ISKCON Goloka Dhama Newsletter

BY: GAURAHARI DASA

Sep 08, 2013 — ABENTHEUR, GERMANY (SUN) —

Janmastami festival

The festival of Janmastami has just ended and we are still electrified by the high emotions generated during the celebrations. It has already been a month since Mataji Vaijayanti joined our community especially to prepare all the decorations for the festival and to bring new ideas and inspiration to manifest the Vrindavana atmosphere.

With the help of a team of dedicated servants, she created splendid pastime places for Sri Sri Radha Madhan Mohan. Many flower arches were erected on the property and a life-sized Nanda Maharaja stood waiting in front of the temple to welcome everyone with a gift to be offered to his son Krsna.

H.H. Kadamba Kanana Swami and Madhavananda Prabhu led the festival by injecting big dozes of devotional feelings into our hearts with their lectures and their bhajans. Madhavananda Prabhu gave his seminar before the festival to warm us up and H.H. Kadamba Kanana Swami stayed 3 long days to keep on nourishing the devotees. He gave a brilliant seminar called Sri Hamsaduta. The mood was very intimate and the lectures gave us deep spiritual inputs. On the day of Janmastami, many children were disguised as Krsna Balarama, their friends and the gopis. On a few occasions, they acted out small dramas about the pastimes of the divine couple. The deities spent the entire afternoon in beautifully decorated places; like the River Yamuna for water sports, the swing lila over the river and even the Holi pastimes in the temple of flowers.

We would like also to offer to you a gift for the appearance of Lord Krsna. It is a poem written by Govindarama Prabhu and inspired by Prabhodananda Sarasvati Thakur: A Janmastami Poem

Vaisnavi retreat

Another important event at the beginning of last month was the seminar of Mother Devaki. She taught us with a lot of enthusiasm and expertise about the ideal way for womaen to practice the Vaisnava culture. It was very experience oriented and many of the participants were enlightened. The participation was also surprisingly big. 30 ladies came from all over Germany came to follow that seminar. Mother Devaki requested that the entire seminar be free and to let it be based on donations. Indeed spiritual knowledge should not be sold but at the same time to maintain a temple like Goloka Dhama with donations is financially difficult. At the end of the seminar, we were pleasantly surprised that the donations received were even slightly more than the price we usually ask from someone visiting the temple. Krsna had inspired the devotees to be generous.

Important change

After many years of service as head Pujari of Sri Sri Radha Madhan Mohan, mother Damodara Priya needed to step back from her service in order to take care of her health. This service was a tremendous responsibility that she carried out very steadily since 2005. It is never easy to have sufficient priests who are dedicated to stay and serve the deities and she has always made the necessary arrangements to keep the worship of Sri Sri Radha Madhan Mohan at a very high standard. She has also trained very carefully most of the current Pujaris. For the time being her service will be performed by Mahachandra Prabhu and other Pujaris and we faithfully hope that Lord Krsna will send us another qualified and dedicated Pujari to take over the service.

For the future Mataji Damodara Priya will stay in Goloka Dhama and continue as a Pujari with more focus on preaching, training new priests and performance of certain pujari services.

We like to again address our most profound gratitude to Damodara Priya Devi Dasi and her dedicated and exemplary service attitude. May Sri Sri Radha Madana Mohana bless her with their Divine grace.

Nectar celebration

Very soon another festival of great relevance will take place in Goloka Dhama: Sri Radhastami; the appearance day of Srimati Radharani, the eternal consort of Lord Krsna. Radharani is the pleasure potency of Lord Krsna and also his compassionate nature. Her mercy for the fallen conditioned soul in this world is the only chance by which to receive the grace of Lord Krsna. For this great festival, we will have the great honor to welcome H.H. Sacinandana Swami. We are again making great arrangements in the decoration and schedule of the festival. Many highlights are planned with a Holi festival, initiation ceremony, Drama guided by Bhagavati and the inspiring seminars of Srila Sacinandana Swami and Madhavananda Prabhu. This festival will start on the 12th and we like to heartily invite all of you for this special celebration. More Information: http://www.goloka-dhama.de/radha-krishna-bhakti-yoga/veranstaltungskalender-2013/sri-radhastami/

Sri Brihad Bhagavatamrita

By the excellent service of Mangala Dasi, a translation into German of Sri Brihad Bhagavatamrita is now available. Sri Brihad Bhagavatamrita is a very important book written by Srila Sanatana Goswami. Srila Prabhupada would say that by reading this book we would learn everything about Krsna and his devotees. For more information, please read the following. (look at the following link): http://sbba.108bits.de/

We hope that you found this newsletter inspiring and we would like to express our sincere gratitude for your support and good wishes to your servants at Goloka Dhama. We therefore end this newsletter with a beautiful prayer to Srimati Radharani from an unknown humble Vaisnava:

Your servant,
Gaurahari dasa

"O beautiful and young Radhe (Kisori) You are innocent and full of sweet love for Krishna. Please sprinkle a drop of Your mercy upon me.

I am helpless and poor, but You are the embodiment of love and very kind. There is no need for me to approach anybody else for help, as I know; no one will attend to this miserable soul.

I do not hesitate to perform sinful activities, nor do I concentrate my mind on remembering You. With folded hands I pray, "O Radha! Please keep me near You". But for You no one could have changed my destiny.

Whether I am bad or good, know that I am Yours and other than You I see no one as my well-wisher. O daughter of king Vrisabhanu! Please take good care of me. I, the leader of the most fallen, humbly seek Your shelter.

Please give me the gopi´s love for Krsna as alms and somehow make me Yours. I will spend my entire life singing your glories. Tears will flow from my eyes and I will rise to the highest spiritual ecstasy. "