Happy Fun Junkmail
As I imagine you do too, I get a grip of junk mail every day. Mostly they are mortgage offers, canadian drugs and stock tips on the super down low. But today, I got an extra fun one. Usually I don’t even see the content of the junk before I bounce it, but the cosmic powers aligned just so that my computer hiccuped just long enough for me to see this message:
Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga
That which brings the highest happiness
Of course, before I posted this, I checked to see what “Gouranga” was. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t some manner of mystic curse or foreign profanity. Here’s what Wikipedia said about it:
Gouranga (IPA: [gu’renge]) is a term popularized by the Hare Krishna momvement as a word meaning ‘be happy’. It is derived from Gauranga (IAST gauranga), literally ‘light/golden-limbed’, a name of Krishna in Puranic literature, and in Gaudiya Vaishnavism in particular a name of Caitanya Mahaprabhu (considered a reincarnation of Krishna).
Stickers bearing the word Gouranga or stating “Call out Gouranga and be happy!” have been appearing on bridges over motorways and railways in Scotland and the North of England. It has also appeared on public buildings over recent years, and stickers and fridge magnets with the phrase have also been handed out by Hare Krishna monks at music festivals throughout the UK, such as Glastonbury and Download.
Sri Krishna, Reader.