We do not know the power of what one book will do. The Bhagavad-gita made me a devotee! It was a Bhagavad-gita that I got from a friend. My friend bought it, read it and then passed it onto me. I have no idea where that Bhagavad-gita ended up after me. I still had it when I moved into the temple but what happened to it after that, I cannot remember.
The books we distribute lives a life of its own and goes from one person to another. It finds people. It is not just that we find people; the book f
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This talk centers on the spiritual significance of prasadam (food offered to God) within the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, drawing from a passage in Chaitanya Charitamrita (Madhya-lila 14). The speaker begins by recounting how King Prataparudra, after receiving the mercy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, humbly serves Him and later arranges an abundant offering of food for Lord Jagannath. The text vividly describes an extraordinary variety of offerings—fruits, sweets, milk preparations, grains, and de
By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi,
On Akshaya Tritiya, one of the most auspicious days in the Vaishnava calendar, ISKCON Kolkata laid the foundation stone for a memorial at the birthplace of Srila Prabhupada in Tollygunge, South Kolkata, formally commencing a project that devotees hope to inaugurate on his 131st appearance anniversary in August 2027.
The foundation ceremony, which included Radhanath Swami installing an Anantashesha deity in the ground, drew Srila Prabhupada’s disciples from ar
By Sulochana Kanu Das,
On the occasion of Narsimha Chaturdashi Mahotsav, the “Sarvabighn Binashan Maha Narsimha Yagya 2026” was held on April 29-30th for the first time in Bangladesh. In addition to the thousands of devotees, the event included 508 priests. It was held at the Sri Sri Lakshmi Narasimha and Gaur-Nitai Temple located at ISKCON Mirzapur, Tangail.
On the first day of the two-day event, there was a Sankalp and Adhivas Kirtan. The next day, the program included Mangal Arati, a Kirtan M
The sun was attempting to burn through the fog. It succeeded although it brought on so little warmth to the day. At the Teaching Garden clear cups of corn substance were placed over the new seedlings. The chills of the last two days are unseasonable.
Personally I was charmed and warmed by the teacher in the garden Tapapunja, a disciple of Prabhupada, hails from north Michigan, but has been a resident of this village, New Vrindavana, for years. He is a true advocate of the motto “simple living
Maya’s Friend Norm
The Vedic scriptures reveal that Mayadevi, Lord Krishna’s deluding potency, works with certain energies that have the capacity to make material life seem like normal life.
As we go about our everyday activities in the material world, we are continuously confronted with the normality, or normalness, of material existence. In other words, we are constantly bombarded with the notion that material life, with all its mundane rationality, constitutes normal life and that this world
Exploring Your Word of Honor Being Committed in a Non-Committal World
By Mahatma Das
Imagine this scene. After millions of lifetimes you finally make it back to the spiritual world. As you approach the gates of Goloka you are asked to wait because Krsna wants to come and personally greet you. You are getting more excited at every moment. You can hardly believe you have finally made it back to your eternal home.
In the distance you see a beautiful blue form coming towards you. Finally, after tra
By Sankirtana Das (ACBSP)
1.Devotees need to educate the public as to why they are chanting on the public streets around the world. The holy name of Krishna is both a personal meditation for our own spiritual well-being and, as Prabhupada explains in the purport of Adi, 17.141, “for the reformation of all the anomalies of human society.” The chanting parties should distribute brochures or flyers to inform everyone who passes by and invite them to participate when they have the chance.
2. So many
By Satyanarayana Dasa
Especially in this time of crisis, Arabs and Persians alike are desperately seeking guidance and knowledge of God from the wisdom of India, which they deeply respect: Ancient spiritual knowledge above religion. And that’s what we are all about, and they know it!
In fact that is the very order of the Prophet Mohammed: “If you seek knowledge, go to the East!” To facilitate these sincere souls in obtaining this transcendental knowledge worldwide, and especially in their sacred
By Gurmann Saini
ISKCON Helsinki has launched an extensive renovation project to restore and modernize its temple complex at Malmi Manor—one of Northern Europe’s most important centers for spreading Krishna consciousness. For more than four decades, the temple has served as a gathering place for spiritual learning, kirtan, festivals, and community outreach.
