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Divine Connection
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Founder Acarya His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Issue 12
FESTIVAL/ EVENTS
By Mansi Suresh (9)
Janmashtami is a very important festival
of celebration for the Vaisnavas. It is the
appearance day of Lord Krsna, who kindly
descends to this material world to enjoy
loving relationships with His devotees, and
to destroy the demons. Krsna is very
merciful, and loving to His devotees. Krsna
loves His devotees more than Himself and
similarly, His devotees love Him more than
they love themselves! He is their very life and
soul.
In the following two Bhagavad Gita verses,
Krsna says that He personally comes
whenever and wherever there is decline in
religious practices, to annihilate the
miscreants, to protect the devotee, and to re-
establish the principles of religion.
yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham
www.iskcondc.com
Aug‘10
In this material world, each and every living
entity wants to enjoy and experience
happiness. But no one can find true Coloring Corner 3
happiness here. Can you guess why? It’s
because this place is “dukhalayam
Poem — 3
asasvatam,”as Krsna Himself states in
Bhagavad Gita. This material world is The mood on Vrndavan
temporary and full of miseries. Everyone is
putting themselves in the center and trying Reflections 3
to have lots of sense gratification. No one
wants to serve Krsna and that’s why there is Story 1- Darling of Vrnda- 4
suffering. Actually, our real position is to van
serve the Lord and please Him. And that is
the way to become truly happy. Krsna Acharya Series 5
appears on this auspicious day, from the
highest, eternal planet of Goloka Vegetarian recipe 6
Vrndavana, to this earth, just to simply give
every living entity real happiness.
Game 1—Word SCramble 6
So, why do we call Janmashtami as the
appearance day of Krsna and not His Story 2 – 7
birthday? God has no birth or death. He is Srimati Radharani
unborn, ever existing, and primeval. His
body is not material like the ordinary Verse of the month 8
conditioned living entities. He is fully
transcendental and ever fresh. He is Game 2 — Crosswords 8
compared to the sun which rises at dawn
and sets at dusk. His appearance and
disappearance are like that of the sun’s
rising and setting. When the sun appears
early in the morning, it seems as if it is born
Special Interest
and similarly when it sets in the evening, it
looks as if it is dead. But actually, the sun is
always there in the sky. Due to our
imperfect senses, we cannot see its
existence. In the following verse of
Bhagavad Gita,
ajo 'pi sann avyayatma
bhutanam isvaro 'pi san
prakrtim svam adhisthaya
sambhavamy atma-mayaya

In this age of Kali, Krsna descends in our
hearts in the form of His Holy Name.
There is no difference between the Lord
and His Holy Name. When we chant at-
tentively, Krsna will appear in our hearts.
So, let’s all sincerely call out to Krsna by
chanting His Holy Names on this most
auspicious and most sacred festival day
and awaken our love for Him.
In Bhagavad Gita, 4.13,
janma karma ca me divyam
evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mam eti so 'rjuna
Krsna says that one can go back to Him
just by remembering his transcendental
appearance and activities. Therefore, on
this most Holy occasion of Janmashtami,
we can all meditate on this sweet pastime
describing the descent of Krsna:
Many thousands of years ago, there was a
powerful dynasty called the Yadu dy-
nasty. It’s king was called Ugrasena. Ug-
rasena had one son and one daughter. His
son, Kamsa, was very cruel, wicked, and
demoniac. His daughter, Devaki, was a
very nice devotee of the Lord, who had
performed so many austerities and sacri-
fices in her previous birth.
On the day of Devaki’s marriage, Kamsa
eagerly drove the chariot of Devaki and
Vasudev. Suddenly, the king heard a voice
from the sky. He was startled. The voice
thundered, “You fool, the eighth son of
Devaki will kill you.” Upon hearing the
voice, Kamsa became very disturbed and
got ready to kill Devaki. Just then,
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Vasudev, wanting to protect his new wife, Lord Krsna, the Supreme Per-
made a solemn promise to give each and sonality of Godhead, has per-
every child to Kamsa as soon as they are sonally come to deliver the
born. Kamsa paused. Then he imprisoned conditioned souls, to protect
Vasudev and Devaki and took them to his loving devotees, and to
Mathura. Vasudev gave every new born slay the wicked. On this most
baby and Kamsa killed them one after an- auspicious festival day of the
other. Lord’s descent, let’s lovingly
perform nice devotional ser-
When it was time for the seventh child, vice for the pleasure of the
Krsna’s internal potency, Yoga-Maya, trans- Lord. That’s the only way to
ferred the child from the womb of Devaki to go back Home, back to God-
the womb of Vasudev’s other wife, Rohini. head, which is full of eternal
Soon, it was time for the eighth child to be bliss and joy.
born. The Lord appeared before Vasudev in
a four handed form and instructed him to Sri Krishna Janmastami ki
take Him to Nanda Maharaj’s home at Go- Jay!
kul. Immediately, all their chains fell off and
the prison gates opened. The guards were
fast asleep. As Vasudev went, River Yamuna
miraculously parted, giving way. Vasudev
gave the baby to Nanda Maharaj and took
the girl baby that was born to Yasoda to the
prison house of Kamsa. Once he entered his
cell, the gates closed by themselves.
Soon after, the baby cried. The guards woke
up and informed Kamsa. Kamsa took the
baby and tried to kill her. But the baby, who
was Goddess Durga, flew from his hands
and informed him that the child who is go-
ing to kill was already born.
Meanwhile, the residents of Vrndavana ec-
statically celebrated the descent of Krsna.
They had such intimate love and devotion
for the Lord. The Supreme Lord Krsna per-
formed many sweet past times, just to at-
tract the conditioned souls back home.
 3

A Poem -
The Moon Of Vrndavan
By Sunethra Ramkumar (10)

The animals, trees, birds, vines

And all the other living entities
Yearn to see the rising of
Krishna- The Moon of Vrndavana

By Pranesh Ambokar (6) By Hamsika (4)

Reflections... By Mansi Suresh (9)

• Maya is not strong but because we are weak, Maya is stronger than us. The only way to
overcome Maya is by taking shelter of Krsna.
• The two important things are to remember Krsna and never forget him. A pure devotee al-
ways chants and thinks of Krsna’s qualities, pastimes, and activities. We can see this in the
pastimes of Radharani. One time, a bumble bee was buzzing around Radha. So she told Mad-
humangal to take the bee. And after Madhumangal did as told, he said, “Madhu has gone.”
Hearing this, Radharani was broken-hearted. Out of separation, Radharani started crying.
Because she was always remembering Krsna, she thought that Madhu- Krsna- had gone. This
shows how Radha’s life was fully centered around Her beloved, Krsna.
• Prabhupad has said many times how humans should live: “Simple living and High thinking.”
• Srila Prabhupad was so determined and was so dedicated to fulfill his guru’s orders. Even
though he was old and faced many difficulties on the Jaladuta, still Prabhupad had strong
desire to preach to the West, on the order of his guru. Similarly, we should not be lazy and
should have a sincere desire to have a strong desire to please guru and Krsna.
• Krsna wants His devotees to be happy and the devotees want to make Krsna happy.
 4

DARLING OF VRNDAVAN Krishna was the darling of Mother Yashoda

By Koumudhi Kammari (13) and Nanda Maharaj, and the whole of Vrnda-
van. He performed many wondrous feats at a
tender age.

Nanda Maharaj and Mother Yashoda were celebrating the first birthday of Krishna, and for Krishna’s wel-
fare, Mother Yashoda bathed Krishna and then gave vast amounts of charity to the brahmanas. After this,
Yashoda Mata decorated herself very nicely and sat down to hear the Vedic hymns with baby Krishna on
her lap. Meanwhile, she noticed that Krishna was becoming sleepy so
she put Him on a bed and went to welcome the inhabitants of Vrnda-
van and their relatives. Being very busy in doing this, she forgot to feed
Krishna. Krishna was very hungry and was crying for His mother, and
just like an ordinary child, he started kicking his feet and shouting. Un-
fortunately, Mother Yashoda still could not hear. Krishna was placed
under a hand driven cart and while kicking His legs, He accidentally
kicked the wheel of the cart. Then the wheel detached from the cart
and the cart broke. Then, all the utensils fell down to. Hearing all the
commotion, everybody rushed to the spot, wondering how the cart fell
down. All the children playing there said, “Krishna did it! He broke the
cart!” The gopis and gopas did not know of the Lord’s inconceivable
power and thought it to be childish talk and didn’t pay heed to them. Then Mother Yashoda picked
Krishna up, fed him, and thinking this to be the influence of a bad planet, called all the brahmanas and
asked them to chant Vedic hymns to protect Krishna from inauspiciousness. The brahmanas chanted
prayers to appease the planet and then Nanda Maharaj asked the truthful brahmanas to offer blessings to
the child so he would be in no further danger. Then he fed all the brahmanas sumptuously.

A few months later, Mother Yashoda was carrying Krishna and all of a sudden, he felt as heavy as a
mountain peak. Not able to bear that weight, Mother Yashoda had to put Krishna down and she prayed to
Lord Narayana. Mother Yashoda called the brahmanas and asked them to counter the heaviness, thinking
that it was some ghost or demon. When Krishna was sitting there, a demon named Trnavarta, a servant of
Kamsa, came as a whirlwind, on Kamsa’s order and took Krishna far, far away into the sky. Then Krishna
became heavier and heavier and the demon was forced to stop going up. He felt as though Krishna was a
mountain peak or a chunk of steel. Meanwhile, down in Vrndavan, all the inhabitants were thrown into
confusion and Mother Yashoda not being able to find Krishna fell to the ground and was lamenting. When
the gopis saw and asked her what happened, their eyes were filled with tears too. Krishna way up in the
sky was choking Trnavarta, and Trnavarta not being able to breathe and not even able to make a sound
lost his life and fell down from the sky onto a stone, his limbs dislocated. Then the gopis found Krishna on
Trnavarta’s chest and picked him up and gave him to Mother Yashoda. Because Krishna was unhurt and
now free from misfortune, everybody was happy.

Who can understand the inconceivable potencies of Lord Krishna, the Darling of Vrndavana?
 5

ACHARYA SERIES
By Sruthi Mungara(13)
Srila Prabhupada, the founder of our ISKCON
movement, appeared on September 1st, 1896, on the
day after Janmastami. From his early childhood days,
he worshiped his Radha Govinda deities with a lot of devotion. He also hosted an annual ratha
yathra that he and his little friends conducted every year. He went to Scottish churches college
and then married Radharani Datta. Then, known as Abhay Charan De, Prabhupada worked in a
pharmaceutical company.

One day, a college friend of his requested Abhay to meet a renowned

sadhu who was visiting Calcutta. At first Abhay was reluctant, thinking
that this was a bogus devotee, but when he went there, he knew that he
had met his eternal spiritual master: Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati
Maharaja. Bhakti Siddhanta Sarasvati Maharaja instructed Abhay:
“Whenever you get money, print books and preach Krishna
Consciousness throughout the world.”

At the age of seventy, Abhay Charan, now Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupada, boarded a steamship to America to fulfill his spiritual
master’s dream. On the way, he suffered two heart attacks but with
Krishna's mercy, he reached America safely. The first year was very
difficult and it was a long time before people finally came to realize the
potency of Krishna consciousness movement.

After initiating a few devotees in New York, Prabhupada went to San Francisco and installed the
deities of Jagannath, Baladev, and Subadhra, naming it New Jagannath Puri. Prabhupada
traveled around the world 14 times and established many ISKCON centers. He sent a group of
devotees to London who met George Harrison and also recorded a Hare Krishna album, which
reached the top of ratings in many states. He also wrote many books for our benefit and
established deity worship and the principle of “Simple living and high thinking,” throughout.

Prabhupada always gave full credit to his spiritual master, and after fulfilling his spiritual
master's instructions. Prabhupad went back home, back to Godhead on November 14, 1977.

We have to be very grateful to Srila Prabhupada, who came all the way just to send us back to
Godhead through his books and teachings.

Srila Prabhupada ki Jai!!

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DIVINE BROWNIES...
By Sunethra Ramkumar (9) “Maya is on the back side of
Krishna and if we keep ourselves
1/2 cup- butter always in front side of Krishna,
1/2 cup- carob powder engaged in His service, then the
2 tablespoons- lechitin
external energy on the back side of
Krishna will not be able to attack
3/4 cup- warm soy milk
us.”
1 cup- whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoon- baking powder
1/2 teaspoon- salt Contributed by ~ Panchajanya Mungara (10)
1 teaspoon- vanilla essence
1/2 cup- maple syrup
1 cup - carob chips

Preparation:
Combine carob powder with butter. Add lechitin, warm soy
milk, and maple syrup. Mix well. In a separate bowl, sift
flour, baking flour, and salt. Add vanilla essence. Blend
well. Stir in carob chips. Grease and flour baking pan of
choice and pour butter into pan. Bake at 350 for 30 to 35
minutes. Let it cool. Offer to the Lord and enjoy!!!!!

