Deepavali & Govardhan Puja

Deepavali was a bit sad day yesterday, thinking about the last 2-3 years that I spent it at Vrndavan Bhaktivedanta Eco Farm by the mercy of HG Rupa Goswami pr.

Govardhan Puja and Deepavali is such a great celebration among the Brijwasis.
Since the farm is inside the village, the local culture and traditions of Vraj can still be seen around.

You can find entire villages trying to renovate/repaint/clean their houses and decorate it just before Deepavali.

For Govardhan puja you can see every courtyard being decorated with cowdung 'images' of Giriraj.
Its such a nice seen to see each house with a decoration like that and all the children coming together to help with that.

On one corner of the courtyard lays a stringed cot like couch for the elderly folks of the house to spend their days of retirement in peace while watching over the kids playing around.

At night everyone comes and lights lamps and incenses around it, and do parikrama singing Brajwasi songs...elderly men wearing turbans and women with their faces veiled with sarees, children running behind their mothers and older kids naughtily running all over the place... streets semilit by the little fires and lamps, Cows and buffaloes occupying any place they might choose, street dogs guarding their respective territories.....

Its a scene that needs to be 'captured' as it may soon fade away due to 'modern' influences.

Oh friends, how much more can I describe... its a scene/mood/feeling which not even professional cameras can catch.

Better late than never... please go and experience this for yourself before it is all wiped out in the name of 'development'!

S.A.C.H.I.R.A.N.I Mataji

SachiRani Mataji is such an old timer of Sridham Mayapur and Her dedication, hardwork and sincerity in serving the Lord and devotees is not something anyone can describe in words.

She never showed an iota of pride either in her actions or words, of 'being a disciple of Srila Prabhupad.
Her name stands tall when counting the famous cooks of Mayapur.

Im not sure exactly how long, but most of old Mayapur folks know that she has been cooking for ages!
My mother said "..thousands of recipes are gone with her..."

And her determination to continue serving even in her old age when her body hardly co-operated, is just something that has not gone unnoticed, by devotees and surely the Lord!

It is devotees like her that we should make our role models for an 'empowered woman' or a 'strong lady'.
She did have so many ups and downs of her life and that is what makes her steady service attitude even greater!
Even though she was offered support and care and asked to refrain from serving, she kept cooking as long as she could somehow walk to the kitchen!


If any of you might be wondering why you never heard of her before, its her 'fault', that she always kept herself fully immersed in the Lords cooking and never made a show of her service by trying to gain attention via any means.

We might or not forget her services, but the Lord will surely never.
And so he decided to take her back home yesterday, on such an auspicious day of Kartik Month, Rama Ekadasi!




Days grow darker and darker as we keep losing such great souls! 

Mayapur Brahmachari Ashram

“A brahmachari should be quite well behaved and gentle and should not eat or collect more than necessary. He must always be active and expert, fully believing in the instructions of the spiritual master and the sastra. Fully controlling his senses, he should associate only as much as necessary with women or those controlled by women.”
- Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.12.6, translation

In the Vedic scriptures, the life of a brahmachari begins from as young as 5 years of age and goes up until 25 years of age, after which the decision to continue with celibate life or to go into the next ashrama is made. In the brahmachari ashrama, the brahmacharis are properly trained in various areas of etiquette and practice celibacy. They live austerely and are fully engaged in various services and sastric studies under the guidance of the spiritual mater or mentor.


Living separately from the grihasta community, the Brahmachari Ashrama in the Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya campus is located near the Panca-tattva entrance of the temple. There are over 290 residential brahmacharis who are all engaged in service in and around Mayapur. They are engaged in a variety of services such as campus preaching and outreach, pujari service, sankirtana bus preaching, school preaching, bhakti-vriksha preaching, medical care, management and so on.

To join the Mayapur Brahmachari Ashrama, devotees are required to complete a six-month course taught by the New Devotee Department. This program teaches new bhaktas the philosophy and practice of Krishna consciousness through the books of Srila Prabhupada and by engaging them in many services throughout the day, such as tulasi-seva, cleaning the temple, setting up for the morning Srimad Bhagavatam classes and packing up afterwards, and cleaning the Mayapur campus.  Additionally, they attend a variety of classes on philosophy and Vaishnava etiquette.

