Madhavananda’s Musings, Meditations, and Music

𝗗𝗼 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗵𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗵𝗮 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲?

A katha in New Vraja Dham Hungary

Examining the renounced, but karma-misra-bhakti of the pracetas as compared to the, apparently attached, yet suddha-bhakti of Yudhisthir and the Pandavas.

Madhavananda Das is live

𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵

𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘺:
𝙎𝙧𝙞 𝙎𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙙 𝙂𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙖 𝙎𝙬𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙈𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙟𝙖

𝗚𝗼𝗽𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝘆

A mother had a small six- or seven-year-old son. She wanted to admit him into primary school so that he could get some education, but the school was a little far away, half a mile from their house. Still she told the boy that he should go to school every morning.
So, the boy started going. On the path to school he had to pass through a jungle where there were some ferocious animals like tigers and snakes. Being a small child, he was afraid. He came to his mother and said, “Oh mother, when I was going through that jungle on the way to school I was very afraid. So many ferocious animals are there. I can’t go any more.”
His mother said, “Why are you afraid? Don’t you know that your friend Gopal is there? Just call your friend, He will help you. You need not be afraid.”
“Oh, my friend is there?”
“Yes. When you feel afraid you should call out, ‘Oh my friend Gopal, I am in a fearful situation! Where are You? Please come!’ You should say like that.”
The child followed her instruction. When he was passing through the jungle and he felt afraid, he called out, “Friend Gopal! My brother Gopal! Where are You? I am in a fearful situation. Please come! Help me!”
Gopal appeared before him. “Yes, I am here. Why are you afraid?”
“I have to go through the jungle to go to school and it is full of ferocious animals.”
“Don’t fear. Come with Me!”
Gopal was helping him every day.

𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗚𝗼𝗽𝗮𝗹

In Indian schools they perform gaṇeṣa-pūjā and sarasvatī-pūjā to give the students knowledge. For these festivals, the teacher will collect some fees from the students. One day at school the teacher announced that they were going to have such a festival and that the students should all pay some fee. But the boy and his mother were very poor. There was nobody in that family, only the mother and the son, and they had no money.
The teacher told him, “You are poor, you don’t have enough money, but you should at least bring fifty paisa — half of a rupee.”
The child returned home and told his mother that the teacher said that he had to pay fifty paisa for the festival. But they had nothing, not even a single paisa. The mother said, “Tell the teacher that we have no money. We are very poor. But we will bring milk.”
The child said, “Who will give us milk?”
“Oh, your friend Gopal will give us milk. He tends cows. He can supply as much milk as your teacher wants. Yes. You tell Gopal!”
The boy accepted what his mother said, “Yes, I must tell my friend Gopal.”
So that day in the forest he called out to his friend, “O Gopal, where are You?”
“I am here.” Gopal appeared. “What do you need?”
“My teacher has said that I have to pay fifty paisa, but we have no money. My mother said to ask You to give us some milk, because they need milk for the festival. So You must supply as much milk as they need.”
“Oh yes, I must supply, I must help you. I am always here to help you.”
On the pūjā day when he was passing through that jungle, he called his friend, “Gopal, today is the day. Please come!”
Gopal came with a small earthen pot filled with milk. “All right, take this milk. Give it to your teacher. This pot will give as much milk as they want. It will never be empty.” The boy took it and gave it to the teacher.
Seeing the small pot, the teacher said, “Oh, this is just a small amount of milk. We need a large amount, ten buckets of milk. You have only brought a small pot.”
“No, no, no. It will never be empty. You bring ten buckets and pour this pot out. All ten buckets will be filled.”
The teacher did so, and, amazingly, ten buckets were filled. Then the teacher asked, “Where did you get such a pot?”
“My friend Gopal gave me.”
“Your friend Gopal? Who is He?”
“Oh, He stays in the jungle. Every time I need, I call Him. My mother told me that whenever I am in a fearful situation I should call out, ‘Gopal! Gopal! O brother! O my friend Gopal!’ Then He appears. He helps me, protects me, and leads me to school. He gave this pot of milk. He says that He is a friend to one and all.” Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā (5.29), suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ — “I am the only well-wishing friend of all living entities.”
“He says He is not only my friend, He is a friend to one and all. If one calls, He is there ready to help in time of danger, in time of need, in time of calamities.”
Why Doesn’t Gopal Come to You?
Such a simple child gets help from Krishna. But you are worrying, he is worrying, she is worrying, “What shall I do? What shall I do? I need so much money. How can I do it? I cannot collect. I have to do this thing. I have to do that thing. I have so many problems, so many hindrances, so many obstacles.”
Why don’t you ask Gopal? Gopal is ready to help you, but you are not asking Him. If you are asking, then why is Gopal not coming? You say, “Yes, yes. I am asking, ‘O Krishna! O Krishna! Please help me, please help me!’ But Krishna is not coming and helping me.”
Gopal immediately appeared before that small child. Why can’t you get Gopal’s help? Why doesn’t Gopal come to you? What is the difficulty? What is the reason? It’s because you have no faith in Gopal, no faith in Krishna. It is a question of faith. That small child had strong faith. As soon as his mother told him he put strong unflinching faith in her words, and he got Krishna. But you do not have faith.
Now in America, many, many people have lost faith. In his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.4.15) Srila Rupa Goswami says, ādau śraddhā, the first thing is unflinching faith. Similarly, Krishna says in Gītā (4.39):

