Forbidden Voices

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The depth of a man's conviction in worshipping God is the worth of that person's existence. In Forbidden Voices we hear the crying and calling of those persons who are sincerely striving to find the mercy that lifts their consciousness towards the Divine. This is a battle many souls endure - success is guaranteed because Krishna is the best in all categories and His mercy is His foremost quality for His devotees.

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to the founder-acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami 8rila Prabhupada.

All glories to the author of "Forbidden Voices," His Holiness Candramauli Swami Maharaja, for extending his mercy to this insignificant servant by allowing me to add "flavor" to a book that is already overflowing and brimming with poetry, art and writings from the heart. I pray that my menial contributions will not detract from the bhakti evidentially displayed for your viewing.

All glories to His Holiness bhakti Tirtha Swami Maharaja for first giving his shelter to and empowering this cripple minded jiva (soul) to write this forward as a service to his dear god-brother, His Holiness Candramauli Swami Maharaja, for my continued growth and guidance.

All glories to the ISKCON Prison Ministry volunteers, who tirelessly write, visit and distribute books and magazines inside prisons throughout the continental United States and abroad.

All glories to the reader for tasting the nectar, which many may assume is not present in a prison house society of those deemed to be forgotten, untouchable, and so called dacoits.

What you may expect to find in "Forbidden Voices" are pearls of art and poetry originating in correctional facilities. You will also find the unmistakable flavor of bhakti permeating each piece, just as a strong wind carries the scent of jasmine across open fields. You will be drawn to the fascinating artistic spiritual culture presented in this book and will conclude that what is characterized as prison from our relative purview, is simply a microcosm of the general prison house in which we all live.

We all have an artistic service nature covered by the smoke of material nature. Once we expose the flame of our talents to bhakti, we discover a wonderful opportunity to dovetail this nature to the Lord's service, with the blessings of the guru and mentor. We thus awaken our dormant love of God which had been covered by the material distractions we serve and illicit desires we cultivate. Even deeper than this, this book should prompt us to evaluate our own so called freedom. As we can agree, these "Forbidden Voices" have wasted their freedom; can we claim we are not doing the same? "

...The material world is a gigantic prison, whose inmates are subjected to birth, death, old age and illusion, and a pure devotee has no desire to remain there even as a first-class prisoner, like the demigods..."

Note, the "first-class prisoner", as the Vedas reference, is an enjoyer of vast material facility. Yet we violate all the prescribed rules and regulations for obtaining enjoyment, thus becoming implicated by the incessant need for sense gratification. Without exception, for such endeavors we ride a conveyor belt of gratification to no end. And for that purpose we find "Forbidden Voices" as our name sake. We find ourselves being thrust into the flames of repudiation. Yet, without hope of redemption, we simply remain on the wheel of degradation. There lies the irony of "first-class". Perhaps we can re-frame it as a devotional synonym, stating the adjective "first-class" before the subject "prisoner".

Similarly, life in this material world is just like life in a prison house. We are struggling very hard to achieve freedom from the miseries of material life. We are making so many plans for happiness and working continuously to try and actualize them, only to become disappointed, as inevitably time takes everything away. Despite our gorgeous plans and determined efforts, we continue to meet the same sufferings we are trying to avoid. This inevitably raises the question, "Why is that so?" The Holy Scriptures coming from ancient India answer the question, explaining that the living entities in this material world are godless, either by ignorance or by choice. We have either forgotten or we have chosen to forget our constitutional position as God's parts and parcels, as His servants, who are eternal, full of knowledge and bliss. We do not want to accept the supremacy of God, consequently being alienated from Him and suffering under the influence of material nature. Accepting the supremacy of God means to abide by His orders. And being covered by ignorance, we are not aware that abiding by God's orders brings freedom; freedom from all sufferings, like birth, disease, old age and, of course, death as the ultimate principle of suffering, which closes the door on all our temporary plans to live and enjoy in this world.

However, the prison house of the material world does arrange for us to again enter the world of freedom by the reformatory process of devotion to God; the process that is handed down to us from the Lord Himself though His pure devotee representatives. By accepting that process and executing it according to the divine saints' instructions, we are qualifying ourselves to re-enter the world of freedom: the world where God resides, the place where we once were, but have completely forgotten - the spiritual world. Itis our natural propensity to enjoy with God (Krsna) as His eternal parts and parcels. Every living being is part of God, created by God to serve God in loving devotion. Being part of God, we exist to serve God, and by doing so, we again attain to our natural position of full knowledge and eternal joy.

Therefore, whether one is in the state-operated prison house or the bigger prison of material existence, one is locked up and can never experience one's natural, eternal, blissful nature, unless one reawakens his/her loving relationship with God.

In this regard, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura used to tell a nice story, which is included in his book Upakhyane Upadesa:

Once upon a time, there was a kingdom ruled by a King with the assistance of his Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief On one occasion, all three of them, along with their soldiers, ventured out of the capital in order to attack a neighboring country. In the meantime, three boys - the sons of the King, the Prime Minister and the Commander-in-Chief of that neighboring country -happened to visit the capital of the King who was away at war. These three boys came in touch with three girls - the daughters of the King, the Prime Minister and the Commander-in-Chief These three couples quickly grew close to one another and fell in love. And naturally, the King's son, the Prime Minister's son and the Commander-in-Chief's son, all from the neighboring country, each decided to marry the daughter of the King, the Prime Minister and the Commander-in-Chief respectively. In the meantime, the fathers of the three girls came back to their capital. They found out that the three boys from the neighboring country had come and tried to marry their daughters. Naturally they were all very disturbed by this, so they ordered that the boys be arrested.

The boys were indeed arrested and soon sent to court to be judged. After hearing their case, the judge gave his sentence: the boys would be thrown into prison for some time.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages