Jaya Nrsimhadeva!

All glories to Lord Nrsimhadeva, who is very affectionate and the protector of His devotees. All glories unto Him, who removes all fears and destroys all obstacles on the path of bhakti. I offer my humble obeisances unto His lotus feet.

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura prays:.

e dusta hrdaye kama adi ripu chaya

kutinati pratisthasa sathya sada raya

hrdaya-sodhana ara krsnera vasana

nrsimha-carane mora ei to’ kamana

Within my sinful heart the six enemies headed by lust perpetually reside, as well as duplicity, the desire for fame, plus sheer cunning. At the lotus feet of Lord Narasimha, I hope that He will mercifully purify my heart and give me the desire to serve Lord Krsna.

kandiya nrsimha-pade magibo kakhana

nirapade navadvipe jugala-bhajana

bhaya bhaya paya yan’ra darsane se hari

prasanna hoibo kabe more daya kari

Weeping, I will beg at the lotus-feet of Lord Narasimha for the benediction of worshipping Radha and Krsna in Navadvipa, perfectly safe and free from all difficulties. When will this Lord Hari, Whose terrible form strikes fear into fear itself, ever become pleased and show me His mercy?

yadyapi bhisana murti dusta-jiva-prati

prahladadi krsna-bhakta-jane bhadra ati

kabe va prasanna ho’ye sa krpa-vacane

nirbhaya karibe ei mudha akincane

Even though Lord Narasimha is terrifying toward the sinful souls, He offers great auspiciousness unto the devotees of Lord Krsna headed by Prahlada Maharaja. When will He be pleased to speak words of compassion unto me, a worthless fool, and thereby make me fearless?

svacchande baiso he vatsa sri-gauranga-dhame

jugala-bhajana hau rati hau name

mama bhakta-krpa-bale vighna jabe dura

suddha cite bhajo radha-krsna-rasa-pura

He will say, “Dear child! Sit down freely and live happily here in Sri Gauranga-dhama. May you nicely worship the Divine Couple, and may you develop loving attachment for Their Holy Names. By the mercy of My devotees, all obstacles are cast far away. With a purified heart, just perform the worship of Radha and Krsna, for such worship overflows with sweet nectar.”

ei boli’ kabe mora mastaka-upara

sviya sri-carana harse dharibe isvara

amani jugala-preme sattvika vikare

dharaya lutibo ami sri-nrsimha-dvare

Saying this, will that Lord delightedly place His own divine lotus-feet upon my head? I will experience sublime love for the Divine Couple Radha-Krsna and undergo the ecstatic transformations called sattvika. Falling on the ground, I will roll about at the door of Sri Narasimha’s temple.
(Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, - “Sri Navadvipa Bhava Taranga”, 36-40)

Prahlada Maharaja also instructs in Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto Seven:

Therefore, my dear friends, O sons of the demons, your duty is to take to Krishna consciousness, which can burn the seed of fruitive activities artificially created by the modes of material nature and stop the flow of the intelligence in wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep. In other words, when one takes toKrishna consciousness, his ignorance is immediately dissipated.

Of the different processes recommended for disentanglement from material life, the one personally explained and accepted by the Supreme Personality of Godhead should be considered all-perfect. That process is the performance of duties by which love for the Supreme Lord develops.

One must accept the bona fide spiritual master and render service unto him with great devotion and faith. Whatever one has in one's possession should be offered to the spiritual master, and in the association of saintly persons and devotees one should worship the Lord, hear the glories of the Lord with faith, glorify the transcendental qualities and activities of the Lord, always meditate on the Lord's lotus feet, and worship the Deity of the Lord strictly according to the injunctions of the sästra and guru.

One should always remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His localized representation as the Paramätmä, who is situated in the core of every living entity's heart. Thus one should offer respect to every living entity according to that living entity's position or manifestation.

By these activities [as mentioned above] one is able to cut down the influence of the enemies, namely lust, anger, greed, illusion, madness and jealousy, and when thus situated, one can render service to the Lord. In this way one surely attains the platform of loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

One who is situated in devotional service is certainly the controller of his senses, and thus he is a liberated person. When such a liberated person, the pure devotee, hears of the transcendental qualities and activities of the Lord's incarnations for the performance of various pastimes, his hair stands on end on his body, tears fall from his eyes, and in his spiritual realization his voice falters. Sometimes he very openly dances, sometimes he sings loudly, and sometimes he cries. Thus he expresses his transcendental jubilation.

When a devotee becomes like a person haunted by a ghost, he laughs and very loudly chants about the qualities of the Lord. Sometimes he sits to perform meditation, and he offers respects to every living entity, considering him a devotee of the Lord. Constantly breathing very heavily, he becomes careless of social etiquette and loudly chants like a madman, "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna ! O my Lord, O master of the universe!"

The devotee is then freed from all material contamination because he constantly thinks of the Lord's pastimes and because his mind and body have been converted to spiritual qualities. Because of his intense devotional service, his ignorance, material consciousness and all kinds of material desires are completely burnt to ashes. This is the stage at which one can achieve the shelter of the Lord's lotus feet.