śraddhāvāl labhate jñānaṁ tat-paraḥ saṁyatendriyaḥ
jñānaṁ labdhvā parāṁ śāntim acireṇādhigacchati

"A faithful man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge, and having achieved it he quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace. "

What do we mean by śraddhā? Rupa Goswami says that the first thing is śraddhā. Following that comes other things. Śraddhā means strong, unflinching faith. Bhajante māṁ dṛḍha-vratāḥ — those who have faith, they do bhajana with determination. [Bg. 7.28]. Strong faith in what? Sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya — faith in what sādhu says, what guru says, what śāstra says — what Krishna says [Narottam Das Thakur’s Prema-bhakti-candrikā 1.10]. You should put strong unflinching faith in what Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. It is said:

viśvāsa mile kṛṣṇa tarke bahu dūra

"If one has faith then he can easily obtain Krishna and arguments or doubts stay far away."

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱?

If you have strong faith you will get Krishna. You have faith, but it is not strong. It is soft faith. At any time it can break and you feel yourself disappointed, depressed. Why such feelings? Why disappointed? Why depressed? Because you do not have strong faith in Krishna. You have no faith in sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya. You have lost faith, therefore you feel disappointed, and depressed.
Faith is the most important thing. It has been stressed in Bhagavad-gītā, in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, and all of our ācāryas have said it. Rupa Goswami says in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.4.15-16) that everything begins with śraddhā:

ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo ‘tha bhajana-kriyā
tato ‘nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ premābhyudañcati
sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ

"First comes śraddhā, faith; next sādhu-saṅga, association with saintly persons; after that bhajana-kriyā, spiritual practices; then anartha-nivṛtti, cessation of all offenses or obstacles; next niṣṭhā, firmness; which is followed by ruci, taste; after that āsakti, attachment; then bhāva; and then appears prema. These are the different stages leading to prema’s appearance within the heart of a spiritual practitioner."

It is a gradual process. Mahaprabhu said the same thing:

ucca saṅkīrtane kari śraddhāra pracāra

"Loudly chant the holy names and preach with faith."

When my guru-mahārāja came to the West, what did he have with him? Only strong faith in Krishna, strong faith in the words of his guru, strong faith in the holy name. He had nothing else. It is a question of strong faith in Gopal. But people are lacking faith. You have some faith, but not strong faith. You should develop strong faith. Caitanya-caritāmṛta (madhya 22.62) states:

‘śraddhā’-śabde —— viśvāsa kahe sudṛḍha niścaya
kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya

"Śraddhā" is defined as confident, firm faith that by rendering transcendental loving service to Krishna one automatically performs all subsidiary activities. Such faith is favorable to the discharge of devotional service.

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗟𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗹𝘆!

