The Supreme Enjoyer

Rasika Mukuta mani Sri Syamasundhara

Sri Krsna who's complexion resembles a dark monsoon cloud, who stands in a three fold bending way playing on his flute, is the crown jewel of all Rasa. He plants the seeds of Rasa and waters them, then without any reservation enjoys all the fruit when they become extremely ripe.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu who is non other than Radha and Krsna combined appeared in this world along with his associates, just to distribute freely the seeds that fell out of those extremely sweet and juicy fruits.

It is said in the Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya-lila 19.151: "After wandering throughout the universe for unlimited births, the Jiva (Individual Soul) becomes fortunate when by the mercy of guru and Krsna(Supersoul) he receives the seed of Devotion."

Under the guidance of ones guru the seed of devotion becomes mature and the fruit of pure devotion begins to ripen. Krsna being attracted picks the ripened fruit and enjoys it, after all he is "Rasika Mukuta mani Sri Syamasundhara" the Supreme enjoyer. - AJD

White Jasmine Flowers

Sri Kundadanti

(Lovely Radharani, whose teeth are white like Kunda flowers)

Rain was Created

Sri Radha began to play on her Vallaki-Vina, holding it in her lotus like hands as Krsna held his Hamsika-Flute in his lotus hands. It was if they wanted to defeat each other in expertise in singing and playing musical instruments. Their music turned stone into water. That's quite normal, but even the stone like hearts of the sages in Satyaloka, that were absorbed in non dual meditation, melted and poured down to earth. That was most amazing!

(rain was created because the Vina and the Murali-flute played the Mallara Raga, which is played during the monsoon season)

- Visvanath Cakravarty Thakur -

Sri Bhagavan uvaca:

" I am the taste of water,

the light of the sun and the moon,
the syllable oḿ in the Vedic mantras;
the sound in ether
ability in man
original fragrance of the earth,
the heat in fire.
the life of all that lives,
the penances of all ascetics
the original seed of all existences,
the intelligence of the intelligent,
the prowess of all powerful men
strength of the strong, devoid of passion and desire.
sex life which is not contrary to religious principles
the Supersoul seated in the hearts of all living entities.

the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings.

of the Ādityas I am Viṣṇu,
of lights I am the radiant sun,
of the Maruts I am Marīci,
among the stars I am the moon.
of the Vedas I am the Sāma Veda
of the demigods I am Indra, the king of heaven
of the senses I am the mind;
in living beings I am the living force [consciousness].
of all the Rudras I am Lord Śiva,
of the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas I am the Lord of wealth [Kuvera],
of the Vasus I am fire [Agni],
of mountains I am Meru.
of priests, know Me to be the chief, Bṛhaspati.
of generals I am Kārtikeya,
of bodies of water I am the ocean.
of the great sages I am Bhṛgu;
of vibrations I am the transcendental oḿ.of sacrifices I am the chanting of the holy names [japa],
of immovable things I am the Himālayas.
of all trees I am the banyan tree
of the sages among the demigods I am Nārada.
of the Gandharvas I am Citraratha,
among perfected beings I am the sage Kapila.
of horses know Me to be Uccaiḥśravā,
of lordly elephants I am Airāvata,
among men I am the monarch.
of weapons I am the thunderbolt;
among cows I am the surabhi.
of causes for procreation I am Kandarpa, the god of love,
of serpents I am Vāsuki.
of the many-hooded Nāgas I am Ananta,
among the aquatics I am the demigod Varuṇa.
of departed ancestors I am Aryamā,
among the dispensers of law I am Yama, the lord of death.
among the Daitya demons I am the devoted Prahlāda,
among subduers I am time,
among beasts I am the lion,
among birds I am Garuḍa.
of purifiers I am the wind,
of the wielders of weapons I am Rāma,
of fishes I am the shark,
of flowing rivers I am the Ganges.
of all creations I am the beginning and the end and also the middle,
of all sciences I am the spiritual science of the self,
among logicians I am the conclusive truth.
of letters I am the letter A,
among compound words I am the dual compound.
I am also inexhaustible time,
of creators I am Brahmā.
I am all-devouring death,
I am the generating principle of all that is yet to be.
Among women I am fame, fortune, fine speech, memory, intelligence, steadfastness and patience.
of the hymns in the Sāma Veda I am the Bṛhat-sāma,
of poetry I am the Gāyatrī.
of months I am Mārgaśīrṣa [November-December]
of seasons I am flower-bearing spring.
I am also the gambling of cheats
of the splendid I am the splendor.
I am victory,
I am adventure,
I am the strength of the strong.
of the descendants of Vṛṣṇi I am Vāsudeva,
of the Pāṇḍavas I am Arjuna.
of the sages I am Vyāsa,
among great thinkers I am Uśanā.
Among all means of suppressing lawlessness I am punishment,
of those who seek victory I am morality.
of secret things I am silence
of the wise I am the wisdom.
I am the generating seed of all existences.
There is no being — moving or nonmoving — that can exist without Me"

One evening in Srila Prabhupad's room he said: "when preaching just tell the truth..that is preaching. Not everyone wants to hear the truth. Sometime animosity will arise but the truth will be appreciated by those persons sincerely wanting it. The truth must be spoken ! People are looking for something. When you speak of restrictions (no meat eating, no intoxication, no gambling, no illicit sex) some become angry. They don’t want to give up. They want to have cake and eat it to. The risk is there when preaching that some will not care for us.