Once the first course is completed, bhaktas aspiring to join the Brahmachari Ashrama take a six-month Vocational Training Course. This course includes learning the basics of singing bhajans and kirtan, as well as learning how to play mridanga, kartals and harmonium. They dive deeper into sastric studies, and learn how to cook and how to distribute books. This training program not only assists them in their day-to-day services and life in the ashrama, but is also beneficial for when and if they eventually leave the ashrama. Once the two courses are completed, the devotee can then join the Brahmachari Ashrama.

The wellbeing of each of the resident brahmacharis is looked after by the Mayapur Brahmachari Care System (MBCS), which serves as a counselling system for the resident brahmacharis. There are 16 brahmachari group leaders, called Sevaks, and they are each the group leader for 10-12 brahmacharis. Each group gathers once a week for studies and spiritual discussions. The Sevaks in turn meet every 2 weeks for an istagosti. In this way, the MBCS oversees the brahmacharis’ sadhana, studies, services, and physical and mental care.

 The senior brahmacharis live in the senior brahmachari ashrama, which facilitates their personal studies. The senior brahmacari ashrama also provides the space required to take personal care of the elderly brahmacharis. There are always 5-6 younger brahmacharis constantly ready to serve the senior brahmacharis with anything they may need. The younger brahmacharis take care of basic needs such as laundry, cleaning the rooms, bringing medicine and prasadam, and so on. By performing such menial services for the senior brahmacharis these young brahmacharis get immense benefit, as they are performing the highest service of all – Vaishnava seva. Taking care of the elder devotees in their ashrama is conducive not only for the training of the young brahmacharis but also, most importantly, for their Krishna consciousness. This service also gives them the opportunity to receive guidance and association from the senior brahmacharis, and thus this system has proven to be very successful.

Many of Mayapur’s brahmacharis appreciate the ashrama experience because it allows them to fully engage in devotional service in the holy dhama. Whether they stay in the Mayapur Brahmachari Ashrama for their entire lives or move on to another ashrama, the training and experience they gain in the Mayapur Brahmachari Ashrama are an invaluable asset in their spiritual journey.

 One resident brahmachari reflects that, “Although brahmachari devotees have to undergo different types of austerity, tolerance and risk, this ashrama is very simple with less material problems. It’s easy to get spiritual bliss and finally go back home back to Godhead in this lifetime. So if you want to be free from complicated life, and quickly make your life a success, please take a vow and join the Brahmachari Ashram.”

 
Bramacharis of the Mayapur’s Sankirtan Department
These are just a few of them from the team.
Its actually hard to get all Mayapur Bramacharis into one snap. You will have to stop the entire Mayapur services in order to do so! :D

“After completing one's education as a brahmachari in this way, one should give daksina, an offering of gratitude, to one's guru, and then one may leave for home and accept the next ashrama-the grihastha-ashrama-or else one may continue in the brahmacharya-ashrama without adulteration.”

- Srimad Bhagavatam, 7.12 Summary

Source:
This was posted by the Mayapur communication dept, on the Mayapur forum on 28 Sept 2018.
I reposted it on my blog to bring it out on a platform where everyone else can read this.

Ayurveda Notes

Dr. V. Thrivikraman, who has treated different devotees and also HH Jayapataka Swami Gurumaharaj is sharing health tips with devotees of mayapur, which I thought of sharing with many other friends over here.

Below is his website:

http://swetaranya.com/

I will keep updating the document as and when he shares more and more information for everyone's benefit.

AYURVEDA NOTES




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My name is Dr.Thrivikraman. I completed the Ayurvedacharya course – B.A.M.S. – from Coimbatore Ayurveda College in 1990. Though the college was following CCIM syllabus, curriculum was a Gurukula type. All the faculties were staying within the campus and students got an opportunity to meet teachers even in late hours every day to clear their doubts or for any interactions.

