WELCOME  This issue coincides with the sacred month of Damodara, during which Lord Krishna’s devotees commemorate His being tied to a grinding mortar by His mother, Yashoda. Though every Krishna devotee is familiar with this enchanting pastime, Shivarama Swami enhances our understanding of it – and our spiritual pleasure in hearing it again – by narrating it with embellishments gained from the realization of pure devotees in the line of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The article in this issue titled “Yashoda Finds and Catches Krishna” is an excerpt from his book Sri Damodara-janani.

As Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual family grows, his followers are writing more and more books, something he had wanted. So this issue contains a second book excerpt, this one from an early disciple of Prabhupada’s who served as his secretary and spent much time with him, often alone. Shyamasundar das’s Chasing Rhinos with the Swami, Vol.1, is an entertaining inside look at ISKCON’s earliest days in San Francisco and London. Shyamasundar was one of a handful of devotees who opened ISKCON’s first temples in both cities. In our excerpt, “The Krishna Book Miracle,” he relates how George Harrison’s sponsoring of Prabhupada’s first printing of the book Krishna came to be.

Hare Krishna. – Nagaraja Dasa, Editor

Department

Letters

Barking About Bodily Concerns

The Good Thief

Vedic Thoughts