Where the Deity is, there is the Dhama 

While we are deprived of the possibility to go to temples, we can worship Krishna in His Deity form at home. As Srila Prabhupada would often say (paraphrasing), “There is no restriction in the worship of Krishna. We can always worship Krishna, in any circumstances.”

I am rereading now Sivarama Swami’s Nava Vraja Mahima. You might know that he has written this amazing book of eight volumes. The subject is the glorification — mahima — of Nava Vraja, New Vraja-dhama, in Hungary. In essence it is a guide map for Vraja-mandala parikrama, but specifically in New Vraja-dhama. At the same time Sivarama Swami is constantly referring to Bhauma Vrindavana. I am reading this with a particular motivation: I am going to speak on an online conference about pilgrimage and I am going to speak on the New Vraja-dhama parikrama. The point Sivarama Swami is emphasizing in the introduction of his book is that wherever Krishna is present in His Deity form, that place must necessarily also be the holy dhama. It must be a kind of an extension of the holy dhama.

This is a very nice meditation. Many of you are having Deities at home. Here we all are sitting in our various enclosures in locked down mode, but if we have Krishna… Even if we don’t have a three-dimensional Deity, even if we just have a picture of Radha and Krishna, maybe a photo of the Deities from the nearby temple, it is also a form of the Deity. Where the Deity is there is the dhama. We can meditate on being in the dhama as we go about our activities with the effort to center our activities on the service of the Deity, on the service of Krishna.

—From an online sanga with Krishna Kshetra Swami on April 18th, 2020

The Lord of the Universe 

jagannatha swami nayana-patha-gami bhavatu me

O Jagannatha Swami, you are one who goes on the path of the eyes. Let it be so that You may be the goer on the path of my eyes. In other words: may I please see you!

When devotees feel separation from the Lord, there are many intense feelings and all kinds of tears. Very intense… Intense emotions. There is a long history that goes along with this, and through it we understand that he is Jagannath.

Jagannath means jagat-nath. Nath means the Lord, master. And jagat means the universe, literally that which is constantly in flux. That Lord of all that is in flux. He Himself is not affected by the constant changes in the universe. He is in control. The world may be in flux, fluctuating and uncertain, because it is the world of uncertainties. But there is one certainty. That is the Lord, the Lord of the universe.

Jagannath is a very nice name for the Lord, because we could also say, “Lord of Ljubljana, Lord of Slovenia.” Somebody would say, “Lord of this or that religion, tradition.” Some people will think the Lord is for themselves;some will say, “We worship the Christian God,” others will say, “We worship the Islamic God,” and so on. So, people get the idea that there are so many gods.

There are also atheists who look at this sectarianism and say, “Well, it is all very silly. There is actually no God.” But the reason for their atheism is probably that limited conception of God that they heard about from some sectarian theists. Whatever conception they have heard about is a very limited one. And when they hear about this limited conception they think, “No, that is not for me. I don’t believe it. Too small. If that is God, then no.” So, they reject and proclaim, “I am an atheist.”

So it is understandable that many people are atheists. The conception of God that had been delivered to them is so narrow. Nobody really needs a narrow God. We all want God to be expansive. Actually, the word brahman means expanding. That which expands. Even an impersonal conception of God –
brahman – is an expansive conception. What to speak of the semi-personal conception of God – paramatma – who is present in every single heart. And not only there. Also present in every single molecule’s atom. So small within every atom that the paramatma could be traveling within the atom. As long as we are sitting here, speaking, the paramatma is still not getting from one side to the other, at the speed of light. Just try to imagine!

So, that God, that is getting expansive, but all of that is still just paramatma.
Paramatma is a kind of functional form of the Lord. He is present, He is conscious of every nook and corner of the universe, but beyond all of these is jagat-nath, the Lord who is beyond all. Who is that Lord? What is so wonderful about Him? Well, it starts with the fact that He has such big eyes. He sees and as He is seeing, He is smiling. Sometimes I think He may be also even laughing. He is laughing at all our foolish attempts to be lords ourselves.

—From a lecture by Krishna Kshetra Swami in Ljubljana, Slovenia on June 17th, 2019