Aashishs Blog

The knot of the heart shall be cut apart,
all doubts shall be torn away,
and even his Karma, his deeds,
and the inevitable consequences of his deeds,
shall disappear when he has beheld his Atman and God

Source: Journey to Unknown India (quoted from the Bhagavata), Walter Eidlitz, Page 118

Once upon a time Narada visited Krishna. The latter stood outside His palace and invited his guest to dine with him, whereupon Narada thanked him and went to bathe in a nearby river, telling Krishna he would be back in 5 minutes.

The rishi dived into the river, but to his surprise he was immediately changed into a woman. Amazed, he touched his long hair, his breasts and his body. He still remembered that he was Narada, the great wise man, but the longer he remained in the water, the fainter this memory grew. He became Naradi, the young woman. When a young man walked along the bank of the river, she took his hand and he led her to his home, where she bore him innumerable children. Gradually, her beauty vanished. The children cried and clamored. All the troubles of life enveloped her. She became ill and old, and in this condition she cried to God. At that moment she became Narada again, and the Lord stood at the entrance of his palace. "Narada, the 5 minutes have passed. Our meal is ready!"

Narada had dived into the waters of Maya, of which Krishna is master.

Source: Journey to Unknown India, Walther Eidlitz, Page 58

According to the author, this tale is very popular in India, and a moving picture has even been made of the story, and it has run a long time at a great many cinemas throughout the country. In any case, it adequately displays the Power of Maya.

I am currently reading an amazing true account of a Spiritual Journey to India of a man known as Walther Eidlitz, Austrian-born, who abandons his wife and kids in search for the Absolute Truth. He meets a few gurus along his journey, but when World War 2 breaks out, because he is Austrian born, he becomes imprisoned in a British "alien enemies" camp. While there, he meets a disiple of His Divine Grace Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, named Sadananda.....

This is one of the most sweetest and mellow kirtans that I have heard! And I know a lot of other people that think so too. I uploaded this tune a while back on PStimulate but if you haven't heard it, then "Half your life is wasted"!!! Hear it below:

Right click here to download this track

While Surfing the net, I stumbled on these amazing videos of Boy George singing the Mahamantra! I just have to share it, the first video (thats My Sweet Lord) is my fav! Wait till I find the full mp3 recording, I'll post it. The second video is also nice.

See below (you may have to increase the volume to hear it as it is a bit quiet):

My Sweet Lord

Hare Krishna

I was at Bhaktivedanta Manor today! Haven't been in what seems like ages. Ravi is very nice to take me! To make it even more nicer, it was a beautiful day today, and so I spent most of the day just chanting away and chilling out. I took a small video of His Grace Gauri Prabhu singing Jaya Radha Madhava and a few pictures of the Manor. They have now installed this new Buddha water fountain outside, looks nice. Below is the video and below that are some pictures:

I was out cycling yesterday! It was a beautiful day, so I had decided to chant some rounds at Wanstead Park and have some fresh air at the same time.







I came across a map and, curiously enough, there was a place inside the park called "The Temple"! I was quite surprised because only Hindu Temples or any of its branch religions are designated as a Temple and there was one right in the middle of Wanstead Park! Bliemy!! I was thinking maybe it was some lost Vishnu Temple or something crazy like that. Already feeling like I was on some transcendental adventure, I cycled right there. Here are the pictures, just click on any of them in this post to expand:



Well, as it turned out, after some research, the so-called Temple was a 19th century building for entertainment purposes. What remains now is just some ruins. Nevermind, maybe next time!

One thing did strike me, however. Its the Power of Time which slowly destroys everything. Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita Verse 11.32:

Time I am, the Great Destroyer of the Worlds. And I have come here to Destroy all people. [...]

We can clearly see how the past is in ruins, and that history is all about dead people. But people in this day and age don't see that they are soon going to also be destroyed also by Time in the form of death and diseases. For them, life just continues on its blind course to destruction, not knowing the actual meaning of life itself or its ultimate goals. This is very unfortunate because you cannot guarantee that you will get a Human form of life in the next life. The next life could be a very hellish condition for the soul...

The problem was that the MP3s on this Blog always were being cut short towards the ending, thats sorted out now. It seems there is no such thing as Free Hosting for your MP3 files! Tch.

I want to share with you another favourite kirtan of mine, which I used to hear all the time when I started in Krishna Consciousness. There is just something about this Kirtan that I like so much! Hear it below:

Right Click Here & Select Save As to Download

Prabhupada would sometimes say "Good morning". We always say Hare Krsna, and we should say Hare Krsna, but Prabhupada would sometimes say "Good morning". And that would induce them to say "Good morning" back, and in that way they were offering a benediction to a Vaisnava. It's actually "May you have a good morning," So Prabhupada said "You know what this 'Good morning' means in the material world? It means nothing horrible has happened yet." (laughter) That's their happiness, "Good morning".

I heard this podcast from HH Shivarama Swami a few days ago. It was taken on 21st September 2006 (yes, I am 7 Months behind!!!) and basically Maharaja is singing with the Piano! Sounds sweet... Hear it below, just press Play:

As dalliance with the body in luxury increases, so wanes the spirit of service of the Lord.

- Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

Today, I was going through my videos when I stumbled upon these two small Kirtan videos of His Holiness Shivarama Swami singing ecstatically. It was some time ago that I shot these clips, I didn't share it cos I thought they were bad quality. They are a bit better then the Mobile clips I have posted, so please check them out below!

The first clip is a nice mellow tune and the second clip is very ecstatic.

I was at Govinda's today, having a late lunch :-)

Since it was tuesday, His Grace Jayadeva Prabhu was there doing, as usual, an ecstatic bhajan. Got a little video clip of it below from my mobile, so do check it out below:

Check out some of the photos from the Harinama which I have been going on about! Click on the photo below to access the Album:

2007.03.31-HH Kadamba Kanana Swami Harinama

Maharaja leads an ecstatic harinama through the streets of London! I'm telling you, I saw so many people other than devotees dancing also! Check out the video below:

Well? Where were you guys when Maharaja gave this class!!? It was so nice to be seeing Maharaja again ever since I saw him when I went to the Pandava Sena France Trip. The lectures I heard from Maharaja while I was in France were stunning, and this is no less! Maharaja talks about the nature of God and some pastimes of Krishna. Check out the video below: