Sri Krishna Janmastami message. From Colombia, 9/6/2015.

Krishna stu bhagavan svayam:

The avatars of God, like Sri Ramachandra and Sri Nrsimhadeva are all plenary portions and plenary expansions of Him, whereas Sri Krishna is svayam bhagavan, the personification of the six opulences in full and the Source of all. Lord Krishna is the Supreme Truth not divisible. He is the ultimate reality. He manifests in three aspects: Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan.

Isvarah paramah Krishnah
sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah
sarva-karana-karanam

"Sri Krishna Govinda is the manifestation of eternity, knowledge and bliss, He is the supreme controller. He has no source but is the origin of everything and the cause of all causes."

So when we speak of Sri Krishna we must be clear that He is the penultimate and can only be understood with love from the heart. Reason will take us to bankruptcy in this regard. We can only adore, admire and we beg for His mercy in this day of Sri Krishna Janmastami. We ask that You allow us to confirm this desire to reach Your abode and serve Your divine will. Since You, my Lord, You have been merciful and sent us Your dear devotee, our spiritual master Srila Prabhupada, who cares for us and make us Your devotees. Although obviously always we are all Your devotees, for You are the supreme cause of all causes.

My Lord, Your love is so great that You have a mission and an individual plan for each of us. The Krishna-tattva (knowledge of the Divine Personality) is something really incredible and very difficult to understand. The Vishnu Purana says that Bhagavan is defined as the one who possesses all opulences in full: He is the most beautiful, the most famous, richest, most powerful, the most knowledgeable and the most renounced. All these qualities are manifested in Sri Krishna at its finest.

In the dasa-mula Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur explains that Svayam Bhagavan Sri Krishna is Vrajendra Nandana, Sri Hari, to whom Brahma, Shiva, Indra and other demigods continuously offer their obeisance. He is the only Supreme Absolute Truth. Even Maha Vishnu, who pervades all universes as the Supersoul or Paramatma, is just a partial expansion of Lord Krishna. Thus Sri Hari Himself is the form of the Divine Reality called cid-svarupa. His effulgence is the color of a newly fresh rain cloud. He is called Radha Kanta, the beloved of Srimati Radharani.

Sri Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita: "O conqueror of wealth (Dhananjaya)! There is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.." He also says: "I am the source of all worldly and spiritual worlds, everything emanates from Me, the wise who know this engage in bhajan (glorification) to Me, their hearts are absolutely thrilled for Me."

Lord Krishna is the Supreme Controller, all others are His servants, He makes us dance as He desires. He again says in the Bhagavad Gita: "He who knows that I am the ultimate enjoyer of all sacrifices and austerities, the supreme controller of all the planets and the well-wisher and friend of all living entities, attains liberation from the bonds of identification with the material body." "I'm the only teacher, the only enjoyer of sacrifices, those who do not recognize Me when I appear in My transcendental body, will fall down and repeatedly go through the cycle of birth and death." "Oh Arjuna, My birth and My activities are transcendental, one who knows this truth will need not be born again in a material body and certainly come to Me."

The Katha Upanishad states:

nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam
eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman

"He is the Supreme head of all beings; He is the Supreme consciousness among all beings. The Supreme Lord satisfies everyone's desires and gives them everything they need."

And this is once again clarified in the Bhagavad Gita:

sarvasya caham hrdi sannivisto
mattah smrtir jnanam apohanam ca
vedais ca sarvair aham ca vedyo
vedanta-krd veda-vid eva caham
(Bhagavad Gita 15.15)

"I am in everyone's heart, and from Me comes remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. It's me who is to be known by all the Vedas. In truth, I am the compiler of Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas. "

brahmano hi pratisthaham
amrtasyavyayasya ca
sasvatasya ca dharmasya
sukhasyaikantikasya ca
(Bhagavad Gita 14.27)

"I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is immortal, imperishable and eternal and is the constitutional position of ultimate happiness."

