High Court Judge who heard the ISKCON Bangalore and ISKCON Mumbai litigation resigns

Arali Nagaraj Amarappa

29^th Sept 2011, Bangalore: Justice Arali Nagaraj, one of the members of the divisional bench of the high court, which heard the legal dispute between ISKCON Bangalore and ISKCON Mumbai has resigned here in Bangalore a few days back. It may be recalled here that ISKCON Bangalore has applied for an injunction restraining ISKCON Mumbai from interfering with its affairs. The Honorable High court had in 2002 given an interim order in favour of ISKCON Bangalore. The Supreme Court also had ratified the interim order of the High Court and had ordered the trial court to give its final verdict on the case. The trail court had heard the case and given its verdict in favour of ISKCON Bangalore on 17^th April 2009. ISKCON Mumbai had gone on appeal to the High Court which was initially heard by a divisional bench headed by Hon Justice KL Manjunath, but later shifted to a divisional bench of Hon Justice Nagamohan Das and Hon Justice Arali Nagaraj.   The divisional bench heard the case and gave its verdict in favour of ISKCON Mumbai on 23^rd May 2011. Sri Nagaraj resigned a few weeks back.

ISKCON Bangalore has gone on appeal to the Honorable Supreme Court of India which has given an interim status quo order and is slated to hear the matter.

Justice Nagaraj was found in a compromising position with a female court member six months ago; Chief Justice Khehar sought his resignation after committee of judges conducted probe
In what will go down in the history of the higher judiciary as the most brazen act of sexual misconduct by a sitting judge, a Karnataka High Court judge was forced to resign last week following a complaint after he was found in a compromising position with a female member of his staff six months ago.
Top state government sources confirmed that Justice Arali Nagaraj was asked by Chief Justice J S Khehar to put in his papers on Tuesday after a three-member committee of senior judges found the complaint to be true.
While Nagaraj resigned on the grounds of 'moral turpitude', the HC administration is in the process of sending a detailed report to the authority concerned.
The allegation levelled against the judge was serious, which was later enquired and proved by the panel.
Nagaraj was found in a compromising position with a woman staffer in a chamber at the Dharwad Circuit Bench court complex.
News of the judge's romp somehow leaked and was brought to the notice of Khehar, who had the matter probed and then sought Nagaraj's resignation.
The judge's act inside his chamber in the HC led to a complaint of explosive nature being filed almost six months ago and sealed Nagaraj's fate and left the state's judicial fraternity shocked.
It is learnt that after the unsavoury incident, the lady was promptly transferred out to Gulbarga Circuit Bench.
However, the weight and nature of the evidence before the Chief Justice was overwhelming enough for him to come to the conclusion that Nagaraj had committed sexual misconduct and that he should therefore resign.
It was found prudent that instead of formally slapping charges of sexual misconduct and misdemeanour on Nagaraj, he should be asked to make a quiet exit.
Nagaraj's resignation comes in the wake of a slew of cases involving judges of the high judiciary, who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran resigned as CJ of the Sikkim High Court inJuly on charges of corruption and high misdemeanour.

Making history
However, Nagaraj's case is the first of its kind in history of the Indian judiciary, which led to a sitting judge being forced to quit on charges of sexual dalliance with a lady staff member.
When contacted, Karnataka High Court Registrar Somashekhar refused to comment. Meanwhile his personal assistant said, "We do not know anything and I will not talk to the media."
Sources confirmed that it is because of the tawdry nature of the complaint against Nagaraj that the issue is being kept a closely guarded secret.
MiD DAY tried to contact Nagaraj at his residence and spoke to his family members, who said that he had gone out of station.

On the way up
Born in 1951, Nagaraj was appointed as additional judge in the Karnataka High Court on July 4, 2007 and became a permanent judge on July 3, 2009.
In February 1993, he was directly recruited as a district and sessions judge and served in Belgaum, Mangalore, Bijapur and Bangalore.
He has also served as member secretary to the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority and director of the Karnataka Judicial Academy

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Srila Prabhupada's Arrival in the UK: BHAJAHARI DAS

Devotees gather outside 7 Bury Place at the start of a special Harinam
to celebrate the 42nd anniversary of Srila Prabhupada's Arrival in London

 

On Saturday 10th September, almost forty initiated disciples of Srila Prabhupada, along with up to 80 others (many who had chanted and rendered service together in ISKCON's formative 1970's era) assembled outside 7 Bury Place, Bloomsbury, London, the site of the first UK ISKCON temple established by Srila Prabhupada on 14th September 1969. 

With a palpable sense of anticipation the devotees, some of whom hadn't seen each other for over 30 years, proceeded to chant and dance along Oxford Street and then on through other parts of the West End, stopping in Cambridge Circus where they drew a huge crowd of smiling (and sometimes dancing) members of the public. Most of them seemed already familiar with the sight of blissful devotees, but not so accustomed to such a large assembly from the senior generation! 

38 formally initiated disciples of Srila Prabhupada together with about 80 other Vaisnavas
performing Harinam on Oxford Street

After a vibrant and sometimes tearful kirtan outside the Palace Theatre, the party continued to the Soho Street Temple for arati. Most of the group then returned to Bhaktivedanta Manor to enjoy a ‘70's style' feast, followed by exquisite film footage of Srila Prabhupada in the UK compiled by Mohan das.

Many were visibly moved by this rare opportunity to reunite and chant together again in the intimate family mood created by their eternal spiritual father, Srila Prabhupada.  

Blissful disciples of Srila Prabhupada performing Harinam on Oxford Street

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Russia’s First Ever Radha-Krishna Deities Installed in Omsk

On Radhastami—September 5th—around seven hundred devotees gathered in Omsk, Western Siberia for the installation ceremony of Sri-Sri Radha-Govinda, the first ever Radha-Krishna Deities to be installed in Russia.

The beautiful Sri-Sri Radha-Govinda—Russia’s first Radha Krishna Deities

“The temple room is not very big—it can only comfortably accommodate about 250 people,” says ISKCON’s Governing Body Commissioner for Russia, Bhakti Vijnana Swami. “But devotees, determined to get a glimpse of this special event, were sitting all the way up the stairs and stretching out into the hall.”

While Omsk is already a busy temple with about 200 devotees, others also arrived from Siberia’s biggest cities Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Irkutsk, as well as from Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk near Russia’s Ural Mountains, and Almaty in Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, Dayananda Swami arrived from England, and Bhakti Vijnana Swami, B.B. Govinda Swami, and Prithu Dasa flew in from Germany, where they had just attended the recent Kirtan Mela.

“It was one of the most significant events in ISKCON Russia’s history,” says Bhakti Vijnana Swami, a Russian native. “In fact, I believe Radha-Govinda are the first Radha-Krishna Deities not only in Russia but also in the whole of the C.I.S, which includes ten countries, and probably even in all of Eastern Europe.”

The festival began in the early morning with an elaborate fire ceremony known as Vastu Shuddhi. To purify the temple building and make it a suitable dwelling place for the Deities, Kishori Mohan Dasa, an expert Mayapur-trained priest from the Almaty community in Kazakhstan, performed a fire yajna and chanted sacred mantras.

The Vastu Shuddhi fire yajna

A long Abhisekha ceremony, in which many different items were used to bathe the Deities, followed, as did Prana Pratistha, in which priests called the Lord to personally reside and interact with His devotees through the medium of the Deity. Next, around 200 different food preparations were offered, as the curtains on the new altar opened to reveal Sri-Sri Radha-Govinda, spectacularly dressed and decorated, for the first time.

“At three feet tall, they are about the size of Sri-Sri Radha-Shyamasundara in Vrindavana, India, and are stunningly beautiful,” says Bhakti Vijnana Swami. “Interestingly, many devotees actually noticed that Srimati Radharani has certain features that resemble a classic Russian beauty. They are so special. The Omsk devotees love them.”

As everyone gazed in wonder at Sri-Sri Radha-Govinda, the main centerpiece of the installation ceremony ensued—an ecstatic kirtan led by B.B. Govinda Swami, which went on until 10 o’clock at night. A delicious feast, of course, was also served out to all the devotees.

“The history of Deity worship in Russia goes back to 1989, as the communist regime was fading out,” Bhakti Vijnana Swami says. “That year, the first group of Russian devotees went to India, and brought back several sets of Gaura-Nitai Deities for Moscow, Kiev, Tashkent, and Baku. And from then on, Gaura-Nitai remained the main Deities for Russia.”

The reason for this was that, as is well known, higher standards of worship are required for Radha-Krishna Deities. And as ISKCON Russia had few expert priests, and most of its centers were rented and in less than optimal condition, its leaders preferred to focus on worship of the more merciful Sri-Sri Gaura-Nitai. Even

Moscow, where the first Radha-Krishna Deities were originally supposed to be installed, didn’t have its own building.

Radha-Govinda getting ready for Their Abhisekha

“In Omsk, however, we have our own building on our own land, and the devotees there are very mature and were very enthusiastic to install Radha-Krishna,” Bhakti Vijnana Swami explains.

It all began when during a visit to India, ISKCON’s regional secretary for Omsk, a very enterprising devotee called Shikshastakam Dasa, decided to take action. He approached ISKCON guru and GBC Gopal Krishna Goswami, who agreed to sponsor the Deities. Thrilled, Shikshastakam contacted Pancharatna Dasa, temple president of the ISKCON center in the city of Jaipur—where Deities are traditionally made—to make the arrangements.

But Pancharatna was unsure. “It’s very difficult to organize something like this, and to have suitable Deities made,” he said.

Shikshastakam returned to Gopal Krishna Goswami to discuss the matter further. As they were meeting, Pancharatna called unexpectedly. “Actually, I already have a ready-made set of beautiful Radha-Krishna Deities,” he said. “I had wanted to install them somewhere else, but my heart is telling me to give them to you.”

Radha-Govinda on Their new altar

Sri-Sri Radha-Govinda were shipped to Omsk, and amazingly, arrived exactly on Sri Radha’s appearance day in 2010. Taking this as an auspicious sign that the Deities did indeed wish to be worshipped in Omsk, the devotees there set Radhastami 2011 as Their installation day, and threw themselves into the tremendous amount of work it took to make the momentous event happen.

For one year, they trained cooks and priests, did all the renovation on the temple building they could with their meager finances, and prepared many beautiful outfits and decorations for the Deities.

“ISKCON Omsk is a poor community, but the devotees there are very sincere, enthusiastic, and active in their outreach,” says Bhakti Vijnana Swami. “Every summer, they hold very well-organized Harinamas on the streets of the city, as well as public programs that draw up to 500 people. And I believe that’s why Radha-Krishna came to Omsk first.”

With Radha-Govinda present, the future of ISKCON Omsk is brighter than ever. The temple sits right in the center of the city, in a very under-developed district that has much future promise due to its location. Devotees therefore plan to get there first, by buying up many of the area’s cheap houses and turning it into a wonderful spiritual community.

Visually aesthetic Harinama in Omsk

It’s the beginning of a major turning point for ISKCON Russia, where devotees are still being harassed by the government and by mainstream religious groups—recently, the Russian Federal Security Service and Orthodox Church launched a case against the Bhagavad-gita As It Is in Tomsk, another Siberian town.

“The next place to welcome Radha-Krishna will be Moscow, which started the huge Sri-Sri Radha-Madhava Mandir project in 2004,” says Bhakti Vijnana Swami. “For 14 years since 1990, Moscow devotees rented a dilapidated building, which was then demolished by the government, leaving us in another temporary location for the past seven years. But now, we are finally building our own permanent temple in Moscow on land given to us by the government. If all goes well, we will start construction in spring or early summer next year, and finish the project and install Sri-Sri Radha-Madhava in another two years. That will be a landmark achievement, and will mean official recognition of ISKCON in Russia.”

The temple will be located near Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport, on a beautiful five-acre plot of land, full of trees and greenery, and with a river flowing through it. The building itself will be several storeys high, cover a total of 12,300 square meters, and combine modern technologies and styles with classic Indian temple arches and domes.

It will include a spacious temple room for worship, accommodation for devotees and pilgrims, a center for social programs such as Food For Life, an auditorium, an educational center, a Vedic library, and an Ayurvedic hospital.

“This project is very dear to Srila Prabhupada, who asked his first Russian disciple Ananta-Shanti Dasa to build a temple in Moscow upon his first visit there exactly forty years ago,” Bhakti Vijnana Swami says. “It may have taken us a long time to realize his wish. But the result will influence not only the whole country of Russia, but many neighboring countries too. And it will be a significant landmark for ISKCON worldwide.”

The forthcoming Moscow Sri-Sri Radha-Madhava Mandir

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Prasadam Distribution for fire Accident Victims in Puri

Puri Villages in Fire (Orissa) - Emergency Food Distribution Program. A furious fire broke out in Khandighar Village which is about 20 kilometers from Puri Town. Sources say that when all the village people were in deep sleep, unexpectedly the fire broke out and within a short span all the thatched houses were engulfed in the inferno. The unfortunate panic struck people came out from their houses with their domestic animals. The loss of property is to the tune of some lakhs of rupees. For the families of said village, The Akshaya Patra Foundation (A.P.F), Puri branch was the only ray of hope which provided sufficient cooked food. To the starving people, cooked food was supplied to about 1,000 helpless people for four days. The affected people are very much obliged and pray for the workers of A.P.F Puri, for this compassionate work.

Houses burnt in Puri

Houses burnt in Puri

People who lost there houses

Houses burnt in Puri

Houses burnt in Puri

Akshaya patra serves food to people who lost homes in Puri

Akshaya patra serves food to people who lost homes in Puri

Akshaya patra serves food to people who lost homes in Puri

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Nagar Sankirtan for World Peace- ISKCON Bangalore

A massive Harinama Sankirtana for world peace was organized by ISKCON Bangalore on Sep 25 at Malleshwaram.

Lord Chaitanya taught that engagement in devoted service for the pleasure of the Lord is the most effective method for clearing away our material contamination and reviving our Krishna (God) Consciousness.

He particularly emphasized that Sankirtan, the congregational chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord, is the most essential part of this process, teaching that without this chanting there is no way to revive our spiritual consciousness in this age.

He was therefore constantly engaged in chanting the Maha Mantra, or Great Chanting for Deliverance—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare and He instructed his followers to attempt to follow this example.

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A Fool and Someone Else’s Money are Easily Parted

In recent articles on Sampradaya Sun, the esteemed Vaishnava community worldwide have just been informed of the business activities of a well known sannyasi in our beloved ISKCON. We are told that the aforementioned sannyasi has squandered millions of dollars of Krishna’s laxmi in a vein attempt to satisfy his materialistic ambitions.

But wait how can that be? I hear you ask. A sannyasi with materialistic ambitions? Surely not, I mean a sannyasi should be renounced and preaching Krishna consciousness without any personal desires for name, fame, women or wealth. He should be leading a simple life and only requiring the bare necessities supplied to him by God for his sustenance. Well this is what the shastra tell us, is it not?

Is this a new phenomenon in ISKCON, that some sannyasis and gurus are acting like squirrels and hoarding away millions of dollars of donations given by other people and their disciples into their own private bank accounts? Is the money they are secretly hoarding going to be used for the purpose that it was intended for? Well from what we read here on Sampradaya Sun, apparently at least in some cases the answer is no.

So what is wrong with this? Is giving money to some of these ISKCON sannyasis and gurus like giving a child a box of matches to play with in the middle of a tinder dry cornfield on a hot summers day? It appears to be so. Clearly some of them are acting like children inasmuch as that they are spiritually and materially immature and do not know how to properly respect and utilize the spiritual master’s and Krishna’s assets.

Let’s be clear about this point… It is not their money to play with! As we learn from the shastra, Krishna is the Supreme Proprietor of all that be. Devotees that are simple and honest respect this fact. So should we the Vaishnava community bail out these fools and throw good money after bad into a black hole of debt brought about by foolish attempts to gamble with someone else’s money. Is this intelligent?

My advice would be to keep your hands firmly in your pockets, prabhus, at least until some of these so called gurus and sannyasis grow up and become conscious enough to realize that honest people’s donations are not supposed to be used to satisfy their materialistic ambitions.

Yes, they are breaking the regulative principles, yes they are disobeying the orders of the spiritual master and yes, they are committing offenses against the Holy Name. Finally, I would like to leave some quotes from Srila Prabhupada’s purports in the Shrimad Bhagavatam for the reader to ponder for future discussion and debate.

“The Lord is seated in everyone’s heart, and He knows the devotee’s motive and arranges everything achievable. In other words, the pseudo devotee, who is anxious to achieve material gains, cannot attain the highest perfectional stage because the Lord is in knowledge of his motive. One merely has to become sincere in his purpose, and then the Lord is there to help in every way.”
(Srimad Bhagavatam 3.13.49)

“Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead sends great cheaters who mislead them in the name of yoga and render their lives useless and doomed. In Bhagavad-gita, therefore, it is clearly stated, in the Sixteenth Chapter, verse 17, that rascals of self-made authority, being puffed up by illegally collected money, perform yoga without following the authoritative books. They are very proud of the money they have plundered from innocent persons who wanted to be cheated.”
(Srimad Bhagavatam 3.21.7)

Begging to remain in the service of the Vaishnavas and the Spiritual Master,

Nitya Siddha dasa

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Iskcon gets 11 vehicles to distribute meal for children

DLF Foundation, part of real estate company DLF Limited, on Friday donated 11 trucks to the food relief foundation of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon). With this, DLF has aligned itself with the state government's mid-day meal programme for underprivileged children in government schools.

Chief executive officer of DLF Foundation lieutenant general Rajender Singh said, "It's been years that we have been carrying out programmes for the betterment of the underprivileged. We have donated 11 Bolero Maxi trucks to the Iskcon food relief foundation. The vehicles will help distribute mid-day meals among poor kids in government schools."
The initiative supports the Central government's "education for all" scheme, according to which every child till 14 years of age gets free education.
The scheme also includes free mid-day meals in schools.

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