Dedicated to HH Kadamba Kanana Swami

Here is a video below from Markandeya das, "Dedicated to HH Kadamba Kanana Swami":

Mayapur 2009 pictures!

Latest pictures from HH Kadamba Kanana Swami's recent visit in Mayapur can be downloaded from kkswami.com (or go straight to the gallery)

Krsna, Krsna...

There is a direct connection between hearing and chanting; hearing and chanting enhances one another. This is the process of chanting Hare Krsna. Hearing, chanting and remembering are going together and gradually as our remembrance of Krsna is increasing and as we are seeing the wonderful qualities of Krsna, naturally we will want to chant His names. It is no more a matter of forcing ourselves to chant the mantra, but naturally, naturally we want to chant. How wonderful is Krsna! And each time we say, Krsna, we are full of appreciation...

(HH KKSwami, Durban, South Africa, 2009)

All Problems Solved!

If you know the president you don’t have to stand in the line, you know the boss, you get it directly !...........

It says in Srimad Bhagavatam in the eleventh canto (Sanskrit) it is said that all duties to the Devas, all the duties to the Rsis (saintly persons), all duties to one’s family, one’s ancestors are no longer there for one who has taken up worship of Krishna.
So all your problems can be solved by the worship of Krishna

(Kadamba Kanana Swami 06/12/2009)

Jiv Jago, Jiv Jago!!!!!!

Kadamba Kanana Swami

From the day I was temple commander, I was serious and in those days I was a serious temple commander and there was no maya. Everyone had to get up for Mangala Arati, I was a heavy temple commader - I would put a water hose in someone’s sleeping bag of someone who was not getting up and turn it on!
I did that- I confess! It was fun too! Some people would lock their doors and I would play karatalas on the doors: “Jiv Jago, Jiv Jago”- boom boom boom!

Be Ecstatic ....or be Harrased!!!

Kadamba Kanana Swami
There is only one adventure, the big adventure, the big adventure of crossing the ocean of nescience. Going back to the Spiritual World, and you don’t get it for nothing! You have to do better. Regularly you have to do better. You have to regularly look at your performance and think, “What have I done wrong? I have to do better”
If you don’t do better you will be dry and you will be a materialistic devotee. It is not so cheap, it is not cheap to be a pure devotee – but we can become. And if we don’t become pure devotees the alternative is that maya will pull at us. It’s not that there is a neutral stage. It is either: be ecstatic or be harassed by maya!

But what are we doing with it?!

"Everything is possible, any ashram: we can be alone, we can be married...but what are we doing with it?!"

(Kadamba Kanana Swami 02/05/2005)

Take Shelter Of Krishna

One of the five types of ignorance which are being destroyed by the Sankirtana movement : is to think there is more than the Absolute Truth or to think there is anything more than chanting Hare Krishna - and therefore we look for other things, other than chanting to satisfy us to give us inspiration and so on. So we fall prey to this, we do! We do feel the need for other things, we do other things.
It was a nice sunny day, I had the window seat on the plane and I was looking out of the window and it was a very nice view, happened to be an interesting route and was a nice view and I opened up the Caitanya Caritamrita. I read a little bit and it was about the Gopis who were just not interested in seeing anything but Krishna! They were not interested in seeing anything but Krishna and if Krishna wasn’t there they were not even interested to see it no matter what it was! Ha Ha and there was me sitting in front of my window seat!
The Lord is kind....again and again He will remind us “Don’t worry about your window seat, this seat, that seat, this position, that position, don’t worry - take shelter of Krishna”

(Kadamba Kanana Swami 02/05/2005)

Extraordinary things...

...it is something that is a little bit difficult for us; something special and something which we think, 'maybe I can do this...' Like that; that's what we should do. Extraordinary things...well, it can be in our own spiritual practices, in sadhana- in hearing and chanting, in reading the books- it can be in preaching, it can be in serving Krsna...So we try to do something extraordinary in whatever service we're doing- not just the ordinary- we try to make a quality offering to Krsna and offer Krsna something really nice...after all He's the Supreme Personality of Godhead. For Him nothing but the best will do! Are we offering Him our best??

(KKSwami, Dec 2009, Durban, SA)

My lecture experiences...

I have given lectures over the years- many now- and I’ve been in front of different audiences. Sometimes the audience was very nice, like devotees, and then it’s easy and all nice Krsna conscious things come out from your mouth. But I’ve also been in very mundane atmospheres; there was a student society and boy…! They had a bar and there were no chairs in the bar and there was sand thrown all over the bar, even on the tables there was sand and dirt! And they had a pedestal for a lecturer. And we were invited and they said, ‘Yes, you can stand on there and give your talk! That’s it!’ So I fell in the trap and stepped on that thing and I started talking. And even in the middle of the first sentence they started to attack- verbal attack- one after another… ‘But, no! We don’t agree!’ this…that! ‘Your first letter was wrong!’ It was a battle uphill and of course we try to preach but it’s very hard to get any further. Like I could hardly get to the ‘k’ of ‘karma’! At best I could sort of approach reincarnation but they wouldn’t really get me off the ground, you know! In other words, it was hard to get to Krsna, to get to devotional service and so on. It was very hard.

When the lecture was over, they were serving prasadam and because there were practically no tables or chairs, so we just served prasadam at the bar! And I went behind the bar! And then I started preaching from behind the bar and suddenly they listened! Suddenly I was an authority- suddenly I was a bar keeper! And all my arguments came across. And by Lord Caitanya’s mercy, Prabhupada’s mercy, somehow or other, it worked out! I’ll never forget that program! And I was also quite happy to leave…! And to go back to a nice temple with a group of devotees who were all in the mode of goodness and were just like, ‘Haribol Prabhu! Vanca kalpa…’ or chanting the Siksastakam on the way to the bathroom! So nice…!

(HH KKSwami, May 2009, Radhadesh)

The one thing we must do...

It is Krsna who gives us the reward in our practice in bhakti yoga. It is Krsna, Krsna and only Krsna! It's not us who are just doing but we must try to do something very nice for Krsna, that we must try. It is the one thing we must do...

(HH KKSwami, 03 Dec 2009, Durban, SA)

Lenasia Ratha Yatra 2009

On the 5 & 6 December, Kadamba Kanana Maharaja attended the Lenasia Ratha Yatra in Gauteng, South Africa. It was one of the biggest festivals in Lenasia thus far, attended by also many other senior devotees such as HH Giriraja Swami, HH Lokanath Swami, HH Bhakti Caitanya Swami and many others. Here is a slideshow of the pics from that transcenental weekend:

Cant view slideshow? Click here

Here is a link to listen to the Q and A session by Kadamba Kanana Swami

Nice Kirtana (VID!)

Best Of Both Worlds?

We can see how temporary things are in this material world, couple of days ago Melvin was crying in intense heat and now it is cold! Totally different and all the conditions change! Like that everything changes in the material world . So what is the benefit of worship for improving the conditions of life.

But sometimes a devotee may get tempted and say: ”Well why not a bit of both, why not invest something in the eternal and invest something in the temporary at the same time, why not? Yes, in that way we get the best of both worlds”

Yes it maybe but this does take something away.... it divides our faith.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami 11/02/2009)

Mayapur Kirtana!

Disaster can strike!

Sometimes it is thought that this world is a gift of Krishna to us:
“Krishna was so kind that He made this material world for us so that we have a good time here!”
That’s the idea and therefore they think that religion is to say:
“Thank you Krishna for giving us this nice world, where we can have a great time! “
And that’s going on and in the middle of it some disaster happens, either on a large scale or a private scale! Then suddenly it’s not such a nice world anymore :
“How is this possible, how can this happen?” Then the world is not so nice.
A sober person who is not so passionate can see things as they are.

(Kadamba Kanana Swami 11/02/2009)

No One Is A Devotee Like Prabhupada. Nobody!

