Invite to Boston's Srila Prabhupada Arrival Festival

BY: ISKCON BOSTON

Sep 06, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, USA (SUN) — Dear Worldwide Devotees,

The aspiring servants of Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha-Gopivallabha would like to humbly request your presence at the 2008 Boston Srila Prabhupada Arrival Festival and Ratha Yatra, Friday through Sunday, September 19th through 21st, 2008.

It was forty-three years ago that Srila Prabhupada first set foot in the West on September 17, 1965. After a thirty-five-day journey on the Jaladuta he reached Boston’s Commonwealth Pier in hopes of fulfilling the order of his spiritual master. It was here in Boston that Srila Prabhupada wrote “Markine Bhagavata Dharma” (“Teaching Krsna Consciousness in America”). Being a pure devotee of Krsna, Srila Prabhupada prayed, “I wish that you may deliver them. Therefore, if You so desire their deliverance, only then will they be able to understand Your message.” Srila Prabhupada has given us an amazing gift, the gift of knowing Krsna and chanting his Holy names.

Please join us in celebrating not only his arrival, but his life and teachings as well. The highlight of the festival will be a boat cruise of Boston Harbor, where devotees can participate in worshipping Srila Prabhupada and hearing from his disciples. This is a great chance for devotees to show their heartfelt gratitude for the love and compassion Srila Prabhupada had for all of us.

Schedule

Friday September 19th - 24 Hour Kirtan
Saturday September 20th - Boat Cruise
Sunday September 21st - Ratha Yatra

Special Guests

H.H. Jayadvaita Swami
H.H. Candramauli Swami
H.G. Malati Devi Dasi

Please visit our website for detailed information on scheduled activities for this three day festival, as well as photos and videos of past years.

Sincerely,

Festival Planning Committee
IskconBoston.org

Markine Bhagavata Dharma

“Teaching Krsna Consciousness in America”

baro-krpa kaile krsna adhamer prati
ki lagiyanile hetha koro ebe gati

My dear Lord Krsna, You are so kind upon this useless soul, but I do not know why You have brought me here. Now You can do whatever You like with me.

ache kichu karja taba ei anumane
nahe keno aniben ei ugra-stane

But I guess You have some business here, otherwise why would You bring me to this terrible place?

rajas tamo gune era sabai acchanna
vasudeva-katha ruci nahe se prasanna

Most of the population here is covered by the material modes of ignorance and passion. Absorbed in material life, they think themselves very happy and satisfied, and therefore they have no taste for the transcendental message of Vasudeva. I do not know how they will be able to understand it.

tabe jadi taba krpa hoy ahaituki
sakal-i sambhava hoy tumi se kautuki

But I know Your causeless mercy can make everything possible because You are the most expert mystic.

ki bhave bujhale tara bujhe sei rasa
eta krpa koro prabhu kori nija-basa

How will they understand the mellows of devotional service? O Lord, I am simply praying for Your mercy so that I will be able to convince them about Your message.

tomara icchaya saba hoy maya-basa
tomara icchaya nasa mayar parasa

All living entities have become under the control of the illusory energy by Your will, and therefore, if You like, by Your will they can also be released from the clutches of illusion.

taba iccha hoy jadi tadera uddhar
bujhibe niscai tabe katha se tomar

I wish that You may deliver them. Therefore if You so desire their deliverance, then only will they be able to understand Your message.

bhagavater katha se taba avatar
dhira haiya sune jadi kane bar bar

The words of Srimad-Bhagavatam are Your incarnation, and if a sober person repeatedly receives it with submissive aural reception, then he will be able to understand Your message.

It is said in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17-21):

srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah
punya-sravana-kirtanah
hrdy antah-stho hy abhadrani
vidhunoti suhrt satam

"Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead, who is the Paramatma [Supersoul] in everyone's heart and the benefactor of the truthful devotee, cleanses desire for material enjoyment from the heart of the devotee who has developed the urge to hear His messages, which are in themselves virtuous when properly heard and chanted.

nasta-prayesv abhadresu
nityam bhagavata-sevaya
bhagavaty uttama-sloke
bhaktir bhavati naisthiki

"By regular attendance in classes on the Bhagavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.

tada rajas-tamo-bhavah
kama-lobhadayas ca ye
ceta etair anaviddham
sthitam sattve prasidati

"As soon as irrevocable loving service is established in the heart, the effects of nature's modes of passion and ignorance, such as lust, desire and hankering, disappear from the heart. Then the devotee is established in goodness, and he becomes completely happy.

evam prasanna-manaso
bhagavad-bhakti-yogatah
bhagavat-tattva-vijnanam
mukta-sangasya jayate

"Thus established in the mode of unalloyed goodness, the man whose mind has been enlivened by contact with devotional service to the Lord gains positive scientific knowledge of the Personality of Godhead in the stage of liberation from all material association.

bhidyate hrdaya-granthis
chidyante sarva-samsayah
ksiyante casya karmani
drsta evatmanisvare

"Thus the knot in the heart is pierced, and all misgivings are cut to pieces. The chain of fruitive actions is terminated when one sees the self as master." Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.17-21)

rajas tamo hate tabe paibe nistar
hrdayer abhadra sate ghucibe tahar

He will become liberated from the influence of the modes of ignorance and passion and thus all inauspicious things accumulated in the core of the heart will disappear.

ki ko're bujhabo katha baro sei cahi
khudra ami dina hina kono sakti nahi

How will I make them understand this message of Krsna consciousness? I am very unfortunate, unqualified and the most fallen. Therefore I am seeking Your benediction so that I can convince them, for I am powerless to do so on my own.

athaca enecho prabhu katha bolibare
je tomar iccha prabhu koro ei bare

Somehow or other, O Lord, You have brought me here to speak about You. Now, my Lord, it is up to You to make me a success or failure as You like.

akhila jagat-guru! bacana se amar
alankrta koribar khamata tomar

O spiritual master of all the worlds! I can simply repeat Your message, so if You like You can make my power of speaking suitable for their understanding.

taba krpa ha'le mor katha suddha habe
suniya sabara soka duhkha je ghucibe

Only by Your causeless mercy will my words become pure. I am sure that when this transcendental message penetrates their hearts they will certainly feel engladdened and thus become liberated from all unhappy conditions of life.

aniyacho jadi prabhu amare nacate
nacao nacao prabhu nacao se-mate
kasthera puttali jatha nacao se-mate

O Lord, I am just like a puppet in Your hands. So if You have brought me here to dance, then make me dance, make me dance, O Lord, make me dance as You like.

bhakti nai veda nai name khub daro
"bhaktivedanta" nam ebe sarthak kor

I have no devotion, nor do I have any knowledge, but I have strong faith in the holy name of Krsna. I have been designated as Bhaktivedanta, and now, if You like, You can fulfill the real purport of Bhaktivedanta.

Signed--the most unfortunate, insignificant beggar

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami,
on board the ship Jaladuta, Commonwealth Pier,
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
dated 18th of September, 1965