Dec 2006

Gita’s Glories

A newsletter for and by Young Vaisnavas of ISKCON

The Deliverance of Aghasura Dhruva Adawal, Age 12, Gaithersburg, MD Once upon a time, Krishna was in the form of a kid Kamsa sent many demons to kill Him, oh yes, he did. You see, Krishna was destined to kill Kamsa, and Kamsa knew that, So he sent demons to engage Krishna in deadly combat. One of these demons was a snake, he had no fear, But he was killed, now watch and hear. Krishna was walking with his friends, very peacefully, Some were playing flutes in harmony. They were playing tag and many other games, Like monkey in the middle, until a boy exclaims! Hey look at that cave, with its mouth so wide Let’s go and see, it would be fun inside. Actually it was a demon, in the form of a snake, Aghasura was his name, and he was doing it for Kamsa’s sake They knew that their friend, Krishna was near, So the cowherd boys went inside, without any fear. The snake closed his mouth, and breathed fire, The need for Krishna’s help was dire! Was Krishna dead?, now the demigods were full of scare They all thought, what’s happening inside there Suddenly Krishna started getting larger, and increasing his size, Aghasura was being suffocated and had red bulging eyes Aghasura finally died and the cowherd boys were free Krishna said to the snake’s soul, you may come back to me So every body please protect your soul At the count of three say “Haribol” 1....... 2…… 3……. HARIBOL

Thank You Lord! Yash Shahi, Age 4, Potomac, MD Yash wants to thank the Lord for everything He has provided us : Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Ears and Eyes And Mouth and Nose. Everything is Krishna’s creation, Krishna’s Creation, Krishna’s Creation, Everything is Krishna’s creation. I thank Him a lot For all his mercy. I wish you HARE KRISHNA I wish you HARE KRISHNA I wish you HARE KRISHNA And HAPPY NEW YEAR. HARIBOL

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Mercy and Compassion Nimai Agarwal, Age 8, Gaithersburg, MD

Painting by Nimai

A devotee of the Lord is by nature a very merciful and compassionate soul. We have so many examples of this. Haridasa Thakura, the teacher of the holy name, was approached by a lusty prostitute on the order of Ramachandra Khan, a very envious land owner. Her motives were to make Haridasa fall down. Haridasa Thakura was aware of this and was ready to go at once. However, out of compassion he stayed there to change her heart and he initiated her into the chanting of the Holy Names of Krishna. Vasudeva Datta, a very merciful personality, one day said to Lord Chaitanya (the Supreme Personality of Godhead), “please grant me this benediction. Let me suffer for all the misdeeds of every body and let them go back home, back to Krishna.” Prabhupada, the founder of the Krishna Consciousness movement, came to Bowery, a very hellish and materialistic place. He became homeless. A drug addict even threatened to murder him but he was determined to preach Krishna consciousness, no matter what. Seeing his compassion and determination, Krishna made him victorious. One day Prabhupada saw two little children starving, looking all around for something to eat. When Prabhupada saw this, tears started to flow from his eyes. He told his disciples “give them prasadam. No body for a few miles around the temple should go hungry.” This was the compassion of Srila Prabhupada. I have only written about some personalities who embody compassion but there are many more. Mercy and compassion are very important qualities. Real compassion is liberating the fallen souls. Material enjoyment produces nothing but misery. Just like a jail produces misery even if decorated beautifully. The ignorant souls try to enjoy separate from god in this jail and foolishly think they are enjoying, but inside they are frustrated. If a person is going to jump off a cliff, we don’t say, let me feed you before you jump. That is not real compassion. Real compassion is, when we warn them that they are on the edge of the cliff and we prevent them from falling off and dying. In the same way mundane piety is not enough. It does not prevent a person from falling off the cliff of material existence. But doing harinam (chanting the glories of Krishna) and preaching the message of the Bhagavad Gita takes the person to the spiritual world which is eternal and a place of happiness. Now that the devotee is in the abode of Shyamsundara he has no chances of falling off the cliff into the pool of material life. 2

Nov-Dec 2006

Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur Om Shahi, Age 9, Potomac, MD His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami Thakura appeared in this world on February 6, 1874 in Jagannatha Puri, India. He was given the name Bimal Prasad Dutta. His father was a Vaishnava scholar, Sri Kedarnath Dutta, who later was known as Bhaktivinod Thakura. When Bimal Prasad was 7 years old he memorized all 700 verses of the Bhagvad-Gita. At the age of 25 he became a scholar of Sanskrit, Mathematics and Astronomy. Due to his immense learning he earned a title Siddhanta Saraswati. In 1905 he got initiated from Gaura Kishore dasa babaji maharaj. In 1918 he accepted the title Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati goswami maharaj. He made lot of changes in the tradition of Krishna consciousness to suite the social circumstances of the present age. He was liberal enough to let sannyasis wear western clothes & travel via modern means of transport instead of on foot. He worked very hard to organize the Gaudiya Math. In 1933 Srila Prabhupada became his disciple and faithfully joined him in preaching. On January 1, 1937 Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur left this planet after a highly influential preaching of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. I pray to Krishna to keep me engaged in his service by following the path of all the acharayas in the disciplic succession. HARE KRISHNA.

Advent of Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad-gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, right before the great battle of Mahabharata. To commemorate this day, we celebrate Gita Jayanti every year during December.

Nov-Dec 2006

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Happy New Year !

Sketch by Nimai

QUIZ

Word Jumble

4. Where did Aghasura go after getting killed by Krishna? 5. Who were the worshippable Deities of Srila Jiva Goswami? 6. How was Aghasura related to Putana? 7. Who was the spiritual master of Locana Dasa Thakura? (genius point) 8. What is the famous book written by Locana Dasa Thakura? 9. What was the first instruction Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura gave to Srila Prabhupada? 10. What was Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakur’s father’s name?

Hare Krsna Hare KrsnA Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Quiz Answers

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All young (3-13) talents are invited to send their artwork, articles etc to Nimai at [email protected]

Word Jumble Answers

3. What is the greatest way to show compassion?

(1) Bhagavad Gita (2) 700 (3) By preaching the message of Bhagavad Gita (4) Achieved Liberation (5) Sri Radha Damodara (6) He was Putana’s younger brother (7) Narhari Sarkar (8) Caitanya Mangala (9) Preach Lord Caitanya’s message to the English speaking people (10) Srila Bhakti Vinoda Thakur

2. How many verses are there in the Bhagavat Gita?

1. HGUASRAA 2. NAOIPSOCSM 3. YRECM 4. ACNOAL SADA 5. AAGHAVBD TIAG 6. IAGT TYNAAJI 7. ANRUAJ 8. AIVJ SOAWMGI 9. ADHSAIR RAUHKT 10. AEVDVUSA ADTAT

(1) AGHASURA (2) COMPASSION (3) MERCY (4) LOCANA DASA (5) BHAGAVAD GITA (6) GITA JAYANTI (7) ARJUNA (8) JIVA GOSWAMI (9) HARIDASA THAKUR (10) VASUDEVA DATTA

1. Which famous book was spoken in the month of December?

Publication & Layout by: Nimai Agarwal & Lokadhyaksa dasa. Washington, DC.

Nov-Dec 2006