Ticket to Sri Vrindavan Dham

One cannot enter into Sri Vrindavan Dham by purchasing an airline ticket or by hiring a taxi from the Delhi airport. One can only enter into the holy abode of Sri Vrindavan by the mercy of the Lord's pure devotee. Therefore we humbly down at the lotus feet of our spiritual master and beg him to engage us eternally in his service. It is this humble submission and service at the lotus feet of one's guru which enables one to enter directly into the kingdom of God. Therefore we always begin our day by worshiping our spiritual master with a beautiful ceremony known as Mangala Arati, which is centered around the singing of the sublime Gurvastakam Prayers, the Eight Prayers Glorifying the Spiritual Master.

You can hear and read the Gurvastakam prayers at:
http://backtohome.com/Gurvastakam/

Here in Vrindavan Dham, Mangala Arati is especially sweet. Devotees from all over the world gather at 4:10 A.M. in Srila Prabhupada's Samadhi, the beautiful marble temple built on the spot where Srila Prabhupada's remains were placed when he left this world in 1977. They gather to worship this greatest of all spiritual masters and thus be blessed with a ticket to the Lord's eternal Vrindavan Dham in the spiritual sky.

Note: The Vrindavan Dham on this planet is a replica of the Vrindavan Dham in the Spiritual Sky. Combined with the mercy of one's spiritual master it is a gateway into the Spiritual Sky.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Deity of Srila Prabhupada in Prabhupada's Samadhi

Deity of Srila Prabhupada in Prabhupada's Samadhi

4:10 AM--Mangala Arati in the Srila Prabhupada Samadhi

4:10 AM--Mangala Arati in the Srila Prabhupada Samadhi

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Our Role in Protecting Ourselves?

One of the symptoms of surrender described, is that a surrendered person depends on Krishna for protection. It is also stated that the spiritual master protects the disciple from the attacks of Maya. So one may argue that it is because he has not been properly protected that he falls under the influence of Maya. What is our role in protecting ourselves from illusion?

your eternal servant,

Pundarika Vidyanidhi dasa

Answer: Take Full Advantage of Guru's and Krishna's Protection

Combinedly Krishna and Guru give all protection to the disciple. How much the disciple takes advantage of that protection is up to him. If he takes full advantage, he is fully protected. And if he takes only partial advantage, he is only partially protected. Krishna confirms this point in the Bhagavad-gita when He says that we are rewarded according to our degree of surrender.

So if we fall away from Krishna consciousness, we cannot say that it was because we were not sufficiently protected by our spiritual master. He gave us full protection, but we did not take full advantage of his most merciful protection.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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