In the campus the day starts at 4am and all students should be present in the class room for Swadhyaya (self-study) for one hour. Students then should go to learn Kalarippayattu (Kerala martial arts).

After bath and one hour prayer they have to attend Yoga classes strictly. Students were allowed to go out of the campus only on Sundays after morning prayer and should come back before the evening prayer. This type of living helped us to understand the importance and value of Bharateeya Sastras which in turn helped every student to understand Ayurveda deeply and to apply it properly.

After completing 7.5 years course, I went for training in manasika roga for one year under Dr. A.V. Balaraman who was one of the leading ayurvedic psychiatrist in Kerala. I got clinical experience for more than four years under the guidance of Padmasree. Dr. K. Rajagopalan, who is a modern medicine and ayurvedic scholar as well as a teacher and examiner for many colleges.

I worked for 10 years at Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala and six years at their outlet in Muscat. I resigned my job in 2011 to look after my parents and grandmother. Started my own home hospital Swetaranya Ayurvedasram after renovating our 150 year old ancestral house on 29th July 2011.

Hospital website: http://swetaranya.com/ 3


Swetaranya Ayurvedasram
I came to Mayapur twice to treat His Holiness Jayapataka Swamiji. He underwent Ayurveda therapy for one month there. I sent a therapist and a doctor and both stayed there for a month to treat him. I came there for a day first to examine him and then stayed for four days to start and monitor the therapy.

After his therapy Gurumaharaja himself sent many of his disciples here. Prabhu Achintya Chaitanya, Vidwan Gauranga Dasa Prabhu, Krishna Vahan prabhu, Krishna Naam das prabhu, etc., came here. Budhikrishna Das Prabhu and his wife were my patients in Muscat and they told me to check Gurumaharaj. Every year we have a few devotees here for treatment. Patita-pāvana Nitāi Gaura Dāsa.(Pravin Prabhu) was also here for treatment and I asked him last week about a platform to share the Ayurvedic way of living among ISKCON devotees.

Hindu Vs Multiple Castes

"Why do 'Hindus' have so many castes, subcastes and even more multiple levels of subcastes?"
There are many mainstream answers, some are widely accepted, others are hardly known.

I was browsing thru a document "ETHNIC IDENTITY", a detailed study of the Chenchu tribe and suddenly realized that the answer to the above question is just lack of sufficient knowledge or the lack of interest to access it.
Or mere immaturity.

From what I understood, the answer is very simple.
Hinduism doesnt exist. Yes, you heard that right. It doesnt actually exist.

Then what is it?

We all know that the word Hindu was just coined to indicate persons living in the subcontinent of Bharat or India, across the Sindhu river.
And the Indian subcontinent isnt a uniformly populated, homogenous group of people.
Its a vast expanse of land with variegated terrain consisting of hills, mountains, plains, plateu, forests, river basins etc
And this literally calls for different food habits, language, culture, traditions, lifestyle, clothing, hunting practices, agricultural methods, occupation, building sytles etc to list a few aspects.
And it also includes religious/spiritual practices & rituals.

Some of them could be similar to each other, others might have certain common elements and there are also many others who are totally different from the rest.
And again, this might include the religious elements.

But as the word has it, they always had Unity.
Which meant that they either lived in symbiosis or they ensured not to disrupt or disturb the other group/party/community.
And thus lived in harmony.
Hence we say, Unity in Diversity.

Back to the main topic.
Invaders and outsiders knew Indians as 'Hindus'. So when they came to attack, conquer, trade, colonialize and convert, they saw all of us as a single unit, the Hindus.
So whenever there was an attempt to conquer, colonialize or convert, we all stood together as Hindus and defended our rights, culture, customs and religious beliefs.

So in essence Hinduism came to be a Huge Umbrella and the entire subcontinent consisting of different groups & cultures, took its shelter trying to survive the external conquests and conversions!

Moving Away From Nature

They taught you that your hand is unhygienic and introduced hand wash and sanitisers...

They taught you that banana leaves are unhygienic, earthenware are not handy and introduced plastic /synthetic vessels...

