Hare Krishna.

14th November

I left for Vrindavan in the afternoon with three other devotees. We reached just when Guru maharaj’s seminar was going on in the Balram Hall. It was wonderful to listen to Krishna’s Vrindavan Lila’s from Guru Maharaj. This seminar was for 5 days and culminated on 17th evening with description of Vrindavan in the spiritual world.

Later I took darshan of Guru Maharaj at his apartment with other devotees. Guru Maharaj always emphasizes on staying under the shelter of Srila Prabhupada’s lotus feet and ISKCON. Every time I hear his message my resolve to serve ISKCON becomes stronger.

I was also pleasantly surprised to meet HG Mahadevi Dasi here. She had come to meet guru Maharaj to pre pone his seminar by half an hour, which he graciously agreed. Her presence makes me feel so good. She also told me that there may be some rooms available at the hotel next to MVT, I got the last room and the problem of where to stay was solved in 5 minutes. Hari Bol.

15th November

I attended the mangal Arti and did my rounds at Srila Prabhupada’s quarters. I found some devotees went for govardhan parikarma today morning and I felt sad I wanted to go for one in Kartika. My consolation was circumambulation of Govardhan mountain devotees made in the temple complex last monday.

I attended a wonderful seminar by HG Sarvabhauma Prabhuji on Damodar Leela. It is always so nice to hear him and he enchanted everyone with his katha.

Guru Maharaj’s seminar started at 4.3o and he again took us to the land of Vrindvan with interesting stories and anecdotes about Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavan.

I was most pleased to know that devotees from Ujjain were going for Govardhan Parikarma tomorrow morning, I requested them to take me with them and they heartily agreed.

16th November

The temple for choc o block at 4.30am, there was hardly space to even enter the compound. I squeezed in took darshana and left.  We left for Govardhna Parikarma around 5 am and it was nice to be in a bus load of devotees. I had the good company of HG Radhapad Prabhuji from Ujjain during the initial yatra. After many solo parikarma’s I was back with devotees.

I hurt my foot within half an hour into Parikarma and foolishly looked for a Dr. or chemist as it opened the top layer of the skin and pained, I was also worried for the infection walking next 5 hours with an open wound. I lost all the devotees, as they went ahead, and could not find any chemist as well that that early hour of the day.

I paid my obeisances to Girirah Maharaj and started another solo parikarma ! After sometime I got hold of my pain and could concentrate on being present in the most holy Govardhan mountain. Early morning parikarma always works best for me. There were occasional blaring loudspeakers selling their wares but on the whole it was peaceful and enriching for my body as well as soul.

I thought about my little injury and realised the following

1. As an aspiring Vaishanava I should not have walked over a pile of garbage which got me injured. I will not take short cuts and always walk on the clean route.

2.  I realise that my consciousness was not pure before starting the parikarma. Inspite of feeling great somewhere deep I still had the feeling of achieving another Parikarma rather than feeling truly humbled and acknowledging that I have got mercy to be able to offer my respects to Govardhan.

I pray to Sri Giri Govardhan that I do not forget these lessons.

Giriraj Maharaj Ki jai !

We were back in Vrindavan around 2 pm. I got my bandage done at Bhaktivedanta hospital, very quick, and cheap, Rs 50 for bandage and Rs15 for the tetanus shot.

I kept a fast for the parikarma day and felt bad that I did not keep the last 5 days of Kartika. I attended Guru Maharaj’s seminar at 4.30pm, how I wish that Guru Maharaj should speak 2 hours each in the morning as well as afternoon. It was wonderful katha and Q & A.

Then came back to take darshan of guru maharaj at his apartment and meet devotees.

While coning out I met HG Saranga Prabhuji, who told me to come continue my fast till tomorrow afternoon and then join for a feast at Guru Maharaj apartment , devotees were to open the 5 days fast between 11.45 and 12.15pm. Hari Bol.

