The Vedic Voice HS

It is confirmed by Srila Prabhupada, that some people call No one wants to be sick. Why do diseases attack us and

themselves god, a pure devotee, a brahmacari, a brahmana, or a give us sufferings? Everything we experience is the act of

Sannyasi, but they do not follow the scriptures and the regulative our past karma.”

principles of Krsna Consciousness. Here is a story of such a person.

The sannyasi made the two moonlike brothers take a bath

Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and His brother, Nityananda prabhu, and served them prasadam. After they had taken

were going out to Advaita Acharya prabhu’s house which was in prasadam, the so called sannyasi said “Let’s have some

Shantipur. After Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda traveled happiness!” Lord Chaitanya asked Nityananda prabhu

halfway, the two moonlike brothers sat under a tree. The place “What is the happiness?” Nityananda prabhu said “It is

where they stopped was called Lalitapura. wine.” As soon as the two lords saw wine in the so called

sannyasi’s hand they ran out of the house, to Ganga Devi.

Nearby the tree, there was hut that caught the eye of Lord They both jumped inside Ganga River and swam across

Chaitanya. He asked Nityananda prabhu “Who is living inside this the river to Advita Acharya’s house.

hut?” Lord Nityananda said “There is a drunkard who is dressed

and acts like a sannyasi.” Lord Chaitanya said “Let’s go see that so

called sannyasi.” The two moonlike brothers stopped at the so

called sannyasi’s hut. The bogus sannyasi said “May you be blessed

with wealth, fame, learning, beauty, and a beautiful wife.” Lord

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, “That is not a blessing. This is a

blessing, May Krishna give his merciful glance upon you.”

With a false laugh born with displeasure, the sannyasi replied:

“Now I have seen direct proof of the common saying- If one tries to

help others they will take it that you are trying to harm them. I am

trying to please this young man, but, instead, he is blaming me.”

The sannyasi inquired “Tell me young man, what is the fault of my

blessing? If a man is born into this world but does not enjoy the

company of attractive women or earn wealth, what is the use of

living in this world? Even a devotee of Lord Vishnu, how can you

maintain your life without earning something?”

Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu placed his hand on the imprudent

sannyasi’s head and said “Why do we have to let go of wealth,

fame, learning, beauty, and a beautiful wife at the time of death?

March 2010
–– and giving Him all comforts at the cost
Lakshman, the beloved younger brother of
of our own. We should be constantly
Rama teaches us many things from His
striving for this goal in our spiritual life
exemplary life, especially through His
while serving guru and Krishna. It is
unparalled devotion, faith and
said that when we water the root of the
determination in serving Lord Rama.
tree all the individual branches and
leaves are automatically satisfied. So,
When the demigods in heaven became by worshipping Krishna or Rama with
impatient for the destruction of Ravana our whole heart we will always be joyful
they incited Manthara, Kaikay’s despite all obstacles and incoveniences.
maidservant to provoke Kaikay into
banishing Rama into the forest. Being in
the forest, Rama would kill all the Demons
who terrorized the universe. Lakshman
followed Lord Rama to the forest even
though He could have stayed in luxurious
Ayodhya. He chose the severe austerities
of the forest over over the royal comforts
of Ayodhya to serve Rama . This
demonstrates His unwavering devotion
and faith in Rama.

When we see Lord Lakshman’s life, we

When Rama and Sita used to walk on the
hard and thorny paths in the forest,
Lakshman used to always walk in front of
them, sweeping aside all thorns. This is
how we should aspire to be, protecting
Krishna from all inconvenient situations
can see how he manifested the meaning
of “Vyavasatmika Bhudhi” or fixed
determination to perfection. At the end
of the exile when Rama and Lakshman
had finally defeated ravan, Rama gave

March 2010
Lakshman an order, “Put Sita in fire to
test Her chastity.” Even though this was
extremely hard for Lakshman, He still
did what Lord Rama ordered. Later,
when Rama asked Lakshman to take
Sitadevi and leave her in the forest,
Lakshman did it even though it was
extremely heartbreaking for Him. This
material life.
Lakshman is actually an incarnation of
Ananta Shesha who is an incarnation of
Balarama, the original spiritual master.
He teaches us by His own example, how
to serve Krishna to the best of our
abilities. On the auspicious occasion of
Ramnavami, and in fact every day or our
life, we can pray to Lord Laxman to award
us a fraction of His devotion, faith and
determination in serving Lord Rama.

the meaning of Vyavasatmika Bhudhi or

fixed determination in following the
orders of our spiritual master and
Krishna's instructions.

We can see in our own life how hard it

is to be single minded. Sometimes when
I undertake a project, I give it up in the
middle and start something else. By
becoming single minded in Krishna
Consciousness one can make great
advancement in both spiritual and

March 2010
 by Nimai Agarwal

––

March 2010
March 2010
 TIME FOR FUN!

WORD SEARCH
BY OM SHAHI
RMJKQLNWRPTAMBWUFWST
Try to find these words.
KAPGHZPCJCNSUNGHARAG
––
CANDLES CKDKUMDRDAKTPFVYEADQ
DAMODAR YABOEKBOVEATCDOKWSMJ
DAMODARASHTAKAM LTJWMNGAIYLCCYCVBGQR
DEEPAVALI CHLUMARVTSFHMAMQKFSZ
DUSHERA NSYAQADAMXARRZDTBOOH
FIRECRACKERS NALFKVDAQNACHOLTARXS
HANUMAN YRLAUSBGUWEYSETTCAUU
KARTIK AAKUMEHMAREHSUDXSMJH
LAKSHMAN GDZVIPAMICSCPLMQSAFA
LAMPS POFQINSFAHKOALILFLRK
LILA NMXIMKBPRNSAYZNLXIUH
RAMA UABZEIGGXQEHROEGBLTB
RAMALILA MDXUBFTLWZLHOOAEIALY
RAVANA UNBTNALZCWDODZFNJUYA
SITA DEEPAVALIENTISLNBMWL

UZMVJOJQVQAUIIYVSLGN

KARTIKKMDACTKCTXTMRH

KYXXCXJTZYAJTEENYYAS

Newsletter layout and design

by Nimai Charan Agarwal

March 2010