Word Scramble
Dheeraj Kammari (12)
 7

Appearance
Srimati Radharani appeared as the daughter of Vrshabhanu and Kirtida. For a
Srimathi radharani long time, Vrshabhanu and Kirtida did not have a child. So, they made Räval
their residence to receive the sanctification and blessing of such a holy place to
By Aayushi Jain(8) have a child.
( Artwork) - Ramya (Lakshmi) Suresh (16)
One early morning, King Vrshabhanu went to the River Yamuna to take his
bath. In the middle of the river, he saw a golden lotus flower effulgent like
millions of suns. He approached the lotus and found a baby in the middle of
the lotus flower. Lord Brahma then appeared before King Vrshabhanu and
told him that, as Sucandra and Kalävaté in their previous lives, they had un-
dergone long and severe austerities to get the consort of Lord Vishnu as their daughter, and thus, the baby on the lotus was none other than Srimati Radha-
rani. The King gladly accepted the little child and brought Her home. For the pleasure of the devotees, yogamäyä acted in such a way that Vrshabhanu and
Kirtida thought of Srimati Radharani as their own daughter. With pure devotion, they began caring for this divine
child. But there was a problem. The little child appeared to be blind, deaf and dumb.
Meanwhile, Närada Muni figured out that Krishna had made His appearance in Vraja. He concluded that Srimati
Radharani would have also appeared. Närada Muni greatly desired to see and worship the form of Srimati Radha-
rani as a small child. So he started going from home to home on the eastern side of the River Yamunä to give bless-
ings to new-born children. Finally, he reached the house of Vrshabhanu and Kirtida, who hesitantly took him to
Srimati Radharani. In the presence of Srimati Radharani, Närada Muni became stunned: his hairs stood on end, and
his body trembled. Seeing the golden effulgence, he understood that this was Srimati Radharani. In solitude, he paid
his obeisances to Her and worshipped Her to his heart’s content. Because of his purity, Närada Muni understood
why Srimati Radharani was manifesting Her external circumstance of apparently being blind, deaf and dumb.
Närada Muni suggested Vrshabhanu to hold a big festival and invite Nanda, Yasoda and little Gopäla, so that
Radha's external conditions could be improved. They followed the advice and organized a big festival. While the
festivities were going on, the mischievous Gopäla crawled to the cradle of Srimati Radharani and peeped inside. As
soon as He looked, Radharani opened Her eyes very wide and cried out very loudly.
"Srimati Radharani has no interest in anything apart from Krishna, and She had no reason to see, hear or speak anything till She met Krishna. From that time
Rädhä-Krishna were again united. Actually They are always present together."

The mood of Srimati Radharani

"There is only one thing in the heart and the mind of Radharani and that is serving and pleasing Krishna. Because of this unequalled love that Radha has for
Krishna, Radha steals the heart and the mind of Krishna." When we say ‘Rädhä’, in the vocative form, it becomes ‘Rädhe’. Similarly ‘Hara’ in the vocative
form becomes ‘Hare’. ‘Hara’ is the internal potency of the Lord who is none other than Radha. While chanting Hare Krishna mahä-mantra, we pray, "O Su-
preme Goddess Rädhä, You who steal the heart of Krishna, please engage me in the service of the Supreme Lord, Krishna". "When we make some offering to
Krishna, we actually request Radha to make the offering to Krishna. If Krishna receives the offering from Rädhä, He will surely accept it." "What if our offer-
ing of everything is so insignificant that Krishna might not want to accept? But, if Rädhä comes to Krishna and says, ‘Oh! It is a very nice offering! Please
accept it. Take this soul as Yours,’ Krishna accepts the offering. So, we pray should from our hearts that Srimati Radharani may kindly accept our life dedi-
cated in service to Krishna."

