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The 17th of August 2025 marked the auspicious appearance day of our divine spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. Here at the B.L.I.S.S temple, devotees wrote heartfelt offerings to him. Here is the offering by His Grace Nityananda Dasa. The time devotees had with you was short and sweet, not very much chance to greet. But here you are, in your sound so sweet, chanting, preaching, dancing the whole world you are enhancing. Some say you were short and sweet yourself, but little do we know about your true transcendental self. Under your guidance we walk towards our goal, by your grace, we find the space, to love the Lord within our heart's embrace. Short and sweet remains the time where we get to meet, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and fall, infront of His Lotus Feet. By your mercy, the way for everyone you have given, your glories in this world will no longer be hidden. You gave our daily quota to meet, chanting sixteen rounds, short and sweet. Elevating the consciousness, ataining fearlesness, our hearts to Krishna’s lotus feet we press. I'm keeping this poem short and sweet, your mission is not yet complete. Every town and every village will hear, the holy name to you so very dear. Jaya Srila Prabhupada

The 17th of August 2025 marked the auspicious appearance day of our divine spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. Here at the B.L.I.S.S temple, devotees wrote heartfelt offerings to him. Here is the offering by Her Grace Hamsini Devi Dasi. Hamsini on book distribution in London Dear Srila Prabhupada, There is no one in the three worlds at all like you, Who is taking me to the boy who is blue. Before we met I was in despair And now I am under your loving care. Your words make me realise everyday That the path of bhakti is the only way. Everybody here is searching for joy And you are returning us to that joyful boy. An absence of love is something we fear, If only we knew that Krishna is here. Srila Prabhupada I don’t think I deserve this But I am fortunate enough to be in your service. Serving your devotees and distributing your books. Sometimes it gets me funny looks. But I don’t care, I’m on cloud nine. Because I am yours and you are mine.

The 17th of August 2025 marked the auspicious appearance day of our divine spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. Here at the B.L.I.S.S temple, devotees wrote heartfelt offerings to him. Here is the offering by Her Grace Daivi Sakti Devi Dasi Your Divine Grace, Today you have appeared, and for 129 years you have blessed this material planet with your divine presence. You are always among us, for you decided to save even the most fallen and the most envious, simply because your Guru Mahārāja, His Divine Grace Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, ordered you to do so. I feel small and ashamed before you today, because I know that the service I offer you is not equal to the mercy and love you shower upon us every day, if only we choose to pay attention. I have thousands of desires, but today I sincerely wish to develop the same attachment that you have for your Guru Mahārāja, for our disciplic succession, and ultimately for Kṛṣṇa. You are my only hope, Śrīla Prabhupāda. Today, and every day of this life, I want to absorb my consciousness in your devotion to your spiritual master and try to serve you and guide my life according to your order. It feels most appropriate today to remember and share this part of your offering to your Guru Mahārāja of December 9, 1961, and I pray to one day develop for you the same love that you showed him. “Homage to my Spiritual Master” (Śrīla A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Calcutta, Dec. 9, 1961) The ācārya is the living representative of the Omnipresent. He is the mercy manifestation of God. To think otherwise is the grossest form of nārakī-buddhi. On this auspicious day of the disappearance of my divine master, I can only pray to his lotus feet that I may not be misled by mundane attractions, but may be engaged fully in the transcendental service of his message. There is no difference between the words of my spiritual master and the words of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī. Both are meant to execute the will of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Therefore, on this day of his disappearance, I can only repeat his words: ‘Although I am a very insignificant person, still I have tried to execute the order of my spiritual master. That is my credit. I do not know whether I shall be able to execute fully his order, but I have sincerely tried. And if there is any success, it is only due to his mercy.’ Today is the auspicious day of his disappearance, and I am offering my humble prayers at his lotus feet. You are always with us, my master, and your words will guide us eternally. Jaya Srila Prabhupāda

The 17th of August 2025 marked the auspicious appearance day of our divine spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. Here is the Vyasa Puja offering made by His Grace Makhancora Dasa. His Grace Makhancora Prabhu on Krishna Janmastami 2025 nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhu-tale srimate bhaktivedanta-svamin iti namine I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krishna on this earth, having taken shelter at His lotus feet. namas te sarasvate deve gaura-vani-pracharine nirvishesha-shunyavadi-pashchatya-desha-tarine Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Sarasvati Gosvami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Chaitanya deva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism. Dear Srila Prabhupada, There is no day more auspicious than this day of your divine and merciful appearance in this world of darkness and suffering.  All the fallen conditioned souls are delivered by you simply upon their willingness to give submissive aural reception to the Goloka messages you bring.  Ignorant like dull and dumb animals at night in an unknown place we wander around without a purpose, with no vision of life of true happiness and prosperity, there's no way out, it seems. You bring the torchlight of transcendental knowledge that dissipates that darkness and makes our spiritual vision clear. You open the gate. You give us the holy names of Radha and Krishna to chant constantly while mercifully engaging us in assisting you in spreading the transcendental movement of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu around the world. May your divine lotus feet be eternally our only shelter. By your compassionate mercy we now roll the beads of our Japa-malas, chanting the sweet names of the Lord, Hare Krishna, Hare Rama, Hare Krishna, Hare Rama. Those who obstinately refuse to take your mercy are rolled by time like beads on the janama-marana-mala of birth and death, eternally. This whole sad world suddenly becomes enlivened when your pure disciples chant your glories, "Srila Prabhupada ki Jaya!" and when they glorify the Supreme Lord Krishna, following in the footsteps of your lotus feet. Everyone becomes purified and enthusiastic simply upon beholding your transcendental form, your oceanic smile of love of Krishna. You make people who are drowned in the sorrow of frustrated sense gratification raise their arms and dance in the streets. A powerful yogi may perform miracles, turn water into wine or multiply breads. Matter has no incentive, will or freedom, it will not protest its transformation. But to transform the depressed crows of Kali-yuga into swans and jubilant peacocks dancing in ecstasy, as you're doing, is a miracle of a separate category. Every day the devotees of your BLISS prove that you are fully present to guide a sincere soul back home, back to Krishna. You know very well who surrendered one's life to you. By the mercy of the Supersoul you know everything. Kindly cast your glance full of compassion, love and empowerment on all your sincere devotees so your fame and the holy name of the Lord spreads around the three worlds. All glories to you, Srila Prabhupada! Your fallen servant begs for your mercy.

The 17th of August 2025 marked the auspicious appearance day of our divine spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. Here at the B.L.I.S.S temple, devotees wrote heartfelt offerings to him. Here is the offering by His Grace Maitreya Rsi Dasa. Maitreya Rsi Dasa armed with Mrdanga and the Holy Name in the streets of London I do not have any love for you. I was late writing this vyasa puja offering. I could have meditated on it, crafted it very carefully, and glorified you with choice words and intricate poetry. Unfortunately, I am not a very good disciple. In fact, almost every year I forget that I have to write these offerings. It’s embarrassing, to say the least. But you are, somehow, my spiritual master. It’s quite confusing how the most powerful and important spiritual master this material cosmic manifestation has ever known accepted me as a disciple. Equally, if not more confusing is how you continue to guide and inspire me. Although my position is lamentable, it is also a nice opportunity to see your wonderful characteristic of causeless and boundless mercy. The more I practice Krishna consciousness, the more it seems that I’m less and less qualified to sit at your feet every year and offer these homages of pretension. But you continually accept whatever little service any fallen soul can give, and you give back more than we can hold. It is said that a disciple cannot repay the debt to his spiritual master. Srila Prabhupada, I am not capable of even understanding the vastness of my debt to you, what to speak of being able to pay it off. You take the most wretched of creatures and give them the highest status of life. You give them the ultimate happiness. You have most businessmen scratching their heads: you give everything to us, we enjoy the topmost benefit of love of Krishna, eternal existence, and deliverance from the cycle of birth and death, all in exchange for what? For living a happier life in Krishna consciousness, where we simply chant, dance, take prasadam, and induce others to do the same. Why have you offered us this? For money? for fame? For getting some servants? No: you do it because you love us, and because you love Krishna. What a deal. A deal so good a sane man would feel stupid saying no. Please keep me a sane man, Srila Prabhupada.

Yesterday marked the 128th anniversary of Shrila Prabhupada's divine appearance, and the B.L.I.S.S devotees celebrated by writing and reciting offerings to him. Maitreya Prabhu takes a selfie Maitreya Rsi Dasa: yatha kancanatam yati kamsyam rasa-vidhanatah tatha diksa-vidhanena dvijatvam jayate nrnam   Shrila Jiva Goswami and Shrila Sanantan Goswami have both given this verdict that as bell metal or copper (kamsyam) mixed with mercury (rasa) in a proper alchemical process (vidhanatah) becomes gold, a person can acquire the good qualities of a brahmana when properly initiated by a bona-fide spiritual master. This is the proof that someone is a bona-fide spiritual master⎯he is giving diksa, or spiritual realization, to his disciples. By the mercy of such a guru, even a person coming from the lowest class of people can be purified to such an extent that he can meet Shri Shri Radha-Krishna face to face.   kirata-hunandhra-pulinda-pulkasa abhira-sumbha yavanah khasadayah ye 'nye ca papa yad-apasrayasrayah sudhyanti tasmai prabhavisnave namah   “Kirata, Huna, Andhra, Pulinda, Pulkasa, Abhira, Sumbha, Yavana, members of the Khasa races and even others addicted to sinful acts can be purified by taking shelter of the devotees of the Lord, due to His being the supreme power. I beg to offer my respectful obeisances unto Him”. (Shrimad-Bhagavatam 2.4.18)   This is not within the capacity of any ordinary personality. It requires the benediction and empowerment of Shri Krishna in order to do so. Because you are directly in touch purely and fully with the Supreme Lord, Shri Krishna, Shrila Prabhupada, so many fallen souls are becoming purified to the extent that they can be even called brahmanas, not by name only, but by knowledge and qualities. It is quite astonishing that even young men from the most sinful backgrounds in the western countries, are, to this very day, becoming free from all their bad habits and are becoming saintly persons fit to deliver the world on your divine order. The very fact that this is going on is the most eminent and wonderful evidence that your Divine Grace is the still the spiritual master for the whole universe. There are many quotes to support this idea from the shastra, your personal conversations, and letters approved and written by you, but the practical proof that your statements are true is that you are still changing low class bell metal boys and girls in into first grade golden devotees of the Lord.   We cannot fathom your mercy, Shrila Prabhupada, because your mercy is infinite, and our tiny brains are finite. Being conditioned by the illusory energy of Krishna, we are unable to comprehend just how great a benediction you are giving us the opportunity to take up. Because we are covered by the illusory energy, we cannot appreciate the eternal, transcendental, ever-expanding nectar of devotional service to Krishna, which, for no particular reason, who have kindly chosen to give us. Your causeless mercy is explained in Chaitanya Charitamrta: bhramanda bhuminte, konya bhagyavan jiva, guru-krsna,prasade, paya bhakti late bija.   Because we are fortunate, we have received your causeless mercy in the form of the seed of devotional service. It is the highest goal of life, and before you opened our darkened eyes, we were wandering in the aimless darkness of material existence, suffering in the lower modes with no clue or hope for happiness and purpose. in fact, we were practically animals destined for a hellish existence. if someone is drowning, and another person saves him, the person who was drowning feels tremendously grateful. but because we are forgetful, proud, and ignorant, we do not understand just how much we are drowning in material existence and so we are not sufficiently grateful to you, Shrila Prabhupada. Our every second of life should be directed to your service and fulfilling your evey desire. Please bless us so that we might attain that constant consciousness, Shrila Prabhupada.

The 17th of August 2025 marked the auspicious appearance day of our divine spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. Here at the B.L.I.S.S temple, devotees wrote heartfelt offerings to him. Here is a poem by Her Grace Krishna Prema Devi Dasi. Krishna Prema Mataji with Krishna's Janmastami plate This year I do not have a song Nor a promise I can’t keep I can’t write a piece smashing mayavads I don’t have the bhakti to make you weep But what I can do is talk about you my lord Master of devotees We all are gathered because of you It’s you we want to please Oh Prabhupada I did not know a perfect person existed The world I know so fake and dark, people are so twisted But then you came into my life in book form just one day With authority and unflinching faith you blew my mind away It’s by your Grace and love of God that we have found our peace You gave us Hare Krishna, God, you’re curing our disease The one that tells us we’re alone and God’s not by our side You clear illusion Transform delusion You’re the definition of bonafide My only wish this special day is that all can know your glories That we can come together to chant and hear and relish pastime stories Not just another Indian guru who wants to take our money You liberate with pure knowledge You’re so sharp, so on point, so funny Made of mercy you shine more than a thousand splendid suns Lord Chaitanya’s personal commander Of acharyas you are the one Who with perfection there in every step made your way to us out here Where we’re wrapped up in identities: I’m a man, I’m black, I’m queer You tell us what we all forgot, that we are spiritual souls To not be bound in what is not, get lost in temporary roles To think of how to please you, love That is my true heart’s goal Thank you Prabhupada To you from this wretched soul. Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

janma karma ca me divyam evam yo vetti tattvatah tyaktvā deham punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna. Bhagavad Gita, 4.9 Today is the most wonderful day of the year. Krishna Janmastmi marks the divine appearance of Sri Krishna, the master of the universe. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita 4.8: In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium. The birth of Lord Krishna is a very beautiful and mystical occurence. Here is an excerpt from the Krishna book, explaining the appearance of Devaki Nandana, the son of Devaki. At that time, in all directions, east, west, south, north, everywhere, there was an atmosphere of peace and prosperity. There were auspicious stars visible in the sky, and on the surface in all towns and villages or pasturing grounds and within the minds of everyone there were signs of good fortune. The rivers were flowing full of waters, and lakes were beautifully decorated with lotus flowers. The forests were full with beautiful birds and peacocks. All the birds within the forests began to sing with sweet voices, and the peacocks began to dance along with their consorts. The wind blew very pleasantly, carrying the aroma of different flowers, and the sensation of bodily touch was very pleasing. At home, the brahmanas, who were accustomed to offer sacrifices in the fire, found their homes very pleasant for offerings. Due to disturbances created by the demoniac kings, the sacrificial fire alter had been almost stopped in the houses of brahmanas, but now they could find the opportunity to start the fire peacefully. Being forbidden to offer sacrifices, the brahmanas were very distressed in mind, intelligence and activities, but just on the point of Krsna's appearance, automatically their minds became full of joy because they could hear loud vibrations in the sky of transcendental sounds proclaiming the appearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The denizens of the Gandharva and Kinnara planets began to sing, and the denizens of Siddhaloka and the planets of the Caranas began to offer prayers in the service of the Personality of Godhead. In the heavenly planets, the angels along with their wives, accompanied by the Apsaras, began to dance. The great sages and the demigods, being pleased, began to shower flowers. At the seashore, there was the sound of mild waves, and above the sea there were clouds in the sky which began to thunder very pleasingly. When things were adjusted like this, Lord Visnu, who is residing within the heart of every living entity, appeared in the darkness of night as the Supreme Personality of Godhead before Devaki, who also appeared as one of the demigoddesses. The appearance of Lord Visnu at that time could be compared with the full moon in the sky as it rises on the eastern horizon. The objection may be raised that, since Lord Krsna appeared on the eighth day of the waning moon, there could be no rising of the full moon. In answer to this it may be said that Lord Krishna appeared in the dynasty which is in the hierarchy of the moon; therefore, although the moon was incomplete on that night, because of the Lord's appearance in the dynasty wherein the moon is himself the original person, the moon was in an overjoyous condition, so by the grace of Krishna he could appear just as a full moon. In an astronomical treatise by the name Khamanikya, the constellations at the time of the appearance of Lord Krishna are very nicely described. It is confirmed that the child born at that auspicious moment was the Supreme Brahman or the Absolute Truth. Vasudeva saw that wonderful child born as a baby with four hands, holding conchshell, club, disc, and lotus flower, decorated with the mark of Srivatsa, wearing the jeweled necklace of kaustubha stone, dressed in yellow silk, appearing dazzling like a bright blackish cloud, wearing a helmet bedecked with the vaidurya stone, valuable bracelets, earrings and similar other ornaments all over His body and an abundance of hair on His head. Due to the extraordinary features of the child, Vasudeva was struck with wonder. How could a newly born child be so decorated? He could therefore understand that Lord Krishna had now appeared, and he became overpowered by the occasion. Vasudeva very humbly wondered that although he was an ordinary living entity conditioned by material nature and was externally imprisoned by Kamsa, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead, Visnu or Krishna, was appearing as a child in his home, exactly in His original position. No earthly child is born with four hands decorated with ornaments and nice clothing, fully equipped with all the signs of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Over and over again, Vasudeva glanced at his child, and he considered how to celebrate this auspicious moment: "Generally, when a male child is born," he thought, "people observe the occasion with jubilant celebrations, and in my home, although I am imprisoned, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has taken birth. How many millions of millions of times should I be prepared to observe this auspicious ceremony!" When Vasudeva, who is also called Anakadundubhi, was looking at his newborn baby, he was so happy that he wanted to give many thousands of cows in charity to the brahmanas. According to the Vedic system, whenever there is an auspicious ceremony in the ksatriya king's palace, the king gives many things in charity. Cows decorated with golden ornaments are delivered to the brahmanas and sages. Vasudeva wanted to perform a charitable ceremony to celebrate Krishna's appearance, but because he was shackled within the walls of Kamsa's prison, this was not possible. Instead, within his mind he gave thousands of cows to the brahmanas. When Vasudeva was convinced that the newborn child was the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, he bowed down with folded hands and began to offer Him prayers. At that time Vasudeva was in the transcendental position, and he became completely free from all fear of Kamsa. The newborn baby was also flashing His effulgence within the room in which He appeared. Vasudeva then began to offer his prayers. "My dear Lord, I can understand who You are. You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul of all living entities and the Absolute Truth. You have appeared in Your own eternal form which is directly perceived by us. I understand that because I am afraid of Kamsa, You have appeared just to deliver me from that fear. You do not belong to this material world; You are the same person who brings about the cosmic manifestation simply by glancing over material nature." One may argue that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who creates the whole cosmic manifestation simply by His glance, cannot come within the womb of Devaki, the wife of Vasudeva. To eradicate this argument, Vasudeva said, "My dear Lord, it is not a very wonderful thing that You appear within the womb of Devaki because the creation was also made in that way. You were lying in the Causal Ocean as Maha-Visnu, and by Your breathing process, innumerable universes came into existence. Then You entered into each of the universes as Garbhodakasayi Visnu. Then again You expanded Yourself as Ksirodakasayi Visnu and entered into the hearts of all living entities and entered even within the atoms. Therefore Your entrance in the womb of Devaki is understandable in the same way. You appear to have entered, but You are simultaneously all-pervading. We can understand Your entrance and nonentrance from material examples. The total material energy remains intact even after being divided into sixteen elements. The material body is nothing but the combination of the five gross elements--namely earth, water, fire, air and ether. Whenever there is a material body, it appears that such elements are newly created, but actually the elements are always existing outside of the body. Similarly, although You appear as a child in the womb of Devaki, You are also existing outside. You are always in Your abode, but still You can simultaneously expand Yourself into millions of forms. "One has to understand Your appearance with great intelligence because the material energy is also emanating from You. You are the original source of the material energy, just as the sun is the source of the sunshine. The sunshine cannot cover the sun globe, nor can the material energy--being an emanation from You--cover You. You appear to be in the three modes of material energy, but actually the three modes of material energy cannot cover You. This is understood by the highly intellectual philosophers. In other words, although You appear to be within the material energy, You are never covered by it." We hear from the Vedic version that the Supreme Brahman exhibits His effulgence, and therefore everything becomes illuminated. We can understand from Brahma-samhita that the brahmajyoti, or the Brahman effulgence, emanates from the body of the Supreme Lord. And from the Brahman effulgence, all creation takes place. It is further stated in the Bhagavad-gita that the Lord is also the support of the Brahman effulgence. Originally He is the root cause of everything. But persons who are less intelligent think that when the Supreme Personality of Godhead comes within this material world, He accepts the material qualities. Such conclusions are not very mature, but are made by the less intelligent. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is directly and indirectly existing everywhere; He is outside this material creation, and He is also within it. He is within this material creation not only as Garbhodakasayi Visnu; He is also within the atom. Existence is due to His presence. Nothing can be separated from His existence. In the Vedic injunction we find that the Supreme Soul or the root cause of everything has to be searched out because nothing exists independent of the Supreme Soul. Therefore the material manifestation is also a transformation of His potency. Both inert matter and the living force--soul--are emanations from Him. Only the foolish conclude that when the Supreme Lord appears He accepts the conditions of matter. Even if He appears to have accepted the material body, He is still not subjected to any material condition. Krishna has therefore appeared and defeated all imperfect conclusions about the appearance and disappearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. "My Lord, Your appearance, existence and disappearance are beyond the influence of the material qualities. Because Your Lordship is the controller of everything and the resting place of the Supreme Brahman, there is nothing inconceivable or contradictory in You. As You have said, material nature works under Your superintendence. It is just like government officers working under the orders of the chief executive. The influence of subordinate activities cannot affect You. The Supreme Brahman and all phenomena are existing within You, and all the activities of material nature are controlled by Your Lordship. "You are called suklam. Suklam, or 'whiteness' is the symbolic representation of the Absolute Truth because it is unaffected by the material qualities. Lord Brahma is called rakta, or red, because Brahma represents the qualities of passion for creation. Darkness is entrusted to Lord Siva because he annihilates the cosmos. The creation, annihilation and maintenance of this cosmic manifestation is conducted by Your potencies, yet You are always unaffected by those qualities. As confirmed in the Vedas, Harir hi nirgunah saksat: the Supreme Personality of Godhead is always free from all material qualities. It is also said that the qualities of passion and ignorance are nonexistent in the person of the Supreme Lord. "My Lord, You are the supreme controller, the Personality of Godhead, the supreme great, maintaining the order of this cosmic manifestation. And in spite of Your being the supreme controller, You have so kindly appeared in my home. The purpose of Your appearance is to kill the followers of the demonic rulers of the world who are in the dress of royal princes but are actually demons. I am sure that You will kill all of them and their followers and soldiers. "I understand that You have appeared to kill the uncivilized Kamsa and his followers. But knowing that You were to appear to kill him and his followers, he has already killed so many of Your predecessors, elder brothers. Now he is simply awaiting the news of Your birth. As soon as he hears about it, he will immediately appear with all kinds of weapons to kill You." After this prayer of Vasudeva, Devaki, the mother of Krishna, offered her prayers. She was very frightened because of her brother's atrocities. Devaki said, "My dear Lord, Your eternal forms, like Narayana, Lord Rama, Sesa, Varaha, Nrsimha, Vamana, Baladeva, and millions of similar incarnations emanating from Visnu, are described in the Vedic literature as original. You are original because all Your forms as incarnations are outside of this material creation. Your form was existing before this cosmic manifestation was created. Your forms are eternal and all-pervading. They are self-effulgent, changeless and uncontaminated by the material qualities. Such eternal forms are ever-cognizant and full of bliss; they are situated in transcendental goodness and are always engaged in different pastimes. You are not limited to a particular form only; all such transcendental eternal forms are self-sufficient. I can understand that You are the Supreme Lord Visnu. "After many millions of years, when Lord Brahma comes to the end of his life, the annihilation of the cosmic manifestation takes place. At that time the five elements--namely earth, water, fire, air and ether--enter into the mahat-tattva. The mahat-tattva again enters, by the force of time, into the nonmanifested total material energy; the total material energy enters into the energetic pradhana, and the pradhana enters into You. Therefore after the annihilation of the whole cosmic manifestation, You alone remain with Your transcendental name, form, quality and paraphernalia. "My Lord, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You because You are the director of the unmanifested total energy, and the ultimate reservoir of the material nature. My Lord, the whole cosmic manifestation is under the influence of time, beginning from the moment up to the duration of the year. All act under Your direction. You are the original director of everything and the reservoir of all potent energies. "Therefore my Lord, I request You to save me from the cruel hands of the son of Ugrasena, Kamsa. I am praying to Your Lordship to please rescue me from this fearful condition because You are always ready to give protection to Your servitors." The Lord has confirmed this statement in the Bhagavad-gita by assuring Arjuna, "You may declare to the world, My devotee shall never be vanquished." While thus praying to the Lord for rescue, mother Devaki expressed her motherly affection: "I understand that this transcendental form is generally perceived in meditation by the great sages, but I am still afraid because as soon as Kamsa understands that You have appeared, he might harm You. So I request that for the time being You become invisible to our material eyes." In other words, she requested the Lord to assume the form of an ordinary child. "My only cause of fear from my brother Kamsa is due to Your appearance. My Lord Madhusudana, Kamsa may know that You are already born. Therefore I request You to conceal this four-armed form of Your Lordship which holds the four symbols of Visnu--namely the conchshell, the disc, the club and the lotus flower. My dear Lord, at the end of the annihilation of the cosmic manifestation, You put the whole universe within Your abdomen; still by Your unalloyed mercy You have appeared in my womb. I am surprised that You imitate the activities of ordinary human beings just to please Your devotee." On hearing the prayers of Devaki, the Lord replied, "My dear mother, in the millennium of Svayambhuva Manu, My father Vasudeva was living as one of the Prajapatis, and his name at that time was Sutapa, and you were his wife named Prsni. At that time, when Lord Brahma was desiring to increase the population, he requested you to generate offspring. You controlled your senses and performed severe austerities. By practicing the breathing exercise of the yoga system, both you and your husband could tolerate all the influences of the material laws: the rainy season, the onslaught of the wind, and the scorching heat of the sunshine. You also executed all religious principles. In this way you were able to cleanse your heart and control the influence of material law. In executing your austerity, you used to eat only the leaves of the trees which fell to the ground. Then with steady mind and controlled sex drive, you worshiped Me, desiring some wonderful benediction from Me. Both of you practiced severe austerities for 12,000 years, by the calculation of the demigods. During that time, your mind was always absorbed in Me. When you were executing devotional service and always thinking of Me within your heart, I was very much pleased with you. O sinless mother, your heart is therefore always pure. At that time also I appeared before you in this form just to fulfill your desire, and I asked you to ask whatever you desired. At that time you wished to have Me born as your son. Although you saw Me personally, instead of asking for your complete liberation from the material bondage, under the influence of My energy, you asked Me to become your son." In other words, the Lord selected His mother and father--namely Prsni and Sutapa--specifically to appear in the material world. Whenever the Lord comes as a human being, He must have someone as a mother and father, so He selected Prsni and Sutapa perpetually as His mother and father. And on account of this, both Prsni and Sutapa could not ask the Lord for liberation. Liberation is not so important as the transcendental loving service of the Lord. The Lord could have awarded Prsni and Sutapa immediate liberation, but He preferred to keep them within this material world for His different appearances, as will be explained in the following verses. On receiving the benediction from the Lord to become His father and mother, both Prsni and Sutapa returned from the activities of austerity and lived as husband and wife in order to beget a child who was the Supreme Lord Himself. In due course of time Prsni became pregnant and gave birth to the child. The Lord spoke to Devaki and Vasudeva: "At that time My name was Prsnigarbha. In the next millennium also you took birth as Aditi and Kasyapa, and I became your child of the name Upendra. At that time My form was just like a dwarf, and for this reason I was known as Vamanadeva. I gave you the benediction that I would take birth as your son three times. The first time I was known as Prsnigarbha, born of Prsni and Sutapa, the next birth I was Upendra born of Aditi and Kasyapa, and now for the third time I am born as Krishna from you, Devaki and Vasudeva. I appeared in this Visnu form just to convince you that I am the same Supreme Personality of Godhead again taken birth. I could have appeared just like an ordinary child, but in that way you would not believe that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, have taken birth in your womb. My dear father and mother, you have therefore raised Me many times as your child, with great affection and love, and I am therefore very pleased and obliged to you. And I assure you that this time you shall go back to home, back to Godhead, on account of your perfection in your mission. I know you are very concerned about Me and afraid of Kamsa. Therefore I order you to take Me immediately to Gokula and replace Me with the daughter who has just been born to Yasoda." Having spoken thus in the presence of His father and mother, the Lord turned Himself into an ordinary child and remained silent. Being ordered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva attempted to take his son from the delivery room, and exactly at that time, a daughter was born of Nanda and Yasoda. She was Yogamaya, the internal potency of the Lord. By the influence of this internal potency, Yogamaya, all the residents of Kamsa's palace, especially the doorkeepers, were overwhelmed with deep sleep, and all the palace doors opened, although they were barred and shackled with iron chains. The night was very dark, but as soon as Vasudeva took Krishna on his lap and went out, he could see everything just as in the sunlight. In the Caitanya-caritamrta it is said that Krishna is just like sunlight, and wherever there is Krsna, the illusory energy, which is compared to darkness, cannot remain. When Vasudeva was carrying Krishna, the darkness of the night disappeared. All the prison doors automatically opened. At the same time there was a thunder in the sky and severe rainfall. While Vasudeva was carrying his son Krsna in the falling rain, Lord Sesa in the shape of a serpent spread His hood over the head of Vasudeva so that he would not be hampered by the rainfall. Vasudeva came onto the bank of the Yamuna and saw that the water of the Yamuna was roaring with waves and that the whole span was full of foam. Still, in that furious feature, the river gave passage to Vasudeva to cross, just as the great Indian Ocean gave a path to Lord Rama when He was bridging over the gulf. In this way Vasudeva crossed the river Yamuna. On the other side, he went to the place of Nanda Maharaja situated in Gokula, where he saw that all the cowherd men were fast asleep. He took the opportunity of silently entering into the house of Yasoda, and without difficulty he replaced his son, taking away the baby girl newly born in the house of Yasoda. Then, after entering the house very silently and exchanging the boy with the girl, he again returned to the prison of Kamsa and silently put the girl on the lap of Devaki. He again clamped the shackles on himself so that Kamsa could not recognize that so many things had happened. Mother Yasoda understood that a child was born of her, but because she was very tired from the labor of childbirth, she was fast asleep. When she awoke, she could not remember whether she had given birth to a male or female child.