Set within heritage buildings dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries, the temple is not only spiritually significant but also culturally
Malati was showing signs of labor when I went to check on her at 6:45 am Monday morning. I had to do an airport run for some devotees but I mentioned it to Anandavidya before I left for Pittsburgh. Malati proceeded to disappear from the barn. Anandavidya was unable to locate her as she was nowhere to be seen. Morning milking takes place at 7. He was however worried about her and ventured out into the horrendously muddy field to search. She was found down the hill behind the Palace. After herding
By Atma Tattva Das,
A large-scale public gathering, the March for Unity and Peace, is scheduled to take place in downtown Atlanta on Saturday, June 6, 2026, bringing together participants around themes of unity, healing, and collective action. The city, shaped by the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., provides a fitting backdrop.
The event will begin at Walton Street and Forsyth Street, with gates opening at 9:00 AM and the march commencing at 12:00 PM. Organizers are calling for broad participat
“You will have some physical complications in the future,” said Jagannath as he read my right palm. “Your lines indicate you are good at communication,” is what he concluded with after a quick glance.
Jagannath, now 93, has been a palm reader for most of his life. I remember how he would be so popular at the Chariot Fest in both Vancouver and Toronto. Those line-ups were huge. People are curious to know more about themselves, probing perhaps into the future. Reading palms is an ancient scienc
“One day Srila Prabhupada asked me to paint a set of Radha-Krishna Deities that he was sending to Hamburg to have installed. When I informed him I was not an artist and didn’t feel I could do it, he said that he would show me what to do. So he told me to find a special black, white and red paint, and that evening we sat Them on his small desk and Srila Prabhupada personally painted the Deities and instructed me at the same time. I sat in front of him, and as time seemed to disappear, the lovely
For a change I thought to submit a poem of the past from the book, The Walking Monk Poems .1. Here it is:
YOU’RE IN
Dull time did pass – no break
Something that seemed so hard to shake
When out the window a pathetic gloom
A day of utter drizzle doom
Not even a steamy herbal teacup
Could pull the entire spirit up
For a grey day veil did suspend there
Endorsing a world that’s so unfair
When observing the world, it’s most mundane
It can drive one to be quite insane
If and only if you allow it
We shall discuss the conversation between Sri Ramananda Raya and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, ramananda-samvada, recorded in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter Eight: “Talks Between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Ramananda Raya.”
TEXT 1
sancarya ramabhidha-bhakta-meghe
sva-bhakti-siddhanta-cayamrtani
gaurabdhir etair amuna vitirnais
taj-jnatva-ratnalayatam prayati
TRANSLATION
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is known as Gauranga, is the ocean of all conclusive knowledge in devotional servi
Five hundred years ago in the district of Puri, in the village of Bentapur adjacent to Brahmagiri Alalanatha, there lived a great devotee named Bhavananda Raya.
Bhavananda had five sons, the eldest of which was Ramananda. Descendants of this family-line are known as Choudhurya Pattanayaka. It is said that Lord Caitanya visited the birth-place of Ramananda in Alalanatha every year.
Ramananda was the Governor of East and West Godavari and a minister of King Prataparudra.
A great statesman of that
We continue our discussion of the conversation between Sri Ramananada Raya and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, ramananda-samvada, recorded in Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila, Chapter Eight: “Talks Between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Ramananda Raya.”
TEXT 1
sancarya ramabhidha-bhakta-meghe
sva-bhakti-siddhanta-cayamrtani
gaurabdhir etair amuna vitirnais
taj-jnatva-ratnalayatam prayati
TRANSLATION
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who is known as Gauranga, is the ocean of all conclusive knowledge in de
Today is an auspicious day in Krishna consciousness. Of course, every day is auspicious in Krishna consciousness. When we first arrived in India, in Bombay, Srila Prabhupada was invited to a program on the lawn of an aristocratic gentleman’s house. Most of us went ahead, and Srila Prabhupada followed with a few disciples. When we arrived, our hosts told us, “It is very auspicious that you have come today, because today is a holy day.” We had never heard of the holy day and were somewhat doubtfu
SRI RAMANANDA RAYA
A MOST CONFDENTIAL ASSOCIATE OF LORD SRI CAITANYA MAHAPRABHU
Sri Ramananda Raya was the Governor of the Rajamahendri (present day Rajahmundry of Andhra Pradesh at the bank of river Godavari), Godavari Province of Kalinga-Utkala Empire under the King Prataparudra. When Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was setting out on his tour of South India, Sarvabhauma Bhattacarya humbly requested his plea to Lord to meet Ramananda Raya. Ramananda Raya was one of the most intimate associates o