Lord Brahma offered the following prayer to the Supreme Lord:

"Oh master of the entire universe, You are the one who should be glorified. Oh, Vrajendra Nandana, son of the King of Vraja, Your blue body which is like a newly fresh rain cloud is adorned with the brightness of Your yellow garments. You are decorated with dolphin-shaped earrings and have a peacock feather on Your head. Your face is radiant with uncommon splendor and around your neck is a garland made with different types of forest flowers and leaves. Under Your arms You have a stick to control the cows and a buffalo horn. The flute You wear under Your belt looks very beautiful and in Your loving and sweet hands you have remnants of yogurt and rice. You attract all with Your beautiful cowherd boy form. I simply bow down to You again and again because Your feet are as soft as the lotus and are marked with all auspicious signs!"

All these are different sentences that allow us to see Lord Krishna in His original form; who is the one who captivates everyone in His abode of Sri Vrindavan Dham.

There are a few more sentences that are very beautiful and we will remember them today:

"How astonishing is He, to whom Putana wanted to kill with smeared poison on her breasts, and instead saved her and gave her the position of a mother. Who could understand such compassion!? I take shelter in Him as there is nothing greater!" "How fortunate are Nanda Maharaj (the head of the cowherds) and the inhabitants of Vraja Bhumi, they have limitless fortune because the Absolute Truth, the source of all happiness, the Supreme Brahman has become their friend!".

Krishnaya vasudevaya
Devakinandanaya ca
Nandagopa kumara ya
Govindaya namo namah
(Canto 1 Chapter 8, taken from Srimad Bhagavatam)

I offer my respectful obeisances to all those who have come to Varsana Dham (Colombia) on this day to celebrate Sri Krishna Janmastami with us. This is a day entirely dedicated to Krishna-katha with great devotee association of Srila Bhakti Bibudha Bodhayan Maharaja who is visiting us today, the current acarya of Sri Gopinath Gaudiya Math that came from the holy land of Navadvipa and graciously accepted the invitation to participate and so this festival fill our hearts with joy.

Today we are remembering and worshiping Lord Krishna with more intensity from Bhumi (our lodging in Varsana Dham) who was brought into this world by the mercy of Bhumi Mata (Mother Earth) and asked him to give us strength to continue serving and expanding the message that He Himself has brought so that we can take it everywhere. Being with You today in celebrating the festival of Sri Krishna Janmastami and tomorrow the appearance of Srila Prabhupada, I feel great joy and mercy.

Today is a day to further deepen, it is a day of consecration which delivers the testimony that Sri Krishna is the greatest friend of everyone who comes to our rescue. It is by His own mercy that we can offer some austerity and love today. Krishna is not happy when one fasts, he is happy with our attempt to make Him happy. The Vaishnava tradition of fasting can also be called "the fast of anticipation" because the devotees are so happy that they can not even think of eating and sleeping because Lord Krishna will appear at midnight; in that anticipation everyone is captivated and offer their austerities, their memories and their meditation on the Lord.

Devotees meditate on how Krishna appears in the world, on how He has come this far (Varsana, Colombia), they meditate on how Krishna is the sun, and how He is the taste of  water and how it comes to flood our lives with mercy alongside Srimati Radharani. Devotees meditate on how Sri Krishna manifests Himself as the origin of everything, that is something so great and wonderful that we could celebrate it every day, but we do so particularly today.

As we celebrate the appearance day of Sri Krishna We give special attention to Him, we make offerings. We offer a beautiful spiritual mission, a beautiful family and offer our fasting. We fast to please Sri Krishna. They are the symbols of divine love. Krishna always gives us what we need everything we eat during the year, all the air we breathe, what we get is because of  His mercy. So today we remember all of this with more intensity until midnight, which is when Vasudeva and Devaki receive the Lord in the prison cell at the palace of Kamsa. After that Vasudeva takes Krishna to Gokul carrying Him across the river Yamuna, who opens the passage to take Him there. There in Gokul,Vasudeva leaves Krishna the child at home with mother Yasoda. This beautiful story of the Lord leaves us completely enthralled to the point that it makes us dedicate our life to trying to please Krishna wholeheartedly.

