Since the 1990s, Hrimati Devi Dasi, the author of the cover story for this issue, has lived at the expansive Hare Krishna temple-complex in Mayapur, West Bengal.
As a follower of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, she knows Mayapur to be the holiest of holy places, as revealed in confidential parts of the Vedic scriptures. In “Prayag Raj: A Place for Vaisnavas,” she tells of the unexpected spiritual inspiration she received while visiting a city not always on the Vaisnava pilgrim’s tour list.
When devotees of Lord Krishna think of holy places, the Lower East Side of New York City probably doesn’t come quickly to mind either. But as the Vedic scriptures tell us, devotees who carry Krishna within their hearts sanctify ordinary places by their presence. So when His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada arrived in the Lower East Side in the midsixties, a counterculture paper called The East Village Other couldn’t help but notice. Satyaraja Dasa recounts the times in “Srila Prabhupada’s Transcendental ‘Otherness.’” His article includes reminiscences by the author of the paper’s cover story on Prabhupada, who graciously granted an interview for the story and left endearing impressions in the minds of the reporter and his accompanying stenographer.
Our Purposes
• To help all people discern reality from illusion, spirit from matter, the eternal from the temporary.
• To expose the faults of materialism.
• To offer guidance in the Vedic techniques of spiritual life.
• To preserve and spread the Vedic culture.
• To celebrate the chanting of the holy names of God as taught by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
• To help every living being remember and serve Sri Krishna , the Personality of Godhead.