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Gopal Bahn's New House

Ekendra Dasa — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:38:13 +0000

2:32 minutes (1.17 MB)

His name was Gopāla Banh. Gopāla Banh ...And there was a king, Kṛṣṇacandra.

So the kings would relax by joking words by the jokers. That was system formerly. So Gopāla Banh was constructing a house. So the king advised another friend that: "If you go to his new house and evacuate..." Because the house is not yet opened, not yet established, "Then I'll give you one thousand rupees."

So this man said: "Yes, I'll go and do it." So he was, he came to Gopāla Banh's house and began to say: "Gopāla Banh! Oh! I am called by nature. Kindly show me where is your privy. I have to pass."

So he could understand that: "Why this man has come here to evacuate?" So he: "Yes, yes. Come in, come in, come in." So he opened the new lavatory and brought a big stick.

So he said: "Why you have brought the stick?" So he said: "Yes, you can pass, you can pass stool, but if you urine one drop, I'll kill you."

So "How it is possible?"

"If it is not possible, I cannot allow."

So these, these foolish scientific men, "You can speak, but if you use microphone, then I'll kill you." Yes. The Gopāla Banh's policy. They would not say: "Not allow." But in a different way.

Mahabharata

Ekendra Dasa — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 07:03:24 +0000

2:19 minutes (1.07 MB)

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Yes, there is a nice story in this connection. There was one Gopal Ban. So he was very cunning fellow. In the Muhammadan period in Bengal.

So the Mohammedan Nawab asked him, "Gopal Ban, can you prepare a Mahābhārata in my name?"

"Oh, yes!" So, "I'll engage so many paṇḍitas, and they will make a Mahābhārata, your activities, your glories, everything. So give me one hundred thousand rupees, just begin."

He was taking money, taking money, "Yes, it is going on, going on."

"Then when it will be published?"

"Yes, just last few days more. Now, sir, everything is prepared. So the one thing is, you have to give me information how many husbands you have got, your wife, huh? How many husbands your wife has got?"

That is very insulting. "What, you nonsense, you take."

"No, that is the main feature of Mahābhārata. Draupadī had five husbands, so how many husbands your wife has got? Tell me that."

Then, "No, no, I don't want that. I am the only husband."

"Then how can you write Mahābhārata?" (laughter)

"I don't want."

"All right. If you want Mahābhārata you must tell how many your wife has got husbands." That he cannot say. So Mahābhārata finished.

Srila Prabhupada - Gladstone

Ekendra Dasa — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:11:36 +0000

3:11 minutes (1.47 MB)

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Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, ādi-puruṣa, the original person, He is taking various forms. Rāmādi-murtiṣu specially. Three Rāma: Paraśurāma, Balarāma, and Daśarathi Rāma. So this Rāma means enjoyment. So Kṛṣṇa's enjoyment... It does not mean, Kṛṣṇa has appeared as the boar; it does not mean He is suffering. Everything is ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis [Bs. 5.37]. Sometimes a big man becomes a horse. It is... There is a very nice interesting story that the big Prime Minister Gladstone, English, English Prime Minister, Gladstone?

Yes. So somebody came to see him for an interview. So the servant informed the visitor that "The Prime Minister is now busy, you have to wait." So he was waiting. He was big man. So one hour passed. So he became inquisitive, so with little opening of the door, he wanted to see the how this man is engaged. I am waiting for one hour . So he saw that the Prime Minister has become a horse, taking his grandchild on the back, and he's playing like a horse. And the important visitor is waiting for one hour. So this is enjoyment.

The Prime Minister is not the horse, but he is enjoying taking his grandchild on the back and he was playing like a horse and the grandchild was, "Hut! Hut! Hut! Hut!" This was his engagement. So similarly, because he has become the horse of his grandchild, he is not horse, he is enjoying. That is enjoyment. Similarly when keśava dhṛta-śūkara-rūpa or kesava dhṛta-varāha-rūpa does not mean that He is varāha, or He is crocodile, or He is something like... No. He's everything. But that is not by karma. When we become crocodile, that is karma, punishment.

We are now human being. It may be next life I become a crocodile according to karma, be forced by the laws of nature. Just like in Honolulu, Hawaii, we see so many young boys, they are enjoying, they are surfing in the middle of the ocean, struggling. So our karma, if you are practiced to that way, then at the time of death I shall think of just, in the middle ocean, swimming and struggling, then Kṛṣṇa will give opportunity to become a aquatic. Very easily we can remain within the water. That is the laws of nature. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran loke tyajaty ante kalevaram [Bg. 8.6].

So our taking the shape of crocodile or boar or something animal that is karma. But that is a horse, real horse is karma but the Gladstone's becoming horse, that is not karma, that is enjoyment.

Srila Prabhupada - Ghost, ghost

Ekendra Dasa — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:38:03 +0000

2:02 minutes (964.54 KB)

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Propaganda, you can do any false thing (indistinct) say. This is called, propaganda is called in Bengali dāsa cakre bhagavān butha (?). Dāsa cakre bhagavān butha.

Bhagavān, one gentleman's name was Bhagavān and he spread, conspired that let us, make us some joke that she has become ghost. So wherever he was going, the friend: "Oh, oh, a ghost, ghost, ghost, ghost!" (everyone laughs)

"No, no, I am not..." (indistinct) ...this man has become crazy, why he (indistinct)

Then he goes another friend, then he also says like that, "Oh, here is a ghost, here is a ghost, here is a ghost!" (everyone laughs) Then third friend, everyone, because they have conspired.

Then he began to think, "I must have become ghost." (laughter) So certainly I'm... (indistinct) all friends have calling me, "Ghost, ghost."

That's dāsa cakre bhagavān... If you make propaganda, if he's not ghost, you can make him ghost. This is propaganda. This is called propaganda.

By propaganda you can establish a false thing as real. That's all. This is going on. They know how to do it. They're expert because they're cheaters. They know how to do it.

Srila Prabhupada - Gandhari, Duryodhana, Krsna

Ekendra Dasa — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 08:11:32 +0000

4:48 minutes (2.21 MB)

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Everyone was determined, "I must kill." Duryodhana was determined to kill Bhīma, and Bhīma was determined to kill. So when they did not listen to the instruction of Baladeva, then Baladeva left the place. He went to Dvārakā, back. Of course, Kṛṣṇa was there, because Kṛṣṇa was to give hint to Bhīma how to kill Duryodhana. So Duryodhana, by the blessings of his mother, his whole body became iron-like solid. So by beating by the Bhīma, it was not easy. So the story is that Gāndhārī, the mother of Duryodhana, she was great chaste woman. Because her husband was blind, she used to remain as blind woman covering the eyes. But she had some power. Chaste woman, anyone who sticks to the regulative principles, he gets a power, spiritual or material. He gets power. A brahmacārī gets power if he follows brahmacarya. Everyone, if we follow the prescribed rules and regulations, automatically you become powerful.

So Gāndhārī had some power. So her eldest son, Duryodhana, was advised to see the mother naked. She advised, "My dear son, tomorrow morning when you come to offer your obeisances to me, you come naked. I shall see you and you will be solidified just like iron." So he was going naked and Kṛṣṇa saw. So He asked him, "Where you are going?" "I am going to see my mother." "How is that? You are going naked? At least you have some langota(?). This is not good." So he took the instruction of Kṛṣṇa and covered the private part with a langota. And when Gāndhārī saw, she saw that he was not fully naked, so she regretted, "O my dear son, I asked you to come before me naked. Why you have got this...?" "No, Kṛṣṇa advised." Then she began to smile, that "My attempt is failure."

So Kṛṣṇa knew it, that part which was covered, that was not turned iron. The other parts turned into iron on account of seeing by Gāndhārī. So in this fight Kṛṣṇa hinted Bhīma that "You strike here. That part is not ironized." Although it is against the regulative principle to strike the opponent party below this waist, Kṛṣṇa advised that "Unless you transgress this law, you cannot kill him." So he was stroken below the waist, and he was not killed, but his waist was broken. Therefore it is said vṛkodarāviddha-gadābhimarśa. Then he died.