The real problem of life is the repetition of birth and death, which is like a wheel rolling repeatedly up and down. This wheel, however, completely stops when one is in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, by the transcendental bliss realized from constant engagement in devotional service, one is completely liberated from material existence. All learned men know this. Therefore, my dear friends, O sons of the asuras, immediately begin meditating upon and worshiping the Supersoul within everyone's heart.

O my friends, sons of the asuras, the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His Supersoul feature always exists within the cores of the hearts of all living entities. Indeed, He is the well-wisher and friend of all living entities, and there is no difficulty in worshiping the Lord. Why, then, should people not engage in His devotional service? Why are they so addicted to unnecessarily producing artificial paraphernalia for sense gratification?

One's riches, beautiful wife and female friends, one's sons and daughters, one's residence, one's domestic animals like cows, elephants and horses, one's treasury, economic development and sense gratification—indeed, even the lifetime in which one can enjoy all these material opulences—are certainly temporary and flickering. Since the opportunity of human life is temporary, what benefit can these material opulences give to a sensible man who has understood himself to be eternal?

It is learned from Vedic literature that by performing great sacrifices one may elevate himself to the heavenly planets. However, although life on the heavenly planets is hundreds and thousands of times more comfortable than life on earth, the heavenly planets are not pure [nirmalam], or free from the taint of material existence. The heavenly planets are also temporary, and therefore they are not the goal of life. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, however, has never been seen or heard to possess inebriety. Consequently, for your own benefit and self-realization, you must worship the Lord with great devotion, as described in the revealed scriptures.

A materialistic person, thinking himself very advanced in intelligence, continually acts for economic development. But again and again, as enunciated in the Vedas, he is frustrated by material activities, either in this life or in the next. Indeed, the results one obtains are inevitably the opposite of those one desires.

In this material world, every materialist desires to achieve happiness and diminish his distress, and therefore he acts accordingly. Actually, however, one is happy as long as one does not endeavor for happiness; as soon as one begins his activities for happiness, his conditions of distress begin.

A living entity desires comfort for his body and makes many plans for this purpose, but actually the body is the property of others. Indeed, the perishable body embraces the living entity and then leaves him aside.

Since the body itself is ultimately meant to become stool or earth, what is the meaning of the paraphernalia related to the body, such as wives, residences, wealth, children, relatives, servants, friends, kingdoms, treasuries, animals and ministers? They are also temporary. What more can be said about this?

All this paraphernalia is very near and dear as long as the body exists, but as soon as the body is destroyed, all things related to the body are also finished. Therefore, actually one has nothing to do with them, but because of ignorance one accepts them as valuable. Compared to the ocean of eternal happiness, they are most insignificant. What is the use of such insignificant relationships for the eternal living being?

My dear friends, O sons of the asuras, the living entity receives different types of bodies according to his previous fruitive activities. Thus he is seen to suffer with reference to his particular body in all conditions of life, beginning with his infusion into the womb. Please tell me, therefore, after full consideration, what is the living entity's actual interest in fruitive activities, which result in hardship and misery?

The living entity, who has received his present body because of his past fruitive activity, may end the results of his actions in this life, but this does not mean that he is liberated from bondage to material bodies. The living entity receives one type of body, and by performing actions with that body he creates another. Thus he transmigrates from one body to another, through repeated birth and death, because of his gross ignorance.

The four principles of advancement in spiritual life-dharma, artha, käma and mokña—all depend on the disposition of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, my dear friends, follow in the footsteps of devotees. Without desire, fully depend upon the disposition of the Supreme Lord and worship Him, the Supersoul, in devotional service.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, is the soul and the Supersoul of all living entities. Every living entity is a manifestation of His energy in terms of the living soul and the material body. Therefore the Lord is the most dear, and He is the supreme controller.

If a demigod, demon, human being, Yaksa, Gandharva or anyone within this universe renders service to the lotus feet of Mukunda, who can deliver liberation, he is actually situated in the most auspicious condition of life, exactly like us [the mahäjanas, headed by Prahläda Mahäräja].

My dear friends, O sons of the demons, you cannot please the Supreme Personality of Godhead by becoming perfect brähmanas, demigods or great saints or by becoming perfectly good in etiquette or vast learning. None of these qualifications can awaken the pleasure of the Lord. Nor by charity, austerity, sacrifice, cleanliness or vows can one satisfy the Lord. The Lord is pleased only if one has unflinching, unalloyed devotion to Him. Without sincere devotional service, everything is simply a show.

My dear friends, O sons of the demons, in the same favorable way that one sees himself and takes care of himself, take to devotional service to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is present everywhere as the Supersoul of all living entities.

O my friends, O sons of demons, everyone, including you (the Yaksas and Räksasas), the unintelligent women, südras and cowherd men, the birds, the lower animals and the sinful living entities, can revive his original, eternal spiritual life and exist forever simply by accepting the principles of bhakti-yoga.

In this material world, to render service to the lotus feet of Govinda, the cause of all causes, and to see Him everywhere, is the only goal of life. This much alone is the ultimate goal of human life, as explained by all the revealed scriptures.

