So today is the disappearance day of my Guru Mahārāja. As I told you that sādhavo jīva vā mara vā. There was a nice story the other day I told you that a sage is giving different kinds of blessings to different types of persons.

So to a king's son, a prince, he blessed, rāja-putra ciraṁ jīva: "You are a king's son, a prince. You live forever." And muni-putra, the son of a saintly person, he blessed him, mā jīva mā jīva: "You don't live." Rāja-putra ciraṁ muni-putra mā jīva. And sādhu, devotees, he blessed him, jīva vā mara vā: "Either you live or you die, as you like." And there was a butcher, he blessed him, mā jīva mā mara: "You don't die, don't live." So these words are very significant. That I have already explained, still I am explaining. A prince, he's enjoying sense, that's all. He has got enough facility for sense enjoyment. So his next life is hellish.

Because if you indulge in sex life, then Kṛṣṇa will give you facility to have sex life three times in an hour, just like the pigeons, the monkeys, the sparrows, they are very sexually strong. You have seen it. So the facility is given. So princely order, they are after sense enjoyment. So he's blessed that "Better you live forever, because after your death, you do not know what is going to happen to you. You are going to get a hellish life. Better you live for some time. Go on with your enjoyment."

And muni-putra mā jīva. Brahmacārī, working under the guidance under strict disciplinary guidance, of a spiritual master, he is blessed, mā jīva, "You better die. Because you are so trained to enter into the kingdom of God, so why should you take so much trouble? Better you die and go back to Godhead." Ma jīva. And a devotee he blessed, jīva va maro va: "My dear devotee, either you live or die, the same thing."

And the butcher, he blessed him, ma jīva ma mara: "You don't live, don't die." What he's to do? His living condition is so abominable. From the morning, he has to slaughter so many animals, see the bloodstain, the ghastly scene. That is his livelihood. So what a horrible life this is. So "Don't live. And don't die also." Because after death, oh, he is going to be in so much hellish condition, nobody can describe. So both lives, living condition and death, after death, his condition is very horrible.

Anyway, apart from others, the devotee, for him, appearance and disappearance the same thing.

So Krishna is never diminished.

There is a little story, very interesting. So one poor boy, he was student in a school, and the teacher's annual ceremony of father's death would be held. So he requested all his student, "What you will give me, contribution?" Formerly the teacher was not taking any salary. But whatever he wanted, the students will bring either from parents' house or by begging. That was the system. The teacher would not charge anything. A brahmana cannot be..., charge anything.

Generally, the brahmanas were teachers. That is one of the profession of the brahmana. Everyone must have livelihood. So brahmana livelihood is pathana pathana. He must become a learned scholar, and he will make others also learned scholar. That is brahmana's business. Pathana pathana yajana yajana dana pratigrahah. Shat-karma. Six kinds of profession for the brahmanas.

And kshatriya's profession is to give protection to the citizen and levy some tax, twenty-five percent, not more than that. Whatever is income your, give twenty-five percent to the kshatriya king. That's all. That includes sales tax, this tax, that tax, so many tax, income tax. All finished. You give twenty-five percent. And if you have no income, no tax. Not like that even you have no income, "No, last year you gave so much tax. You must give it. Otherwise your property will be sold." Not like that. So that is kshatriya's income.

Similarly, vaisya's income, krishi-go-rakshya-vanijyam [Bg. 18.44], agriculture, cow protection, and if there is excess foodstuff, then he can sell, make trade. And sudras, they will simply help.

So this teacher, the original story, the teacher asked the student for... Somebody said, "I will contribute this cloth," somebody said, "I'll rice," somebody said something, something, something. There was one poor student, he had no means. He was very poor. So when he was asked, so he replied that "I cannot say anything without asking my mother."

"All right, you ask your mother and tell me tomorrow."

