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In 1970, at the age of only nineteen, Radhanath Swami left his home in America seeking adventure and spiritual knowledge. After trekking across Europe for months, he reached his long hoped for destination: India. After living there for many years as a sadhu or wandering monk, he returned to America in order to share the sacred knowledge and wisdom he had learned from the many holy men and women he had met there. It was an extraordinary choice, given what he had survived to get there: a journey filled with bizarre characters, mystical experiences, and dangerous adventures. The story is recounted in his recently published memoir The Journey Home (San Rafael, CA: Mandala Publishing, 2009). Reviewers have called Radhanath's saga "at once an engaging yarn, a love story, and the evocation of a transcendent paradise in all its savagery, solitude, and splendor.
Radhanath Swami emerged from his years of travel wanting to explain for others the beauty and rewards of a life devoted to God, and therein lay a dilemma. His many followers and friends describe him as completely selfless and consequently unwilling to take credit for his work and restless when a spotlight is focused on him. By choosing A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (1896-1977), a spiritual activist, as his guru (after declining offers of initiation from several tyagis or renunciants in the Himalayas), Radhanath Swami cast his fate to the wind, cut his matted locks, and entered back into the society.
Prthu Maharaj
Prthu Maharaj an Ideal Responsible King SB-04.21.06
A responsible king was always approachable by the citizens. Generally the citizen’s great and common, all had an aspiration to see the king and take benediction from him. The king knew this and therefore whenever he met the citizens he immediately fulfilled their desires and mitigated their grievances. In such dealings a responsible monarchy is better than a so called democratic government in which no one is responsible to mitigate the grievances of the citizens, were unable to personally meet the supreme execute. In a responsible monarchy, the citizens had no grievances against the government and even if they did they could approach the king directly for immediate satisfaction. Both the important citizens and the common citizens welcomed the king very heartedly and he also bestowed upon them their desired blessings. We are reading today from Canto 4 of Srimad Bhagavatam Chapter 21 entitled Instructions by Maharaja Prthu Text 6.