We not only offer today this festival to the Lotus Feet of Sri Krishna, we offer our whole life, our preaching, our schools of yoga, our Ayurvedic centers, our eco-yoga villages, our gardens, our organic crops, our art form of painting and sculpture, foods prepared in our restaurants throughout the year, we offer the products we manufacture in "Spoon," everything we have and do. Indeed, we say that when a new devotee comes in the family, he becomes a doctor of the soul, receiving the maximum liability that exists which is becoming a well-wisher of the soul of others. This means that, from now on, he will try to help people in the world. That is the sacred tradition that Sri Krishna brings. To become a devotee means to become a well-wisher:

Om sarve bhavantu sukhinah
Sarve Santu niramayah
Sarve bhadrani pashyantu
Ma kashcid-duhkha-bhag-bhavet

That is the essence of the teachings of Lord Krishna, the joy for a devotee means to help others; a devotee does not want to see that others are in misery, a devotee does not want others to get sick, he does not want them to lose the perception of the wise assessment of the facts; a devotee rather wants everyone to have clarity of purpose in life and, of course, the devotee does not cause harm to anyone else. That is the main vow of all the devotees, not to cause misery to others.

Our spiritual master Srila Prabhupada, in his infinite mercy has given us the confidence to become doctors of the soul. This means that since we came into contact with Lord Krishna we will try our utmost to deliver the appreciation of the Lord to all the people around us. That's the medicine. Sri Krishna is healing. Sri Krishna is salvation. Sri Krishna is our refuge and our home. Sri Krishna gives us our true identity. Sri Krishna allows us to understand how to accomplish in life and so seek the satisfaction of reaching the perfection of life.

We know we all have to die, but we have the greatest opportunity to become sentient beings within creation and that is pure mercy that the Superconscious Lord has given us, Lord Krishna appears in our lives and gives us permission to become healers. How can we become healers? Simply delivering the medicine, the Maha Mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

It is difficult to imagine a mantra of the Divine Names can heal us and can remove all the pains of existence. It is hard to understand but it is reality, as Sri Krishna says there is no difference between Him and His name. So when we chant the Maha-mantra in the association of devotees we experience the Holy Name as the greatest medicine. While chanting the Holy Name the person may experience that there is nothing in the material world that compares, no drugs of any kind that can match or even all the money in the world or all the fame you can get will not give even a similar pleasure that the Holy Name can deliver.

Sri Krishna is the supreme enjoyer, whereas the devotee yearns to be enjoyed. The devotee feels the joy of pleasing Krishna. And How does He enjoy? Healing the sick soul, feeding those hungry for spirituality, sowing the organic seed of bhakti, giving justice to the oppressed of the material world. Krishna comes to end abusive demons and save the oppressed. He is everything and the solution for everything. While we are in the material world we will be surrounded by demons, those looking to enjoy without God at the center. We want to become the center and not want to take the medicine that Sri Krishna is so kindly giving us, so we are born again and again until we reached the point where we decided that we no longer want to continue being born and remaining spiritually sick. At that time we decide that we want to be close to the Lord of the heart.

This was the message that I wish to share with you all on this day on Sri Krishna Janmastami.

Sri Krishna Janmastami, ki jay!
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Your always well wisher,
B. A. Paramadvaiti Swami

Only God's Love Can Solve the Problems of Life. 8/9/15. From Argentina.

All glories to Prabhupada!

My message today begins with the following verse: 

vāsudeve bhagavati bhakti-yogah prayojitah janayaty vairagyam jnanam ca yad ahaitukam (SB 1.2.7)

By rendering service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world. (Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.7).

