Sit Properly

Hariboooooooooooooo! and Happy Halloween, folks!

In honor of this fun little day, I thought that I’d post the Ravindra Svarupa prabhu lecture all about the Vedic view of ghosts. Ever wonder what we Hare Krishnas think about ghosts and the afterlife? Here it is!

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(19MB – 56mins)

Also, here is a web page written by a devotee that is all about ghosts.

[In the comments, there is a summary of what the Garuda Purana has to say about ghosts.]

I’ve been looking around for the complete text of the Garuda Purana, but have been unable to find anything more than “Part One.” There is a part two and possibly part three. But I’d much rather have it in book form. Can anyone help?

A few days ago, Hrishikesh prabhu posted “An English Version” of the Damodar Prayers as penned by True Peace. As I read it, two really weird things popped into my bald little head.

1) “Oh my GOD! I remember singing the Damodarastakam in English!!” [Totally didn't remember that!]

and

2) “This isn’t it!”

Way back in the fall of 1994, I was in Columbus, Ohio. It was the “month of Damodar” so we would sing the Damodarastakam. However, Malati prabhu would have us sing it in English.

Now, keep in mind, it was maybe only a year since they took off the monks robes and went to the ISKCON style program. However, some things hung on. The English Damodar Prayers was one of them.

I emailed a friend of mine who was around well before this and asked her if I was crazy. Turns out, I wasn’t (at least not for this reason).

From her memory, this is what she wrote…

Oh Damodar Krsna, Your mother in silk
while You were a napping was churning the milk
Oh Damodara Krsna, on You the world rests
yet You rest on Yashoda and suckle her breast

Oh Damodar Krsna Your childhood play
is sweeter than nectar, I’ll drink it each day

Oh Damodar Krsna, cheeks bimba fruit red
???

That was all she could remember.

Now… could some kind soul PLEASE post the rest of this? She remembered that it was in the Damodar coloring book. I remember those and I’m betting they were New Vrndavana produced. Anyone still have it?

Srila Prabhupada was always very against our farms using tractors.

But, perhaps if he saw this, he would have changed his mind…

In the late 70’s and early 80s, ISKCON released a 20 tape series of kirtans and bhajans. As far as I know, none of these were released on any of the classic ISKCON records. Neither have they been released to CD.

But I have them all and hope to flood you with them at least once a week.

I don’t know the history of them and most don’t have covers or any production credits or dates. So it’s just the music. Ok? Ok!

Some caveats: The sound quality isn’t great. These are from old tapes recorded by devotees. Quality wasn’t a priority. Also, they’re MP3s encoded at 128kbs – not the highest quality. But listenable.

I’m not going to give you a track-by-track review on most of them. I wont do previews either. These are just tapes.

I’ll try to post one every Saturday. This is in addition to the Classic ISKCON Vinyl series that will show up on every Ekadasi.

The first one is…

KT-01 Srila Prabhupada Leads Kirtan
01 – Srila Prabhupada – Samsara Dava Part I (Kirtana #1)
02 – Srila Prabhupada – Samsara Dava Part II (Kirtana #2)
03 – Srila Prabhupada – Govinda Jaya Jaya Part I (Kirtana #3)
04 – Srila Prabhupada – Govinda Jaya Jaya Part II (Kirtana #4)
05 – Srila Prabhupada – Samsara Dava (Kirtana #5)
06 – Srila Prabhupada – Govinda Jaya Jaya (Kirtana #6)

Since the first one is all Srila Prabhupada, there’s a chance that it was released on CD. I don’t know for sure if it has been. If anyone knows, tell me.

Also, like the Classic ISKCON Vinyl, these will only be up for a short while. Two weeks at most. And then I’ll take them down to make room for others. If anyone else would like to host them, let me know I’ll link to you.

Here’s a list of all the tapes…

I wrote this today. I don’t want to give it too much introduction. So I won’t. Today I did a lot of thinking and wound up fairly angry. I don’t like being angry, so I wrote a bit about it to let it out. I considered not posting it, but I think I should be myself.

