In the Supernatural Dirt of Vrindavan
We have finally arrived back in Lord Sri Krishna's transcendental abode, Sri Vrindavan Dhama, so mercifully manifested here in this material world. It is not possible to enter Vrindavan simply by flying to New Delhi and taking a taxi to Vrindavan. The only way to really enter Vrindavan is in the mood of a pilgrim. Therefore as we were approaching Vrindavan I sang the following bhajan, which we have first heard from Srila Prabhupada:
jaya rādhe, jaya kṛṣṇa, jaya vṛndāvan
śrī govinda, gopīnātha, madana-mohan
"All glories to Radha and Krishna and the divine forest of Vrindavan. All glories to the three presiding Deities of Vrindavan-Sri Govinda, Gopinatha, and Madana-mohana."
śyama-kunḍa, rādhā-kuṇḍa, giri-govardhan
kālindi jamunā jaya, jaya mahāvan
"All glories to Syama-kunda, Radha-kunda, Govardhana Hill, and the Yamuna River (Kalindi). All glories to the great forest known as Mahavana, where Krishna and Balarama displayed all of Their childhood pastimes."
keśī-ghāṭa, baṁśi-baṭa, dwādaśa-kānan
jāhā saba līlā koilo śrī-nanda-nandan
"All glories to Kesi-ghata, where Krishna killed the Kesi demon. All glories to the Vamsi-vata tree, where Krishna attracted all the gopīs to come by playing His flute. Glories to all of the twelve forests of Vraja. At these places the son of Nanda, Sri Krishna, performed all of His pastimes."
śrī-nanda-jaśodā jaya, jaya gopa-gaṇ
śrīdāmādi jaya, jaya dhenu-vatsa-gaṇ
"All glories to Krishna's divine father and mother, Nanda and Yasoda. All glories to the cowherd boys, headed by Sridama, the older brother of Srimati Radharani and Ananga Manjari. All glories to the cows and calves of Vraja."
jaya bṛṣabhānu, jaya kīrtidā sundarī
jaya paurṇamāsī, jaya ābhīra-nāgarī
"All glories to Radha's divine father and mother, Vrishabhanu and the beautiful Kirtida. All glories to Paurnamasi, the mother of Sandipani Muni, grandmother of Madhumangala and Nandimukhi, and beloved disciple of Devarsi Narada. All glories to the young cowherd maidens of Vraja."
jaya jaya gopīśwara vṛndāvana-mājh
jaya jaya kṛṣṇa-sakhā baṭu dwija-rāj
"All glories, all glories to Gopisvara Siva, who resides in Vrindavan in order to protect the holy dhama. All glories, all glories to Krishna's funny brahmana friend, Madhumangala.
jaya rāma-ghāta, jaya rohiṇī-nandan
jaya jaya vṛndāvana-bāsī jata jan
"All glories to Rama-ghata, where Lord Balarama performed His rasa dance. All glories to Lord Balarama, the son of Rohini. All glories, all glories to all of the residents of Vrindavan."
jaya dwija-patnī, jaya nāga-kanyā-gaṇ
bhaktite jāhārā pāilo govinda-caraṇ
"All glories to the wives of the proud Vedic brahmanas. All glories to the wives of the Kaliya serpent. Through pure devotion they all obtained the lotus feet of Lord Govinda."
śrī-rasa-maṇḍala jaya, jaya rādhā-śyām
jaya jaya rasa-līlā sarva-manoram
"All glories to the place where the rasa dance of Sri Krishna was performed. All glories to Radha and Syama. All glories, all glories to the divine rasa dance, which is the most beautiful of all Lord Krishna's pastimes."
jaya jayojjwala-rasa sarva-rasa-sār
parakīyā-bhāve jāhā brajete pracār
"All glories, all glories to the mellow of conjugal love, which is the most excellent of all rasas and is propagated in Vraja by Sri Krishna in the form of the divine parakiya-bhava [paramour love]."
śrī-jāhnavā-pāda-padma koriyā smaraṇ
dīna kṛṣṇa-dāsa kohe nāma-saṅkīrtan
"Remembering the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda's consort, Sri Jahnava Devi, this very fallen and lowly servant of Krishna sings the sankirtana of the holy name."
As I was singing this sublime bhajan I was blessed with the darshan of the most sacred Yamuna River, as we were crossing over it. Then upon arrival at our residence at the MVT-Bhaktivedanta Ashram behind the Krishna Balarama Temple, the very first thing we did after getting out from the vehicle was to offer our obeisances on the ground in the sacred dust of Vrindavan, which is non-different from Lord Sri Krishna Himself. It was such wonderful feeling to get down into the holiest dirt in the entire universe, mystical, supernatural dirt, which is indeed situated far, far beyond this universe.
You say that we must distribute books to everyone whom we meet. But I would like to impress upon the fact that not everyone has the respect for our literature. I have seen in many people's home (unfortunately including my relatives) that "Bhagavad-gita As it Is" is just lying in some shelf with dust forming on it. When I asked them reason for this, they say that ISKCON people have sold them the book, and they do not have any interest in it.
In another instance i have seen ISKCON Kharghar, Navi Mumbai people distributing "Bhagavad-gita As It Is" to Muslims in front of Central Park! Muslims showed little or no interest and even made fun of innocent devotees who were selling books. And its understandable also. Its like if i am approached by some Muslim trying to sell me a copy of Quran, I will not buy it.
I feel this is disrespect to the teachings of Lord and our beloved guru Srila Prabhupada when we try to sell his books to non believers.
Shouldn't we only distribute books to those people who are really interested in knowing about God?
Please guide.
Your most fallen servant
Vinit Sharma
Regarding our Muslim brothers and sisters, you do not realize how many of them are becoming attracted to Krishna consciousness. Here is a video where I am explaining Krishna consciousness to a hall full of Muslims. After my talk they eagery came forward and purchased our entire stock of Bhagavad-gitas. Sadly we ran short. We did not have to enough books to supply the demand that these wonderful souls had for transcendental knowledge. Here’s the link for the video of when I explained Krishna consciousness to a hall full of Muslims:
https://youtu.be/LDuAEEeMDnA
You mentioned that some Muslims showed a little interest in our teachings. Why do you want to deny these children of Krishna the opportunity to reconnect with their original father? A Vaisnava is supposed to be compassionate upon the poor souls who are lost in illusion. Of course, if someone is openly hostile, it is better to approach someone else. But there are innocent people eager to learn more about God in every community, whether it be Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, or agnostic. Even the atheists and scientists will take interest because Srila Prabhupada has presented the teachings of Krishna in a most logical and scientific way.
Therefore my best advice to you is that you should join the book distribution party as soon as possible and as often as possible. Open the floodgates and let the mercy of Krishna inundate the bewildered souls of this suffering planet with the tidal wave of pure love of God. If ISKCON had followed your philosophy, I would not be a devotee today.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
jaya rādhe, jaya kṛṣṇa, jaya vṛndāvan
śrī govinda, gopīnātha, madana-mohan
"All glories to Radha and Krishna and the divine forest of Vrindavan. All glories to the three presiding Deities of Vrindavan-Sri Govinda, Gopinatha, and Madana-mohana."
śyama-kunḍa, rādhā-kuṇḍa, giri-govardhan
kālindi jamunā jaya, jaya mahāvan
"All glories to Syama-kunda, Radha-kunda, Govardhana Hill, and the Yamuna River (Kalindi). All glories to the great forest known as Mahavana, where Krishna and Balarama displayed all of Their childhood pastimes."
keśī-ghāṭa, baṁśi-baṭa, dwādaśa-kānan
jāhā saba līlā koilo śrī-nanda-nandan
"All glories to Kesi-ghata, where Krishna killed the Kesi demon. All glories to the Vamsi-vata tree, where Krishna attracted all the gopīs to come by playing His flute. Glories to all of the twelve forests of Vraja. At these places the son of Nanda, Sri Krishna, performed all of His pastimes."
śrī-nanda-jaśodā jaya, jaya gopa-gaṇ
śrīdāmādi jaya, jaya dhenu-vatsa-gaṇ
"All glories to Krishna's divine father and mother, Nanda and Yasoda. All glories to the cowherd boys, headed by Sridama, the older brother of Srimati Radharani and Ananga Manjari. All glories to the cows and calves of Vraja."
jaya bṛṣabhānu, jaya kīrtidā sundarī
jaya paurṇamāsī, jaya ābhīra-nāgarī
"All glories to Radha's divine father and mother, Vrishabhanu and the beautiful Kirtida. All glories to Paurnamasi, the mother of Sandipani Muni, grandmother of Madhumangala and Nandimukhi, and beloved disciple of Devarsi Narada. All glories to the young cowherd maidens of Vraja."
jaya jaya gopīśwara vṛndāvana-mājh
jaya jaya kṛṣṇa-sakhā baṭu dwija-rāj
"All glories, all glories to Gopisvara Siva, who resides in Vrindavan in order to protect the holy dhama. All glories, all glories to Krishna's funny brahmana friend, Madhumangala.
jaya rāma-ghāta, jaya rohiṇī-nandan
jaya jaya vṛndāvana-bāsī jata jan
"All glories to Rama-ghata, where Lord Balarama performed His rasa dance. All glories to Lord Balarama, the son of Rohini. All glories, all glories to all of the residents of Vrindavan."
jaya dwija-patnī, jaya nāga-kanyā-gaṇ
bhaktite jāhārā pāilo govinda-caraṇ
"All glories to the wives of the proud Vedic brahmanas. All glories to the wives of the Kaliya serpent. Through pure devotion they all obtained the lotus feet of Lord Govinda."
śrī-rasa-maṇḍala jaya, jaya rādhā-śyām
jaya jaya rasa-līlā sarva-manoram
"All glories to the place where the rasa dance of Sri Krishna was performed. All glories to Radha and Syama. All glories, all glories to the divine rasa dance, which is the most beautiful of all Lord Krishna's pastimes."
jaya jayojjwala-rasa sarva-rasa-sār
parakīyā-bhāve jāhā brajete pracār
"All glories, all glories to the mellow of conjugal love, which is the most excellent of all rasas and is propagated in Vraja by Sri Krishna in the form of the divine parakiya-bhava [paramour love]."
śrī-jāhnavā-pāda-padma koriyā smaraṇ
dīna kṛṣṇa-dāsa kohe nāma-saṅkīrtan
"Remembering the lotus feet of Lord Nityananda's consort, Sri Jahnava Devi, this very fallen and lowly servant of Krishna sings the sankirtana of the holy name."
As I was singing this sublime bhajan I was blessed with the darshan of the most sacred Yamuna River, as we were crossing over it. Then upon arrival at our residence at the MVT-Bhaktivedanta Ashram behind the Krishna Balarama Temple, the very first thing we did after getting out from the vehicle was to offer our obeisances on the ground in the sacred dust of Vrindavan, which is non-different from Lord Sri Krishna Himself. It was such wonderful feeling to get down into the holiest dirt in the entire universe, mystical, supernatural dirt, which is indeed situated far, far beyond this universe.
Krishna and Balarama Herding Cows in Vrindavana
Video For the Day: From the Holy Land of Vrindavana
Answers by Citing the Vedic Version
Question: Distribute Books Only to Devotees?
Respected Gurudeva,You say that we must distribute books to everyone whom we meet. But I would like to impress upon the fact that not everyone has the respect for our literature. I have seen in many people's home (unfortunately including my relatives) that "Bhagavad-gita As it Is" is just lying in some shelf with dust forming on it. When I asked them reason for this, they say that ISKCON people have sold them the book, and they do not have any interest in it.
In another instance i have seen ISKCON Kharghar, Navi Mumbai people distributing "Bhagavad-gita As It Is" to Muslims in front of Central Park! Muslims showed little or no interest and even made fun of innocent devotees who were selling books. And its understandable also. Its like if i am approached by some Muslim trying to sell me a copy of Quran, I will not buy it.
I feel this is disrespect to the teachings of Lord and our beloved guru Srila Prabhupada when we try to sell his books to non believers.
Shouldn't we only distribute books to those people who are really interested in knowing about God?
Please guide.
Your most fallen servant
Vinit Sharma
Answer: Everyone is a Devotee
You have forgotten that every single living being in all of existence is a devotee of Krishna. Simply they are sleeping, that's all. By coming into even a slight contact with Srila Prabhupada's books or the Hare Krishna mahamantra their process of awakening has begun. It is a fact that you do not understand the mystical potency of these books. Even by reading one word of these books their lives become transformed. Even by negligently keeping one of these books in their home, their lives becomes blessed by Lord Krishna. That is the amazing power of these books.Regarding our Muslim brothers and sisters, you do not realize how many of them are becoming attracted to Krishna consciousness. Here is a video where I am explaining Krishna consciousness to a hall full of Muslims. After my talk they eagery came forward and purchased our entire stock of Bhagavad-gitas. Sadly we ran short. We did not have to enough books to supply the demand that these wonderful souls had for transcendental knowledge. Here’s the link for the video of when I explained Krishna consciousness to a hall full of Muslims:
https://youtu.be/LDuAEEeMDnA
You mentioned that some Muslims showed a little interest in our teachings. Why do you want to deny these children of Krishna the opportunity to reconnect with their original father? A Vaisnava is supposed to be compassionate upon the poor souls who are lost in illusion. Of course, if someone is openly hostile, it is better to approach someone else. But there are innocent people eager to learn more about God in every community, whether it be Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, or agnostic. Even the atheists and scientists will take interest because Srila Prabhupada has presented the teachings of Krishna in a most logical and scientific way.
Therefore my best advice to you is that you should join the book distribution party as soon as possible and as often as possible. Open the floodgates and let the mercy of Krishna inundate the bewildered souls of this suffering planet with the tidal wave of pure love of God. If ISKCON had followed your philosophy, I would not be a devotee today.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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