Pictures from Bhagavad gita
Starting with His Divine Grace, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, sitting under a picture of Govinda. Prabhupada’s knee is bare, like Govinda’s, both persons wear flower garlands, Krsna the Lord, speaker of the Gita, and Prabhupada, “the greatest exponent of Krsna consciousness in the Western world.”
Pada Yatra
I have not read this book by Satsvarooper Bejam- mer, but I expect it will be good. He’s an old hand at this stuff. I heard his premise was to follow Bhakti- marga Swami’s example, who’s walking across Canada chanting sixty-four rounds a day to celebrate His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s centennial (1896-1996)…
Obstacles on the Path
In a First Canto purport, Srila Prabhupada states that there are many realistic obstacles on the path of devotional service, but by the grace of guru and Krsna one can overcome them. W hat impressed me when I first read this was that Srila Prabhupada and the Vedic sages are aware that we are faced with many problems when we try to take up the life of Krsna consciousness. Sometimes we may think of sages as speaking in an idealistic way about com plete…
Niti Sastras
Canakya Pandita lived approximately three thousand years ago. He was the brahmana advisor and prime minister to the last Hindu king, Candragupta. Although he was the king’s prime minister, Canakya maintained his brahminical status by living in a small cottage outside the palace walls and refusing a salary. In this way, he remained independent of anyone’s patronage or control. Once, the emperor asked Canakya to ex- plain something he did…
Nimais Detour
My name is Nimai dasa brahmacarl and I was written up in the book Nimai dasa and the Mouse, which told about my friendship with three devotees in mice bodies. I was with them for six months until I left them in Guyana. Now my Gurudeva has asked me to write my own account about the stuff that has happened to me in the last six months ending with my coming to be his servant. (Mercy!) Gurudeva thought that if I write down exactly what happened I’ll be better able to see where…
Nimai dasa and the Mouse
Fiction is something new to the members of the International Society for Krsna Consciousness, but there are precedents in the Vaisnava sampradaya. The most significant modern example is Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s novel, Jaiva Dharma, which some consider to be also his masterpiece of philosophical dissertation. Sanatana Gosvaml’s great work Sri Brhad- bhagavatamrtam is also Krsna conscious philosophy expressed in novel form…
My Relationship
I have a relationship with Lord Krsna. Krsna is God. I don’t know Him very well, not like I know Srila Prabhu- pada. Even Prabhupada sometimes seems far away. (I am even afraid to approach him sometimes.) Krsna is all-pervading—I can feel that—and yet far away, the Supreme Person. Lord Krsna is present in His murti form…
Memories
The inspiration for Memories and the freedom to write it was given to me by Lord Krsna and Srila Pra- bhupada while residing in the ISKCON community in Wicklow, Ireland. This book is not an autobiography but a compilation of independent pieces or vignettes, each with its own title. While both the pre-Krsna conscious memories and memories since 1966 flowed, I encountered the usual obstacles…
Living With the Scriptures
This is a book of essays based on selected verses of Vedic literature. I have chosen verses that have special meaning in my life, with the hope that discussing them will make for interesting and instructive reading. In the life of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, there also appeared to be particular verses which especially guided him…
Last Days of the Year
During the 1994 Karttika season I was in Mayapur, India participating in a parikrama and series of lectures with Bhakti-caru Maharaja and a group of devotees. I found it a rewarding experience, but as our time together came to an end, I began to look forward to finding more alone time to write. As Karttika ended, Madhumangala and I decided to return to Ireland and…
