Devasadan Monthly

INSP IR A TIO N:
SR ILA
P R A BHUP A DA

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1 M A R C H 2 0 0 9

Devasadan Mandir Celebrates Gaura Purnima!

By Bhaktin Asmaa Chief Editor led a charged Bhajan. Kirtan soon tion. The mrdanga's, the flutes,
“When one becomes Another month, another holy followed, Tirthpada Das and the the kartals, the harmonium and
Krishna conscious, festival at the Sri Radha Kunjabi- melodious voices of devotees the tablas fused harmoniously to
hari Temple. This glorify Krsna's
he loves everyone. If
year's Gaura name evermore.
you chant loudly When Bharat
Purnima fell on
Hare Krishna, even Prabhu ,Sri Radha
the 10th of
the ant and insect March and at- Kunjibihari’s dear
who is hearing, he’ll tracted many Temple Presi-
be delivered, because devotees from all dent, was asked
over Michigan to of his thoughts
it is spiritual
chant the holy on how the festi-
vibration.” val was proceed-
name, dance for
Krsna's enjoy- ing, he replied
ment, and assem- "The beauty of
ble together to this festival is
I N S ID E T H I S how everyone
ISSU E: enjoy the bliss of
devotee associa- works selflessly
Gaura-Lila 2 tion. Gaura for Krsna, tire-
Purnima com- lessly putting in
menced this year effort and time to
Why celebrate 2 with devotees Sri Sri Gaur Nitai in their make this festival
Gaur-Purnima? patiently standing in line for the a great success. The turnout is
stunning new night outfit.
maha abhishek, lovingly and phenomenal and it is truly beauti-
Sri Ramanu- 2 ful seeing so many devotees of all
humbly bathing the Lords with
jacarya ringing throughout the temple ages and backgrounds...
sweet water, milk, honey, yo-
gurt, and ghee while Gopal Das room with pure and strong devo- Continued on Page 4
Devotee Profil e of 3
the Month

Gaura Purnima
Pictures
4
A letter from the Temple President.
Dear Devotees, friends & well- newsletter. In the Krishna Con- our Temple and
wishers, scious lifestyle, there is never a dull we hope that
Please accept my humble obei- or stale moment and every day is an sooner than later,
sances. All glories to Srila Prabhu- opportunity to do something for the you will join us in
pada. pleasure of Sri Krishna. At ISKCON our mission to
Detroit, we have a multitude of deliver Vedic
In the present day, communication activities for all classes of people, culture to society
has become extremely vital and is regardless of age, designed to bring at large.
essential to ensure the success of one out of material misery and to
any organization. We are therefore - Bharath Das
the platform of bliss. This newslet-
very happy to see a young team of ter will deliver to you information
devotees start an exciting new about everything that is going on at
 PAG E 2

Why do we celebrate Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Gaura-Lila