Shirley Paulson - Interfaith Discussion

Ekendra Dasa — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 09:03:10 +0000

26:36 minutes (12.18 MB)

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At a recent meeting of the Religion Communicator's Council (RCC), Anuttama Dasa -- RCC's Vice President and ISKCON News Weekly senior editorial advisor -- spent some time chatting with his colleague Shirley Paulson, a Christian Scientist. In the conversation, recorded for webzine Spirituality and Christianity, Anuttama explores how his Krishna consciousness informs the way he looks at the world and interacts with others.

Srila Prabhupada - Feeding Market People

Ekendra Dasa — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:58:28 +0000

2:15 minutes (1.04 MB)

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There is a very nice story. I have several times perhaps recited that one morning... In the western countries also fair takes place, some in county, some village place. So in India there are weekly bazaar which is called hatta. So at that time the salesmen with their goods, commodities, they assemble and many purchase are..., just like in market place. So there was a market, weekly market, and thousands of people assembled there.

So one old lady of that village, she began to cry. Then her elderly son inquired, "Mother, why you are crying?"

"No, where shall I accommodate all these people to lie down in the, at night? There are so many people in this village, and how I shall accommodate?"

The son began to laugh. "My dear mother, you don't bother. It will be all arranged."

"No, my dear son, I am very much perplexed." So she began to cry.

So in the evening the son called the mother, "Mother, now you see in the marketplace."

She saw, "Oh, where are all those people gone? Huh?"

So there is arrangement. All those thousands of people assembled in the market, they have got their sleeping place. They have got their eating place. So by arrangement. There is arrangement. Similarly, there may be millions and millions of living entities; God has arrangement.

Dravida Dasa - Sri Siksastaka

Ekendra Dasa — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:21:43 +0000

5:55 minutes (2.72 MB)

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1) ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanaṁ bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ
śreyaḥ-kairava-candrikā-vitaraṇaṁ vidyā-vadhū-jīvanam
ānandāmbudhi-vardhanaṁ prati-padaṁ pūrṇāmṛtāsvādanaṁ
sarvātma-snapanaṁ paraṁ vijayate śrī-kṛṣṇa-saṅkīrtanam

All glories to the chanting of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s Holy Names!,
Which easily extinguishes saṁsāra’s blazing flames
By polishing the lust-encrusted mirror of the heart.
That chanting is the waxing moon that knows the secret art
Of causing the white lotus of good fortune to unfurl
Its petals far and wide throughout this bleak and blighted world.
Of transcendental knowledge, which will take us to life’s goal,
The chanting of the name of Kṛṣṇa is the life and soul.

The ocean of ecstatic bliss floods far beyond its bounds
Wherever Kṛṣṇa’s merciful and mystic Name resounds.
Indeed, whenever Kṛṣṇa’s Names are sung in congregation,
At every step one tastes a joy that knows no limitation.
So hear with great attention as I earnestly proclaim,
Just bathe your consciousness by chanting Kṛṣṇa’s Holy Name!
By transcendental potency that Name will surely bless
You with pure love for Kṛṣṇa and the end of all distress.

2) nāmnām akāri bahudhā nija-sarva-śaktis
tatrārpitā niyamitaḥ smaraṇe na kālaḥ
etādṛśī tava kṛpā bhagavan mamāpi
durdaivam īdṛśam ihājani nānurāgaḥ

“Kṛṣṇa,” “Govinda,” and “Keśava,” too—
Your Names have no end, and in each of them You
Have invested Your potencies, leaving none out.
Whenever we want, we can chant them without
The slightest restriction of time or of place.
O Lord, who can fathom Your infinite grace?
Yet I am so wretched, devoid of all shame,
That I haven’t developed a taste for Your Name.

3) tṛṇād api sunīcena
taror api sahiṣṇunā
amāninā mānadena
kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ

More humble than a blade of grass, more tol’rant than a tree,
To think “All praise belongs to others, none belongs to me”—
These qualities attract the Lord to bless one with the power
To chant His Name incessantly until the final hour.