They taught you that fruits/vegetables / leaves etc directly from plant are unhygienic/contain micro organisms and introduced packed (in plastic) food articles...

They taught you that children playing in the ground, wearing traditional clothes cause infections and introduced electronic games...

They taught you that cotton, handwoven dress are 'local' with poor quality and introduced 'branded' synthetic wears...

They taught you that home remedies& traditional medical systems are uncivilised and introduced civilised system of medicine with lots of chemicals...

They taught you that diagnosing a disease from patient's signs and symptoms are not reliable and introduced machines / laboratories...

They taught you that natural cleaning agents will not kill bacteria and introduced powerful chemical cleaning agents...

....... Now...

When we realised that sanitisers failed to maintain health, we lost natural healthy hands...

When we realised plastic and synthetic vessels create very harmful effects, we don't have banana leaves and earthenware...

When we realised packed food articles have dangerous chemicals to preserve it, we couldn't find naturally collected foods...

When we realise walls and games are injurious to the mind and body, we lost playgrounds and friends...

When we realised that branded synthetics harm our health and nature, we found the closed spinning Mills...

When we realised traditional health care is the safest and economic way of maintaining health, we are trapped in emergency health care systems...

When we realised laboratories and machines are money making systems, we lost skilful medical practitioners...

When we realised the natural cleaning agents will protect helpful micro organisms, chemicals eradicated them...

GOING AWAY FROM NATURE WILL NEVER MAKE YOU HEALTHY.... BUT MAKE "THEM" WEALTHY....

Credits: Internet

Whey Protein, Lies & Tricks.

Marketing the Waste:
They make so much cheese for all the millions waiting in queues for the bursting tastes of junk food.
Whey is a by product of the Cheesemaking process.

Not familiar with the cheese making process?
Its almost like making Paneer.

They wanted to make some profit out of the waste liquid also. So a great marketing strategy had to be brought in by involving the health advisors/trainers etc.


UnTrustable Milk source:
Its an open secret that Whey is what is left after the preparation of Cheese.
But what about the source of the Milk used? It could be from Cows loaded with chemical injections, or Cows put thru torture and pain etc

I had a gut feeling about this. I thought I got a nice 'new' Theory. But I was wrong!!!
When I googled it out, I was in for shock!

The secret was already out there, for everyone to read and understand. People had already known about it!
One of the pages I found, had the below link!

The Whey Protein Hoax

But I feel amused and also sad, about the craze of Whey protein among health experts and gym trainers!

Save Hinduism - short notes

Hinduism is a way of life or better said, is life.
So to protect Hinduism, we need to save&recreate the entire ecosystem/environment.
Trying to save only the ritualistic part or the religion part will weaken the package and wont last long.
The steps we can take right now to revive is to focus on creating
1.selfsufficient (hindu)villages and
2.gurukuls with all round education like olden days.

Selfsufficient villages:
We need to first list out all the Hindu (only) or Hindumajority villages and implement natural farming methods to make them sustain on their own and also produce surplus for sale outside the village also.
Natural/Cowbased farming has two benefits: Value of cow increases, and Dependency on outside factors decreases.
And ofcourse better health,no loans and so many other things.

The govt can also get involved into this in the name of smart villages by helping them in the infrastructure developments and keeping out corruption etc.


Gurukuls:
These are meant to create new set of citizens, who will think differently by studying in these gurukuls and living in these kinds of villages and also observing outside world(filled with chaos,destruction,corruption,etc).
They need to be taught subjects that were taught in olden day gurukuls and all around development should be the focus.
And slowly refine their individual skills and interests, thereby creating citizens for different purposes like administrators, economists,fighters,musicians,artists,skilled craftsmen,etc
This is another big chapter anyways...

But one needs to remember that children actually dont grow up at school/gurukul. Even an appropriate environment/society is necessary.
And that is where our developed villages will come handy.

We all keep hearing how ISIS guys capture so many women and keep them as slaves to produce kids. They use their kids to create new generations of terrorists who can hardly be influenced by external factors or outside world.
So we need to learn from them how certain kinds of citizens are created from childhood. Training old dogs is too difficult.

