Home

Journeys

Panca-tattva Maha Abhishek

Thu, 19/03/2009 - 8:07am — Ekendra Dasa

STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING (except reading this of course)!!!!!

Spend a few minutes watching this video. You'll be glad you did.

Realizations About Srila Prabhupada's Potency to Deliver His Dependents

Wed, 06/02/2008 - 7:24pm — Ekendra Dasa

I received this today from Yaso Prabhu here in Australia. He's the uncle of Lila Salter recently left this world in Vrindavana.

"Jamalarjuna maintained a bedside vigil with Lila for the entire time she was in a coma. Just before Lila left the room was full of devotees having a "blazing kirtan". Jamal said that he felt something lightly touch his arm from behind and when he turned around he saw Srila Prabhupada standing there fully manifest as we would see each other. Jamal told her that Srila Prabhupada looked deep into his eyes to his very soul and simply nodded at him gravely. What happened next is still a source of amazement for Jamal as Srila Prabhupada walked past him to where Lila was lying and he picked her up. At that very second Lila left her body and Jamal personally saw Srila Prabhupada take her back to Godhead in His arms.
 
We have heard in the past where Srila Prabhupada has come to deliver his disciples and where he has said that "Bhaktivinode will personally come to take you back to Godhead". Let there be no doubt that this is entirely possible and that this exact thing has happened to a child who was one of Srila Prabhupada's grandchildren. It is quite clear now that if anyone has any love and devotion for Srila Prabhupada and this Krishna Consciousness movement they will be personally delivered back to Krishna by His Divine Grace. For Srila Prabhupada this is no big thing.
 
As far as a recap of events is concerned, this has already been discussed in the wider press. However, the exact relationship between Lila and the boy who murdered her is not clear and so I am unable to comment on that. Somehow he had access to a gun and formed the intention to kill Lila and himself. We can never understand how these things happen and what part the Lord plays in these events in the holy Dhama. We have the aphorism "rake krsna mare ke, mare krsna rake ke" (If Krishna wants to take someone no-one can save them, and if Krishna wants to save someone no-one can take them). How can we possibly understand the plan of the Lord in these circumstances, which are made all the more poingant because He has delivered a young woman who appeared to have a promising Krishna conscious life ahead of her. One thing I know is that there were no deaths for the cowherd men and women and children at the hands of the demons who came into Vrindaban to threaten the devotees when Krishna was present on earth. From this we can understand that someone reasons ill who thinks that Lila has "died". She is now living in the same Vrindaban in Goloka where there are no demons to harass her.
  
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!"

 

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's Blanket

Sun, 02/09/2007 - 12:58pm — Ekendra Dasa
Dear friends and devotees,

Jaya Sita Rama. Please accept my humble pranams.

500 years ago, while walking from Navadvipa to Puri, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu spent the night in Bhadrak on the banks of the sacred Salandi river. He stayed at an ancient temple of Sri Sri Radha Madana Mohana (located in Santhiya village). Before departing for Puri, He blessed the temple pujari by giving him His personal blanket. This blanket has been worshipped for the last 500 years by the descendants of the original pujari.

The blanket is kept hidden in the temple throughout the year, but on one day each year (the anniversary of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's visit to Bhadrak) the blanket is displayed to the public and a large festival is held. This year we were able to take a photograph of this sacred relic, so now everyone can have darshan of Lord Caitanya's personal blanket.

The blanket is brownish-red in color, and it is covered in sandalwood paste from hundreds of years of worship. The blanket is filled with white cotton, which is visible through some holes in the blankets cover.

If anyone would like to have direct darshan of this blanket, they should plan to visit Bhadrak just after the Ratha Yatra festival in Puri. Bhadrak was also the home of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, a great saint in the line of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, so you can visit the school where he taught and served as headmaster for several years. Devotees can also take the opportunity to see the sacred wooden shoes of Sri Madhavendra Puri (Sri Caitanya's param-guru) located at Remuna, around 45 km from Bhadrak. Sri Madhavendra Puri's samadhi is located there, as well as the samadhi of Sri Rasikananda.

Yours in service,

Jahnava Nitai Das,
Bhaktivedanta Ashram &
Bhaktivedanta International Charities
http://www.bvashram.org
http://www.foodrelief.org

Good news for those who suffer from Compulsive Travel Disorder

Sat, 23/06/2007 - 9:33am — Ekendra Dasa

Here's something that might be of interest to devotees with CTD issues. (CTD - compulsive travel disorder). (full article here)

"The Viva Macau promise is all-inclusive $305 fares from Sydney to the Chinese-Portuguese province of Macau, an introductory offer from August to October.

Add to that fare a 30-minute ferry ride to Hong Kong and an Oasis flight to London and suddenly you have arrived in the UK having only spent $600, taxes included. "

When I first 'joined' the Hare Krishna's I was taken back at how much money devotees spend every year on airfare. Previously I'd never encountered anything like it. I can understand the need for a periodic trip to the Holy Dham but for the most part I find it embarrasing how much devotees think they need to zip around the world. What purpose does it serve? Anything that wouldn't be served by directing energy and funds locally? 

Think of how much money the devotees in your yatra spend on airfare. Then think of how many books could be sponsored for libraries and schools by that figure. How many months of rent could be purchased at a prime preaching location in town? How many plates of free prasadam could be sponsored? 

Then you could think of bigger projects such as the Mayapur temple and cumulatively how much money members of our society have spent on airfare over the years. What a temple we could have built!

 If we suspended the Mayapur festival for one year with an attendence of say 2,000 overseas devotees - average airfare being US$900. And if everyone donated what they would have spent on airfare to a worthy cause such as book distribution or cow protection we could in one year raise 1.8 million dollars. Who couldn't use that?

 This isn't an attempt to snicker at anyone in particular, rather a call to sensibility with Krishna's funds. Personally, I think its wasteful and mostly unproductive. Better to spend money helping devotees to become educated and strong in their Krishna Consciousness, for protection of cows, or for direct outreach preaching such as prasad and book distribution.

 

Baldeo Dauji

Thu, 05/04/2007 - 12:38pm — Ekendra Dasa

Thanks to Manonatha Prabhu we can have darsan of Baldeo Dauji on the outer portion of Vraja Mandala. There's lots of other nectar on Prabhu's site so head on over.

Sri Giri Govardhana

Wed, 04/04/2007 - 4:56pm — Ekendra Dasa

Here are some photos from my recent visit to Govardhana Hill.

[slideshow:2, rotate=4, blend=2, layout=bottom, width=480, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/557-2/DSCF4503.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/559-2/DSCF4500.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/561-2/DSCF4505.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/563-2/DSCF4510.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/565-2/DSCF4517.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/567-2/DSCF4519.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/569-2/DSCF4523.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/571-2/DSCF4525.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/573-2/DSCF4530.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/575-2/DSCF4527.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/577-2/DSCF4528.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/579-2/DSCF4531.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/581-2/DSCF4532.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/583-2/DSCF4534.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/585-2/DSCF4535.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/587-2/DSCF4541.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/589-2/DSCF4536.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/591-2/DSCF4537.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/593-2/DSCF4538.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/595-2/DSCF4540.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/597-2/DSCF4545.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/599-2/DSCF4550.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/625-2/DSCF4710.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/627-2/DSCF4702.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/629-2/DSCF4704.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/631-2/DSCF4705.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/633-2/DSCF4708.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/635-2/DSCF4714.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/637-2/DSCF4711.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/639-2/DSCF4729.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/641-2/DSCF4731.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/643-2/DSCF4733.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/645-2/DSCF4734.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/647-2/DSCF4736.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/649-2/DSCF4737.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/611-2/DSCF4598.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7|, img=|http://www.gopala.org/gallery2/d/613-2/DSCF4601.JPG?g2_GALLERYSID=2c7b486231a9e08cddc6c6f5388965b7| ]

Syndicate content