with your palm until the paneer becomes a smooth dough and your hands turn a little oily.

Divide the dough into 12 equal parts and roll them in smooth balls.To make the balls , you should apply some pressure at first and then release when forming the balls.

Mix the sugar and water in a pressure cooker on medium high heat and bring to a boil. Add the paneer balls and close the pressure cooker. After the pressure cooker starts steaming, turn the heat to medium and cook for about seven minutes. Make sure the pressure cooker is large enough to accommodate the finished Rasgullas as they will expand to about double their size while cooking in the syrup!

Close the heat and wait a few minutes before you open the pressure cooker. Before opening the pressure cooker, put cold water over the pressure cooker. After all the steam has escaped, open the pressure cooker. The Rasgullas should be little spongy.


Offer and Serve chilled.

Sex in the City

Since the body is a great city, there must be various arrangements such as lakes and gardens for sense enjoyment. Of the various parts of the body, those which incite sexual impulses are referred to here ( Canto 4 About the Character of King Puranjana) indirectly. Because the body has genitals, when the living entity attains the right age be he man or woman he becomes agitated by the sex impulse. As long as one remains a child, he is not agitated by seeing a beautiful woman. Although the sense organs are present, unless the age is ripe there is no sex impulse. The favorable conditions surrounding the sex impulse are compared here to a garden or a nice solitary park. When one sees the opposite sex, naturally the sex impulse increases. It is said that if a man in a solitary place does not become agitated upon seeing a woman, he is to be considered a brahmacari. But this practice is almost impossible. The sex impulse is so strong that even by seeing, touching or talking, coming into contact with, or even thinking of the opposite sex even in so many subtle ways one becomes sexually impelled. Consequently, a brahmacari or sannyasi is prohibited to associate with women, especially in a secret place. The sastras enjoin that one should not even talk to a woman in a secret place, even if she happens to be one’s own daughter, sister or mother. The sex impulse is so strong that even if one is very learned, he becomes agitated in such circumstances. If this is the case, how can a young man in a nice park remain calm and quiet after seeing a beautiful young woman? SB 4.25 Purport

It is said in the Manu-smriti that lust cannot be satisfied by any amount of sense enjoyment, just as fire is never extinguished by a constant supply of fuel. In the material world, the center of all activities is sex, and thus this material world is called maithunya-agara, or the shackles of sex life. In the ordinary prison house, criminals are kept within bars; similarly, the criminals who are disobedient to the laws of the Lord are shackled by sex life. Advancement of material civilization on the basis of sense gratification means increasing the duration of the material existence of a living entity. Therefore, this lust is the symbol of ignorance by which the living entity is kept within the material world. While one enjoys sense gratification, it may be that there is some feeling of happiness, but actually that so-called feeling of happiness is the ultimate enemy of the sense enjoyer.

Srila Viswanth Cakravarti Thakura specifically deals with the original and pure sex psychology (adi-rasa), devoid of all mundane inebriety. The whole material creation is moving under the principle of sex life. In modern civilization, sex life is the focal point for all activities. Wherever one turns his face, he sees sex life predominant. Therefore, sex life is not unreal. Its reality is experienced in the spiritual world. The material sex life is but a perverted reflection of the original fact. The original fact is in the Absolute Truth, and thus the Absolute Truth cannot be impersonal. It is not possible to be impersonal and contain pure sex life. Consequently, the impersonalist philosophers have given indirect impetus to the abominable mundane sex life because they have overstressed the impersonality of the ultimate truth. Consequently, man without information of the actual spiritual form of sex has accepted perverted material sex life as the all in all. There is a distinction between sex life in the diseased material condition and spiritual sex life.

Srimad-Bhagavatam will gradually elevate the unbiased reader to the highest perfectional stage of transcendence. It will enable him to transcend the three modes of material activities: fruitive actions, speculative philosophy, and worship of functional deities as inculcated in Vedic verses. SB 1.1.1 Purport

Sri Isopanishad

Invocation: The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.

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Everything animate or inanimate that is within the universe is controlled and owned by the Lord. One should therefore accept only those things necessary for himself, which are set aside as his quota, and one should not accept other things, knowing well to whom they belong.


One may aspire to live for hundreds of years if he continuously goes on working in that way, for that sort of work will not bind him to the law of karma. There is no alternative to this way for man.

The killer of the soul, whoever he may be, must enter into the planets known as the worlds of the faithless, full of darkness and ignorance.

Although fixed in His abode, the Personality of Godhead is swifter than the mind and can overcome all others running. The powerful demigods cannot approach Him. Although in one place, He controls those who supply the air and rain. He surpasses all in excellence.

The Supreme Lord walks and does not walk. He is far away, but He is very near as well. He is within everything, and yet He is outside of everything.

He who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord, who sees all living entities as His parts and parcels, and who sees the Supreme Lord within everything never hates anything or any being.

One who always sees all living entities as spiritual sparks, in quality one with the Lord, becomes a true knower of things. What, then, can be illusion or anxiety for him?

Such a person must factually know the greatest of all, the Personality of Godhead, who is unembodied, omniscient, beyond reproach, without veins, pure and uncontaminated, the self-sufficient philosopher who has been fulfilling everyone's desire since time immemorial.

Those who engage in the culture of nescient activities shall enter into the darkest region of ignorance. Worse still are those engaged in the culture of so-called knowledge.

The wise have explained that one result is derived from the culture of knowledge and that a different result is obtained from the culture of nescience.

Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death and enjoy the full blessings of immortality.

Those who are engaged in the worship of demigods enter into the darkest region of ignorance, and still more so do the worshipers of the impersonal Absolute.

It is said that one result is obtained by worshiping the supreme cause of all causes and that another result is obtained by worshiping what is not supreme. All this is heard from the undisturbed authorities, who clearly explained it.

One should know perfectly the Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna and His transcendental name, form, qualities and pastimes, as well as the temporary material creation with its temporary demigods, men and animals. When one knows these, he surpasses death and the ephemeral cosmic manifestation with it, and in the eternal kingdom of God he enjoys his eternal life of bliss and knowledge.

O my Lord, sustainer of all that lives, Your real face is covered by Your dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove that covering and exhibit Yourself to Your pure devotee.

O my Lord, O primeval philosopher, maintainer of the universe, O regulating principle, destination of the pure devotees, well-wisher of the progenitors of mankind, please remove the effulgence of Your transcendental rays so that I can see Your form of bliss. You are the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead, like unto the sun, as am I.

Let this temporary body be burnt to ashes, and let the air of life be merged with the totality of air. Now, O my Lord, please remember all my sacrifices, and because You are the ultimate beneficiary, please remember all that I have done for You.

O my Lord, as powerful as fire, O omnipotent one, now I offer You all obeisances, falling on the ground at Your feet. O my Lord, please lead me on the right path to reach You, and since You know all that I have done in the past, please free me from the reactions to my past sins so that there will be no hindrance to my progress.

Translated from Sanskrit by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Maharaj

Some 2,005,000 years ago

The Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna, said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvan, and Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Iksvaku. Bhagavad-gita 4.1

Excerpt from AC Bhaktivedanta swami maharaj's commentary;

“In the beginning of the millennium known as Treta-yuga this science of the relationship with the Supreme was delivered by Vivasvan to Manu. Manu, being the father of mankind, gave it to his son Maharaja Iksvaku, the king of this earth planet and forefather of the Raghu dynasty, in which Lord Rämacandra appeared.”

Therefore, Bhagavad-gita existed in human society from the time of Maharaja Iksvaku.At the present moment we have just passed through five thousand years of the Kali-yuga, which lasts 432,000 years. Before this there was Dvapara-yuga (800,000 years), and before that there was Treta-yuga (1,200,000 years). Thus, some 2,005,000 years ago, Manu spoke the Bhagavad-gita to his disciple and son Maharaja Iksvaku, the king of this planet earth. The age of the current Manu is calculated to last some 305,300,000 years, of which 120,400,000 have passed. Accepting that before the birth of Manu the Gita was spoken by the Lord to His disciple the sun-god Vivasvän, a rough estimate is that the Gita was spoken ; and in human society it has been extant for two million years. It was respoken by the Lord again to Arjuna about five thousand years ago. That is the rough estimate of the history of the Gita, according to the Gita itself and according to the version of the speaker, Lord Sri Krishna.

It was spoken to the sun-god Vivasvan because he is also a ksatriya ( warrior )and is the father of all ksatriyas who are descendants of the sun-god, or the surya-vamsa ksatriyas.