17th November

I attended the Mangal arti, took darshan of my beautiful Lord. I did my rounds at Prabhupada’s quarters. We had wonderful morning Kirtan by HH Lokanath swami maharaj before the Guru Puja. Then attended morning class by Guru maharaj, its so much learning for me when I see Guru Maharaj starting the class by asking everyone if they are feeling too cold and did everyone is sitting on the carpet. He is always caring for the audience. The class was wonderful and so were later his signature Q & A session.

I later sat in the well maintained park in MVT to complete my rounds and almost dozed off in the sunny weather!

I went to attend the feast at Maharaj’s apartment with Sumeet Prabhu and his family at 12 noon. It was surely a feast for the brahmacharis wo had kept the 5 day Bhishm panchak fast. I was just a freeloader. The food was simply delicious and there were so many dishes. I just about manage to finish my first servings with some effort. Guru Maharaj then came and asked almost everyone on how are they doing and encouraged us to eat more.

Guru Maharaj took a small session/class with students in the afternoon. Sitting there I realised how guru Maharaj started by asking them how was their trip to Vrindavan, who all came for the first time and then slowly took them into higher topics and that too with a such an ease. Its art Guru Maharaj knows , he always asks questions relevant to the audience and then still gives them a message in a very easy to understand manner.

I then rushed to meet HH Jananand Maharaj. I read about him in the mails HG Chitralekha devi dasi sends on her google group. Sumeet Prabhu serves him very well and due to his mercy I could meet maharaj. He was staying at ISKCON Goshala. As I went around looking for his room, I realised how good the aura around the goshala was. It was very peaceful, almost a farm like ambience. I took darshan of Maharaj he came across as a very gentle and simple soul. One can not help but admire how Srila Prabhupada touched each of his disciple and turned each of them into such devotees with different mood of serving their Guru and ISKCON.

I would love to stay in Goshala next time.

It was then time for the last class of the seminar Guru Maharaj was taking in the balram HallHe took us to the transcendental journey of the spiritual world and virtually summarised Sanatana goswami’s Sri Brihad Bhagavatamrita in one and a half hour. As Gopa Kumar from one `loka’ to another we could understand the hierarchy of each loka. We also saw how with a simple heart, right mantra and outright eagerness to meet Krishna Gopa Kumar finally receives the mercy of the lord and join Him in His eternal  pastimes in Goloka Vrindavan.

I was sitting on the bench inside the hall due to my injured foot, and as I looked out of the window during the class, I saw the now familiar smiling face of HG Mahadevi Dasi !  Hari Bol. She smiled and left.

After the seminar many devotees left for their homes and I too had planned for the same but changed my prog for Monday as I could an opportunity to serve Guru Maharaj again.

As Guru Maharaj’s lecture was going on I heard the sound of sweet nectar, I knew it was Sachinandan Maharaj’s kirtan, suddenly there was a big desire, rater sort of cry, to see Maharaja and attend his retreat. The kirtan topped after sometime.

As I was going back to the hotel room I saw HH Sachinandan maharaj going towards temple from the Krishna Hall. Hari Bol. I paid my obeisances immediately.

After I came back to the temple and as I entered from the side door I could hear HH Sachinandan Maharaj was singing the kirtan. My joy knew no bounds. In my sudden spiritually uplifting mood the first thing I did was to buy the Chaitanya Charitamit book set. I bought the packet with me and then sat in the temple complex. Soon I was deep into the Kirtan by maharaj.  He sang with deep feelings. I sang with my full voice and could connect with Lord. The Kirtan continued  till 10 pm. It was so so wonderful to hear him. I had attended Maharaj’s retreat last year and over the period of time I lost most the instructions but in 10 minutes each word came back to me. Totally immersed, those were transcendental 2 hours for me. Thank you so much Maharaj.

HH Sachinandan Maharaj Ki jai !

18th November

I did not attend the mangal arti as I woke up late. Hurriedly went to do japa at Prabupada quarters. As I entered, I got the darshan of HH Sachinandan maharaj again as he too was chanting his rounds there.