The philosophy behind this chanting process is this: "I am not this body, I am the soul inhabiting the body. As a soul, I have an original Source, and that Source is Krishna (the All-Attractive One). Because Krishna is the Source of everything, when we chant His names, the sound vibration acts on our consciousness and respiritualizes it." You see, our consciousness is currently covered by many layers of dust, and that dust is called "identification with that which is temporary." So, this sound vibration, 'Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare', revives our original, pure spiritual consciousness and brings us home to our true self, to that which is eternal. This time of year is a very potent time to take up a personal practice of chanting Hare Krishna daily because it is a time of death, as the earth grows colder and the animals go into hibernation. The plants die and the trees go into dormancy. This is a time of deep inner reflection; when we are reminded that we too, will grow cold and drop these bodies like the trees drop their leaves. We go through many of these little deaths throughout our lifetime. For example, we used to have a small child's body. Where is that body now? That body is gone. We have died many times even within this current lifetime. Shrila Prabhupada explains, "The material body is perishable by nature. It may perish immediately, or it may do so after a hundred years. It is a question of time only. There is no chance of maintaining it indefinitely." (BG 2.18 Purport) Every winter season we experience a kind of death that causes us to question how we are living. Do you have a daily practice that is nourishing to the soul? We can do so many things to take care of the body, but the body is just a temporary dress. It's like a costume that we are wearing, and we are so absorbed in playing this role, that we have forgotten we are not this costume, we are the soul wearing it. Srila Prabhupada says, "Maya means that she is enchanting you and keeping you in ignorance and what is that? "I am this body." If I ask you, "What you are?" You say, "I am Mr. such and such," or what good nation you belong? you say: "I am American," "What religion is yours?" You say: "I am Christian," or "I am this, I am that," but these are all designation of this body. And by practising bhakti-yoga you will clearly realize that you are not this body, you are not this mind, you are not intelligence but a pure soul." (Boston College Lecture – May 10, 1968, Boston) There is a lot going on at this junction in time. But one major theme we all feel this time of year is: death... and the certain existence of an afterlife. But what is it that actually dies? Do we actually ever die? Where does this desire to live forever come from? And how can we live forever? Shrila Prabhupada confirms this, "A living being, especially civilized man, has a natural desire to live forever in happiness. This is quite natural because, in his original state, the living being is both eternal and joyful. However, in the present conditioned state of life, he is engaged in a struggle against recurring birth and death. Therefore he has attained neither happiness nor immortality." (EJ Preface) This desire to live forever is coming from the soul. Because the soul is eternal and is never born, nor does the soul ever die. And you are the soul, not the body! So, naturally we want to go on living without interruption. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita 2.12: " Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be." It is only the body that dies, the external dress, the costume we wear. Which is composed of the material elements, the temporary inferior energy of the Lord. What is the soul comprised of? It is made of eternity, knowledge, and bliss. It is Krishna's superior energy which endures eternally. So we are a tiny part of That Whole. And this time of year is a great time to reconnect to the Powerhouse of our existence. A time to recharge and rethink what we are doing here and where we are going. We can practically do this by getting in direct contact with that original Powerhouse, and that is done by chanting the names of Krishna. We can return to our eternal life by this chanting process. Krishna is not affected by duality like we are in this material world, He lives eternally in the Absolute Reality. That is why His name, and His very Self are identical. "The name Krishna and the Personality of Godhead Krishna are identical. There is no difference in the Absolute realm between the Name Form or Person of the Absolute Truth because in the Absolute Realm everything is transcendental bliss." (SB 1-1962: Introduction) There is no division in the personality of Krishna. So let's reconnect to our Source and nourish the soul, because the body is always changing, but the soul remains the same eternally. Your eternal need is to be connected with your Source and there is no real happiness to be found otherwise. I urge every one of you to simply try out this chanting of Hare Krishna and see how it works for you. There is no loss. Dedicate a certain amount of time every morning to this chanting and watch how it brings the magic back into your life. The magic we are all searching for is right here on the tip of our tongue!

The desire to be served by the opposite sex is simply a perverted reflection of the actual situation in the spiritual plane, where Krishna is being served by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune, His internal energetic potency. Shrila Prabhupada explains, "Everyone is seeking the favor of the goddess of fortune, but people do not know that Lord Sri Krishna is the beloved husband of all goddesses of fortune. In the Brahma-samhita it is said that the Lord, in His transcendental abode Goloka Vrindavana, is accustomed to herding the surabhi cows and is served there by hundreds of thousands of goddesses of fortune. All these goddesses of fortune are manifestations of His transcendental pleasure potency (hladini-shakti) in His internal energy, and when the Lord manifested Himself on this earth He partially displayed the activities of His pleasure potency in His rasa-lila just to attract the conditioned souls, who are all after the phantasmagoria pleasure potency in degraded sex enjoyment." (SB 2.4.20, Purport) We come to this material tabernacle out of a "phantasmagoria" as Shrila Prabhupada describes. It is due to our desire to be Krishna, to be God and enjoy as God does. In essence, it is due to our envy of Krishna. Because we want to act as the Lord, and because we, by nature, are beings endowed with free will, the moment this envy arises, we are given this material tabernacle in which to play God within. One must be completely pure to be in direct association with Krishna in the spiritual plane, and there are no exceptions to this rule. Shrila Prabhupada explains that we eternally have this marginal nature, this tatastha nature. We have the ability to oscillate between the spiritual and material energies by our own free will... and this is a deep, but open mystery of Krishna’s unfathomable love and compassion for us. "Not only must one come to the stage of pure Krishna consciousness, but one must also be very careful. Any inattentiveness or carelessness may cause falldown. This falldown is due to false ego. From the status of pure consciousness, the false ego is born because of misuse of independence. We cannot argue about why false ego arises from pure consciousness. Factually, there is always the chance that this will happen, and therefore one has to be very careful." (SB 3.26. 23-24, Purport by Shrila Prabhupada) It is not a punishment or a disservice to be a jiva, a soul borne of God's internal energy; it is indeed the basis for which true love is able to exist; through free will, through independent choice, we have the power to truly love and be loved. Shrila Prabhupada brings forth this vital wisdom in so many practical ways for us to understand, "Love is without reason. Even if God does not supply us our daily bread, we should love Him. That is true love. As Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam adarsanan marma-hatam karotu va: [Cc. Antya 20.47] "I know no one but Krishna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me broken-hearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally." That is the sentiment of one who is established in pure love of God. When we attain that stage of love of God, we will find that everything is full of pleasure; God is full of pleasure, and we also are full of pleasure." (PoP 3: Learning How to See God) This entire material world is manifest for us automatically through the Lord's quality of compassion in order for us to pursue the fulfillment of our desires, though they be phantasmagoric. Such is the infinite mercy of the Lord our Father, that although our desires are averse to His desire for us; to enjoy with Him in our original constitutional position as servitors; He nevertheless accommodates us in a spirit of unconditional love. In other words, we are meant to bring pleasure to Sri Krishna and to enjoy with Him, not to imitate Him or to "become" Him, and therefore we are eternally in this position of servitor. Shrila Prabhupada explains, "So Vedic version is that the living entity is eternal servant of God. When he forgets this relationship, that he is eternal servant of God, that means his material existence. In the material existence, nobody is prepared to become servant. Everyone is prepared to become the master. That is struggle for existence. Everyone is trying to become master. Even in the cats' and dogs' society you will find one dog is trying to predominate by barking, that "I am better than you." So this is called struggle for existence. Everyone, individual to individual, nation to nation, society to society, religion to religion, so-called religion -- everyone is trying to become the master. Nobody is trying to become the servant. But real position is we living entities, we are eternal servant of God. As soon as we forget this formula, we are in the material existence. And as soon as we revive this our original consciousness, that is called spiritual platform. Therefore we are propagating Krishna consciousness, or God consciousness, to come to the point to understand that we are eternal servant of God. (Lecture at St. Pascal's Franciscan Seminary – June 28, 1974, Melbourne) We can only enjoy as much as we embrace our true identity in relation to the Supreme Absolute Truth. Everyone is seeking bliss, knowledge, and to somehow or other, stay high forever. That is due to the nature of the soul, which is sat-chit-ananda; full of knowledge, full of bliss, and eternal. A true seeker of happiness, of peace, and a true revolutionary will take to this process of purification, Krsna consciousness, once they regain their faith in the Lord's Almighty Goodness. This can only be done by hearing properly from the proper source. Beyond any concocted idea of the human brain is this transcendental, eternal science of the soul, transmitted to us by a pure devotee of the Lord, Shrila Prabhupada. "It is stated also in the Vedanta-sutra that sound is the origin of all objects of material possession and that by sound one can also dissolve this material existence. Anavrttih sabdat means “liberation by sound.” The entire material manifestation began from sound, and sound can also end material entanglement, if it has a particular potency. The particular sound capable of doing this is the transcendental vibration Hare Krishna. Our entanglement in material affairs has begun from material sound. Now we must purify that sound in spiritual understanding. There is sound in the spiritual world also. If we approach that sound, then our spiritual life begins, and the other requirements for spiritual advancement can be supplied. We have to understand very clearly that sound is the beginning of the creation of all material objects for our sense gratification. Similarly, if sound is purified, our spiritual necessities also are produced from sound." (SB 3.26.32, Purport) Therefore we humbly request you to vibrate this Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare, and reclaim your birthright; eternal bliss and knowledge in relation with the Beautiful Supreme Absolute Good, Sri Sri Radha Krishna.

