Chant Hare Krishna Blog - ISKCON - Hare Krishna Movement - Live Da

Chant Hare Krishna Blog - ISKCON - Hare Krishna Movement - Live Da
Showing posts with label International Society For Krishna Consciousness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International Society For Krishna Consciousness. Show all posts

Current Status or Reality of ISKCON

Reality of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness)

ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) or famously known worldwide as the hare krishna hare rama movement has reached a status of untold mire. A state where even Demigods or Heavenly denizens fear to look upon.

Srila Prabhupada started Iskcon in a storefront building in New York successfully with a handfull of descipled,serious and devoted desciples which grew to thousands withing short span of years.

The glories of ISKCON spread all around the world with Srila Prabupada himself travelling on lecture tours and on preaching and inspiring people.

In such a scenario most of the yet yound desciples of Srila Prabhupada within ISKCON misutilized everything for thier own whims whih even led to mass buthure or masscare or slaugter of krishna devotees within ISKCON.

This video Reality of ISKCON surely helps one to know the current Status of ISKCON or the Hare Krishna Movement.

Onw by knowing the REALITY OF ISKCON would not only escape the onslaugter within ISKCON but also enables a Krishna devotee to get full and firm faith in surrendering to Srila Prabhupada who is the Founder Acharya of ISKCON.

I hope that this video The Reality of ISKCON or The current Status of ISKCON would help you understand and educate yourself and other hare krishna devotees worldwide.

HARE KRISHNA
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada and Gauranga,
Amit Teli

ISKCON Sri Krishna Balarama Ratha Yatra 2014 a report

ISKCON BANGALORE Sri Krishna Balarama Ratha Yatra 2014 a Report

ISKCON (International Society For Krishna Consciousness) in BANGALORE celebrated Sri Krishna Balarama Ratha Yatra recently.

Thousands of people came to the attend the festive season to pull the chariot and be a part of their grace. Young Boys (ISKCON Youth Club) gathered at various junctions inside and outside the temple to assist the temple activites. Several of the boys were even found carring donnnas (leaf cups) and sweet rice and distributing to the public for free along the street.

It all began by 5:00 in the evening in front of the temple once their lorsdhips Sri Krishna Balarama along with Srila Prabhupada arrived  to be seated in the chariot. ISKCON Bangalore Temple President His Grace Sri Madhupandit Das inagurated the festival along with invitees by litting the candle. ISKCON BANGALORE Temple Vice President His Grace Sri Chancalapathi Das was the host who spoke and introduced the festival.

Several eagar devotees who were intiated were foun in saffron robes eagarly awaiting to pull the cart along with general and congregate devotee public.

Once the chariot started moving excitement reached the sky which was found like a wild fire which could never be put off.

By 8:30 in the night the chariot returned back ( the temple and still devotee and public were found not to be quenched of the thirst.

Free Pure Vegetarian Satvic food offered to Sri Krishna was distributed to all who had attended at the OAT (Open Air Theator) of ISKCON BANGALORE premises.

The ratha moved from ISKCON through Rajajinagar 1st block, Navarang Signal and back to ISKCON.

The great carnival of the year ended by 9:30 in the night in the Lecture Hall of ISKCON BANGALORE where devotees sang, danced and glorified Sri Krishna Balaram and Srila Prabhupada.

GURU ISSUE WITHIN ISKCON a VISHNAVA APARADHA?

GURU ISSUE WITHIN ISKCON a VISHNAVA APARADHA?

After I watched this video I was really perplexed as eventhough I knew about the Guru Issue within ISKCON (International Society For Krishna Consiousness) I had not taken it much seriously as one of the devotee in ISKCON BANGALORE His Grace Amitasana Das had informed in one of the lectures not to worry about it and just concentrate on our services.

Eventually I took it seriously and started supporting and I feel after much controversies with lot of people I feel that I facing much of the consequences.

I am wondering "Why people do such things that when one is not appointed to act in such an such a thing why in the world a person does so?"

I belive I may not be the only one who is or may have faced consequences in life but there would several others also.

I see this to be taken as a Vaishnava aparadha as such as blastpheming a devotee, hurting the sprotual master in whatsoever matter it may be.....

The consequences may also include unable to chant the hare krishna mahamantra.

I would like to know what do you feel about it.

Please do not leave a response or a comment based on ego, let it be unbaised and must never be a curse sort of a thing.

Remember, we are all devotees so your comments will be heard around the globe and affected all the devotees.

The urge to visit sri krishna and srimati radharani

"There is a saying: IF YOU EVER VISIT VRINDAVANA YOU MUST NOT FORGET TO PAY A VISIT TO SRI SRI RADHAVRINDAVANA CHANDRA MANDIR"
  -Amit Teli

GLORIES OF SRI VRINDAVANA and The urge to visit Sri Krishna ad Srimati Radharani

If one visits the holy place of Vrindavana in India located in Matura district of Uttar Pradesh in India one is surely going to submerge in transcendental extacy of devotion towards the supreme personality of godhead sri krishna.

Vrindavana is a place for saints and debotees alike even great personalities like ISKCON Founder Acharya and sole diksha Guru His divne grace A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI SRILA PRABHUPADA stayed here and went through the deep vedic studies. Even Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who is the most munificient incranation of supreme personality of godhead sri krishna had come here. This is surely the land of vedic studies an it is as holy as the lord himself.

VRINDAVAN is cosidered to be nom different from Goloka Vrindavana the transendal abode of the supreme personalty of godhead sri krishna in the spiritual word.

SRILA PRABHUPADA once said " Everything in Vrindavana is spiritual".  By this we can understand the importance of Sri Vrindavana.

Sri Vridavana is also called as Brindavana in Bengali language and there is no meaning for why it is called so.

Sri Vrindavana or Vrindaranya is the place were the supreme personality of godhead sri krishna revealedbhis childhood pastimes, there he walked, there he lived, ther he stayed, there he ate, there he danced, there he sang, there he slept, there he mate, there he fought the demons and aetheists, there he lifted the Govardana hill to protect his devotees. Its much more to say than what can be written. No one in thus mortal or material world can decribe the glories of Vrindavana.

One should note that Vrindavana is also known as Vraja or Braja or Vrajabhumi or Brajabhumi.

The people of Vrindavana are naturally devoted to supreme personality of godhead sri krishna, they worship, they love him. It was here that supreme personality of godhead sri krishna's consort srimati radharani appeared and performed many wonderfull pastime cherished by millions of devotees worldwide till today.

Sri Vrindavana is filled with many lakes or kundas, trees, flowers, birds. One can also find many pastime places of the supreme personality of godhead sri krishna still existing there.

IT is most apporiate to call Vrindavana as Sri Vrindavana with all respects submitted to the place as Sri Vrindavana Dham.

HIS Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada instituted ISKCON a temple of worship for the supreme perzonality of Godhead Sri Krishna and His beloved Consort Srimayi Radharani. One can find many devotees here in Vrindavana chanting and performing Hari Nama Sankirtana or Hare Krishna Sankirtana in troops here. It was desire of Srila Bhaktisiddanata Sarawati Takura the Spiritual Master of His Divine Grace A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada to spread to message of Godhead to the west and this was envisioned by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabu or Sri Gauranga or Sri Nimai Pandita 500 years back "That the holy name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Sri Krishna will reach the entire world and in every village and city". This was done by Srila Prabhuapada and is stil carried out anf followed by his bonafide followers under the guidelines he setup still now.

I can go on and on wrijngghe glories ad mahatmya of Sri Vrindavana Dham but I want to keep it short.

Lastly what I would like you to do if you ever get an opportunity to visit Sri Vrindavana Dham is "TO VISIT SRI SRI RADHA VRINDAVANA CHANDRA MANDIR" wihout fail.

It is at this temple or holy place you will surely find all the bonafide details about Vrindavana.

THATS IT!

Hare Krishna

ALWAYS AT SRILA PRABHUPADA AND VAISHNAVAS DISPOSAL,

Amit Teli

The festival of lights celebrations at Iskcon Bangalore.

The festival of lights what's going on at Iskcon Bangalore.

This festival is going to happen till November 14th of this month.

Discuss to the significance on Sri Sri Krsna be boned by his mother in of love towards her son.

You are cordially invited to the festival.

Hare Krishna.

Darshan of Sri Sri Radha Vrindavana Chandra [ISKCON] - Amit Teli

Darshan of Sri Sri Radha Vrindavana Chandra [Sri Krishna and Srimati Radharani] @ ISKCON Sri Sri Radha Vrindavana Chandra Mandir, TheAkshaya Patra Campus, Chattikara, Vrindavana, Mathura District, Uttar Pradesh, India as on May 30, 2013




Offering Food to the Lord [ISKCON]


Offering Food to The Lord [ISKCON] a Letter by Srila Prabhupada, Founder Acharya of International Society for Krishna Conciousness and Only GURU in ISKCON to various Disciples





Srila Prabhupada taking prasadam


…For offering prasadam simply prayers to the Spiritual Master is sufficient. The process is that everything is offered to the Spiritual Master, and the Spiritual Master is supposed to offer the same foodstuff to the Lord. When a thing is offered to the Spiritual Master, he immediately offers to the Lord. That is the system, and as we come by parampara system, it is our duty to go through the right channel—namely, first the Spiritual Master, then Lord Caitanya, and then Krishna. So when we chant prayers, we do this, Vande ham Sri Guru . . . and gradually to the Goswamis, then to Lord Caitanya, and then to Radha Krishna. That is the praying system. But offering the prasadam to present everything before the Spiritual Master whose picture is also in the altar, means that the Spiritual Master will take care of offering the foodstuff to the Lord. Therefore simply by chanting the prayer to the Spiritual Master, everything will be complete. (Letter to Harer Nama May 28, 1968)
1. Prayer to Srila Prabhupada:
nama om vishnu-padaya krishna-preshthaya bhutale
srimate bhaktivedanta-swamin iti namine

namas te saraswate deve gaura-vani-pracharine
nirvishesha shunyavadi pashchatya desha tarine
“I offer my respectful obeisances unto His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is very dear to Lord Krishna, having taken shelter at His lotus feet.
Our respectful obeisances are unto you, O spiritual master, servant of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami. You are kindly preaching the message of Lord Caitanya deva and delivering the Western countries, which are filled with impersonalism and voidism.”
2. Prayer to Lord Chaitanya:
namo maha-vadanyaya krishna-prema-pradaya te
krishnaya krishna-chaitanya-namne gaura-twishe namaha

“O most munificent incarnation! You are Krishna Himself appearing as Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden color of Srimati Radharani. and You are widely distributing pure love of Krishna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You.”
3. Prayer to Lord Krishna:
namo brahmanya-devaya go-brahmana-hitaya cha
jagad-dhitaya krishnaya govindaya namo namaha

“I offer my respectful obeisances unto Lord Krishna, who is the worshipable Deity for all brahmanas the well-wisher of the cows and the brahmanas and the benefactor of the whole world. I offer my repeated obeisances to the Personality of Godhead, known as Krishna and Govinda.”

Letter to Harer Nama
28 May, 1968
Allston, Mass
My Dear Harer Nama,
Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated May 24, 1968, along with the news article published in the Daily Californian, p.9, on Wednesday May 22, 1968. The pictures and the statement are very appropriate and I hope this article will attract the attention of many students.
Actually this Krishna Consciousness movement is the greatest need of the present day situation of the world. It is authorized approved and very old, and practical. It can be accepted by any person in any part of the world; that is already tested. Now each one of us has got a great responsibility to spread this movement as far as possible and that is the greatest service to the suffering humanity. You are a student of psychology, so you can study this movement more clearly than others, and try to spread it to your best capacity.
Regarding your 2 questions: For offering prasadam simply prayers to the Spiritual Master is sufficient. The process is that everything is offered to the Spiritual Master, and the Spiritual Master is supposed to offer the same foodstuff to the Lord. When a thing is offered to the Spiritual Master, he immediately offers to the Lord. That is the system, and as we come by parampara system, it is our duty to go through the right channel—namely, first the Spiritual Master, then Lord Caitanya, and then Krishna. So when we chant prayers, we do this, Vande ham Sri Guru . . . and gradually to the Goswamis, then to Lord Caitanya, and then to Radha Krishna. That is the praying system. But offering the prasadam to present everything before the Spiritual Master whose picture is also in the altar, means that the Spiritual Master will take care of offering the foodstuff to the Lord. Therefore simply by chanting the prayer to the Spiritual Master, everything will be complete…
*Note: not full letter (page missing)
Hope you are well.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami


Kalki Alankara Sri Brahmotsava Celebrations (2013) at ISKCON Bangalore

Kalki Alankar, Sri Brahmotsava Celebrations (2013) at International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), Hare Krishna Hill, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.  

