iskcon pune todayNewsletter Vol 11 / Issue: 8 (Monthly) / August 2013 / Price: ` 1/-

A group of nearly 100 devotees traveled from Pune to the holy dham of Jagannath Puri in the week of 10 July 2013 to participate in the world famous Rath Yatra festival. Puri, a city in the eastern state of Odisha, hosts the oldest street procession in the world, dating back to the Satya yuga. Lord Jagannatha, the Lord of the Universe, along with His elder brother Sri Baladeva and sister Subhadra Devi leave the sanctum sanctorum of the main temple and sit on large sixty feet carts that are drawn by hundreds and thousands of devotees. �e procession which attracts over eight hundred thousand devotees from all over the world ends at the temple of Gundicha Devi, a few kilometeres awayFor Gaudiya Vaishnavas including ISKCON devotees, Jagannath Puri is even more special because Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu resided in Puri for over 24 years after leaving Bengal to enact his final pastimes here. Many of ISKCON’s precep-tors such as Srila Bhaktivinode �akura and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta

Saraswati also stayed in the city for many years. "Lord Chaitanya came to Puri after accepting the renounced order of life and taught the practice of pure devotional service,” explained Ranganath Das, a senior software engineer with Wipro in Pune. “He displayed the highest symp-toms of pure Love of God, ever witnessed in history by showing us how to chant the pure holy names of Lord Krishna. Devotees also visited holy places where the Lord and His associates enacted their pastimes.”On the day of the Rath yatra, devotees queued early in the morning for the pahandi festival, where �eir Lordships Jagannath Baladev, Subhadra and Sudar-shan, majestically step outside the main temple in great pomp and gaiety, ready to board �eir chariots. “�e long wait and scorching heat did not deter the devotees, who started singing the Hare Krishna mantra loudly when Lord Jagannatha, Baldeva and Lady Subhadra were carried in a

procession by the priests of the temple,” said Haripriya Devi Dasi who had accompanied the delegation from Pune. “�eir Lordships were accompanied by musicians beating gongs, cymbals, and drums, and several artistes displaying their skills. As if on cue, the rains poured, drenching everyone including Lord Jagannatha, bringing relief from the heat. Devotees chanted and danced in front of the chariots just as Lord Chaitanya's party chanted and danced 500 years ago.”"We chanted Hare Krishna and danced in kirtan for hours for the pleasure of the three Lords. By the end of the day, only Lord Baladev's Rath managed to reach Gundica temple, Subhadra devi’s rath was midway and Lord Jagannath’s rath had hardly moved,” remembered Amarjeet Gupta, Software Architect with Symantec in Pune. “Later in the evening many enthusiastic devotees climbed the chariot and managed to embrace �eir Lordships! Considering the

Chauffeuring the Lord of the Universeeffort it took to wade through the milling crowds, climb the enormous chariots, and finally embrace the Supreme Lord, it was a feat accomplished and a life-time dream come true." �e Rath yatra commemorates an event where the Gopis of Vrinda-vana saw Lord Krishna in Kuruk-shetra after many years of separa-tion and desired to bring the Lord back home to Vrindavan by pulling on a chariot on which He was sitting with His brother Balarama and His sister Subhadra. “�e Jagannatha temple is consid-ered to be Dvaraka and the Gundi-cha temple is like Vrindavana,” concluded Amarjeet Gupta. “As devotees pull the chariot and bring the Lord from Dwaraka to Vrinda-vana, they also plead with the Supreme Lord to come and reside in their hearts. �us, it is a purify-ing experience that has no parallel in the entire universe.”

--- Shankar Pandit DasSenior Functional Consultant,

Tieto, Pune

ISKCON Pune Today | August 2013

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JanmashtamiMeditation

When Sri Krishna appeared in the jail of Kamsa, He appeared as a bluish baby, whose body was shining like a blue sapphire. Unlike the normal babies of this world, He had curly locks of blackish hair, bore in His four hands the four weapons shankha, chakra, gada and padma. On His chest was the mark of Srivatsa and on His neck the brilliant Kaustubha gem. ressed in yellow, He had a beaming smile on his face and decorated with beautiful ornaments, appearing very wonderful. Have you ever seen any child born like this?

�e Position of Krishna:On the day He appeared, He told His parents about their three previous births, revealing His oceanic wisdom and memory as God. Krishna is not an ordinary human child or an extra-ordinary one. He is the Supreme Absolute Truth, the source of all that exists. He is God, when He is born, in the lap of mother Yashoda, in the battle of Kurukshetra or anywhere else.

