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Making a connection with Krishna part 2

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Mayapur, November 2011) Lecture – Caitanya-caritamrta part 7

In South Africa one of our leading devotees, who was the head of the BBT. He used to be a Christian activist. He used to go around, putting brochures in people's hand. When he saw the devotees he thought:

" Let me go and save those guys!"

So he went to the harinama party, and stood there with this brochure and was trying to give it to someone, but everyone was involved in the kirtan, and therefore no one was taking it. Until finally one of them said:

"Oh, we've only to take that? Okay I will take it".

And he walked away.

"I saved him! I saved him!"

But when he got home, he was thinking:

"They looked really happy, did those guys!"

And it impressed him so much that he actually went to the temple and became a devotee, and now he is a big leader in South Africa!

1st Devotee: I know a Prabhu who used to be a roller skater in Denmark, and had an attitude, within the roller skaters and the skateboarders' environment. Every time he saw the harinama party come by, then he would throw things at them, such as food, rocks and whatever he could find. And he is now living here in Mayapur!

2nd Devotee: There was a lawyer named Mahaprabhu, who lived in Chowpatty, and had joined the movement around in 1978. He was a gṛhastha and had another job. For some reason or other, he was involved in a case, and someone wanted him killed. So that person had hired a hit man, to go and kill Mahaprabhu. So this hit man came to the Chowpatty temple to kill Mahaprabhu. He came to the temple and found the devotees to be so overwhelmingly friendly and nice that he too became a devotee!

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divyad-vrndaranya-kalpa-drumadah
srimad-ratnagara-simhasana-sthau
sri-sri-radha-srila-govinda-devau
presthalibhih sevyamanau smarami

In a temple of jewels in Vrndavana, underneath a desire tree, Sri Sri Radha Govinda, served by Their most confidential associates, sit upon an effulgent throne. I offer my humble obeisances unto Them. [Sri Caitanya Caritamrita Adi 1.16]

The Radha Govinda Temple is seen as one of the most impressive examples of North Indian architecture. It sits in the middle of the Yogapitha, the sacred place where Radha and Krishna would meet.

The deity of Govinda, believed to have been established thousands of years ago by Krishna's grandson Vajranaba, was rediscovered by Srila Rupa Goswami in the 16th century. The construction of the temple was begun under the direction of Raghunath Bhatta Goswami and his disciples, headed by Raja Man Singh (a general in the Army of Emperor Akbar) and was completed in 1590. Jiva Goswami praised Emperor Akbar in his Govindam Mandir Astakam (Eight Prayers in Glorification of the Govinda Temple), which is carved into the temple's stone. The inscription reads "Emperor Akbar is a very kind-hearted person and a Vaishnava. I give my blessings to Emperor Akbar. In his kingdom all the Vaishnavas are living very peacefully."

Less than 100 years later Emperor Aurangzeb ordered the temple's destruction. Before his soldiers arrived the deities of Radha and Govinda were moved. They now reside in the grand Govindaji temple in Jaipur.

Before its destruction the temple stood seven stories high. Just two stories remain. Still, the Radha Govinda Temple remains a towering monument to Lord Govinda and a place where one can feel a connection to the great saints of the past and the history of Krishna devotion in Vrindavan.

Kaustubha das

Robert Stoetzel is a New York based photographer traveling and photographing in India trough March 2009.

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Submitted by: Kaustubha das
Posted on 22.12.08 at 1:58 pm

Sent to you by dinesh via Google Reader:

Making a connection with Krishna part 1

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Mayapur, November 2011) Lecture – Caitanya-caritamrta part 7

Anyone who has contact with devotees is making a connection with Krishna! In Amsterdam in the late seventies we used to have harinama. Whenever we would go to do harinama in the city, there was a man who owned the vegetable stall, and he would always throw rotten tomatoes! So we knew when he came by to watch out, and so we ducked. But later that man became a donor and he gave vegetables to the temple!

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