Beauty of Srimati Radharani

The descriptions of the beauty of Radharani are wonderfully poetic and descriptive. In describing Srimati
Radharani, it is also said in the Vidagdha-madhava (1.32) by Rupa Gosvami, "The beauty of Srimati Radha-
rani's eyes forcibly devours the beauty of newly grown blue lotus flowers, and the beauty of Her face sur-
passes that of an entire forest of fully blossomed lotuses. Her bodily luster seems to place even gold in a
painful situation. Thus, the wonderful, unprecedented beauty of Srimati Radharani is awakening Vrnda-
vana."

"Although the effulgence of the moon is brilliant initially at night, in the daytime it fades away. Similarly,
although the lotus is beautiful during the daytime, at night it closes. But, O My friend, the face of My most
dear Srimati Radharani is always bright and beautiful, both day and night. Therefore, to what can Her face
be compared?" (Vidagdha-madhava 5.20)
"When Srimati Radharani smiles, waves of joy overtake Her cheeks, and Her arched eyebrows dance like the bow of Cupid. Her glance is so enchanting that
it is like a dancing bumblebee, moving unsteadily due to intoxication. That bee has bitten the whorl of My heart." (Vidagdha-madhava 2.51)

Lord Krishna appearing as Lord Caitanya

Krsnadasa Kaviräja Goswami explains that Lord Krishna descends as Caitanya Mahäprabhu in the mood and luster of Srimati Radharani to experience the
following three things:
- The love Srimati Radharani feels in Her relationship with Him.
- The happiness that She experiences in that love.
- The qualities in Him that Srimati Radharani becomes attracted to.
We should offer our prayers not just from the head, but from the heart, "Let the love that Srimati Radharani has for Krishna, which steals away His heart,
somehow capture our hearts also."
Srimati Radharani ki Jaya!
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Verse of the month GAME— CROSSWORDS

(Verse 9.26)
By Panchajanya Mungara (10)
“Srimad Bhagavat Gita- By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktive-
danta Swami Prabhupada

By Dheeraj Kammari(12)

Krishna's Names
patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam
asnami prayatatmanah LNHRSGIPBAGSASL

QQALFABRG IBHT HA
Translation PXCNXMESRDBVLYP
If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, FVIJD IAIG AIU AAO
fruit or water, I will accept it. PIAXJAD VLVJQBMG
Realizations JYMBZHN LAPLSPAF

This verse talks about how merciful and loving Krsna is, JUAHALAACHXOW SH

that He accepts only the loving service of the devotee and FFTRGVNYNOSEGUQ

nothing more. The process of achieving a permanent and EKIJAAZH YDT EPNH
blissful abode for eternal happiness is very easy and can be RQCHKPPUJKASKDQ
attempted even by the poorest of the poor, without any MPDVHTAZUKANQAI
qualifications. The only qualification required is to be a VAZBEFKNXW ZJARU
pure devotee of the Lord. The process is so easy that even a RFADNIVOGHOGW KH
leaf or a little water or fruit can be offered to the Supreme
MADHUSUDHANAAVB
Lord in genuine love and the Lord will be pleased to accept
BBEUQBXOW DXKAMI
it. Krsna accepts even a little flower from His pure devotee.
He does not want any kind of offering from a non devotee.
HE is not in need of anything from anyone, because He is
self sufficient, and yet He accepts the offering from His
devotee in an exchange of love and affection. GIRIDHARI
GOPAL

There is a wonderful pastime in Mahabharat that I was GOVINDA

reading, which sets a perfect example for how Krsna ac- KESHAVA
cepts the pure devotees’ offering, and not from a non devo-
MADHUSUDHANA
tee. When Krsna went to Duryodhana’s house, he offered
Krsna so many varieties of food, but Krsna didn’t accept NANDANANDANA
anything, instead He went to Vidhura’s house. Vidhura was RADHAVALLABHA
living a simple life with his wife. When Vidhura and his SHYAMASUNDAR
wife saw Krsna, they invited Him in to their house, and of-
fered Him some bananas. Vidhura was offering these ba-
nanas with so much love and devotion that he didn’t even
notice that he was offering banana peels instead of bananas.
But, Krsna accepted even the banana peels, because of the
intense love behind the offerings.

So, Srila Prabhupada says that, “Who is such a fool that he

does not want to be Krsna Consciousness by this simple Your feedback and suggestions are very important and
method and thus attain the highest perfection in life: eter- valuable for us. Please feel free to send your feedback/
nity, bliss, and knowledge?” suggestions to dc.4r.kids@gmail.com

Editor—Lakshmi (Ramya) Suresh