The impersonalist philosopher, Shankaracharya There have always been two types of transcendentalists: the impersonalists and the personalists. Both of them seek liberation from the illusory identification with the body in their respective ways. The impersonalists' idea of liberation beyond the body means annihilation of an individual self and merging with the Brahman, which is the all-pervading aspect of the Supreme Absolute Truth. The personalists, however, do not want to give up their individuality. Quite the opposite, the perfection of the personal path is brought about by full revival of individuality without any trace of material contamination and engaging the pure self in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The following example illustrates the distinct differences between the two types of transcendentalists. There are many rivers, but ultimately they all flow within the ocean and thus cease to exist as separate rivers. This can be compared to the impersonalists' idea. There might be many individual beings, but at the time to liberation, they all become Brahman. Yet, within the rivers there can be found many living entities such as fish. When the river flows into the ocean, the fish continue to live. So, according to the personalists' conception, even though the material body might merge with the mass of material energy, the individual souls (jivatmas) continue to exist even after liberation and in spiritual bodies (svarupa) they then serve the Supreme Lord Shri Krishna in one of the five different rasas or relationships. As the Bhagavad-gita confirms:   Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. (Bg. 2.11)   Lord Krishna clearly says here that individuality, both ofours and the Lord's, is an eternal fact, and the Lord is eternally the recipient of the individual souls' service.Furthermore, the Lord says nainam chindanti sastrani : "The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon",and therefore the idea of Brahman divided into innumerable parts at one point and merging together is not supported by the statements of the Bhagavad-gita. In fact, the philosophy of the impersonalists is just like throwing out a baby along with the bath water. The bodily conception of life is certainly an illusion, and one should get rid of it as he gets rid of bathing water. However, one should not discard the very idea of individual existence just as one should not lose the baby while throwing away the water in which the baby was bathed. For a devotee, the material body is the gift of the Lord, and since the Lord is true, the material body is also true. It is not false. The devotee uses the material body in the service of the Lord. An Iron rod which is put into the fire ultimately becomes fiery by gradual heating. Similarly, a material body used for spiritual activities becomes spiritualized by gradual advancement in Krishna consciousness. One then serves the Lord in one's pure spiritual body (siddha-deha). The materialistic conception of “body”, however, is that it is perishable, full of ignorance, and completely miserable. Therefore, people in general carry the same idea in mind when they are informed of the personal forms of the Lord and His devotees. For such materialistic men, the form of the gigantic material manifestation is supreme. Consequently, they imagine that in the ultimate stage everything is impersonal. Because they are too materially absorbed and because they personally experience the pangs of material existence arising from material activities, the concept of personality after liberation from matter very much frightens them. When they are informed that spiritual life is also individual, personal and full of activities, they become afraid of becoming persons again. A diseased man also eats, also sleeps, and he also evacuates, but all his activities are painful due to his disease. If he hears that in the healthy stage there is also sleeping, eating, and evacuating, he thinks it is the same as in the diseased condition. Similarly, an impersonalist, being disgusted by material existence, wants to give up the very idea of individuality and make all his activities zero. The personalist's conception of surrender is different. Lord Krishna says:   Abandon all varieties of religion and simply surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear. (Bg.18.66)   While the impersonal idea denies the distinction between the Supreme and the part and parcel of Supreme, the personalists endeavor to solely give up the sense of overlordship. They willingly abandon the false idea of being the ultimate controller and try to satisfy the desires of the Lord. Their individual sense of choice never diminishes. They engage in the service of the Lord in full surrender by their free will and with such free will they engage in varieties of services to the Lord. Therefore, after explaining the whole theistic science of the Bhagavad-gita and chalking up the path of perfection, the Lord concludes:   Thus I have explained to you the most confidential of all knowledge. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do. (Bg. 18.63)   The Lord lets the individual to "do as he wishes to do".  This is because one has to voluntarily surrender to the Lord. Such surrender is not caused by anything but the pure free will of the soul proper. One's decision to  surrender to will of the Lord is never hampered by anything. Krishna is prepared to bestow His mercy upon all living entities, and as soon as a living entity desires the Lord's mercy, the Lord immediately gives him an opportunity to meet a bona fide spiritual master. The bona fide spiritual master appears to the living entity as soon as the living entity desires to solve the miseries of material existence, namely birth, death, old age, and disease. brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva, guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija (Madhya 19.151 ).   ”According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krishna. By the mercy of both Krishna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service."   This is further confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita:   The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy. (Bg. 18.61)   The Vedas, like the Mundaka Upanisad, as well as the Svetasvatara Upanisad, compares a relationship of two kinds of souls residing in the heart to two friendly birds sitting on the same tree. One of the birds (the individual atomic soul) is eating the fruits of the tree, and the other bird (Paramatma) is simply watching His friend.Although as birds they are the same in quality, one of these two is captivated by the fruits of the material tree, while the other is simply witnessing the activities of His friend. Although they are friends, one is still the master and the other is the servant. The jiva soul is struggling very hard on the tree of the material body, but as soon as he agrees to accept the other bird as the supreme spiritual master, the subordinate bird immediately becomes free from all lamentations. Both the Mundaka Upanisad (3.1.2) and Svetasvatara Upanisad (4.7) confirm this statement as follows:   "Although the two birds are on the same tree, the eating bird is fully engrossed with anxiety and moroseness as the enjoyer of the fruits of the tree. But if in some way or other he turns his face to his friend who is the Lord and knows His glories—at once the suffering bird becomes free from all anxieties."   The Lord in the heart manifests externally in the form of the bona fide spiritual master, and under his guidance, the jiva soul learns how to cultivate spiritual consciousness. The spiritual consciousness is already there in the heart of every living entity. It is simply reawakened by the spiritual sound vibration coming from the channel of the bona fide spiritual master.   ”Pure love for Krishna is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens." (Madhya 22.107)   In order for such hearing and chanting of the glories of the Lord, executed with the sole aim to re-awaken our eternal relationship with the Lord, to take place, both the bona fide spiritual master uncontaminated by the material modes of nature and the receptive disciple must be present. The combination is compared by the acharyas to the interaction between husband and wife. If the husband is potent and the wife is fertile, by their mutual dealings, conception takes place. Similarly, if the spiritual master is bona fide and authorized by the disciplic succession and the disciple is sincere, the hearing and chanting of the Lord has a spiritual effect and the seed of devotional service fructifies. However, if the eagerness on the part of the disciple is absent, the instruction of the spiritual master goes in vain. Therefore a bona fide spiritual master does not accept a disciple who is not eager to hear from him. There is no necessity of approaching a spiritual master unless one is in need of solving the real problems of life. One who does not know how to ask the spiritual master proper questions has no business to approach him. Therefore one must be jijnasu , inquisitive. He must inquire from the spiritual master about the ultimate aim of human life. Questions on how to improve one's bodily enjoyment in the material world are deliberately left unanswered by a bona fide spiritual master. Furthermore, one should render service. Unless one renders service to the spiritual master, the inquiries on the spiritual matters will not be effective. The impersonalist philosophers declare that the highest stage of knowledge is reached when the knower, the knowledge, and the object of knowledge become one entity. Consequently, from their point of view, ultimately there is no difference between the spiritual master and the disciple⎯both are one, both are Brahman. They saythat only in the state of illusion (maya) do the disciple and the spiritual master manifest as two individual beings. They fail to explain why Brahman becomes temporarily covered by maya. This is why they are called Mayavadis. They think everything is maya.   