tion. The mrdanga's, the flutes,

the kartals, the harmonium and

the tablas fused harmoniously to

glorify Krsna's

name evermore. When Bharat

Prabhu ,Sri Radha

Kunjibihari’s dear

Temple Presi-

dent, was asked

of his thoughts

on how the festi-

val was proceed-

ing, he replied

"The beauty of

this festival is

how everyone works selflessly

for Krsna, tire-

lessly putting in

effort and time to

make this festival

a great success. The turnout is

phenomenal and it is truly beauti-

ful seeing so many devotees of all

ages and backgrounds...

Continued on Page 4

By Bhaktin Asmaa Chief Editor

Another month, another holy

festival at the Sri Radha Kunjabi-

hari Temple. This

year's Gaura Purnima fell on

the 10th of

March and at-

tracted many

devotees from all

over Michigan to

chant the holy

name, dance for

Krsna's enjoy-

ment, and assem-

ble together to

enjoy the bliss of devotee associa-

tion. Gaura

Purnima com-

menced this year

with devotees

patiently standing in line for the

maha abhishek, lovingly and

humbly bathing the Lords with

sweet water, milk, honey, yo-

gurt, and ghee while Gopal Das

led a charged Bhajan. Kirtan soon

followed, Tirthpada Das and the

melodious voices of devotees

ringing throughout the temple

room with pure and strong devo-

Dear Devotees, friends & well-

wishers,

Please accept my humble obei-sances. All glories to Srila Prabhu-

pada.

In the present day, communication has become extremely vital and is

essential to ensure the success of any organization. We are therefore very happy to see a young team of

devotees start an exciting new

newsletter. In the Krishna Con-

scious lifestyle, there is never a dull or stale moment and every day is an opportunity to do something for the

pleasure of Sri Krishna. At ISKCON Detroit, we have a multitude of activities for all classes of people,

regardless of age, designed to bring one out of material misery and to the platform of bliss. This newslet-

ter will deliver to you information about everything that is going on at

our Temple and

we hope that sooner than later, you will join us in

our mission to deliver Vedic culture to society

at large.

- Bharath Das

Sri Sri Gaur Nitai in their

stunning new night outfit.

Devasadan Mandir Celebrates Gaura Purnima!

I N S ID E TH I S

I S S U E :

Gaura-Lila 2

Why celebrate

Gaur-Purnima?

2

Sri Ramanu-

jacarya

2

Devotee Profile of

the Month

3

Gaura Purnima

Pictures

4 A letter from the Temple President.

INS P IR A T ION:

S R I LA

P R A BHUP ADA Devasadan Monthly M A R C H 2 0 0 9 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

“When one becomes

Krishna conscious,

he loves everyone. If

you chant loudly

Hare Krishna, even

the ant and insect

who is hearing, he’ll

be delivered, because

it is spiritual

vibration.”

P A G E 2

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu Gaura-Lila By Pranav Chintala. Age 14 Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born in Nabadvip, West Bengal on March 10, 1486 during a lunar eclipse. His birth name given to him by his parents was Visvamb-har, but he has two other names as well. Since he took birth under a Neem tree, Chaitanya Ma-haprabhu is sometimes called Ni-mai, and he is also referred to as Gauranga because of his fair skin. He is an avatar of Lord Krishna in the mood of Radharani, and he took birth for a very special rea-son. At that time in history, there were many devotees of Krishna. Krishna wished to know why not only the devotees loved him, but more importantly, why Radharani loved him. To find out why, Krishna came down to Earth as his own devotee so he could find out what it is like to be a devotee of himself. He also came down to spread the chanting of the holy name to the world. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has many great pastimes, and the one that is most known is the episode with Jagai and Madhai. Jagai and Madhai were two evil brothers, and also