 

Vrindavan Krishna Vishesha Alankara 2013 Sri Brahmotsavam Celebrations at ISKCON Bangalore

Vrindavan Krishna Vishesha Alankara 2013, Sri Brahmotsavam Celebrations at International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Bangalore, Hare Krishna hill, West of Cord Road, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.


ISKCON Bangalore Lectures: Sri Chanchalapathi Dasa

Lecture by His Grace Sri Chanchalapathi Dasa on May 03, 2013 at International Society For Krishna Conciousness (ISKCON) Bangalore, Hare Krishna Hill, West of Cord Road, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Month: May
Day: Friday
Date: 03
Year: 2013

Sri Sri Radha Vrindavana Chandra Drashan, ISKCON HKM Group

Sri Sri Radha Vrindavana Chandra (Sri Krishna and His Eternal Consort Srimati Radharani) Darshan as on May 03, 2013, at "Sri Sri Radha Vrindavana Chandra Mandir", International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), The Akshaya Patra Campus, Chattikara, Vrindavana, Mathura District, Uttar Pradesh, India.









Mohini Alankara - Brahmotsava 2013 Celebrations at ISKCON Bangalore

Mohini Alankara - Brahmotsava 2013 at International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), Hare Krishna Hill, West of Cord Road, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India


The eighth day of Sri Brahmotsava festival Sri Krishnachandra was adorned in Mohini Alankara.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Sri Krishna Pastimes: The Killing of Kamsa

The Killing of Kamsa: A Pastimes of The Supreme Lord "Sri Krishna"


