Retraction

/0 Comments/in /by

By Bhurijana dasa

Hare Krsna. Years ago I published a book of memories of my association with Srila Prabhupada. It was entitled, “My Glorious Master”. Within that book was a section describing a devotee named Ugrasrava dasa and his offering of a carry case to Srila Prabhupada in Melbourne in 1974.

Contrary to what I wrote, Ugrasrava prabhu remembers offering that carry case to Srila Prabhupada in the middle of Srila Prabhupada’s visit, not at the end. And that the event took place in his home, where Srila Prabhupada was staying, with the only other persons present being Srila Prabhupada and Prabhupada’s secretary, Satsvarupa dasa Goswami. During this exchange Srila Prabhupada graciously and affectionately offered Ugrasrava his own carry bag which he had been using for years.

What I had written contained inaccuracies both in my description of the event and my comment. My comment now clearly seems inappropriate. I apologize to Ugrasrava for this, and I therefore fully retract what I had written in the entirety of the section. If I reprint this book, I’ll remove this section from future printings.

Varsana sunset

/0 Comments/in /by

By Bhurijana dasa

Hare Krsna.

Varsana is sweetened by the childhood pastimes of Srimati Radharani. It is located within the Vrindaban forest, which extends 32 miles, from the town of Vrindaban to Nanda-grama and Varsana.

Sri Prabhodananda Sarasvati remains ever-fixed in his glorification of the land of Vrindaban:

What nonsense! What nonsense! What misfortune! Even though he is a ‘great man’ he still does not like blissful Vrndavana!

If even the ‘greatest’ person refuses to take shelter of blissful Vrndavana, he should be called the lowest of men.

I do not love blissfully sweet Vrndavana. What is the good of my knowledge, devotion, or renunciation?

Pathetic! Pathetic are my scholarship, noble birth, good character, and splendid array of virtues! Because in this life I do not love Vrndavana, I am a living corpse.

Because I have not renounced everything and taken shelter of Vrndavana, I am more pitiful than those pitied by the pitiful and I am more foolish than the greatest fool.

Lord Caitanya’s feet are far away. Powerful Kali has appeared. How will love for Krsna be attained without love for Vrndavana?

Let hundreds of arrows of harsh words pierce my heart. Let hundreds and hundreds of kicks fall on my head. Let hundreds of days pass where I am unable to get even the smallest meal. Remembering at every moment the fair and dark glories that are my life’s treasure, and whose forms are two oceans of sweet nectar, I shall happily live in Vrndavana.

Birth after birth you enjoyed the loving attentions of a dear wife who offered you flower garlands, sandalwood paste, and a host of other gifts. In some births, your pride knew no limit, and in some births, you had no fame. In some births, you were a great scholar learned in many books, and in some births, folly would not leave you. Today you should be displeased with all these things. Give them all up and simply worship Vrndavana to attain transcendental bliss.

If fools see defects in this inconceivably glorious earthly Vrndavana, where everything is effulgent, pure, spiritual, and full of nectar, and where all living entities swim in a nectar ocean of pure love for Krsna, the farther shore of which even the three Vedas cannot see, then what can the wise, who have the eyes to see, say to enlighten them?

If one worships Vrndavana, which has endless beauty, endless sweetness, endless splendor, endless nectar, love for Krsna, endless kindness, and generosity, and endless glory, then his good fortune is also endless.

Please always meditate on beautiful Vrindavana

/0 Comments/in /by

By Bhurijana dasa

Hare Krsna. A cow grazes upon Giriraja Govardhana beneath the trees of Sri Vrindaban Dham. Sri Prabhodananada Sarasvati offers us wise words:

I offer my respectful obeisances to the wonderful effulgent, transcendental land of Vrndavana, which is splendid with glistening gold, sapphires, rubies, red-coral, lapis lazuli, and Chandrakanta jewels.

I eternally meditate on the land of Vrndavana, which is glorious above everything, an island of sweetness in the shoreless ocean of nectar, wonderful with the bliss of transcendental pastimes, blinded by the nectar of love for Radha-Krsna, its limbs rolling about on the ground in ecstasy, and a wonderful treasure of transcendental beauty and good fortune.

Without ever becoming tired, please always meditate on beautiful Vrndavana, which is glorious with numberless charming forests of parijata and other splendid trees, worshipped by demigods full of love for Lord Hari’s lotus feet, plunged into an ocean of the light of millions of moons, and unapproachable even by the host of Upanisads.

Brother, are you trapped in the jungle of repeated birth and death? Can you find not even a moment’s relief from the three-fold sufferings? The words of the scriptures don’t tell you how to escape? Simply meditate in your heart on the trees of Vrndavana, which are so dear to Lord Krsna.