Other than these villages and gurukuls, there also needs to be other departments later, but these are the starting points that need a lot of focus,research,study and implementation.

Economy will be boosted by agriculture and it will be handled and expanded by educated ppl from gurukuls.
So I don't understand why any Hindu 'supporting' govt doesn't do these things if they actually want to do something.

Photocredit: Internet

Ayurvedic Dinacharya(Daily chores)

In our rush of economic/technological/social/national/global development, or lets say in the name of such development, we have brushed aside all our cultural and traditional activities/rules/chores etc.
Ofcourse foreign invasions have also contributed in the destruction of these priceless aspects, but our nature of trying to ape the 'developed' countries has taken the toll even more.

Unfortunately, we have not only lost Spiritual, but also material 'heritage' and are still losing now due to the influence of many factors, one of them being the television media.

And one amongst the many treasures, is the knowledge of a healthy life, Ayurveda.
Ayurveda, given to us originally by Lord Dhanavantari, is so scientific and immeasurably deep that even our daily chores, if properly done as per the given procedures, we can be assured to stay far more healthier and live longer.
Ayurveda is not just a 'medical system', but it also has aspects that are merely a part of life and could look quite normal. However if these are included in our daily life, we can immensely be benefited.

Here is a PDF compiled by Rupesh Gauranga Prabhu which gives us all the rules/procedures of the daily chores as per Ayurveda, in a short format.

Please try to spread this and share this with everyone you know, and also lets thank Rupesh Gauranga prabhu for compiling this for everyones benefit.
I personally received this PDF on a whatsapp group and Im doing my part to share this with everyone.

Ayurvedic Dinacharya PDF Download link

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I have heard many video lectures of Acharya Mehulji on Gurukula Education, Ayurvedic ways of living healthy life, Panchagavya & Ayurveda and so many other interesting topics related to these.

Mehulji, of Sanskruti AryaGurukulam, Rajkot, is primarily fully dedicated to spread the Gurukula system all over India on the order of his Guru.

Mehulji is an Ayurveda expert and share his wisdom at many workshops/camps/seminars....wherever possible.

I came to know about Ayurvedic Dinacharya from his videos and was very inspired to add it to my life and also share it with all my friends and foes.
Then I came across this PDF by Rupesh prabhu.
Thank you so much.

Men Vs Mercedes

When we are able to acknowledge that this Kaliyuga is full of faults, we must understand that nothing can be perfect in this material world.

So to cross this ocean of misery Srila Prabhupad has built the ship of ISKCON and he also called it a hospital where patients like us can come and get some treatment.
And when its a hospital, you really cant expect everyone and everything in it to be working fine. There will be people of different diseases and varieties of problems created due to that. But this doesnt mean we should abandon either the hospital, people or the circumstances or even the process given to us, to get cured. There can be many problems due to all these complexities, but we must sincerely follow the rules, regulations and
other instructions given by Srila Prabhupad.

We have seen Iskcon go thru different peaks and falls and there were issues with Children,Gurus,Men,Women,insiders,outsiders....nothing and no one group has remained a saint all the while.
So in regards to the past issues of Women when they might have not been treated so well due to the men also being quite new to the systems, yes the men did fail then and maybe there are still a few around who still havent got the hang of this process yet.

But a bigger issue at hand, is the entry of Feminist ideas in our movement, adding fuel to the fire of wobbling equilibrium of an established society.
Modern disease is to use and create anything 'disposable' as opposed to the more ancient idea of repairing, reusing and recycling only when the former two are impossible.
And this is not just about products/goods but also about human beings and other systems.

But the traditional and more practical way is to adjust, repair, reuse, recycle and reboot: Humans, systems, machines, techniques....

Srila Prabhupad wanted to establish the Varnasrama system where each person is categorised and placed in the system to serve the lord in the best possible way. And this is the vedic sustainable way of living.
Men, Women, Children, Aged.... each have their roles and responsibilities within this framework. So the most intelligent thing is to try to follow these things according the vedic scriptures.
Sometimes we fail to properly implement them or we might have different opinions due to our past conditionings. But when we are unable to properly organise or plan it, the best solution is to try better and improve over experience.
The solution shouldnt be, to totally abandon the system or throw the baby out with the bathwater!

Individuality is a significant aspect of our philosophy unlike the Sunyavadi or the Mayavadi school where everything can merge into everything or anything or into nothingness.
But according to the Vaishnava school, we understand that each soul has a permanent separate identity, in this world, in the next, in Goloka and forever.
And that each soul has a particular and special relationship with the lord and also has its own basket of unique qualities which do make the soul stand out of the countless other Souls in the universe. They also have their unique skillsets, talents, likes, dislikes, color, odor, form etc and every other aspect that you can imagine.

Even in the spiritual realm, when we have the chance to go into more intimate pastimes of the Lord, we hear about the rivalry of two groups of gopis, the groups headed by Srimati Radharani Vs Sri Chandravali. We could reserve the study of these pastimes for devotees on the upper rungs of the ladder, but we should understand that these could not exist without the Lords will, for reasons beyond our reasoning.

However the point being made, is about variety and individuality even in the spiritual world, of which we are the perverted reflection.
So our efforts to embrace and/or implement a communist-like false classless society or the modern concept of socalled 'equality', being sold to us by feminists, doesnt really fit into actual reality of our eternal existence.

I could be a driver like any other person on the road, but my capability to move on the road will depend on what kind of automobile I use.
So when we use a particular body of a certain kind/type/variety, we are bound to be grounded within the permitted perimeters of that body!

Anyways the takehome point is not to ditch the vedic culture as a solution to our failures of improper implementation or any other mistakes, but to try to learn, adjust, mend and progress in our eternal paths of progression.

PC:internet

END.


Note:
This is not meant to offend or hurt anyone but is in reply to certain ideas/views being propagated thru videos/articles on the internet by 'modern' devotees who feel that the traditional cultural values of our society need to be thrown out to administer justice to the 'oppressed' Women of our society.

I have just thrown out the ideas out here in the form of words, in a very crude manner without any proper formatting or arrangement. So it might not look very organized.
These are my own views, which I guess Im entitled to have, just as you have yours. So lets avoid an online debate.
Hare krishna.

His Grace Narrottam Prabhu

HG Narottam prabhu.
Papamocani ekadasi.He chose to leave this world on ekadasi.
Narottam prabhu was associated with Srila Prabhupads Puspa Samadhi Mandir from almost its begining in '96. He served as one of the main pujaris for Srila Prabhupad. He was later doing other simple services due to his increasing age, when he moved to the 'senior bramachari ashram'.
He was well known for his simplicity and sincerity. His service in the movement of more than 40 years never showed a tinge of pride. Many would call him Narrottam Baba out of love.
Unfortunately I dont know more about him, but the residents of Sridham Mayapur will surely have volumes to speak.
I only knew him as my fathers friend. They were good friends from even before my father got married. My father would tell us how he was very strong in his sadhana, and so he remained a bramachari all life.
My brother was lucky to serve him in a little way. When we had moved from Mayapur and were living in Tirupati, Narottam prabhu had given pictures of the lotus foot prints of the Lord and wanted my brother to paint them on canvas with oilpaints.
And how can I forget that he would share Srila Prabhupads Maha manytimes and also invited us for lunch at the Samadhi a few times. HG Shital prabhu(Dadu) would be more informal, joking and laughing and share prasadam, and Narottam prabhu was more formal and grave.

My mother recalls that just before I went to Mayapur this year for Gourpurnima, he had asked her:
"Mother, when will your 'choto baba' come?"
But unfortunately I heard that he was admitted in the hospital when I was there and never had his darshan again! :(

The moment Uttarayan starts, we start losing such great souls! It is very clearly visible every year!!! Its as if they keep waiting for Uttarayan to start! Last year HG Shital prabhu and this year Him! :(

Unfortunately these are the only pics I could find now. If anyone has better ones, please do share.