Killing of Kamsa by Krishna1
The Killing of Kamsa
Excerpted from Back to Godhead Magazine Volume 01, Number 67, 1974
by His Holiness Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami
Bhagavad-gita states that Lord Krsna descends to this world to vanquish miscreants and rescue His devotees. Once when the world was overburdened with demoniac forces, the demigods prayed for the appearance of the Lord. Lord Krsna accepted the prayer, and He decided to appear as the son of two pure devotees, Vasudeva and his wife, Devaki. Years before Krsna’s actual advent, on the day Devaki and Vasudeva were married, Kamsa, the brother of the bride, was driving the couple to Vasudeva’s home. In the middle of the joyous procession, a voice suddenly rang out from the sky. “Kamsa,” the voice said, “you are such a fool! You are driving the chariot of your sister, but you do not know that the eighth child of your sister will kill you!”
Kamsa then at once took hold of Devaki and drew his sword to kill her. This shows the essence of Kamsa’s demoniac mentality: anyone or anything that threatened his bodily enjoyment must be destroyed. Vasudeva at once intervened and pleaded with Kamsa not to kill Devaki. Vasudeva spoke in a very enlightened way. Death, he told Kamsa, is inevitable, so why should we be afraid of it? After the end of this body, we get another body to fulfill our desires. Death is only a change of bodies. The real self is eternal, so we should try to find our real life beyond the body.
Unfortunately, Kamsa, being an atheist, could not listen to good instruction. Although each of us has but little control over the forces of nature, foolish people try to become lords of all they survey. They live only for the pleasure of the body, taking the body to be the self, and disregarding the soul. In ignorance, they say there is no soul.
This philosophy is now very popular, but it has existed since time immemorial. Thousands of years ago, in Vedic times, it was propounded by a philosopher named Carvaka, who taught that one should simply enjoy sensual pleasures, like eating, as much as he can. One should not hesitate to commit any irresponsible act to reach his goal, and one should not worry about the next life because at death everything will be finished. When modern so-called leaders take up this philosophy, people in general follow, and society becomes hellish. Not considering the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or His supreme proprietorship, men take to animal slaughter, abortion, intoxication—anything. We are seeing only the beginning of this in current times. When Krsna conscious persons like Vasudeva try to give enlightenment, many so-called educated men take them lightly and say that the existence of God and the eternity of the soul are myths. And when governments also fail to meet their responsibility to further God consciousness, social degradation is assured.
To dissuade Kamsa from murdering Devaki, Vasudeva promised that he and Devaki would bring Kamsa each of their children as they were born so that he could do what he liked with them. Kamsa relented, and when Vasudeva brought Kamsa their first-born child one year later, he became a little compassionate and spared the baby.
Later, however, Kamsa became alarmed when he heard from the sage Narada that Krsna was soon to appear. Narada told Kamsa that in his past life he had been a demon named Kalanemi, who had been killed by Lord Krsna, the Personality of Godhead. On hearing this, Kamsa foolishly became determined to kill the Lord. “Any child might be Krsna,” he concluded. He at once ordered the imprisonment of Vasudeva and Devaki and killed their child. Kamsa committed many other atrocities, all so that he might live and rule at any cost. He made alliances with many demoniac kings and imprisoned anyone who opposed him, including his own father, Ugrasena. In this way he expanded his kingdom, just as modern politicians do, until he became the strongest emperor of his time. He broke the solidarity of the Yadu dynasty, which included all of Krsna’s relatives, and forced them to hide in caves. Year after year Devaki gave birth to a child, and Kamsa murdered every one—six in all—fearing each to be the child who would kill him.
When Krsna Himself became the eighth child, He cheated Kamsa. He appeared before Vasudeva and Devaki as the Supreme Lord and then transformed Himself into a normal child. Krsna ordered Vasudeva to exchange Him with a female child just bom to mother Yasoda in nearby Gokula. Although Vasudeva was shackled and Kamsa’s prison well guarded, by Krsna’s mystic potency Vasudeva was able to escape from the prison, make the exchange, and return unnoticed to his cell.
Kamsa heard the cries of the newborn child as his death knell, and he rushed in to kill him. But the baby flew up into the air and assumed the form of the demigoddess Maya. “You rascal,” she said to Kamsa. “The child who will kill you has already been born elsewhere. You cannot kill Him.”
Threatened in this way, Kamsa and his demoniac associates began an all-out purge, ordering the murder of all male children born within the previous ten days. Kamsa also harassed all saintly persons and brahmanas. He knew that the devotees are the heart and soul of his enemy, Lord Krsna, so he tried to attack Him by persecuting His closest servitors and putting a stop to all religious activities.