Because Bhagavad-gita is as good as the Vedas, being spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, this knowledge is apauruseya, superhuman. Since the Vedic instructions are accepted as they are, without human interpretation, the Gita must therefore be accepted without mundane interpretation. The mundane wranglers may speculate on the Gita in their own ways, but that is not Bhagavad-gita as it is. Therefore, Bhagavad-gita has to be accepted as it is, from the disciplic succession, and it is described herein that the Lord spoke to the sun-god, the sun-god spoke to his son Manu and Manu spoke to his son Iksvaku.

Karma-phala-prada

Lots of Karma

Fruitive activities are described: karma-pamanim mayam. The living entity is seated on a machine (the body), and according to the order of the Supreme Lord, he operates the machine. This is the secret of transmigration of the soul from one body to another. The living entity thus becomes entangled in fruitive activities in this material world enjoying or suffering the reactions of his own activities.

Note: Fruitive suggests performing activities with the intent of enjoying the results.

One should understand the nature of karma, vikarma and akarma, and one must act accordingly.

Prescribed duties authorized by revealed scripture are called karma (good karma), whereas the failure to execute one’s highest duty is called akarma (bad karma). The performance of forbidden activities is called vikarma (very bad karma).


The word Karma is used in a variety of ways in Bhagavad-Geeta, Mahabharata, Bhagavatam etc..

Bhima-karma ....one who performs herculean tasks
Karma-bandham ....bondage as a reaction to ones activities
janma-karma-phala-pradam ....resulting in good birth and other fruitive reactions

Karma Kanda ...Recommended activities to be performed as to gain material prosperity ...this section of the Vedas is called the Karma Kanda section.

Karma-phala ...found within in the result of the work.
Karrma-jam ....due to fruitive activities
Karma-Yoga ...Service for the cause of the Lord is called karma-yoga or buddhi-yoga, or in plain words, devotional service to the Lord.

Karma-yogena...by the linking process of devotion
Karma-indriyani ... the five active sense organs
Yajnartha-karma ... the necessity of work for the satisfaction of Krishna only,
Karma-sanginam ... attached to fruitive work
Karma-yogam ..devotion
Karma-ja ...from fruitive work.
Karma-phale ... in fruitive action
Karma-jan ... born of work
Karma-sannyasat... in comparison to the renunciation of fruitive work
Mat-karma-krt ... engaged in doing My work ( Krishna said this to Arjuna in the Geeta)


Karma-krt ...although engaged in all activities.
Karma-phala-asangam ... attachment for fruitive results
Krishna Karma...work done in relationship to Krishna.
Karma-phala-tyagah ... renunciation of the results of fruitive action
Karma-sangena ... by association with fruitive activity
Karma-sangisu ... in the association of those engaged in fruitive activities
Karma suddham .. purification of work
Karma-gatayah ...in terms of the work performed
Karma-vasanah ... desire for fruitive work
Karma-tantram ... the law of action and reaction

Guna-karma-yonau ... unto the cause of the material modes and activities
Karma-jah ... generated by different work.
Karma-bijam ... seed of worldly activity
Karma-parah ... interested in working
Karma-karih ...maidservants
Karma-dosaih ... by faulty actions
Sva-karma-krt is one who engages in discharging his prescribed duties without interruption.

Karma-vicestitam ... whose activities
Karma-padavim ... the path of fruitive activities
Karma-mayyam ... formed of fruitive activities

If anyone desires to engage himself fully in devotional service, the Lord gives him full facilities, and the devotee enjoys the results. The Lord is therefore known as karma-phala-prada.

Karma-saksinah ... witnesses for the sacrifice
Karma-atisayam ... excelling in fruitive activities
Karma-bandha-phansa ... entanglement in fruitive activities.
Karma-vinirmitam ... manufactured by fruitive activities
Karma-kanda-vicara ... Persons who are addicted to working for future happiness through fruitive activities

Karma-ksetram .... the field of activities
Karma-visuddhah ... very pure in their activities
Karma-vasam ... subjugated by fruitive activities
Karma-mudhan ... simply engaged in pious or impious activities
Karma-arabdham ... the resultant action now attained
Karma-codana ... of the rules of fruitive activity
Karma-anusthanena ...the performance of activities
Karma-vallim ...the creeper of fruitive activities
Karma-parvanim ... which ties the knots of fruitive activity

akarma-hetum ... the cause of the end of fruitive activities
akarmani ... refers to one who is trying to avoid the reactions of karma

Naiskarma ... means activities that will not produce good or bad material reactions. This type of activitiy is transcendental and pleasing to the Lord.