Follow the rules and take Krishna, that is our message! Naturally everyone is pure so this restriction is not such a difficult thing."

PinchaBhusana
Krishna who is adorned with a peacock feather.

I ran to Tehran

Srila Prabhupad stayed at the Krishna Balaram Mandir in Vrindaban in the summer of 1976. I was also there during that time. S.P. gave Srimad Bhagawatam class during the morning program frequently. During one class he said some things that stirred up some of the disciples, including myself. He said if you want to chant without offense, don’t try to chant all day in Vrindaban. Instead, leave Vrindaban and go and preach. In that way you will be able to chant without offense. I felt S.P. talking to me especially because I for a few weeks before that class chanted 64 rounds (mechanical) per day, most done before mangal arotik. This was from the suggestion of a Godbrother. Srila Prabhupad obviously had a different point of view.

After the class was over some devotees, myself included, were inspired to leave Vrindaban and go to another temple and preach. I got the idea to go to Tehran in Iran. This was partly due to misplacing my return ticket back to New York.

I went to stay at the Temple in New Delhi to arrange travel to Iran. I met some English people downtown New Delhi. They were planning to take a bus from New Delhi to Tehran in a week. The one way fare was $35.00. They agreed to let me join the bus group.

For the next several days I went to the Delhi airport and asked the people waiting for planes to give a contribution for my trip. After about 4 or 5 days collecting, I had enough money for the bus fare and for other travel expenses.

During that time S.P. visited the Delhi Temple. A preaching program in a city north of Delhi was being planned. Some of the disciples accompanying S.P. were Hansadutta (then sannyas), Yasoda Nandana(then sannyas)and Gopal Krishna .

I remember one of the breakfast meals. It was kittri mixed with potatoes and also lime wedge on the side. YasodaNandana asked for some ghee to mix in with the kittri.

On one morning, after breakfast prasad, the disciples except for me went to do service. They left the temple compound. For some reason I stayed behind, planning to go to the airport later. I was walking in the area near S.P.’s room when all of a sudden I heard a voice that sounded like thunder or like someone speaking with a muffled megaphone. I was frightened because the sound was unexpected What I heard was, “Bring Gopal here.” I could understand that S.P. spoke those words. I thought he wanted to speak to Gopal Krishna Maharaj. I walked all around the compound. No one was there. I went back to from where I heard the voice. I was afraid to go in S.P.’s room because the sound frightened me. Was he in ecstasy calling for Gopal or ? I am so fallen ( my heart beating fast like a big Mrdunga) I cannot disturb him is what I was thinking at the time. I shouted: “ I can’t find Gopal Krishna Maharaj.” Then I went to the airport.

A few days later I met the bus in Delhi. The trip began. We traveled through the following countries: India , Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. In those days terrorism was not as much a problem so travel to those counties was permitted. I brought along a Mahabharat and did spend time reading it while traveling.

I felt I was protected on the trip because I was serving S.P. by carrying out his instructions. The mountain roads in Afghanistan in the area of the Khyber Pass were steep narrow and filled with curves. It was dangerous. At certain points on the windy mountain roads the outer wheels would hang off the cliff and we could here and see boulders falling and crashing in the valleys. I rode on the roof of the bus a few times but mostly inside. Also there was a problem near a village in the Punjab area. Some boys threw rocks at the bus. The bus leader took a rifle and threatened the boys with it. The boys went away. Also on the border between Afghanistan and Iran there was a problem. The border guards spent a long time searching the bus for drugs because most the people on the bus were English. (The 70's was the Hippie era)

We arrived in Tehran and I went to live in the Temple. I stayed there for four months. For 3½ months I taught English class to army personnel. The highlight of my stay there was during the last two weeks There was only one hotel in the city that accepted Europeans and American. It was called Amir Kabir. I used to go there every afternoon for two weeks to try to distribute books to the guests of the hotel. It was about 2 miles from the Temple to the hotel. I would walk there and back each day. The streets were full of young men rushing around and many women with their heads covered. On some street corners men sold roasted pistachio nuts that I would buy and offer to Krishna. I was focused that I was doing everything on behalf of S.P. From that, I felt satisfied. I would go the hotel lobby and try to interest a guest in the book and to buy it. I did not sell any books but I remained satisfied thinking I was a servant of S.P.

Harer Nama das (acbsp)

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