Shripada Shankaracarya, who is the founder of the Mayavada school of thought, recommended worship of 5 demigods (pancopasana) for his followers. Such worship was meant only to help those who are still in the bodily concept of life. It was a facility for the neophyte progressing in the spiritual knowledge to imagine some form of Brahman. However, according to the Mayavadi theory, ultimately such worship should be abandoned. Shrila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains:   “The example given by them is that you rise up to a upper place with a wooden stair, and as soon as you reach there, you throw it away, so that you'll not be able to come back again. Similarly, their philosophy is: "With some imagination of form, you worship, and as soon as you realize Brahman, throw it away. No more." (Shrimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.22 -- Los Angeles, June 19, 1972)   The Mayavadi concept of a spiritual master is similar. They think that the soul (impersonal Brahman) of the spiritual master incarnates into a material body for the purpose of guiding those who are still in illusion. They say that the Brahman takes a form of a guru in a bodily form so the souls trapped in bodily conception of life can relate to him, but as soon as they reach perfection, the relationship with the spiritual master ends.   Yasomatinandana: Spiritual master gives knowledge, and then a disciple is eternally indebted to spiritual master. Prabhupada: Yes. Yasomatinandana: It is not that, like Mayavadis, they serve the spiritual master in the beginning and then they... Prabhupada: Then they... Yasomatinandana: ...themselves become... Prabhupada: ...throw him away, "Go away. I have now learned." Guru-mara-vidya, to, the knowledge of how to kill guru. Guru-mara-vidya. Their, the philosophy is that you cannot rise up. You take a ladder. But as soon as you rise, throw away the ladder. No more. No more needed. That is Mayavada philosophy.   (Morning Walk -- December 5, 1973, Los Angeles)   For the Mayavadis, therefore, reaching perfection necessarily means relinquishing the connection with the spiritual master. Although Narottama dasa Thakura sings: "One who has opened my eyes, my spiritual master, he's my father, life after life," the Mayavadis say: "Go away now." The devotee never rejects the spiritual master, and he continues to honor him even after reaching the stage of perfection.   Mr. Malhotra: Other traditions, guru disciple, then the disciple becomes guru, then disciple. The gurus may change. Prabhupada: They cannot change. If there are change of guru, the disciple acts, but does not, he'll never say that I have become equal or one with guru. That is not so. Mr. Malhotra: I am thinking about this, Swamiji, that your Guru Maharaja is preaching through you, and you are preaching through them. Prabhupada: Yes. Mr. Malhotra: So disciple is guru through his disciples. Prabhupada: That's all right. Evam parampara praptam [Bg. 4.2]. But that does not become, he has become. He may be representative of guru, representative of God, but it does not mean that he has become God. Mr. Malhotra: But he becomes guru with his disciples. Prabhupada: That's alright. Mr. Malhotra: Never equal to his guru. Prabhupada: Not equal, representative. I send one representative of this man, and he may be very expert, doing very good business, still he cannot be equal to me. He is acting as my representative, that's another thing. But not that he has become the original proprietor. Mr. Malhotra: But as your disciples, you are taken as guru. Prabhupada: But they will never say that they have become equal to me. "I have advanced to be my guru." Never say. Just like this boy, he is offering obeisances. He may be expert in preaching more than me, but he knows that "I am subordinate." Otherwise how he shall offer obeisances? He can think, "Oh, now I am so learned. I am so advanced. Why shall I accept him as superior?" No. That continues. Even after my death, after my disappearance, he will offer obeisances to my picture. Mr. Malhotra: But amongst his disciples he will be worshiped... Prabhupada: That's all right, but he remains a disciple of his guru. He will never say that "Now I have become guru, so I don't care for my guru." He will never say. Just like I am doing, but I am worshiping my guru still. So I remain subordinate to my guru, always. Even though I have become guru, still I am subordinate to my guru.   (Room Conversation with Life Member, Mr. Malhotra -- December 22, 1976, Poona)   In this connection, there is also an instructive pastime in the life of Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, namely in His meeting the Mayavadi leader Prakashananda Saraswati. Prakashananda challenged Lord Chaitanya to explain why He simply chants and dances while the engagement of the sannyasi is to study the Vedanta. To this, Lord Chaitanya answered: guru more murkha dekhi' karila sasan [Cc. Adi 7.71]. "My Guru Maharaja saw Me a fool number one, and he has chastised Me." He is God Himself, but he is showing us the example that for a devotee there is never a point where he becomes artificially proud of being liberated, or proud of being God. His liberation is always depend on the mercy of his spiritual master and he remains always an infinitesimal parcel of the Lord prone to falling down. Shrila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada comments:   A liberated soul never says that "I am liberated." As soon as he says "liberated," he's a rascal. A liberated soul will never say that "I am liberated." That is liberation. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, He is God⎯guru more murkha dekhi' karila sasan [Cc. Adi 7.71]. "My Guru Maharaja saw Me a fool number one, and he has chastised Me." He's God. This is the example. If one remains always a servant ever-lastingly of guru, then he is liberated. And as soon as he thinks that he is liberated, he's a rascal. That is the teaching of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Guru more murkha dekhi'. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is a murkha? Why is He posing Himself as a murkha? "I ama fool number one." That means that is liberation. You must be ready always to be chastised by your guru. Then he's liberated. And as soon as he thinks that "I am beyond this chastisement, I am liberated," he's a rascal. Why did Chaitanya Mahaprabhu say guru more murkha dekhi' karila sasan? This is sahajiya-vada. He is thinking, "Oh I have become liberated. I don't require any direction of my guru. I'm liberated." Then he's a rascal.   (Room Conversation -- August 16, 1976, Bombay)   Since the impersonalists believe that the Brahman must manifest in a concrete material body to guide the neophyte who might not be able to yet relate to the impersonal concept of the Absolute, they insist that there must be a guru in a bodily form always present to continue the disciplic succession. Thus a bona fide acarya, they say, must appoint a so-called living sadhu to succeed him. But this idea goes against the very principle of the minute independence of the jiva discussed above. If the successor acarya is selected by the predecessor and not by the disciple himself, where is the surrender on the part of the disciple? The great acarya might have given a suggestion about the successive acharya's qualifications, but the act of surrender itself is always an individual choice based on hearing. It is for this reason for example that Lord Krishna presents to us the Vedic knowledge. Shrila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains:   ...not only does a living entity enjoy or suffer in this world according to the dictation from the Supreme Lord situated locally in the heart, but he receives the opportunity to understand Vedas from Him. If one is serious to understand the Vedic knowledge, then Krishna gives the required intelligence. Why does He present the Vedic knowledge for understanding? Because a living entity individually needs to understand Krishna.   (Bg 15.15 purport)   Similarly, without hearing sufficiently from the spiritual master and understanding his instructions, there is no question of surrender to him. The real consideration for choosing a spiritual master therefore is not a formal appointment from the previous acharya, but whether the master is conversant with the science of Krishna. This is confirmed by Lord Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu:   kiba vipra, kiba nyasi, shudra kene naya yei krishna-tattva-vetta, sei ‘guru' haya   "Whether one is a brahmana, a sannyasi or a shudra⎯regardless of what he is⎯he can become a spiritual master if he knows the science of Krishna."   (Madhya 8.128)   Furthermore, Shrila Jiva Gosvami directly advises all the devotees of the Hare Krishna movement not to accept a spiritual master in terms of hereditary or customary social and ecclesiastical conventions. The disciple is always left to choose his spiritual master on his own. Indeed, none of the previous acharyas in the disciplic succession were ever appointed by their predecessors. The successor acharya proves himself by his personal capacity and recruits disciples from the ranks of non-devotee class of men by preaching. Shrila Prabhupada explains:   Prabhupada: So far designation is concerned, the spiritual master authorizes every one of his disciples. But it is up to the disciple to carry out the order, able to carry out or not. It is not that spiritual master is partial and thereforedesignates one and rejects another. He may do that. If the other is not qualified, he can do that. But actually his intention is not like that. He wants that each and every one of his disciples become as powerful as he is or more than that. That is his desire. Just like a father wants every son to be as qualified or more qualified than himself. But it is up to the student or to the son to raise himself to that standard.   (Room Conversation -- June 29, 1972, San Diego)   The spiritual master only says what Krishna says. Therefore, we have to hear and see whether the spiritual master speaks what Krishna says before we surrender to him. One must select the spiritual master with proper discrimination and not blindly. The shastras, such as Hari bhakta vilasa, enjoin that before we take a guru, weshould study him carefully to find out whether we can surrender to him. We should not accept a guru suddenly,out of fanaticism. It is not a cheap thing. After we accept the spiritual master we must follow his instructions. Therefore, it is important that we test whether the person is qualified to be a spiritual master. The qualification of a spiritual master is that he must have realized the conclusion of the scriptures by deliberation and arguments and thus be able to convince others of these conclusions. So unless one is at least conversant with the preliminary knowledge of transcendental matters, how will he ascertain the bona fides of a spiritual master? For instance, if we want to purchase something, we must at least have some idea of what that thing is, otherwise we will be cheated. If we want to purchase a mango from the market, we must at least know what type of food a mango is and what it looks like. Therefore one's independent thoughtfulness is always recommended. One should not give too much importance to institutional appointments, but simply consider with cool head who is the bona fide spiritual master. Shrila Prabhupada describes the consequences of mixing the pure Vaishnava philosophy with impersonal ideas by giving example of a great institution which was lost due to ambition of motivated disciples to occupy the post of their spiritual master. Such is the history of Gaudiya Matha society of his Guru Maharaja His Divine Grace Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. At a certain point of his divine lila, Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta had to undergo a surgical operation, and,therefore, wrote an important note on scrap paper in case he would leave this mortal plane. On the paper, he listed three disciples who would have become the trustees of his Gaudiya Matha. One of the disciples kept the paper,and later this was presented in the high-court and a property was given to him. On this basis, after Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta's demise, the disciple artificially became a so-called acharya. But the other disciples were not satisfied, and in order to counteract him, they conspired and voted in another false acharya. In this way, two false acharya groups began to fight over the assets of the institution. Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta instructed his disciples to form a governing body and conduct missionary activities cooperatively. He did not designate anyone to become his successor. Shrila Prabhupada explains:   “...none of them were advised by my Guru Maharaja to become acharya. His idea was "Let them manage; then whoever will be actual qualified for becoming acharya, they will elect. Why I should enforce upon them?" That was his plan. "Let them manage by a strong governing body, as it is going on. Then acharya will come by his qualification." But they wanted that... Because at heart, they were, "After demise of the Guru, I shall become acharya," "I shall become acharya." So all the acharyas began fighting.   (Room Conversation with American Banker -- September 21, 1973, Bombay)   Therefore, a sadhu comes out automatically by preaching work. A bona fide acharya is self-effulgent. He shines like the sun, and there is no need to bring any torchlight to point at him. He shines through his teachings, and it is up to us to accept him or not. This is the real meaning of surrender.   Hanuman: One thing he's saying, this gentleman, and I would like to know, is your successor named or your successor will... Prabhupada: My success is always there. Yes. Just like the sun is there always. It may come before your vision or not. The sun is there. But if you are fortunate, you come before the sun. Otherwise you remain in darkness. Sun is open to everyone. Our Krishna consciousness movement⎯Krishna is open to everyone. But if you are fortunate, you come to the light. If you are unfortunate, do not. That is your choice. Krishna says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]. You do it. Now it is your choice. You surrender to Krishna or don't surrender. That is your business.   (Room Conversation with Sanskrit Professor, other Guests and Disciples -- February 12, 1975, Mexico)

Srila Prabhupada always stressed the importance of keeping the body in a fit and healthy condition. He says health first, then sadhana, then preaching. Here are some quotes explaining how we can take care of our health: "It is important to keep the body fit and healthy so that we will not meet the obstacle of ill health while serving Krishna. Ill health may hinder one's service, so, we want to avoid it as much as possible." (Shrila Prabhupada Letter, June 19, 1975) "Doctors are not the Ultimate Healer. This is Krishna's position. In your Western countries, the doctors are very much fond of surgical operations. When there is no other alternative, of course we have to take shelter of such demonic treatment, but as far as possible try to avoid that, and depend on Krishna." (Srila Prabhupada Letter, April 3, 1969) "So I am sorry to learn that you are not well. Pray to Krishna and chant Hare Krishna. The body is a temple of disease, janma mrtyu jara vyadhi [Bg. 13.9]. Disease is our inevitable companion. We still have to execute our duty of Krishna consciousness as far as possible and Krishna will help us." (Srila Prabhupada Letter, August 26, 1976) "Regarding your fasting, if you are sick, then fasting is the best medicine. For disease and unwanted guests, if you do not give them food, they will go away." (Srila Prabhupada Letter, January 16, 1975) "To be too fat is not very good for spiritually advanced life. Rather, one should reduce because if one becomes fat it is an impediment to progress in spiritual understanding. One should be careful not to eat too much, sleep too much or remain in a comfortable position. Voluntarily accepting some penances and difficulties, one should take less food and less sleep. These are the procedures for practicing any kind of yoga , whether bhakti-yoga , jñāna-yoga or haṭha-yoga ." (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.33.14, Purport) "According to the Vaiṣṇava calendar, there are many fasts, such as Ekādaśī and the appearance and disappearance days of God and His devotees. All of these are meant to decrease the fat within the body so that one will not sleep more than desired and will not become inactive and lazy. Overindulgence in food will cause a man to sleep more than required. This human form of life is meant for austerity, and austerity means controlling sex, food intake, etc. In this way time can be saved for spiritual activity, and one can purify himself both externally and internally. Thus both body and mind can be cleansed." (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.28.35–36, Purport) "Now, there are so many scientists. They are discovering vitamin value from foodstuff. Now, what is the vitamin value in the dry grass? Can any scientist say that this is the vitamin value in dry grass? If there is no vitamin value in dry grass, how the cow is producing so much milk, who is full of vitamins A and D? How, from dry grass, vitamins coming out? Nowadays the physician prescribes some artificial vitamins for maintaining your body. Now, what is the vitamin there in the dry grass so that the cow is eating dry grass and giving you nice milk full of vitamins A and D, essential for your life? So these are all wrong theories, that 'This contains this vitamin. This contains this.' Let them go on. But natural foodstuff which is meant for human being, they are full of vitamins already there by nature's law, by God's wish. So annād bhavanti bhūtāni (BG 3.14)." (Srila Prabhupada Lecture, New York, May 23, 1966)