If you develop kṛṣṇa-bhakti all of your duties and obligations are finished. You are thinking, “This is my duty, my responsibility, to look after the maintenance of my family, my wife and my children. But it is said, kṛṣṇe bhakti kaile sarva-karma kṛta haya — “All of your work is finished.” Everyone says this, but they are only speaking from the lips. In their heart, 99.9% people have no faith. Therefore Gauranga Mahaprabhu has said, ucca saṅkīrtane kari śraddhāra pracāra — “Chant loudly: hare kṛṣṇa hare kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa hare hare hare rāma hare rāma rāma rāma hare hare. Inculcate śraddhā, faith, unto those people who have not developed śraddhā.”
My guru-mahārāja did that. When he first arrived here he came with only a pair of karatālas. He simply went to a park and chanted Hare Krishna. The hippies were rolling on the ground, half-naked, taking strong drugs like L*D and ma*****na, and becoming mad. My guru-mahārāja just played karatālas and chanted, and thereby he inculcated śraddhā in them. Corā-veśyā-śāṭha — the thieves, the prostitutes, and the cheaters — sādhu is able to inculcate śraddhā even into them. That is Mahaprabhu’s instruction: agre śraddhā diyā — “First inculcate śraddhā unto them.” Then when they are śraddhāvān, when they have developed śraddhā, strong faith in the holy name, strong faith in Krishna, and sādhu-śāstra-guru-vākya, then they are eligible to be initiated. There is the offense to the holy name known as śraddhā-hīna-jane nāmopadeśa “don’t give someone nāma-upadeśa, instructions on chanting, if they are lacking in śraddhā.” So agre-śraddhā first one must have śraddhā.
How can one develop śraddhā? That is another question — for this reason we perform loud saṅkīrtana. By doing so you can develop śraddhā. Don’t feel depressed or disappointed; Mahaprabhu is there, Krishna is there, Srila Prabhupada is there. Chant loudly and fill the atmosphere with transcendental sound vibration! You should have full complete faith in the holy name, in Gopal, in Krishna and Mahaprabhu. Don’t feel desperate at any time, under any circumstances. There is no question of pessimism in Mahaprabhu’s movement. There is all optimism. I have seen during my tour that now this pessimism is widespread amongst the devotees in America. Seeing that, I feel very sorry. I am crying in my heart. What has happened? My guru-mahārāja came here first. He sowed the seed here. Now what has happened? They have lost faith — such a sorry state of affairs.
How is it that a small boy immediately developed faith and got Krishna? He cried out, “O Gopal! Where are You? My mother has said to call you!” And immediately Gopal appeared.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗵𝗿𝘂𝘃𝗮

Dhruva Maharaja was also only a child, a five-year-old boy. When he inquired from his mother Suniti, she told him, “Narayan is there. If you get the mercy of Lord Narayan then all of your desires will be fulfilled.”
Dhruva said, “Yes! Lord Narayan. Where is He?”
Suniti said, “I have heard that saints and sages go to the forest to get Him.”
Dhruva said, “Oh I must go! I must go and get Him!” He was only a five-year-old boy, but he had such determination.
Later, Narada Muni told him, “The forest is a very dangerous place. There are many fearful, ferocious animals here — tigers, lions, and snakes. You are a small boy, what can you do here?”
Dhruva said, “No! No! My mother said that Narayan is there. I must go and find Him. Dhruva wouldn’t hear any dissuasion. He was so strong and determined! Therefore his name is Dhruva. “Dhruva” means “determined”. His determination never shakes. Rupa Goswami therefore says in Upadeśāmṛta (text 3):

utsāhān niścayād dhairyāt tat-tat-karma-pravartanāt
saṅga-tyāgāt sato vṛtteḥ ṣaḍbhir bhaktiḥ prasidhyati

"One can execute the process of bhakti-yoga successfully with full-hearted enthusiasm, perseverance, and determination, by following the prescribed duties in the association of devotees and by engaging completely in activities of goodness."

Rupa Goswami, mahājana-ācārya, says one must have utsāhān, enthusiasm, and niścayād, determination. “Yes, I am determined to achieve this thing. I must achieve it.” Dhruva had that kind of determination. But also dhairyāt, you must have patience. Don’t lose patience. This strong determination and strong faith is most important. Nothing is impossible. Krishna is always there to help you. He is there in your heart. He will test how strong your faith is in Him. Your faith is shaking; it is not strong. How determined are you? Krishna creates everything. His will is supreme. By His mere desire creation, maintenance, and destruction take place. We are completely dependent on His will. Bhaktivinode says in Śaraṇāgati (3.4.7), tomāra icchāya āchi nirbhara koriyā — “I am completely dependent on Your will, O Krishna.” So Krishna says, “Okay, I will test your faith, to see if you are really completely dependent on My will.” But you are lacking faith, and Krishna knows, “Oh, he has no faith. He only speaks from the lips. In his heart he has no faith.”
-- From Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu issue 68. From an evening program in Lansing, Michigan, USA, 28 October 1991.
[𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: By Radhe Gendron. Gopal and his childhood friend Sudama Vipra.]