Gaur-Purnima?
By Pranav Chintala. Age 14 the absolute worst criminals in all him. He said that killing a Sanyasi
of Nabadvip. They would commit was a great sin and that no good
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born so many atrocities, such as mur- would come upon it. Then Gau-
in Nabadvip, West Bengal on dering people for insignificant rea- ranga, all anger inside him sub-
March 10, 1486 during a lunar sons and stealing from the rich, sided, went and embraced Jagai
eclipse. His birth name given to that people would run from them for having restrained his brother
him by his parents was Visvamb- as soon as they were seen. from attacking Nityananda again.
har, but he has two other names Then, Madhai, shocked at this act
as well. Since he took birth under One day Chaitanya Mahaprabhu of forgiveness, fell down and paid
a Neem tree, Chaitanya Ma- decided that he and his devotees obeisances to Gauranga’s feet.
haprabhu is sometimes called Ni- should try to reform the brothers Gauranga told Madhai to ask for-
mai, and he is also referred to as by doing Hari Nam Sankirtan in giveness from Nityananda, and
Gauranga because of his fair skin. the streets. So Chaitanya and his immediately lay prostrate before
He is an avatar of Lord Krishna in devotees went to Jagai and Madhai, Nityananda’s feet and asked him
the mood of Radharani, and he with Nityananda in the lead. When for his forgiveness, which Nit-
took birth for a very special rea- Nityananda encountered the yananda happily granted. Jagai also
son. brothers, he asked them to join followed his elder brother and
By Gaurangi Devi Dasi Age 13 the kirtan and to serve Lord offered obeisances to Gauranga
Gaura Purinima means the At that time in history, there Krishna. Madhai became angry at and Nityananda. Both brothers
were many devotees of Krishna. the thought of someone being thereafter reformed into pure
Gold Full Moon for Lord Krishna wished to know why not greater then him, and in his anger, devotees and made atonements
Caitanya, an incarnation of only the devotees loved him, but he threw a pot at Nityananda’s for their previous sins.
Krishna, The Supreme Per- more importantly, why Radharani head, severely wounding him.
loved him. To find out why, In this age of Kali, there is sel-
sonality of Godhead on his Krishna came down to Earth as his Meanwhile, Chaitanya Ma- dom a time when people show
Appearance Day that hap- own devotee so he could find out haprabhu was informed of what forgiveness. If someone had hit
pens every year. About 500 what it is like to be a devotee of Madhai had done to Nityananda, your family member or a friend,
himself. He also came down to who was like a brother to him. would you be willing to forgive
years Krishna incarnated as a
spread the chanting of the holy Gauranga therefore became en- them? One of the hardest things a
devotee, Lord Caitanya or name to the world. raged and was going to kill the two person can do is to forgive his
Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The brothers with his Chakra. As he enemies, yet this is a sign of a true
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has many arrived at the scene of the inci- devotee of Krishna. Although Jagai
Appearance Day always oc-
great pastimes, and the one that is dent, he saw that Madhai was go- and Madhai were so fallen,
curs on Full Moon. Lord most known is the episode with ing to throw another pot at Nit- Chaitanya Mahaprabhu chose to
Caitanya is in the mood of Jagai and Madhai. Jagai and Madhai yananda, but then Jagai grabbed his forgive them because he is a true
both Radha, the consort and were two evil brothers, and also elder brother’s hand to restrain devotee of Krishna.

Krishna combined. Krishna

wanted to experience the
highest form of devotion in
Bhakti-Yoga or Krishna Con-
sciousness. The Festival of
Gaura Purnima is celebrated
world wide nowadys espe-
cially because the Founder of
the Hare Krishna Movement,
His Divine Grace A C Bhak-
tivedanta Swami Prabhupada
expanded the Movement
from the west from 1965
onwards after his arrival in
America.

DEV ASADAN MON T H LY

 V OLU ME 1, I SSU E 1 PAG E 3

Remembering our Acharyas

By Sreeram In one pastime, Ramanujacharya used to
This month of March we celebrate the go around the streets for his Biksha. A
“He invigorated
Appearance of Sri Ramanujacarya. malevolence minded person mixed poi-
son in the food, and kept it in the bik- Indian
Sri Ramanuja was an important phi- sha. After his wife was done serving, she
losopher of Sri Vaishnavam, and one of philosophy and
fell to Ramanuja’s feet with tears in her
the most dynamic characters of Hindu- eyes. He knew that something was popular religion
ism. He was a philosophical as well as a wrong. The sishays, which are the disci-
social reformer, displaying a knowl- ples of Ramanuja, sorted the food and so much that
edge that was nearly supreme in Hindu found out that the food was poisonous. nearly every
religious history. He invigorated Indian Hearing this, Ramanuja went on a fast.
philosophy and popular religion so This pastime touched my heart in nu- aspect of
much that nearly every aspect of Hin- merous ways. The man was mean to put
duism has been influenced by his work. Hinduism has
poison in the biksha. Of all the citizens
His life and works show a truly unique in the city, he had to choose Ramanuja been influenced
personality, combining thoughtful in- to suffer. I find these people ignorant,
sight, logical acumen, and his dedica- by his work.”
selfish, and abhorrent. I couldn’t believe
tion to God. that Ramanuja had chosen to fast.

