HOLY SATSANG
By the grace of the dieties I reached ISKCON juhu just as the recorded version of Brahma samahita sung by Yamuna Devi mataji, a canadian devotee started.
Reaching Mumbai Iskcon juhu is very very difficult because no BEST buses are plying to this area.Only riksha available.BEST buses are available till santa cruz only.This locality is very thinly populated.
Never ask the riksha to take you to juhu iskcon.You will never reach there because nobody knows iskcon.You tell them krsna temple, still you will reach the wrong krsna temple.You gotta be real lucky to reach iskcon.
A huge hoarding written inside the temple, says only A2 cow milk used inside ISKCON juhu.A1 milk is notorious for causing inflammations, diabetes, autism, schizophrenia, autoimmune illness and many other illness.Also a logo comomerating the 125th birth anniversary of Srila Prabhupada urf Abhay Charan Das is displayed on top of the temple.Recently 125 rupee coin was also introduced by our Prime minister.This should be the first Iskcon in india.
Kurta purchased from their stall lost its stitches in a few days and the color is fading as if they used some cheap fabric technology.The 30 rupees dhokla that is sold there tastes and looks like plastic.I threw it in the kooda after taking one bite at it.the items kept for sale in their stalls are very expensive and the behavior of the shopkeepers are thrash and not keeping in line with a temple’s ethos.Mandir ho ya footpath, ye log apna aukkad nahi boolenga.Only people in sattvic mode of material nature should be allowed to do business inside the temple.Meals cost 120 rupees.So i avoided it.I didnt get any free prasad either.Some of the "hippopotamus" prabhus do not attend the morning aarti and gita classes.They are busy grazing inside the temple canteen.Such massive 5 star temples have become an old age home for ponga-pandits from kerala.why is iskcon juhu selling tooth pastes inside their stalls? Its not even made by iskcon.Its again a kerala product.namboothiri tooth paste.Then why not sell colgate and sensodyne.They are selling a small bag to carry bhagwad Gita which is more expensive than Gita.People should buy a cheap synthetic bag with a zip from outside and paint bhagawad Gita on it using a brush and fabric color. if it was iskcon toothpaste, then it would make some sense.But now under the garb of god, krsna and spiritualism they have become distributors and stockist for household items.This is not the process of spiritualising material objects.Is this why we should be going to iskcon temples? For shopping domestic items which can be brought from small kirana shops on the street? There seems to be no difference between a shopping mall and iskcon.The temple is massive, clean most of the prabhus were decent and willing to hear you, some sounded abnormal over the telephone atleast.Sick cases.morning prayers and classes were good and the visiting crowd was a decent lot, silent, well composed, serene looking and a well behaved, civilized lot.The prabhus even offered me a chair although i was carrying a folding chair soecifically to sit and hear the bhagawatham class because my knee was hurt.Almost 100 initiated disciples in white dress sat on the floor.Except for the saffron clad sanyasi-order ponga pandit from kerala who was busy munching and chewing in the canteen. Thats canteen seva.Many matajis would be silently preparing garlands for the dieties or others sitting calmly and chanting.Overall a peaceful atmosphere for those who are going crazy with the outside
shor-sharaba.No unnecessary dhikhawa by the devotees like kerala iskcon temples where the visitors show off and compete to be the right hand of krsna or an advanced devotee in the rajo-tamo gun.good standard bhagawatham classes and its transcendental porpourt, neat and glorious snelling toilet which one should visit before and after paying humble obesiances, plenty of books written by srila Prabhupad on sale.There were indeed good products inside their stalls but it was way too expensive.masala tea, samosa were good.These stalls are managed by outsiders and are not overlooked by the iskcon prabhus.usually the iskcon monks do the selling themselves elsewhere.They dont allow commercial establishments to operate inside their temple premises.statues of rasabhihari radha ram laxman and hanuman statues or floats depicting stories and existential significance described in bhaghavatham and gita like for eg.the gita updesh statue of krsna and arjuna, narasimha avtar, vishnu lying upon the causal ocean as kshirodakshayi vishnu, statue of various stages of life namely birth, childhood, youth, old age, death and reincarnation as a child again can be seen behind the main dieties which is well constructed.The altar where the dieties are placed is also massive reaching several meters above the ground level.And all the dieties are placed in different altars.In all there were 3 temple like altars or maybe 4.Despite the huge crowd people were dancing and singing in cohesion.No stampede or dhakka- mukki to reach for blessings or prasadam.civilised devotees.No bribe for getting a darshan of the dieties.I did not even see any hundi.If you want to learn about spiritualism, religion, science, society, politics on a comparative level then books are displayed in the verandah and the pricing is really cheap.Only gorakhpur gita press sells such books cheaper than iskcon.The temple is exquisitely spotless clean and no dhakka-mukka or stampedes which is sort of an "offering" to the dieties in traditional temples.They overtly rely on indian posts to send prasadams whose services have never been on par with private couriers.But for those expensive stalls unmanned by the iskcon monks and monks munching away fast food inside the temple canteen, the experience was good and spiritually elevating.Jai sri krsna chaitanya prabhu nityananda sri advaita gadhadhara sri vasadi gaura bhakta vrnda, hare krsna hare rama.om agyanam thimiranandasya gyananjanam salakaya chakshur unmilitam yena tasmai sri guruvay namaha.all glories to the assembled devotees.If not for the pongapandit and the shopkeepers high handed behavior who do fit to be inside iskcon temple I would have given it a 5 star rating.Outside shopkeepers behave much better than them.inko tho ye veham hai ki wo vaikunt dham may dandha kar reha hai, kuch bhi anaab shanab bak dho , koi poochenga nai.sirf pakoda aur masala tea ka price reasonable hai baaki sab mehanga hai.bahar bhikhari bhi milenga.