Dear _____________,

You sat so idly by supposedly absorbed in Krishna consciousness as their world collapsed around them. You said you didn’t know. They actually counted on your promises, your word. You said that when you give your word, you give your life. When will at least one of them come true?

How can you sit there while literally hundreds worship you? Maybe thousands. How? Do you know you’re duping them? Or have you deceived yourself as well?

You left behind you a swath of spiritual mutilation, and even if you didn’t cause it, you did nothing to help them pick up the pieces. You stood by saying nothing, giving your silent acquiescence. With one word, you could have changed so much. With the power you have, you could have helped so many. But you didn’t. And you don’t. And as much as I’m praying that you will, I don’t think you really care.

The devotee in me offers obeisances unto you, while the human in me hopes there’s a special place in hell with your name on it.

Tomorrow will bring a happier post. Maybe even a happy surprise. Would you like that?

I was looking over the Vaisnava calendar to find out just when Govardhana puja falls this year (it’s Nov. 10th, btw) and I noticed Dwali/Dipavali is the day before. I looked around at some temple websites and saw that most are advertising Dwali celebrations. There’s little mention of Govardhana puja.

When I joined up, I don’t think we celebrated Diwali or Dipavali. It was Govardhana puja only. Diwali was some Hindu holiday with lights or something.

So I’ve got a few questions here. When did we (as ISKCON devotees … or maybe as Gaudia Vaisnavas in general) start officially celebrating Diwali? Did Srila Prabhupada even mention celebrating Diwali? If not, why do we do it? I figured that it was Govardhana puja-centric.

Lately, I’ve seen a few devotees (Jayadwaita and Danavir Maharajas specifically) lobby for the style of kirtana that Srila Prabhupada taught us. That’s fine. But I don’t see the same when talking about the festivals. Maybe I’m missing it.

Ok, I’ll confess, I’m not stupid. I know why we celebrate the Hindu festivals like Diwali and Sivratri. It brings in the Hindus, brings in the cash (cha-ching!) and it’s easy. Much easier than raising money like we used to.

If we change back to the old kirtanas, we don’t lose any money. But if we stop celebrating the Hindu festivals and the “car poojas,” there’s a chance that the dough won’t flow. Is that really what’s important?

One thing we really need to keep in mind when we cater to “the Hindus” is that we are not making them better devotees. We are making them better Hindus. And that is not our philosophy.

Hare Krishna!

I have a segment on my blog where I take a Gita verse or two and post the translations from four different Gaudia Vaisnava Bhagavad-gitas. I use Srila Prabhupada’s, Tripurari Swami’s, Narayana Maharaja’s and Garuda dasa’s. While all four are accepted by different Gaudia Vaisnavas, it’s really nice to see the harmony in them. It’s also nice to learn how they differ. Maybe it’s some of that “unity in diversity” jazz.

I don’t do this to say “this Bhagavad-gita is better than that Bhagavad-gita!” And I don’t do this to stir, create, tickle or otherwise agitate controversy.

Today’s verse is Bhagavad-gita 18.55. This is a pretty well known one, so it should be fun to hear it from four different personalities. Let’s go!

Chapter 18, Text 55

One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. And when one is in fully consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.
-Srila Prabhupada

Through devotion to me he comes to know who I am in truth. Thereafter, having understood the truth about me, he enters my abode.
-Tripurari Swami

It is only by bhakti that he can know the tattva of My glories and svarupa. He then enters My eternal pastimes through that tattva on the strength of prema-bhakti.
-Narayana Maharaja

By offering love
    one recognizes
    me fully and
    who I am in truth.
Once knowing
    me in truth,
    one comes to me
    immediately.
-Garuda dasa (Graham M. Schweig)

Well how about that. Four very different translations of the same verse. This is what “Four Gitas, One Verse” is all about.