 Bhakti Yoga should be executed for the satisfaction of the Supreme Person, Vasudeva Krishna. That will gradually make the person who practices to become detached from things that have no connection with Him and the person will also receive the gift of pure knowledge and the desire to offer everything they own to the Lord of Love. That is an incredible quote from Srimad Bhagavatam. Krishna is the one who is speaking in the Bhagavad Gita and who is spoken about in the Srimad Bhagavatam, all glorification are meant for Him.You should not think that Srimad Bhagavatam is a simple esoteric idea. No. Today there is much esoteric, many people talk about things that are not visible, but usually they refer to the impersonal Brahman or cosmic ocean, but not the Supreme Person.

  Many people worship the impersonal aspect of God for some material benefit, mystical powers, etc ... Krishna is infinite and will manifest in the way you want to connect with Him. In the case of Draupadi, for example, the Lord manifested in the form of a sari, to protect her from degradation.On another occasion, Krishna was present to save Prahlad Maharaja from the different assassination attempts by his father.

  Likewise, Krishna has saved us many times. It may be that we have been conscious in the past. But, anyway, Krishna is always aware of all things. He does everything. Therefore minimizing the Srimad Bhagavatam believing that it is just a Hindu interpretation of Truth, it is also a way to ignore a great gift. Only God's love can solve the problems of life. That love is unique. I consider myself a fan of Krishna, because when I think about Him I know that I have to love all others, and I want to, without discriminating between someone more important than others. (As Christians who believe that animals have no soul). Without discriminating, even Mother Nature. Rather we must fight for the rights of nature, the rights of animals, native peoples, fighting for the future of humanity. Because today nobody cares about anyone's rights, only the right to exploit, decapitating others, industrialization, etc ... If one does not recognize that the other living beings must be respected because they have a right to because they deserve it, then whatever you do is incorrect, twisted and wrong. Abuse is considered the methodology to get everything you want unscrupulously.

 For example, Frederick Nietzsche once said that the Manu Samhita was the first book in which he found that women and the poor have rights. Imagine, 5,000 years ago that concept already existed, while in Europe only in the 70s women were given the right to vote, before that there was only a terrible patriarch.The culture of India, however, has a different position in that respect because it always keeps the concept that we are one big family where the concepts of man or woman are temporary, only the soul is eternal.

  Charles Darwin established the misconception of the principle of survival, where the more powerful survive over the weak (survival of the fittest). The so-called "weak" have no chance in the world. No right. After that there were more and more terrible proposals, one of those was that any "defective" individual should be removed, because the inferior races should not reproduce. This movement was responsible for millions of murders of people worldwide. It is completely discouraged. That same mentality gives rise to abortions and many other atrocities. By mercy we have received the right concept of knowledge for these things. Only love can save us. One who does not practice love for all living entities can not talk about God. The Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam are classical writings about love, respect towards all. When a human being becomes a vegetarian, 51 percent of your problem is solved. Even environmental problems are solved.

Srila Prabhupada Ki Jay!
With affection, your ever well-wisher.
B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami

The Essence of Surrender:having no separate interest from Sri Krishna's interest 6/14/15 Ecuador

Dear devotees, accept all my affection from Ecuador,

These have been days of much nectar, visiting two or more programs in the day. The devotees of Ecuador, certainly, are working hard to preach. In Vilcabamba I was impressed, there were more than 50 people in the program, and that is a relatively new program. In the morning we start to drive again, happy to have been in Ecuadorian lands. Today I share a few words about the surrender;

Surrender is the absolute acceptance, in words and commitments, preferably in thoughts too. Distinguishing and accepting the favorable progress on the path back to God. Reaching the abode of God is the goal of life, there is nothing more important than that. There is nothing better than that, but on the way impediments will arise. Therefore, accepting conditions which are favorable in advancing in that direction is one of the symptoms of surrender. The second symptom of surrender is deciding and remaining determined to reject all that which is unfavorable for attaining the  Lotus Feet of Sri Krishna. Initially you may not be sure what is the goal we want to achieve, perhaps you only perceive some things, such as our goal is something positive, which is beyond duality and therefore we deliver true peace, which is beyond miseries and lies of this material world. However, the essence of surrender is connected with the frequency of having no separate interest from Sri Krishna's interest. And for that, one must ask oneself and pray asking what is the sweet will of the Lord, for me.

