March/April 2013

WELCOME  This issue corresponds with the anniversary of the appearance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the incarnation of Lord Krishna who appeared in West Bengal in 1486 CE. As Satyaraja Dasa writes in “Krishna Consciousness: The Golden Opportunity,” Lord Chaitanya is Krishna in the mood of Radha, Krishna’s most intimate devotee. She is full of love for Krishna, and Lord Chaitanya delivered the process by which we can come to taste that love.

While chanting is the essence of Lord Chaitanya’s mission, His biographies written by His contemporaries reveal related spiritual practices. Sri Chaitanya-charitamrita, for example, tells of Chaitanya’s devotees offering dandavat—lying prostrate before God or His representatives. In “Offering Dandavat: A Nurturing Display of Surrender,” Urmila Devi Dasi writes of the spiritual importance of this practice.

Chanting Krishna’s names is called kirtana, but the word can mean any type of devotional expression, including writing. Srila Prabhupada would sometimes refer to his books as recorded kirtanas. In “The W.R.I.T.E. Service,” Chaitanya Carana Dasa encourages us, as Srila Prabhupada did, to write as devotional service to the Lord. My thanks to devotees who produce articles for this magazine and thus heed Prabhupada’s call to write.

Hare Krishna.—Nagaraja Dasa, Editor

Departments

Letters

Impersonalism: The Supreme Illusion

Delhi Gang Rape and The Modern Shurpanaka

Bhaktiwriters.com

By The Light of the Full Moon

Vedic Thoughts