divine connection dashera issue

8/8/2019 Divine Connection Dashera Issue

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Issue 13Issue 13Issue 13Issue 13

Rama destroyed Ravana on this day and hence itis celebrated as the day of victory. In burning theeffigies, the people are asked to burn the evilwithin them, and thus follow the path of virtueand goodness, bearing in mind the instance ofRavana, who despite all his might and majesty,

was destroyed for his evil ways.As described in Bhagavad-gita (7.23),

a n t a v a t t u p h a l a m t e s a mtad bhavaty alpa-medhasam

Men of meager intelligence desire temporaryhappiness. We have actually seen that one of thedisciples of Bhaktisiddhnta Sarasvat hkurawanted to enjoy the property of his spiritualmaster, and the spiritual master, being mercifultoward him, gave him the temporary property,but not the power to preach the cult of Caitanya

Mahprabhu all over the world. That specialmercy of the power to preach is given to adevotee who does not want anything materialfrom his spiritual master but wants only to servehim. The story of the demon Rvaa illustratesthis point. Although Rvaa tried to abduct thegoddess of fortune Stdev from the custody ofLord Rmacandra, he could not possibly do so.The Stdev heforcibly tookwith him wasnot the originalStdev, but anexpansion of

m y , o rDurgdev. As aresult, insteadof winning thefavor of the realgoddess of fortune, Rvaaand his wholefamily were vanquished by the power ofDurgdev (si-sthiti-pralaya-sdhana-aktirek). (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.Srimad Bhagavatam 5:18:22 purport.)

Lord Rama ki Jai!

September 10September 10September 10September 10

Acharya Series 2

Appearance of Radha

Kund

3

Devotional quotes 3

Lord RamasAssociates

3

Word Scramble 4

Poem -

Lord Damodara

4

Recipe 4

Verse of the month 5

Coloring Corner 5

Dussehra, falling on the last day of Navaratri, arrivesin the month of October. Dussehra literally meansthat which takes away ten sins. Some these ten sinst h a t w e r erepresented by theten heads ofRavana includesK a m a va s a na(Lust), Krodha(Anger), Moha(delusion), Lobha(Greed), Mada( P r i d e ) , a n d

Matsara (Jealousy).This festival iscelebrated all overIndia to mark the defeat of Ravana by Lord Rama.

Dussehra symbolizes the triumph of good over evil.The 'Ramlila' - an enactment of the life of Lord Rama,is held during the nine days preceding Dussehra. Onthe tenth day, larger than life effigies of Ravana, hisson, and brotherMeghnath and Kumbhakarna, areset alight.

Dussehra is one of India's most popular annualf e s t i v a l s ,celebrated all

over the countryf o r s e v e r a ldays. King Ramaheads out withhis army andfriends to rescuehis wife Sita fromthe demon kingo f L a n k a ,(modern day SriLanka) Ravana.After a fierce

battle, Ravana is beheaded and Sita freed.

FESTIVAL/ EVENTS

By Sunethra Ramkumar (10)

International Society for Krishna ConsciousnessFounder Acarya His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

www.iskcondc.com


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Narottama Das Thakur was born in Kheturi in the month Magha. His father, Krsnananda, was the local king witremendous wealth and land. His mother, Narayani Devi, was simple, chaste lady. Their hearts melted when they saw the radiaface of their beautiful newborn baby. The astrologer, seeing all th

auspicious signs, said that this child will be the greatest of all men; so he will be called Narottama. Thousands people came for the ceremony and it was celebrated with great pomp. At the time of the grain giving, the chiwouldnt open his mouth. Then the astrologer said that unless the food is offered to Krsna, the boy will not take Once given after offering, Narottama happily ate it. From that day onwards, his father promised to feed his chionly Krsna prasad.

From his earliest childhood, Narottama was completely detached from the pleasuresof this world. He was only interested in hearing about the pastimes of the Lord. Onenight, Lord Nityananda appeared in his dream and instructed him to go toPadmavati and take a dip, as Caitanya Mahaprabhu had deposited his love forRadha and Krsna there. Narottama Das immediately left to Padmavati. When hetouched the waters, Padmavati swelled. As he entered, Caitanya Mahaprabhuembraced him. His heart overflowed with ecstatic love and his dark complexion

turned golden.

Few days later, Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in Narottama Das Thakurs dreamand instructed him to go to Vrndavan and get initiation from Lokanath Maharaj.While his father was away, Narottama Das Thakur escaped. He chose the desolateforest route. Although he was worn and tired, seeing Rupa and Sanatana Goswamiin his dream, he felt refreshed.

Finally, he reached Vrndavan. He was very happy to meet the associates of Lord Caitanya. Narottama Das Thak

served Lokanath Maharaj, who was constantly feeling the pain of separation from Rupa and Sanatana Goswami, a very menial way. Every day, early in the morning, he would very nicely and humbly clean the place wheLokanath Maharaj would pass urine and stool. After a year, Lokanath Maharaj found out that Narottama DThakur was doing this menial service. Deeply moved by his mood of humility, Lokanath Maharaj accepteNarottama as his disciple.

Lord Caitanya once came in a vision and asked Narottama Das Thakur to take His deity form from a grain storagfilled with snakes and install Him. Narottama Das Thakur went fearlessly to the storage and brought the beautifdeity. All the poisonous snakes fled. On the installation day, Narottama Das Thakur led an ecstatic kirtan andanced along with all the assembled senior Vaisnavas. Even the Lord appeared with His associates and dancewith ecstasy as to Narottama Das Thakurs beautiful singing.

When Narottama Das Thakur decided to go back to the Lord, he asked some of his disciples to pour the Gangwater on his body. While they were doing this, they found Narottamas body melting into milk and merging withe waters of the Ganges. Thus, Narottama Das departed this world to return to Goloka, to serve his beloved Lord

On this most auspicious day of the disappearance of Srila Narottama Das Thakur, we should beg wisincerity to this great acharya to bless us with humility, detachment, and love for the Lord and His devotees. In thway, we can become the servants of the servants of the servants of the Lord and in this way, perform oudevotional service to go back to Godhead.

ACHARYA SERIESBy Mansi Suresh (9)


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After Krishna killed Aristasura, the demon who

was disguised as a bull, Srimati Radharani and the othergopis told Krishna that He was now contaminated withthe sin of killing a bull (male cow). Krishna said, My deargopis, that was not a bull but a demon in the form of abull. Therefore, I didnt commit a sin.

Radharani said, That doesnt matter. You stillkilled a bull; so, You have to go to all the holy places andtake baths in all the holy rivers of the world.

Krishna said, Okay. I will take a bath in all theholy rivers, but what is the use of going to all the holy riv-

ers if they can justcome here. Say-

ing this, Hestomped His footinto the earth andcreated a big im-pression. Then Heinvited all the holyrivers to come andflow into His kund.Kr i shna then

umped into the kund and took a bath in it. This kundthat Krishna created is known as Syama Kund, and isthere even today. After taking a bath in Syama Kund,

Krishna said, My dear gopis, I have become pure bybathing in my kund, but now you have become contami-nated by siding with the demon, even if he was a demon inthe guise of a bull.

The gopis then took their bangles off and startedto dig with their bangles. After a while, they made a bigmpression, but

they did not haveany water. Seeingthis, Krishna andthe gopas laughed.

The gopis then

made a line fromthe Manasi Gangato Radhas kund.

After sometime,the gopis still didnot fill much of the kund and they were very tired. Then,Krishna, who doesnt like seeing Radharani sweat, againrequested the rivers to come, only this time to fill SrimatiRadharanis kund, Radha Kund. This is how Radha Kundappeared.

Radha Kunds Appearance Day Ki Jai!!!

Appearance of Radha KundBy Koumudhi Kammari (13)

By Panchajanya Mungara (10)

"Even if devotees excuse those who insuthem, Krishna takes a different position anHe is strict on this matter. Krishna will nexcuse or tolerate any insult of His dev

tees. If we want to please Krishna, we munever insult His devotees."