Hare Krishna.

9th November

I was back in Vrindavan on Saturday afternoon, thanks to Atma Prabhu for inspiring me to come back and Deepak Handa Prabhu for giving me a ride, conclusion always listen to devotees.

In the afternoon I met Nand Maharaj Prabhu in the temple compound. He wanted to know if I had any questions to ask him. I had requested Sumeet Prabhu yesterday that I wanted to meet him. I wanted to hear him speak about Krishna consciousness. I somehow mumbled some questions and comments about how I still get angry when I am in the material world and help me in this regard. Prabhuji told me to learn to be humble and never forget that I am a vaisnava. He added that it doesn’t mean that we let people take advantage of our humility but our behaviour should be that of a vaishanva. He spoke about  four `S’

Sidhanta : Principle, we are eternal servant of Lord.

Sadhna : 4 regulative principles and minimum 16 rounds of chanting.

Service: Serving local temple and devotees to the best of our ability.

Sadachar  : Our behaviour. He mentioned that this is one of the most difficult one to adhere, we can achieve it only by long and careful practice. He told me an interesting story about Lord Krishna and karna about our natural instinct.

Later in the evening I requested Mukunda Priya Prabhu to help in preaching and increasing the congregation in Gurgaon. He gave me very practical advise. We then attended Guru Maharaj’s class at his apartment roof, another good session and association of exalted devotees from across the world.

In the evening I  could get association of Atma prabhu for dinner at MVT, it was nice to hear him at leisure as he is always busy serving Guru Maharaj.

Sunday : I attended Samadhi arti and Mangal Arti in the morning. After Guru Puja I rushed to `Goshala’ where Guru Maharaj was taking a special class on the occasion of Gopashtami. But before that a special mention for the unique gopa dress worn by Radharani today. I always wonder why she dresses as Gopa on Gopashtami. She looked most beautiful. This is the special day when Krishna graduated from herding calves to herding the cows. It is one of the two days in a year when we can get Radharani’s  `charan darshan’.

I went to ISKCON `Goshala’ for the first time ever. It was clean and decent size. It felt nice to be among cows on Gopashtami. As I reached there, some devotees were feeding special laddoos to cows, I too bought a small bucket and for  first time fed anything to cows. They virtually snatched the laddoos from my hand, after my initial hesitation I became comfortable feeding them. They pushed each other to eat them.

Then the procession came from the temple. Guru Maharaj first fed laddoos to many cows, worshiped them and then gave an excellent lecture on Gopashtami.

In the lecture Guru Maharaj explained that on this day Krishna passed the childhood age known as kaumara and stepped into the age of pauganda, from the sixth year up to the tenth year. This particular ceremony was meant only for men and boys but  Radharani wanted to join the celebrations. One of her friends then suggested that she looks just like Subal and then they called Subal and She exchanged clothes with him. She then went to attend the ceremony dressed as a gopa. Hence she is dressed as a gopa on this day in all ISKCON temples and we can see her lotus feet as gopas walk bare feet.  So the mystery for Radharani unique dress got solved for me. Maharaj also spoke on other very sweet pastimes of Krishna like when Mother Yashoda wanted Krishna to wear sandals while herding cows but He refused . Similarly how a worried and affectionate mother Yashoda  instructed Krishna’s friends to always remain close to him, “Balram…you stay in front of Krishna, Subal you stay behind, Sridam and Sudama you stay on Krishna’s sides.” And how the cows refuse to move till Sri Krishna came in front of them. Very fulfilling lecture.

After the ceremony I came back to the temple,took darshan again of Their Lordships. I slept for some time during the day and then I was informed that Guru Maharaj will be giving a class for the Braja mandal parikarma at Chirghat. I missed the bus but by Lord’s mercy Pawan Prabhu and Pooja mataji reached just in time from Gurgaon and we went straight on a long & bumpy ride deep inside the villages, I had never ventured in this interior region of Braja, the villagers here spoke a very different dialect.

Guru Maharaj spoke about different Rasa, `shaant’, `dasya’, `Sakhya’ , Vatsalaya and `madhurya’ and how they are so unique and only in Vrindavan can we get access to play with the supreme personality of Godhead with such loving exchanges. He sang melodious kirtan. We then took a round of the place where Krishna stole gopi’s clothes. There was a very old Kadamamba tree and a temple for katyani Devi. We all paid our obeisances there.

we reached back around 6pm and attended Kirtan at temple. Then Guru Maharaj met us all at his MVT apartment. It was a very good Q & A session. Many devotees asked personal questions and Guru Maharaj replied them back with clarity. He spoke strongly about staying in ISKCON and under the shelter of Srila Prabhupada.

Later,  I said goodbye to dear Mukunda Priya Prabhu, they were leaving next day to Surat. It was my lucky night as Atma Prabhu invited me for dinner, Guru Maharaj’s maharaprasadam. Hari Bol !

I came back to the apartment of Deepak Handa Prabhu around 9.30pm, we talked for sometime and then slept. We left next day early morning at 4.45am back to Gurgaon.

Hare Krishna.

I met a very gentle soul while going with Srila Prabhupada around Vrindavan. She was walking beside the Palanquin. She was full of energy and almost always running in front and side of the Palanquin. After some time as she was holding the side of the Palanquin I requested her that we are all are carrying Srila Prabhupa and she should not exert herself. Her reply stumped me,  she said `I just want to be close to my spiritual master’. After sometime it became warm and she instructed us to remove the shawl from Srila Prabhupada’s deity, not agreeing when someone merely pushed it back. One could see the love and affection she had from her spiritual master. She kept on clicking pictures at all the times. At one time she pointed to a painting of `Hanuman’ on a shop facade. Everyone looked up but we could not get the context. Then she added `he is blessing Prabhupada’.

I could not resist asking her name and contact no.. She is HG Mahadevi Dasi, disciple of Srila Prabupada and now based in Vrindavan dham.

As luck would have it, I met her again at Govinda after the procession, she was there with her friends for breakfast. She was kind enough to gave us her association for almost half an hour, she has so much love for Srila Prabhupada and as a result she has a very soft and tender heart. I pray one day my heart could be 10%  as soft as hers.

We again crossed in the evening inside MVT. I told her that I would bother her again and would like to hear pastimes of Srila Prabhupada with her. She replied `Srila Prabhupada is still here and guides us all’. Jai Jai.

General perception is that Indians are more emotional but Mataji smashed my perception with her deep felt love for Srila Prabhupda and I wonder, with a tinge of envy, what love and affection these devotees received from Srila Prabhupda which they still carry so passionately in their soft hearts.

All glories to HG Mahadevi Dasi.

All glories to Srila Prabhupda.

Hare Krishna.

4th November

It was wonderful to have Guru Maharaj at our home on the Diwali eve, nothing but causeless mercy. I slept late on 3rd night but we all got  up early to leave for Vrindavan with Guru Maharaj.

As usual Guru Maharaj was up and running early morning. We had a wonderful Q & A Session with Guru Maharaj clearing so many doubts of devotees. We left around 7.50am and were in Vrindavan Dham by 11am. Guru Mahraj entered the gates of MVT  to a  tumultuous welcome by the devotees. We later took darshan of Their Lordships, they looked more gorgeous and affectionate than ever, as always.

The next 3 day were spent as if I was on a different plane altogether.

We, me and Sumeet Prabhu, started with darshan of Guru Mahraj at his apartment, then it was time for the Govardhan Puja, the temple compound was decked up beautifully. We watched the beautiful annnakut preparations and so many Bhoga offerings to Sri Giriraj. We took the parikarma and were blessed with prasadam after almost every round. There was festivity all around.

Giriraj Maharaj ki jai !