Lord Krsna, however, was not at all fearful. He simply enjoyed His childhood pastimes in Vrndavana, giving pleasure to His friends, His mother and father, and the cowherd men and women. Kamsa, however, tried repeatedly to disrupt Krsna’s pastimes. First he sent a witch named Putana, who had already killed many babies by her black arts. She tried to kill Krsna when He was only a few months old. She smeared poison on her breast, appeared in Vrndavana as a beautiful young woman, and took permission from mother Yasoda to give Krsna her breast to suck. Baby Krsna, however, not only sucked her breast milk, but sucked out her life as well.
After Putana, Kamsa sent many demons, among them Trnavarta and Aghasura. Trnavarta appeared in the shape of a whirlwind and tried to kidnap Krsna and destroy Him high in the sky. Aghasura, the brother of Putana, came before Krsna and His friends as a giant serpent. But Krsna nonchalantly killed these ferocious demons one after another. Krsna’s father, Nanda, and other elders of the village were concerned about the constant attacks upon Krsna, so they moved their entire village community to a more suitable place, where they hoped to be free from attack. But more demons came; a giant horse, an enormous bull, a pack of asses, and many others. Child Krsna killed them all, assisted by His brother, Balarama.
When Krsna was sixteen years old, Kamsa discovered for certain that Krsna in Vrndavana was Devaki’s eighth child. Narada told Kamsa of Krsna’s true identity and related how He had killed all the demons without difficulty. In desperation, Kamsa formed his final plot: he arranged for a big wrestling match at Mathura and sent Akrura, Krsna’s uncle, to Vrndavana to invite Krsna and all His relatives and neighbors to attend the gala affair.
Akrura was actually a great devotee of Krsna. So when he arrived in Vrndavana, he confided to Krsna that the wrestling match was an elaborate plan to kill Him and His brother. Krsna and Balarama mildly laughed at this. They invited all the townsmen to go to Mathura, and They Themselves set out with Akrura.
Krsna’s arrival in Mathura was supposed to be His entrance into an ominous trap, but Krsna very blissfully and lightheartedly entered the city. And when the news spread that Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, had come, all the residents of Mathura spontaneously turned out to see Him. The real festival in Mathura became the festival of seeing Krsna. All the young girls were very eager to see Krsna, but out of modesty they went to the roofs of the houses to catch a glimpse of Him. The people had heard about Krsna and His activities, but only now did they have the chance to see Him. They became ecstatic and rushed from whatever they were doing to see Krsna passing through the streets. People talked back and forth about how beautiful Krsna was, and they praised the great fortune of the gopis and other devotees of Vrndavana who were able to see Krsna every day.
There are two kinds of human beings—devotees and demons—and in Mathura Krsna encountered both. While Krsna and Balarama were walking through the streets of Mathura, They met a washerman carrying various garments. Krsna asked the washerman for some clothing and promised to award him all good fortune. This is the basis of Krsna consciousness: the devotee offers whatever he has to the Lord, and the Lord, although not in need, accepts the offering to help awaken the devotee’s original relationship of service to Him. Unfortunately, this washerman thought himself a servant not of Krsna but of Kamsa. Not only did he refuse to give Krsna clothing, but he called Him impudent. “Don’t ask for things that are the King’s property,” he said, “or You will be punished.” Krsna became very angry with this servant of Kamsa and killed him, using only His hand as a weapon.
A little later Krsna and Balarama met a florist who was exactly the opposite of the washerman. He was very submissive and simply prayed to be eternally engaged in devotional service to Krsna. The florist gave Krsna a very beautiful garland at his home, and thus his desire was fulfilled.
Krsna and Balarama also met a young hunchback woman carrying sandalwood paste. Her duty had been to bring sandalwood to King Kamsa daily, but when she saw the personal beauty of Krsna and Balarama, she voluntarily offered the sandalwood paste to Them. In return, Krsna transformed her from a hunchback into a beautiful young woman by touching her with His hand. One may take these extraordinary encounters to be fictitious or imaginary, but they are the actual historic activities the Personality of Godhead performed while present on earth some 5,000 years ago. The great authorities in Krsna consciousness who are passing down the narrations of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam do not doubt these facts. Mundane scholars and people in general may doubt them, but they cannot understand the science of God as presented in Vedic literature. One who is not rendering service to the Personality of Godhead through a bona fide spiritual master can only whimsically speculate about what God can or cannot do.
As Krsna and Balarama approached the sacrificial arena in Mathura, They saw a big display where a giant bow was being guarded by state soldiers. Krsna walked right past the guards, picked up the bow and broke it. The sound of the bow’s cracking reverberated throughout the land and sky and even reached the palace of Kamsa. The guards rushed Krsna and Balarama, but the two brothers immediately killed them and left the arena.
Thereafter, Krsna continued to visit various places in Mathura, and the citizens turned out to see Him, astonished at His extraordinary beauty and opulence. In Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Srila Prabhupada writes, “The two brothers strolled carefree in the street, not caring for the law and order of Kamsa.” In this way They hinted at the severe danger awaiting Kamsa.