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮, ... 𝗶𝗳 ...

𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘺:
𝙎𝙧𝙞 𝙎𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙙 𝙂𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙖 𝙎𝙬𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙈𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙟𝙖

Hari-nāma-cintāmaṇi (2.13) says:
kṛṣṇa-nāma cintāmaṇi anādi cinmaya
yei kṛṣṇa, sei nāma — eka tattva haya
Krishna’s name is cintāmaṇi, a desire-fulfilling tree. The name will give you everything, whatever desire you have. You have a desire to eat stool, so kṛṣṇa-nāma will give you stool. “All right, eat stool.” The fruitive workers, sa-karma karmīs, have so many material desires. If they chant “hare kṛṣṇa” then the name will fulfill all of their desires and give them so-called religiosity, so-called artha, economic development, and for those who desire liberation, Krishna will also give them that. If one attains the stage of nāma-ābhāsa they’ll get liberation. But those niṣkāma-bhaktas — devotees who have no desire for material enjoyment, no desire for liberation — what will they get? The name of Krishna, which is cintāmaṇi, will give them kṛṣṇa-prema! If you are free from all desires for material enjoyment and desires for liberation, then definitely you will get kṛṣṇa-prema. Definitely! But as long as you have these desires the name will never give it to you.
— From a lecture in Bhubaneswar, Orissa on 31 March 1995.

𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿

𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘺:
𝙎𝙧𝙞 𝙎𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙙 𝙂𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙂𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙖 𝙎𝙬𝙖𝙢𝙞 𝙈𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙟𝙖

Vasant Pancami Das: An amazing preaching story from Africa.
From Kapila Dev Das:
How much knowledge do we actually need in order to serve the mission of Shri Caitanya Mahaprabhu? What if we are complete fools – can we still act as divine instruments?

For some years, I was managing a theatre company in South Africa called “The Bhaktivedanta Players” We would perform all the standard ISKCON plays, like “The Touchstone”, A-Class prisoner, C-Class prisoner” “Boatman, Boatman”. Then we started getting into more serious theatrical productions like serious portrayal of Ramayan, Krsna’s pastimes, Bilvamangala Thakur. Nice service. We were always performing somewhere.

One time we were requested by the Hindu Student Union to perform for their event, which they were holding in a medium-size tent behind the Chatsworth Sports Stadium – for an audience of about 200 people. I agreed and called up all our members telling them the time and place. On the day of the performance, one of our actors got a bit confused. He thought we were performing INSIDE the Chatsworth Sports Stadium. As it so happened, there was a big soccer match scheduled in the stadium between the Amazulu Warriors and the Kaizer Chiefs – the biggest rivalry in the Premier African League. The devotee was really impressed, “How did Kapila get so many people for our show. There were actually about 60,000 fans that day. He pushed his way right through the ticket line, telling everyone, “I’m with Kapila… Excuse me, I‘m with Kapila…excuse me, we are performing today.” No one knew what he was talking about, or who Kapila was, or what performance was going on. But he said it so confidently, that everyone just let him through. He was the only Indian guy in a sports stadium with 60,000 wild African fans. And he walked right into the middle of the field, thinking he would walk into me. But of course, I wasn’t there. So he thought he would do what we did for every other performance. He put his hands in the air, and shouted, “Hare Krsna!” The crowd shouted back, “HARE KRSNA!” Still, Kapila did not come out So he shouted again, “Hare Krsna!” and the crowd really started chanting uproariously. Hare Krsna. Hare Krsna! It was deafening. We were in that little tent behind the stadium, doing our little play, when all of a sudden, we heard this deafening chanting. We stopped in our tracks and just listened. The Hindu students thought we had organized this, and they were really excited. “ You see! Hare Krsna is really popular.” After that day, they told everyone in the Hindu community how popular Hare Krsna was in the African community. That encouraged many people to begin chanting. But anyway, this devotee was in the middle of the field leading 60,000 sports fans in a spontaneous kirtan and suddenly he realized, “Kapila is not here. He’s not coming. I am alone here.” He ran for his life out of the stadium, jumped in his car and drove home. I only found out what had happened the next day. I thought to myself, “Is this repeatable? Can we do this regularly?” At the time it didn’t seem so, but later events were to prove me wrong.
About one year later, I came back to the temple after a program distributing prasadam and the Holy Name, and got a message that I must immediately go to a particular address in the city for an important meeting. Although dusty and tired, I immediately went with my wife. The address turned out to be a very ornate penthouse office suite. We walked in into a large conference room with marble floors and mahogany tables. There were about 80 people in attendance at a meeting that had already started Many of them were military men. I noticed two generals and a large number of high-ranking officers. As we walked down the table to take our seats, there was silence. A few army officers made some joking remarks in Afrikaans and everyone laughed. Quietly I asked my wife what the officer had said and she quietly told me that it was quite a disrespectful remark – like we were a joke. We tolerated it and sat quietly, listening intently to what was going on. It turns out the National Police were kicking off a “Community Policing “ program to convince black communities that the police were their friends. The kickoff event would be an exhibition soccer match at the main soccer stadium in the city between the Amazulu Warriors and Kaiser Chiefs – the same teams that had been playing the day we had our “mistake kirtan” a year before. Various leaders attending the meeting were being asked for their budget requirements for the event. One person was organizing bus transport for fans and he said it would cost 120,000 Rand. Another was responsible for advertisement and said it would cost 180,000 Rand. And so on. Finally the MC turned to me and asked how much it would cost to feed 100,000 people. I said, “Thank you for giving us this opportunity to work with your dedicated team. It will cost zero.” There was silence in the room. The MC asked me how it could possibly cost zero. I informed him that the community was sponsoring our feeding program and they expected us to use our judgment to use their donations to help the community in the best way possible. I informed them that we considered the goal that the Police had of building communication with all communities to be vital and thus we must do whatever we could to support it. After saying this, I sat down. The room erupted in applause and they gave us a standing ovation.
Later at the event, we came out onto the field before the soccer match was to start and the SAP officials were going to introduce us. The 100,000 strong audience immediately began chanting the Holy Name in unison. Hare Krsna! Hare Krsna. Very loud; it was deafening. The police generals were shocked that the audience already loved us. From that day, we had a very positive relationship with the Police and the country’s leadership elite and they approached us whenever they wanted to do a community program.
I often wondered how these wonderful things happened? We had no qualifications. We were not learned or even particularly devotional. My conclusion was amanina manadena not expecting any praise but giving all praise to others kirtaniya sada harih one can chant the Holy Name constantly. I pray that Krsna might somehow guide a fool such as myself to become humbler than a blade of grass and more tolerant than a tree.

*𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛.𝗚. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗮 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗵𝘂 (𝗚𝗚𝗦), 𝗚𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗶, 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗮*

[𝘈𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘝𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘋𝘢𝘴]

Dear devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Perhaps it should have been done earlier, but at last I am requesting the worldwide community of devotees to please offer your heartfelt prayers to the Lord so that, if He so desires, my spiritual master, Om Visnupada Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu, a senior disciple of Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja, will recover from the critical health condition in which he is at present.

Just one month ago, despite his advanced age (77), Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu continued to give powerful daily lectures on Srimad Bhagavatam (6 books compiled from his lectures have already been published, and there will be more), carry out his managerial duties, meet various devotees, respond to their calls and messages, etc. On 14 February 2024 (Vasanta Panchami) we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the opening of Sri Sri Radha Gopaljiu ISKCON temple here in Gadeigiri (Odisha). Then, one day later, during the night from February 15th to February 16th, Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu could not sleep due to having difficulty with breathing. Throughout February 16th the devotees who take care of his health tried different remedies, but finally in the morning on February 17th they brought him, already in a physically very weak condition, to the topmost pulmonologist in Cuttack.

After consulting that doctor, Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu was admitted in a hospital there and put in the respiratory intensive care ward under NIV (non-invasive ventilation of the lungs). He was diagnosed as having two-side pneumonia. In the following days, because he had low oxygen saturation level, the NIV was continued and oxygen mask was used.

Due to the treatment, pneumonia was subsiding, but then his heart rate became high. For this and other reasons, it was decided to transfer him to a hospital in Bhubaneswar where he is remaining now in an intensive care ward. The director of that hospital is also an initiated disciple of Gour Govinda Maharaja, and he made all arrangements for the best treatment of His Grace Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu.

It seemed that his health condition was improving, but in the last few days there has been a dangerous development. A CT scan showed traces of a new virus in one of his lungs. Along with that, there appears to be a new wave of pneumonia. Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu had to remain in an oxygen mask practically all the time, and this morning (March 3) he had a cardiac arrest. Then the doctors put an invasive ventilator in his body, and he will be under observation for 24 hours with that invasive ventilator. His age and other diseases (hypertension, diabetes, etc.) make the treatment even more complicated.

His Grace Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu played a very important role in organizing the construction of the beautiful ISKCON temple in Bhubaneswar, thus helping his Gurudeva to fulfil Srila Prabhupada's instruction. That temple was Srila Prabhupada's last founded temple project, and Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu was the president of ISKCON Bhubaneswar in 1988-1996.

In 1993-1994, as soon as Gour Govinda Maharaja started the ISKCON project in Gadeigiri (East Odisha), where his beloved Deities Sri Sri Radha-Gopaljiu are worshipped, he appointed Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu to be the temple president there in addition to Bhubaneswar. Under the supervision of Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu, the ISKCON temple in Gadeigiri was constructed, and he still remains the president of this temple. In 1996, by the strong desire of his Gurudeva, he took the responsibility of the ISKCON in Ankushpur (near Berhampur in South Odisha). Later, being requested by His Holiness Bhakti Swarupa Damodara Swami, Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu assumed the responsibility of Bahanaga centre (North Odisha), which is an extension centre of ISKCON Gadeigiri. It is expected that the temple construction in both these places, Ankushpur and Bahanaga, will be completed quite soon, within a year.

Besides serving his spiritual master in the capacity of a temple president, His Grace Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu every year starting from 1990 travelled with Gour Govinda Maharaja as his personal attendant on preaching tours in Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, and the USA. After Gour Govinda Maharaja’s departure from this world, Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu continued to regularly visit Indonesia, Singapore and Australia and inspire the devotees to remain in ISKCON. In 2005 he began visiting and preaching Krishna consciousness in Switzerland, then Germany, Russia, England and some other countries. By hearing Krishna katha from Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu and observing his Vaisnava qualities, devotees from different countries have become inspired to follow him as their spiritualguide. In 2010 the GBC accepted the proposal that His Grace Chaitanya Chandra Prabhu become an initiating spiritual master, and now he has disciples in India, Indonesia, Switzerland, Russia, Germany, etc. Please join us at this dangerous moment in our prayers for our Guru Maharaja's recovery. Hare Krishna.

Your servant,
Akinchana Vitta Das

𝗥𝗲𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧:
𝙎𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙖 𝘽𝙝𝙖𝙠𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖 𝙎𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙞 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙠𝙪𝙧 𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙝𝙪𝙥𝙖𝙙𝙖

Once one of the "biggest" collectors for the Gaudiya Math requested the chief income tax officer in Cuttack Odisha to help collect donations from the Marwaris, thinking that by the tax collector's presence they would be intimidated into giving. When the officer refused on grounds of malfeasance, the sannyasi collector requested, "At least let me take your car to return to the Matha," which the officer agreed to. Maharaja took it to the bazar and there solicited contributions from the Marwaris, who were cowed by seeing the officer's car and hence profusely donated money, clothes, and similar items. The Maharaja untruthfully told one of the merchants, "We have three hundred brahmacārīs, so please give us three hundred vests" — which the man did.
When this Maharaja arrived at the gate of the Saccidananda Matha in Cuttack he loudly called out, "Jaya Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaja ki jaya!" He thought that surely his guru-mahārāja would be pleased with him. Yet when Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati heard how the collection had been secured, he became angry like fire and arranged to have everything returned. He was so upset that he fasted for the rest of the day. (From Bhakti Vikasa Swami's book Bhaktisiddhanta Vaibhava)

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗮 𝗕𝗵𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗶 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗸𝘂𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗵𝘂𝗽𝗮𝗱𝗮.

𝘈 𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢 𝘣𝘺:
𝙈𝙖𝙙𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖 𝘿𝙖𝙨

For the 150th anniversary of his appearance. A talk at the ISKCON Budapest temple.

The Inner Life of Srila Bhaktisiiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada. Katha by Madhavananda Das The Inner Life of Srila Bhaktisiiddhanta Saraswati Thakur Prabhupada. Katha by Madhavananda DasFor the 150th anniversary of his appearance. A talk at the ISK...