Five Million Parikramas

An auspicious way of offering worship to the deities of Radha and Krishna in the temple is to respectfully walk around the temple. This is called circumambulation or parikrama. In the Nectar of Devotion Srila Prabhupada describes such circumambulation as one of items for discharging devotional service. On Tuesday 17 November 2015 Gurumataji and I along with a large group of my disciples circumambulated the holy town of Vrindavana, in which there are 5,000 temples of Radha and Krishna. What made this even more auspicious is that the benefit of any devotional service done in Vrindavana is magnified 1,000 times. Therefore by this simple 3.5 hours parikrama around Vrindavan we got the spiritual benefit of doing 5 million parikramas of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna.

Even though just after the start of the parikrama I had a bad fall smashing my head onto the cement road gaining a bloody lump on my head and bloody swollen nose, I opted to continue my parikrama. Gurumata offered to get me a rickshaw so that I could ride instead of walking. But I did not accept her gracious offer. I did not want to miss this auspicious opportunity to get the full benefit of walking 5 million parikramas. Srila Prabhupada ordered me to always remain enthusiastic in Krishna consciousness. This order has been a great boon for the last 44 years of my life and will continue to be so for all of eternity.

We visited many holy places along the way. In Vrindavan the atmosphere is so auspicious that when people would see us they would yell out "Hari bol." In what other town on this planet do even the little school children yell out "Hari bol" as soon as they see the devotees? It was a truly wonderful, spiritual enriching, and uplifting experience to do Vrindavana parikrama this morning.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari - Kirtan on Yamuna River

Vrindavana Parikrama Map--Red Line is Parikrama Path

Sankarshan Das Adhikari - Vrindavana Parikrama Map--Red Line is Parikrama Path

Ecstatic Vrindavana Parikrama--17 November 2015

Sankarshan Das Adhikari - Ecstatic Vrindavana Parikrama

Stopping at Keshi Ghat

Sankarshan Das Adhikari - Stopping at Keshi Ghat

Srimad Bhagavatam Class at Keshi Ghat

Sankarshan Das Adhikari - Srimad Bhagavatam Class at Keshi Ghat

Not Allowing Injuries to Dampen My Enthusiasm

Sankarshan Das Adhikari - Not Allowing Injuries to Dampen My Enthusiasm

Artist's Concept of Our Completed Project in Austin, Texas USA

$42,535.17 collected with $2,457,464.83 still to go.
Contributions gratefully accepted at:
http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/donate
Sankarshan Das Adhikari - Artist's Concept of Our Completed Project in Austin, Texas USA

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:

Question: How to Get Free From My Distress?

All glories to Your Grace. Please advise mw how to be mentally strong and accept death in a proper Krishna conscious manner. My mother is sick and that has put me into a lot of anxiety. I read and chant but the anxiety is overwhelming affecting my whole life, I think mainly from attachment as it is just the two of us that live together. How do I conquer my mind and accept everything in a devotee manner. Everyone says just chant and I am but I need further advice. Thank You kindly. I am unable to go to work and fear losing my job now which is my only income. Some doctors just laugh at people who have anxiety.
Thank You kindly.

Y.S.

Answer: Chant Regularly With Faith and Work Your Job

I am very sorry to hear that you are going through so much difficulty. The good news is that the solution for your problems is very simple. Simply you must fully surrender to Krishna seeing all of your difficulties as His special mercy to convince you that this material world is not your actual home.

Take the best possible care of your mother's health and even more importantly engage her in Krishna consciousness so that she will not take birth again in this material world upon leaving her present body. We all have to leave this world today or tomorrow. So instead of being disturbed you should focus on being Krishna conscious and making others Krishna conscious.

You are not chanting properly. This is why your mind is disturbed. The trick is to rise early every day before sunrise and chant as many rounds of Hare Krishna japa mala as possible. This early morning chanting will give you a taste of the sublime spiritual world where all anxiety is conspicuous by its absence. This daily taste of bhakti will gradually increase your faith more and more until all of your anxieties completely melt away. This will take some time. So you must have faith in the chanting and chant as many rounds as possible every day without fail.

Go to work every day. Krishna will help you. Getting back to your occupational duty will also help your mind to become more peaceful. Now you are suffering from an idle mind, which is the devil's workshop. You must keep your mind now busy both in chanting and in your occupational duty. Things will work out okay.

There is no need for any other medicine. Krishna’s holy name is the ultimate medicine to cure all of your distress.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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