Patita-Pavana Gaura Hari

A name of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu ....He who has compassion for all souls, delivering them from Samsara ( The blazing fire of material existence).

Every one of them

There are innumerable material universes, and in each and every universe there are innumerable planets inhabited by different grades of living entities in different modes of nature. The Lord (Viṣhnu) incarnates Himself in each and every one of them and in each and every type of living society. He manifests His transcendental pastimes amongst them just to create the desire to go back to Godhead. The Lord does not change His original transcendental position, but He appears to be differently manifested according to the particular time, circumstances and society.

Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Ch 2 Text 33......ACBSP

Everything is useless

"I shall neither speak nor hear of other topics. I shall do everything for the highest purpose. I pray that I may always long to hear about the pastimes of my beloved Radha-Madhava. Other than this, everything is useless.”

Prema-Bhakti-Candrika 101

Basic Training

Vaishnava's who have been Initiated promised to follow these four basic regulative principles.

No Eating of Meat, Fish, or Eggs
No Gambling
No Intoxication
No Illicit Sex

These regulative principles are based on the four pillars of religion: Truth (satyam or honesty), Austerity (tapah or self-discipline), cleanliness (saucam or purity), and mercy (daya or compassion).

NO CHEATING. If you do fall prey to the senses you will then need to approach your living spiritual master and present your case. He will out of compassion pray to Lord Nityananda to not hold you responsible for breaking your vow and will accept the karmic reaction himself.. If he is truly a pure devotee the reaction will burn up and begone with out a problem.

If your living guru is no longer here on the planet , you must approach a pure Siksha Guru so you can again get situated properly and make further progress. Don't be a fool and think that you can make offense and spiritual progress side by side. It might look good on the surface but the heart will not change and that is the point of the Krishna Consciousness philosophy.

Back to home, back to Godhead.

MahaTattva

I am not sure if I am man or woman

The beginning of spiritual education is understanding that every one of us is not the material body. Unfortunately the whole world is in darkness, and therefore every embodied being is identifying with this body and thinking wrongly, “I am Indian,” “I am American,” I am Man," "I am Woman," "I am not sure if I am man or woman," " I am dog, cat, bird," “I am brahmana,” “I am this,” “I am that.” To drive away this misconception of life is actually manava-dharma. We must know for certain that we are not this body but spirit soul, and as such, we are part and parcel of God and therefore qualitatively one with God, exactly like a small particle of gold is also gold as is the gold from the big gold mine. This is very elaborately described in the Bhagavad-gita, and if we accept these principles of Bhagavad-gita as manava-dharma, then the whole world will benefit.

Untouched by matter

Because it is the home of the cows and cowherd people, Lord Krsna’s abode is called by the name "Goloka" (the world of the cows), and because it is untouched by matter and therefore is supremely pure, it is also called by the name "Svetadvipa" (the white island). Some few wise souls in this world know that this is the supreme, the highest realm. Therefore the transcendental Goloka and the transcendental Svetadvipa both mentioned in the Brahma-samhita verse 30 are one and the same.

Gopal Campu -Text 40 ..-Jeeva Goswami

This tight knot of false ego is due to ignorance. As long as one is ignorant about his identity, he is sure to act wrongly and thereby become entangled in material contamination. This ignorance of factual knowledge can also be dissipated by Krsna consciousness, as is confirmed in the Padma Purana as follows: "Pure devotional service in Krsna consciousness is the highest enlightenment, and when such enlightenment is there, it is just like a blazing forest fire, killing all the inauspicious snakes of desire." The example is being given in this connection that when there is a forest fire the extensive blazing automatically kills all the snakes in the forest. There are many, many snakes on the ground of the forest, and when a fire takes place, it burns the dried foliage, and the snakes are immediately attacked. Animals who have four legs can flee from the fire or can at least try to flee, but the snakes are immediately killed. Similarly, the blazing fire of Krsna consciousness is so strong that the snakes of ignorance are immediately killed.

- AC Bhaktivedanta Swami ...Nectar of Devotion

Girid Hari Gopinath Madana Mohana

There is an entity who has the appearance of an adolescent boy, and who is being inundated with desire-tree flowers falling from the fingertips of the damsels of heaven. That boy is completely carefree, situated in transcendental beatitude, as He sends forth waves of sound from His famed flute. He is encircled by thousands of effulgent milkmaids, whose garments are becoming loose again and again (from their extreme pleasure at hearing the flute) and who are trying to hold them up. That adolescent boy, the pinnacle of munificence, places liberation from birth and death into the hands of His surrendered devotees.