So he asked, "My dear mother, all my class friend has promised the teacher to contribute this, that, this, that. So my turn is there. What shall I promise?" The mother said, "My dear son, we are so poor, we cannot give anything. But if Krishna gives, He is dina-bandhu, the friend of the poor. So if He gives something to you, you can promise."

"Oh, where is Krishna? What is His name?"

"Now, His name is Dinabandhu, friend of the poor."

"Where He is?"

"I understand that He is in the forest."

So he went to the forest and called, "Dinabandhu brother, Dinabandhu brother, where You?" He began to cry. So Krishna came. When a devotee is very much eager to see Him, Krishna comes. He very is kind.

So "Why you are asking?"

"My mother... You are Dinabandhu?"

"Yes."

"So this is my condition, sir. What can I promise?"

So He said that "You promise that you will supply yogurt, dahi. You will supply dahi."

So he was very much satisfied. And he came to the teacher that "My Dinabandhu brother, dada, He will supply dahi, or yogurt, for whatever you require."

"Oh, that's nice. Very good."

So on the day of ceremony, so he went to the forest again and called Dinabandhu dada, and He gave him a small pot of dahi, yogurt, a small pot. Oh, he was a child. He did not know. And the..., he brought it to the teacher, "Now, this is my contribution. My Dinabandhu brother has given. So you take."

"The hundreds and thousands of people will be given foodstuff and this much dahi?" He became very angry. He became angry, he did not care, and the pot fell down, and the yogurt also fell down.

But after some time, when he came, he saw that although the yogurt has fallen down, the pot is full. Then he again dropped it; again it is full. He dropped it; again it is full. Then he could understand it is spiritual. Purnasya purnam adaya purnam eva avasishyate. You take the whole thing; still, the whole thing is there.

That is Krishna. Not that because you have taken something, one minus one equal to zero. No. In the spiritual world, one minus one equal to one. And one plus one equal to one. That is called advaya-jnana. There is no duality. Plus and minus, they are two things. But in the spiritual world, either plus or minus, the same. That is to be understood. That is called Absolute, advaya-jnana.

This radio show was featured on National Public Radio on the 28th of May 2008.

There's not much traffic on First Avenue in lower Manhattan at 5:15 a.m. But in the building between a darkened tattoo shop and electronic store, a light shines bright from the second floor.

Inside is the New York City headquarters of the Interfaith League, a Hare Krishna group. A visitor is greeted with a blast of sights and sounds: Thirteen men and one woman are twirling and dancing, playing cymbals and drums and chanting Hindu tunes. Hare Krishna monks are in orange or white robes. Civilians are in business suits or jeans. They all face an altar adorned with flowers and statues of the supreme Hindu God, Krishna, and his female counterpart, Radha.

A little over an hour later, a 35-year-old monk named Gadadhara Pandit Dasa blows into a conch shell and pours a water offering.

Shortly after taking to the renounced order of life, ISKCON devotee Indradyumna Swami set out on an adventure to Ahobilam - the sacred land of Lord Narasimhadeva. In this podcast he tells of his experience there visiting holy shrines dedicated to the half-man half-lion incarnation of Krishna.

He also shares his realizations interacting with the special people of Ahobilam and how, as a newly dedicated renunciate, he learned to place his life in the hands of the Lord.

Paramahaṁsa Swami: What does that mean?

Prabhupāda: No, veri means sheep. Their walk... If you can push one of them in the slaughterhouse, all of them enter. This is called veriya dāsan. You haven't got to endeavor to push others. You just push one only. "Fut, fut, fut, fut, fut, fut, fut," they all enter.

In Hindi it is called veriya dāsan. Just cheat one veri, and all others will be followers.

Long ago, when we were boys, we saw one comic cinema. That old cinema player was... His name was Max Linder. Max Linder. So this Max Linder was going to a ball dance, and he was waiting in the park, and the ball dance coat, you know? It has got a tail. So he was sitting in a bench, and some naughty boys came and they nailed the tailing part. So when he got up it became torn, like... So his, this hip was visible. So when was dancing in the ball others were seeing his, "What is this?"

So he went to the mirror, he saw, "Oh?" So he began to dance and show everyone like this. So others said, "What is this?" "This is the latest fashion. This is the latest fashion in ball dancing." "Oh?" Then all cut their tail coat. You see? "The latest fashion."

- From a Morning Walk on June 7, 1975 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Everyone can chant. What is the difficulty? Everyone can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare... Where is the difficulty? But they'll not chant. They'll not chant. They'll talk so many rubbish things, but as soon as you ask him to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa, he'll be silent. That we have experienced. But still our thankless task is to induce everyone: "Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa."

There is a cartoon picture in New York. One old man and his wife, sitting together. The wife is requesting the husband, old husband, "Chant, chant, chant," and the husband is replying: "Can't, can't, can't." This cartoon we have seen. So this is the... He will say three times: "Can't, can't, can't." But not "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa." That is not possible. A similar story is there in the Bengal. One old mother was dying, and the sons requested the mother: "Mother, now you say 'Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa' ". So after requesting two, three times, mother became disgusted: atha katha vibol ta parane. So atha katha vibol ta parane she could say. Not Hare Kṛṣṇa. Not Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is the position.

- Calcutta, June 29, 1973

So for a devotee these informations of Kṛṣṇa, oh, become so... "My Kṛṣṇa is so God. Oh, my God is so powerful."

And, I think, sometimes I recited one story. This is for very instructive, that Nārada Muni, he used to visit Nārāyaṇa every day. So when he was passing on the road, so one very learned brāhmaṇa and taking thrice bath and everything very nicely, he asked Nārada Muni, "Oh, you are going to Lord. Will you inquire when I shall get my salvation?"

"All right. I shall ask."

And then another cobbler, he was under the tree, sewing the shoes, old shoes. He also saw Nārada Muni. He also inquired, "Will you kindly inquire from God when my salvation is...?"

Now, when he inquired Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa... Nārada Muni goes generally to Nārāyaṇa, in another planet. So "Yes, two, one brāhmaṇa and one cobbler, they inquired like this. So may I know what is their destination?"

So Nārāyaṇa said, "Well, yes, the cobbler, this after giving up this body, he's coming here at Vaikuṇṭha."

"And what about that brāhmaṇa?"

"Oh, he has to remain there still so many births, or I do not know when he's coming."

So Nārada Muni was astonished, that "I saw that he's very nice brāhmaṇa, and he's a cobbler. Why is that?"

So he inquired that "I could not, cannot understand the mystery. Why You say that cobbler is coming this, after this body, and why not this brāhmaṇa?"

"Oh, that will, you'll understand. If they inquire that 'What Kṛṣṇa, or Nārāyaṇa, was doing in the, in His abode,' so just explain that He was taking one elephant from the holes of a," I mean to say, what is called...?

Devotee (1): The eye of a needle. Eye...

Prabhupāda: Eh? No, no...

Devotee (1): The eye of a needle.

Devotee (2): Needle.

Prabhupāda: Needle. Yes. "Through the hole of a needle, He's pulling an elephant this side and this side."

"All right."

So when he again approached the brāhmaṇa, the brāhmaṇa said, "Oh, you have seen Lord?"

"Yes."

"So what was the Lord doing?"

"He was doing this: through the point of a needle He was pushing one elephant this way and that way."

"Oh, therefore I have no faith in your... I, I, I have got all respect for your garb, but we don't believe all this nonsense."

Then Nārada could understand, "Oh, this man has no faith. He simply reads book. That's all."

And when he went to the cobbler, he also asked, "Oh, you have seen? What Nārāyaṇa was doing?"

He also said that "He was doing like this..."

Oh, he began to cry, "Oh, my Lord is wonderful. He can do anything."

So Nārada inquired, "So do you believe that Lord can push one elephant through the holes of a needle?"

"Oh, why not? I must believe."

"Then what is your reason?"

"Oh, my reason? I am sitting under this banyan tree, and so many fruits are falling daily, and in each fruit there are thousands of seeds, and each seed there is a tree. If in a small seed there can be big tree like that, is it very impossible to accept that Kṛṣṇa is putting one elephant through the, I mean, the holes of a needle? He has kept such a nice tree in the seed."

So this is called belief. So unbelievers and believer means the believers, they are not blind believers. They have reason. If by Kṛṣṇa's process, by God's process, or nature's process, such a big tree can be put within the small seed, is it very impossible for Kṛṣṇa to keep all these planets floating in His energy? So we have to believe. We have no other explanation. But we have to understand in this way. Our reasoning, our argument, our logic should go in this way.

So those who are devotee... Just like the cobbler. He may be a cobbler. They believe everything. And those who are not devotee, they'll say, "Oh, these are all bluffs. It is all bluff." But they are not bluff. It is simply meant for the devotees. They can understand. The nondevotees, they cannot understand.

Image: Clear spots on the petri dish mark where phages have destroyed bacteria in a sample of water taken from the Ganges River. (Photography by Martine Crandall Hollick)

Hindus have always believed that water from India's Ganges River has extraordinary powers. The Indian emperor Akbar called it the "water of immortality" and always traveled with a supply. The British East India Co. used only Ganges water on its ships during the three-month journey back to England, because it stayed "sweet and fresh."

Indians have always claimed it prevents diseases, but do these claims have scientific substance?

In this podcast sourced from National Public Radio, independent producer Julian Crandall Hollick searched for the "mysterious X factor" that gives Ganges water its mythical reputation.

He starts his investigation looking for the water's special properties at the river's source in the Himalayas. There, wild plants, radioactive rocks, and unusually cold, fast-running water combine to form the river. But since 1854, almost all of the Ganges' water has been siphoned off for irrigation as it leaves the Himalayas.

Hollick speaks with DS Bhargava, a retired professor of hydrology, who has spent a lifetime performing experiments up and down Ganges in the plains of India. In most rivers, Bhargava says, organic material usually exhausts a river's available oxygen and starts putrefying. But in the Ganges, an unknown substance, or "X factor" that Indians refer to as a "disinfectant," acts on organic materials and bacteria and kills them. Bhargava says that the Ganges' self-purifying quality leads to oxygen levels 25 times higher than any other river in the world.

Hollick's search for a scientific explanation for the X factor leads him to a spiritual leader at an ashram and a biologist in Kanpur. But his best answer for the Ganges' mysterious substance comes from Jay Ramachandran, a molecular biologist and entrepreneur in Bangalore.

In a short science lesson, Ramachandran explains why the Ganges doesn't spread disease among the millions of Indians who bathe in it. But he can't explain why the Ganga alone has this extraordinary ability to retain oxygen.

The human life means if somebody is being killed, so he should be immediately warned, taking warning, "Oh, my turn is coming. Let me go away."

There is one story in this connection. Not story; these are facts. A hunter spread his net. So some little birds, they fell down in the net and they are crying. They are crying. So the father, mother, when they came, they saw that their children are in danger: "It is caught by the net of the hunter." So mother immediately jumped over it to save the children, and she was also captured.

Then the father saw, "Now if I go to save them, I'll be captured. Let me go away. Let me take sannyāsa. That's all." (laughter) That is intelligence. (laughter)

You cannot give protection to your family, to your society. To your... No, you cannot give. That is not possible. They must die. They must be captured by the network of māyā. You cannot save them. If you want to save them, then make them Kṛṣṇa conscious. That is the only remedy. Unless you are expert in saving your children by giving them Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then you are not, you should not become father and mother.

That is real contraceptive method, that "I shall... We are married, undoubtedly, husband and wife, but unless we are competent to give protection to my children—no more death—we should not beget children." This is real contraceptive.