I later met wonderful devotees from Surat, also HG Nanda Maharaj Das from Chandigarh, then I had lunch prasadam at Guru Maharaj’s apartment. Guru Maharaj met everyone again  in the evening. Later we went to listen to HH Radhanath Maharaj at Fugla Ashram. I saw Maharaj for the first time but it seemed I had seen him many a times, of course, watching so many of his videos earlier. He spoke with so much `bhava’ about Krishna’s pastimes and specially Govardhan Lila. Later Radhanath Maharaj did Kirtan and then Guru Maharaj sang Damodar Ashtakam, the whole complex danced with spiritual potency. We bought some CDs of Maharaj’s lectures. Once the lecture was finished and we were waiting outside, but inside the ashram, for the crowd to disperse. we saw Radhanath Maharaj coming in our direction. Sumeet Prabhu commented ` today I will touch his feet, come what may’. I was a little scared. But he pushed me closer to where HH Radhanath Maharaj was walking. As Maharaj stopped in front of us we both touched the soil, touched by his lotus feet. Hari, Hari !

HH Radhanath Maharaj Ki Jai !

Tuesday : I had the good fortune to attend Mangal Arti, Mangal Arti darshan are always special for me, I can’t pick a finger on the reason but there is something special about Mangal Arti darshan. I  did my rounds in the temple and later at Prabupada’s house. Among many other things, HG Sankarshan Das Adhikari taught  me two special instructions

1. To attend samadhi Arti whenever possible

2. To chant my rounds at Srila Prabhupada’s house.

Both these instructions have helped me a lot.

Evening was very special as I went to take darshan of  HH Radha Govind maharaj. His apartment was so simple, like his very own self. I paid my obeisances and told him how much I love him and I listen to his sweet lectures every day since last 4 months, he has changed me. He heard me patiently, nobbed and I got prasadam from his hands. I would definitely go and meet him again and again and again.

HH Radha Goving Maharaj ki Jai !

In the evening Guru maharaj first gave an excellent on his pastimes with Srila Prabhupada’s at Vrindavan, and later in the evening he made the whole temple dance with his melodious kirtan from 7pm-8pm. I was filled to the core with spiritual energy.

Wednesday :  I attended Srila Prabupada’s arti and the mangal arti. Later I met Gaurav Prabhu after a long gap, it was so good to meet him, he is progressing very well in his sadhna bhakti. We both missed association of Subir Prabhu.

There was an excellent morning Bhagavatam lecture at an early time of 6am by H.G Badrinarayan Prabhu. Then it was a occasion to take Srila Prabhupada to all the six Goswami temples in Vrindavan.  By the mercy of Lord, I got the service to carry Srila Prabhupada’s in his Palanquin. I felt very close to Srila Prabhupada, I was carrying my grandfather all around. Then HH Gopal Krishna Goswami maharaj came and to put a cherry on the cake Guru Maharaj did sankirtan till Radha Damodar temple, My day was made, indeed one of my best days in Vrindavan Dham. Many people paid obeisances to Srila Prabhupada on our way. Thank you so much Srila Prabhupada for allowing me to participate in your procession.

I met a very gentle soul in the procession and I will write about her separately.

After reaching back I got the good association of Vineet Prabhu and later Murari prabhu, both from Jaipur. Is is always a pleasure to meet both of them, they are knowledgeable, humble and very affectionate.

In the evening we had darshan of Guru Maharaj  and then Guru Maharaj sang Gopi Geet to a packed house Balaram House.

As I was offering deep daan with Priti I virtually rubbed my eyes as I saw Karuna Prabhu and then HG Rukmini Krishna Prabhuji. It was so good to see him. Hari, Hari ! What more can one ask in a single day.

I left the same evening back to Gurgaon with a heavy heart. Who would wish to leave Vrindavan in Kartik and the association of so many devotees.

Kartik maas ki Jai !

Vrindavan Dham Ki Jai !

Srila Prabhupada ki Jai !