When the devotees went to Vrndavana with Prabhupada for the first time, the first devotees, Kirtananda and Acutyananda, they were thinking:
“Now we are going to Vrndavana and Vrndavana will be full of devotees like Prabhupada, pure devotees”
But it wans’t. It wasn’t. They had heard that in Vrndavana everyone is a devotee and they saw that but they also saw that “No one is a devotee like Prabhupada” “Nobody!”
Even in Vrndavan there was nobody like him. Vrndavana, best place of India, the best place of India, the place of the devotees, but even there in that place no one could match Prabhpada. No one had that mood of: “Everything for Krishna, just everything for Krishna.”
So thus he started this movement and took it to the west to people who have no idea about anything! who were fallen and habituated to sinful things and Prabhupada gave that extraordinary Pure Devotional Service!

(Kadamba Kanana Swami 11/02/2009)

The Offering and the Darsana

Kadamba Kanana Swami:

When I speak of two aspects in chanting: The Offering and the Darsana.
-The OFFERING includes, our endeavor, attentive chanting, clear pronunciation, synchronizing the beads with the mantra and not skipping beads, chanting in a suitable place, after sufficient rest, in good association, trying to avoid the 10 offenses.
-The DARSANA includes hearing, appreciating that the name is Krsna,remembering while chanting that we are with Krsna face to face. This is even part of the practice of the beginner, thus the darsana element is not just for the advanced. Of course the advanced may have darsana on a deeper and more complete levels, but everyone gets the darsana of the lord while chanting, that is His kind mercy.

More on Japa Talks

Surrender- part 1

While in Durban, Kadamba Kanana Swami gave very inspiring classes, especially the morning Bhagavatam classes which dealt with the topic of 'surrender.' www.kkswami.com will feature transcripts of these classes and audio recordings can also be downloaded from Spiritual Radio 108. Here is an excerpt from Part 1:

"...That is surrender. It means to give up our own ideas; surrender means that we stop thinking of what I want for my life. Our whole life we’ve developed the idea, ‘this is what I want, this is what I desire...’ now, forget it! Just now- not tomorrow, no NOW. ‘Now? After the class?’ No, NOW! ‘After 5 minutes?’ No, no, NOW! Now! ‘Right now?’ Right now! This very moment, forget it, forget. This is surrender. Surrender doesn’t mean tomorrow; ‘tomorrow I will surrender.’ No, no surrender is from moment to moment. Surrender means in the now, surrender means in the present, surrender means it has to be done now. When we say, ‘I’ll surrender tomorrow’ it means, ‘I will start meditating on it and I hope maybe tomorrow I’ll be that far,’ No, just do it! Get the T-shirt and just do it! Just don’t think about it...surrender is something one does now. It is about doing the right thing right now. As Prabhupada said, “sit properly!” and then what is it? What does it mean to sit properly? Well, eventually we learn, we read what is proper. Then we must follow it..."

Click here to view entire transcript

Kadamba Kanana Swami in SA- Nov/Dec 2009

HH Kadamba Kanana Swami made a surprise visit to South Africa on November 29! He flew in straight from Mayapur to SA and stayed for about a week, doing various programs in Durban and Gauteng as well as Ratha Yatra in Lenasia. Keep viewing the blog for reports and other nectar of Maharaja's recent travel in South Africa. All audio recordings can be downloaded on
Spiritual Radio 108 in the uploads folder.

We Are Only Interested In Krishna

Kadamba Kanana Swami

We see that the way the person is dealing with sex life, that is the determining factor, how high the person will be placed in the universes. Tapalokas- complete celibate, there’s no question, even Janaloka - celibate but in the Maharlokas prajapatis, (prajapatis who are celibate but then engage in activities to populate the universe) that is there but all in sacrifice , all in a very spiritual way. Then Brahmaloka , that is for the naistik brahmacaris, those who have not had no sex at all in this life, they’re straight to Brahmaloka.
Like that in the material world, one can see if one is avoiding lust how one is being elevated to higher realms in the universe. It is an interesting point to note.
But our interest, of course, is not any of these planets, we are interested in the spiritual world , we are interested in Krishna!

