1st issue - Nitya-seva newsletter

November, 2015 - 1st issue

 Twenty years ago today Radha-Syama were sitting on a 20cm slab of black marble in what is now the pujari office of Their temple. They were to be installed the following Janmastami, and I was worried. 

In my years in ISKCON I had seen how the standard of Deity worship, even for Radha Krsna Deities, decreased in many temples. The cause of such a fall in standards was almost always a lack of income, which resulted in less bhoga, less flowers, less offerings, less clothes, and fewer pujaris.  

How was I to ensure that that would not happen with Radha-Syama? One snowy winter night when I was staying alone in the room adjoining Theirs, I penned a contract for devotees to fill out (see a sample below). After all, the Deities were not mine, nor were They the Deities of only the devotees in New Vraja-dhama. They were the Lords of the Hungarian yatra—and increasingly of many devotees worldwide. It was that night that the idea of the Nitya-seva was conceived, the idea that we are still trying to realise two decades later.

Since that time Radha-Syama’s service and facilities have grown from strength to strength. This has been due in part to the incredible service mood and sacrifice of a generation of pujaris in New Vraja-dhama. They are simply wonderful. And it is due to the equally wonderful devotees in Hungary and abroad who did their utmost to raise and maintain the service to Radha-Syama. Thank you all so much. You don’t know how reassuring your services have been to me.

In closing, let me tell a little story of one such family of donors. In 1995, I was collecting funds to pay for Radha-Syama’s altar. When I was in Szolnok, Feri Bozoki, a train driver with three children—not a wealthy man, to say the least—approached me wanting to help. His family were offering for Radha-Syama all their heritage silverware and some silver coins they were saving. I will never forget that. The entire family is either initiated or aspiring to be, and most of them live in Krsna Valley and serve their Lordships. I believe Radha Syama has prepared a special place for them in Goloka.

This is the first Nitya Seva newsletter. In future issues we will be writing about Radha-Syama, Their servants and supporters, and New Vraja-dhama. May their Lordships bless you all.

Sivarama Swami