In a lecture on July 7, 1973 in London, Srila Prabhupada talks about Sanjaya’s ability to see and hear details of the battle of Kuruksetra many miles away from his location, without the use of technology. He explains this by referring to modern methods of image transferral: “Kim akurvata sanjaya. Sanjaya, [was] a very faithful secretary. And he is explaining the Bhagavad-gita, by experiencing, by television within the heart. That art is not yet developed. You have got television through machine, but there is another television-you can see within your heart everything, what is going on outside. So that television was known to… That will be explained by Sanjaya, that by the grace of Vyasadeva, he learned this televisioning, and he was sitting with his master within the room and he was actually seeing how the fighting is going on.”

In many instances Srila Prabhupada wrote or spoke of the benefit of visiting holy places of pilgrimage. In the Nectar of Devotion, Rupa Goswami writes, “Out of these sixty-four items, five items-namely worshiping the Deity, hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam, associating among the devotees, sankirtana, and living in Mathura-are very important. In many other place, he explains that chanting the holy names of Krishna, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, is the most purifying thing to do.

Just a week before his disappearance, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura is said to have imparted ten important instructions on devotional service. Regarding Krsna’s holy name, he reportedly said, “The holy name with its noted seven excellences (mentioned in the first Siksastaka prayer) should be cultivated by all. The holy name should never be neglected at any cost. Attraction to the holy name will award one all perfection.” (Adapted from “The Art of Chanting Hare Krsna,” by Mahanidhi Swami)

Violence – surely on the increase – is an issue devotees need to have an angle on. The principle of ahimsa is often juxtaposed with the Kuruksetra war setting of the Bhagavad-gita. It’s a deep and philosophically complex issue, but Srila Prabhupada emphasized that violence has ‘a place.’ And in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, he even specifies six instances when violence is required: 1)When one is attacked with deadly weapons; 2)When one’s wife is being kidnapped; 3)When one’s property is being stolen; 4)When one’s property is being set fire to; 5)When one’s land is occupied by others; 6)When there is an attempt to poison. Devotees seek to be non-violent, however, due to the gratuitous nature of so much violence these days.

In the Srimad Bhagavatam, 11.2.49, Sri Havi, speaking of what’s wrong with the material world, says to Maharaja Nimi: “Within the material world, one’s material body is always subject to birth and decay. Similarly, the life air [prana] is harassed by hunger and thirst, the mind is always anxious, the intelligence hankers for that which cannot be obtained, and all of the senses are ultimately exhausted by constant struggle in the material nature.”

From time to time, devotees have felt it necessary to delve into extensive research about how we fell into this material world – even Srila Prabhupada disciples. Some devotees have even written books on this subject. To research such topics has been condemned by Bhaktivinode Thakura and other acaryas. Bhaktivinoda Thakura said we shouldn’t try to trace out the origin of the jivas. He considered this a waste of energy. Srila Prabhupada also spoke many times on this subject. There are many quotes to choose from, but I recently came across the following one in which Srila Prabhupada makes it clear that this kind of writing is a waste of time. Here it is. From a Srimad Bhagavatam 3.26.23-24 lecture in Mumbai on 1 January, 1975. “So some way or other, originally, we are all Krsna conscious, pure, svaccha. Svacchatvam avikaritvam. Now vikurvanata, now, being transformed or agitated somehow or other… anadi karama-phale, padi ‘bhavarnava-jale, we cannot ascertain when this transformation took place. There is no necessity of making research how we fell in this material contamination or envelopment. But we should be intelligent enough to understand that we are fallen now. that is… how we fell – you can trace out the history, but it is very difficult because anadi karama-phale, nobody can ascertain. Just like when a man is — he goes to doctor. So when he goes to the doctor, the doctor gives him medicine according to the symptoms and the diagnosis. There is no necessity of find out the history, how he fell diseased. There is history, but that is not possible to trace out. Therefore it is said, anadi karama-phale. Anadi means… adi means the creation, creation… before creation, I contaminated this desire, iccha-dvesa samutthena. I became revolting to the desires. Krsna says… every one of us revolting now also. Krsna says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja, but we are revolting, ‘Why? Why shall i surrender to you? This is too much you are demanding.’ This is going on. This is going on. This is the disease.”

In Jaiva Dharma, chapter 7, Bhaktivinoda Thakura states: “A living entity who is a pure devotee of Krsna is not conditioned by Maya. By the mercy of Krsna such a soul is liberated from the material world. He is a liberated soul and is in the liberated state. Then again, a living entity who avoids Krsna falls into the clutches of maya. He is a conditioned soul and is in the conditioned state.” (from Sri Bhaktivinoda Vani Vaibhava, translated by Bhaumipati dasa)

A number of tapes, now probably on CDs or MP3 files, recorded Srila Prabhupada’s conversations with Dr.Patel in Mumbai. Dr. Patel was often challenging, and Srila Prabhupada appeared to enjoy the banter. Srila Prabhupada once called him a “Shanta Bhakta.”

We often hear of 2X, 4X or 10X magnification. But, at a lecture in Mayapur, I actually heard Srila Prabhupada say that anything done in the Holy Dham (good or bad) is magnified a thousand times.

A Judeo-Christian proverb says: “the only sin is not loving God enough. “Srila Prabhupada has told us many times that sin is acting against the laws of God. If, as Bhatki-tirtha Maharaja has written, “God’s mercy is greater than God’s law,” then not learning to love Krsna can be considered the original sin (papa in Sanskrit means `sin’). In one lecture, Srila Prabhupada says pinning a flower in the hair instead of offering it to Krsna is papa (lecture in Mumbai on SB3.16.28 on 15 January 1975).