Principles Of Dharma

This world is the world of sense gratification, the world where we want to enjoy the senses. Even in the heavenly planets it is about sense gratification but the difference is is that the demigods will do it in a dharmic way, they will follow the principles of dharma – and in this planet in principle we are not inclined towards dharma.
Dharma is difficult here. We are inclined to not follow dharma, that is our tendency - because in this world we are in the mode of passion. The tendency is to enjoy without restriction .
The demigods are always into sense enjoyment according to the principles of dharma, they don’t even think about deviating from dharma- there are some moments they may -but it is not a common standard.
In our case the common standard is to deviate from dharma, and if someone follows dharma :“Oh he’s too religious!”.....
It doesn’t matter which religion you belong to, if you get too serious about it:

“Too religious , too much! Be natural, be normal, be yourself, why you punishing yourself, you’re still young, enjoy. You can always when you are old and worn out you can get serious about religion!”

(Kadamba Kanana Swami 11/04/2008)

The Supreme Enjoyer, The Blue Boy!

Kadamba Kanana Swami

The Divine realm is described as a perfect realm where the Supreme Lord is engaged in eternal pleasure pastimes- now that makes sense, the whole idea is that all living beings are joining in these pleasure pastimes.

The Supreme Lord is enjoying instead of working, that sounds like being all mighty. If we we were all mighty would we work? No, if we had all opulence why would we work? We only work because we are deprived and we have so many needs, that’s all...otherwise who would work?

So in this way the more we hear about descriptions about Krishna, we begin to realise that He fits the bill, He has all the qualities and all the attributes that logically belong to the Supreme Lord.

The Most Famous Celebrity!

Because He (Krishna) is such an interesting person everybody is interested in what He is doing. Just like in this world when there is a great celebrity, when there is a great celebrity, a very famous person, a famous movie star coming to Stockholm, everybody is a little curious, everyone has a look at the paper, page three let’s check it out, check it out - what this celebrity is doing!
So this tendency is there in us. So Krishna is a lot more interesting than any celebrity therefore in the spiritual world everybody is wondering what’s Krishna doing right now? What would He being doing? Therefore everyone is interested in Krishna and because Krishna is unlimited He simultaneously entertained everybody, not just one, but everybody! That is the nature of the Supreme Lord.

So in the spiritual world it is not that God is there too. He is the centre of all attraction, He is the focus of all attraction, He is where it is happening!

(Kadamba Kanana Swami B.G 4.40, Stockholm)

Carrying forward This Mercy

Kadamba Kanana Swami



When it comes to bhajan or being ourselves alone with Krishna – where we just chant the holy name of Krishna, not to preach but simply to glorify Krishna and to submit ourself before Krishna: purity and all seriousness, that is required.
And every once in a while we must take our days to be deeply absorbed like that: to read, to chant. I just booked Monday for that! So Monday forget about me, I’m not home! I’ll put a sign on my door: “Not here!” I am going to try to be somewhere else – at the lotus feet of Krishna, if I can.

Laws Of Karma! (Vid!)

Can't see video? click here youtube.com

Giving Others Attachment To Krishna

(Talk Before Maha Harinama On Queensaday 2005)

We are assembling on the eve of the festival of Amsterdam. Amsterdam to start off is a crazy place! If you didn’t know it yet, that’s what it is. This is Amster Mad! or Amster Dump! This is a total mad house! The best thing to do with Amsterdam, as far as I’m concerned, is just above the city sign put “Pavillion” make it part of a “mental hospital!” and then everything is ok! Declare the whole city: A mental hospital! That would be my advise. So what shall we say, just wait a while for the neighbours to walk by and you will understand what I mean! On pills and everything! So tomorrow the city is going to celebrate, it’s going to be crazy!
But it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter because there is tremendous opportunity to somehow or other engage people in devotional service, which is all auspicious and which will begin to create some attachment – once you’ve tasted hot cauliflower pakoras, you have to have them again! There’s no way around it!

(Kadamba Kanana Swami 29/04/2005 Amsterdam)