the absolute worst criminals in all of Nabadvip. They would commit so many atrocities, such as mur-dering people for insignificant rea-sons and stealing from the rich, that people would run from them as soon as they were seen. One day Chaitanya Mahaprabhu decided that he and his devotees should try to reform the brothers by doing Hari Nam Sankirtan in the streets. So Chaitanya and his devotees went to Jagai and Madhai, with Nityananda in the lead. When Nityananda encountered the brothers, he asked them to join the kirtan and to serve Lord Krishna. Madhai became angry at the thought of someone being greater then him, and in his anger, he threw a pot at Nityananda’s head, severely wounding him. Meanwhile, Chaitanya Ma-haprabhu was informed of what Madhai had done to Nityananda, who was like a brother to him. Gauranga therefore became en-raged and was going to kill the two brothers with his Chakra. As he arrived at the scene of the inci-dent, he saw that Madhai was go-ing to throw another pot at Nit-yananda, but then Jagai grabbed his elder brother’s hand to restrain

him. He said that killing a Sanyasi was a great sin and that no good would come upon it. Then Gau-ranga, all anger inside him sub-sided, went and embraced Jagai for having restrained his brother from attacking Nityananda again. Then, Madhai, shocked at this act of forgiveness, fell down and paid obeisances to Gauranga’s feet. Gauranga told Madhai to ask for-giveness from Nityananda, and immediately lay prostrate before Nityananda’s feet and asked him for his forgiveness, which Nit-yananda happily granted. Jagai also followed his elder brother and offered obeisances to Gauranga and Nityananda. Both brothers thereafter reformed into pure devotees and made atonements for their previous sins. In this age of Kali, there is sel-dom a time when people show forgiveness. If someone had hit your family member or a friend, would you be willing to forgive them? One of the hardest things a person can do is to forgive his enemies, yet this is a sign of a true devotee of Krishna. Although Jagai and Madhai were so fallen, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu chose to forgive them because he is a true devotee of Krishna.

D E V A S A D A N M O N T H L Y

Why do we celebrate

Gaur-Purnima?

By Gaurangi Devi Dasi Age 13

Gaura Purinima means the

Gold Full Moon for Lord

Caitanya, an incarnation of

Krishna, The Supreme Per-

sonality of Godhead on his

Appearance Day that hap-

pens every year. About 500

years Krishna incarnated as a

devotee, Lord Caitanya or

Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The

Appearance Day always oc-

curs on Full Moon. Lord

Caitanya is in the mood of

both Radha, the consort and

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.

Remembering our Acharyas

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

By Sreeram

This month of March we celebrate the

Appearance of Sri Ramanujacarya.

Sri Ramanuja was an important phi-

losopher of Sri Vaishnavam, and one of the most dynamic characters of Hindu-

ism. He was a philosophical as well as a

social reformer, displaying a knowl-

edge that was nearly supreme in Hindu

religious history. He invigorated Indian

philosophy and popular religion so

much that nearly every aspect of Hin-

duism has been influenced by his work.

His life and works show a truly unique

personality, combining thoughtful in-

sight, logical acumen, and his dedica-

tion to God.

In one pastime, Ramanujacharya used to

go around the streets for his Biksha. A

malevolence minded person mixed poi-

son in the food, and kept it in the bik-

sha. After his wife was done serving, she fell to Ramanuja’s feet with tears in her

eyes. He knew that something was

wrong. The sishays, which are the disci-

ples of Ramanuja, sorted the food and

found out that the food was poisonous.

Hearing this, Ramanuja went on a fast.

This pastime touched my heart in nu-

merous ways. The man was mean to put

poison in the biksha. Of all the citizens

in the city, he had to choose Ramanuja

to suffer. I find these people ignorant,

selfish, and abhorrent. I couldn’t believe that Ramanuja had chosen to fast.

“He invigorated

Indian

philosophy and

popular religion

so much that

nearly every

aspect of

Hinduism has

been influenced

by his work.”