Let’s take the first part. Srila Prabhupada says that one can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by devotional service. He is using third person, while all of the other Gitas are using first person. In Prabhupada’s word-for-word, he translates the sanskrit word “mam” as “Me,” just like the other Gitas do. But for some reason, Srila Prabhupada thought this verse was important enough to have it stand out as a direct instruction.

In the verses before and the verses after, Prabhupada translates Krishna speaking in first person. This verse alone is He speaking in third person. Interesting. The meaning is, of course, the same.

Moving on, Srila Prabhupada says that it is by “devotional service” (his translation of “bhaktya”)that we can understand the “Supreme Personality.” Tripurari Swami simply says “devotion.” Narayana Maharaja, as is often the case in his Gita, uses many sanskrit words. This, I feel, can make reading his Gita a bit daunting. Nevertheless, he translates “bhaktya” as “through bhakti.”

Gaurada prabhu’s Gita says that we can “recognize” Krishna “by offering love.”

So we have “devotional service,” “devotion,” “bhakti,” and “offering love.” I wish that Garuda prabhu’s word-for-word were available (I understand that that’s not the nature of his Gita, and that’s perfectly fine, but it would still be fun to have it). “Offering love” to me seems a bit of an over-simplification. I’m not really sure why he chose that wording.

Also an oddity is how Narayana Maharaja translates “yavan” as “how great is My opulence.” Srila Prabhupada and Tripurari Swami, on the other hand, in their word-for-word, both translate “yavan” as “as much as,” which is much different from “how great is My opulence.” However, both Srila Prabhupada and Tripurari Swami seem to leave out “as much as” from the actual verse itself (as does Garuda prabhu).

In the next part of the verse, Srila Prabhupada translates, “And when one is fully conscious of the Supreme Lord….” Tripurari Swami has it as, “…having understood the truth about me….” While Garuda prabhu writes, “Once knowing me in truth….” Narayana Maharaja, once again with a slightly different angle. In his word-for-word, he uses the words “having understood” and “truth,” like Tripurari Swami and similar to Srila Prabhupada and Garuda prabhu. However, in his actual translation of the verse, it’s difficult (at least for me) to understand where he translates, “through that tattva on the strength of prema-bhakti.”

What he is saying is most definitely true, I just don’t understand how he got that from even his own word-for-word translation.

This entire part of the verse is a bit of a mystery to me. “He then enters My eternal pastimes through that tattva on the strength of prema-bhakti.” To get “eternal pastimes” he translates “mam” in the second half of the verse as “Me (My nitya-lila).” Tripurari Swami and Srila Prabhupada both translate it as simply “Me.” Garuda prabhu clearly does as well.

I am not trying to say that Narayana Maharaja is mistaken or wrong or anything like that. I’m just showing how different his translation of this verse is.

Srila Prabhupada takes the second half of the verse as, “And when one is in fully consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.” Tripurari Swami: “Thereafter, having understood the truth about me, he enters my abode.” And Garuda prabhu: “Once knowing me in truth, one comes to me immediately.”

They are all basically saying the same thing. When one fully understands Krishna he enters Krishna’s abode, he is with Krishna. However, one thing is a bit of a mystery to me. While each translation states that there is an “abode” or “kingdom of God,” none of the word-for-words state it. It’s simply not there.

Each has the sanskrit word “visate,” which each translates as “enters” or “one can enter.” But it doesn’t say what one can enter. Since all four Gitas do this, I’m assuming that I’m deficient in some way. maybe “visate” means “enters my abode.”

Srila Prabhupada’s purport addresses this. “One should not misunderstand that the word visate, “enters into Me,” supports the monist theory that one becomes homogeneous with the impersonal Brahman. No. Visate means that one can enter into the abode of the Supreme Lord in his individuality to engage in His association and render service unto Him.

In Narayana Maharaja’s purport, as his verse translation suggests, he interprets “visate” to mean that one enters into Krishna’s eternal lila. He also refutes the monist theory.

Tripurari Swami’s entire purport is basically devoted to the same idea.