Sri Krishna-karnamrita .Text 3 ....- Srila Bilvamangala Thakur

Such a nice little boy

Abraham Lincoln wrote the following letter to the Headmaster of the school in which his son was to attend. It contains good advice, which is stll relevant and reminded me very much of Srila Prabhupad.

As Devotees (teachers by example) we can gain tremendously by taking Abe's advice to heart. Being a teacher is a great responsibility and should always be taken very seriously.

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Dear Teacher,

“My son starts school today. It is all going to be strange and new to him for a while and I wish you would treat him gently. It is an adventure that might take him across continents. All adventures that probably include wars, tragedy and sorrow. To live this life will require faith, love and courage.

So dear Teacher, will you please take him by his hand and teach him things he will have to know, teaching him - but gently, if you can. Teach him that for every enemy, there is a friend. He will have to know that all men are not just, that all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero, that for every crooked politician, there is a dedicated leader.

Teach him if you can that 10 cents earned is of far more value than a dollar found. In school teacher, teach him it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat. Teach him to learn how to gracefully lose, and enjoy winning when he does win. Teach him to be gentle with people, tough with tough people. Steer him away from envy if you can and teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Teach him if you can - how to laugh when he is sad, teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him there can be glory in failure and despair in success. Teach him to scoff at cynics and to be beware of too much praise.

Teach him if you can the wonders of books, but also give time to ponder the extreme mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on a green hillside. Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if every one tells him he is wrong. Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone else is getting on the bandwagon. Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob.. and stand and fight if he thinks he is right.

Teach him to listen to every one, but teach him also to filter all that he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through. Teach him to sell his brawn and brains to the highest bidder but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul. Treat him gently, but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel. Let him have the courage to be impatient, let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will always have sublime faith in mankind, and in God. This is the order, teacher but see what best you can do. He is such a nice little boy and he is my son.
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Note: It has been brought to our attention that this letter may have not been composed by Abe Lincoln.

Our intention for posting this letter was based on the substance of the letter and not necessarily the author's famous standing in American history. Whom ever is the actual author, he or she, has written such a nice letter that we will surely benefit by reading it.

We must think for ourselves

The Bhagavata teaches us that God gives us truth as He gave it to Vyasa: when we earnestly seek for it.

Truth is eternal and unexhausted. The soul receives a revelation when anxious for it. The souls of the great thinkers of the bygone ages, who now live spiritually, often approach our inquiring spirit and assist in its development. Thus Vyasa was assisted by Narada and Brahma.

Our Shastras, or in other words, books of thought, do not contain all that we could get from the infinite Father.

No book is without its errors.

God's revelation is absolute truth, but it is scarcely received and preserved in its natural purity. We have been advised in the 14th Chapter of 11th Skandha of the Bhagavata to believe that truth when revealed is absolute, but it gets the tincture of the nature of the receiver in course of time and is converted into error by continual exchange of hands from age to age. New revelations, therefore, are continually necessary in order to keep truth in its original purity. We are thus warned to be careful in our studies of old authors, however wise they are reputed to be.

Here we have full liberty to reject the wrong idea, which is not sanctioned by the peace of conscience. Vyasa was not satisfied with what he collected in the Vedas, arranged in the Puranas and composed in the Mahabharata. The peace of his conscience did not sanction his labors. It told him from within, "No, Vyasa! You cannot rest contented with the erroneous picture of truth which was necessarily presented to you by the sages of bygone days. You must yourself knock at the door of the inexhaustible store of truth from which the former ages drew their wealth. Go, go up to the fountainhead of truth, where no pilgrim meets with disappointment of any kind." Vyasa did it and obtained what he wanted. We have been all advised to do so.

Liberty then is the principle which we must consider as the most valuable gift of God. We must not allow ourselves to be led by those who lived and thought before us. We must think for ourselves and try to get further truths which are still undiscovered. In the Bhagavata we have been advised to take the spirit of the Shastras and not the words. The Bhagavata is therefore a religion of liberty, unmixed truth and absolute love. - Bhaktivinoda Thakur

Confessed to having doubts

Knowledge is like the sun, while all scriptures are only its rays. No single scripture could possibly contain all knowledge. The personal realizations (svatah siddha-jnana) of the jivas are the basis of all scripture. These realizations should be recognized as the gifts of God Himself. The perceptive Rishis obtained this self-evident knowledge directly from the Supreme Brahman and wrote it down for the benefit of other jivas. A fractional portion of this knowledge has taken form as the Veda.

A conditioned soul is advised to study the Veda with the help of all these explanations. But even with the help of these explanations, he should still examine them in the light of his own self-evident knowledge (or personal realizations), because the authors of these explanatory literatures and commentaries are not always clear in their meaning. In some cases, commentators have confessed to having doubts about their own understanding. Therefore the Katha Upanishad (2.5) says:

avidyayam antare vartmanahsvayam dhirah panditam manyamanahdandramyamanah pariyanti mudhahandhenaiva niyamana yathandhah

"Abiding in the midst of ignorance, thinking themselves wise and learned, fools go aimlessly hither and thither, like blind led by the blind."

Therefore, it is necessary to cultivate knowledge in the light of one's own personal realizations. This is the rule governing scriptural study. Since knowledge born of personal realization is the root of all the scriptures, how can we expect to gain benefit by ignoring it and depending exclusively on the scriptures, which are the branches growing out of it?
- Bhaktivinoda Thakur

Gopi Butter

How the gopis made their butter some 5,000 years ago is still made the same way today in Braj.

The butter is actually not made from the cream of milk. The milk is turned into yogurt first. That yogurt is then churned into butter. What comes out of it is butter milk and butter. It is actually proclaimed by health experts that butter made from the cream of the milk contains bad cholesterol, whereas butter made from yogurt contains good cholesterol.

We had an opportunity to taste some of this delicious butter milk, flavoured with crushed roasted cumin seeds and slightly salted and I must say that it was very refreshing and soothing. We also partook of cowherd chapatis, which are made not with a rolling pin but flattened out by hand, therefore thicker and were also very tasty and satisfying.

Charm of youthful innocence

When the gopis went to associate with Krsna, Yogamaya presented duplicates of the gopis' forms before their husbands. In this way the husbands thought their wives were always with them, and they never became jealous of Krsna. Bewildered by the Lord's yogamaya potency, the vrajavasis who sere the gopis' so-called husbands thought their wives were staying by their side. They did not know that their wives had gone to Krsna, and therefore they were not jealous of Krsna.

Kanyaka (unmarried Gopis): The young unmarried gopis were still under the protection of their parents. They were absorbed in childhood games with their friends. They were shy and possessed all the charm of youthful innocence. These young girls, headed by the gopi Dhanya, devotedly followed an austere vow to please the goddess Durga and get Krsna as their husband. Krsna later fulfilled their desire, and in this way they became the dear lovers of Krsna. My dear friend, you are only a tiny child, intently playing in the dust without even a shirt. You are so young that your cowherd father has not even begun to search for your future husband. Even though you are so young, now that you hear the warbling sounds of peacock-feather crowned Krsna in Vrndavana forest, you are trembling, and your eyes are rolling about in ecstatic love.

Just a glimpse from the book Sri Ujjvala-Nilamani of Rupa Goswami

There is another Sky

Lord Caitanya is called "the golden avatara." Avatara means "descending, coming down." Just as one may come down from the fifth story or the one-hundredth story of a building, an avatara comes down from the spiritual planets in the spiritual sky. The sky we see with our naked eyes or with a telescope is only the material sky. But beyond this there is another sky, which is not possible to see with our eyes or instruments. That information is in the Bhagavad-gita; it is not imagination. Krsna says that beyond the material sky is another sky, the spiritual sky.

Material Life ... Ah cha

The ambiguous head shake and other mannerisms. Brilliant.

Indians do not nod yes and shake no... This may stem from some aversion to committing too completely to any one course of action, since all things are fated and one can never be sure what one will do, or because it's never prudent to make promises, or because a betrayal of eagerness is the worst way to begin negotiating...

Facing forward, with your head in a relaxed position, tilt your head loosely from side to side, as though it is wobbling on the topmost vertebrae of your spine with the springy motion of one of those sad-looking bobble head dolls people fix to the dashboards of cars..

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Customer: ...Kitna hoga, Bhaisahib
Autowallah: Pifty rupees.

Customer: Pifty! Er... Fifty! Bis dengey (I'll give you twenty).
Autowallah: Porty.

Customer: (He is like that only).
Autowallah: (You are like that only!)

Humor provided by Manish