Ramanujacarya 1017–1137 A.D

had always believed in reincarnation and had

already been a practicing vegetarian for many

years. One aspect she really appreciates in

Krsna Consciousness is that The Divine is both

feminine and masculine, and for her that is very important. On the other hand her husband

Narasimha Guru Prabhu for the first time saw

devotees in London back in 1967 when he was

only 13 years old. He had been sitting in car

with his parents when they all suddenly heard a

tumultuous sound. He looked out of the car to

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

temple regularly, for he loved the

association of devotees, he loved eating prasa-dam, and he loved reading the Krishna Book.

From that moment on, he fully believed in Krsna

Consciousness and knew everything about it

was true. His biggest attraction to KC was

Krsna and the atmosphere of the temple; the

exotic colors and incense, the prasadam, every-

thing "was just out of this world." "There was

no cult around anybody and everyone was ap-

preciated for their absolute absorption of

Prabupada." He loved the beauty of the deities,

and he just had to always come back.

By Bhaktin Asmaa

Elizabeth and Narasimha Guru Das are happily

married and currently reside in Kalamazoo, but

originally lived in New Vrindavan, West Virginia.

As a teenager, Elizabeth bought a book from devotees at the L.A. airport in 1992 entitled the

Silence of Self-Realization yet she never visited a

temple until 1999, when her husband Narasimha

Das brought her to the Detroit Temple. She

was attracted the most to Krishna Conscious-

ness philosophy, because it just "felt right." She

Community: Devotee Profile of the Month

Elizabeth Lyons and Narasimha Guru Dasa, joined by their daughter, Amarra. Kalamazoo, MI

stage, videotaping and snapping pictures

away. Many a times the hall resounded

with the audience's laughter or still si-

lence at every turn of event from the

play. Adi Gopi mataji was the narrator, at times helping out one of the little

actors with their oft-forgotten lines.

Asha mataji, whose daughter Nikita was

one of the actresses on stages, abso-

lutely loved the performance; "I loved

how the children acted out the play and

their understanding of Krsna's pasttimes.

They practiced a lot and tried really

hard, and the final outcome is worth

applause. Their costumes are beautiful

and very well-put together and its very

heart-warming seeing the young genera-tion at an early age dedicate their time

to Krsna and the temple." Her daughter,

Nikita, a very sharp and friendly seven

year old, and not to mention a beautiful

dancer, was one of the village girls in the

Continued from front cover

showing up to celebrate with other devo-

tees Gaura Purnima. The kids put a great

deal into the play, and they did a tremen-

dous job!" He also remarked that "everyone is welcome to attend service at

the temple, everyone is welcome to help

out, anytime." Before the Drama went

underway, two cakes prepared by temple

devotees were up for donation, one going

to Srinivas Prabhu and family for $225.00

and the other one going to Lubhit Prabhu,

Manish Prabhu, and Saci Suta Prabhu for

jointly for $300.00. Sri Sri Radha Kunjabi-

hari’s Temple kindly thanks you for your

generosity. Finally, the drama went under-

way, the curtains opened and young guru-kulis walked on stage.

The audience sat with many parents

beaming proudly at their young actors on

play. Nikita said "I was a village woman

carrying baskets of fruit and garlands to

Nimai, giving him comfort when he was sad

and on the ground." To end the night, deli-

cious prasadam was served, prepared by our wonderful bramacharis, matajis and

other temple devotees. Amongst items on

the menu were fruits, salad, pakoras, gau-

ranga potatoes, and sabudana. Filling their

plates high with prasadam, the congregation

sat down to enjoy meals offered to Krsna,

with bhajans playing in the background by

Gopal Pr., Srini Pr., Arjuna Pr., Tirthapada

Pr, and Antariksha Pr. To beautifully end

the night, the curtain to the deities opened

one more time for the night, displaying their

mesmerizing new blue dresses trimmed with lace, and devotees flooded to stare in

awe, dance, pray, and chant Hare Krsna,

Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna Hare Hare. Hare

Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.

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

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

Festival Report Continued

For questions, comments, concerns regard-

ing this newsletter, or to contribute arti-

cles , please contact the editors at:

sriradhakunjabihari@gmail.com