Issue No. 10 April 2017

Hare Krishna! Dear Reader,

The weather is getting humid and hotter by each passing day. However, the most amazing thing is that the devotees at Govind Dham are swimming in the ocean of Nectar. This month many travelling monks and preachers visited ISKCON Noida to bless the devotees with teachings that will nourish one‟s devotional creeper. When the heat of material chaos is trying to dry up our determination and enthusiasm in our devotional life- seminars like „Harnessing the power of prayer‟ followed by Japa Ashraya workshop provide a real treat for the spiritual seekers. Why are you missing out the nectar? We look forward to see you on this wonderful journey of Krishna consciousness. Your servants, at the editorial team

In this issue

Appearance of Lord Sri Ramachandra

A visit to the holy place of Sukratal

Lord Jagannatha visits Greater Noida

Chandan yatra begins

Govind Dham and Bhaktivedanta Academy, A-5, Opposite NTPC office, Agrasen Marg, Sector-33, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301

Appearance Day of Lord Sri Ramachandra

On 9th April devotees of ISKCON Noida celebrated the appearance of Lord Rama candra by performing abhishek, followed by opulent feast for all attendees. The appearance of Lord Ramacandra is also known as Rama navami- the ninth day of the appearance of the moon. Lord Ramacandra appeared in Ayodhya located some 500 miles away from northeast of New Delhi and His life and amazing pastimes are recorded in the scripture- Ramayana written by sage Valmiki. The eldest of King Dasaratha‟s four sons, Lord Rama was an exemplary king- ideal in his character, who ruled Ayodhya for more than 10,000 years. Although, Lord Rama appeared in Treta-yuga (two million years ago), nevertheless the need for such a king or leader is much needed in today‟s order-less world. Today, the political leaders are driving the world order towards complete chaos due to their lack of real knowledge. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada stresses the significance and need of developing a saintly-class of men and women who with their example would lead

Lord Sri Ramchandra with His eternal concert Srimati Sita Devi

Celebration of Rama Navami at ISKCON Noida

Abhishek ceremony on Rama Navami Discourse by His Grace Sriman Kratu Prabhu

others towards the path of peace and libera-tion.

gurur na sa syāt sva-jano na sa syāt pitā na sa syāj jananī na sā syāt

daivaṁ na tat syān na patiś ca sa syān na mocayed yaḥ samupeta-mṛtyum

Tanslation: One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a worshipable demigod. (SB 5.5.18)

It becomes the prime-most duty of a leader or a king (who is not less than a father) to help his dependents or citizens get free from the vicious cycle of birth and death by properly executing social duties. But today‟s world leaders are themselves blind to the social & moral codes and we are blindly following them. So there is an urgent need in our society to reverse this „blind following the blind‟ situation. And how is this possible? It is very simple.

First we ourselves must attain this real knowledge and then reach out to others by sharing this knowledge with them. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu instructs us:

bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya janma yāra janma sārthaka kari’ kara para-upakāra

Translation: “One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people. (CC Adi 9.41)

Our great acarya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada lived this order by travelling all over the world, preaching and opening temples, so that we get an opportunity to acquire this real knowledge and make our human form of life successful. It is our great fortune that one such center is in Noida, sector-33, opp. NTPC office- Govind Dham and Bhaktivedanta Acad-emy for Spiritual Sciences. The only fee you have to pay is - your presence!

HH Lokanath Swami with chief guests in Gr.Noida

Lord Jagannatha visits Greater Noida

A visual of the epic rath Yatra festvial in Jagannatha puri

Among the chief guests were Shri NP Singh (District Magistrate, Noida) & Shri Deepak Agarwal (CEO, Noida Authority). The event was also graced by the presence of H H Bhakti Anugraha Janardhan Swami Maharaj from Sri Vrindavan dham. Many devotees from various ISKCON centers (Vrindavan, Pune, (EoK) Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad) also participated to make the event a grand success for the pleasure of their Lordships. The significance of pulling the rath is to express the love of devotees for the Lord to enter their hearts just like Gopis, the top-most devotees who were lamenting in the mood of separation wanted Sri Krishna and Sri Balaram to come back to Vrindavan when they saw Their Lordships in Kurukshetra.

On 2nd April, about 6000 people participated in the celebration of the festival of Lord Jagannatha‟s ratha yatra in Greater Noida.

The event was organized by the Greater Noida preaching center. The devotees decorated the rath very beautifully with flowers and ornaments. After giving a royal welcome, Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva and Subhadra devi were seated and served nicely on the rath. The grand procession started from Jagat farm and was led by His Holiness Lokanath Swami Maharaj. Devotees were chanting and dancing all the way in ecstasy, attracting many people to have one glimpse of the Lord of the universe- Sri Jagannatha.

HH Bhakti Anugraha Janardhana Swami Devotees pulling the rath

A visit to the holy place of Shukratal

HG Vamsidhar Prabhu

Devotees absorbed in ecstatic kirtan at Shukratal

ISKCON Noida organized Bhagavat-saptah from 11-18th April at the holy place of Shukratal. A seven day discourse was given by His Grace Vamsidhar Prabhu. A group of about 50 devotees from Noida attended this wonderful series of lectures on Srimad Bhagavatam. Gradually the number increased to 300 as devotees from other places like Greater Noida and Meerut also joined.

Shukratal or Shukrateerth is a holy place located on the banks of river Ganga. It is located near Muzaffarnagar. This is the place where under a tree Srila Sukhadeva goswami narrates Srimad Bhagavatam to Maharaj Parikshit for 7 days and nights. The holy tree is believed to be still present.

When Maharaj Parikshit displeases Samika Rishi by placing a dead snake over his head while meditating, the latter‟s son Shringi becomes furious and curses king Parikshit to die in 7 days from a snake bite. As the inevitable was bound to happen, the king instead of lamenting decides to take shelter of the learned brahmanas. This is when Srila Sukhadeva Goswami enlightens King Parikshit with the transcendental knowledge of Srimad Bhagavatam in the assembly of many great sages. Shukratal is therefore a very potent and significant place and the devotees from Noida and other places took full advantage by fully absorbing themselves in Krishna katha.

Seminars held at Bhaktivedanta Academy, Noida

Bhaktivedanta Academy for Spiritual Sciences organized a three day seminar on „Harnessing the Power of Prayer‟ by His Grace Sriman Mahatma prabhu. The seminar focused on how to invoke the mercy of the Lord through relevant prayers. It was an interactive seminar which involved a series of activities though which devotees learned to frame prayers relevant to their lives and in congruence with the teachings of previous acharyas. Prayers are the means by which one can communicate with the Lord and can express gratitude for

all the blessings and one‟s complete dependence on the Lord. This seminar not only helped devotees to analyze one's deficiencies and count blessings but also helped in calling out the names of the Lord from the core of the heart. “This seminar greatly helped us to move from mechanical chanting to prayerful chanting. HG Mahatma Prabhu kept it very interactive and thereby was able to address many practical problems.” says Vedanta Caitanya Das, one of the attendees of the seminar.

For the very first time Bhaktivedanta Academy for Spiritual Sciences, ISKCON Noida held an exclusive seminar on japa. „Japa Ashray Level-1‟ was held from 21st -24th April by His Holiness Bhakti Brihat Bhagavata Swami Maharaj. About 150 devotees from around the Delhi-NCR region benefitted from this seminar. The special highlight was congregational chanting of the 64 rounds. The first two days of the seminar focused on setting the right mood for chanting by going through various excerpts from Srila Prabhupada's teachings. On the third day (Ekadasi) all the participants blissfully chanted 64 rounds starting from 5am in the morning till 1pm in the afternoon.

Maharaja gave away a three-point formula to help avoid offenses during chanting. This formula is based on the teachings of Srila Prabhupada: 1. Repentance 2. Go on chanting 3. Pancha tattva mantra “Chanting 64 rounds of japa in the association of so many devotees was really an overwhelming experience for many of the participants. Seminars like this would definitely help in one‟s spiritual progress. We should have more of such enlightening seminars at regular intervals” shared one of the blissful participants of the seminar.

Chandan Yatra begins

Sri Sri Radha Govindadev during chandan yatra at ISKCON Noida

Chandan yatra is a 21-day festival celebrated during the hottest days of Indian summer. The festival commemorates on the day of Aksaya tritiya. During these days of scorching heat Lord Sri Krishna‟s body is smeared with fragrant and cooling sandalwood paste.

Once Sri Madhavendra puri, a great acarya in the line of Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya and grand spiritual master of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was at Govardhana. At that time Lord Gopala appears in his dream and asks to excavate His deity form from a nearby forest. Then

Sri Madhavendra puri

Lord asks him to bring sandalwood paste from Jagannatha Puri and smear it all over His body to give relief from the heat. And Sri Madhavendra Puri follows the Lords‟ order and sets out for Puri.

But when he reaches Remuna in Orissa, he visits a temple of Gopinatha. There he saw the priest offering sweet rice to the Lord and desires to taste the sweet rice so that he could prepare a similar offering to his Gopala in Vrindavana. But immediately he realizes his mistake of desiring to taste the offering before Lord and immediately leaves the temple. At night Lord Gopinatha appears in the dream of the priest and asks him to give the pot of sweet rice to Madhavendra Puri that Lord stole and hid behind His dhoti. Since that day Lord Gopinatha becomes famous as Khirachora Gopinatha. Later Madhavendra Puri acquires the fragrant sandalwood for Gopala from the King of Jagannatha Puri. But again Lord Gopala appears in the dream of Madhavendra Puri and asks him to smear the sandalwood paste to Gopinatha as there is no difference between Him and Gopinatha. Since then chandan yatra is observed every year.

Lord Khirachora Gopinatha, Remuna Sri Madhavendra Puri accepting the pot of sweet rice

Original Gopal diety of Sri Madhavendra puri now worshiped as Sri Nathaji at Nathadvara in Rajasthan Source: iskcondesiretree.com

HOW CAN I SERVE SRI SRI RADHA GOVINDA DEV? Have some spare time? Come attend

our wonderful morning, noon and evening programs.

Born with a talent? Use your skills in serving Sri Sri Radha Govinda Dev.

Like music and delicious food? Attend our Sunday Love Feast program at noon.

Want to contribute some donation or become a life member? Contact: Bhisma Department, ISKCON Noida

"Maya means forgetfulness of Krishna, and forgetfulness of Krishna and Krishna consciousness stand side by side like light and shadow. If one remains in shadow, he cannot enjoy the facilities offered by light, and if one remains in light, he cannot be disturbed by the darkness of shadow. By taking to Krishna consciousness, one gradually becomes liberated and remains in light. Indeed, he does not even touch the darkness."- Srila Prabhupada

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE RAMAHARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE CHANT AND BE HAPPY!

IMPORTANT DAYS

For feedback, suggestions and enquiries, please contact: Vedanta Chaitanya Das vcd.lns@gmail.com [VCD(dot)LNS(at)GMAIL(dot)COM]

EDITORIAL TEAM

Vedanta Chaitanya Das, Krishnabhakta Das, Shyamapriya Devi Dasi.

REPORTER‟S DESK

Vrajajanaranjan Das (Noida), Sri Chaitanya Das (Greater Noida)

COMMUNICATION DESK

Rohininandana Das

4th May: Srimati Sita devi appearance

6th May: Mohini Ekadasi 8th May: Sri Jayananda prabhu

disappearance 9th May: Appearnce of Lord

Nrsimhadeva 10th May: Sri Sri Radha Ramana

appearance, Sri Madhavendra Puri appearance, Sri Srinivasa Acarya appearance, Sri Parameshvari Dasa Thakura disappearance.

22nd May: Apara Ekadashi

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE HARE RAMA HARE RAMA RAMA RAMA HARE HARE