Women's Ministry

Always one more meal to get;
One more train which must be met;
One more hopeless sock to mend;
One more invalid to tend;
One more salve for one more knee,
One more visitor to tea;
One more future bruised and scarred;
One more drop of spikenard;
One more problem, one more doubt;
One more mood to be smoothed out;
One more smile and one more kiss...



Ah, but ministry like this
Will outlast the radiant sun;
Woman’s work is never done.

-Fay Inchfawn

"Anyone who gives up prescribed duties as troublesome, or out of fear, is said to be in the mode of passion. Such action never leads to the elevation of renunciation." -Bhagavad gita As It Is 18.8

banana chutney

(Serves 2-3)
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 T lemon juice
• 2-3 bananas
• 1 T ghee
• 1/4 black mustard seeds 
• 1/2 t cumin seeds
• 1 t fresh ginger root, minced
• 1/2 t coriander powder
• 1/4 t freshly ground black peppercorns
• a pinch of cinnamon powder
• 1/4 t turmeric
•  2 T sugar
  

PREPARATION:

1. Mash bananas (a little lumpy is good) with the lemon juice.
2. Chaunce the mustard seeds in hot ghee. 
3. When the mustard stops popping, add cumin, ginger root and remaining spices in quick succession. Stir a bit and then pour chaunce into banana mixture.
4. Add sugar and stir until well blended.

Over to Krishna with pakoras or hot puris 

urd dahl with tomatoes

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup split urad dahl
• water
• 4 large plum tomatoes, chopped
• 4 T ghee
• 1 t fresh ginger, minced
• 1/2 t mustard seeds
• 1 t cumin seeds
• a pinch of hing
• 1 t turmeric
• 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
• 5-6 curry leaves (opt)
• salt, as desired
• 2 T fresh coriander for a garnish, chopped

PREPARATION:

1. Boil urd in plenty of water with the turmeric on medium to high boil about 45 minutes.
2. Heat ghee in sauce pan until hot to make a chaunce. Add ginger and cumin and mustard seeds. Fry until the ginger is golden brown and crispy and mustard seeds stop popping. Add hing and black pepper and curry leaves. Add tomatoes and fry a few seconds. Pour all into soup  and continue to cook on low heat and covered about 30 minutes more until dahl is cooked and tomatoes soft. 
3. Turn off the heat. Stir in the salt and fresh coriander leaves

Offer to Krishna with a bowl of rice or steaming hot parathas

VARIATION 2
No mustard seeds? Try chopped mustard greens! Omit the tomatoes and add a dash of lemon juice at the end.

FOR A NIGHTSHADE FREE DAHL, replace the tomato with a cup of yogurt added right before chauncing. Let simmer with the spices at least a few minutes before offering.

Better Butter and Buttermilk

A continuation from a previous post on Butter Making.

A visiting Swami, HH Bhakti Visvambhara Madhava Maharaja from Mayapur, gave class and said that butter churned from yogurt (makhan) is healthier and more digestible than the butter churned from the cream derived from fresh milk. I looked a little more into this on the web and discovered that such butter is becoming more widespread under the name "probiotic butter".

So today husband and I decided to make some butter from yogurt. We started with a good amount of fresh cream, turned it into yogurt, whipped it into butter, strained and pressed it and then boiled it into ghee.

Krishna got special treats today. Yogurt butter and the resultant delicious cultured buttermilk, after straining the butter, we were able to offer right away. The ghee we used on His parathas next morning. 

The buttermilk can be served plain, sweetened or with pinches of salt, black pepper and ground roasted cumin. Or make it taste like strawberry or peach kefir by cooking sugar with blended fruit (boil until sugar is dissolved), cooling it and then stirring the syrup into the buttermilk. Other fruits to try are mango (good raw), pineapple and orange juice or blueberries. 

According to Ayurveda, fresh buttermilk drunk after the main meal at noon is especially healthful, acting as a digestive aid.

The most challenging part was the churning of the yogurt to produce the butter. The large temple mixer needs repair and won't be available for a few more days, so I resorted to electric hand mixers, two of them going at once ( I think it was like five gallons). It took at least an hour, but that's because I didn't add the second mixer until about half way done. LATER NOTE: A Kitchenaid stand up mixer works great for family-sized churning! I do only one or two mixer bowlfuls per day instead of five gallons at once. I generally keep the mixer on low to churn while I do other things. Once the butter and buttermilk separate, however, beware that buttermilk may start flying everywhere if you are not there to turn the mixer off!

If you want to save some butter without turning it into ghee, it's important to get all the buttermilk out or else the butter will spoil quickly. Squeeze it out by hand and then rinse with very cold water afterwards to get as much buttermilk out as possible.

LATER NOTE: Not so with yogurt churned butter. I noticed it did not spoil even though i kept large balls of it wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge for a couple weeks!

I did a search for an old fashioned butter churn for churning large quantities of yogurt, but no luck. The biggest churn I've seen so far holds only a gallon. If I could have any churn I wanted, I find the Indian style much more appealing than western types.