The Story Behind Ratha-Yatra | HG Vaisesika Dasa | New Jersey | 16 Jun 2025

Sound Bhakti

Rūpa Goswami says, "Just as young boys are naturally attracted to young girls, and young girls are naturally attracted to young boys"—if you unload a busload of teenagers in front of the Grand Canyon, they won't see the Grand Canyon because they're in samādhi. He said, "In the same way, may my mind be drawn to you." So when Prabhupāda said, "This is a feeling festival, the Ratha-yātrā," there is a story behind it, a love story. But it's THE love story; it's not any love story, it's THE love story. It's the ādi-rasa that gets perverted in this world as what's called āhlāda-tāpa-traya—the love affairs of this world that end in misery and strife and difficulty and complications. Of course, there are complications in the love story of the spiritual world, but they're all ānanda. And this Ratha-yātrā is so remarkable because what we have here is an apparently ordinary parade, but we're pulling the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and not just an image of God. And we say, "God is great, and we're all small and we're all servants," but there's this very specific story of Lord Kṛṣṇa meeting again the residents of Vṛndāvana, and the depth of their separation from him, which is never broken, because true love is never broken. Even Shakespeare says that. And that's all encapsulated within the Ratha-yātrā festival. So brilliant was Prabhupāda to bring it out to the world that both aspects are there: kevalānanda-kāṇḍa—the bliss of the chanting, the prasādam, the display of booths, and "Here's Kṛṣṇa consciousness, you'll get inner peace." But beyond that, there's the most esoteric of all stories that highly advanced paramahaṁsas relish again and again, and tell over and over again, which they go into the details of again and again, and relish it unlimitedly. So we're part of that legacy to bring Ratha-yātrā to the world, and along with the Ratha-yātrā, we may also distribute Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. For anyone who has such an intervention in his or her life by seeing the Ratha-yātrā and then receiving transcendental literature, what to speak of prasādam and the association of devotees, can then take to the path of devotional service. ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/ https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/ https://thefourquestionsbook.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #rathyatra #spiritualawakening #soul #spiritualexperience #spiritualpurposeoflife #spiritualgrowthlessons #secretsofspirituality #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna #spiritualpurposeoflife #krishnaspirituality #spiritualusachannel #whybhaktiisimportant #whyspiritualityisimportant #vaisesika #spiritualconnection #thepowerofspiritualstudy #selfrealization #spirituallectures #spiritualstudy #spiritualquestions #spiritualquestionsanswered #trendingspiritualtopics #fanthespark #spiritualpowerofmeditation #spiritualteachersonyoutube #spiritualhabits #spiritualclarity #bhagavadgita #srimadbhagavatam #spiritualbeings #kttvg #keepthetranscendentalvibrationgoing #spiritualpurpose