When Kamsa heard the bow break and heard how the guards had been killed, he partially realized the power of the Supreme Lord. He understood that the eighth child of Devaki had come to kill him. That night he could not rest at all, for both awake and dreaming he had inauspicious visions. He looked in the mirror but could not see his head. He saw stars in the sky double. He saw holes in his shadow, heard a buzzing sound in his ears, and had ghastly dreams of ghosts, poison and murder. Thus he understood that his death was sure. But when morning finally came, he busily arranged for the wrestling match. In his last hours, with death so near, rather than pray to the Supreme Lord for mercy, Kamsa anxiously planned how to avert what he knew was certain.
All those who share Kamsa’s demoniac mentality are like that. They can see that material nature will eventually kill them, just as it has killed everyone else in history. Yet they act as if they will never die. A great devotee once called this the most wonderful phenomenon: people see the hand of death take away all their predecessors, but they think that they themselves will not die. The Kamsas of this world are always busy planning how to enjoy this life, even up till the second they are snatched away by death. So many modern cities have been built all over the world, but no one who lives in them has any guarantee that he won’t be kicked out today or tomorrow by death. Ignoring the next life only insures that we will have to take another birth to suffer miseries again and again. Kamsa was like a man trying to raise his temperature when he already has a high fever; when the fever reaches 107 degrees, a man dies. Kamsa could not see that all his plans to survive would be vanquished, nor did he care to hear about the next life. Like a typical politician, on the morning of his death Kamsa busied himself making plans for this temporary world.
After bathing and performing other morning duties, Krsna and Balarama heard drums playing at the wrestling arena, and They prepared to go see the fun. But when They arrived at the gateway of the arena, a big elephant with a rider blocked Their path. This was another of Kamsa’s schemes. Krsna told the elephant’s caretaker to immediately clear the path, but the man became angry and provoked the elephant to charge Krsna. Krsna moved around the elephant, dragged it by its tail, tripped it and finally killed both the elephant and its rider.
Krsna and Balarama then proceeded into the arena, where everyone at once became attracted to Them. The audience was completely attentive to Krsna and Balarama. The residents of Vrndavana were all reciting Their pastimes, and others, seeing Them for the first time, began to praise Their qualities.
Suddenly, a musical fanfare announced the start of the wrestling match. The famous champion wrestlers Canura and Mustika approached Krsna and Balarama, and Canura said, “We have heard all about You. The King desires to see You display Your wrestling abilities.” Krsna replied that although He and Balarama liked to play and sometimes They wrestled with Their cowherd friends, They were not professional wrestlers. Krsna said plainly that a match of” professional wrestlers against young boys would not be equal, and this would disturb the audience. But the wrestlers insisted that Krsna and Balarama were not ordinary boys, and so the match began.
Many members of the audience called out their disapproval, for Krsna and His brother appeared to be delicate boys of tender age, whereas the wrestlers were mountainous strongmen, trained in the art of crushing opponents. In Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Srila Prabhupada specifically describes what the members of the audience said. “But my dear friends,” someone spoke out, “just look at the face of Krsna. There are drops of perspiration on His face from chasing His enemy, and His face appears like a lotus flower with drops of water. And do you see how the face of Lord Balarama has turned especially beautiful? There is a reddish hue on His white face because He is engaged in a strong wrestling match with Mustika.” Another spectator exclaimed, “Even in front of the King this wrestling match is going on between incompatible sides.” Thus the members of the audience were very attracted to Krsna, but at the same time they saw great danger and felt anxiety for Him. Even Krsna’s very intimate devotees, such as His mother and father, were also very anxious because they too did not know the unlimited strength of Krsna and Balarama.
Lord Krsna is actually all-powerful, and there is nothing to fear when He is fighting a conditioned living being of the material world. Krsna is declared throughout the Vedas to be the Absolute Truth, the source from whom everything comes and upon whom everything rests. Srimad-Bhagavatam says that He alone existed before creation. He is now the only ultimate reality, and after annihilation only He will remain. But by Krsna’s internal spiritual energy, called yoga-maya, He acts in different relationships with His servitors according to how they approach Him.
Krsna is the reservoir of all personal feelings, so we should not be surprised that He reveals Himself differently in various relationships. To the mass of people at the wrestling arena He appeared as the most beautiful personality, but to the wrestlers He appeared like a thunderbolt. The ksatriyas (warriors) saw Him as the strongest ruler, while the females saw Him as the most attractive male. The cowherd men from Vrndavana saw Him as their own kinsman, while the yogis saw Him as the Supersoul in everyone’s heart. Kamsa also saw Krsna uniquely—as Death Personified.
