“The diseases of envy and forgetfulness of our eternal nature are limitlessly more dangerous than any disease of this Earth,” Radhanath Maharaja said.

“Caitanya’s message was: ‘I have the medicine. Take the Names of Krishna.'”

Nabadwip is the birthplace of the great Vaishnava saint Caitanya Mahaprabhu, a social reformer who rejuvenated the bhakti movement in the 1500’s.  Devotees believe that Caitanya was Krishna himself, incarnated as a disciple so that he could taste the sweetness of his most beloved devotee, Radharani.

“There is no more powerful medicine in this age of Kali Yuga, with its ocean of bad qualities and faults,” Radhanath Swami said, pleading with the gathered devotees to chant the prescribed 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna Maha-mantra each day or risk falling victim to maya.  (One round is 108 repetitions on a mala, which has 108 beads.)

“Our own personal sadhana is crucial,” he asserted. “It is the fundamental basis of our spiritual lives. We should fit everything else around our spiritual practice.”

Radhanath Swami is a revered spiritual leader within the Krishna Consciousness movement and beyond.  His first book, “The Journey Home,” has fast become a spiritual classic tells the story of his coming of age as American yogi in India and his discovery of bhakti yoga.  The forthcoming second book, which seeks to “demystify” the ancient practice of bhakti yoga, is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

He is in the Mayapur region as part of a month-long tour throughout India in advance of the International Yoga Conference in Rishikesh March 5-7.  He returns to the West in May for a retreat at Sivananda Yoga Ashram in the Bahamas with his disciple Gaura Vani, a beloved American kirtan wallah and prominent figure in the Western bhakti movement.

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