Sri Krishna Kathamrita - GopalJiu.org

Tav k QaaMa*Ta& TaáJaqvNaMa(tava kathāmta tapta-jīvanamSri i Krisishna a KathamramrititaBinduIssue No. 101Fortnightly email mini-magazine from Gopal Jiu Publications20 April 2005 Śrī Kāmadā Ekādaśī, 26 Viu, 518 Gaurābda Circulation 1,517Highlights• OUR MOST IMPORTANT WEAPONSHis Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada• PURE DEVOTEES AND MATERIALISTIC SOCIETYSrila Thakur Bhaktivinode• BOOK DISTRIBUTION IS NOT MUNDANE BUSINESSSri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja• THE IMPORTANCE OF CHASTITYAdapted from Padma Purāa Uttara-khäa 206.5-63PAGE ONE TOP COLLUMN TWOOUR MOST IMPORTANT WEAPONSHis Divine Grace A.C. BhaktivedantaSwami PrabhupadaI am so glad to know that you and the othersat ISKCON Press are doing such wonderfulservice with these books andmagazines. These books and magazinesare our most important propagandaweapons to defeat the ignoranceof Maya’s army. The morewe produce such literature and sell them profuselyall over the world, the more we shall deliverthe world from the suicide course. So yourwork is the most important preaching work.May Krishna bless you more and more. Thankyou for helping me in this way. — Letter to Jayadvaita, 18 November 1972.PURE DEVOTEES ANDMATERIALISTIC SOCIETYSrila Thakur BhaktivinodeDo swanlike persons engage only in spiritualactivities and neglect material activities? No.Swanlike persons worship Krishna in the moodof one who is enjoyed, and they boldly take careof the external body. Eating, sleeping, enjoying,traveling, exercising, protecting society, protectingthe body, riding in vehicles, engaging in industrialenterprises, and walking in the openair are seen in the lives of swanlike persons.(Śrī Krishna-sahitā, chapter 10/12)next column The swanlike vaiavas valiantly remain andwork among men. They are the shelter ofwomen, and are respected by them. They takepart in social activities and gain much experience.They teach their children artha-śāstra,and thus become known as headmasters.(Śrī Krishna-sahitā, chapter 10/13)— Sundarananda Vidyavinode. Bhaktivinode-vāī-vaibhava.English translation by Bhumipati Das. Touchstone Media.Vrindavan. 2002.THE TEMPLE INSIDE THEBOOKS AND DEVOTEESSrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupadacalled his printing press Bhat Mdāga (the bigclay drum). During sakīrtan, the sound of theordinary clay drum (mdāga) can be heard onlyin the immediate vicinity. But the divine messageof Sriman Mahaprabhu can be spread allover the world through the publication of books.At the opening ceremony of the BagbazarGaudiya Math, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta said,“... to establish internal hari-bhajan in thisworld, quite a few books have to be writtenand published. The temple which is withinthe books and the temple which is within thedevotees are more important than the templebuilt with bricks and stones, because by constructingsuch temples, hari-kathā can bepreached in this world much longer.”Srila Saraswati Prabhupada had among hisdisciples a very talented team of writers and editors

Issue One hundred one, , Page — 2top left 2who dedicated their lives to his publicationmission. Among them were: SripadSundarananda Vidyavinode, SripadParamananda Vidyaratna, SripadBhaktisudhakar Prabhu (Professor NishikantSannyal), Srimad Bhakti Rakshak SridharMaharaja, Srimad Bhakti Pradip Tirtha Maharaja,and Sripad Pranavananda Pratnaviyalankar (laterSrimad Bhakti Pramod Puri Maharaja).After the disappearance of Srila SaraswatiPrabhupada, another name would be addedto this list, that of Srila A. C. BhaktivedantaSwami Maharaja, who published beautifullydesigned English translations of Bhagavad-gītā(as Bhagavad-gītā As It Is), Śrīmad Bhāgavatam,Śrī Bhakti-rasāmta sindhu (as Nectar of Devotion),and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmta. These bookswould capture the hearts of thousands ofpeople all over the world. — Page 36 from Prabhupada Saraswati Thakur. MandalaPublishing. Eugene, Oregon. 1997.BOOK DISTRIBUTION IS NOTMUNDANE BUSINESSSri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami MaharajaDevotee: It is often said that one should notmake a business out of the Bhāgavatam. Ifmaterialistic persons heard that, they couldeasily look at us and say this whole ISKCONsociety is based on selling Bhāgavata. It seemswe are contradictory to our own preaching.Gour Govinda Swami: Devotees sell theBhāgavata book and thereby they give opportunityto people to serve Krishna or serve a puredevotee, vaiava. They take money from peoplein exchange for the Bhāgavatam and they utilizethat money in the service of guru, vaiavaand Krishna, and not for their sense gratification.Such devotees are not vyavasāyīs, businessmen.But Bhāgavata–vyavasāyīs, so-calledpandits who speak on the Bhāgavata for money,and who upon obtaining that money use it forsense gratification — they are doing sinful activity.Devotees never do that. Their selling theBhāgavatam is not a profession, a business. Theyare distributing mercy. My Guru Maharaja SrilaPrabhupada said, “If someone simply givesmoney and takes Bhāgavata, even if he neverreads it, if he just keeps it in his house, then hegets benefit, because Bhāgavata is non-differentfrom Krishna — ka tulya bhāgavata.” Krishnaand His vāī are non-different. So if he keepsKrishna in his house, then the day will comeé[q k* Z

Sri Krishna-kathamrita Bindu Issue One hundred one, Page — 3Top left 3that the good population would prevail in society forthe general spiritual progress of state and community.Such population depends on the chastity and faithfulnessof its womanhood. As children are very prone to bemisled, women are similarly very prone to degradation.Therefore, both children and women require protectionby the elder members of the family.The following story narrated by Narada Munito King Sibi from the Padma Purāa nicely illustratesthis point:In Kampilya there was a certain brāhmaawho looked as though he were Cupid personified.By his beauty and behavior, he attractedthe hearts of all women. Skilled in thescience of music, his voice was sweet like thatof a cuckoo. That intelligent brāhmaa movedabout the city, playing a lute and singing.Hearing his sweet singing, the wives of thecitizens abandoned their domestic work andwent to him. Fascinated by his handsomeform, they could not bear the force of lust.Hearing his song, they became disturbed.What self-controlled and wise person is ableto conquer Cupid, who created a longingfor Saraswati in the mind of Brahma, andcaused half of Shiva’s body to be given toParvati? Moreover, women are fickle by nature.Even the chaste ones are unable to toleratethe excitement caused by Cupid. Cupidis very difficult to conquer in this world.Wherever that handsome brāhmaa went,singing and playing the lute, those ladies followed.Their husbands, sons, brothers, and fatherscame there, and threatening them, tookthem back to their homes. When the ladies againapproached that brāhmaa, the citizens reportedeverything to their king. The king called thatbrāhmaa and asked him in private, “O bestbrāhmaa, tell me by what charm you have fascinatedthe women in the city. Answer and Ishall give you much wealth. Otherwise I shalldrive you out of my kingdom.”Hearing these words of the king, that bestbrāhmaa, the ocean of handsomeness and virtues,spoke to him true words. “O king, I, abeggar, have neither a charm nor an herb.All of the women in your city have no controlover their senses. It is they who upon seeingmy handsome form and hearing my songscannot tolerate the force of lust. O great king,what can I do? What is my fault?At that time all of the assembled citizens approachedthe king and said, “O king, thistop right 3brāhmaa has fascinated our wives. They nolonger remain in their houses. They cannot bestopped by us. O lord, if this one who infatuatesall women continues to live in this city, then todaywe shall all depart to other countries. O lordof men, we, abandoned by fortune, have no othershelter than you. Our wives follow him as femaleelephants follow their lord. How can thegoddess of fortune remain in a vacant house?Piety, wealth and home all depend upon the pietyof the wife. If she is gone, all three are lost.”The wives of the citizens then came before theking, sat, and began to speak to one another.“Upon seeing the charming form of thisbrāhmaa, our minds open like lotus flowers doupon seeing the lord of the day, the sun, andthey close in his absence just as the white lotusesclose without the moon. Come, together we shallseize and take this brāhmaa before the king. Heis not fit to be killed, nor are we. What will theking do?” Saying so, they hurriedly seized thatbest of the brāhmaas, in front of the king, whiletheir own husbands were watching. They saidto that brāhmaa, “O lord of our minds, come toour house, and quickly pacify the agony tormentingour hearts. We cannot live without you.”The brāhmaa replied, “I am your son and youare my mothers. Leaving your homes, why areyou wandering about? Serve your husbands.When their husbands are properly served, wivesenjoy both the material and spiritual worlds, andVishnu, the lord of the gods, is pleased. Whenthe husband is pleased, what is difficult to obtain?A woman who forsakes her husband andresorts to another man with a desire for enjoyment,invites censure and goes to a fearful hell.She, the deceiver of her husband, lives there untilthe end of the kalpa. After that, she attains thestate of an inanimate object. Then she takes birthas a beast for many lives. Following that, she isborn as a cripple. Understanding the sinful reactionsfor this behavior, turn away from Cupid.Otherwise, at the end of your lives you willgo to a very fearful hell. You will not obtain thepleasure that you desire from me.”Hearing his words and seeing the faces of theirhusbands, those ladies hung their heads withshame like creepers struck by a stormy wind.The terrible fire of lust of the women of the citywas extinguished by the cold water of the wordsof that brāhmaa. Condemning Cupid as onewho bewilders even gods like Brahma and Indra,they all got up and walked away.

Issue One hundred one, , Page — 4Top left 4The women said, “Fie upon committing sinfulacts, an axe to the wood of good character! Whatshould we say to the worshipable Rukmini, whocarried this Rahu Cupid named Pradyumna inher womb, who eats the moon of the good characterof women? If that cruel god comes withinthe range of our sight again, we shall throw himinto the fire of the third eye of lord Shiva. Thatcruel one made Vishnu the lover of sixteen thousandwomen. What then can be said about us?”Having thus censured Cupid, the womenpraised that best brāhmaa who preserved hisown character and theirs also. “Blessed is themother who gave birth to this excellent brāhmaa,who vanquished Cupid and preserved the virtueof others! Fie upon us who were laughed atby the king’s men, who were vanquished byCupid, and by whom great sins were committedthrough speech and mind!” Thinking thus,the ladies returned to their respective homes. Theking of Kampilya then honored that brāhmaawith garments and ornaments.Shortly after that, the powerful king of Karushaattacked Kampilya with his armies. A great wartook place in which the king of Kampilya waskilled. The king of Karusha plundered the entirecity and the citizens were killed everywhere. Thewomen of that city drank kālakūa poison anddied. Those ladies had not yet atoned for theirsins of lusting after the brāhmaa. As a result,SRI KRISHNA KATHAMRITA BINDUA free bi-monthly service provided by:Gopal Jiu Publicationsc/o Sri Krishna Balarama MandirNational Highway No. 5, IRC VillageBhubaneswar, Orissa, India, 751015Phone: (0674) 2553250, 2557026Email: katha@gopaljiu.orgWebsite: www.gopaljiu.orgSubscriptions: minimag@gopaljiu.orgGopal Jiu Publications is a branch of the InternationalSociety for Krishna Consciousness,Founder-Acharya His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.Quotations from the books, letters, and lectures of HisDivine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada©Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. All other materials,unless specified, © ISKCON Bhubaneswar/GopalJiu Publications. All rights reserved. Blanket permission isgiven to redistribute Bindu in electronic or print form providedno changes are made to the contents.é[q k* Z