 |
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.
SB-04.22.54
Glorious Qualities of Prthu Maharaj SB-04.22.54
After begetting five sons named (0.00.04) Prthu Maharaja continued to rule the planet. He accepted all the qualities of the deities who governed all other planets.
Purport by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
In each and every planet, there is a predominating deity. It is understood from Bhagvat Gita that in the sun there is a predominating deity named Vivasvan. Similarly there is a predominating deity of the moon and of the various planets. Actually the predominating deities in all the other planets are descendents from the predominating deities of the sun and moon. On this planet earth, there are two kshtriya dynasties and one comes from the predominating deity of the sun and the other from the predominating deity of the moon. These dynasties are known as Suryavansha and Chandravansha respectively. When Manarki existed on this planet, the chief member was one of the members of the Surya dynasty, were Suryavansha and the subordinates kings belonged to the Chandravansha. However Maharaja Prthu was so powerful that he could exhibit all the qualities of the predominating deities in other planets.
Read more