Kamsa was always fearful that Krsna would someday kill him. Thus he spent his whole life absorbed in thoughts of how to kill Krsna. Because he was always thinking of Krsna, Kamsa was Krsna conscious. But because he thought of Krsna unfavorably, he is not considered a devotee of the Lord. He was not practicing bhakti (devotional service). To be always thinking, like Kamsa, of how to avoid submitting to the Lord’s supreme will is the principal engagement of a whole class of men, including modern educators, scientists, politicians and philosophers. By hearing about Kamsa, we can clearly understand why such a mentality is self-defeating.
Krsna and Balarama engaged the wrestlers in the standard wrestling holds and maneuvers for some time, but when the anxious protests of the audience grew too great, Krsna simply spun one wrestler in the air, Balarama hit the other, and the famous wrestlers were dead. Other wrestlers came forward, but the two brothers killed them immediately, and the remaining wrestlers ran from the arena. Musicians spontaneously beat their drums, and the crowd cheered the victory of Krsna and Balarama.
Kamsa was enraged. He announced that Krsna and Balarama should be driven from the city of Mathura, Their riches plundered, and Krsna’s father killed. Krsna could not tolerate such talk. He jumped over the high wall protecting King Kamsa and stood before him face to face. Kamsa tried defending himself with a sword, but Krsna grabbed him and dragged him down from the throne. After throwing him on the ground, Krsna killed Kamsa by punching him with His fist. Krsna then dragged Kamsa around the arena the way a lion drags an elephant after killing it, just to assure His parents, relatives and all pious people that Kamsa was actually dead.
One may wonder why this narration contains so much violence and killing, since the Supreme Personality of Godhead is said to be all-merciful. But there is no question of wrongdoing in Krsna’s actions. Because Krsna is absolute, whatever Krsna does is absolutely good. Fighting and killing is required for a ksatriya (warrior) when there is a need to punish miscreants who threaten the peaceful citizens of society. When such criminals need to be rebuffed, nonviolence is cowardice, as Krsna told Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra. Devotees of Krsna are naturally nonviolent toward all living entities, even animals, but if the demoniac make a violent disturbance, the devotees are prepared to counter such violence in the service of the Supreme Lord.
Also, when Krsna personally kills someone, He gives that person the benediction of liberation. Astoundingly, Kamsa was immediately awarded sarupya-mukti upon being killed by Krsna. This means that he went to the spiritual planets, where he was able to live in eternity, bliss and knowledge with a form almost exactly resembling the Supreme Lord’s in opulence and beauty. Such liberation is very difficult to achieve, even after hundreds of lifetimes spent searching for the Absolute Truth. Yogis and ascetics achieve release from all material desires only after prolonged, severe austerities. But even they do not reach the Vaikuntha planets; they merge into the impersonal brahmajyoti, the effulgence of the Lord. Kamsa, however, had a personal relationship with Krsna. He thought of Krsna day and night: “When will He come? What is He doing now? When will He kill me?” So Kamsa was given a place more exalted than all the impersonal mystic yogis of the hatha-yoga school or the philosophers who speculate about the impersonal Absolute Truth. This gives a hint of the great power of bhakti. If an avowed enemy of Krsna is given such a high place, we can barely even imagine the sweet favor the Lord awards to those who relate to Him in a positive, loving way, always rendering service to Him and chanting His glories.
Finally, one might ask why Krsna should personally fight with a demon like Kamsa. Krsna, being the source of all emanations and qualities, has His own transcendental desires. Therefore He also has a fighting propensity, which He exhibits in His playful wrestling with the cowherd boys of Vrndavana. Authorities in the science of Krsna consciousness inform us that Krsna’s choice to fight with Kamsa indicates that Kamsa is actually a liberated devotee of Krsna’s who was sent to the material world to provide the Lord a suitable opponent. Kamsa could not actually threaten Krsna; Krsna arranged the fight for His personal pleasure. This understanding brings us to a level of consciousness beyond violence or nonviolence, morality or immorality.
Krsna displays His eternal pastimes with His devotees just to attract us to return to His loving service. We are all eternal parts and parcels of Krsna, but we are now suffering the miseries of repeated birth and death in the material world, in forgetfulness of Krsna. We should not struggle to rival Krsna; rather, we should understand that the only business of our life is to serve the Lord. We each have a natural aptitude for the service of Krsna, and that should be developed, under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. The first engagement is to hear the pastimes of Krsna. Our present age is very fallen, full of materialistic and impersonal concepts of reality, but the truth is available in the vast treasurehouse of Vedic literature. The sincere seeker will find that truth very easily, if he begins with a submissive ear.

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