Adirasa Prabhu At Kirtan Rasa 2.12.19

Gurudeva Krpa Karke

Harmonium and voice: Krsna Krpa Dasa
Mrdanga: Ramananda Das
Kartalas: Abhay Caran Das
and London devotees singing

A kirtan from a collection of songs under the guidance of Srila Bhaktivedanta Vana Maharaja in London - December of 2019

Gurudeva Krpa Karke - Krsna Krpa Dasa - 06.12.2019 - Hall Program - London

Parama Karuna - Jagannath Suta Das at Monday Night Bhajans

Ratha Yatra Song - 21 06 2020, 15.55

Festivals

Deity Installation--Why Krishna Comes to This World-London 1973-08-21

That’s why Srila Prabhupad writes pure devotional service is very rare. He quotes Rupa Goswami ‘manushyanam sashastreshu kachid yatati sidhyaye’ very rare. But then Prabhupad quotes Sanatan Goswami and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that ‘if one is sincere and serious, he puts a list of three things and obviously, Krishna easily gives pure devotional service if you have these three qualities. That means these three qualities must be extremely, supremely important for us. Pure devotional service, which is so rare, Krishna easily gives it, if we have these three qualities. If we are sincere and second is, if we are serious. What’s the difference between being sincere and serious? They sound similar, don’t they? It seems like being sincere means, you are serious and being sincere means, you are serious. It’s very important and then the next one, basically explains what it means to be sincere and serious is ‘to have no ulterior motives.’ If we are sincere, serious and no ulterior motives, then Krishna will easily give pure devotional service. He will reveal everything as it is. But to actually fall and enter into the spirit of the Parmpara, this is what is required.

Protecting The Words Of Guru & Shastra

When a vaishnava sees another devotee getting special mercy of the lord, when a devotee sees another vaishnava being specially empowered and specially endowed with bhakti, that is his greatest pleasure. Of course, when we have material consciousness, when we see someone else getting special favour of the lord, we become envious. We think, “Why him? Why not me?” we want everyone else’s spiritual progress to be checked until we can catch up and go ahead. And then when we are ahead, we want to keep them down. This is not the consciousness of a vaishnava. This is material consciousness.

A Vaishnava Is One Who Is Genuinely Happy At Another's Spiritual Progress

What We Are All Looking For?

Don’t think that because you are wearing saffron it does not mean you are not going to be complacent. We find this is the reason most grihasthas lose their faith in sannyasis and sadhus and babajis and brahmacharis because they see them just lying around, eating rotis. They are not doing any seva, they are not struggling, they might sleep on the ground, but so what? The animals are also sleeping on the ground. They have to be actually honestly striving, struggling, working hard, performing austerities for the benefit of humanity and for the service of Krishna. That type of person we want to associate with.

How To Overcome Complacency?

Therefore, one must have a very strict sadhana. One should moderate once life by having a very specific time every day to chant for two hours, to hear the Srimad Bhagvatam, ‘naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā’ it is essential to hear the Bhagvatam every day. It is essential to chant according to the vow we have made to our spiritual master every day, it is essential to invite sadhus to our home to serve them and humble ourselves before them. These are the principals of Grihastha ashram given in the scriptures and exemplified by all the great devotees of the Lord throughout history in that ashram. It is the duty of a Grihastha to regularly associate with devotees, it is the duty of a Grihastha to install the deity in his house and worship that deity and offer all food to that deity and make one’s house the holy place. So, we have these minimal devotional principals - to chant two hours every day, to hear the Bhagvatam every day, to offer all one’s food and worship the deity of the Lord within the house and to serve the sadhus and associate with devotees; these are four minimal principals that must be adhere to. And if you neglect those, then your mentality will become like a karmi. You may wear tilak on the outside but inside you will not have the proper spiritual principles to live by.

Whether Grihastas Should Spend More Time On Profession Or On Spiritual Activities?

Prayers of the Vaisnava Acaryas II - Sri Gurvastakam | 29 Nov 2020

Radhanath Swami is a Vaishnava sanyassi (a monk in a Krishna-bhakti lineage) and teacher of the devotional path of Bhakti-yoga. He is author of The Journey Home, a memoir of his search for spiritual truth. His teachings draw from the sacred texts of India such as The Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, and Ramayana, and aim to reveal the practical application of the sacred traditions, while focusing on the shared essence which unites apparently disparate religious or spiritual paths.
Born Richard Slavin, on December 7, 1950, in his teens he came to confront a deep sense of alienation from suburban Chicago life and the civil injustices of mid-century America. At the age of nineteen, while on a summer trip to Europe, his internal struggles culminated in a commitment to search for God wherever it might lead him. Meditating on the Isle of Crete, he felt a supernatural calling and the next morning set off alone to find spiritual India. The Journey Home documents his odyssey as a penniless hitch-hiker though Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and finally India. There he lived as a wandering ascetic, first amongst the forest dwelling Himalayan yogis and later amongst a wide variety of gurus and spiritual practitioners throughout India and Nepal. Ultimately, he was led to the holy town of Vrindavan, where he found his path amongst the Bhakti-yogis.
In Vrindavan he found the teacher he was searching for in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977) the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), and representative of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, (the Krishna-bhakti tradition stemming from the 16th century mystic avatar Sri Chaitanya). In choosing Bhaktivedanta Swami, as his guru, Radhanath Swami felt compelled to shear his matted locks and reenter Western society with a mission to share the sacred wisdom he had received. This return exemplifies the form of devotional yoga which is at the heart of Radhanath Swami’s teachings, a spiritual practice expressed as tangible action meant to bring about personal fulfillment and benefit the world.
At the the age of 31 he took the monastic vows of a Vaishnava sanyassin and became known as Radhanath Swami.
Today Radhanath Swami travels regularly throughout India, Europe and North America, sharing the teachings of Bhakti-yoga. He resides much of the year at the Radha Gopinath Ashram in Chowpatty, Mumbai. For the past twenty-five years he has guided the community’s development and has directed a number of acclaimed social action projects including Midday Meals, which daily serves more than 260,000 plates of sanctified vegetarian food to the children of the slums of Mumbai. He has also worked to establish missionary hospitals and eye camps, eco-friendly farms, schools and ashrams, an orphanage, and a number of emergency relief programs throughout India.


What We Are All Looking For?

Radhanath Swami

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