This is what you might call our "Special Fall Issue." Starting on page 24, we focus on falldown from spiritual life.
You might think this a discouraging topic. Krsna consciousness, after all, offers us great hope. It cleanses our heart, frees us from illusions, reawakens our dormant love for Krsna. And it does this potently and quickly. Why then should we talk about falldown?
Simply: Because it happens.
After starting on the path, not everyone makes it all the way at least not in one lifetime.
In one sense, that's why we're here. To be attracted to Krsna consciousness now, we must have pursued it before, in a previous lifetime. Yet somehow we fell short of our goal. And so we've come back, in another birth and with another chance.
By carefully using this opportunity, we can attain perfection, even in this life. And for the sake of success, it's vital for us to know what dangers to expect along the way.
Striving for Krsna consciousness is like declaring war on maya."The trouble with you," Srila Prabhupada once told some disciples, "is that you're not sufficiently afraid of maya."
Maya, illusion, is powerful. And the serious transcendentalist never underestimates its strength.
We should expect maya to fight back. So we should knowmaya's power and maya's tactics. We should know how to protect ourselves. We should know how to guard our flanks, rescue the wounded, recover from setbacks.
And we should know that victory is certain as long as we depend upon Krsna.
Lord Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita that maya is insurmountable because it is His divine power. But when we surrender to Krsna's lotus feet we can overcome maya and enter Krsna's abode, the eternal world of the Absolute Truth.
To help us surrender to Krsna and reach that spiritual world is the purpose of Back to Godhead.
Jayadvaita Swami
In this issue, Back to Godhead presents an interview with my longtime friend and Godbrother Mahanidhi Swami, the current caretaker of Srila Prabhupada's rooms at the the Radha-Damodara temple in Vrndavana, India.
Srila Prabhupada lived at Radha-Damodara for six years before going to America in 1965. He once said that the Radha-Damodara temple was his eternal home.
Mahanidhi Swami has lived in Vrndavana for the last four years. Following Srila Prabhupada's example, he lives the simple, austere life of a renounced devotee. He went to the Radha-Damodara temple not in search of a comfortable life but to get closer to his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, by serving him in his rooms and increasing his remembrance of him.
The more we appreciate great devotees like Srila Prabhupada the more we gain inspiration to advance in spiritual life. We're pleased that Back to Godhead can share with its reader's the deep appreciation for Srila Prabhupada that Mahanidhi Swami has gained by living and serving in Prabhupada's eternal rooms at Radha-Damodara.
Nagaraja Dasa