4) na dhanaṁ na janaṁ na sundarīṁ
kavitāṁ vā jagadīśa kāmaye
mama janmani jamanīśvare
bhavatād bhaktir ahaitukī tvayi

Wealth and women, followers, the fruits of mundane piety,
Liberation from this world of limitless anxiety—
For Me, O Lord, such common goals have not the slightest worth:
Let Me serve You purely now and in each future birth.

5) ayi nanda-tanuja kiṅkaraṁ
patitaṁ māṁ viṣame bhavāmbudhau
kṛpayā tava pāda-paṅkaja-
sthita-dhūlī-sadṛśaṁ vicintaya

Your servant for eternity, I lost My true identity
And fell into this horrid sea of birth and death, O Lord.
O Nanda’s son, please hear My plea: By Your sweet grace consider Me
A speck of dust upon Your lotus feet forevermore.

6) nayanaṁ galad-aśru-dhārayā
vadanaṁ gadgada-ruddhayā girā
pulakair nicitaṁ vapuḥ kadā
tava nāma-grahaṇe bhaviṣyati

Tears streaming from My eyes, My voice choked with bliss,
The hairs upon My body standing up in happiness—
When will all these signs of rapture decorate My limbs
As I chant your Holy Name, the monarch of all hymns?

7) yugāyitaṁ nimeṣeṇa
cakṣuṣā prāvṛṣāyitam
śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ
govinda-viraheṇa me

Every moment drags on for a million years or more;
From the rain clouds of My eyes the tears in torrents pour;
This whole creation’s nothing but a vast and joyless void—
O Govinda! By Your absence I am being destroyed!

8) āśliṣya vā pāda-ratāṁ pinaṣṭu mām
adarśanān marma-hatāṁ karotu vā
yathā tathā vā vidadhātu lampaṭo
mat-prāṇa-nāthas tu sa eva nāparaḥ

Let Mādhava embrace this maid who’s fallen at His feet,
Or let Him trample Me, or My most ardent hopes defeat
By never giving Me a chance to see Him anywhere,
Thus shattering My heart and plunging Me into despair.

You see, He is a reckless libertine and not a saint;
So let Him act in any way He likes, without restraint.
Yet though His cruel and crooked ways may cause Me constant woe,
Kṛṣṇa is the only Lord My heart shall ever know.

[Benediction verse by Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja (Cc Antya 20.65)]

prabhura ‘śikṣāṣṭaka’-śloka yei paḍe, śune
kṛṣṇe prema-bhakti tāra bāḍe dine-dine

These eight essential verses Lord Caitanya wrote to teach
The practice and the goal of chanting Kṛṣṇa’s Holy Name.
Day by day, whoever chants or hears this hymn will reach
A little closer to perfection, spotless Kṛṣṇa-prem.

Srila Prabhupada - Dr. Frog

Ekendra Dasa — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:01:34 +0000

2:04 minutes (980.04 KB)

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The demons cannot understand that the God can be a person. That is demoniac. They cannot... Because they cannot understand, the difficulty is a demon tries to understand God, comparing with himself.

Dr. Frog, that the story of Dr. Frog. Dr. Frog is trying to understand Atlantic Ocean comparing with his three-feet well, that's all. When he is informed that there is Atlantic Ocean, he's simply comparing with his limited space. It may be four feet, or it may be five feet, it may be ten feet, because he is within the three feet. His friend informed, "Oh, I have seen a reservoir of water, vast water." So that vastness, he is just conjecturing, "How much the vastness may be? My well is three feet, it may be four feet, five feet," now he is going on. But he may go on millions of millions of feet it is still it is greater. That is another thing. Therefore, atheistic persons, demons, they think in their own way that God, Krishna may be like this, Krishna may be like this, Krishna may be like this. Generally they think that Krishna are I. How they say? Krishna is not great. They do not believe that God is great. He thinks that God is as good as I am, I am also God. This is demonic.

Srila Prabhupada - Don't Live, Don't Die

Ekendra Dasa — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:29:53 +0000

5:12 minutes (2.39 MB)

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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.