Surrender brings great changes in the life of a person, it is a transition, a major step, a change from guided selfishness towards complete spiritual dedication without the desire for personal gain. It takes practice to the extent that you use everything you have received in the loving service of the Lord. In South America we say: Make good use of a bad bargain. That is the philosophy of "yukta vairagya" use all we have to serve the Lord. For He is the source and origin of all. In frequency of surrender everything becomes positive and progressive, one must make the conscious effort to become aware of everything you have received as well as having proper discrimination, distinguishing things properly.
One must appreciate all that comes to him. Valuing life itself as a gift from God.

How important are we? That question can only be answered in relation to the cause of our existence. The cause of our existence is the purpose of it, and the purpose of human life is to be a servant of Krishna:

jīvera 'svarūpa' haya — kṛṣṇera 'nitya-dāsa'

kṛṣṇera 'taṭasthā-śakti' 'bhedābheda-prakāśa'

sūryāḿśa-kiraṇa, yaiche agni-jvālā-caya

svābhāvika kṛṣṇera tina-prakāra 'śakti' haya

(CC Madhya 20.108-109)

"It is the living entity's constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa because he is the marginal energy of Kṛṣṇa and a manifestation simultaneously one with and different from the Lord, like a molecular particle of sunshine or fire. Kṛṣṇa has three varieties of energy."


The purpose of human life is to be a servant of God, then the importance of one's life is measured in relation to the degree in which one is connected with God's service. And service to God is service to all souls, service so that other souls become conscious of God as well. That is the essence of our life, our lives therefore become very important. The value of our actions depends on where they are directed towards. If we act to serve, then our actions and our lives become very valuable. To the proportion that we have developed a service attitude towards other souls and the Lord, to that degree our life become more valuable. If we do not use our lives properly, then we are wasting time on things of the material world like a fashionable dress, having the best jewels, having fun in the most extravagant ways, etc, etc, etc. Life gets out of hand so fast that once we realize that we're already completely consumed by the jaws of the material world. Therefore, my dear, this is the right time to make a deep self-analysis and ask: Who am I? What makes my existence valuable?

And I have given you the process so you can answer these questions. There is nothing more beautiful and more auspicious than Truth. It is through conscious awareness that each soul has the capacity to realize how we are a part of that Truth. We need preparation to come to the realization of our essence as eternal servants. It is not artificial state, it is a realization that descends from the highest realm through causeless mercy. And most importantly, we must train ourselves to become good servants. Daily practice is the daily effort to prepare us for this. One advances to the extent that one longs to serve. It is proportional, more service, more progress. Devotional service is the real root of the whole matter.
How does one practically experience this devotional service in practice? By remembering God, to make plans for God's pleasure or connecting others with God. When you cultivate inspiration to be with God, when you work and make the effort to improve, eventually you become eligible to serve God. All of this. which we aspire for in the process of spiritual life, it is not something ordinary, quite the contrary. Rather, we are talking about the ultimate goal of life. Nothing less than that.
We can only connect with that goal as long as we remain linked with a reliable source of spiritual energy, and reciprocate this connection with the right attitude, that attitude is the surrender of which we spoke of at first. The attitude of rejecting all selfish interests separate from Sri Krishna. This is our opportunity to decide whether we surrender to the Supreme Source or continue being surrendered to materialism which we have served life after life. With these words I say goodbye today.
I hope you can reflect on this during the week.

Jay Srila Prabhupada!

Your always well-wisher,
B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami