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An Authentic Life 1.1 for pdf - Universalist Radha-Krishnaism

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manufacturing family. When Swamiji went to New<br />

York, he tried getting them to fund a temple there. He<br />

was unsuccessful. I went to see one of the younger<br />

Singhanias and got a donation from him.<br />

I continued on to Allahabad where Swamiji<br />

lived most of his married life and had a pharmaceutical<br />

business. Allahabad is at the confluence of the<br />

Ganges, Yamuna, and Saraswati Rivers known as<br />

Triveni, which is sacred to Hindus.<br />

I stayed at the monastery of a devotee in<br />

Chaitanya’s line across the Ganges from the city. I<br />

walked down the banks of the Ganges to where the<br />

three rivers converged. It was midsummer, so the water<br />

was low. Farmers grew melons and squashes on<br />

the sandy bank. They dug holes about ten feet deep to<br />

the water level and used buckets to water their crops<br />

from the holes.<br />

They put many human skulls on poles like<br />

scarecrows. Indians often threw bodies in the river. I<br />

saw one being eaten by vultures and dogs. I bathed in<br />

the waters of the confluence and prayed <strong>for</strong> purification<br />

and <strong>Radha</strong>-Krishna's blessings.<br />

Living in the ashram on the banks of the<br />

Ganges, I concluded my commentary on “Sikshastakam,”<br />

eight verses in which Chaitanya was said to<br />

have written the essence of his teachings. Some consider<br />

them to be the only writings Chaitanya left,<br />

while others consider them a later compilation. The<br />

129

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