Meditation of the Day

The darshan of the deity of the Lord who is worshiped very nicely and dressed with beautiful ornaments is more attractive than anything else in the world. 

- HH Indradyumna Swami

Offenses against the Holy Name of the Lord

Ecstatic Symptoms of Love of God - Does that happen to us when we hear or chant the Holy Names of the Lord? Srila Visvanatha Cakravatri Thakura has pointed put that if upon chanting the Holy name of the Lord, one or more of the ecstatic symptoms of Love of God do not manifest in one's body, this means one is still guilty of committing one or more of the ten offenses of the Holy Name of the Lord.

- HH Indradyumna Swami

Chant from the Heart!

Special Deity Discovered of Sri Nathji and Sri Yamuna Devi in Vrindavan

Daughter of the Sun God

Diary of a Traveling Monk - Volume 12, Chapter 4 - March 18, 2012

By Indradyumna Swami
It was my last week in Sri Vrindavan Dhama. I wanted to take advantage of my final precious days in the holy dhama, so I took a small group of devotees to Radha Kunda for parikrama. During our circumambulation of the sacred lake, a Vrajavasi man invited us into his home for fresh, hot chapattis which his wife and daughter served us with yogurt.
“Please take darshan of our deity,” the man said, seeing we had finished our meal.
We followed him into a small temple room and were stunned to see a large, very old deity of Sri Nathji.
“My great-grandparents discovered Him underneath the ground when they built this house,” said the man. “Our family has worshipped Him ever since.”
As we took darshan of their ancient lord, I noticed two marble feet embedded in the altar. It looked like another deity had once stood alongside Sri Nathji.
“What are those feet?” I asked.
“They belonged to a deity of Yamuna-devi who was found at the same time as Sri Nathji,” the daughter of the family said. “My father’s great-grandparents had her painted very nicely and our family always worshipped her with all our love and devotion. But then three years ago some thieves broke into our home and tried to steal her. We managed to stop them from taking her, but they broke her trying.”
“Where is she now?” I asked.
“We kept her in a cupboard for a long time, but recently we put the broken murti in the refuse heap behind our house,” she replied. “The cleaners are coming next week to clear the area out and they’ll probably throw her in the Yamuna River.”
“Can we see her?” I asked.
“You want to see her?” the man asked. “She’s broken, like my daughter said. She’s missing an arm and one hand is broken off. When the deity is broken, the personality leaves that form. Why do you want to see a broken murti?”
“Sometimes in our line our acharyas have repaired broken deities and continued to worship them,” I said. “Our understanding is that the deity can remain in that form.”
The man looked skeptical, but led us through his house to their back courtyard. Laying on top of a pile of garden waste and discarded refuse was an exquisitely beautiful female deity about three feet in length.
I glanced at the devotees. The shocked expression on their faces reflected my own feelings. I decided to take a chance.
“Instead of throwing your deity away, would you give her to us?” I asked.
“Yes, if you like you can take the broken murti,” the wife said without any hesitation.
“We’d be happy to get a new deity of Yamuna-devi made for your family in exchange,” I said.
Her face broke into a big smile. “Oh thank you! Thank you!” she said.
Half an hour later we were driving back to Vrindavan with a most beautiful deity of Yamuna devi in the back seat of our jeep.
“They just don’t make deities like this anymore,” I said.
“But how do you think she ended up underneath the ground?” one devotee asked.
“Hard to say,” I replied. “But it may be that the deity was hidden during one of the times India was conquered by foreigners. Deities were often hidden underground or in lakes or forests, especially during the Muslim invasions.”
We drove in silence for the rest of the journey, spellbound by the beauty of the deity. As we entered Vrindavan I said to the devotees, “That was the most amazing Radha Kunda parikrama I’ve ever done.”
“Us too!” the devotees said unanimously.
Arriving at my house we carefully carried Yamuna-devi, the daughter of the sun god, inside.









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“O handsome, fragrant tamala desire tree blooming in Vrindavan forest and embraced by the madhavi vine of the goddess ruling this forest, O tree the shade of whose glory protects the world from a host of burning sufferings, what wonderful fruits do the people find at your feet?”
[Srila Rupa Goswami, Utkalika-vallari, Text 66]

Finding Inspiration

We need to work hard and set higher and higher goals each time, so that we can achieve the highest goal – ceto darpana marjanam – a clean heart in which we can cultivate real love for Radha and Krsna.

It is only the exceptional mercy of Lord Caitanya and His representative, Srila Prabhupada, that we can be all delivered and go back home, back to Godhead.

Don't expect immediate results in devotional service. It may even take lifetimes. You have to be very patient. Rupa Goswami mentions in Nectar of Devotion – you have to be very patient.

During the course of our lives we face many difficulties and calamities. Our devotion is tested by the Lord in such situations.

The Hare Krishna mahamantra acts like a sweet medicine which liberates us from the ignorance of the material world and gives us real happiness.

Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu reveals the secret that the sankirtan movement gives the devotee the taste that they are hankering for.

We have to be very attentive to avoiding any offenses to the Holy Name, which may slow our progress down or in some cases take away all the benefits that we have gained through chanting Hare Krishna.

The rebellious and obstinate living entity turns away from Krsna and wants to play in his own realm of sense gratification. But he is very nicely placed under the care of Maya-devi who ties him up with the three modes of material nature for his ultimate rectification.

The material world is created to maintain each and every living entity provided it lives in harmony with the rules of God. All we have to do is take what is necessary to keep the body and soul together and leave the rest.

Sadhu means one who cuts our material attachments. He does not speak to flatter the audience but rather speaks the truth which may be painful but is for the ultimate benefit.

Material pride means that I am proud of myself whereas spiritual pride means that I am proud of Krsna. Material pride diminishes Krsna consciousness whereas spiritual pride increases Krsna consciousness.

One act of devotional service done sincerely attracts the mercy of the Lord.

We need to hear from the pure unalloyed devotees of the Lord whose hearts are like gold so that we can act as the transparent via medium for the Lord through which the message of Krsna consciousness can pass through loud and clear.

- HH Indradyumna Swami (www.travelingmonk.com)

 

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Blog: www.gloriouskrishna.blogspot.com

Govindam Adi Purusam!

Radha Govinda at Mangala Arotik

In Vraja's hero, who is beyond the rules of the Vedas, whose power and heroism... is glorified in many beautiful songs, who is surrounded by His dear devotees, whose chest is now yellow and anointed with kunkuma, who enjoys pastimes in a newly constructed forest cottage, who wears a splendid golden sash, and who is a deep ocean of the nectar of prema, may we place all of our love."

[ Srila Rupa Goswami, Sri Govinda-Virudavali, text 10 ]

Source: HH Indradyumna Swami's Notes (http://www.travelingmonk.com/)

Dying before Death

"Death is the most important part of life because it determines our next destination. Of course we think we all go back to Godhead but that is very rare."

- HH Indradyumna Swami

Dubai Versus Vraja

I have found Dubai to be a very opulent city, reminiscent of Svargaloka. But it doesn’t come close to the beauty and grandeur of Vrindavan according to Srila Bilvamangala Thakur!

“My dear Lord, what can I say about the opulence of Your Vrndavana? Simply the ornaments on the legs of the damsels of Vrndavana are more than cintamani, and their dresses are as good as the heavenly parijata flowers. And the cows exactly resemble the surabhi cows in the transcendental abode. Therefore Your opulence is just like an ocean that no one can measure.”

[ From Krsna-karnamrta by Srila Bilvamangala Thakura ]

Notes of HH Indradyumna Swami