Nityaananda! Gauraanga! Hare Krishna! We have moved all the posts and comments on this Blog to our new and fast Forums and on NITAAI.com. So please join and post on the Forums. Thank you.
Yours in service, Swami Gaurangapada.
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
All glories to Swami Gaurangapada!
All glories to Srilla Prabhupada!
What is our real business? How can we become real happy? Srilla Prabhupada wrote in letter to Cyavana das Prabhu on 11. November 1972:
"Preaching is our real business, not getting big, big buildings and doing business for money just to maintain them, no. We shall live under a tree, that is not difficult, but we must go on preaching every moment, that will make us happy."
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
In beautifull book compiled by our Gurudeva - Glories of Lord Balarama I found next statement:
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
All glories to Swami Gaurangapada
All glories to Srilla Prabhupada
"If a devotee cries out humbly and sincerely to Lord Sri Krishna to remove these demoniac qualities which are represented by the demons killed by Lord Krishna, then Sri Krishna Himself will remove those evils. But the devotees must personally work to drive out the anarthas represented by the demons killed by Lord Balarama. This is a mystery of Vraja bhajan. The aspirant must personally remove these strong impediments with his best care and efforts and by obtaining the mercy of Krishna. If the devotee's humility becomes very deep and intense, Krishna will be merciful. In that case, the feeling of Lord Balarama will arise in his mind and quickly destroy these demoniac qualities. Then one will gradually improve his cultivation of Bhajan"
Therefore let us cry out Nityananda! Nityananda! Gauranga! Gauranga!
taken from Sri Krishna-kathamrta Bindu Magazine.
SRILA NARAHARI SARKAR THAKUR
Srila Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami writes in the ādi-līlā (10.78-79) of Śrī Caitanya- caritāmrta:
khanda-vāsī mukunda-dāsa, śrī-raghunandana narahari-dāsa, cirañjīva, sulocana
ei saba mahāśākhā — caitanya-kpādhāma prema-phala-phula kare yāhān tāhā dāna
Sri Khandavasi Mukunda and his son Raghunandan were the thirty-ninth branch of the tree, Narahari was the fortieth, Chiranjiv the forty-first, and Sulochan the forty-second. They were all big branches of the all-merciful tree of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. They distrib-uted the fruits and flowers of love of Godhead anywhere and everywhere.
Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has commented on these verses:
Narahari Das Sarkar was a very famous devotee. Lochan Das Thakur, the celebrated author of Śrī Caitanya-mangala, was his disciple. In the Caitanya-mangala it is stated that Sri Gadadhar Das and Narahari Sarkar were extremely dear to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Srila Narahari Sarkar Thakur was a physician, born in a prestigious family of medical practitioners. He appeared around 1478 (some say 1479 or 1480) in the village of Sri Khanda, near Katwa, in the Barddhaman district of what is currently West Bengal. In krsna-līlā he was the dear companion of Srimati Radharani named Madhumati Sakhi. His father's name was Sri Narayan Dev Sarkar. His mother was Sri Goyi Devi, the daughter of Murari Sen. His younger brother was Madhava Das. His elder brother was Sri Mukunda Thakur, who was the doctor for the Muslim king at Gaur.
Although Narahari is described as a fair- complexioned, handsome man, he never married. After Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took sannyāsa, Narahari became his follower.
According to the local history in Katwa, the deity at the Gauranga Mahaprabhu temple there was originally made at the re-quest of Narahari. It is said that after Mahaprabhu took sannyāsa and departed from Nabadwip, Narahari Thakur was cry-ing and remembering the Lord. One evening he had a dream in which Mahaprabhu told him that the two brothers Kamsari and Daitari Ghosh in the nearby village of Kulain should make a deity of him. When Narahari spoke with them the next day, he found that they had had the same dream. The brothers then showed Narahari a large neem tree that was growing in the garden next to their house. From that tree they made three dei-ties of Mahaprabhu. Narahari sent the big-gest deity to Gadadhar Das in Katwa, the medium-sized deity was kept by Narahari in nearby Sri Khanda, and the smallest de-ity was sent to Ganga Nagara.
They say in Sri Khanda that once Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda Prabhu came to visit Narahari, and they asked him for some honey to drink. By his mystic powers, Narahari transformed a nearby pond into honey. That pond is still present today and is called Madhu-puskarini.
Another local tradition describes that once in the village Badadanga, Narahari was dancing so ecstatically in kīrtana that one of his ankle-bells flew off and landed some distance away at the home of his disciple Krishnadas, in the village of Akai Hatta.
Lochan Das has sung the glories of his spiritual master in Caitanya-mangala (1.2.632-646):
Sri Narahari Das is my master. I will sing his glorious character and activities.
How can I describe his glorious character and activities? As far as the power of my intelligence allows, I will speak.
O my heart, please don't be proud. Simply bow down before the spiritual master's feet.
O my master, by the mercy of your feet even a person like myself, a person worthless like a pile of ashes, can describe your glories.
I am Sri Narahari's servant. He is my master. In the community of physicians he is glorious and famous.
His love for Krishna has no limit. His body is filled with Krishna's potency. To his followers he reveals the truths of ecstatic love for Krishna.
His heart is overcome with compassion for the numberless conditioned souls. His heart is always restless with ecstatic love for Krishna.