Interestingly, the word “visate,” according to a footnote in Garuda prabhu’s book, can also translate to “comes back.” While none of the Gitas use this particular definition, it does seem to apply to our “Back home, back to Godhead” philosophy.

We can only understand Krishna through love, bhakti, devotional service. And when we do fully understand Krishna we can once again be with Him in His abode, in His pastimes.

The Bhagavad-gita is our manual for understanding just who Krishna is and how to return to Him. By studying this verse and the rest of the Gita, we can gain the understanding we need to be good bhaktas, good devotees.

Tough one, huh? On one hand, we’re taught that we should chant Hare Krishna and be happy, that our life will be sublime. But if the proof of the pudding is in the tasting and we’re chanting and still our lives aren’t exactly sublime, well then, what’s the deal?

What we’re taught is true. But the maha-mantra isn’t some magic potion that suddenly makes everything right as rain. It’s a process and it’s something we do have to work at.

Nobody said that chanting was all we had to do to be Krishna conscious. If that were so, we wouldn’t do anything but chant at our temples.

I think this is why many devotees (including myself for a long while – still?) think that personal prayer is unnecessary. I was talking to a devotee friend about this. She asked, “don’t you think chanting is prayer?”

“It is, but it’s different.”

I went on: “Reciting uttamaslokas is definitely one means of prayer, but it is not personal prayer. There are times when we need to pray for things and in situations that aren’t “service.” Meaning, the mahamantra covers the prayer to serve Krishna. But what about our other problems? Should we just let them go?”

She then said, “Some people would say that just surrendering to Krishna would take care of all problems.”

I disagreed with that conclusion, “it’s not like when we surrender to Krishna suddenly *poof!* all our material problems and our inability to deal with them vanish.”

There is a Prabhupada quote about this.

In addition to giving and receiving in the execution of devotional service one has to submit to Krishna whatever distress or confidential problems he has. He should say, “Krishna, I am suffering in this way. I have fallen in this tossing ocean of material illusion. Please pick me up.” – Srila Prabhupada in Rajya Vidya

When he wrote “I am suffering in this way,” it was a cue to “fill in the blank” with personal prayer. revealing our minds and problems to Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada has said that we can and should talk with God. That Krishna wants us to talk to Him, that He likes to talk with us!

In that light, there should be no hesitation on our part. But, for me at least, there is. This has always been something I’ve wanted to do, and yet just “can’t.”

I guess that’s a big fault of mine. I know the “power of prayer” and yet, I really don’t do it. Do I secretly believe that it isn’t necessary? Do I quietly think that surrendering to Krishna (whatever that means) can’t include personal prayer?

It seems paradoxical to know that the answer to my questions about prayer would probably be answered through prayer.

While I can’t really remember why I did this, I’m glad I did.

Once upon a time I was bored at work. And then this fellow came in, noticed the Krishna Art book on the coffee table and some of Prabhupada’s books on a shelf and told me that he used to go to Gita Nagari a lot. He also used to know a fellow named Steve.

Steve used to live at the State College temple. Now he’s a post master in some small town around State College. Anyway, Steve went to India and while he was there, he stayed with a large Indian family. The family was entertaining a large group of Americans (nondevotees). The family performed some traditional Indian dances and songs and then they asked the Americans sing or dance something from American culture. The Americans sang the national anthem and then couldn’t figure out what else to do.

So they did the hokey pokey.

Put your right foot in, take your right foot out, put your right foot in and you shake it all about…

While the hokey was pokeying, it was being translated from English to Hindi. Curious, Steve asked the translator to translate it back to English so that he could hear it as the Indians were hearing it.

At the end of the song, you put your whole self in and take your whole self out, put your whole self in and shake it all about.

Here’s how that part went:

“You place your entire being inside
You place your entire being outside
You place your entire being inside and vibrate your entire being everywhere
You do the hokey pokey and revolve your being in a circle
That is the complete essence of everything.”

Kind of deep when you think about it, eh?

.

[...Tomorrow... Bhakta Pee Wee's Playhouse.]
Ready?