Community: Devotee Profile of the Month Ramanujacarya 1017–1137 A.D

see devotees enthusiastically

playing their mrdangas and
kastals while performing sankir-
tan on the street. He remembers
telling his mother "don't worry
mom...these people are crazy I
would never join them." But
Krishna had something else in
store for him when he visited
India in 1976 to attain spiritual
enlightenment and finally in 1979
when he visited Vrindavan. After
returning from India, Narasimha
Prabhu felt more connected to
Krsna. He started attending the
Elizabeth Lyons and Narasimha Guru Dasa, joined by their daughter, Amarra. Kalamazoo, MI temple regularly, for he loved the
association of devotees, he loved eating prasa-
By Bhaktin Asmaa had always believed in reincarnation and had dam, and he loved reading the Krishna Book.
Elizabeth and Narasimha Guru Das are happily already been a practicing vegetarian for many From that moment on, he fully believed in Krsna
married and currently reside in Kalamazoo, but years. One aspect she really appreciates in Consciousness and knew everything about it
originally lived in New Vrindavan, West Virginia. Krsna Consciousness is that The Divine is both was true. His biggest attraction to KC was
As a teenager, Elizabeth bought a book from feminine and masculine, and for her that is very Krsna and the atmosphere of the temple; the
devotees at the L.A. airport in 1992 entitled the important. On the other hand her husband
exotic colors and incense, the prasadam, every-
Silence of Self-Realization yet she never visited a Narasimha Guru Prabhu for the first time saw
thing "was just out of this world." "There was
temple until 1999, when her husband Narasimha devotees in London back in 1967 when he was
no cult around anybody and everyone was ap-
Das brought her to the Detroit Temple. She only 13 years old. He had been sitting in car
preciated for their absolute absorption of
was attracted the most to Krishna Conscious- with his parents when they all suddenly heard a
Prabupada." He loved the beauty of the deities,
ness philosophy, because it just "felt right." She tumultuous sound. He looked out of the car to
and he just had to always come back.
 All are kindly welcome to attend the
Love Feast every Sunday at the
Temple. Program starts 4:15 pm. Join
us for a spiritual rejuvenation with mu-
sic, dance, drumming, and a free vege-
tarian feast

Temple Address:
The Fisher Mansion
383 Lenox St
Detroit, MI 48215

Telephone:
313-331-6740
We’re on the Web!
Please check our website for regular updates
www.detroitiskconlive.com

For questions, comments, concerns regard-

ing this newsletter, or to contribute arti-
cles , please contact the editors at:
[email protected]

Festival Report Continued

Continued from front cover stage, videotaping and snapping pictures play. Nikita said "I was a village woman
showing up to celebrate with other devo- away. Many a times the hall resounded carrying baskets of fruit and garlands to
tees Gaura Purnima. The kids put a great with the audience's laughter or still si- Nimai, giving him comfort when he was sad
deal into the play, and they did a tremen- lence at every turn of event from the and on the ground." To end the night, deli-
dous job!" He also remarked that play. Adi Gopi mataji was the narrator, cious prasadam was served, prepared by
"everyone is welcome to attend service at at times helping out one of the little our wonderful bramacharis, matajis and
the temple, everyone is welcome to help actors with their oft-forgotten lines. other temple devotees. Amongst items on
out, anytime." Before the Drama went Asha mataji, whose daughter Nikita was the menu were fruits, salad, pakoras, gau-
underway, two cakes prepared by temple one of the actresses on stages, abso- ranga potatoes, and sabudana. Filling their
devotees were up for donation, one going lutely loved the performance; "I loved plates high with prasadam, the congregation
to Srinivas Prabhu and family for $225.00 how the children acted out the play and sat down to enjoy meals offered to Krsna,
and the other one going to Lubhit Prabhu, their understanding of Krsna's pasttimes. with bhajans playing in the background by
Manish Prabhu, and Saci Suta Prabhu for They practiced a lot and tried really Gopal Pr., Srini Pr., Arjuna Pr., Tirthapada
jointly for $300.00. Sri Sri Radha Kunjabi- hard, and the final outcome is worth Pr, and Antariksha Pr. To beautifully end
hari’s Temple kindly thanks you for your applause. Their costumes are beautiful the night, the curtain to the deities opened
generosity. Finally, the drama went under- and very well-put together and its very one more time for the night, displaying their
way, the curtains opened and young guru- heart-warming seeing the young genera- mesmerizing new blue dresses trimmed
kulis walked on stage. tion at an early age dedicate their time with lace, and devotees flooded to stare in
to Krsna and the temple." Her daughter, awe, dance, pray, and chant Hare Krsna,
Nikita, a very sharp and friendly seven Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna Hare Hare. Hare
The audience sat with many parents year old, and not to mention a beautiful Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.
beaming proudly at their young actors on dancer, was one of the village girls in the