When divine love arose within him it was as if his body was plunged in the nectar of love for Sri Sri Radha-Krishna.
In this way, moment after moment plunged in Sri Sri Radha-Krishna's nectarean glories, he lived in the village of Sri Khanda.
[Because he was so dear to the Lord] he became known as "Narahari Chaitanya". Without his feet I have no good future.
One moment he was plunged in ecstatic love for Sri Krishna. Another moment he was plunged in ecstatic love for Sri Radha. He was the per-sonification of the mellows of love for Sri Sri Radha-Krishna.
He purely walked on the path taught by Sri Chaitanya. He was the incarnation of the peerless nectar of spiritual love.
He is appropriately affectionate to all the vai navas according to their position. His pure fame is manifest all over the world.
In Vrindavan he is the gopi Madhumati, who is Sri Radha's dear friend and who is a great reservoir of sweetness.
In Kali-yuga he became Narahari, the intimate associate of Gauranga. He is perfectly qualified to taste the great reservoir of ecstatic love for Sri Sri Radha-Krishna.
Srila Thakur Bhaktivinode has mentioned Narahari Sarkar in the tenth line of his Gaura- ārati song, narahari-ādi kori' cāmara hulāya — Narahari Sarkar and other associates of Lord Chaitanya fan him with cāmaras. Narahari was both a singer and a poet. It's said that he was writing poems about Radha Krishna even before he met Mahaprabhu. He is con-sidered by many scholars to be the first per-son to write songs about the pastimes of Lord Gauranga. His poems are often confused with those of Narahari Chakravarti, the author of Bhakti-ratnākara, both of whom often signed their poems as "Narahari". Most of the songs composed by Narahari Sarkar were in Bengali. However, he was also expert in Sanskrit and was the author of a number of books.
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
All glories to Swami Gaurangapada!
All glories to Srilla Prabhupada!
I found on many places in Srilla Prabhupada's purports that ideal householder should retire from his material duties when he reach 50 years, fully engage in devotional service, live on holy place, absorb in Naam, preach and on that way make his life perfect.
Some devotees think that this is not suitable for this modern age and they are giving example of Srilla Bhaktivinoda Thakura.
Is it all right for grhastha to have such desire (simultaneously not neglecting family/material duties but accepting them)? Family life is in touch with constant earning money, daily job, management etc. In such atmosphere it is harder for ordinary person to make spiritual progress. Also to support family he or she in modern times must work many more hours then before, and when working hours are over there are small amount of time for serious spiritual activities.
Such position is like burning cage - it is burning everywhere, but person can not escape! What should person do in such case?
It may or not be relate with this topic, I just remembered Lord Gauranga who abandoned his grhastha life in very young age. His wife could not tolerate pain of separation but He took sanyas anyway. What is significance for us in this lila?
I can practically see that there is no end in material entanglement of this world. Desires of relatives, neighbors, friends etc. can never become fully satisfied by any material means. I am working very very hard for past seven months, almost whole day to secure existence for my family and to fulfill different duties and obligations best I can. There is no varnasrama or support of community and more or less we are like aliens in sense-gratification community. It is hard battle for existence.
When person is starting to make some spiritual progress materially absorbed persons can not understand that. They think that we are crazy. So in this insane environment it is hard to dedicate fully to spiritual practice. Devotees like me are in great need of sanga, community support, etc. Internet is giving us some possibility for that, yet it is not enough. Anyway I just wanted to describe thinking of aspiring devotee flamed in burning cage.
Basic question was about leaving family life after 50. Please share and elaborate about this topic.
Dasso'smi Igor
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
seeing by the effects,
a few more notes,
Your lowly servant
Gouranga dasa
Nityananda! Gauranga! Hare Krishna! Jaya Shri Guru Parampara! Pranams! 
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Daaso'smi, Swami Gaurangapada.
Dearest Devotees and Swami Gaurangapada, please accept my respectful Obeisances! All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Friday November 30th 2007 saw the appearance of Srila Prabhupadas Murti form in Scotland! There has been some complications for a few months but mysteriously Srila Prabhupads Murti arrived at the temple on the day before the book Marathon started. Devotees welcome him with Abhisek and ecstatic kirtan!
Your servant
Gouranga dasa
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
All glories to Swami Gaurangapada! All glories to Srilla Prabhupada!
Only by mercy of Lord Nityananda Balarama we can approach Lord Gauranga Krsna. Srilla Prabhupada is telling us this fact as follows:
"Sri Rama, or Balarama, is the protector of the devotees of the Lord. Baladeva acts as the spiritual master of all devotees, and by His causeless mercy the fallen souls are delivered. Sri Baladeva appeared as Sri Nityananda Prabhu during the advent of Lord Caitanya, and the great Lord Nityananda Prabhu exhibited His causeless mercy by delivering a pair of extremely fallen souls, namely Jagai and Madhai. Therefore it is particularly mentioned herein that Balarama is the protector of the devotees of the Lord. By His divine grace only one can approach the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, and thus Sri Balarama is the mercy incarnation of the Lord, manifested as the spiritual master, the savior of the pure devotees."
Srilla Prabhupada Purport on Srimad Bhagavatam1.14.28-29
Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krsna
Daaso'smi, Bhakta Igor.