~ Srila Prabhupada~ Srila Prabhupada~ Srila Prabhupada~ Srila Prabhupada

Contributed By - Aayushi Jain (10)

DEVOTIONAL QUOTESDEVOTIONAL QUOTESDEVOTIONAL QUOTESDEVOTIONAL QUOTES

A G W P Q B B Q A H L M N X M

N E I D H A X I O J P W S C N

G W L A X H M L N A Q X F R V

U Z R E O L S A O T T U D B C

R A S A W S M T X A U T U R C

T D T S T H V U P Y G H P A M

A V D N S I Y H D U K Y Y H U

H O K K A U S P G E O F C S C

S K A L F H G D A G N A E S L

W L P O L B S R J H Q C D W O

O E N K Q N H I I C Y J O Y I

Q P H I B N M F H V A Y K E G

Y Q X F B M Z F O B X F I C T

M A N J O P W F K E I Y Z N U

H A N U M A N N X U X V N E H

ANGAD

BHARAT

HANUMAN

JATAYU

LAKSHMAN

SHATRUGNA

SITA

SUGRIV

VIBHISHAN


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1. Unscramble each of the clue words.

2. Take the letters that appear in boxes and unscramblethem for the final message!

INGREDIENTSNGREDIENTSNGREDIENTSNGREDIENTS

2 lbs ricotta cheese

1/2 cup sugar

32 oz half & half milk

A pinch of saffron

1/4 tsp crushed cardamom seeds

1/2 cup blanched almonds

2 tbsp crushed green pistachios

PreparationPreparationPreparationPreparation

Mix the cheese with sugar and little cardamom powderand spread out on baking tray.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until it sets. Itshould not get brown.

Remove from oven, cool at room temperature and cutinto 2 squares.

Place them in a dessert bowl.

Mix the other ingredients, except the pistachios well ina separate dish and pour over the squares.

Decorate the rasmalai with pistachios, chill for 2-3hours, then offer it to the Lord and honor the prasa-dam .

RECIPE

By Dheeraj Kammari ( 12)

Rasamalai

Lord Damodara Lord Damodara Lord Damodara Lord Damodara

(A Poem)

By Panchajanya Mungara (10)

Lord Damodhara

Mother Yashodas little boy

Full of love and full of joy

His face like the glowing moon

His eyes like lotus petals at full bloom.

He made the twin Arjuna trees fall down,

And freed the two demigods

from the curse of Narada,

Our loving father

Our eternal Lord.

By Aayushi Jain(8)


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Verse of the month(Verse 4.7 from)

Bhagavad Gita As It Is - By His Divine GraceA.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

yad yad hi dharmasya

glnir bhavati bhrata

abhyutthnam adharmasya

tadtmna sjmy aham

Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious

practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant

rise of irreligion at that time I descend Myself.

In this verse, Lord Krishna establishes that whenever there is

a rise of irreligion, He will personally descend. The Lord, our-

loving father, is so merciful, and yet we have turned away from

Him. When demons like Hiranyakashipu, Ravana, and Kamsa

terrorized this world, the Lord incarnated as Lord Nirshi-

madev ,Lord Rama, and Sri Krishna, the darling of Vrindavan.

The Lord incarnates to protect His loving devotees and van-

quish those who cause pain and suffering to them.

Krishna, in the next verse, also establishes the same principle-

To deliver the pious and annihilate the miscreants, as well as to

reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear millen-

nium after millennium. The Lord who will tolerate an offense

committed to Himself, will not tolerate someone offending His

pure devotees. In Kali Yuga, He came as Lord Caitanya, and

when Jagai and Madhai offended Lord Nityananda, the

Supreme Lord did not tolerate their grave offense. Yet the

Lord's devotees are so merciful and compassionate.

In Kali Yuga, there is a very rapid decline in religious princi-

ples, and ignorance is gaining reign very fast. Thus, at the end

of this Kali Yuga, the Lord will again incarnate as Kalki avatar

and destroy the miscreants. Therefore, we must strive in this

life time and lead a life full of devotion so we can go back

home, back to Godhead, back to our eternally loving Father.

TRANSLATIONTRANSLATIONTRANSLATIONTRANSLATION

MY REALIZATIONSMY REALIZATIONSMY REALIZATIONSMY REALIZATIONS

Sruthi Mungara (13)

Your feedback and suggestions are very

important and valuable for us. Please feel free

to send your feedback/suggestions to

[email protected]

EditorLakshmi (Ramya) Suresh

By Pranesh Ambokar(6)

divine connection dashera issue

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