Understanding Krishna's Loving Pastimes: �e Vedanta sutra declares Sri Krishna as the storehouse of all loving mellows. Krishna is not God because He creates, maintains and destroys millions of universes, but because He knows how to exchange pure love with His pure devotees. Kunti declares Krishna as the Supreme God beyond the universe, and Devaki, on seeing Him as her own child, treats Him like a baby in reverential admiration. Yashoda's love for Krishna in Vrindavan is the epitome of intimate motherly love, that has no trace of reverence. It is the cresendo of love in which Yashoda carries a stick to chase after Krishna calling Him a butter thief!

Knowing Krishna through His devotees: Krishna comes to this world to reveal His colorful pastimes in Vrindavan to charm and attract us back home, back to Godhead. He specifically comes to please His pure devotees like Kunti, Pandavas, Devaki and the Vrajabasis. Even great devatas like Brahma, what to speak of yogis, cannot fathom Krishna's greatness and may misunderstand Him as a human being. Only by taking shelter of a pure devotee of Krishna, we can begin to come to understanding of the mysterious truths about Krishna's greatness and sweetness.

�e futility of material existence: Unaware of Krishna's true position, we never took Krishna or Bhagavad gita seriously. Srila Prabhupada's books reveal that Krishna, in His original, beautiful, imperishable sac-cid-ananda form resides eternally in His spiritual abode of Golok Vrindavan. Each one of us is related to Him as a servant, friend, parent or lover and that is our real permanent identity. �e material body that we occupy is only a temporary perishable bag of material ingredients. We wander from one species to another in search of happiness, until we become tired of our futile attempts for independent enjoyment and return back to Krishna's devotees. �en, having reawakened love for Krishna and love for all His children, we return back home back to Godhead.

Yours in the service of Sri Sri Radha-Vrindavanchandra,

Yours in service of Lord Sri Krishna,

Radheshyam DasPresident, ISKCON Pune

From the President's Desk

Long-time supporter of ISKCON Pune, Satpal Malhotra breathed his last on 23 July 2013. S P Malhotra, as he was fondly known, was the Chairman of the Weikefield Group, one of India’s pioneering and oldest brands that introduced custards, trifles and other desserts to an entire generation in India.S P Malhotra along with his two brothers Bahri and Harish Malhotra have been associated with ISKCON for over forty years. �e Malhotra family had been instrumental in starting the first ISKCON centre in Pune.Srila Prabhupada had visited Pune in 1976 and had stayed at the residence of the Malhotras, who were famous not only as prominent businessmen but also as compassionate philanthro-pists. While staying in their house, Srila Prabhupada pointedly told Bahri Malhotra, “I want to have a temple in Pune, can you please help me build one?”After that incident, His Holiness Gopal Krishna Goswami, Governing Body Commissioner for Pune regularly met the Malhotras every time he visited Pune. In 1982, Bahri Malhotra and his friend Ramesh �akkar were encouraged by Gopal Krishna Goswami to help ISKCON rent a bungalow from a retired army colonel in Camp. �e devotees installed Deities of Sri Sri Radha-Kunjabihari and Sri Sri Gaura Nitai in the rented temple and started their Krishna conscious-ness activities from there. Although a wealthy entrepreneur who was respected all over India, S. P. Malhotra was also famous for his firm detachment from material assets and his faithful devotion to God. Once he told a journalist, “So what if I lose everything! I can always buy a cart and sell bananas.”He was known for his work in social upliftment through the Malhotra Weikfield Foundation, an educational trust set up by Weikfield group offering scholarships to meritorious students especially girls from underprivileged backgrounds.“�e Malhotra family have been wonderful supporters of ISKCON and have personally served Srila Prabhupada for over forty years,” explained Radheshyam Das, President of ISKCON Pune. “We pray to Lord Krishna to shelter His servant S. P. Malhotra on his journey back home to Godhead, and hope his family is able to deal with this great loss.”�e devotees had organised a special kirtan in his memory on 24th July to pray for the departed soul. S. P. Malhotra is survived by his wife Rajinder, his sons Mukesh, Puneet, Ashwini and his daughters Urvashi and Pooja.

