Their Lordships Sri Sri Laxmi Narsimha Dev at Pokharni!

Hare Krishna!

Amol Katkar Prabhu, Rahul Prabhu, and I reached Parbhani (in the Marathwada area of Maharashtra) by bus on the 20th of June, 2007 for the wedding ceremony of Purushottam Prabhu. It was nice to be travelling with Amol Prabhu. That way I did not have to spend time with childish non-devotees. Purushottam Prabhu was very very happy to see Amol Prabhu :-)

After the ceremony, the three of us went by auto to Pokharni where there is a very nice temple of the Supreme Personality of Godhead -- Lord Sri Sri Laxmi Narsimha Dev! Almost everytime I go home to Nanded, I go with my parents to Pokharni. All along the way (its around 17Kms from Parbhani) we were loudly singing kirtan. It was quite a nice experience going in an auto on the highway looking at the vast tracts of farmland on either side. The weather was also pleasant.





There was a rush in the temple. Someone was getting married and they had come to Pokharni with all the others to take blessings from Lord Narsimha. The Deity Darshan Room is about 4ft by 3ft I guess! Ya, its very small. Also, the entrance to it is about 3 feet high I think. One has to squat to get in. The Darshan of Lord Narsimha is typically a bit difficult :-) After taking Darshan we recited the Narsimha Prayers loudly (though our voices were overridden by the general noise all around of the marriage parties). The few people who were close to us were looking at us with what I would term as mixed surprise and admiration. "Who are these well-dressed guys who look to be from some city far away from Pokharni? And what brings them here? And how is it that they love Lord Narsimha so much?" Perhaps these were the thoughts running through their minds :-) And ya, two more nice things. One -- there was a frame of our (ISKCON) famous Lord Narsimha painting, the one that is on every alter of an ISKCON devotee. And two -- there was a partially remover sticker of the MahaMantra with the pictures of Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari! How They reached there (around 500 kms from Pune) that They only know!





The way back from the temple at Pokharni was a bit quiet. Partially because now we did not have the Darshan of the Supreme Lord to look forward to and partially because I had gone into that mood of contemplating on the immeasurable good fortune that Srila Prabhupada had bestowed upon us all. This short trip was proof that it doesnt matter where on earth you are.. if you are immersed in Krishna Consciousness, you will be ecstatic.

Looking at the wide open fields with cows and bulls and birds and small ponds and farmers and plantaions of papaya and so on... I was in a blissful mood not saying too much but just yearning for the time when I would actually realise:

"... ito Narsimha, parato Narsimha,
yato yato yami tato Narsimha,
bahir Narsimha, hridaye Narsimha..."

And then I started thinking about Gauranga! I wanted the call out His name loudly. Just as one calls out a name at an echo point expecting it to be answered back. Just like one would call out for ones lost friend in the wide open spaces crying out from the bottom of ones heart full of expectation and desperation hoping that the friend will respond....

Gaurangaaaa!!!!!

Gaurangaaaaaa!!!!!

Gaurangaaaaaaaa!!!!!

Gaurangaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

To Dear Amol Katkar Prabhu

Hare Krishna!

I would like to express my very very sincere gratitude to Amol Katkar Prabhu for all that he has done and is still doing for me. Well, not only for me, but for a lot many others too.

I met him in Pune in my company. One day, he just wrote a mail to all in the company that he has a few copies of the Bhagavad Gita, and anyone interested can kindly come and buy one. Amol Prabhu tells me that I was the first one to come to him. I remember that as soon as I saw his mail, I ran to him! I was in that kind of mood. As Prabhupada explains in his purports, how eagerly a person takes to Krishna Consciousness depends on how fertile he/she is to recieve it. Prabhupada explains that a burning matchstick when falls on dry grass, the grass immediately catches fire, but when it falls on water, the matchstick just fizzles out.

So, I was really looking for answers in life. Well, nothing dramatic was wrong in my life :), but I knew that something wasnt just right! I was struggling within myself to answer the various questions that life poses. What is right, what is wrong? What is achievement, and what is failure? Am I the maker of my destiny? Or am I totally in the hands of a preset destiny? And if so, then whats the purpose of existence? What then is the difference between a hard worker and a lazy bum? But surely there is some difference, isnt there? But then, ultimately its all going to be finished by death.. Then whats the point in working hard? So, should I just laze around? But, I cant just laze around, its not in my nature... So, what should I do? What is the goal of life? Is there any goal at all? Or is everything a big illusion as somewhere I had heard? And if so, why then are people running here and there for something which is ultimately going to get lost.. isnt this insane? How can people totally ignore these questions? Dont they want to know? Cant they just see the futility of life, which is ultmately going to end in death? And why am I, who can philosophise so much, also not able to be peaceful? Why am I being pulled by two opposing forces of knowledge of impending death and the challenge of "doing something" before I die! Isnt it only because I want to impress others for the short period of time before I die? And isnt this just madness? And if it is madness, still why cant I give it up!!

Well, now you know what state I was in :) I couldnt work for whole days thinking about these points. Going around in circles, but reaching nowhere.

And then came this mail from Amol Prabhu! And now there are no doubts. Now everything is clear. All questions answered most satisfactorily. The mind is very peaceful (compared to what it was before ;) ). And I am eager to serve Krishna. Life is beautiful. Again. It was beautiful when I was in IITB too, but that was bliss in ignorance. The problem with bliss in ignorance is that even a little partial knowledge can totally smash that illusion of bliss. And once that happens, there is no bliss, unless one comes to real knowledge!

And real knowledge is given in the "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" by His Divine Grace Srila A. C. BhaktiVedanta Swami Prabhupada! And that knowledge came to me through my very dear Amol Prabhu.

Amol Prabhu is my best friend (after Krishna ;) ).

Your insignificant servant, Abhijit.