ISKCON supporter S. P. Malhotra passes away

ISKCON Pune Today | August 2013

The Joy of Walking for Lord Vitthala

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Over 300 devotees from ISKCON Pune joined the annual palkhi procession from 29th June till 22nd July that carries the silver padukas or peg shoes of Saint Tukarama, a great devotee of Lord Vitthala, a form of Lord Krishna. Over 2.5 Lakh devotees of Lord Vitthala from Maharashtra walk in two processions from Dehu and Alandi to Pandharpur for 450 kilometres in a journey that is called vari. �e devotees or pilgrims are called varkaris and they march in groups. Each group of varkaris is called a ‘dindi’. �e tradition of carrying padukas to the vari was introduced by the youngest son of Tukaram in the year 1685. Since then the padukas of Saint Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram are carried by pilgrims every year on the vari, which commences about three weeks prior to ashadi shayana ekadasi. It is considered very auspicious to have the darshana of Lord Vitthala and take bath in the holy waters of the Chandrabhaga river on this day, when the vari ends its journey at Pandharpur.

�e palkhi procession is one of the most colourful and lively carnivals of Maharashtra. During the journey, the varkaris constantly engage their tongues, bodies and minds in kirtana of Lord Vitthala chanting ‘jaya jaya

Rama Krishna Hari’ and various abhangas of the saints. As the dindi progresses through villages and towns, hundreds of individuals and organizations serve the joyous devotees immersed in kirtan, by distributing water, juices and prasad.�e city of Pune becomes witness to the vibrations of prayers and chanting of the holy names of the Lord as it is geographically positioned on the route between Alandi, Dehu and Pandharpur. Around thirty thousand people from Pune join the vari journey annually. “Many old people walk enthusiastically with the young, driven by the eagerness of obtaining darshana of Lord Vitthala,” said Dr. Milind, who recently completed his studies from the prestigious BJ Medical College in Pune, and had joined the Vari. “�e varkaris follow a simple lifestyle and stay in makeshift tents, accepting meals at the roadside.”

Under the guidance of His Holiness Loknath Swami, ISKCON’s Hare Krishna Dindi has been participating in the vari for the last seventeen years. Two bulls pull a cart carrying Deities of Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Srila Prabhupada with devotees chanting the and singing the Hare Krishna mahamantra along

the route.�ey distribute prasadam and books such as the Bhagavad-gita and Back To Godhead magazine. �is year, the Hare Krishna dindi began on 30th June and reached Pune ISKCON temple after two days from where Lokanath Swami personally led the dindi to Pandharpur where they reached on 17th July.

“What is notable about the Hare Krishna Sankirtan dindi is that most of our members are highly educated city-dwelling youth who are engineers and doctors by profession. �ese devotees may not be exposed to such an austere lifestyle, but the simplicity and devotion of other varkaris motivated everyone to happily accept austerities in the service of the Lord,” continued Dr. Milind.

“Another difference with the Hare Krishna dindi was that we organized evening kirtan, arati and lectures wherever we halted for local residents who participated enthusiastically and appreciated the young devotees,” explained Chandrashekhar, a postgraduate from NIT. "Our book distribution party visited many houses and were warmly welcomed with milk, water and even meals. In the few weeks, we distributed 13500 Back to Godhead magazines and 400 Bhagavad-gitas.”

�e Hare Krishna dindi attracted media attention too. A reporter from SAM Marathi, a leading news channel interviewed the

young devotees and asked them, "What were your special experiences, and what attracted you to the dindi?"

�e devotees replied, "Non-stop Hare Krishna kirtan, distribution of Vedic literature and prasadam, street skits, arati, classes and a life close to nature was what attracted us."

�e reporter further enquired how marching in the dindi would help modern youth who were addicted to bad habits.

"Once a person gets the higher taste of serving and remembering God selflessly, lower tendencies will automatically go away," replied the devotees. "�e positive experiences in dindi are so nourishing that one can easily forget bad addictions and focus on the ultimate goal of human life."

"�e dindi taught us that simple living is amazingly conducive to devotional service," said Abhishek, who had come from Australia to march with the devotees.

Loknath Swami who hosted the Hare Krishna Dindi at the ISKCON temple in Pandharpur commented, "�ere may not be much facility for the body in dindi but the soul becomes blissful and happy."

--- Chakrapani Krishna DasM.Tech. (Gold medalist),

NIT Surathkal

ISKCON NVCC Grand Inauguration by Hon’ble President of India, Pranab Mukherjee

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